WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.180 Welcome back to The Deep Dive. We're back at 00:00:03.180 --> 00:00:06.219 it today, and we're doing something a little 00:00:06.219 --> 00:00:08.400 special today. Very special. Yeah, we aren't 00:00:08.400 --> 00:00:10.880 just looking at a broad topic. We are cracking 00:00:10.880 --> 00:00:16.000 open a file on a really specific moment in television 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:20.420 history that I think it really defines the modern 00:00:20.420 --> 00:00:23.140 era of storytelling. Right. We are looking at 00:00:23.140 --> 00:00:25.780 the season two premiere of Breaking Bad. The 00:00:25.780 --> 00:00:30.660 episode titled 737. 737. It's such a deceptive 00:00:30.660 --> 00:00:32.380 title, honestly. It really is. It sounds like 00:00:32.380 --> 00:00:36.700 a time of day, right? Or an airplane model. Which, 00:00:37.140 --> 00:00:40.000 spoiler alert, it absolutely is. But it's also 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:42.280 a number that kind of haunts the entire series 00:00:42.280 --> 00:00:44.960 from this point forward. Exactly. And look, if 00:00:44.960 --> 00:00:46.939 you're listening to this, we are assuming you 00:00:46.939 --> 00:00:50.280 know the broad strokes. You know... Walter White, 00:00:50.399 --> 00:00:52.759 the chemistry teacher turned meth cook. You know, 00:00:52.899 --> 00:00:55.100 Jesse Pinkman. Right, the basics. You know the 00:00:55.100 --> 00:00:57.359 premise. But our mission today is different. 00:00:57.500 --> 00:01:00.259 We aren't here to just recap the plot and say, 00:01:00.600 --> 00:01:02.359 like, and then this happened and then that happened. 00:01:02.439 --> 00:01:04.799 You can get that on Wikipedia. Exactly. Yeah. 00:01:05.019 --> 00:01:07.060 You don't need us for a plot summary. We are 00:01:07.060 --> 00:01:08.659 here to look at the mechanics. We want to really 00:01:08.659 --> 00:01:10.379 pull this thing apart. We want to look under 00:01:10.379 --> 00:01:13.590 the hood. Because this specific episode, it's 00:01:13.590 --> 00:01:16.769 where the show stops being this dark comedy about 00:01:16.769 --> 00:01:20.189 amateur criminals, and it shifts gears. Hard 00:01:20.189 --> 00:01:24.310 shift. A really hard shift into a full -blown, 00:01:24.450 --> 00:01:27.230 life or death psychological thriller. It is the 00:01:27.230 --> 00:01:30.129 pivot point for the whole show. It really is. 00:01:30.409 --> 00:01:33.150 Because you go from the explosive finale of season 00:01:33.150 --> 00:01:37.019 one, which had this almost... triumphant feel 00:01:37.019 --> 00:01:38.920 to it, like a high adrenaline. Yeah. They made 00:01:38.920 --> 00:01:41.000 the deal. They got the bag of money. Right. They 00:01:41.000 --> 00:01:42.760 blow up Tuco's office. They walk away looking 00:01:42.760 --> 00:01:46.180 like badasses. But then this episode brings the 00:01:46.180 --> 00:01:48.640 cold, hard reality of the aftermath. It's the 00:01:48.640 --> 00:01:50.780 hangover. That is exactly it. It's the hangover 00:01:50.780 --> 00:01:53.219 episode. It explores the psychological toll of 00:01:53.219 --> 00:01:56.099 that adrenaline rush. And we have a really great 00:01:56.099 --> 00:01:58.280 stack of sources to help us unpack this today. 00:01:58.519 --> 00:02:01.260 We are pulling from the original production notes, 00:02:02.019 --> 00:02:04.739 detailed plot summaries, critical reception analysis 00:02:04.739 --> 00:02:07.099 from back when it... Some really good contemporary 00:02:07.099 --> 00:02:09.960 reviews in there. Oh, yeah. And some really fascinating 00:02:09.960 --> 00:02:12.680 details about the hidden codes baked into this 00:02:12.680 --> 00:02:16.000 season's structure by the writers. The 737 mystery 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:19.240 is, I mean, it's one of my absolute favorite 00:02:19.240 --> 00:02:21.340 pieces of television trivia. We're definitely 00:02:21.340 --> 00:02:23.620 going to get into the weeds on that. It's mind 00:02:23.620 --> 00:02:26.360 -blowing when you realize just how much planning 00:02:26.360 --> 00:02:28.659 went into it. It speaks to the confidence of 00:02:28.659 --> 00:02:30.919 the writers, you know. They were planting seeds 00:02:30.919 --> 00:02:33.520 in episode one that wouldn't bloom until the 00:02:33.520 --> 00:02:36.330 season finale. Here is the roadmap for today. 00:02:36.770 --> 00:02:38.770 We're gonna start in the junkyard, right where 00:02:38.770 --> 00:02:41.650 season one left off. We're gonna talk about the 00:02:41.650 --> 00:02:44.469 sudden escalation of violence and how it completely 00:02:44.469 --> 00:02:47.360 changes the genre of the show. Then we're going 00:02:47.360 --> 00:02:49.780 to pull apart the title, both the literal meaning 00:02:49.780 --> 00:02:52.139 involving Walt's bank account and the hidden 00:02:52.139 --> 00:02:54.300 warning that it contains. And we also need to 00:02:54.300 --> 00:02:56.280 spend some serious time on the domestic front 00:02:56.280 --> 00:02:58.699 because the rot isn't just in the drug trade 00:02:58.699 --> 00:03:01.159 anymore. No, it's spreading. It's seeping right 00:03:01.159 --> 00:03:03.219 into the White household and the Schrader household, 00:03:03.539 --> 00:03:06.020 too. The blast radius is expanding. And then 00:03:06.020 --> 00:03:08.139 we'll look at the investigation. How close, yet 00:03:08.139 --> 00:03:12.240 how far the DEA really is. We'll cover the paranoia. 00:03:12.360 --> 00:03:15.300 The whole debate between using guns versus using 00:03:15.300 --> 00:03:18.199 science. Right. And finally, that massive twist 00:03:18.199 --> 00:03:20.759 ending that changes everything. It is a dense 00:03:20.759 --> 00:03:23.000 episode. We have a lot of ground to cover. We 00:03:23.000 --> 00:03:25.259 really do. So let's just jump right in. Segment 00:03:25.259 --> 00:03:30.280 one. The junkyard. The catalyst. We open the 00:03:30.280 --> 00:03:32.500 season and we are immediately thrown into the 00:03:32.500 --> 00:03:35.159 deep end with Tuco Salamaka. Right. And visually, 00:03:35.159 --> 00:03:37.620 it's just so striking. We're in the scrap yard. 00:03:37.939 --> 00:03:41.009 It looks incredibly hot. Dusty. Dusty, yeah. 00:03:41.409 --> 00:03:43.530 There is twisted metal everywhere. It's like 00:03:43.530 --> 00:03:46.189 a graveyard for cars. And this picks up directly 00:03:46.189 --> 00:03:48.689 after the drug deal. Literally seconds later. 00:03:48.930 --> 00:03:50.710 Walt and Jesse have just sold the meth to Tuco. 00:03:50.889 --> 00:03:53.889 And the vibe is not a celebration at all. You 00:03:53.889 --> 00:03:55.530 would think, hey, we just made a massive amount 00:03:55.530 --> 00:03:57.689 of money. This is a huge win. Right. Tend to 00:03:57.689 --> 00:04:00.129 pop the champagne. But it turns into an absolute 00:04:00.129 --> 00:04:03.250 nightmare in about five seconds flat. It really 00:04:03.250 --> 00:04:07.150 does. And it all centers on Tuco, played by Raymond 00:04:07.150 --> 00:04:10.699 Cruz, who is just... I mean, the energy he brings 00:04:10.699 --> 00:04:13.580 to the scene is terrifying. It's electric. He's 00:04:13.580 --> 00:04:16.459 laughing. He's screaming. He's violently sniffing 00:04:16.459 --> 00:04:19.019 the meth off his Bowie knife. He is a literal 00:04:19.019 --> 00:04:21.639 force of chaos. And this moment, this is the 00:04:21.639 --> 00:04:24.019 inciting incident for the entire season's chaos. 