Breaking Bad Blog: Crawl Space
By Andrew Voerman
We begin this week inside a makeshift hospital, in the middle of the Mexican desert. It turns out that Gus's plans have equally as meticulous back-up plans, and, in a return to normality, this one comes off without a hitch; Gus and Mike are both saved. Later, as Gus and Jesse go to leave, Gus suggests Jesse is ready to become the sole cook, to which Jesse agrees, but only if Walt remains unharmed.
Back in Albuquerque, Hank is getting closer and closer. After staking out the chicken farm to no avail, he gets Walt to take him to another place of interest - an industrial laundry, better known as the meth lab. Walt is understandably reluctant to drive the D.E.A. up to the meth operation's front door, so instead he veers into oncoming traffic, as a means of cutting the trip short. Luckily, no one is hurt, and Hank just writes it off as a brain fart.
Meanwhile, Ted remains stubbornly reluctant to help Skyler out, so she resorts to desperate measures. She turns to Saul, who sends a couple of goons around to Ted's in order to settle the matter. He writes them a cheque, but then decides to make a run for it, only to trip on a rug and go crashing into his kitchen bench. He might just be severely injured, not dead, but Skyler now has blood on her hands.
Walt discovers that Jesse has been cooking by himself, so pays him a visit in order to find out what's going on. Jesse turns him away, feeling hurt and betrayed by their fight two weeks ago, but before he can leave, Gus's men appear and subdue him with a cattle prod. They take him to the desert, where Gus sets things straight. Walt is not to go near the lab, or Jesse, ever again. If he tries to stop Gus from dealing with Hank, Gus will kill not only him, but also his entire family.
Walt runs straight to Saul, looking for a way to make him and his family disappear. He also insists that Saul warn the D.E.A. that Gus is going after Hank, bursting into tears as he begins to comprehend the mess he's created. He then rushes home, to gather the $500,000 or so that 'disappearing' will cost, but is distraught when he finds most of his money to be missing. He asks Skyler where it is, and so she tells him.
The news that Ted Beneke's bills might cost him his life is too much for Walt to take in, and so he loses it. At the same time, Marie calls, with news about a threat to Hank's life, and Skyler begins to realise what's happening. We close on the sight of Walt lying in dirt, laughing maniacally. He's no Gus Fring, so how on earth is he going to get out of this one?