After the climax from the last episode, Jesse rushes to get Gus and Mike some help. A regular hospital isn't an option, but they do know about a medical facility, of sorts that is able to give Gus the help he needs. Mike gets the help he needs...eventually. As the doctors point out though, Gus pays their salaries, so he takes priority, typical. Even Jesse is taken aback by their assessment of the situation. It isn't even like there was just one doctor. There were like half a dozen. They couldn't send two guys over to Mike?
In any event, after Gus recovers, he and Jesse make their way back stateside. Not only does Gus commend Jesse for his performance in the fight, but says that Jesse has proven himself as a capable cook, removing the need for Walt's involvement. What happened to the 3% purity gap being a huge difference at that level? Either Gale oversold it or Gus doesn't care anymore and wants Walt dead.
While there's no love lost between Jesse and Walt (as evidenced later when Walt shows up at Jesse's to beg him not to start cooking on his own), Jesse still doesn't want Walt killed. Rather, Jesse suggests simply firing him.
As Jesse won't work if Walt is killed, Gus has no choice but to comply. He does, however, take Walt captive and let him know that if Walt makes any further attempts to interfere, he will kill Walt and his entire family. Remember how Walt and Jesse thought that Gus wouldn't sign off on the murder of children? It turns out that he totally would, as he tells Walt that even his son and infant daughter are in danger. On top of that, as Hank has become too much of a problem, Gus decides that he's marked to die. Hmmm, if only you had someone close to Hank who could hinder his investigation from the inside and tip you off as to where he's heading next so that you could better evade his probe. Oh, wait.
Hell, Walt does that very thing this episode when Hank throws Walt a curve and has him drive them out to the laundromat as opposed to the chicken farm as he suspects that such a place would be a great way to hide a meth lab; not to mention that said laundromat is owned by the same conglomerate that owns Los Pollos Hermanos and ordered the air filter that Gale noted. Walt even goes so far as to intentionally crash the car so that Hank is laid up for a while. Hank even says that the stakeout days are over (though Marie did apply some pressure on that front.)
Speaking of fronts, Skyler continues to push Ted into paying off his back taxes. He's still reluctant, even going so far as to offer to refund what's left of the money. As she doesn't want the IRS gunning for them, she has Saul send in some muscle to force him to send the check.
There's an odd bit where Ted is shown tripping over his rug while going to answer the door. At first, it seemed out of place. I was curious as to why they didn't just use another take, but it actually does prove to be something of a plot point as Ted's attempt to run away is hindered by said rug as he trips over it again with much more severe results. It's very much played for laughs, but the sudden nature of what happens still leaves the viewer with their jaw dropped.
Much like an episode of 'Seinfeld' the episode's subplots all tie together as it reaches its resolution. It's actually quite brilliant and it is here where the episode hits its heights.
As he feels backed into a corner, Walt tells Saul to call the guy to establish a new identity for him and his family. He also asks Saul to place an anonymous tip that the cartel is gunning for Hank again so that he'll be protected.
The guy has a hefty price tag, though. This becomes a problem when Walt gets home to find that a large chunk of his money is gone as Skyler gave it to Ted. Personally, I thought Walt had a lot more money than that. It seemed like he was in the multi-million dollar area so I didn't think much of $600,000 being taken out. Even after the purchase of the car wash, it didn't seem like he was strapped. I guess it was an overestimation as Walt doesn't have enough to pay for the relocation.
Unlike last episode's borderline goofy blubbering, Walt's tears here feel more legitimate as it seems like all hope is lost. Said tears, however, quickly turn to a fit of mad cackling. I don't know if there was an intentional nod to 'The Killing Joke' but it did seem very reminiscent of the Joker's descent into madness. I dug the hell out of it.
As shows like this get closer to the end of the season, one would expect the tension to ramp up and this did that in glorious fashion. It was structured perfectly, building up to the big finale where everything goes to crap. I loved how everything came together and things are looking as bad as they ever have. I'm really looking forward to seeing how things proceed from here.
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