# Breaking Bad 5.09 "Blood Money" 8/11/2013 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 11, 2013, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973 "2013-08-11T22:21:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/221 "2013-08-15T14:29:26Z")
> [@Sam\_Lowry](#): > > Maybe I’m misremembering, but I thought Hank said to bring Skyler and the kids over. If so, maybe Hank doesn’t realize how much Skyler knows. I just assumed that’s the case, as in, bring the wife and kids over, they’ll stay here forever and I’m going to take you to jail. That’s why Walt said “that will never happen”, because he knows if he did that, he might never see them again. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/222 "2013-08-15T14:36:19Z")
> [@oft\_wears\_hats](#): > > Did Walt seriously make the second batch of ricin in the Superlab? With the cameras and everything? Wouldn’t Gus have known something was up? Even a layperson could tell the difference between a bulk cook and a small-order action. Well, that’s what he says to Jesse (season 4, episode 7, “Problem Dog”). “Making it in his own lab… seemed appropriate.” I suppose he found a corner somewhere in the lab where he was confident that the cameras wouldn’t see him. Edit: What **Joey P** said. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/223 "2013-08-15T14:37:23Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > My guess is that Hank won’t do anything to Walt, the investigation will simply stop. But Hank knows enough people in the drug underworld to begin quietly dropping hints about who Heisenberg is, who he’s killed and where he lives, basically making Walt’s life a living hell from behind the scenes. Possibly. One downside to that approach is that it could conceivably put the children at risk. Which could be one of the reasons Hank wants the kids with him: “Have Skyler bring the kids here, and then we’ll talk.” ---
**Author:** ![SykoSkotty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@SykoSkotty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SykoSkotty)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/224 "2013-08-15T14:38:50Z")
[QUOTE=Acsenray] Albuquerque is in a desert. If you don’t water your lawn regularly, it’s going to start reverting quickly [/quote] Yes, I’m quite aware of Albuquerque and it’s vegetation status, thank you. Walt’s lawn is gravel, for the record. I was referring to the trees and shrubs surrounding the house. ---
**Author:** ![oft\_wears\_hats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7993a0/32.png) [@oft\_wears\_hats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oft_wears_hats)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/225 "2013-08-15T14:59:38Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > Well, that’s what he says to Jesse (season 4, episode 7, “Problem Dog”). “Making it in his own lab… seemed appropriate.” > > I suppose he found a corner somewhere in the lab where he was confident that the cameras wouldn’t see him. > > Edit: What **Joey P** said. [QUOTE=Joey P] Yeah, he had a toaster oven in the little room off to the side, he must have felt comfortable that there wasn’t a camera in there. [/QUOTE] Fair enough. I honestly didn’t remember. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/226 "2013-08-15T15:06:33Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Uhhh … Thanks? (Are you Vince Gilligan?) Thank god it wasn’t just me who noticed that odd comment. > [@](#): > > The “drop dead” for episode threads is when the episode has been shown. As others have said, if you use spoiler boxes for things that aren’t spoilers, then it ruins the utility of spoiler boxes. I suspect folks are gunshy on spoilers due to the Game of Thrones Spoiler Wars. They don’t realize that GoT is an entirely different situation, where the entire plot is out there already and some folks know it while others don’t.q That’s why it’s probably better not to go into it. — Think about how much of a letdown it was when we finally did learn Kramer’s first name. There’s nothing you can fill in that blank with that’s going to be bettter than the blank. > [@](#): > > But we can be fairly certain that to anyone else, it probably wouldn’t have been a big deal, but it drove Walter to extremes. That’s why it’s probably better not to go into it. — Think about how much of a letdown it was when we finally did learn Kramer’s first name. There’s nothing you can fill in that blank with that’s going to be bettter than the blank. This I want to second. I find it frustrating that people seem to feel entitled to have every loose end neatly tied off, every backstory filled in in explicit detail. Folks, the _ **Star Wars** _ prequels. Even if they’d been **good** , they would’ve been disappointing–nothing made real will ever live up to what you’ve got hazily sketched out in your head. There’s nothing wrong with leaving some things unsaid! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/227 "2013-08-15T15:24:55Z")
> [@standingwave](#): > > He did list a couple: I meant he could have listed a lot more. > [@SlackerInc](#): > > My son and I were discussing why he might have done it in his garage instead of having people research it at work. My theory was that he might have cottoned onto the fact that some information had somehow leaked from the office although he did not know how (we know it was because of the bugs planted); so he might have feared that there was a spy there. My son had a different idea which also struck me as a good one: simply that he was afraid people at the office would figure out what he was up to and that he would be in trouble for being so close to Heisenberg as we have talked about. Hank wants to figure it out as much on his own as he can, and then leave his options open as he decides what to do about it. > [@standingwave](#): > > The previous ASAC got canned because Gus Fring was right under his nose so Hank is probably trying to figure out a way to put Walt away without losing his job. > [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](#): > > I think its mostly the first option. Suddenly everything fell into place on a gut level, but the enormity is so great he needs to run down every detail to see if he could be wrong. We can see from the specifics he mentions that he’s put together a lot, and probably realizes how entangled he looks, so beginning with the first issue and moving to the second, it makes sense that he not investigating at the office. > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I think it’s more the second than the first. He’s asking himself, “What did I miss?” I like these! I don’t mean to say Hank had one and only one of those things in mind, of course. And you already found some that I didn’t think of. I just mean I find it fascinating to think about what was going through his mind in that time when we didn’t see him working. Talk about your turmoil. They cut through a lot of cat-and-mouse in that last scene. Hank knows everything, Walt knows Hank is onto him, and Walt made sure Hank knows he knows. What are we going to watch over the next seven episodes? Hank looking for evidence and trying to keep the pressure on Walt, Walt trying to stop or stall the investigation somehow. Are Lydia’s people going to come after Walt? I think something like that is in the offing. Would Walt have to try to team up with Jesse one last time to stay out of jail and protect himself? Based on what we do know - that Walt gets away for a time, presumably through Saul’s “vacuum cleaner” contact - I think it makes sense to conclude that Hank tries to convince Walt to turn himself in and that he agrees (and maybe even means it) but doesn’t go through with it for some reason. I’ve never been sure if Walt really goes to New Hampshire in the future or if that is just a cover story, but if he goes, I think he’s going without Skyler and the kids. That would also give him a reason to come back. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/228 "2013-08-15T15:43:18Z")
Isn’t Hank in a new position now and this is kind of out of his jurisdiction? If he reported what he knows, the investigation would certainly be handed off to somebody else (not even considering the conflict of interests involved) and Heisenberg is Hank’s white whale - if he’s getting brought down, he wants to do it himself. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/229 "2013-08-15T15:44:29Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > He’s a boss now. He has people at his disposal and he could have a bunch of them working with him or doing some of these things for him. Instead he’s working by himself in his garage and trying to keep it a secret. His boss specifically said to stop pursuing the case and when he tried to bend the rules, he indirectly got 11 people killed. He wants to keep this research to himself until he’s sure and can prove it. ---
**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:** [August 15, 2013, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/230 "2013-08-15T15:46:23Z")
> [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](#): > > Perhaps Walt will use Hank’s mineral collection to make gunpowder and bullets. Sure. At this point, a Gorn wandering though the show wouldn’t seem strange at all. ---
**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:** [August 15, 2013, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/231 "2013-08-15T16:00:20Z")
> [@SykoSkotty](#): > > Yes, I’m quite aware of Albuquerque and it’s vegetation status, thank you. Walt’s lawn is gravel, for the record. I was referring to the trees and shrubs surrounding the house. Trees and shrubs that are not native to a desert habitat, perhaps, and require steady maintenance? ---
**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:** [August 15, 2013, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/232 "2013-08-15T16:05:21Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#): > > I suspect folks are gunshy on spoilers due to the Game of Thrones Spoiler Wars. They don’t realize that GoT is an entirely different situation, where the entire plot is out there already and some folks know it while others don’t.q That’s why it’s probably better not to go into it. Even in those threads, things that happen in an episode are not spoilers. But in that case spoilers aren’t allowed even if they’re spoiler-boxed. > [@](#): > > I find it frustrating that people seem to feel entitled to have every loose end neatly tied off, every backstory filled in in explicit detail. I agree, although I don’t think “entitled” is the right word. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/233 "2013-08-15T16:51:00Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I just assumed that’s the case, as in, bring the wife and kids over, they’ll stay here forever and I’m going to take you to jail. That’s why Walt said “that will never happen”, because he knows if he did that, he might never see them again. Now I’m wondering what would happen if Hank confronted Skyler? She started out helping Walt in order to protect the kids. She could keep the kids protected if they went to stay with Hank and Marie and she testified against Walt. I guess it depends on how willing she is on possibly going to jail, since she definitely could because of the money laundering, and how willing she is to give up the money. I’m not sure on either of those. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/234 "2013-08-15T16:51:29Z")
> [@Sam\_Lowry](#): > > Now I’m wondering what would happen if Hank confronted Skyler? She started out helping Walt in order to protect the kids. She could keep the kids protected if they went to stay with Hank and Marie and she testified against Walt. I guess it depends on how willing she is on possibly going to jail, since she definitely could because of the money laundering, and how willing she is to give up the money. I’m not sure on either of those. I thought Hank was just trying to get her and the children out of any possible harm. Walt is (again) keeping them around as a bargaining chip. I’m looking forward to what happens when Hank realizes Skyler is involved in all of this. > [@LawMonkey](#): > > This I want to second. I find it frustrating that people seem to feel entitled to have every loose end neatly tied off, every backstory filled in in explicit detail. Folks, the _ **Star Wars** _ prequels. Even if they’d been **good** , they would’ve been disappointing–nothing made real will ever live up to what you’ve got hazily sketched out in your head. There’s nothing wrong with leaving some things unsaid! > [@Acsenray](#): > > I agree, although I don’t think “entitled” is the right word. I also agree. It’s an assumption that every single person and event has to fit neatly into a rigidly constructed plot. Stories are not just plot even if they’re as tightly constructed as Breaking Bad is. Some components are there for thematic reasons or they’re metaphors or commentary on the main story. They might change the way you look at events or characters but they’re not there because they are all going to combine at the conclusion. The example that drove me nuts was the Russian in The Sopranos. Everything about that episode screamed “one-off.” There was no reason to think even for a second that you were ever going to see that guy again; his purpose was to get Paulie and Christopher lost in the woods so we could watch what happened after they got lost. And some people spent years waiting for him to come back and kill everybody (nevermind that a smart guy would have counted himself lucky to escape and never looked back once he got out of the woods). It was similar to the meth addicts who held Jesse hostage. I could be wrong but think some of it comes from comic books. In comics it’s never enough that you have a good guy trying to save the world from a bad guy. It always has to turn out that they’ve been involved with each others’ lives from birth. And there are reasons they do that and I don’t mean to bash it- it’s has good points. But it comes from a medium where a series can last forever and you never let go of a good character if you come up with one, and part of the draw is that the characters are always being put into new contexts. To me it does make the universe of the story feel very, very small. Breaking Bad is really a show about one person, but it has a finite time span and it explores the consequences of his actions in a lot of different ways (the plane crash, Madrigal). And of course it’s set in a more grounded universe where Walt’s MacGyver-y chemistry teacher skills were the closest thing to a superpower. Some plot threads probably did get discarded along the way, but not every element of the show was put in place to get us to the conclusion. Some of them were just there to show who we were dealing with. Don’t forget what Marie’s lying and kleptomania said about their marriage and how that played into her trying to get him to take a desk job. One of my favorite Breaking Bad moments - one that I think of the most often - wasn’t really important to the plot at all. It was when Walt was working on the house with some of his first drug money and making a place to stash some of that money. He finds that some of the boards are in bad shape and, at least the way I remember it, he sticks his head up through the floorboards and announces, with Bryan Cranston making his voice as resonant as he can, “We have rot!” Yes, they did. Their house - Walt’s house - was rotten to its foundations. And ultimately Walt putting the money there let Skyler find it and give it away, which lead to that frightening, X-Files-y sequence where Walt lies down on the floor and starts laughing like a maniac because he thinks he’s going to be murdered. So it had significance to the plot, but the metaphor there is what sticks with me. ---
