Can someone explain what happened with the Hello Kitty phone? I was so confused by the Jesse realization scene, because I thought Huell took his phone and switched it with a pack of cigarettes. Then I thought this told Jesse they were taking away his means of communication, and the pickup was not legit, he was about to get whacked!
But apparently his realization had nothing to do with the phone? And was only about the ricin cigarette? And the pickup was legit?
Funny how Todd “forgot” to mention one little detail in his story about the Great Train Robbery.
Hank and Marie had a purple chair and rug in their house.
Yeah, nothing to do with the phone (which Jesse still had). He went to reach for his pot stash and just found his cigarettes. Then he realized Huell had lifted the pot on orders from Saul and remembered the exact same thing happened when his ricin cigarette pack went missing.
The phone was a red herring or comic relief. It wasn’t involved in the scene.
Jesse was feeling around in his pockets for the bag of weed. He realized that it had been taken from him. And then he found a pack of cigarettes in his pocket - that was a visual clue to the audience to tell us what he was thinking about - that Huell could’ve pickpocketed his pack of cigarettes before.
The pickup was legit (as far as we know - making someone with 125k cash on them disappear forever actually seems like a pretty good scam), and in fact, that scene was Jesse’s choice to let go, escape, and start a new life… or choose vengeance.
I think the whole thing would look very fishy. And Hank’s big defense is what, stupidity and malfeasance?
“I’m the regional head of the DEA, and I just never figured out my brother-in-law was a drug kingpin until recently, and I didn’t know he was using drug money to pay my medical bills. Honest mistake!”
“Wait, you want to know why he would make such a self-incriminating video, if he didn’t think anyone was on to him? Welll…okay, he did know that I knew.”
“Um, what was that again? Oh, right: why was I not telling anyone else at the DEA that I had found out Walt was a big drug kingpin? Oh, okay, I see where you’re going with this: you think I was covering for him. Nononononono: I wanted to tip HIM off that I was after him, but then not tell any other cops, so I could, uh…catch him better?”
“Ookayyy…I’m boned.”
Not just you. They were firing on all cylinders for the first two episodes and most of the third…and then they had to double down on their worst scripting decision of the series. As **Erdosain **said, “clumsy and convoluted” and now it is more convoluted, ugh. Why?!? They should have left that whole plot in the rear view mirror, but instead they made it worse.
I don’t think the danger is really that anyone believes Walt is telling the unvarnished truth. People are going to naturally suspect him of spinning things in a way that makes him look better. But even if ten percent is true, Hank is screwed. They could suspect that Hank was just operating as an informant, or steering things away from Walt and toward his rivals. Or even just that he knew what Walt was doing but didn’t turn him in (which is literally true, for a few days at least) and that Walt is using the video for extortion.
Put it this way: in what plausible scenario, in which Hank is completely innocent of any wrongdoing, does Walt make an incriminating video like that?
New Mexico does have a narrow felony murder rule, but in any case Walt helped dispose of the kid’s body.
LOL, I see what you did there. But it does surprise me, given that this has been my favourite show for years, I’ve seen all the episodes at least twice, and I still do this. There is something about those two names–or more specifically, that Walt (our main character) seems like he should be a “Hank”. Not so much the other way 'round.
Good question that I would like to see answered, but I think it is a dropped thread.
He doesn’t think he deserves a fresh start or any of the money. I think now that he knows about the poison, he wants to go out in a blaze of glory and take Walt down with him.
Walt is now Jesse’s sworn enemy, even without discovering that Walt was responsible for his girlfriend’s death. Walt has been responsible for every misery to come Jesse’s way, and he’s going to be looking for payback.
Hank has PTSD and panic attacks; he’s now obsessed with Walt, to the exclusion of everything else. He may even be let go from the agency because of his erratic behavior. Knowing that his career is over (we even got an exposition on that), he has nothing to lose by plotting Walt’s death in some fashion, but not getting caught. Perhaps he threatens Walt’s family.
Todd and his little cabal are likely to find out that Todd can’t really cook the meth (perhaps Todd will blow himself up trying), and will come looking for Walt, possibly threatening his family with harm if he doesn’t cook for them.
Walt (hearkening back to the opening episode of last year), seeing his enemies arrayed against him and his family under siege, finds somebody to sell him an M-60 machine gun, and tries to lure them all into a kill zone.
Or some version of that.
Which path is the right path, though? The disappear-van was red (death). Then Jesse crashes into Walt’s front yard in a white car (innocence). (BTW, was that Saul’s car?)
Man, I’m getting good at this color-symbolism stuff.
Then again, he goes to burn down the White house, using a **red **can of gasoline…
Hmm…
Early suspicion: the M60 that Walt buys in the flash forwards is going to be used against Todd’s uncle and the Aryan nation.
what was the point of that guy wiping off his shoe in the bathroom in the cold opening
I have trouble imagining Hank going outside the law to take vengeance on Walt. Continuing to try to bring him in? Yes. But not murder him. And I absolutely can’t imagine him threatening the White kids. Everything about Hank and Marie’s concern for Walt Jr. and Holly has always seemed sincere and I don’t think they would undercut that.
I think just to show how casual they are with violence and murder. They killed a half dozen people in the desert and then went and had pancakes. He sees he has a spot of blood on his shoe and wipes it off as casually as if it had been some dust picked up on the walk in.
I agree. Hank and Marie were stunned at the video confession. Not just because of what it meant for Hank’s career, but that Walt would go that far, sink that low. Walt threatening Hank – who’s only trying to do the moral thing – is way different from Hank threatening Walt.
The scene with Skyler thanking the customer for his honesty – she’s gotta be thinking of how far she’s fallen.
They may be Nazis, but at least they treat the waitstaff with respect.
Walt and Jesse’s hug in the desert was the most awkward embrace since Walt’s Bush-Merkel shoulder massage of Skyler last season in bed. I loved how Jesse, even though he was sobbing out of control, never hugged Walt back. He knew that Walt would never stop working him, would never really give a shit about him. An amazing scene.
I saw that as Skyler trying to GIVE away the money she’s laundered, or can’t fully launder. She tells him “Thanks for being so honest”, and the next guy she says “Oh, you have exact change.” The way she looked and sounded she was basically trying to give money away and couldn’t even do that!
It also contrasts with Lydia’s squeamishness and with another scene from the beginning of season four: Walt and Jesse go to Denny’s after they watched Gus kill Victor. Walt was pretty shaken up and Jesse was grimly accepting their new situation with Gus. You can compare that to how little the neo-Nazis were botherd.
Which reminds me that that scene also had a confession- Todd tells his buds about the train heist, but neglects to mention that he shot a child. I thought that was kind of a Walt-esque lie: he told a story about how this heist went so well and left out where it went wrong. Even if the waitress hadn’t come over I’m not sure he was going to mention Drew Sharp.
Agree it was amazing, but I’m not sure your interpretation is the only possible one. I took it as ambiguous, but leaned more toward it being accepted (and meant) as an honest embrace.
Wouldn’t it be great if we find out at the end of this show that Hank really IS a major drug kingpin, and he’s been laying low the whole time waiting for Fring to retire or die so he can make his move?
