BREAKING BAD – Recap of Season 5, Episode 6: “Buyout”

Continuing with the rare guest post in this blog, you are all in for yet another huge treat this week. With the success of AMC’s “Breaking Bad” (Sundays at 10PM EST), every major–and minor–media outlet seems to be running a recap of each episode. Well, 12631 member @a_bh_a has generously offered his thorough and highly entertaining thoughts on last evening’s sixth episode of season five.

Enjoy the top shelf recap and analysis, and be sure to follow @a_bh_a on Twitter. 

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“Are we in the meth business? Or the money business?” -Jesse

So after last week’s terrific episode, which was arguably the best one of the season, we open to Walt, Jesse, Mike & Todd back in their warehouse storage facility, with a big mound of dirt sitting in the back of their truck. We see they’ve brought the kid and his motorbike back and they are quick to take it apart, piece by piece and put the components in the industrial plastic containers that we saw in seasons past. Without communicating, they strip the bike completely and in a separate barrel they dump the kids body. Both containers are filled with hydrofluoric acid and that takes care of that.

Todd comes out like it’s no deal and starts smoking a cigarette beside Jesse and dumbly makes a few comments including “You guys didn’t tell me this stuff smells like cat-piss!”  that result in Jesse punching Todd right in the face. Fade to opening credits.

We return back to the crew listening to Todd make his case for why he did what he did. “I didn’t see any other way,” Todd proclaims while Jesse counters with a more humane argument about how kids should not be dying in their line of work. After what Jesse’s gone through in the span of a year, who can blame him. Walt on the other is quietly taking it all in, and you get the sense that he appreciates what Todd did, given that for him, the business comes first.  Todd pleads his case and closes that he’s committed to the business and that he’s got connections. Whether he’s implying that he will be protected or whether these connections can help further the business, we are not clear on but Todd does seem to be a loyal soldier.

After he leaves, Jesse freaks out again, calling Todd “Ricky Hitler” which I loved. Walter using logic as he always does, presents the committee three possible solutions, all of which are less than optimal. Fire Todd and pay him for his silence like Fring’s old crew; Fire Todd and dispose of him quietly before he talks to anyone; or keep him on the payroll and demote him back to pest control and less notable operations. Mike & Walt chose the latter, making Jesse’s vote redundant. Mike does rough up Todd outside, but something tells me that Todd is a loose cannon that will not be held in check.

Skylar & Marie had a conversation but nobody cares about that. Moving on. Turns out the DEA hasn’t given up on Mike and they have been tailing him. Mike being the badass that he is, not only knows about it, but directly provokes them through a false dead drop.

While in a new house, Jesse & Walt are on a break watching TV, when news of the boys disappearance comes on. Jesse begins to freak out, but Walt tells him to keep his eye on the prize and that there will be plenty of time for soul searching when they are done building their empire. The boy now has a name which is Drew Sharp, which I’m hoping to look at later for some type of clue through anagrams. Walt tells him to go home, but not before Jesse catches him whistling as if nothing even happened. You can tell Jesse is disgusted by this, but he does nothing at the moment.

We return to find Walt being confronted by Mike & Jesse who want out. While Walt, was thrilled at seeing Mike exit, was less than enthused about Jesse leaving. The new plan is to sell the Methylamine for $15M and everyone gets their $5M or Walt can continue cooking with his 1/3^rd. Walt understandably upset, tries to reason with Jesse that they are selling their chance at $300M for pennies on the dollar. He does have a point, but Jesse counters that $5M is more than he would ever need which is also a fair point. Walt flat out refuses so we see Mike & Jesse meet the prospective buyer in the desert.

The buyer known as Declan doesn’t just want the methylamine, he wants the “blue product” gone for good. This is not good for Mike or Jesse, as Walt will sooner go to his grave than give up the only thing he has left in his life. The buyer quickly figures out that there is a 3^rd partner involved and amends the terms to $15M for the full 1000 gallons of methylamine. What interested me in the scene was that Mike & Jesse were offering 666 gallons of methylamine. I know that genius Vince G is trying to tell us something here.

The best scene of the night comes when Jesse comes back to the White abode to find Walt slumping in his chair (throne?) with a glass of whiskey in hand. He finally comes clean about the Grey Matter storyline from Season 1, telling Jesse that he sold his stake in the company for $5000 while it has gone on to become a $2.1B company. “Do you know how much it’s worth now?” he asked. “Millions?” asked Jesse. “Billions,” said Walt. “With a B.”

While he won’t go into why he sold his stake, you can tell that this has bothered him since he made that decision. And who can blame him. Walt tells Jesse “I look it up every week..and I sold my share , my potential for $5,000. I sold my kids’ birthright for a few months’ rent. … You asked me if I was in the meth business or the money business. Neither. I’m in the empire business.”

This leads to one of the most awkward family dinners of all time with Walt & Skylar sitting across from one another with Jesse in the middle. He does his best job at trying to break the ice, but Skylar fills her wine glass up with a gallon of wine while Walt picks away at something on his plate. Skylar wants no part of this dinner and leaves. This is where Walt counters Jesse’s argument by coming clean about his personal life. “My wife is waiting for me to die. This business is all I have left now. It’s all I have. And you want to take it away from me.”

Walt does try to take control of the Methylamine but Mike wisely stops him. The stalemate continues into the morning, when Mike states that he has to go run an errand which is to meet with the DEA. He ties Walt to a radiator so that he can’t steal the Methylamine while he’s gone but Walt uses the wiring in a coffeemaker to act as a mini blowtorch burning his wrist in the process but freeing himself. Saul makes a reappearance this episode and buys Mike 24 hours through a harassment charge filed before some random Judge. Nothing too exciting here, but nice to see Saul back.

Mike returns to find the methylamine gone and puts a gun to Walt’s head. At this point, Walt has had so many guns put to his head, I think it’s lost any effect on him. The show ends with Walt stating that he has a plan, where “Everybody wins”.

“Is a meth empire really something to be that proud of?” – Jesse Pinkman

–AG – @a_bh_a

SNEAK PEEK OF NEXT WEEK’S EPISODE 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16NtVDLcP9U

 

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