# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/41 "2013-08-12T07:08:43Z")
They were using the replicator to keep making pies for the contest ---
**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 12, 2013, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/42 "2013-08-12T08:58:53Z")
The “Talking Bad” aftershow thing was one big piece of fluff, though. I may be revealing myself as culturally clueless when I say that I have no idea who that blonde chick is, but I do I know that I wanted to strangle her. Can’t wait for the next episode of the Inside Podcast, for some proper discussion (in addition to all the great discussion right here, obviously :p). ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/43 "2013-08-12T11:47:12Z")
Julie Bowen is one of the actresses from the sitcom _Modern Family_, it’s actually a very entertaining comedy and she plays a pretty funny character in the show. I’m not sure why she was part of _Talking Bad_ but I guess it might just be because she’s not a big enough celebrity that there would be any problem getting her to do an obscure late night show devoted to a single TV series on AMC and she is legitimately a huge fan of the show. Anyway, I’m extremely pleased with how the episode ended. After the end to 5A I was basically 90% sure at least much of the final episodes would be a cat-and-mouse game between Hank and Walt where Hank had to put on a front so Walt didn’t get suspicious, I was pleasantly surprised to see Gilligan do something quite different there. It’ll be interesting to see what Hank does, because he’s in a very tough position. For one, I think it actually won’t be the easiest thing in the world for him to build a winnable case against Walt, a lot of people who could have testified against him are dead and a lot of the physical evidence is gone. If a forensic accountant really dug into the car wash and the White’s windfall they could probably prove he had an illegal revenue stream but I don’t know that they could prove more than that. Meanwhile, Merkert had his career ruined primarily because he was on friendly terms with Gus Fring. Hank is Walt’s brother-in-law, and while Hank didn’t mean to, at several points Walt actually directly used Hank’s position at the DEA to assist in protecting his criminal enterprise. If Hank brings Walt down I don’t see how Hank gets to keep his job, and I actually imagine someone would then be investigating Hank to see exactly how much Hank knew and when he knew it…Hank would never work in law enforcement again and would be under the microscope for a long time. That’s before we even mention this will basically destroy his family, the White’s for sure and then who knows how Marie will react to Hank doing this. All of those things conspire to leave me unsure of what Hank is capable of, because it would be very hard to go after Walt in these circumstances. I will say Hank is one of the few characters on Breaking Bad who has a strong moral core. When he loses his shit and beats Jesse up, he basically could have lied his way out of trouble. He could have said Jesse came at him or etc, and it’d have been a DEA agent’s word against a drug addict. Instead, Hank took full blame, and when talking with Marie about it later he made it known to her that he had done the wrong thing and deserved whatever punishment was coming. That at least shows Hank is the type of man to do the right thing even if it’s going to cost him personally. The DEA may ultimately come down on Walt, but I have suspicions that the big reason he’s living in New Hampshire or wherever he had been is something to do with Lydia. Lydia is a loose cannon, and I suspect if her operation gets bad enough she’s not just going to take no for an answer from Walt and this could set off some sort of confrontation. Lydia already hired a hit man once before to kill Mike and seemed to have no moral qualms about killing 10-11 men. It’ll be interesting to see how they intersect the Jesse storyline with the Walt storyline. In seasons past, Jesse would be gunning for Walt over killing Mike. Jesse obviously didn’t believe Walt’s explanation at all, and knows Walt either killed or arranged for Mike to be killed. But at this point Jesse mostly just seems scared of Walt, he was tense the whole time Walt was in his house. I think Jesse knows that Walt has gone head to head with far tougher men than him, and Walt keeps winning. Jesse just seems lost in depression (I don’t think he’ll ever get past the kid being killed in 5A) and I don’t see him gunning for Walt–he just wants to have nothing to do with him. So I think there will have to be some catalyst to push Jesse into Walt’s storyline, just not sure what it will be. ---
**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 12, 2013, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/44 "2013-08-12T12:07:07Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > If Hank brings Walt down I don’t see how Hank gets to keep his job, and I actually imagine someone would then be investigating Hank to see exactly how much Hank knew and when he knew it…Hank would never work in law enforcement again and would be under the microscope for a long time. That’s before we even mention this will basically destroy his family, the White’s for sure and then who knows how Marie will react to Hank doing this. I think Hank keeping his job is going to be a harder thing for him to deal with then his marriage. He already knows that Marie will side with Skyler, at least right away, though right now Hank doesn’t know Skyler is in on it. Thing is, I don’t think Hank is going to care. It might bother him a little, but I think he’ll happily sacrifice Marie to take down Heisenberg. ---
**Author:** ![Shark\_Sandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Shark\_Sandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shark_Sandwich)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/45 "2013-08-12T12:27:02Z")
Don’t know if anyone else picked up on this during the Talking Bad show, but Julie Bowen was talking to Gilligan about the ricin and asked, “How many people do you think that much ricin could kill,” or something similar. Gilligan responded with something like: “That much? Oh, I’d imagine 3 or 4.” I immediately thought, Walt, Skylar, Finn, and Holly. ---