00:04:24.500 --> 00:04:26.779 It's not the drug deal itself that causes the 00:04:26.779 --> 00:04:29.139 problem for Walt and Jesse. No. It's what happens 00:04:29.139 --> 00:04:31.480 immediately after the deal is done. Because of 00:04:31.480 --> 00:04:34.259 no dose. No dose. Tuco's lieutenant is one of 00:04:34.259 --> 00:04:36.699 his main henchmen. Walk us through exactly what 00:04:36.699 --> 00:04:39.240 happens here, because it's such a tiny, almost 00:04:39.240 --> 00:04:41.819 imperceptible moment that leads to this massive 00:04:41.819 --> 00:04:45.339 cascading consequence. Well, it's a study in 00:04:45.339 --> 00:04:47.500 unhinged leadership, if you want to call it that. 00:04:47.819 --> 00:04:51.420 Tuca was extremely high. He just snorted a massive 00:04:51.420 --> 00:04:53.939 pure hit of the blue meth, and he's already an 00:04:53.939 --> 00:04:56.699 aggressive guy. Right. And no -dos makes a very 00:04:56.699 --> 00:04:59.629 small It's a very human mistake. He speaks up. 00:04:59.829 --> 00:05:02.230 He speaks to Walt in Tuco's place. Exactly. Walt 00:05:02.230 --> 00:05:04.170 asks a question or makes a comment about the 00:05:04.170 --> 00:05:06.050 future arrangement, and no -dos just chimes in. 00:05:06.129 --> 00:05:08.230 He says something like, just remember who you're 00:05:08.230 --> 00:05:10.410 working for. Which, if you look at it from a 00:05:10.410 --> 00:05:12.870 normal corporate perspective. Or even a standard 00:05:12.870 --> 00:05:15.050 gang perspective. Yeah. It sounds like loyalty. 00:05:15.329 --> 00:05:17.410 He's backing up his boss. He's being a hype man. 00:05:17.750 --> 00:05:21.399 Completely. He is trying to be helpful. He is 00:05:21.399 --> 00:05:24.180 actively trying to assert Tuco's dominance over 00:05:24.180 --> 00:05:27.399 these two new cooks. But Tuco... Tuco does not 00:05:27.399 --> 00:05:30.220 hear loyalty. He hears condescension. He takes 00:05:30.220 --> 00:05:32.879 it as a direct insult. He sees it as no -dos 00:05:32.879 --> 00:05:35.519 thinking that he, Tuco, is stupid. Like, oh, 00:05:35.519 --> 00:05:37.300 you think I can't speak for myself. Exactly. 00:05:37.319 --> 00:05:39.740 You think I can't handle my own business. You 00:05:39.740 --> 00:05:41.819 think I need my subordinate to talk for me. You 00:05:41.819 --> 00:05:45.100 think I'm an idiot. And that insecurity, fueled 00:05:45.100 --> 00:05:48.500 by the methamphetamine, it just... triggers this 00:05:48.500 --> 00:05:50.800 violent explosion. And when we say explosion, 00:05:50.980 --> 00:05:53.360 we mean it. It is brutal to watch. Chuko just 00:05:53.360 --> 00:05:55.399 starts beating him. Yeah. And I want to emphasize, 00:05:55.500 --> 00:05:57.420 this isn't a typical TV or movie fight where 00:05:57.420 --> 00:05:59.180 someone gets punched a few times and walks away 00:05:59.180 --> 00:06:02.360 with a bloody lip. No. This is raw, vicious violence. 00:06:02.620 --> 00:06:05.379 He is repeatedly punching him, kicking him, slamming 00:06:05.379 --> 00:06:08.439 his head. It is primal. And what really stands 00:06:08.439 --> 00:06:10.480 out to me in the scene is the direction, the 00:06:10.480 --> 00:06:13.259 way the camera cuts to Walt and Jesse. And they 00:06:13.259 --> 00:06:17.220 are just frozen. Pure terror. They are standing 00:06:17.220 --> 00:06:20.100 there, completely immobilized, just watching 00:06:20.100 --> 00:06:23.040 this happen. And you can almost see the wheels 00:06:23.040 --> 00:06:24.860 turning in their heads, or rather, the wheels 00:06:24.860 --> 00:06:27.720 completely stopping. This is the exact moment 00:06:27.720 --> 00:06:30.639 the realization hits them. They are not dealing 00:06:30.639 --> 00:06:33.300 with a rational businessman. They aren't dealing 00:06:33.300 --> 00:06:37.139 with a corporate partner or even a standard predictable 00:06:37.139 --> 00:06:40.740 criminal. They are in bed with an unpredictable 00:06:40.740 --> 00:06:44.139 psychopath. It totally shatters Walt's worldview, 00:06:44.220 --> 00:06:47.160 doesn't it? Because up until this exact point, 00:06:47.660 --> 00:06:49.860 Walt has been operating under this massive delusion 00:06:49.860 --> 00:06:52.259 that he can control this world. The arrogance 00:06:52.259 --> 00:06:54.459 of Walter White. Exactly. He thinks he could 00:06:54.459 --> 00:06:56.720 apply logic and chemistry and standard business 00:06:56.720 --> 00:06:59.250 rules to the illegal drug trade. He thinks, well, 00:06:59.269 --> 00:07:01.089 I have the best product, therefore I hold the 00:07:01.089 --> 00:07:03.290 leverage. I am the smart one, so I set the terms. 00:07:03.370 --> 00:07:05.449 That's his whole philosophy in season one. And 00:07:05.449 --> 00:07:09.509 this scene proves that in the face of raw, unadulterated 00:07:09.509 --> 00:07:12.350 physical violence, intelligence does not matter. 00:07:12.930 --> 00:07:14.730 The periodic table doesn't help you when a guy 00:07:14.730 --> 00:07:16.970 is literally beating a man to death three feet 00:07:16.970 --> 00:07:19.550 away from you. Chaos is the ruling principle 00:07:19.550 --> 00:07:22.529 in this world, not logic. And then after Tuco 00:07:22.529 --> 00:07:24.750 drives off, we get this really interesting character 00:07:24.750 --> 00:07:27.810 beat for Walt. Tuco just leaves no doze there, 00:07:27.949 --> 00:07:30.189 twitching on the ground, bleeding out. And Walt 00:07:30.189 --> 00:07:32.970 actually tries to save him. He does! He runs 00:07:32.970 --> 00:07:35.089 over and immediately starts performing chest 00:07:35.089 --> 00:07:38.589 compressions. Which is such a specific, fascinating 00:07:38.589 --> 00:07:41.629 choice by the writers. He has just watched this 00:07:41.629 --> 00:07:44.449 man get savagely beaten to death by the guy he 00:07:44.449 --> 00:07:46.930 just did business with. And his first instinct 00:07:46.930 --> 00:07:50.069 is to try and heal him. It reminds us that Walt... 00:07:50.139 --> 00:07:53.079 isn't a killer by nature, at least not yet. He 00:07:53.079 --> 00:07:55.839 is fundamentally a problem solver. He's a teacher. 00:07:56.000 --> 00:07:59.019 He's a scientist. He sees a body shutting down, 00:07:59.160 --> 00:08:01.779 a biological system failing, and he tries to 00:08:01.779 --> 00:08:03.860 fix the mechanics of it. He checks the airway. 00:08:03.920 --> 00:08:06.639 He pumps the chest. He's trying to apply a scientific 00:08:06.639 --> 00:08:10.220 fix to a brutal reality. But it's futile. It 00:08:10.220 --> 00:08:13.040 is completely futile. No does dies right there 00:08:13.040 --> 00:08:15.800 in the dirt. And that failure is deeply significant. 