Breaking Bad

Walter and his Aztec are on a frantic mission - find Jesse Pinkman. He drives to a Pollos (with his gun) and demands to see Gus. As he waits in his rapidly-increasing state of paranoia, he gets a call from Mike, who says he's got Jesse for the day, and that Walter needs to get back to work.

It's nice to see that Jesse's still got an ounce of self-preservation left, as he seems scared about what Mike has in store and has a plan for self-defense that involves his keys. But when they arrive at their destination, and Mike pulls a shovel out of the trunk, it's not to kill Jesse. Instead, Mike goes out into the desert and digs up a bag of money. Then he tells Jesse that they have to do this 6 more times today, so get in the car.

Jesse's eager to fill the role of guard while Mike gets the money from the hideouts. It's at this point that I wonder if it's a test, like to see how far gone Jesse is. He doesn't seem to be having withdrawal symptoms, so that's good. Whatever the reason, Mike's learning what it's like to be trapped in a car with Jesse all day. And it's hysterical. My favorite kind of Jesse - Bored Jesse - is back!

Then I wonder if the real point of the whole exercise is Walter, back at the lab working. A test to see if he can cook by himself, or even just to toy with him and make him even more paranoid about what could happen to Jesse. Walter is able to cook alone, but it looks hard and he finishes just in time to buy the car wash with Skyler. Buying car washes makes Skyler horny; their reconciliation is consummated, and she invites him to move back in -- for appearances, of course.

In other news, Hank's still consulting with his cop friend on Gale's murder, and tells him the only people he knows connected to the blue meth are Badger and Jesse. The police sketch is of Victor - sigh of relief there. Hank tells the cop that he's done with the case, that finding Heisenberg has given him closure and he's ready to move on.

At their last pickup stop, some armed thugs pull up and block Mike's car in an alley. Jesse spots the dude with the gun walking toward him while Mike is inside the building. He throws it into reverse, slams the other car, and then drives off. Mike's calling someone to come pick him up when I say, "Awwwww!" out loud - Jesse pulls up to the curb, having not forgotten about his new BFF. Mike seems impressed, even allowing Jesse to smoke. THESE TWO ARE GOING TO BE THE GREATEST TEAM EVER!!!

The next day, Walter arrives at the lab to find Jesse working, and wonders what's up. Jesse tells Walter that he was Mike's guard for a day and saved the stash when they were ambushed. And he's meeting up with Mike this afternoon - "Guess I have 2 jobs now." OH SNAP, JESSE!!!! Love it! It turns out that even the ambush was part of a test put in place by Gus. He wants Jesse to feel like a hero, and I'm not sure if this is to help out Jesse and get him on the straight and narrow (in a criminal way anyway), or to drive Walter nuts with jealousy. Probably both.

The final scene is a piece of work. Holy crap. The Whites are having dinner at Hank and Marie's house. Walter's clearly irritated by Skyler and Gus and Mike and Jesse and he's drinking. Junior asks Hank how the Gale case is going and Hank says he's done with it, but goes on about how Gale was a genius, imagine what he could have done if he applied it to good, etc. That's the last straw for Walter, who can't resist insulting a dead man to make himself feel better. He tells Hank that, in his opinion, the notebook wasn't the sign of a genius - that it was merely copied down, and likely someone else's work.

Sometimes I yell at fictional characters. This was one of those times. Jesus Christ, Walter! Let it go! He has such a need for control and such a need to get credit for his work that he can't keep his mouth shut and just let Hank lose interest. Nope. Cuz Hank is interested now. He's working on the case even more the next day, and something sticks out to him. Gale was a hippie vegan, eating organic and all that -- but he has Los Pollos Hermanos stuff in the apartment. Well, there you go - now Hank has a key piece and he just needs to figure out how it fits.

Screw you, Walter White. You brought this on yourself. Thank God Jesse has that second job now!!!