WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.299 Welcome back to the deep dive. If you are tuning 00:00:03.299 --> 00:00:05.540 in right now, you probably already know the drill. 00:00:05.700 --> 00:00:07.900 But if you're new here, let's set the stage for 00:00:07.900 --> 00:00:11.380 you. You are not here for a quick Wikipedia summary. 00:00:11.439 --> 00:00:13.460 Right. You can read that on your phone in 30 00:00:13.460 --> 00:00:16.280 seconds. You're here because you want to understand 00:00:16.280 --> 00:00:18.739 the actual architecture of the story. You want 00:00:18.739 --> 00:00:21.320 to know not just what happened, but why it happened. 00:00:21.539 --> 00:00:24.940 Exactly. And how it fits into the massive just 00:00:24.940 --> 00:00:28.000 sprawling puzzle of the media we love. That is 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:30.460 the mission. We take a stack of sources, production 00:00:30.460 --> 00:00:33.259 notes, critical reviews, script analysis, and 00:00:33.259 --> 00:00:35.340 the source material itself, and we try to find 00:00:35.340 --> 00:00:37.340 the signal and the noise. We want to extract 00:00:37.340 --> 00:00:40.280 those specific nuggets of insight that turn a 00:00:40.280 --> 00:00:43.200 casual viewing into a master class in storytelling. 00:00:43.740 --> 00:00:46.320 And today, man, we are tackling a behemoth. Oh, 00:00:46.320 --> 00:00:48.460 yeah. We are looking at Breaking Bad. Specifically, 00:00:48.679 --> 00:00:51.500 we're zooming in on season two, episode seven. 00:00:51.659 --> 00:00:55.079 The episode titled Negro Iazul. Which translates 00:00:55.079 --> 00:00:57.549 directly to Black and Blue. Right off the bat, 00:00:57.750 --> 00:00:59.990 that title is doing a lot of heavy lifting. Black 00:00:59.990 --> 00:01:02.990 and blue, it's visceral. It suggests impact. 00:01:03.509 --> 00:01:06.069 It suggests bruising. When you hear that phrase, 00:01:06.629 --> 00:01:08.730 you think of the aftermath of a fight. You think 00:01:08.730 --> 00:01:12.349 of physical trauma. And as we peel back the layers 00:01:12.349 --> 00:01:14.170 of this particular episode, I think we're going 00:01:14.170 --> 00:01:16.790 to find that almost every single character we 00:01:16.790 --> 00:01:19.349 care about ends up with some kind of bruise by 00:01:19.349 --> 00:01:21.969 the time the credits roll. Mentally or physically. 00:01:22.170 --> 00:01:24.870 Right. Whether it's a physical wound or a psychological 00:01:24.870 --> 00:01:28.129 spar, nobody gets out of this hour clean. It's 00:01:28.129 --> 00:01:30.829 rough. It's a massive, pivotal chapter. This 00:01:30.829 --> 00:01:35.469 originally aired on April 19, 2009. 2009, wow. 00:01:35.790 --> 00:01:37.930 And that's a really significant date because 00:01:37.930 --> 00:01:39.989 we are right in the middle of the show finding 00:01:39.989 --> 00:01:43.170 its true footing. The golden age of TV really 00:01:43.170 --> 00:01:45.409 hitting its stride. Exactly. It was directed 00:01:45.409 --> 00:01:48.530 by Felix Alcala and written by John Chibon. We 00:01:48.530 --> 00:01:50.150 definitely should mention the visual team, too. 00:01:50.150 --> 00:01:52.510 Oh, absolutely. Cinematographer Michael Slovis 00:01:52.510 --> 00:01:55.510 and editor Lynn Willingham. They are so crucial 00:01:55.510 --> 00:01:57.150 to the atmosphere we're going to discuss today, 00:01:57.170 --> 00:01:59.150 especially when we get out into the desert. The 00:01:59.150 --> 00:02:02.209 desert stuff is just legendary. So the mission 00:02:02.209 --> 00:02:04.870 for this deep dive is pretty specific for you 00:02:04.870 --> 00:02:07.500 guys listening. We want to explore how Negro 00:02:07.500 --> 00:02:10.120 Yazul serves as a hinge for the entire season. 00:02:10.139 --> 00:02:12.319 A total hinge. We're going to see Walter White 00:02:12.319 --> 00:02:16.210 expanding his empire. in a way that feels almost 00:02:16.210 --> 00:02:18.710 accidental. Accidental, but inevitable. Yes, 00:02:18.849 --> 00:02:20.990 exactly. And we're going to see Hank Schrader 00:02:20.990 --> 00:02:23.550 face a level of horror that fundamentally rewrites 00:02:23.550 --> 00:02:26.030 his character's DNA. It breaks him. It really 00:02:26.030 --> 00:02:28.870 does. And on top of all that, we are going to 00:02:28.870 --> 00:02:32.150 see the start of some new relationships, specifically 00:02:32.150 --> 00:02:34.650 for Skyler and Jesse, relationships that are 00:02:34.650 --> 00:02:37.129 going to complicate literally everything moving 00:02:37.129 --> 00:02:39.629 forward. Before we get into the plot, we have 00:02:39.629 --> 00:02:42.250 to talk about the opening. Because this episode 00:02:42.250 --> 00:02:44.370 does something Breaking Bad hadn't really done 00:02:44.370 --> 00:02:47.069 