**Author:** ![Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8baadc/32.png) [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nicest_of_the_Damned)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/235 "2013-08-15T17:15:39Z")
I just think there is a certain elegance when the different threads in the story intertwine. Kind of like Seinfeld used to do, even though that was comedy. Plus it seems like something Vince Gilligan would do. The way things are going I think I will be satisfied however it ends. It’s a fun ride. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/236 "2013-08-15T17:26:34Z")
> [@Sam\_Lowry](#): > > Now I’m wondering what would happen if Hank confronted Skyler? She started out helping Walt in order to protect the kids. She could keep the kids protected if they went to stay with Hank and Marie and she testified against Walt. I guess it depends on how willing she is on possibly going to jail, since she definitely could because of the money laundering, and how willing she is to give up the money. I’m not sure on either of those. The problem is, the only way she’d be safe is in witness protection and I just don’t think she knows enough for the feds to offer to put three people into that program. She’s just a cog that machine. She could tell Hank what? How she launders the money and that she’s 99% sure that he was working with Jesse and Gus, BFD. He would have to almost kidnap them, take them to some kind of safe house and tell Walt that if he comes clean with the feds/DEA and turns in Jesse and anyone else he can (Lydia etc) as well as tell him how this operation worked that he’ll let Skylar go unscathed (as far as any charges are concerned). If he doesn’t know that she was involved, he could tell her that after he [Walt] is put away, the family will go back to their home in ABQ and be able to visit him…or something like that. IOW IMO Skylar just doesn’t know enough to be a threat to Walt or an asset to Hank. ---
**Author:** ![Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8baadc/32.png) [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nicest_of_the_Damned)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/237 "2013-08-15T17:59:10Z")
OK, how about this? Walt is trapped in Hank’s house in some kind of sticky situation. He uses some of Hank’s minerals to work some chemical magic. He needs fine silver to stir it/conduct electricity/whatever. He finds the collectible spoon Marie stole from the open house.\* \*I am just having fun speculating about the subplots. Please don’t take it too seriously and get angry that I am still thinking about them. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/238 "2013-08-15T18:05:42Z")
> [@azraiel](#): > > Any reason why Walt might not have tagged the wall in one last “fuck you” to everyone else (and himself, maybe)? He ‘won,’ got away, and left a last taunt for those who came to investigate? I’ve only watched the episode once, but I read the scene as either ‘Who came into my home and did this’ or as ‘I remember the place I was in when I did this, and it’s both alien and comfortable.’ > > The wonderful thing is that we’ll find out in a few weeks! I meant to agree with this earlier! When I saw it I first thought someone else had written it as an accusation or revelation, but then I thought, might it not be Walt who wrote it? I can see a fucked up scene where a combination of pride, desperation, and bitterness prompts him to do so. One of the coolest things about the flashes forward is how much ambiguity they retain. It seems like Gilligan is fencing himself in by showing how things turn out, but a lot of it is open to interpretation. Is the house messed up merely due to neglect and a harsh climate, or did something more catastrophic happen? Is Carol terrified of a man she knows is a murdering drug kingpin, or did she think Walt was dead? Did vandals or enemies tag the house, or was that some kind of last “fuck you” from Walt before he lit out? Did he really go to New Hampshire, or is is license just from there? ---
**Author:** ![Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8baadc/32.png) [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nicest_of_the_Damned)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/239 "2013-08-15T21:37:31Z")
> [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](#): > > OK, how about this? Walt is trapped in Hank’s house in some kind of sticky situation. He uses some of Hank’s minerals to work some chemical magic. He needs fine silver to stir it/conduct electricity/whatever. He finds the collectible spoon Marie stole from the open house. Now that I think about it…they did make a point of telling us the tiara Marie stole for Holly was made of silver. Hmmmm… ---
**Author:** ![Pitchmeister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pitchmeister/32/3459_2.png) [@Pitchmeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitchmeister)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/240 "2013-08-15T21:43:30Z")
I’m curious if they’re going to make the “future” a recurring theme, like they did in season two with the B&W teddy bear scenes. Are we going to learn more and more about the situation until we finally catch up with it near the end? Or is this the last we’ve seen of hairy Walt for a while? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973.md?page=13)