00:08:15.959 --> 00:08:18.420 It shows Walt that he can't just fix the consequences 00:08:18.420 --> 00:08:21.579 of his actions. He cooked the meth that got Tuco 00:08:21.579 --> 00:08:24.319 high enough to murder this guy. He is part of 00:08:24.319 --> 00:08:26.500 that chain of cause and effect. He can't just 00:08:26.500 --> 00:08:28.540 step in at the very end and act like a paramedic 00:08:28.540 --> 00:08:31.120 to absolve himself. That is the pebble that starts 00:08:31.120 --> 00:08:33.519 the avalanche for the whole season, because now 00:08:33.519 --> 00:08:35.799 they have a body. And this brings us to the other 00:08:35.799 --> 00:08:39.960 henchmen, Gonzo. Gonzo. The quiet one, the really 00:08:39.960 --> 00:08:43.340 big guy. Tuco realizes no dose is dead or dying, 00:08:43.720 --> 00:08:45.720 and he gives an order to Gonzo. He tells him 00:08:45.720 --> 00:08:47.620 to hide the body, just get rid of it, put him 00:08:47.620 --> 00:08:49.620 under an old car. Just treat him like trash, 00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:52.360 like scrap metal in the junkyard. Exactly. But 00:08:52.360 --> 00:08:55.299 Gonzo hesitates, and he says something that seems 00:08:55.299 --> 00:08:58.159 so small at the time, but it is actually crucial 00:08:58.159 --> 00:09:00.779 for his character and for the entire plot of 00:09:00.779 --> 00:09:04.080 the episode. He says he should receive a Christian 00:09:04.080 --> 00:09:06.990 burial. A Christian burial. We are in the middle 00:09:06.990 --> 00:09:10.389 of a drug deal gone wrong surrounded by wrecked 00:09:10.389 --> 00:09:14.330 cars after a brutal senseless murder. And this 00:09:14.330 --> 00:09:16.570 hardened cartel enforcer is suddenly talking 00:09:16.570 --> 00:09:19.590 about religious rights. It's a fascinating contradiction. 00:09:19.710 --> 00:09:22.549 It shows that even in this hyper violent lawless 00:09:22.549 --> 00:09:25.549 world, Gonzo has a code. He has a line he doesn't 00:09:25.549 --> 00:09:28.279 want to cross. He complies with the order to 00:09:28.279 --> 00:09:30.600 hide the body in the moment, because he is terrified 00:09:30.600 --> 00:09:34.480 of Tuco. But that desire to do right by his friend, 00:09:34.679 --> 00:09:37.659 to give him that proper burial, that is what 00:09:37.659 --> 00:09:40.480 stays in his head. He's deeply disturbed by the 00:09:40.480 --> 00:09:43.440 lack of humanity Tuco is showing. He is. And 00:09:43.440 --> 00:09:45.120 we really should put a pin in that, because that 00:09:45.120 --> 00:09:48.320 Christian burial comment... It's not a throwaway 00:09:48.320 --> 00:09:50.840 line. That is the actual mechanic that drives 00:09:50.840 --> 00:09:53.340 the climax of the episode. It absolutely does. 00:09:53.460 --> 00:09:56.320 It's the setup for the final twist. If Gonzo 00:09:56.320 --> 00:09:59.039 didn't care about his friend's soul, none of 00:09:59.039 --> 00:10:00.559 the bad stuff that follows would have happened 00:10:00.559 --> 00:10:03.100 to Walt and Jesse. It's the law of unintended 00:10:03.100 --> 00:10:06.360 consequences perfectly illustrated. A random 00:10:06.360 --> 00:10:09.620 act of intended kindness leads directly to disaster. 00:10:10.299 --> 00:10:12.080 So Walt and Jesse manage to get out of there. 00:10:12.120 --> 00:10:14.419 They are terrified. They part ways. Yeah. And 00:10:14.419 --> 00:10:16.500 this brings us to the actual title of the episode, 00:10:16.679 --> 00:10:20.620 737. Right. Now, on the surface, this title seems 00:10:20.620 --> 00:10:22.779 like a straightforward math problem. A literal 00:10:22.779 --> 00:10:24.720 math problem. Yeah. Because there's that scene 00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:26.620 where Walt is sitting at his table outside. He's 00:10:26.620 --> 00:10:29.419 got his notepad and a calculator. He is calculating 00:10:29.419 --> 00:10:32.970 the exact... price of freedom. He is trying to 00:10:32.970 --> 00:10:35.230 figure out mathematically how much money he needs 00:10:35.230 --> 00:10:37.590 to leave for his family so that they are financially 00:10:37.590 --> 00:10:40.070 secure after he dies from his lung cancer. Let's 00:10:40.070 --> 00:10:41.669 actually break down the math he does, because 00:10:41.669 --> 00:10:44.149 it's really revealing about his priorities and 00:10:44.149 --> 00:10:46.610 how his brain works. He's incredibly thorough. 00:10:46.909 --> 00:10:49.470 He lists the mortgage. He notes he has about 00:10:49.470 --> 00:10:52.629 $170 ,000 left on the house. OK. He lists the 00:10:52.629 --> 00:10:55.730 home equity line. He lists college tuition for 00:10:55.730 --> 00:10:59.149 Walter Jr. and for the unborn baby. He estimates 00:10:59.149 --> 00:11:02.470 what, $45 ,000? per kid for college? Roughly, 00:11:02.529 --> 00:11:05.129 yeah. Which honestly, even for the mid -2000s 00:11:05.129 --> 00:11:07.330 when this takes place, implies he's hoping for 00:11:07.330 --> 00:11:10.309 a state school or significant scholarships. But 00:11:10.309 --> 00:11:12.750 he puts down a number. Then he calculates the 00:11:12.750 --> 00:11:15.090 cost of living for the family, food, utilities, 00:11:15.309 --> 00:11:17.610 health insurance, for a period of exactly 10 00:11:17.610 --> 00:11:20.330 years. And he assumes a modest 2000 a month for 00:11:20.330 --> 00:11:23.070 that. Right? Adjusted for inflation. Yes. And 00:11:23.070 --> 00:11:24.590 then he sums it all up. And he comes up with 00:11:24.590 --> 00:11:30.950 a very specific, finite figure. $737 ,000. $737 00:11:30.950 --> 00:11:33.690 ,000. What does that number tell us about Walt's 00:11:33.690 --> 00:11:36.250 headspace right now? Well, I mean, it tells us 00:11:36.250 --> 00:11:38.870 he is bargaining. Yeah. With himself, mostly. 00:11:39.490 --> 00:11:43.009 He is trying to rationalize his criminality by 00:11:43.009 --> 00:11:45.210 putting a strict cap on it. Yes. He thinks, if 00:11:45.210 --> 00:11:47.690 I just get to this exact number, I can stop. 00:11:47.809 --> 00:11:50.129 I can get out. Yeah. I'm not a criminal. I'm 00:11:50.129 --> 00:11:52.389 just a guy trying to hit a quota. He's treating 00:11:52.389 --> 00:11:55.110 meth cooking like a contract job. Exactly. Like 00:11:55.110 --> 00:11:57.529 a consulting gig with a defined end date. He 00:11:57.529 --> 00:11:59.289 believes he can treat it like a rigid project. 00:11:59.750 --> 00:12:02.279 I need X amount of money. I can make Y amount 00:12:02.279 --> 00:12:05.580 per cook. Therefore, I need to do Z number of 00:12:05.580 --> 00:12:07.860 cooks, and then I am done. It's just an equation 00:12:07.860 --> 00:12:10.059 to be solved. Which goes right back to his delusion 00:12:10.059 --> 00:12:12.259 of control. He thinks he can just dip his toe 00:12:12.259 --> 00:12:15.840 into the cartel world, make his 737 ,000, and 00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:18.580 then just walk away clean. He genuinely thinks 00:12:18.580 --> 00:12:20.279 the drug world will just let him hand in his 00:12:20.279 --> 00:12:22.720 two weeks notice. It's the classic just one more 00:12:22.720 --> 00:12:25.820 score fallacy. But in Walt's mind, it's not driven 00:12:25.820 --> 00:12:29.159 by greed. It's actuarial science. He is solving 00:12:29.159 --> 00:12:31.620 an equation for his family's survival. He tells 00:12:31.620 --> 00:12:33.580 himself his actions are noble because they have 00:12:33.580 --> 00:12:37.179 a specific, mathematically justified limit. But 00:12:37.179 --> 00:12:39.279 there is another layer to this title, isn't there? 