before. Right. It opens with a music video. It's 00:02:47.069 --> 00:02:50.689 so jarring. But in the best possible way. The 00:02:50.689 --> 00:02:52.710 source material highlights this as a featured 00:02:52.710 --> 00:02:54.810 music note, but it is so much more than that. 00:02:54.889 --> 00:02:57.969 Oh, yeah. The song itself is also titled Negro 00:02:57.969 --> 00:03:00.990 Izu, and it's performed by a real band, Los Cuates 00:03:00.990 --> 00:03:04.240 de Sinaloa. And this is where the show gets incredibly 00:03:04.240 --> 00:03:07.240 meta. This is a narco corrido. For the listener 00:03:07.240 --> 00:03:10.000 who might not be deep into Mexican regional music, 00:03:10.319 --> 00:03:13.120 what exactly is that? So corrido is a traditional 00:03:13.120 --> 00:03:15.780 ballad. It tells a story. Usually they're about 00:03:15.780 --> 00:03:17.960 revolutionaries, bandits, heroes of the people. 00:03:18.159 --> 00:03:21.759 Like folklore. Exactly like folklore. But a narco 00:03:21.759 --> 00:03:26.080 corrido takes that same mythic storytelling structure 00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:29.219 and applies it to the drug trade. They sing about 00:03:29.340 --> 00:03:33.039 real drug lords, real shootouts, real betrayals. 00:03:33.180 --> 00:03:36.039 It's essentially a gangster rap ballad for the 00:03:36.039 --> 00:03:38.680 cartel world. That is the perfect analogy. And 00:03:38.680 --> 00:03:40.300 placing this right at the start of the episode, 00:03:40.580 --> 00:03:43.340 it serves a fascinating narrative function. It's 00:03:43.340 --> 00:03:46.500 like a Greek chorus. Yes. In Greek tragedy, the 00:03:46.500 --> 00:03:48.240 chorus stands completely outside the action. 00:03:48.719 --> 00:03:50.379 They comment on it. They tell the audience what 00:03:50.379 --> 00:03:53.340 the stakes are. And here, Los Cuares de Sinaloa 00:03:53.340 --> 00:03:55.770 are singing about Heisenberg. They're singing 00:03:55.770 --> 00:03:58.590 about this mysterious gringo whose blue meth 00:03:58.590 --> 00:04:01.129 is taking over the market. The lyrics are actually 00:04:01.129 --> 00:04:02.930 kind of terrifying, if you really pay attention 00:04:02.930 --> 00:04:04.789 to the translation. They are. They talk about 00:04:04.789 --> 00:04:07.409 how the cartel does not respect this new kingpin. 00:04:07.909 --> 00:04:10.629 They talk about how his fame has reached Michoacan. 00:04:11.090 --> 00:04:13.990 It signals to us, the viewers, that the world 00:04:13.990 --> 00:04:16.290 of the show has just gotten infinitely bigger. 00:04:16.529 --> 00:04:19.029 It recontextualizes everything we've seen so 00:04:19.029 --> 00:04:21.750 far. Completely. Because up until now, Walt has 00:04:21.750 --> 00:04:23.709 been operating in this tiny little bubble of 00:04:23.709 --> 00:04:26.120 Albuquerque suburbia. He thinks he's hiding in 00:04:26.120 --> 00:04:28.300 plain sight. He thinks he's just a guy in an 00:04:28.300 --> 00:04:31.139 RV. Right. But this song tells us that he is 00:04:31.139 --> 00:04:34.100 already a legend south of the border. He has 00:04:34.100 --> 00:04:37.199 become folklore. And in the drug world, being 00:04:37.199 --> 00:04:40.379 folklore is a very, very dangerous thing to be. 00:04:40.759 --> 00:04:43.379 Because people want to test legends. They want 00:04:43.379 --> 00:04:45.519 to knock the king off the mountain. It sets the 00:04:45.519 --> 00:04:48.740 stakes perfectly. Reputation is traveling way 00:04:48.740 --> 00:04:50.920 faster than reality. And that theme right there. 00:04:51.399 --> 00:04:53.540 Reputation versus reality. That is the engine 00:04:53.540 --> 00:04:56.899 that drives our first major segment today. Let's 00:04:56.899 --> 00:04:59.079 call this part the myth of the killer. This is 00:04:59.079 --> 00:05:01.360 the whole Walt and Jesse storyline. We really 00:05:01.360 --> 00:05:02.800 have to pick up the pieces from the previous 00:05:02.800 --> 00:05:05.600 episode to understand this. The episode Peek 00:05:05.600 --> 00:05:08.759 -A -Boo. Peek -A -Boo was heavy. Very dark. If 00:05:08.759 --> 00:05:11.459 you recall, Jesse went to confront a couple of 00:05:11.459 --> 00:05:14.139 junkies who ripped off his dealer, Skinny Pete. 00:05:14.439 --> 00:05:16.939 And it ended with one of the most gruesome deaths 00:05:16.939 --> 00:05:19.889 in the show's history up to that point. The junkie, 00:05:20.310 --> 00:05:22.850 Spooge, had his head completely crushed by his 00:05:22.850 --> 00:05:25.730 stolen ATM machine. But, and this is the crucial 00:05:25.730 --> 00:05:28.430 detail we have to keep in mind. Jesse didn't 00:05:28.430 --> 00:05:31.389 do it. He didn't even touch the machine. Spooge's 00:05:31.389 --> 00:05:33.790 partner, the woman, she's the one who pushed 00:05:33.790 --> 00:05:36.410 the ATM over. Jesse was actually trying to de 00:05:36.410 --> 00:05:37.870 -escalate the whole situation. He was trying 00:05:37.870 --> 00:05:40.050 to get out of there. He was horrified by what 00:05:40.050 --> 00:05:42.370 he saw. So we open this episode, Negre Azul, 00:05:42.389 --> 00:05:44.889 and we find Jesse in a state of absolute paralysis. 