Those scenarios involve some really quick thinking. Who do Gus and Mike know who would do this? Where are they right now? Will they do it without question, and without some kind of negotiation – wasting time? We saw how lucky it was that Walt reached Jesse before he got high.
A 911 call might result in Jesse being left alive and talking to the cops.
I tried that, but all he wanted to talk about was some “jungle boy” that supposedly looks just like Kurt Russell.
I’m willing to bet Mike “knows a guy.”
But given that Gale happened to have his cell phone on vibrate with loud music on and Jesse went over there without asking any questions, I think we could take one more “suspension of disbelief” moment.
Walt told Jessie he had a 20 minute jump to get to Gale before anyone else. Jessie didn’t even hesitate, grabbed his gun and left for Gale’s. 20 minutes is a long time, so I doubt anyone, let alone beating Jessie to the door, would be able to catch up with him and shoot Jessie.
The way I see this predicament resolving, is Jessie goes back into hiding (still at the Laser Tag), and Mike drags Walt’s ass over to Gus’s to explain the predicament. From there, it’s anyone’s guess as to where it goes from there. Gus used to have the utmost respect for Walt. But that all seems ruined because of Walt’s loyalty to some idiot junkie (in Gus’s eyes). Walt proposed Option B, and Gus pretended to go along with it. Perhaps Gus has learned his lesson for not keeping his word with Heisenberg.
I’m guessing Jessie and Sam will have to work together to figure out how to keep themselves alive.
This season, by far, totally upped Aaron’s acting game, yo. That guy did an impressive job this season… BITCH.
But where is that guy and what’s he doing? There are probably lots of people you could call to help you out, come to your house in a hurry, but where are they and what are they doing? It’d be rare to find one who could make it in 20 minutes.
As for Jesse not asking questions, I didn’t have to suspend belief – not much, anyway. 
Walt had already gotten Jesse thinking about what he might have to do to stay alive. That’s half the battle.
It was smart of Gilligan to show us the earlier scene with Gale and the loud music. I didn’t have any problem with that part of the setup.
Don’t forget, Walter told Jesse he had a 20 minute head start. That could mean that Jesse was 20 minutes away and Victor was 40 minutes away or that Jesse was an hour away and Victor was an hour and twenty minutes away. The time line is a bit fuzzy there.
I didn’t really understand the opening scene- the flashback to when Walt and Skyler bought their house.
My guess is that Gus will come across as a hard ass but then crack up and they’ll have a long laugh over it. He’ll tell Walt “I just can’t stay mad at you” and they’ll all have dinner. Walt, emboldened by the success of the third homicide he’s directly responsible for in as many days, will, still laughing, say “Well, while we’re being honest, that Chilean fish stew you make tastes like garlic and dead ass”, at which point Gus will stab him for insulting something from his childhood. Hank, who by this time has figured the entire thing out, will crawl in and open fire on everybody, apply a compress to Walt, and spend the rest of the evening wondering how he ever lived to be in his 40s not knowing how much he loved Chilean fish stew. After this, the series becomes a cooking show since they already have a state of the art cooking facility and Walt’s got to earn money doing something, while Jesse goes off with the polygamist chick he’s dating in his other TV show life and starts having babies. So that he’ll always remember his past mistakes he’ll name the first girl Crystal Gale.
Walt was at the plant which is outside of city limits, so I’m guessing it’s 20 minutes to Albuquerque from the factory.
Sounds a bit like a Mexican cartel word problem: “If Jesse can kill Gale in 15 minutes, and Mike cannot get to Gale for 20 minutes, and Gale is not armed but does have a cell phone, how much would you charge Gale for a 24 hour life insurance policy worth $350,000?”
I think it was to show Walt had always dreamed of more for his life than how it turned out, premeth. Also showed Skyler merely accepting her life and not caring about shooting for the stars or any of that.
I can see Walt/Heisenberg moving his way into Gus’s spot as the #1 drug honcho. We’ve seen Walt outsmart Gus, who is necessarily very, very smart and cunning, and tough – although we’ve not seen Gus be tough firsthand, we know he commands respect.
Walt’s been able to both luck and bluff his way up the ladder (true, without his superior cooking skills, he wouldn’t have gotten far, but let’s face it, he didn’t know shit about the business when he started). Now he’s being seen as a real badass, as well as living up to the Heisenberg name – being unpredictable.