00:12:39.600 --> 00:12:43.379 A much darker, completely hidden layer. Because 00:12:43.379 --> 00:12:45.240 the writers were doing something incredibly clever 00:12:45.240 --> 00:12:48.019 here. Oh yes. This is where the showrunners, 00:12:48.220 --> 00:12:50.379 Vince Gilligan and his writing team, were playing 00:12:50.379 --> 00:12:54.759 a very, very long game. 737 isn't just about 00:12:54.759 --> 00:12:57.070 Walt's money. Tell us about the foreshadowing, 00:12:57.289 --> 00:12:59.529 because this involves those weird black and white 00:12:59.529 --> 00:13:01.610 flash forwards we start seeing in this season. 00:13:01.789 --> 00:13:04.409 Right. If you remember, season two is famous 00:13:04.409 --> 00:13:08.009 for these surreal cold opens. Before the opening 00:13:08.009 --> 00:13:10.169 credits even roll, we see these disjointed black 00:13:10.169 --> 00:13:12.899 and white images. A snail. crawling on a wall. 00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:16.059 A swimming pool, debris scattered everywhere. 00:13:16.320 --> 00:13:18.779 And that iconic pink teddy bear. The pink teddy 00:13:18.779 --> 00:13:20.879 bear. It's burnt, it's missing an eye, and it's 00:13:20.879 --> 00:13:23.279 just floating in Walt's pool. And it's the only 00:13:23.279 --> 00:13:25.100 thing in color in those scenes, that bright, 00:13:25.419 --> 00:13:27.179 shocking pink against the monochrome background. 00:13:27.419 --> 00:13:29.279 It is super creepy. It looks like a crime scene 00:13:29.279 --> 00:13:31.399 video or something from a horror movie. It really 00:13:31.399 --> 00:13:34.419 does. And these flash forwards appear in four 00:13:34.419 --> 00:13:37.059 specific episodes spread throughout season two. 00:13:37.519 --> 00:13:40.179 And if you look at the titles of those four specific 00:13:40.179 --> 00:13:43.159 episodes, a hidden message appears. So we have 00:13:43.159 --> 00:13:47.460 this premiere episode, 737. Correct. Later in 00:13:47.460 --> 00:13:49.299 the season, there is an episode titled Down. 00:13:49.580 --> 00:13:53.320 OK. Then an episode titled Over. 737 Down Over. 00:13:53.500 --> 00:13:56.740 And the season finale is titled ABQ, short for 00:13:56.740 --> 00:14:00.639 Albuquerque. 737 Down Over ABQ. Exactly. The 00:14:00.639 --> 00:14:02.720 titles themselves form a sentence predicting 00:14:02.720 --> 00:14:05.940 the massive climax of the season, the Wayfarer 00:14:05.940 --> 00:14:10.519 515 disaster, which involves a Boeing 737 commercial 00:14:10.519 --> 00:14:13.679 airliner colliding in midair with a charter plane 00:14:13.679 --> 00:14:16.500 directly over Albuquerque. That is just the level 00:14:16.500 --> 00:14:18.440 of planning that takes is incredible. So right 00:14:18.440 --> 00:14:20.799 from the very first episode, they're explicitly 00:14:20.799 --> 00:14:22.360 telling the audience that a plane is going to 00:14:22.360 --> 00:14:24.940 crash and it's hidden right in plain sight. It's 00:14:24.940 --> 00:14:26.639 brilliant structural writing, and it connects 00:14:26.639 --> 00:14:28.460 back to the literal meaning of the episode too. 00:14:28.580 --> 00:14:31.340 How so? Well, Walt is working towards Seventh 00:14:31.340 --> 00:14:34.379 or Seven the money, but his selfish actions are 00:14:34.379 --> 00:14:36.460 actually leading towards Seventh or Seven the 00:14:36.460 --> 00:14:39.360 disaster. The money and the destruction are... 00:14:40.029 --> 00:14:42.110 inextricably linked. That is fascinating. It 00:14:42.110 --> 00:14:43.809 totally reframes the whole season when you think 00:14:43.809 --> 00:14:46.529 about it like that. Walt thinks he is meticulously 00:14:46.529 --> 00:14:48.970 building a safety net for his family, but he's 00:14:48.970 --> 00:14:51.450 actually building a disaster that will rain debris 00:14:51.450 --> 00:14:54.409 down on his own house. Perfectly put, he is calculating 00:14:54.409 --> 00:14:56.950 the exact price of his family's future, but he 00:14:56.950 --> 00:14:59.070 is completely failing to factor in the price 00:14:59.070 --> 00:15:01.909 the entire city will pay for his hubris. Man. 00:15:02.449 --> 00:15:04.950 Alright, let's move from the skies over Albuquerque 00:15:04.950 --> 00:15:07.169 back down to the ground specifically inside the 00:15:07.169 --> 00:15:09.470 White House because Walt comes home from the 00:15:09.470 --> 00:15:13.500 junkyard and he is He is not okay. No, not at 00:15:13.500 --> 00:15:16.039 all. He is vibrating with adrenaline and absolute 00:15:16.039 --> 00:15:18.539 fear He is in shock really and this leads to 00:15:18.539 --> 00:15:20.960 one of the most uncomfortable and deeply disturbing 00:15:20.960 --> 00:15:23.120 Scenes in the early run of the show the scene 00:15:23.120 --> 00:15:25.940 in the kitchen was Skyler. Yes Walt comes in 00:15:25.940 --> 00:15:27.899 Skyler finds him standing there in the kitchen 00:15:27.899 --> 00:15:30.279 Just staring at the TV or staring into space. 00:15:30.360 --> 00:15:33.299 He's clearly disassociated from reality and then 00:15:33.299 --> 00:15:36.940 he initiates sex But it's not romantic. No, it 00:15:36.940 --> 00:15:39.600 is aggressive. It's forceful. It turns into a 00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:43.549 sexual assault Skyler actively objects. She says 00:15:43.549 --> 00:15:47.710 no multiple times. She's confused and she is 00:15:47.710 --> 00:15:50.649 scared. And she's wearing this thick green facial 00:15:50.649 --> 00:15:53.889 mask, a beauty product, which gives her this 00:15:53.889 --> 00:15:57.149 almost alien doll -like appearance in the lighting, 00:15:57.830 --> 00:16:00.210 which I think really emphasizes how Walt is seeing 00:16:00.210 --> 00:16:02.450 her in that moment, not as his wife, not as a 00:16:02.450 --> 00:16:05.190 person, but as an object. And Walt, for a long 00:16:05.190 --> 00:16:07.960 moment, He doesn't stop. He forces himself on 00:16:07.960 --> 00:16:09.799 her. He eventually stops when she really pushes 00:16:09.799 --> 00:16:12.639 back and gets free. But the damage is absolutely 00:16:12.639 --> 00:16:14.799 done. It's a horrific moment to watch. And we 00:16:14.799 --> 00:16:16.960 have to analyze why the writers had this happen. 00:16:17.200 --> 00:16:20.360 It's the bleed over effect, the power and the 00:16:20.360 --> 00:16:22.919 extreme violence he felt at the junkyard, that 00:16:22.919 --> 00:16:25.899 pure unchecked dominance he saw to go exert over 00:16:25.899 --> 00:16:28.740 no dose and the sheer rush of his own survival. 00:16:28.799 --> 00:16:31.059 He brings that toxic energy directly into his 00:16:31.059 --> 00:16:33.120 marriage. It's like he can't switch off the Heisenberg 00:16:33.120 --> 00:16:35.000 persona, even though he hasn't fully become Heisenberg. 00:16:34.990 --> 00:16:37.610 He felt so utterly powerless in front of Tuco 00:16:37.610 --> 00:16:40.690 like a bug about to be squashed. Exactly. He 00:16:40.690 --> 00:16:43.409 was helpless in front of Tuco, emasculated even, 00:16:43.809 --> 00:16:46.389 so he subconsciously tries to reclaim a sense 00:16:46.389 --> 00:16:50.309 of power over Skyler. It is a direct transfer 00:16:50.309 --> 00:16:52.509 of aggression. He needs to feel like the dominant 00:16:52.509 --> 00:16:56.070 male again. Yes. It's toxic and it shows the 00:16:56.070 --> 00:16:58.409 audience that his moral decay isn't just about 00:16:58.409 --> 00:17:01.830 cooking illegal drugs. It is fundamentally changing 00:17:01.830 --> 00:17:05.289 who he is as a husband and as a man. And Skyler 00:17:05.289 --> 00:17:07.710 sees it. She might not know about the crystal 00:17:07.710 --> 00:17:10.670 meth yet, but she knows something is fundamentally 00:17:10.670 --> 00:17:12.730 dangerously wrong with the man in her house. 