00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:47.500 The source describes him as locked in his apartment, 00:05:47.660 --> 00:05:50.100 he's smoking marijuana, he's refusing to answer 00:05:50.100 --> 00:05:53.120 the door. He is traumatized. Period. Deeply. 00:05:53.259 --> 00:05:55.100 We often get caught up in the whole, yeah bitch, 00:05:55.379 --> 00:05:58.019 bravado of Jesse Pinkman. We love the slang in 00:05:58.019 --> 00:06:00.600 the baggy clothes, but we have to remember that 00:06:00.600 --> 00:06:03.000 underneath the hoodie, he's a suburban kid. He 00:06:03.000 --> 00:06:05.579 grew up in a nice house with good parents. Exactly. 00:06:05.839 --> 00:06:09.529 He is not a killer. He has a conscience. Witnessing 00:06:09.529 --> 00:06:12.610 a human head get crushed like a melon is not 00:06:12.610 --> 00:06:14.589 something he could just shake off. He's self 00:06:14.589 --> 00:06:16.569 -medicating. He's hiding from the world. It's 00:06:16.569 --> 00:06:20.269 a direct response to moral injury. And then, 00:06:20.310 --> 00:06:22.209 of course, Walter White shows up. And this interaction 00:06:22.209 --> 00:06:24.430 tells you literally everything you need to know 00:06:24.430 --> 00:06:26.069 about their relationship at this point. Walt 00:06:26.069 --> 00:06:29.449 is just banging on the door, relentless. And 00:06:29.449 --> 00:06:31.970 when he finally gets inside and sees the state 00:06:31.970 --> 00:06:36.269 and Jesse is in, he sees this kid curled up. 00:06:36.350 --> 00:06:39.550 Vague. What is Walt's first instinct? It certainly 00:06:39.550 --> 00:06:42.329 isn't compassion. No. Is it, oh my god, are you 00:06:42.329 --> 00:06:45.649 OK? Not even close. Walt is terrified that Jesse 00:06:45.649 --> 00:06:48.769 has compromised their operation. He assumes, 00:06:49.069 --> 00:06:51.069 based entirely on Jesse's catatonic behavior, 00:06:51.209 --> 00:06:53.250 that Jesse actually committed the murder. He's 00:06:53.250 --> 00:06:56.129 in full sociopathic damage control mode. It's 00:06:56.129 --> 00:06:58.170 purely transactional. Walt looks at a broken 00:06:58.170 --> 00:07:00.589 human being and just sees a massive liability. 00:07:00.769 --> 00:07:03.629 He asks if there's any evidence. He asks if anyone 00:07:03.629 --> 00:07:05.970 saw him. He's running the math for prison time 00:07:05.970 --> 00:07:08.410 in his head. He's not thinking about his partner's 00:07:08.410 --> 00:07:10.589 mental health for a single second. But then comes 00:07:10.589 --> 00:07:13.610 the clarification. Jesse manages to explain that 00:07:13.610 --> 00:07:15.850 he didn't do it. He didn't pull the trigger. 00:07:15.990 --> 00:07:18.370 He didn't push the ATM. And if you watch that 00:07:18.370 --> 00:07:22.050 scene, watch Walt's body language change. He 00:07:22.050 --> 00:07:25.129 relaxes. The tension just leaves his shoulders. 00:07:25.189 --> 00:07:27.790 He takes a breath. Because for Walt, the moral 00:07:27.790 --> 00:07:30.370 weight of a man dying is totally irrelevant. 00:07:30.620 --> 00:07:33.420 The only thing that matters is legal culpability. 00:07:33.980 --> 00:07:36.040 Since Jesse didn't do it and the police aren't 00:07:36.040 --> 00:07:38.759 looking for him, Walt thinks the problem is solved. 00:07:39.279 --> 00:07:41.160 But, and here's the twist that makes this entire 00:07:41.160 --> 00:07:43.800 segment so brilliant, the problem isn't solved 00:07:43.800 --> 00:07:46.120 at all. It is mutated. Mutated is something much 00:07:46.120 --> 00:07:48.600 bigger. Because while Jesse knows the truth and 00:07:48.600 --> 00:07:52.100 Walt knows the truth, the street has a completely 00:07:52.100 --> 00:07:54.100 different version of events. The rumor mill. 00:07:54.259 --> 00:07:56.720 Right. In the criminal underworld, information 00:07:56.720 --> 00:08:00.149 is just a deadly game of telephone. The story 00:08:00.149 --> 00:08:01.910 that has trickled down to all the low -level 00:08:01.910 --> 00:08:04.589 dealers is that Jesse Pinkman didn't just witness 00:08:04.589 --> 00:08:08.050 a murder. He executed one. The story out there 00:08:08.050 --> 00:08:11.029 is that he crushed a man's head with an ATM simply 00:08:11.029 --> 00:08:12.889 because the guy quote -unquote called him a skank. 00:08:13.029 --> 00:08:16.089 Which is so ironic. Because skank was the word 00:08:16.089 --> 00:08:18.470 spooge used against his own partner, which is 00:08:18.470 --> 00:08:20.410 what actually caused her to kill him. Right. 