# Breaking Bad 5.03 "Hazard Pay" 7/29/12 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 30, 2012, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-03-hazard-pay-7-29-12/629806 "2012-07-30T02:08:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-03-hazard-pay-7-29-12/629806/121 "2012-07-30T23:35:00Z")
> [@Yeticus\_Rex](#): > > [It’s still available on YouTube.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=JGoEEMBdl5g#t=814s) Thanks for linking to this (the scene in question starts at 13:30). I have watched Breaking Bad on NetFlix and re-runs (each episode more than once) and I’ve never seen this scene before. I guess it’s supposed to contrast with Walt’s increased virility after he starts cooking. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-03-hazard-pay-7-29-12/629806/122 "2012-07-30T23:42:09Z")
> [@HenryGale](#): > > All in all, I’m just bitter because I want all 16 now. 🙂 So does it bother you that in only one more episode, we’re already halfway done with all the episodes this year? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![rTracker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@rTracker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rTracker)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-03-hazard-pay-7-29-12/629806/123 "2012-07-30T23:54:47Z")
I believe that Hazard Pay refers to a huge sum of money set aside by Gus in case any of the Pollos 9 are arrested and have to do hard time. They do the time, they don’t snitch, and when they get out of jail, Gus hands them a cool million - or whatever the sum of money was in the Cayman account. Those Cayman accounts were not their pay. Those men most certainly were getting paid week to week in cash. The Cayman accounts were in case of arrests aka hazards. Mike was rushing from prison to prison to make sure that all the arrested guys knew that there was still hazard money for them if they did the time without talking. He also was making sure they knew they weren’t being killed. If they were to think they were being killed, they would immediately cut a deal with the DA and start talking about everything they knew. Which would bring almost everything down - including Walt. ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-03-hazard-pay-7-29-12/629806/124 "2012-07-30T23:59:47Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > ALways great to see Badger and Skinny Pete. I half expected the cases would say the name of their band (can’t remember the name, though). Vamonos Pest does sound like something that could really be a band name. [TwaughtHammer](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRpXiRtbWaU)!!! - (One of the best Minisodes from BB!) I was yelling out that name when the vendor asked what the name of the band he was gonna put on those 4 cases. [Here’s “Fallacies” in it’s entirety.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKNodRa71Cg) ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-03-hazard-pay-7-29-12/629806/125 "2012-07-30T23:59:56Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > And if the poison _can’t_ get into the tent, doesn’t that mean a sizable chunk of the house doesn’t get fumigated, running the risk of the homeowner complaining down the line? Everyone is picking to pieces the meth cook plan.. but it bugs no one that the entire setup for this season is all based on the ridiculousness of Gus having all his secret bank accounts hidden by being written behind a photo??? why? that makes no sense. OK the writers needed a way to get Mike to agree to work with Walt again, so the hazard pay needed to be confiscated somehow. Having lydia roll when being questioned (for sourcing methlamine) and give the bank accounts up would have been a more believable option. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-03-hazard-pay-7-29-12/629806/126 "2012-07-31T00:22:09Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Todd’s crew was the one supplying information to the burglars (or burgling themselves). They were instructed to tell those people they had no new info and were out of the game. They were paid $10K each for one job. I think that’s enough to keep them happy and their mouths shut, don’t you? I get that. But who was paid $10K? The burglars paid Todd’s crew $10K for the info? 😕 I think the burglars are going to be unhappy that there will be no more pre-cased houses. It might not figure in the story, but it’s one more thing they should have considered. **TBG** , Marie gave Walt two very plausible reasons for Skyler’s crackup – Walt gambling or the cancer returning. Walt could have gone with either of those (the gambling would be better) but instead he put Skyler’s problem on Skyler. The same passive-aggressive asshole behavior he showed with Walt Jr. during their first breakup. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-03-hazard-pay-7-29-12/629806/127 "2012-07-31T01:04:23Z")
The exterminators are the second story men. They come back later. The whole bit about not telling your buddies was just to cover all the bases. The friends aren’t the regular thieves, the pest guys are. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-03-hazard-pay-7-29-12/629806/128 "2012-07-31T01:29:03Z")
I believe Mike specifically said that most of the burglaries are done by third parties in order to offer some cushioning to the pest control business. These guys _are_ burglars, but they don’t necessarily burgle their own pest control clients—they are more likely to pass those jobs on to other people. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-03-hazard-pay-7-29-12/629806/129 "2012-07-31T02:41:10Z")
How long does it take to make a batch of meth, and how long does it take to fumigate a house? When you add those two times together, will it suspiciously increase the supposed “fumigation time”? ---
**Author:** ![zoog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7ea924/32.png) [@zoog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoog)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-03-hazard-pay-7-29-12/629806/130 "2012-07-31T03:14:49Z")
I saw a lot of fumigations when I was a realtor, and they typically would have the tent on for 2-3 days. I don’t have much knowledge of meth cooking aside from what I’ve seen in this show, but it appears to be something less than a 24 hour process. One thing that the fumigation crews that I saw always did was to put some kind of secondary locking mechanism on the door to keep people out of the house while the tent is on. Something like that wouldn’t deter a pro, and I did hear of a couple of cases of thefts. Might have been somebody with masks, but someone could probably survive a brief exposure to Vikane gas with pretty minimal adverse effects. I doubt that the gas would be a big deal for the cooking equipment. My understanding of that gas is that it permeates porous materials (hence the requirement to bag or remove unsealed food items), but they always told me that you can leave dishes uncovered in the house and not worry about having to wash them afterwards. One more thing on fumigations - I never saw anybody tent a house for roaches. It was always about termite abatement. Maybe some parts of the country do tent for other pests, but it’s a pretty expensive and inconvenient approach to getting rid of roaches. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-03-hazard-pay-7-29-12/629806/131 "2012-07-31T03:19:51Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I believe Mike specifically said that most of the burglaries are done by third parties in order to offer some cushioning to the pest control business. These guys _are_ burglars, but they don’t necessarily burgle their own pest control clients—they are more likely to pass those jobs on to other people. Like a lot of people who burn out, they became consultants. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-03-hazard-pay-7-29-12/629806/132 "2012-07-31T03:44:29Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > Everyone is picking to pieces the meth cook plan.. but it bugs no one that the entire setup for this season is all based on the ridiculousness of Gus having all his secret bank accounts hidden by being written behind a photo??? why? that makes no sense. > > OK the writers needed a way to get Mike to agree to work with Walt again, so the hazard pay needed to be confiscated somehow. Having lydia roll when being questioned (for sourcing methlamine) and give the bank accounts up would have been a more believable option. I think the writers wanted all this trouble to be caused by Walt and Jesse’s half-assed attempts to cover their tracks. They thought they were all smart with the magnet, but what they really did is give the DEA their first real lead. I think Gilligan wants that theme constantly in the show. Whatever Walt does, it always leads to some bigger tragedy or fuck-up. If he would have just stayed a teacher, hundreds of people would still be alive and everyone around him would be happier. Anyway, we know that everyone is going to be scouring Gus and Pollos Hermanos financial records; it seems to me that the offshore accounts would eventually pop up, picture or no. Also, we know the offshore accounts weren’t only in case of emergencies, since everyone except Mike was consistently dipping into them. ---
**Author:** ![edwards\_beard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@edwards\_beard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwards_beard)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-03-hazard-pay-7-29-12/629806/133 "2012-07-31T04:43:31Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I get that. But who was paid $10K? The burglars paid Todd’s crew $10K for the info? 😕 > > I think the burglars are going to be unhappy that there will be no more pre-cased houses. It might not figure in the story, but it’s one more thing they should have considered. > > **TBG** , Marie gave Walt two very plausible reasons for Skyler’s crackup – Walt gambling or the cancer returning. Walt could have gone with either of those (the gambling would be better) but instead he put Skyler’s problem on Skyler. The same passive-aggressive asshole behavior he showed with Walt Jr. during their first breakup. Each person in the crew was paid $10,000 per cook. Ira, the owner was paid$110,000 and then $25,000 per cook. It was part of the money that Mike took from everyone’s pile. It was never said how much they sold the info about the house to the other burgulars, but I’m sure it wasn’t close to that. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-03-hazard-pay-7-29-12/629806/134 "2012-07-31T06:14:55Z")
A friend had to get tented a couple of years ago (a rare [to here] species of termite) and it cost about $3,000. I understand that’s not a bad price at all. Has anybody here had to do it? ---
**Author:** ![rTracker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@rTracker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rTracker)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-03-hazard-pay-7-29-12/629806/135 "2012-07-31T10:31:37Z")
I don’t think anyone was dipping into the cayman accounts. Gus was told by the DEA that the accounts were discovered and seized. We are lead to believe that all of the men who were arrested were told the same thing - so that they knew their hazard pay was gone so that they would snitch/make a deal instead of doin the time and keeping quiet. That’s why mike was rushing to all the prisons to let everyone know they’d be made whole. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-03-hazard-pay-7-29-12/629806/136 "2012-07-31T10:52:16Z")
I thought that Hank said something to Mike on the lines of “At least you haven’t been dipping into your account like the others have.” ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-03-hazard-pay-7-29-12/629806/137 "2012-07-31T10:53:40Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > ALways great to see Badger and Skinny Pete. I half expected the cases would say the name of their band (can’t remember the name, though). I don’t think that Badger and Skinny Pete were in it, but Jesse used to be in a band called “Twathammer.” ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-03-hazard-pay-7-29-12/629806/138 "2012-07-31T13:23:34Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I think the burglars are going to be unhappy that there will be no more pre-cased houses. It might not figure in the story, but it’s one more thing they should have considered. Didn’t they say that the Pest guys fumigate three houses a week and that the Meth crew could pick the one they want? That still leaves two other houses that the burglars can have. Everyone’s happy. ---
**Author:** ![rTracker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@rTracker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rTracker)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-03-hazard-pay-7-29-12/629806/139 "2012-07-31T14:02:34Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I thought that Hank said something to Mike on the lines of “At least you haven’t been dipping into your account like the others have.” Thanks for the clarification! Now that you mention it, I recall him saying that, too. /enlightened It makes a lot more sense that the Pollos 9 would be ready to blab if they money they were used to having access to was suddenly gone. Really upping the stakes for Mike and his urgency to “make them whole.” ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-03-hazard-pay-7-29-12/629806/140 "2012-07-31T14:31:17Z")
Well, it wasn’t actually Mike’s account to dip into - it was in his granddaughter’s name. Just sayin’. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-03-hazard-pay-7-29-12/629806.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-03-hazard-pay-7-29-12/629806.md?page=8)