Jesse and his desire for revenge take center stage here. He attempts to recruit Walt to cook up more ricin, but Walt won't have any of it. To Jesse's credit, he makes a compelling case. Yes, what happened to Combo is a factor, but Jesse is more infuriated that they are using kids to do their dirty work.
It makes for one of several great scenes this episode. The episode is largely dialogue heavy, but there is still a palpable tension throughout.
Even Mike, Saul's clean up guy, gets a chance to shine as he relates a story about how he tried to deal with a domestic abuser by threatening his life, only to see said abuser kill his wife later. Not only is it a solid dramatic scene in its own right, but it becomes relevant both to Jesse and even Gus.
As it turns out, the dealers that Jesse wants to take out are a part of Gus' network; as such, he's not too keen on having them die. Gus admits that were it not for his respect for Walt, he'd deal with Jesse in another manner, but he attempts a more pragmatic, Brady Bunch-esque approach. Jesse lets what happened with Combo slide and they stop using kids.
Granted, that latter condition only came up because Jesse brought it to Gus' attention, but it seems like a practical compromise that is in keeping with the way Gus runs things.
Said compromise lasts about a minute as the boy is promptly killed. I'm not sure what the thought process was here. The only thing I can think is that they didn't want him to turn them in, but you'd think that they'd be more than capable of scaring him into silence.
It could be another instance of half and full measures being pitted against each other. Jesse's attempt at using half measures didn't work, and Gus' deal fell through almost immediately showing his efforts were for naught. Of course, it's possible that Gus himself ordered the hit. That's something that may be elaborated on next episode.
It should come as no surprise that the death of the kid sets Jesse off. He forgoes subterfuge and subtlety and decides to just gun the two down. While his dramatic walk did a good job of mirroring the one he had last episode, he did a horrible job of masking his intent. Even the two dealers pick up on what he plans to do and draw their own weapons.
Honestly, were it not for Walt's last second intervention, Jesse would be dead. If he were lucky, he might take one of the pair down, but there's no way he could have shot both of them before getting shot himself.
For all the talk, the instances of Walter White being a bad ass are few and far between. Blowing up Tuco's headquarters was a notable moment, and watching Jane choke on her own vomit was more than messed up. Really though, more of his stand out moments come as a result of his quick thinking compared to being ruthless and power hungry.
Here though, we see Walt straight up shoot a dealer in the head. Keep in mind, this takes place after he runs the two down in his car. Even Jesse is taken aback by the string of events. For those who were waiting for Heisenburg to make his grand return, I think this marks it.
Of course, the episode touches on things outside of Jesse's vendetta. Skyler continues to convince Walt to go with the car wash as a front. Walt points out one or two holes, but I'd be far more concerned with the fact that she's looking up money laundering on Wikipedia. If ever there was an indicator that Saul is the better guide here, I'd say that's it.
Hank's plot also advances as we learn why he's so reluctant to go home. Walt Jr. calls him out on his mentality, but we do learn the real reason why Hank is so set on staying in the hospital. Is it simplistic and overly Freudian? Yeah. Marie got a chance to show her stuff, though. So uhh, yeah, there you go.
This was another really strong entry. The performances were solid across the board, it balanced story advancement and character development well, and there's more than enough momentum to get the viewer excited for the finale.
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