00:08:20.689 --> 00:08:23.529 So the rumors have completely mixed up the victim, 00:08:23.889 --> 00:08:26.470 the perpetrator, and the motive. But they've 00:08:26.470 --> 00:08:28.980 kept the extreme violence intact. And the result 00:08:28.980 --> 00:08:32.940 of that rumor is pure fear. Badger, one of Jesse's 00:08:32.940 --> 00:08:36.159 dealers, calls to set up a drop. And since Jesse 00:08:36.159 --> 00:08:39.580 is still completely catatonic on the couch, Walt 00:08:39.580 --> 00:08:42.139 has to go handle the business himself. He has 00:08:42.139 --> 00:08:44.419 to step out of the lab and into the street. And 00:08:44.419 --> 00:08:47.220 when Walt meets these low level dealers, he feels 00:08:47.220 --> 00:08:51.149 the shift in the air instantly. They are terrified 00:08:51.149 --> 00:08:53.429 of Jesse. They are looking at this operation 00:08:53.429 --> 00:08:56.730 with this newfound respect that borders on absolute 00:08:56.730 --> 00:08:59.309 awe. They think they are working for an unpredictable 00:08:59.309 --> 00:09:01.250 psychopath. They put yourself in the shoes of 00:09:01.250 --> 00:09:03.129 a normal person. If you found out people thought 00:09:03.129 --> 00:09:04.850 your business partner was a brutal murderer, 00:09:05.250 --> 00:09:07.370 you would probably want to clear that up immediately. 00:09:07.509 --> 00:09:09.830 You'd say, no, hey, big misunderstanding. We 00:09:09.830 --> 00:09:12.330 are not violent people. Just a crazy coincidence. 00:09:12.610 --> 00:09:16.129 But Walt, Walt sees an opportunity. This is where 00:09:16.129 --> 00:09:18.230 the Heisenberg persona really steps into the 00:09:18.230 --> 00:09:21.750 light. He realizes instantly that this fear is 00:09:21.750 --> 00:09:25.110 a currency. The most valuable currency on the 00:09:25.110 --> 00:09:27.950 street. In the drug trade, if people fear you, 00:09:28.389 --> 00:09:30.269 they do not rob you, they don't short your money, 00:09:30.509 --> 00:09:32.809 they don't report you to the cops. So he goes 00:09:32.809 --> 00:09:35.570 back to Jesse's apartment. Jesse is still just 00:09:35.570 --> 00:09:38.529 curled up in a ball of trauma. And Walt delivers 00:09:38.529 --> 00:09:41.370 this incredible manipulative speech. He uses 00:09:41.370 --> 00:09:43.889 the word galvanize. Galvanize. It's a chemistry 00:09:43.889 --> 00:09:46.830 term. which is so fitting for Walt. We used to 00:09:46.830 --> 00:09:49.309 coat iron or steel with a protective layer of 00:09:49.309 --> 00:09:54.590 zinc to prevent rusting. Walt wants to coat Jesse 00:09:54.590 --> 00:09:57.690 in this lie. He wants to armor him in this completely 00:09:57.690 --> 00:10:00.149 false reputation. He basically tells Jesse, look, 00:10:00.309 --> 00:10:02.269 let them think you did it. Be the monster they 00:10:02.269 --> 00:10:04.549 think you are. Wear it like armor. It's the myth 00:10:04.549 --> 00:10:07.049 of the killer. They are building a drug empire 00:10:07.049 --> 00:10:09.769 on a story that is objectively, provably false. 00:10:09.950 --> 00:10:12.549 It's a marketing strategy. Exactly. Walt is effectively 00:10:12.549 --> 00:10:15.110 branding their operation as the guys who will 00:10:15.110 --> 00:10:17.129 crush your head with an ATM if you cross them. 00:10:17.350 --> 00:10:19.309 It ties perfectly back to the narco -corritto 00:10:19.309 --> 00:10:21.529 from the cold open, doesn't it? It really does. 00:10:22.070 --> 00:10:24.409 The song is about the legend of Heisenberg. And 00:10:24.409 --> 00:10:27.809 here, in real time, Walt is actively writing 00:10:27.809 --> 00:10:30.399 the legend of Jesse Pinkman. They are becoming 00:10:30.399 --> 00:10:32.980 characters in their own narrative. They are leaning 00:10:32.980 --> 00:10:35.460 into the folklore. It's incredibly smart from 00:10:35.460 --> 00:10:37.639 a business perspective, but it's also incredibly 00:10:37.639 --> 00:10:40.259 dangerous. Why dangerous? Because when you project 00:10:40.259 --> 00:10:43.700 a shadow that big, when you strut around acting 00:10:43.700 --> 00:10:47.519 like a ruthless kingpin, eventually, someone 00:10:47.519 --> 00:10:49.639 much bigger and much scarier is going to come 00:10:49.639 --> 00:10:51.320 along to see if you can actually back it up. 00:10:51.559 --> 00:10:54.379 Someone like the cartel. Precisely. Walt is writing 00:10:54.379 --> 00:10:57.539 checks that Jesse's fragile psyche absolutely 00:10:57.769 --> 00:11:00.429 cannot cash. It's a house of cards. Right. And 00:11:00.429 --> 00:11:02.809 it's built on a foundation of another man's trauma. 