**Author:** ![SykoSkotty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@SykoSkotty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SykoSkotty)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/46 "2013-08-12T13:17:18Z")
I have one question this morning : why did Walt suddenly get up in the middle of the night and go outside? That’s when he found the GPS, but I can’t figure out what he was doing out there to begin with. ---
**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 12, 2013, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/47 "2013-08-12T13:20:45Z")
> [@SykoSkotty](#): > > I have one question this morning : why did Walt suddenly get up in the middle of the night and go outside? That’s when he found the GPS, but I can’t figure out what he was doing out there to begin with. Was that all part of the Leaves of Grass scene? Once Walt saw the book was gone I think he knew exactly what was going on. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/48 "2013-08-12T13:33:32Z")
> [@Shark\_Sandwich](#): > > Don’t know if anyone else picked up on this during the Talking Bad show, but Julie Bowen was talking to Gilligan about the ricin and asked, “How many people do you think that much ricin could kill,” or something similar. Gilligan responded with something like: > > “That much? Oh, I’d imagine 3 or 4.” I immediately thought, Walt, Skylar, Finn, and Holly. Do we need to spoiler-box the discussion from the Talking Bad recaps? Anyhow, I thought he intended the ricin as a suicide pill, if he survives the shootout with the DEA/FBI/police. ---
**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 12, 2013, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/49 "2013-08-12T13:42:54Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Do we need to spoiler-box the discussion from the Talking Bad recaps? I’m going to say no. I didn’t watch Talking Bad, I watched a few episodes of Talking Dead and I don’t recall any major spoilers, possibly a few teasers but that’s it. Besides, Vince is pretty good about not giving anything away. If he said that’s enough to kill “3 or 4 people” it’s because he spent some time researching it to make sure that it looked realistic and you couldn’t make a plot hole out of the amount in the vial being incorrect…not because he was implying anything. At least that’s what I’ve gathered out of listening to years of Breaking Bad Insider (which, BTW, still isn’t online). ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/50 "2013-08-12T13:54:01Z")
Any chance Grey Matter gets dragged back into the picture? ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/51 "2013-08-12T14:01:03Z")
> [@fusoya](#): > > One way or another, this show WILL end with someone eating that ricin! Rice 'n beans? ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/52 "2013-08-12T14:02:25Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Any chance Grey Matter gets dragged back into the picture? His conversation with Jesse about Grey Matter sort of finished that topic for me, so I don’t necessarily feel it needs to come up again. From the early seasons all we knew is that Walt was involved in founding Grey Matter and that he used to have a relationship with Gretchen. We later found out from his lunch with Gretchen that the end of their relationship appeared to be linked to Walt storming out and abandoning Gretchen at a party/outing with her family (it’s never fully explained but basically he seemed almost mad that Gretchen came from a wealthy family and perhaps felt belittled in some way.) But we never really knew what had happened that resulted in Walt ending up as a school teacher and Gretchen and Elliott ending up super-wealthy. From his conversation with Jesse we find out that Walt sold his third share of Grey Matter to Gretchen and Elliott for $5,000 and that he checks the stock price of Grey Matter once a week and that most recently his share would have been worth over $600m. That suggests that for Walt at least he wouldn’t be happy until he had “restored what was his” and built up a comparable fortune through meth manufacturing. It’s still a little unclear though how Walt ended up being in a dead-end job as a High School science teacher. From his story of meeting Skyler, he was still doing lab work at that point and from comments Skyler has made she had concerns he was exposed to chemicals back when he worked in a lab that may have contributed to his getting cancer. So somewhere in between him and Skyler getting married and the start of Season 1 Walt left professional chemistry work and became a relatively low income High School teacher who has to work at a car wash to make extra money. ---
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/53 "2013-08-12T14:03:45Z")
