After the powerhouse that was the episode that preceded this one, we get a quieter, more reflective episode. It worked rather well and made sense as everyone gathered at the hospital to hope for Hank's well being after the savage attack.
Despite Hank's crass nature, he really did have a tight knit support system. His family is there, of course, but pretty much everyone in the DEA shows up as well. Even though it hasn't been played up until now, it really did feel like a brotherhood. You see other officers giving blood and they are more than happy to hear that one of the attackers is on his last leg...no pun intended....because he lost his legs.
Actually, since we're on the topic, the surviving cousin does provide one of the episode's major highlights. Oddly enough, this was the most menacing we've ever seen him as he recognizes Walt in the hospital and reacts accordingly. The death glare itself was creepy and intense enough, but then the depth of his vendetta becomes apparent as he pulls himself out of bed and army crawls after Walt.
Some DEA agents stop him, but I'm curious to know what he could have done to Walt in that state. He had no weapons to speak of and had very limited mobility without much in the way of height. It kind of undercuts the tension when your brain conjures up an image of the cousin attempting to gnaw furiously on Walt's ankles. Walt may not be much of a fighter, but I think that he'd have the advantage in that confrontation.
The other highlight comes from Gus. When he pushed Hank as a target, one would have been safe in assuming that he did it to keep Walt alive to keep cooking. More than that, his point about Hank being the one who actually killed Tuco is completely legitimate.
They could have just left it there and I think viewers would have been content. But, his scheming goes so much deeper (and subsequently works so much better) as we see that Gus used it to cripple the cartel. Apparently, he is aligned with the cartel and did this to break out on his own? I'm still a little unclear on the arrangement. It was a great moment for him, though, in any event.
On other fronts, Gale garners sympathy as Walt gives him the boot. I do wonder why it was an either/or situation with him and Jesse. With all the product that needs to get made, couldn't Walt have both on hand? It could make things easier and it certainly would have come in handy when Walt ends up delaying production to spend time at the hospital.
Man, Walt's not good at starting off on schedule. He had a similar hangup with Tuco when they first made their arrangement. Yeah, he made up for it there and makes a similar offer here, but it's a little odd that he keeps getting delayed at the start.
Instead, Jesse just kind of loiters around. While he's not the science nerd that Walt or Gale are, he seems pretty excited about the new lab and amuses himself by playing with the instruments. It added a bit of levity that acted as a nice counter-balance to the matter of Hank's fate.
Does the episode live up to the one that came before? No, but that's expected as that was a really high bar to jump. The episode does have heart and there are enough great moments peppered throughout to keep you engaged. All in all, it's a very solid hour of television.
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