00:17:12.960 --> 00:17:15.680 She sees a total stranger in her kitchen. She 00:17:15.680 --> 00:17:17.880 sees a capacity for violence in him that she 00:17:17.880 --> 00:17:20.660 has never ever seen before in their entire marriage. 00:17:21.039 --> 00:17:23.140 Now, speaking of domestic trouble, let's look 00:17:23.140 --> 00:17:24.960 at the other side of the family, the Schraders. 00:17:25.289 --> 00:17:27.289 Hank and Marie are dealing with their own issues, 00:17:27.329 --> 00:17:29.829 which honestly seem almost trivial in comparison, 00:17:30.009 --> 00:17:32.029 but they are thematically linked. They are. The 00:17:32.029 --> 00:17:34.309 show does this great thing of constantly contrasting 00:17:34.309 --> 00:17:36.650 the two couples. While Walt is dealing with life 00:17:36.650 --> 00:17:39.029 and death cartel violence, Hank and Marie are 00:17:39.029 --> 00:17:41.730 having this intense argument about therapy. It 00:17:41.730 --> 00:17:44.529 feels so mundane in comparison, but it's dead 00:17:44.529 --> 00:17:47.309 serious for them. It is. It's revealed that Marie 00:17:47.309 --> 00:17:51.029 is going to therapy for, quote, unspecified problems. 00:17:51.519 --> 00:17:54.900 But we, the audience, and Hank know it's connected 00:17:54.900 --> 00:17:58.519 to her kleptomania. Her shoplifting. Right. And 00:17:58.519 --> 00:18:00.819 Skyler is refusing to take any of Marie's calls. 00:18:01.000 --> 00:18:03.119 She's totally icing her sister out because of 00:18:03.119 --> 00:18:05.400 the tiara incident from last season. Which puts 00:18:05.400 --> 00:18:07.299 Hank right in the middle. He's trying to play 00:18:07.299 --> 00:18:09.880 the peacekeeper. He visits Skyler to try and 00:18:09.880 --> 00:18:12.819 broker a truce. He asks her to just talk to Marie. 00:18:13.240 --> 00:18:15.839 He genuinely thinks it's just standard sisterly 00:18:15.839 --> 00:18:18.359 drama. And this leads to that massive explosion 00:18:18.359 --> 00:18:21.559 from Skyler. She just snaps at Hank. She screams 00:18:21.559 --> 00:18:24.920 at him. She says, my situation is worse. That 00:18:24.920 --> 00:18:27.619 line hits so hard. My situation is worse. It's 00:18:27.619 --> 00:18:29.400 a desperate cry for help, but she can't actually 00:18:29.400 --> 00:18:31.779 say why it's worse. She can't say, my husband 00:18:31.779 --> 00:18:33.880 is acting like a monster and just assaulted me, 00:18:33.920 --> 00:18:36.200 so she just screams about the sheer unfairness 00:18:36.200 --> 00:18:38.039 of it all. And there's this incredible moment 00:18:38.039 --> 00:18:41.279 of realization, right? Hank realizes that Skylar 00:18:41.279 --> 00:18:44.000 knows about Marie's shoplifting, and Skylar realizes 00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:46.619 that Hank knows about it too. It's a shared burden, 00:18:46.619 --> 00:18:48.960 but it's based on a massive misunderstanding. 00:18:49.779 --> 00:18:51.940 They both think they are talking about Marie's 00:18:51.940 --> 00:18:54.480 shoplifting being the big, dark family secret. 00:18:54.740 --> 00:18:57.920 Right. But Schuyler is holding onto a much bigger, 00:18:58.119 --> 00:19:01.140 much darker secret regarding Walt's changing 00:19:01.140 --> 00:19:04.059 behavior. It creates this amazing dramatic irony 00:19:04.059 --> 00:19:06.559 for the viewer. And it really isolates Schuyler 00:19:06.559 --> 00:19:09.339 even more. She's trapped in this house with a 00:19:09.339 --> 00:19:11.940 man she's starting to deeply fear, and she can't 00:19:11.940 --> 00:19:14.279 even confide in her sister or her brother -in 00:19:14.279 --> 00:19:17.220 -law. And her brother -in -law is a DEA agent. 00:19:17.359 --> 00:19:19.240 Which is the perfect segue to our next segment, 00:19:19.880 --> 00:19:22.630 The Investigation. Because Hank literally has 00:19:22.630 --> 00:19:25.109 the evidence of Walt's crimes right under his 00:19:25.109 --> 00:19:27.690 nose at the DEA office. He does. He and his partner, 00:19:27.890 --> 00:19:29.490 Stephen Gomez -Gomey, are sitting there watching 00:19:29.490 --> 00:19:31.650 security footage. This is the footage from the 00:19:31.650 --> 00:19:34.609 Mithalaman heist in season one, where Walt and 00:19:34.609 --> 00:19:36.869 Jesse broke into that chemical supply warehouse. 00:19:37.150 --> 00:19:39.049 Wearing those ridiculous ski masks, they look 00:19:39.049 --> 00:19:41.269 like giant bobbleheads. Right. And Hank is sitting 00:19:41.269 --> 00:19:44.490 there watching the tape and just relentlessly 00:19:44.490 --> 00:19:47.049 criticizing their technique. He is actively profiling 00:19:47.049 --> 00:19:49.529 them. And getting it completely, hilariously 00:19:49.529 --> 00:19:52.019 wrong. Totally wrong. What does he actually say 00:19:52.019 --> 00:19:55.180 about them? He disparages their skills. He calls 00:19:55.180 --> 00:19:57.900 them rank amateurs. He thinks they are complete 00:19:57.900 --> 00:20:00.460 idiots because they are rolling the heavy barrel 00:20:00.460 --> 00:20:03.920 of methylamine so clumsily across the yard. But, 00:20:04.279 --> 00:20:07.299 and here's the catch, he is intrigued by one 00:20:07.299 --> 00:20:10.819 highly specific detail. The thermite. The thermite. 00:20:11.099 --> 00:20:14.079 He notices that they used an advanced extremely 00:20:14.079 --> 00:20:16.960 hot chemical reaction to melt the heavy lock 00:20:16.960 --> 00:20:19.569 on the door. That is not something a typical 00:20:19.569 --> 00:20:21.829 meth junkie knows how to do. So Gumi throws out 00:20:21.829 --> 00:20:24.150 a theory. He says, are they chemistry students? 00:20:24.869 --> 00:20:28.049 College kids. Which is, it is so close. It is 00:20:28.049 --> 00:20:30.309 agonizingly close to the truth. You just want 00:20:30.309 --> 00:20:32.150 to scream at the screen when you watch it. Right. 00:20:32.509 --> 00:20:35.509 Gumi identifies the exact skill set, chemistry. 00:20:36.029 --> 00:20:38.690 He identifies the intelligence level. educated. 00:20:39.009 --> 00:20:41.390 But he gets the demographic slightly wrong. He 00:20:41.390 --> 00:20:44.329 assumes college kids because that fits his preconceived 00:20:44.329 --> 00:20:46.930 profile of who does this kind of weird non -traditional 00:20:46.930 --> 00:20:49.549 stuff. Pranksters or smart kids looking for a 00:20:49.549 --> 00:20:52.369 thrill. He cannot possibly imagine it's a 50 00:20:52.369 --> 00:20:54.569 -year -old high school teacher and his burnout 00:20:54.569 --> 00:20:56.569 former student. And he certainly cannot imagine 00:20:56.569 --> 00:20:59.269 it's his own brother -in -law. That blind spot, 00:20:59.890 --> 00:21:01.950 that is Hank's fatal flaw throughout the entire 00:21:01.950 --> 00:21:05.109 series, he respects Walt too much, or perhaps 00:21:05.109 --> 00:21:07.450 he respects him too little in terms of masculinity 00:21:07.450 --> 00:21:11.509 to ever suspect him. He sees Walt as this gentle, 00:21:11.990 --> 00:21:15.670 nerdy, overqualified teacher who is kind of a 00:21:15.670 --> 00:21:17.809 pushover in life, not a criminal mastermind. 