00:11:03.470 --> 00:11:05.850 But while Walt is playing dress up as a drug 00:11:05.850 --> 00:11:08.129 lord in the relative safety of Albuquerque, we 00:11:08.129 --> 00:11:11.730 get a massive splash of cold water or maybe hot 00:11:11.730 --> 00:11:13.950 sand in this case. Oh, man. Yes. This brings 00:11:13.950 --> 00:11:16.830 us to segment two, El Paso and the Turtle. We 00:11:16.830 --> 00:11:19.250 are shifting focus to Hank Schrader. The transition 00:11:19.250 --> 00:11:21.330 to this segment is designed by the editor to 00:11:21.330 --> 00:11:24.220 be incredibly jarring. We leave the muted, kind 00:11:24.220 --> 00:11:26.940 of beige and brown tones of the White Household. 00:11:27.259 --> 00:11:29.919 We leave the dark, smoky interiors of Jesse's 00:11:29.919 --> 00:11:32.399 apartment. And suddenly we are thrust into the 00:11:32.399 --> 00:11:35.860 blinding, high -contrast light of the Texas -Mexico 00:11:35.860 --> 00:11:38.139 border. Hank has been promoted. He's now part 00:11:38.139 --> 00:11:40.879 of an elite joint task force in El Paso. This 00:11:40.879 --> 00:11:43.320 was supposed to be his big break. He's the hero 00:11:43.320 --> 00:11:46.220 of the Albuquerque DEA office. He killed Tuco 00:11:46.220 --> 00:11:49.200 Salamanca. He's the guy. But look at the vibe 00:11:49.200 --> 00:11:53.149 the second he arrives. In Albuquerque, Hank is 00:11:53.149 --> 00:11:55.529 the alpha male. He's the loud guy at the water 00:11:55.529 --> 00:11:57.690 cooler. He makes the off -color jokes. He kicks 00:11:57.690 --> 00:12:00.009 down the doors. He's the big fish in a small 00:12:00.009 --> 00:12:02.830 pond. And in El Paso? He is a minnow in a massive, 00:12:02.830 --> 00:12:06.610 violent ocean. The culture shock is just palpable. 00:12:07.049 --> 00:12:09.350 The agents in El Paso, they don't speak his language, 00:12:09.870 --> 00:12:11.970 literally and culturally. They're speaking rapid 00:12:11.970 --> 00:12:14.110 -fire Spanish with each other, which Hank clearly 00:12:14.110 --> 00:12:16.330 doesn't understand. They are serious. They are 00:12:16.330 --> 00:12:19.320 hardened. They are cynical. To them, Hank is 00:12:19.320 --> 00:12:21.559 just a suit. He's a tourist from the suburbs 00:12:21.559 --> 00:12:23.299 who thinks he knows how to fight a war he hasn't 00:12:23.299 --> 00:12:25.620 even seen yet. We see this friction come to a 00:12:25.620 --> 00:12:27.379 head with the introduction of a guest character, 00:12:27.799 --> 00:12:30.159 Tortuga. Played by the legendary Danny Trejo. 00:12:30.639 --> 00:12:34.059 What a phenomenal casting choice. Danny Trejo 00:12:34.059 --> 00:12:36.980 brings instant, undeniable authenticity to the 00:12:36.980 --> 00:12:38.840 screen. You see that face and you just know the 00:12:38.840 --> 00:12:41.799 history. Tortuga is a high -level cartel informant. 00:12:42.100 --> 00:12:44.799 But the dynamic is all wrong for Hank. Hank is 00:12:44.799 --> 00:12:47.659 used to informants being scared, desperate street 00:12:47.659 --> 00:12:50.360 junkies, guys like Crazy Eight. Right. Instead, 00:12:50.559 --> 00:12:53.200 Tortuga is sitting in a luxurious hotel room, 00:12:53.519 --> 00:12:55.679 he's ordering expensive items from a Sky Mall 00:12:55.679 --> 00:12:58.860 catalog, and he's treating these federal DEA 00:12:58.860 --> 00:13:01.200 agents like his personal assistants. He's asking 00:13:01.200 --> 00:13:04.240 for specific shoes. And Hank just hates it. His 00:13:04.240 --> 00:13:06.559 ego can't take it. So Hank tries to pull his 00:13:06.559 --> 00:13:09.080 usual tough guy routine. He tries to physically 00:13:09.080 --> 00:13:11.820 intimidate Tortuga. He leans in, tries to talk 00:13:11.820 --> 00:13:14.039 tough. But Tortuga just laughs right in his face. 00:13:14.419 --> 00:13:17.139 There's this highly specific moment where Tortuga 00:13:17.139 --> 00:13:18.960 basically tells Hank that he's playing a game 00:13:18.960 --> 00:13:21.460 he doesn't even understand the rules to. He cuts 00:13:21.460 --> 00:13:24.159 through Hank's bravado like a hot knife through 00:13:24.159 --> 00:13:26.639 butter. It's a complete deconstruction of the 00:13:26.639 --> 00:13:29.440 classic Western hero trope. Hank thinks he's 00:13:29.440 --> 00:13:31.220 the new sheriff coming to town to clean up the 00:13:31.220 --> 00:13:33.620 streets. But the town operates on an entirely 00:13:33.620 --> 00:13:36.159 different plane of reality. And then comes the 00:13:36.159 --> 00:13:38.320 scene. Yeah. This is the one. I think if you 00:13:38.320 --> 00:13:40.100 ask anyone who watched the show about this episode, 00:13:40.179 --> 00:13:42.519 this is the exact image they remember forever. 00:13:42.940 --> 00:13:45.059 The wait in the desert. Let's set the scene for 00:13:45.059 --> 00:13:47.440 the listener. Hank and the El Paso team are waiting 00:13:47.440 --> 00:13:49.820 out in the middle of nowhere for a cartel drop 00:13:49.820 --> 00:13:52.500 or a meeting. The cinematography by Michael Slovis 00:13:52.500 --> 00:13:55.759 here is doing so much heavy lifting. It's masterful. 