From TV Guide:
Goings-on at Jesse’s place start to get out of control; Skyler reluctantly turns to Saul for help; Marie settles back into an old habit; and Hank hears from an old friend who needs assistance.
Here you go. A discussion thread.
Well, I’d say that discription was somewhat misleading. Jesse’s house has been out of control for a while now and the Marie thing was sort of short lived. In fact, unless they go somewhere with it, I’m not sure why they put it in there. Seems to me they could have found something more useful to do with the time…though it was entertaining.
Shame on Hank for watching porn with the remote on the floor. Rule #1…the remote belongs within an arm’s reach at all times, even if you live alone.
Also, what was with the pig carrying the person with the ladder. I think they showed it twice, but I’ve never been good with the symbolism.
I don’t know. In this episode I think we saw Jesse’s house change from a place to party and get high to a filthy meth den. Graffiti all over the walls, people fucking on the floor, punching the walls, and brawling junkies is far beyond what we saw in the previous episode, where it was wild, but fairly unremarkable as far as those sorts of parties go.
I’m sort of lukewarm on this episode. I felt like the directing (by guest director David Slade, who did films like Hard Candy and 30 Days of Night) was a little cute with some of the shots, like the extreme close-up of the soap going down the drain and Marie’s feet as she ran quickly from the house she had been viewing. I’ve never had any complaints before, least of all with the guest directors, one of whom, the talented Rian Johnson, directed the incredible “Fly” from last season.
I did like the scene of Jesse driving the Go-Kart by himself in the big empty warehouse, though.
It feels like the writers have been spending more time with character development at the expense of plot development, so that, at least I’m hoping, the major shitstorm that’s coming will be all the more powerful. They did something similar in S3, I think, but even when Walt and Company were doing relatively nothing, there was still the very-real (and visible) threat of The Cousins to keep things interesting. Here, they have Gus, who hasn’t been seen since the opening episode, and they didn’t do enough with him to sustain the tension through all the talking that happens in this episode.
Additionally, I would’ve liked them to touch base with Mike after the walloping he have Walt.
There’s a huge gaping plot hole here that makes no sense and I’m kind of baffled.
Skyler was pissed at Walt for buying a $300 bottle of champaigne because they can’t appear to be living above their means. She’s apparently late on their bills, waiting for his unemployment check to come in to pay them.
… But they just bought a business for $800,000. They’re paying Hank’s bills. The cover story is that Walt won what must be over a million, so why are they pretending they’re broke? Doesn’t make sense at all.
I think:
They would take out a loan for the car wash. Presumably, the car wash does good business, and we can assume that Walt and Skyler can prove to the bank that they can run a business. Also, as long as the property value of the car wash and the house will over the $800K (less what might be owed on any current mortgages) they should be okay. If there’s a problem, I could see Saul finding a bank that will be more understanding of the situation. Perhaps they could put the money in a Swiss account to use as collateral. If it’s still a problem, it’s just a matter of finding an ‘investor’ to go in with them. Someone with clean money.
I believe the gambling/winning the money story is something they only told Marie so she’d keep quiet about the money. I believe with them out of work, that’s why Hank’s bills haven’t been getting paid. Remember, last week Marie mentioned the were getting bigger instead of smaller.
Glad to see Hank picking up Gale’s Lab Notes. The question of how & when he discovers Walt’s new job was a omnipresent source of tension that I thought was missing these last few episodes. Really, there hasn’t been any outside tension - it’s all been Walt & Jesse adjusting to the new order.
Not that it hasn’t been entertaining. I liked watching Skylar’s machinations to get the car wash, though I agree with Saul that it was stupid to focus on that particular one.
I agree that Skylar’s anger over the champagne was way overblown. My guess is she’s just trying to maintain some sort of control over Walt. Though, I suppose if Hank’s bill are high enough, Skylar might be thinking the purchase of the car wash should push them to near poverty. Seems unlikely, though.
Skyler talks to Walt about the money/car laundering the same way that Walt talks to Jesse about the chemistry. Every little bit matters, etc–“just good enough” isn’t good enough. It kind of makes sense why they got together in the first place.
What doesn’t make sense to me is how Walt Jr. suddenly got kidnapped and no one noticed.
No shit. Where’s the violence, bangers and meth makin’?
I was puzzled by Skyler’s reaction to the champagne, but it’s a good way for the writers to show how involved she is. It’s nice to see her schooling Walt. 
Something Sepinwall said in his review also puzzled me: “And Hank - whether out of boredom with his new lifestyle or a desire to get out of the house and away from Marie’s problems - picks up Gale’s notebook and almost immediately sees the connection between this murder victim and Heisenberg.”
Did I stop watching too soon? I didn’t see Hank connecting any dots.
Any chance Hank will ask Walt the Chemistry Teacher to look at Gale’s notes? Will Gale’s notes mention the blue color?
I liked the episode, and the season so far. It’s different from S3 with the Cousins and a body or two every week, but that’s okay. Even the drug business will have quiet times.
But I don’t get it.
She said the champagne is a bad idea because on paper they’re supposed to be penniless ‘she lost her job, he’s getting unemployment’ but they’re buying the carwash with ‘gambling windfall’, which is how they’re going to explain spending $800,000 in cash. The guy selling the carwash will say he was approached quite awhile ago by Mrs. White about selling his place, how could they have afforded it then if they’re supposed to be poor then and now?
I’m glad this was a Walter Jr. free episode, I’m getting tired of that go-nowhere character. The kid can act, but all he’s ever asked to do is bitch about his family falling apart.
I only took chemistry in grade school and a semester in high school, but I can’t imagine them not mentioning the blue color.
I was under the impression that the gambling windfall was something they only told Marie so that she would accept the money to pay for Hank’s medical bills. I assume they’ll take out a loan to cover the buying the car wash.
Another thing. Where is the car wash draining it’s water that they’re picking up chemicals 100 yards away right at the surface. Do they have some sort of license to filter the water and dump it directly into the river?
Yeah he fastidious, but I’d expect a guy like Gale to write ‘blue’ hidden in esoteric chem speak. Not that Hank can’t put dots together, that’s what he does, but he’s stuck on a bed with no contact with his DEA people or lab techs.
I really hope they do something interesting with this. I’m not happy this whole scenario. It just seems to easy, unless they use it as a plot device to end the series.
BTW, why are they interested in the car wash? Is it interesting as a business, or is it simply a way to launder money? I did like how Skyler scammed the current owner.
Strictly for laundering money.
So are they going to exaggerate the number of car washes they do each day? And won’t there be employees who can speak to how busy the place is?
Good point. I’m not a money launderer, but it could be that the only person who knows that the Whites are behind the purchase is Bognan. On paper it’ll be bought by a phony corporation or something.
Dewey Finn, Walt worked at this car wash in season one. Presumably he knows how the business works, plus Bognan treated him badly, so there’s some poetic justice there.
Joey P, Bognan said the car wash was “green”, so maybe green car washes are allowed to let their water filter into the ground. ??
No, Saul made arrangements with a casino so that they could claim a windfall, which they used to pay Hank’s bills and now to buy the car wash.
I’m pretty sure Walt will be the official owner of the car wash. The whole point to to have a legitimate income and I can’t see how that would work with a dummy corp. Even if they did that, Walt would have to be the owner of the corp to get an income he can claim to the IRS.
For once, Marie’s shoplifting didn’t seem completely superfluous. I’ve don’t really like her character, but these last couple of episodes have really gotten me to sympathize with her.