00:21:17.910 --> 00:21:20.630 It's a complete failure of imagination. Hank 00:21:20.630 --> 00:21:23.109 can imagine a bad guy. He knows what a cartel 00:21:23.109 --> 00:21:25.509 hitman looks like. He cannot imagine Walter White 00:21:25.509 --> 00:21:28.390 being a bad guy. Exactly. And Hank makes a really 00:21:28.390 --> 00:21:30.589 dark prediction here, doesn't he? He says something 00:21:30.589 --> 00:21:33.130 about how the established drug cartels are going 00:21:33.130 --> 00:21:35.230 to handle these new guys. He says the cartels 00:21:35.230 --> 00:21:37.809 will hurt them for disrupting the trade. He basically 00:21:37.809 --> 00:21:39.549 predicts exactly what is happening with Tuco 00:21:39.549 --> 00:21:41.769 at that exact moment. He knows the ecosystem 00:21:41.769 --> 00:21:44.269 better than Walt does. He knows that amateurs 00:21:44.269 --> 00:21:46.390 get eaten alive by the predators. He just doesn't 00:21:46.390 --> 00:21:48.349 know the amateur is sitting at his Sunday dinner 00:21:48.349 --> 00:21:50.670 table. So while Hank is watching tapes and making 00:21:50.670 --> 00:21:53.910 jokes, Walt is at home watching the street. The 00:21:53.910 --> 00:21:56.730 paranoia has fully set in. Big time. Walt sees 00:21:56.730 --> 00:22:00.049 an SUV parked near his house. Just a random black 00:22:00.049 --> 00:22:03.269 SUV. It's probably a neighbor or a lost delivery 00:22:03.269 --> 00:22:05.730 driver. But in his mind... In his mind, it's 00:22:05.730 --> 00:22:08.130 Tuco. It's the cartel coming to finish the job. 00:22:08.349 --> 00:22:10.769 He spends the entire night just watching the 00:22:10.769 --> 00:22:14.970 window. And this all -consuming fear drives Walt 00:22:14.970 --> 00:22:17.089 and Jesse to meet up and look for a solution. 00:22:17.319 --> 00:22:19.619 They realize they can't just sit around and wait 00:22:19.619 --> 00:22:23.319 to be murdered, but they have very, very different 00:22:23.319 --> 00:22:26.259 ideas on how to solve the Tuco problem. This 00:22:26.259 --> 00:22:29.160 is the classic guns versus chemistry debate that 00:22:29.160 --> 00:22:31.460 defines so much of their partnership moving forward. 00:22:31.759 --> 00:22:33.839 Let's start with Jesse. What is his grand plan? 00:22:34.460 --> 00:22:37.980 Jesse's plan is incredibly direct. It's street 00:22:37.980 --> 00:22:40.799 level. It's violence. He wants to buy a gun and 00:22:40.799 --> 00:22:43.380 shoot Tuco before Tuco shoots them. It's a preemptive 00:22:43.380 --> 00:22:45.880 strike. So he goes to a hot dog restaurant. Yes. 00:22:46.099 --> 00:22:48.640 The tall fry stand. The absolute glamour of the 00:22:48.640 --> 00:22:51.160 Albuquerque underworld. He meets an illegal arms 00:22:51.160 --> 00:22:53.220 dealer right there at a picnic table. And he 00:22:53.220 --> 00:22:56.380 buys a Ruger SP -101. A snub nose revolver. It's 00:22:56.380 --> 00:22:58.920 reliable. It's simple to use. Jesse tells Walt 00:22:58.920 --> 00:23:01.140 they need to take care of Tuco. He even tries 00:23:01.140 --> 00:23:03.710 to convince Walt to get a gun, too. He says double 00:23:03.710 --> 00:23:05.690 our chances. Which, if you think about it logically, 00:23:05.970 --> 00:23:08.710 sounds OK. Two guns are better than one. But 00:23:08.710 --> 00:23:11.089 in reality... In reality, Walt knows that in 00:23:11.089 --> 00:23:13.509 a straight -up shootout with a hardened, meth 00:23:13.509 --> 00:23:16.150 -addled gangster like Tuco, a guy who probably 00:23:16.150 --> 00:23:19.190 has automatic weapons and years of combat experience, 00:23:19.349 --> 00:23:22.809 they lose. 100 % of the time. Right. They are 00:23:22.809 --> 00:23:25.589 not gunmen. They are a mild -mannered teacher 00:23:25.589 --> 00:23:28.470 in a high school dropout. So Walt rejects the 00:23:28.470 --> 00:23:31.440 gun idea entirely. He falls back on what he knows 00:23:31.440 --> 00:23:34.559 best. Science. He proposes a clandestine kill. 00:23:34.920 --> 00:23:38.359 A silent kill. Poison. Reisen. Reisen. This is 00:23:38.359 --> 00:23:40.720 the very first introduction of Reisen to the 00:23:40.720 --> 00:23:43.500 Breaking Bad universe. It becomes such a massive 00:23:43.500 --> 00:23:45.819 plot device in later seasons, but its origin 00:23:45.819 --> 00:23:48.720 is right here in episode one of season two. Explain 00:23:48.720 --> 00:23:51.069 the plan. How does he pitch this to Jesse? Walt 00:23:51.069 --> 00:23:53.569 explains that they can process castor beans to 00:23:53.569 --> 00:23:56.250 extract a lethal toxin. It's highly effective, 00:23:56.349 --> 00:23:58.369 a tiny amount, literally the size of a grain 00:23:58.369 --> 00:24:01.150 of salt can kill a grown man. And it mimics natural 00:24:01.150 --> 00:24:03.009 illness so it doesn't look like a murder right 00:24:03.009 --> 00:24:05.150 away. Why does he choose this method over the 00:24:05.150 --> 00:24:07.329 gun? I mean, aside from the obvious skill issue 00:24:07.329 --> 00:24:10.170 with firearms. It's about the psychological nature 00:24:10.170 --> 00:24:13.630 of the crime. Shooting someone is messy, it's 00:24:13.630 --> 00:24:16.509 loud, it's public, and it requires you to physically 00:24:16.509 --> 00:24:19.329 look a man in the eye and pull a trigger. It's 00:24:19.329 --> 00:24:22.109 visceral. someone feels more detached. It feels 00:24:22.109 --> 00:24:25.210 medical almost. It allows Walt to maintain that 00:24:25.210 --> 00:24:27.609 crucial psychological distance from the violence. 00:24:27.690 --> 00:24:30.049 Wow. He can tell himself, I'm not a murderer, 00:24:30.230 --> 00:24:32.470 I'm just introducing a chemical agent into an 00:24:32.470 --> 00:24:35.549 environment. It feeds Walt's massive ego too. 00:24:35.910 --> 00:24:38.130 He's gonna outsmart the brute. He isn't gonna 00:24:38.130 --> 00:24:40.230 outfight Tuco, he's gonna outthink him. It's 00:24:40.230 --> 00:24:42.750 the ultimate brain over brawn fantasy. So the 00:24:42.750 --> 00:24:45.910 plan is set, they make the ricin, they are going 00:24:45.910 --> 00:24:48.700 to trick... to go into taking it during the next 00:24:48.700 --> 00:24:51.039 meth delivery. It seems like a pretty solid plan. 00:24:51.299 --> 00:24:53.579 It does. For a brief moment, they feel like they 00:24:53.579 --> 00:24:55.680 have regained some agency. They have a strategy 00:24:55.680 --> 00:24:57.519 to survive. Until the phone rings. The phone 00:24:57.519 --> 00:24:59.539 call that changes absolutely everything. Walt 00:24:59.539 --> 00:25:01.519 and Jesse are finishing up the rice and prep. 00:25:02.180 --> 00:25:05.480 Walt gets a call from Hank. Now, at first, Walt 00:25:05.480 --> 00:25:08.160 is probably terrified Hank is calling to arrest 00:25:08.160 --> 00:25:10.440 him. That's always his baseline fear. Every time 00:25:10.440 --> 00:25:13.210 the phone rings, he thinks it's the end. But 00:25:13.210 --> 00:25:15.750 Hank is just calling to apologize. He says he 00:25:15.750 --> 00:25:17.970 screwed up with Skyler. He feels bad about pushing 00:25:17.970 --> 00:25:20.210 her during that argument. But then he casually 00:25:20.210 --> 00:25:23.089 mentions he's at a crime scene. Yes. He's at 00:25:23.089 --> 00:25:25.450 the junkyard. And he drops a massive bombshell. 