[QUOTE=Martin Hyde] Hank is Walt’s brother-in-law, and while Hank didn’t mean to, at several points Walt actually directly used Hank’s position at the DEA to assist in protecting his criminal enterprise. If Hank brings Walt down I don’t see how Hank gets to keep his job, and I actually imagine someone would then be investigating Hank to see exactly how much Hank knew and when he knew it…Hank would never work in law enforcement again and would be under the microscope for a long time. That’s before we even mention this will basically destroy his family, the White’s for sure and then who knows how Marie will react to Hank doing this. [/QUOTE] There’s also the fact that Hank’s physical therapy was paid for in dirty, dirty drug money. Excellent episode. As a lifelong Star Trek fan, I LOVED the scene with Badger and Skinny Pete. I also loved the fact that the fanscript relied heavily on the transporter, which use Heisenberg compensators. ---
**Author:** ![ekweizn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7c8e57/32.png) [@ekweizn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekweizn)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/54 "2013-08-12T14:05:03Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > The GPS tracker seems like a bone-headed move on Hank’s part. He must have known that if Walt happened to find it, the \*merde \*would shortly be approaching the \*ventilateur \*with a certain swiftness. > [@Joey\_P](#): > > That’s a good point. I’d chalk that up to a plot device to kick off the season. Especially considering it was completely unnecessary (and would have proven nothing since Walt’s out of the game). Between his two conversations with Hank, Walt did drive to Jesse’s house with the GPS on his car. Especially with Jesse throwing $10,000 bricks out of his car, I have a feeling Jesse and Hank will be having a conversation soon. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/55 "2013-08-12T14:05:07Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > p.s. That was single-handedly the funniest and greatest pot-inspired Star Trek discussion of all time. It was deja vu for me. Months ago I overheard an argument between two skaters on a local bus. It was all about teleportation vs “instant transport” or some such. It was fucking hilarious. When I saw that scene last night, I thought one of the writers must have overheard it also. Like others, I am looking forward to how Walt’s life ends up in the apocalyptic scenario in the opening scenes. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/56 "2013-08-12T14:08:48Z")
BTW, I noticed that Jesse Plemons was in the main cast credits at the beginning of the show. He played Todd Alquist, the extermination company employee who killed Drew Sharp, the boy on the motorcycle, during the railroad heist. So presumably Todd is going to be back this season. (I don’t think speculation based on the credits needs a spoiler box.) ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/57 "2013-08-12T14:11:39Z")
> [@ekweizn](#): > > Between his two conversations with Hank, Walt did drive to Jesse’s house with the GPS on his car. Especially with Jesse throwing $10,000 bricks out of his car, I have a feeling Jesse and Hank will be having a conversation soon. And likely Saul’s to pick up the cash. ---
**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 12, 2013, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/58 "2013-08-12T14:15:48Z")
> [@Dante](#): > > There’s also the fact that Hank’s physical therapy was paid for in dirty, dirty drug money. It was also caused by it. I was surprised that Hank didn’t mention that. > [@ekweizn](#): > > Between his two conversations with Hank, Walt did drive to Jesse’s house with the GPS on his car. Especially with Jesse throwing $10,000 bricks out of his car, I have a feeling Jesse and Hank will be having a conversation soon. Good point, but Hank didn’t retrieve the GPS so it’s sort of moot. When he planted the GPS on on Fring’s car he specifically mentioned that he has to get it back and download the data to his computer. Walt specifically mentioned that it looked just like the one they planted on Gus’ car. Presumably without the device, he’s not going to get the data back. I’m sure Walt is smart enough not to give it back to him if he drove to Jesse’s house with it on his car. > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > BTW, I noticed that Jesse Plemons was in the main cast credits at the beginning of the show. He played Todd Alquist, the extermination company employee who killed Drew Sharp, the boy on the motorcycle, during the railroad heist. So presumably Todd is going to be back this season. > > (I don’t think speculation based on the credits needs a spoiler box.) That could go either way. They could restart the business, Lydia could still be using them or he could just contractually be in the credits for the full season. ---
**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 12, 2013, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/59 "2013-08-12T14:21:09Z")
Now that I’ve said all that, I should confirm…Walt didn’t give Hank the GPS back, did he? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973/60 "2013-08-12T14:23:49Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > > BTW, I noticed that Jesse Plemons was in the main cast credits at the beginning of the show. He played Todd Alquist, the extermination company employee who killed Drew Sharp, the boy on the motorcycle, during the railroad heist. So presumably Todd is going to be back this season. > > > > (I don’t think speculation based on the credits needs a spoiler box.) > > That could go either way. They could restart the business, Lydia could still be using them or he could just contractually be in the credits for the full season. I think you’re right. I forgot that this isn’t really a new season but a continuation of last year’s season. So I can’t really draw any conclusions about Todd. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-09-blood-money-8-11-2013/665973.md?page=4)