I think Hank is conflicted. He knows he should take Jesse to the DEA and put him in the system, but that’s really the last thing he wants to do. I still think he intends to do so when he puts Jesse in the car, but only reluctantly, and he’ll jump at any excuse not to do so. When Jesse says that he’ll probably be killed while waiting to testify, Hank thinks, “yeah, that’ll do”, and takes him to his house instead. Later he uses the same (bullshit, really) excuse on Marie. “Walt will know within five minutes if I put the kid in the system, I can’t use a safe house, as that won’t be safe…” Marie doesn’t really buy it, but she doesn’t care anymore. She’s more or less gone over to Hank’s version of the dark side now.
How Hank convinced Gomez is anybody’s guess, though. I can’t imagine that stuff would fly with him. Gomez, if anyone, must know that Hank is potentially in deep doo doo here, and he’s gotten himself implicated, too. I guess they really are great friends. You know the old saying: A friend will help you move. A *real *friend will help you with your rogue, probably illegal and potentially deadly investigation of your meth kingpin brother-in-law.
Brilliant! 
Incase you didn’t know there are loads more comic things like these, my fav is probably that one or one of these based off the episode before this
As someone up thread mentioned, Jessie did seem to be inspired by the image of a bald man waiting on a bench. IIRC, the last time we (he) saw this same image was when Saul got the con to play the fake Heisenberg and take the fall with the DEA.
If Walts pride is “where he lives” does Jessie come up with a plan to take credit for the Heisenberg meth away from Walt?
How could this ultimately lead to burning Walt?
Thank you! I knew that image reminded me of something.
It took until post 116 for someone to mention the B5 shout-out? Wah. It made the episode for me.
Was this just an obscure geek reference or is there some cast/crew connection?
I don’t know why they (on the show) hadn’t heard of it. I’ve never seen it, but it’s hardy obscure. Either way Skinny Pete and Badger have talked about it (and/or Star Trek) plenty of times before. Well, at least two other times, so it’s not like it was completely random. Just a few weeks ago Badger had the script idea for an episode of Star Trek…he just needed to write it down and in years past he’s gone off on tangents about it at least one other time that have lasted quite a while.
You mean, beyond the obvious Bryan Cranston connection?
Remember way back when when Walt was first working out a way to launder the money for his cancer treatment? Walt Jr. set up a web page for anonymous donations. According to Saul at least, it would have worked great as a front. But Walt wouldn’t go along with it. Why? Because more than anything else Walt needs to be seen as the big important guy, the great provider. Everything Walt has done for his family can be viewed in those terms, I think. Whether or not he consciously realizes it, they are there to feed his ego. Jesse fills a similar role. Having one person completely loyal and obedient to him is a massive point of pride.
My point is, I think Jesse is coming to realize this. Walt may be willing to play the self-deprecating fool at times, like with his gasoline story, but only as long as it doesn’t challenge the underlying narrative of him as the great provider. It wouldn’t be enough for Jesse to just have someone else take credit for Heisenberg. Walt could still rest easy knowing he has Walt Jr.'s adulation. No, Jesse needs emasculate Walt. He needs to make it appear that Walt has been living off of someone else’s teat the whole time. Give Walt the perfect out just as long as he’s willing to play the ineffectual fool and then just let him hang himself when he lashes out against it.
Yep.
Good episode, but I figured it might really kick into high gear on this one. Still, solid episode.
Which just gave me a premonition that Hank is going to end up dying in a Walt/Gus sort of horrible, but gut wrenching way.
I dunno. I get the feeling now, Hank will die before it’s over. Just speculatin’. All bets are still off with Jesse. He’s too unstable and waffling. Hrmmmm… Walt will not be happy if he dies, wether or not it’s by his own hand or something else. Jesse’s a part of how he sees himself, and it’ll hurt him like losing a son. Either way, someone he loves, or someone he loves, loves, will tear his heart out like nothing we’ve seen before. I wouldn’t want to be on the business end of Walt’s grief.
The really strange thing is that in these past few episodes I’ve come to sympathize with Walt again, and hate Hank and be annoyed by Jesse. I can’t really explain it but Hank and Marie’s crusade against Hank feels so personal and nasty you want to see them fail.
And Jesse is kinda getting annoying with his emotional outbursts.
I recall a couple of references to Star Trek. If there was a prior B5 mention or reference, it completely escaped me.
I can’t fucking believe I forgot that.
Who’s collecting expired geek cards around here?
As if Hank wasn’t already compromised enough with his outside-the-DEA investigation, this week Hank gets his hands on Jessie and the first thing he does - gives him a couple of sleeping pills?!?
Saul: Let me get this right. You have a video taped confession where my drug-addict loser of a client confesses to being a partner in a major meth lab operation. The same client whom you beat to a pulp last year, violating his civil rights. A confession obtained after you illegally plied him with at least two prescription sedative-hypnotics? Thank you gentlemen, my client and I will be walking out of here right now and our civil lawsuit will be filed by noon.
Saul: Allow me to edit my comments to add - you may keep all the evidence that is now hopelessly tainted by your attempt to drug my client and lead him into this preposterous fiction of a “confession”. Good day sir!
MeanJoe
Hank won’t have much time to do his actual job, if he keeps this up. “Cancel all my meetings again. Yes, just like yesterday. Oh, and all of Gomez’s meetings, too. What’s that, the higher-ups called? Tell them we’re doing important detective work at a… mineral convention. Yup.”
That’s exactly what I was thinking too, on top of all that, if they were prescription sleeping pills (or even just a Valium/Xanax etc) all of which I’m sure Marie and Hank have plenty of, as opposed to a couple of Benadryls, he’ll be in even more trouble. AND he was coked up too.
So, this kid is a known drug addict, he’s coked up, 5 minutes from waking up from ‘sleeping pills’ and we can toss in some caffeine…I’ll have a hard time believing any of that is admissible. If he does change his mind, the first thing he needs to do, is get a drug test. Maybe even two. Even if Hank doesn’t admit to drugging him, Jesse can still say that he had cocaine and whatever the pills were in his system when he was talking.
Come to think of it, he left the CD with the coke on it in Saul’s car. Walt even picked it up, showed it to the camera and tossed it back on the dash. I doubt that was an accident. And hasn’t Jesse been clean for a while. Maybe this is going to come in to play.
It’s strange, on the one hand, they didn’t really get anything useful out of him, but OTOH, why all the drugs, they could have done the whole thing without them, so they’ve got to be going somewhere with it.
Jesse’s recorded confession might not get him a conviction on Walt, but it might be enough to neutralize Walt’s confession when Hank faces an internal investigation.
This could explained the washed-up nobody he showed up as when he bought the M60. And the M60 is certainly a grand way to lash out.
I wonder if Jesse would have agreed to work with Hank if it was all happening by the book and cleared with the DEA? When he was taken into custody earlier, his attitude was “eat me”. I guess he’s caught on to the fact that Hank has gone rogue (he obviously knows that stashing witnesses in your guest room isn’t DEA procedure). I suppose that this way he can tell himself that he’s not a rat, and he’s not really working with the police. This is personal. Any thoughts on that?
Following up on this and thinking of all the possible clues (or just plain fan gas) discussed so far… remember that Cranston’s character is deliberately sent to his death for the good of all. Another clue, or just meaningless fanwank?
Still love the B5 shout-out. Don’t see many of those.