00:25:25.589 --> 00:25:29.789 He tells Walt that Gonzo is dead. Gonzo? The 00:25:29.789 --> 00:25:32.430 big guy who wanted the Christian burial for no 00:25:32.430 --> 00:25:35.549 -dos. The very same. Now this is where the flow 00:25:35.549 --> 00:25:39.349 of information creates absolute chaos. Hank explains, 00:25:39.569 --> 00:25:41.589 or rather the audience learns through the visual 00:25:41.589 --> 00:25:45.130 of the scene, how Gonzo actually died. It wasn't 00:25:45.130 --> 00:25:47.970 Tuco who killed him. No. It was a complete accident. 00:25:48.210 --> 00:25:51.089 A freak accident. Gonzo secretly went back to 00:25:51.089 --> 00:25:52.890 the junkyard in the middle of the night to move 00:25:52.890 --> 00:25:55.029 No Doze's body. I remember he wanted to give 00:25:55.029 --> 00:25:56.930 him a proper burial because of his religious 00:25:56.930 --> 00:25:59.309 beliefs. Right. In the process of moving the 00:25:59.309 --> 00:26:02.130 heavy body, presumably to hide it better or transport 00:26:02.130 --> 00:26:06.500 it, the giant stack of creft cars shifted. Gonzo 00:26:06.500 --> 00:26:08.680 got his arm pinned between the vehicles. He couldn't 00:26:08.680 --> 00:26:11.940 get out. He was crushed and he bled out. So his 00:26:11.940 --> 00:26:15.079 loyalty, his desire to just do the right thing 00:26:15.079 --> 00:26:18.180 by his friend, literally got him killed. It is 00:26:18.180 --> 00:26:21.240 a tragic, bitter irony. If he had just left the 00:26:21.240 --> 00:26:23.779 body exactly where it was as Tuco ordered, if 00:26:23.779 --> 00:26:25.980 he had just been a cold, obedient, heartless 00:26:25.980 --> 00:26:29.200 soldier, he would be completely fine. But Walth 00:26:29.200 --> 00:26:31.819 and Jesse... They don't know any of those details. 00:26:32.019 --> 00:26:35.059 They just hear from Hank, Gonzo is dead at the 00:26:35.059 --> 00:26:38.099 junkyard. Exactly. Their extremely paranoid brains 00:26:38.099 --> 00:26:40.779 instantly fill in the blanks. They assume Tuco 00:26:40.779 --> 00:26:42.799 killed Gonzo. They think Tuco is cleaning house. 00:26:42.960 --> 00:26:45.960 They think, OK, he beat No Doze to death. Now 00:26:45.960 --> 00:26:48.420 he murdered Gonzo to cover his tracks. We are 00:26:48.420 --> 00:26:50.500 the only other witnesses. We are next. That is 00:26:50.500 --> 00:26:52.819 the only logical conclusion if you don't know 00:26:52.819 --> 00:26:54.859 it was an industrial accident. So the careful 00:26:54.859 --> 00:26:57.930 scientific plan to poison Tuco. Quietly, just 00:26:57.930 --> 00:27:00.769 goes completely out the window. Now it is sheer 00:27:00.769 --> 00:27:04.069 panic mode. Total unadulterated panic. Walt tells 00:27:04.069 --> 00:27:06.410 Jesse to leave town immediately. Get out. Go. 00:27:06.470 --> 00:27:08.750 Disappear. And Walt, what does he do? He goes 00:27:08.750 --> 00:27:11.049 home. He's frantically trying to figure out his 00:27:11.049 --> 00:27:13.190 next move. He's avoiding Skyler's questions. 00:27:13.490 --> 00:27:15.950 He is essentially trapped in his own house, pacing 00:27:15.950 --> 00:27:18.529 like a caged animal. And then another phone call, 00:27:18.829 --> 00:27:21.470 or rather, a presence outside. He goes outside 00:27:21.470 --> 00:27:25.029 to look. And there he is, sitting in his car. 00:27:25.480 --> 00:27:28.200 Right in Walt's suburban driveway. And he's not 00:27:28.200 --> 00:27:31.400 alone in the car. He has Jesse in the passenger 00:27:31.400 --> 00:27:34.259 seat, held at gunpoint. This is the cliffhanger, 00:27:34.480 --> 00:27:36.799 the ultimate oh no moment of the episode. Tuco 00:27:36.799 --> 00:27:38.859 points the gun and forces Walt into the car. 00:27:39.079 --> 00:27:41.220 Get in! And just like that, they are kidnapped. 00:27:41.380 --> 00:27:43.710 And they are driven off into the unknown. Roll 00:27:43.710 --> 00:27:46.789 credits. It's a terrifying ending, because all 00:27:46.789 --> 00:27:49.230 of their planning, the gun Jesse bought, the 00:27:49.230 --> 00:27:52.069 race in Walt made, the careful math of the 737 00:27:52.069 --> 00:27:55.049 ,000, all of it meant absolutely nothing. Tuco 00:27:55.049 --> 00:27:56.869 just came right to their front door. And the 00:27:56.869 --> 00:27:59.670 incredible irony of this whole ending is Tuco 00:27:59.670 --> 00:28:01.930 didn't come there to kill them, did he? No. We 00:28:01.930 --> 00:28:03.750 find this out in the next episode, but in this 00:28:03.750 --> 00:28:06.210 moment, the implication is that Tuco is terrified, 00:28:06.490 --> 00:28:09.049 too. He thinks the DEA is closing in on him because 00:28:09.049 --> 00:28:11.309 his guys keep turning up dead. He thinks his 00:28:11.309 --> 00:28:13.559 entire operation is compromised. He desperately 00:28:13.559 --> 00:28:16.140 needs his cooks to flee to Mexico with him. He's 00:28:16.140 --> 00:28:18.140 not cleaning house. He's violently securing his 00:28:18.140 --> 00:28:20.859 assets. So literally everyone in this scenario 00:28:20.859 --> 00:28:24.200 is acting out of extreme fear based on incomplete 00:28:24.200 --> 00:28:27.480 information. Tuco thinks the cops are coming. 00:28:28.220 --> 00:28:30.099 Walt thinks Tinko is killing everyone. Which 00:28:30.099 --> 00:28:32.720 is the defining theme of the episode. Fear drives 00:28:32.720 --> 00:28:35.680 bad decisions. If anyone had the full accurate 00:28:35.680 --> 00:28:38.339 picture, this kidnapping would never have happened. 00:28:38.819 --> 00:28:42.099 Man. What a ride. And to think, this is just 00:28:42.099 --> 00:28:44.240 the first episode of the season. It sets the 00:28:44.240 --> 00:28:46.640 bar incredibly high for what's to come. Let's 00:28:46.640 --> 00:28:48.660 take a quick step back and talk about the production 00:28:48.660 --> 00:28:50.759 of this episode. Yeah. Because there was a very 00:28:50.759 --> 00:28:52.440 interesting credit on this one that people might 00:28:52.440 --> 00:28:55.480 miss. Directed by Bryan Cranston. The man himself, 00:28:56.559 --> 00:28:59.359 Walter White, directed this episode. It's remarkably 00:28:59.359 --> 00:29:01.579 impressive. It's hard enough to act the lead 00:29:01.579 --> 00:29:03.539 role in a show like this, carrying that immense 00:29:03.539 --> 00:29:06.299 emotional weight in every scene, but to direct 00:29:06.299 --> 00:29:09.660 it as well. To manage the pacing, the complex 00:29:09.660 --> 00:29:12.039 visual setups in the junkyard, the performances 00:29:12.039 --> 00:29:14.740 of the other actors. And think about the specific 00:29:14.740 --> 00:29:17.500 scenes he had to direct here. The assault on 00:29:17.500 --> 00:29:20.900 Skyler. He had to be in that scene, acting out 00:29:20.900 --> 00:29:23.119 that monstrous aggressive behavior, and then 00:29:23.119 --> 00:29:25.460 immediately yell, cut, and give technical notes 00:29:25.460 --> 00:29:28.660 to Anna Gunn, or check the camera lighting. That 00:29:28.660 --> 00:29:31.200 takes a level of professional compartmentalization 00:29:31.200 --> 00:29:33.859 that is kind of scary in itself. It really does, 00:29:33.859 --> 00:29:36.460 but he crushed it, and the critics widely agreed. 