It's Walt's birthday, marking a full year since the pilot and his cancer diagnosis (though Marie does amusingly point out that it seems like it's been a lot longer). He seems to be in good spirits about it. He treats himself by trading in his old car for a new sportier one (oddly the midlife crisis thing is never brought up) and even gives his son another Challenger to drive.
It's nice to see that even Heisenburg can lighten up and have some fun. Were it not for the final lines of the last episode, you would almost believe that Walt is starting to make a comeback. His lines to Skyler about how things are calmer and how everything is going to work out seems genuine, though this line of work isn't exactly predictable.
It doesn't seem to matter anyway as Skyler is intent on getting the kids out of the house. She suggests sending Junior to boarding school, which Walt scoffs at as the kid is a year away from college. Were the window of time smaller, that would have been a rather convenient work around, but given how much has happened this year alone, waiting another doesn't work.
With no other solution, Skyler tries to drown herself in the pool during Walt's party. While it's later implied that she knew she wasn't going to succeed with so many people around, the moment is no less dramatic and it still rattles both Hank and Marie.
Walt is rather calm about the whole thing. He's more concerned about whether or not he'll get to see the kids when Skyler voices her desire to keep him away. Whatever legitimacy Walt's claims about keeping his work persona at work goes out the window as he grills Skyler about what she plans to do. Another fake attempt would only get her committed and claiming abuse would be too hard on the kids.
There is the "pack up and go while he's at work" plan that never gets brought up. She does have that fat wad of cash that Walt gave her. It would be a way to start a new life. But Skyler's terrified and notes that even keeping the kids out of the house for a minute is a win for her and that she's just waiting for the cancer to come back.
On the business front, the DEA pays Lydia a visit, which spooks her. She really isn't cut out for this line of work, is she? People keep saying she's uptight, but I'd say skittish is the more appropriate description. Mike's demeanor makes sense given what he does, but it's a wonder that she's been in the game as long as she has been.
They seem to have procedures to evade the feds, so one wonders why she's so nervous. She even leads them right to her main supplier, hindering Walt's operation. Wouldn't it make more sense to lead them to someone else? A fall guy or just some low level person who isn't integral to things?
Her fear appears justified as the barrel of methylamine that she had set aside for the operation is revealed to have a GPS tracker attached to it.
I'd ask why they couldn't just move the device to another barrel, but Mike comes to the conclusion that Lydia put it there herself (based on how and where it was attached as well as the fact that she was the one who spotted it) as a way to get out of the arrangement.
Considering he had already cut her slack by bringing her in in the first place, he's intent on killing her. Jesse, on the other hand, notes that they need her to keep the operation going. Granted, the look on his face makes it clear that he just doesn't want anyone getting killed, but the more "pragmatic" argument is the best way to get through to Mike.
Walt ends up siding with Jesse when the issue is put to a vote, but the way he talks, he is clearly more focused on production rather than the preservation of life. Whether Jesse didn't notice this or didn't care as it worked in his favor isn't clear, but he rolls with it.
He even goes so far as to give Walt a birthday present. It was a small moment in the episode, but I found it rather heartwarming.
Walt ends up using this to his advantage, rightly pointing out to her that the person who gave him the gift wanted him dead not too long ago and even held a gun to his head.
This could have been a good way to ease Skyler's fears about where things are going, but the way Walt says it makes it sound more like he's ordering her to just suck it up.
This was another strong episode. The first half was more lighthearted, which was refreshing and added an element of fun to the episode. Appropriately, the suicide attempt marks a mood shift, where we get scenes featuring the sort of tension that we're used to. It made for a nice balance and allowed all of the characters to shine in their own ways.
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