In the Sepinwall interview, Gilligan admitted taking inspiration from the Godfather. I think Walt/Heisenberg will end up like Michael Corleone – but of course with the Gilliganian twist that we all love.
And it looked like they were in the house for 15 years without making any changes. Even for 1995 that house was “dated”. At first, I thought the scene was going to be a realtor showing the house to new buyers, after Walt and family had moved to something better. (I like the house but I’d get rid of the carpeting.)
I imagine having a special needs child affected their plans somewhat. Skyler wouldn’t have time to write, Walt might have been reluctant to risk a job change, etc.
Sampiro, brilliant, as usual.
The scene also served to demonstrate their relationship dynamic in the early days. He was clearly dominant. She was practically begging for his approval, not just of the house itself, but of her evaluation of it. He told her how many children they would have. He was totally confident about their future and his own self-worth.
Fast-forward 15 years and she’s haranguing him about a $14 purchase.
That scene provided a lot of good perspective.
I don’t think Walt had the last scene choreographed, but his begging and whining was absolutely an act. I totally bought into it when it was happening because, like everyone else, I had stopped thinking of him as Heisenberg. But Walt stopped being Walt and again became Heisenberg when he jumped into the poor, put-upon Aztek to rescue Jesse last week.
Tuco could have nicknamed him something really obvious, like Einstein, but he chose a scientist whose name is most associated with uncertainty – as in, I can observe any aspect of this particle I want, but the aspects I choose predetermine that there are other aspects which I cannot know.
Walt is quiet and intelligent and he takes directions well. Skyler manipulates him, Hank intimidates him, Gus intimidates and manipulates him. He goes along to get along.
Heisenberg is aggressive,assertive, confident, quick on his feet, and is several steps ahead of everyone with whom he deals, including Mike and Gus. The change in Mike’s face when he realized that Walt had just gotten the drop on him by sending Jesse after Gale was priceless – I’ve never seen Mike at such a loss.
Gus is ambitious and intelligent. He was introduced as a quiet, careful player, buried beneath so much camouflage that no one could ever suspect who he really was. Heisenberg has got him meeting face-to-face with street-level dealers and reverting to his Colombian accent. Gus is calculating and ruthless, but he clearly is not as calculating as Heisenberg – and we’re starting to see just how ruthless Heisenberg is…
Fantastic episode, as always. Loved the scene with Mike taking out the Cartel guys, with the (yet again) perfect choice of music - Beastie Boys instrumental.
I can kind of see Walt having planned the whole begging/crying thing, but he did tell Mike that Jesse was still in town, which I can’t imagine going well for Jesse at all. Makes me wonder if he wasn’t somewhat sincere when doing the pleading.
Meant to answer this one: Quartetto Cetra - Crapa Pelada.
Thanks. It was catchy- and he sang it well.
I wonder if Mike- who said he used to be a cop- knows Hank. If so I wonder if he’s the mystery caller who tipped him off since that was never really answered- a professional courtesy. He has probably 20 years on Hank but could certainly have known him when Hank was up and coming and before Mike broke bad.
It would be morbidly funny to see Walt/Heisenberg become the new Gus, no longer a well paid flunky with questionable morals but a straight out amoral crime lord. Ironically he’s done as much to clean up the streets of ABQ as Hank: he killed the guy in the basement of Jesse’s house (which was in a way self defense and justified), he killed the street dealers (which was not in the least self defense), and without him Hank wouldn’t have gotten Tuko.
By far my favorite opening to date and the most bad ass Heisenberg has looked. I’ve wondered if the bald/moustache/hattrio is intentionally inspired by Heinrich Himmler who looked innocuous and timid but was of course one of the deadliest men of all time (albeit in a completely unambigous evil sense).
That was part of the setup that Jesse could get to Gale before they could.
Didn’t Walt choose the Heisenberg name? I seem to remember him throwing it out there at the first meeting with Tuco and Jesse giving him a WTF? look.
Sure, but it didn’t leave Jesse in a very good spot - Walt’s job may be secure for the moment, but if Gus and Mike know Jesse’s in town, they’re going to try to kill him.
ETA: Doesn’t do much for Saul, either, now that Mike knows he was lying.
Do you by any chance know what the other song is—the one Gale was listening to when Jesse knocked on the door?