00:13:55.820 --> 00:13:59.100 The shots are incredibly wide. You feel the isolation. 00:13:59.179 --> 00:14:01.639 The silence is oppressive. You can hear the wind 00:14:01.639 --> 00:14:03.940 whistling through the scrub. You can literally 00:14:03.940 --> 00:14:07.129 feel the heat radiating off the screen. It creates 00:14:07.129 --> 00:14:10.169 this overwhelming sense of dread. And then they 00:14:10.169 --> 00:14:12.429 spot something way off in the distance. It's 00:14:12.429 --> 00:14:15.029 not a convoy of arm trucks. It's not a squad 00:14:15.029 --> 00:14:19.029 of cartel gunmen. No, it's an animal, a tortoise, 00:14:19.190 --> 00:14:22.610 just walking incredibly slowly through the desert 00:14:22.610 --> 00:14:25.049 scrub towards them. And mounted on top of its 00:14:25.049 --> 00:14:27.750 shell? Is Tortuga's severed head. Tortuga means 00:14:27.750 --> 00:14:31.730 tortoise in Spanish. It's a sick, twisted, literal 00:14:31.730 --> 00:14:35.820 visual pun. It is so grotesque. It is macabre 00:14:35.820 --> 00:14:38.720 on a level we hadn't seen yet. It is the cartel 00:14:38.720 --> 00:14:41.240 sending a very clear message that says, we can 00:14:41.240 --> 00:14:45.340 get anyone, anywhere, at any time, and we will 00:14:45.340 --> 00:14:48.059 turn your prized informant into a literal joke. 00:14:48.320 --> 00:14:50.440 It's not just murder for the sake of silencing 00:14:50.440 --> 00:14:52.500 him. It's performance art. It's psychological 00:14:52.500 --> 00:14:55.000 warfare. Now watch the reaction of the characters 00:14:55.000 --> 00:14:57.259 here, because this is the crucial character beat 00:14:57.259 --> 00:15:00.559 for Hank Schrader. The other agents... The tough 00:15:00.559 --> 00:15:03.059 guys of El Paso who have been mocking Hank all 00:15:03.059 --> 00:15:05.139 week for being so... What do they do when they 00:15:05.139 --> 00:15:07.399 see a severed head on a tortoise? They laugh. 00:15:07.580 --> 00:15:09.440 They think it is hilarious. One guy literally 00:15:09.440 --> 00:15:11.620 pulls out a camera and starts taking joke photos 00:15:11.620 --> 00:15:14.259 with it. They are so completely desensitized 00:15:14.259 --> 00:15:16.799 to the ultraviolence of the cartel. To them, 00:15:16.960 --> 00:15:19.240 a severed head on a turtle is just another Tuesday 00:15:19.240 --> 00:15:22.279 in the drug war. They've seen worse. And Hank. 00:15:22.899 --> 00:15:26.080 I suppose a tough guy. Hank breaks. Completely. 00:15:26.240 --> 00:15:28.940 He is physically ill. He turns dead pale. He 00:15:28.940 --> 00:15:30.519 starts sweating. He has to run away from the 00:15:30.519 --> 00:15:32.440 group back to his truck just to get a plastic 00:15:32.440 --> 00:15:35.080 bag to breathe into. He's having a full -blown 00:15:35.080 --> 00:15:38.059 panic attack. His body is physically rejecting 00:15:38.059 --> 00:15:41.080 the horror of what he is seeing. In that exact 00:15:41.080 --> 00:15:44.220 moment, visually, the show is telling the audience 00:15:44.220 --> 00:15:46.720 that Hank is the weak one. He's the failure. 00:15:46.820 --> 00:15:48.799 He's the tourist who can't hack it in the big 00:15:48.799 --> 00:15:51.559 leagues. But then the explosion. Boom, the tortoise 00:15:51.559 --> 00:15:54.860 was a bomb. It was an IED. The cartel hollowed 00:15:54.860 --> 00:15:56.899 out the tortoise and rigged it with explosives. 00:15:57.460 --> 00:15:59.559 And it detonates right as the agents are crowded 00:15:59.559 --> 00:16:02.299 around it laughing. And the result is just utter 00:16:02.299 --> 00:16:05.519 devastation. The tough agents, the ones who are 00:16:05.519 --> 00:16:07.980 laughing, the guy taking the picture, they are 00:16:07.980 --> 00:16:10.179 blown to pieces. Grand agent loses his leg right 00:16:10.179 --> 00:16:12.379 there in the sand. Others are killed instantly. 00:16:12.799 --> 00:16:15.059 It's absolute chaos. And where is Hank when it 00:16:15.059 --> 00:16:17.919 goes off? He's safe. He's way back by the truck. 00:16:18.039 --> 00:16:21.120 Because he was quote unquote weak. Exactly. Because 00:16:21.120 --> 00:16:24.460 he was soft. because his human empathy and disgust 00:16:24.460 --> 00:16:28.139 forced him to walk away to vomit. His humanity, 00:16:28.379 --> 00:16:30.919 his sheer inability to stomach the horror, is 00:16:30.919 --> 00:16:33.120 the literal only reason he survives the blast. 00:16:33.460 --> 00:16:36.340 That is such a profound inversion of expectations. 