Opening the episode with Tortuga's final moments was an unusual choice. It made for a great prologue, but at the same time, one wonders why we're seeing it now. We do see that Tuco's cousins were the ones responsible. The bigger thing, I think, is that Danny Trejo got to have more screen time. Truth be told, if that were the main reason to include the scene, I couldn't argue the logic. It was good to see him again, albeit briefly.
While we're on the subject of the cousins, we do see why they listened to Gus. I was correct in assuming that Gus and the cartel were not officially tied, but it is still his turf and, as Gus still sees Walt as a business partner, he makes it clear that he is still under Gus' protection. He does offer an olive branch and say that as soon as the business is concluded, they can kill him, but that doesn't sit well with the vengeful pair. More than that, Gus knows that Walt is dying anyway and probably assumes that the problem will solve itself in time.
Actually, Skyler herself voices this sentiment when she opens up to her divorce lawyer about what's happening after Walt moves back in. The lawyer is emphatic about turning him in, but Skyler chooses this approach as she doesn't want the kids to know.
One can't fault Skyler for not wanting Walt back, but I think that she could have at least thanked him for cleaning the pizza off the roof (for that matter, when Skyler first comes home and sees Walt, he could have used that as his pretense for being there.) Honestly, I didn't expect that pizza to go anywhere. I figured it was going to stay up there for the remainder of the series and just rot, making for a nice visual call back every time we saw an exterior shot of the house.
Again, though, Walt neglects to inform Skyler that he's out of the drug trade. He shows her the money and says that he did it to make sure they were taken care of, but that's about it. He doesn't even bring up the cost of his treatment. Skyler probably wouldn't be any more accepting either way, but it seems like Walt could still be doing a better job of making his case.
Rather than consider his argument, Skyler goes and has an affair with her boss. From what I've read on the internet, her statement seems on the up and up, but based on what we see here, you could easily make the case that she made it up. The viewer doesn't see it, rather we only see that they share an awkward kiss at the office. Considering Ted was happily married, I'm perplexed as to why he'd lean in as opposed to stopping her, but that's his problem. I could see Skyler lying and saying she did something she didn't just to get under Walt's skin or piss him off. If the look on Walt's face is any indication, it would have worked if that were her angle.
On other fronts, Jesse isn't faring too well. He spends most of the episode listening to Jane's voicemail so that he can hear her voice again. Because, you know, the show didn't make him enough of a woobie. Saul tries to get him to talk to Walt again, but he only gets the brush off. Even the money doesn't seem to hold the same lure. Saul says that Jesse is "house poor", but doesn't he still have $200,000 left? He had $600,000 and spent $400,000 on the house. Yeah there are taxes and fees, but he couldn't have burned through it all that quickly, could he?
It was good to see Hank's psychological issues come back. It seems like it's been a while since it was brought up, so I'm glad that it wasn't forgotten. Traumatized or not, Hank can still hold his own in a fight. Seeing him take down two thugs in a bar brawl and walk away with only minor bruises was one of the highlights of the episode.
This was a solid episode. I'd probably mark it as my favorite of the season so far. The characters continue to shine, but this episode felt more active and was more engaging as a result.
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