I’m very sad to see Mike go, but what a fantastic turning point for Walt’s character. He who couldn’t bring himself to kill Krazy-8… he who proved just how smart and quick-thinking he is by besting Gus… now he kills Mike without a second thought and after the act says “Ohh, dude, I totally just realized I didn’t have to do that. Sorry, bro.” Of course, whoever said that the killing was purely rage at Mike’s total disrespect of Heisenberg was dead-on.
I’ll predict that Jesse will not find out about Mike, at least not for some time. The script made a point out of Mike making it perfectly clear to Jesse that this was good-bye “So long kid.” “So I’ll, like, see you around?” “No. You won’t.” (all paraphrasing of course). And that was before Mike was supposed to be fleeing town to hide from the DEA. No reason for Jesse to be suspicious when Mike doesn’t turn up again.
So… about Mike’s nine guys. I bet that machine gun we saw in the premiere would be good for laying waste to, say, a prisoner transport bus. Maybe the teaser at the beginning of the season was a complete misdirection. Walt isn’t in hiding, he’s just incognito on a mission. Perhaps the nine are being moved into protective custody once Mike turns up missing/dead, and Walt’s out to tie up some loose ends?
I saw it as saving Jesse’s life because those two dealers were likely to prevail in the gunfight. There was no element of surprise, after all. They saw Jesse coming for them and were already reaching for their weapons when Walt Aztek’d them.
Let me just say that I love this show and still do but the way he killed Mike just feels like we’re approaching shark-jumping territory. Yes, I know we need to see Walt go completely Scarface. I just wish it there had been more internal logic to it rather just a fit of pique. Something that would make us go, “damn, I guess Mike had to go, but damn.” This feels a little cheap to me.
There is one shot of Walt and Mike at the river, where Walt is standing with the pistol just behind Mike who’s sitting and staring at the river that I really want to caption: “Tell me about the rabbits again, Walt.”
All off season we were speculating about Jesse hanging out at the White’s and seeing the potted plant and putting it all together. I loved that bit in the first season where Walt was cleaning up his mess in the house and then, as an afterthought, threw the plant in the bag too.
Yes, that was good thinking. Walt really does flash back and forth at random between brilliant plotting and terrible ideas, doesn’t he? Sometimes does it in the course of one scheme.
I don’t think the gun from “Live Free or Die” has anything to do with the DEA. You don’t assault federal law enforcement with heavy artillery and expect to get away and live. Walt has become arrogant, but jeez, even to him I think shooting at prisoners or DEA agents would clearly be a suicide mission. In the criminal world you can sometimes just solve a problem by shooting or blowing up the right people, but you can’t make the government go away like that. I’ve always figured the gun was either for protection or so Walt could take out one last target and then go into hiding with his phony ID.
I’m guessing that “Live Free or Die” shows Walt buying a machinegun after coming out of hiding to take out Todd and Declan, after Todd betrays him. Likely, that betrayal also involves the death of one or more of Walt’s family members. Jesse will help Walt in spite of everything due to a mix of sympathy for everything Walt’s lost and absolute hatred for Todd. Jesse will die in the process.
A sniper rifle would be for taking out one last target before going into hiding. An M60 machine gun is for wounding or killing lots of people quickly. Walt isn’t gearing up for a surgical strike, he’s gearing up for a big flashy last stand.
Oh, and did the episode’s title get the Destiny’s Child song of the same name stuck in their head for anyone else? I kept hearing that in my head as Walter is all “Say my name, bitch!”
Yep. Walt’s biggest blind spot isn’t that he’s not as smart as he thinks he is; it’s that not everyone around him is as dumb as he thinks they are.
Jesse was never really dumb; he was way too wrapped up in his “Yo, yo, yo! Whazzup” street persona and “Keepin’ it real!” to ever really apply himself until Walt came along and they partnered up.
But it was Jesse’s apprenticeship to Mike that really brought him into his own, not Walt.
I can see it happening, especially if Jesse and Skyler establish some kind of rapport (not lovers, but maybe a mutual understanding/friendship of what being around Walter “Heisenberg” White costs the people around him) and Jesse somehow happens to see the Lily of the Valley plant in Walt’s backyard, and does the math.
I suppose it’s no less likely than Walter teaming up with Hector Salamanca, but I can’t see Skyler even talking to Jesse. She’s been ice-cold to him at this point and she knows he’s been in business with Walt. Even if he’s done forever (which is debatable) he’s still involved with all the killing and drug dealing.
Right. His own “Say hello to my little friend!” moment. [Crap, someone else mentioned it first.]
Then why bother with the fake ID? His escape plan may or may not be realistic, but the ID suggests he thinks he can get away to someplace. So does the cover story he gave the Denny’s waitress, to a lesser extent. He also got a new car along with that big gun, and that suggests he’s trying to avoid detection.
You have to wonder why he got rid of that plant. Just from a writing perspective, I have to assume that Jesse will spend some time at the house and they had to make sure that he wouldn’t see it. I mean, I don’t think he’d recognize it, but he might go out to smoke and read the tag or ask Skyler what it was. But as you said, she might still notice it’s gone and buy another or even just say [to Jesse] “Hmm, strange, we had a plant there, it was a Lily of the Valley”.
Beyond that, there really wasn’t any reason to get rid of it other then the fear of Jesse seeing it and since he’s really never there, I have to guess that there planning on having him visit the White house more often in the future.
Personally, I hope Jesse never finds out about that. As someone who is still rooting for Walt, I’d like to see that whole scheme work. It was well done and pretty complex and I’d hate to see it fall apart because Skyler noticed a plant missing in the backyard a month later.
Also, it’s possible that the fake ID was to get to the Denny’s city, rather than to escape. Could be that future Walt has been outed as Heisenberg and law enforcement is on his tail.