00:16:36.659 --> 00:16:39.779 Usually in these kinds of cop stories, this stoic, 00:16:40.200 --> 00:16:42.639 unfeeling cowboy is the one who makes it out 00:16:42.639 --> 00:16:45.419 alive because he's cuff. Right. But here, the 00:16:45.419 --> 00:16:48.740 guy who cries, the guy who hyperventilates, he's 00:16:48.740 --> 00:16:51.100 the one who gets to go home to his wife. But 00:16:51.100 --> 00:16:53.480 it creates an incredibly complex paradox for 00:16:53.480 --> 00:16:56.799 Hank going forward. Yes, he survives, but he 00:16:56.799 --> 00:16:59.879 is deeply, deeply traumatized. He realizes in 00:16:59.879 --> 00:17:02.519 that moment that the cartel is light years ahead 00:17:02.519 --> 00:17:05.059 of the DEA. They aren't just drug dealers looking 00:17:05.059 --> 00:17:08.519 to make a buck. They are waging asymmetric warfare. 00:17:08.730 --> 00:17:12.430 They're using terror tactics, booby traps, psychological 00:17:12.430 --> 00:17:15.230 manipulation. It completely shatters Hank's worldview. 00:17:15.470 --> 00:17:17.470 He truly thought he was the good guy fighting 00:17:17.470 --> 00:17:20.150 the bad guys in a standard cops and robbers game. 00:17:20.529 --> 00:17:22.710 He realizes out in that desert that he is a toy 00:17:22.710 --> 00:17:24.829 soldier standing in front of a tank. And he leaves 00:17:24.829 --> 00:17:27.769 El Paso not just physically bruised by the shockwave, 00:17:27.910 --> 00:17:30.789 but psychologically broken. He is bringing all 00:17:30.789 --> 00:17:33.430 of that deep -seated fear back to Albuquerque 00:17:33.430 --> 00:17:36.109 with him. He has seen the true face of the devil, 00:17:36.250 --> 00:17:38.529 and it was riding on the back of a toy. Yeah, 00:17:38.529 --> 00:17:41.730 he can't unsee it. So we have Walt inflating 00:17:41.730 --> 00:17:45.009 his own ego based on a massive lie, and we have 00:17:45.009 --> 00:17:47.710 Hank having his ego completely destroyed by a 00:17:47.710 --> 00:17:50.089 harsh truth. Two men moving in opposite directions. 00:17:50.549 --> 00:17:52.710 Exactly. Meanwhile, back in the domestic world, 00:17:53.009 --> 00:17:55.049 Skylar White is dealing with her own unique set 00:17:55.049 --> 00:17:58.230 of problems. Let's move to segment three, old 00:17:58.230 --> 00:18:01.230 friends and new jobs. This storyline might seem 00:18:01.230 --> 00:18:04.029 a lot quieter compared to exploding tortoises 00:18:04.029 --> 00:18:07.160 in the desert, but the stakes are actually just 00:18:07.160 --> 00:18:09.740 as high for the family dynamic. The primary driver 00:18:09.740 --> 00:18:12.119 here is financial pressure. Always the money. 00:18:12.619 --> 00:18:14.839 Despite Walt's massive, quote unquote, earnings 00:18:14.839 --> 00:18:17.559 from the meth trade, they have a serious cash 00:18:17.559 --> 00:18:20.319 flow problem. He can't wash the drug money fast 00:18:20.319 --> 00:18:22.480 enough to pay for his cancer treatments and the 00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:24.960 mortgage above board without raising massive 00:18:24.960 --> 00:18:27.259 suspicion. He's got duffel bags of cash, but 00:18:27.259 --> 00:18:29.880 he can't spend it. So Skylar makes a practical 00:18:29.880 --> 00:18:31.980 decision. She decides she needs to return to 00:18:31.980 --> 00:18:34.039 the workforce to keep the family afloat. She 00:18:34.039 --> 00:18:36.099 goes back to her roots. She applies at her old 00:18:36.099 --> 00:18:38.400 company, Benaki Fabricators. And this is where 00:18:38.400 --> 00:18:40.799 we meet another really key player for the rest 00:18:40.799 --> 00:18:43.700 of the series, Ted Benaki, played by Christopher 00:18:43.700 --> 00:18:46.599 Cousins. Ted is a fascinating figure in the Breaking 00:18:46.599 --> 00:18:49.900 Bad universe. He is her former boss, but he's 00:18:49.900 --> 00:18:54.039 also clearly an old, very close friend. And perhaps 00:18:54.039 --> 00:18:55.759 a little bit more than just a friend, at least 00:18:55.759 --> 00:18:57.759 in terms of underlying chemistry. The source 00:18:57.759 --> 00:19:00.680 material is very explicit about this. There is 00:19:00.680 --> 00:19:03.759 obvious sexual tension between Skyler and Benaki 00:19:03.759 --> 00:19:06.500 from the second she walks into his office. The 00:19:06.500 --> 00:19:08.339 interview scene, if you can even really call 00:19:08.339 --> 00:19:10.920 it an interview, is very telling. It's much more 00:19:10.920 --> 00:19:13.599 of a reunion. Ted decides pretty much immediately 00:19:13.599 --> 00:19:15.599 to give her the old job and accounting back. 00:19:16.259 --> 00:19:18.599 He doesn't need to see a resume. He's just eager 00:19:18.599 --> 00:19:20.539 to have her around again. It seems so seamless 00:19:20.539 --> 00:19:23.829 on the surface. A win for the White family. But 00:19:23.829 --> 00:19:26.569 there are layers of tension here. First, let's 00:19:26.569 --> 00:19:28.529 look at Walt's reaction when she tells him the 00:19:28.529 --> 00:19:30.769 good news. When Schuyler tells him she's going 00:19:30.769 --> 00:19:33.710 back to work for Benneke, Walt is notably not 00:19:33.710 --> 00:19:35.970 happy about it. He expresses a lot of concern 00:19:35.970 --> 00:19:38.390 about her health. The source notes that Schuyler 00:19:38.390 --> 00:19:41.289 originally left this specific job years ago due 00:19:41.289 --> 00:19:44.670 to health problems, specifically issues caused 00:19:44.670 --> 00:19:47.210 by the company's manufacturing fumes in the warehouse. 