00:29:36.599 --> 00:29:39.440 Donna Bowman from the AV Club gave it an A -. 00:29:39.920 --> 00:29:42.599 She specifically praised Cranston's dual role, 00:29:42.940 --> 00:29:44.880 highlighting his acting in his directing. And 00:29:44.880 --> 00:29:47.660 Seth Amitin from IGN gave it an 8 .7 out of 10. 00:29:48.059 --> 00:29:50.299 High praise. Very high praise for a premiere. 00:29:50.740 --> 00:29:53.220 The critical reception at the time was strong. 00:29:53.480 --> 00:29:55.200 But it's interesting, you know, when you look 00:29:55.200 --> 00:29:57.480 at retrospective rankings of all Breaking Bad 00:29:57.480 --> 00:30:00.319 episodes today, 737 usually lands somewhere right 00:30:00.319 --> 00:30:02.960 in the middle. Right. The Ringer ranked it 39th 00:30:02.960 --> 00:30:06.599 out of 62 total episodes. Vulture put it at 32nd. 00:30:06.740 --> 00:30:08.480 Why do you think that is? If it's so tightly 00:30:08.480 --> 00:30:10.339 written and well acted, why isn't it considered 00:30:10.339 --> 00:30:13.509 top 10? I think because it is fundamentally a 00:30:13.509 --> 00:30:16.109 bridge episode, it's a setup. It doesn't have 00:30:16.109 --> 00:30:19.190 the massive explosive release of a season finale 00:30:19.190 --> 00:30:22.450 or the sheer novelty of the pilot episode. Its 00:30:22.450 --> 00:30:25.450 specific job is to intricately move the pieces 00:30:25.450 --> 00:30:27.930 on the chessboard to set up the grilled episode 00:30:27.930 --> 00:30:29.829 that immediately follows it. It does all the 00:30:29.829 --> 00:30:31.910 heavy lifting so the next episode can just run 00:30:31.910 --> 00:30:34.130 with the action. Exactly. It's the first act 00:30:34.130 --> 00:30:37.029 of a two -part movie, really. 737 and Grilled 00:30:37.029 --> 00:30:41.329 are almost one continuous long story. But without 00:30:41.329 --> 00:30:44.109 the psychological tension built here, the money 00:30:44.109 --> 00:30:46.730 calculation, the failed CPR in the dirt, the 00:30:46.730 --> 00:30:48.950 sleepless paranoia, the climax of the next episode 00:30:48.950 --> 00:30:51.630 wouldn't matter at all. True. You need to intimately 00:30:51.630 --> 00:30:54.190 feel the screws tightening before they finally 00:30:54.190 --> 00:30:57.150 snap. And this episode is just 47 minutes of 00:30:57.150 --> 00:30:59.589 tightening screws. Before we wrap up, I want 00:30:59.589 --> 00:31:01.269 to circle back to the mission we talked about 00:31:01.269 --> 00:31:04.009 at the very start of the deep dive, the 737 concept 00:31:04.009 --> 00:31:07.609 and this overarching idea of unintended consequences. 00:31:07.769 --> 00:31:11.500 Central thesis. Yes. Walt genuinely thinks he 00:31:11.500 --> 00:31:14.500 can control the outcome of his choices. He thinks 00:31:14.500 --> 00:31:17.779 737 ,000 is the magic number that will solve 00:31:17.779 --> 00:31:21.019 his life. But the universe or the inherent chaos 00:31:21.019 --> 00:31:24.240 of the illegal drug trade always has other plans. 00:31:24.859 --> 00:31:27.279 It's the central tragedy of Walter White's character 00:31:27.279 --> 00:31:30.509 arc. He is an absolute genius at chemistry. He 00:31:30.509 --> 00:31:32.849 perfectly understands how to manipulate variables 00:31:32.849 --> 00:31:36.369 in a sterile lab. But he is entirely failing 00:31:36.369 --> 00:31:38.750 at accounting for the messy variables of human 00:31:38.750 --> 00:31:41.970 nature. He didn't calculate Tuco's drug induced 00:31:41.970 --> 00:31:44.829 rage. He didn't calculate Gonzo's religious sense 00:31:44.829 --> 00:31:47.430 of duty. He didn't even calculate his own wife's 00:31:47.430 --> 00:31:50.150 sharp intuition. And because he arrogantly ignored 00:31:50.150 --> 00:31:52.430 all those human variables, the equation didn't 00:31:52.430 --> 00:31:54.950 balance. Instead of buying his freedom, he bought 00:31:54.950 --> 00:31:57.309 himself a one way ticket in the trunk of Tuco's 00:31:57.309 --> 00:32:01.279 car. And that number, 737 ,000, it essentially 00:32:01.279 --> 00:32:03.640 becomes a tombstone. It's not the wealth he takes 00:32:03.640 --> 00:32:06.619 with him, it's what destroys the city, symbolically, 00:32:06.859 --> 00:32:08.779 via the plane crash foreshadowed in the episode 00:32:08.779 --> 00:32:10.740 title. Which leaves us with a really big what 00:32:10.740 --> 00:32:12.680 -if for the listeners. The provocative thought. 00:32:12.720 --> 00:32:14.940 What if Gonzo hadn't died? It's a fascinating 00:32:14.940 --> 00:32:18.779 thread to pull on. Right. If Gonzo had just ignored 00:32:18.779 --> 00:32:21.819 his conscience, left no dose his body alone, 00:32:22.240 --> 00:32:24.980 and gone home, he wouldn't have been found dead 00:32:24.980 --> 00:32:27.690 at the junkyard the next day. Hank wouldn't have 00:32:27.690 --> 00:32:29.569 called Walt with the news from the crime scene. 00:32:30.089 --> 00:32:32.269 Walt and Jesse wouldn't have completely panicked. 00:32:32.549 --> 00:32:34.950 They wouldn't have mistakenly assumed Tuco was 00:32:34.950 --> 00:32:37.210 systematically cleaning house. They would have 00:32:37.210 --> 00:32:39.130 calmly proceeded with the race and plan. They 00:32:39.130 --> 00:32:41.210 might have actually tried to poison Tuco at the 00:32:41.210 --> 00:32:43.990 next scheduled meet. Would it have worked? Maybe. 00:32:44.390 --> 00:32:46.390 Or maybe Tuco would have been suspicious and 00:32:46.390 --> 00:32:49.009 killed them on the spot. Or maybe Tuco still 00:32:49.009 --> 00:32:51.049 would have kidnapped them anyway because he was 00:32:51.049 --> 00:32:52.970 growing increasingly paranoid about the police 00:32:52.970 --> 00:32:56.170 finding No Doz's body eventually. It's entirely 00:32:56.170 --> 00:32:59.009 possible. But the immediate urgency, the sudden 00:32:59.009 --> 00:33:01.609 get in the car right now violence was triggered, 00:33:02.170 --> 00:33:04.609 specifically because Tuco thought his loyal crew 00:33:04.609 --> 00:33:07.369 was being wiped out by an unknown enemy or the 00:33:07.369 --> 00:33:10.750 cops. Gonzo's accidental death is the massive 00:33:10.750 --> 00:33:13.549 hinge point of history here. One guy just trying 00:33:13.549 --> 00:33:16.670 to be a good Christian in a dusty junkyard completely 00:33:16.670 --> 00:33:18.809 changes the fate of everyone in Albuquerque. 00:33:19.029 --> 00:33:21.430 That is the butterfly effect of Breaking Bad. 00:33:21.660 --> 00:33:24.039 or as we should call it, the dead henchman effect. 00:33:24.180 --> 00:33:26.480 The dead henchman effect. I like that. It's catchy. 00:33:26.740 --> 00:33:31.460 Well, on that note, 737, an absolute master class 00:33:31.460 --> 00:33:35.119 intention, long -term foreshadowing of the sheer 00:33:35.119 --> 00:33:37.880 futility of trying to mathematically control 00:33:37.880 --> 00:33:39.920 chaos. I couldn't have said it better myself. 00:33:40.220 --> 00:33:42.160 Thanks for diving deep with us today. This was 00:33:42.160 --> 00:33:43.960 a heavy one to get through, but man, was it worth 00:33:43.960 --> 00:33:46.319 unpacking. Always a pleasure. We'll see you on 00:33:46.319 --> 00:33:47.160 the next one. Take care.