00:19:47.509 --> 00:19:50.670 Which is a valid concern on paper. She's pregnant 00:19:50.670 --> 00:19:53.339 after all. Right, but we really have to speculate 00:19:53.339 --> 00:19:55.319 here based on everything we know about Walter 00:19:55.319 --> 00:19:59.359 White. Is his concern purely medical? Or is there 00:19:59.359 --> 00:20:01.900 an underlying territoriality going on? Oh, it 00:20:01.900 --> 00:20:04.720 feels deeply, deeply territorial to me. Me too. 00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:07.400 Walt's entire moral justification for Breaking 00:20:07.400 --> 00:20:10.240 Bad, the lie he tells himself every day, is that 00:20:10.240 --> 00:20:12.579 he needs to provide for his family. He has to 00:20:12.579 --> 00:20:15.140 be the man of the house. He's the provider. If 00:20:15.140 --> 00:20:17.299 Skyler goes out and earns a legitimate paycheck, 00:20:17.500 --> 00:20:20.299 especially from a handsome man who is a potential 00:20:20.299 --> 00:20:23.680 romantic rival, it completely undermines Walt's 00:20:23.680 --> 00:20:27.009 role. It threatens his ego. Exactly. Ted represents 00:20:27.009 --> 00:20:29.809 the road not taken for Skyler. He's handsome, 00:20:30.309 --> 00:20:32.549 he's successful in a totally legitimate business, 00:20:32.710 --> 00:20:35.329 he's a father, and he clearly adores her. He 00:20:35.329 --> 00:20:37.410 is everything Walt used to be, or at least wanted 00:20:37.410 --> 00:20:39.450 to be, but without the terminal lung cancer and 00:20:39.450 --> 00:20:41.910 the secret underground meth lab. And the Ted 00:20:41.910 --> 00:20:44.049 factor gets even more complicated in this episode. 00:20:44.569 --> 00:20:47.269 Ted reveals to Skyler that he's recently separated 00:20:47.269 --> 00:20:49.950 from his wife. He's a single dad now. That removes 00:20:49.950 --> 00:20:52.809 the biggest moral barrier between them. He is 00:20:52.809 --> 00:20:55.720 officially available. And Skylar is incredibly 00:20:55.720 --> 00:20:58.160 vulnerable right now. She is stepping into a 00:20:58.160 --> 00:21:00.940 workplace where she is valued, listened to, and 00:21:00.940 --> 00:21:03.680 respected. Contrast that with her home life, 00:21:03.960 --> 00:21:06.440 where Walt is constantly lying to her, disappearing 00:21:06.440 --> 00:21:08.599 for hours, and shutting her out emotionally. 00:21:08.759 --> 00:21:12.119 It's a recipe for infidelity. But there's another 00:21:12.119 --> 00:21:14.240 layer of draking bad happening here for Skylar, 00:21:14.339 --> 00:21:17.789 isn't there? Ted has his own secrets. He really 00:21:17.789 --> 00:21:19.750 does. Without spoiling too much of the future 00:21:19.750 --> 00:21:22.410 episodes for those doing a re -watch, the seeds 00:21:22.410 --> 00:21:25.690 are planted right here in Negro Yuzul. Ted's 00:21:25.690 --> 00:21:28.230 business isn't exactly squeaky clean either. 00:21:28.569 --> 00:21:30.750 He starts confiding in Skylar about the books. 00:21:30.849 --> 00:21:33.250 He brings her into his inner confidence. It's 00:21:33.250 --> 00:21:36.130 a brilliant narrative parallel. Walt is out in 00:21:36.130 --> 00:21:39.390 the desert cooking meth to save his family. Skylar 00:21:39.390 --> 00:21:41.309 is stepping into an office where she might soon 00:21:41.309 --> 00:21:43.670 find herself helping to cook the books to save 00:21:43.670 --> 00:21:46.000 Ted's company. They're both drifting away from 00:21:46.000 --> 00:21:47.839 the straight and narrow path. Skyler's version 00:21:47.839 --> 00:21:50.000 just looks a lot more respectable on the surface. 00:21:50.259 --> 00:21:53.240 It's white -collar crime. Exactly. It feels safer 00:21:53.240 --> 00:21:55.099 because it's in a nice air -conditioned office. 00:21:55.920 --> 00:21:58.839 But morally, she is stepping onto the exact same 00:21:58.839 --> 00:22:01.220 slippery slope that Walt did in episode one. 00:22:01.559 --> 00:22:04.539 She is entering a world of secrets and rationalizations. 00:22:04.740 --> 00:22:07.359 So we have severe money troubles. We have... 00:22:07.240 --> 00:22:10.259 Marital tension. We have cartel bombings. A lot 00:22:10.259 --> 00:22:13.579 of heavy stuff. But amidst all of this incredible 00:22:13.579 --> 00:22:16.019 darkness, we actually get a glimmer of something 00:22:16.019 --> 00:22:19.880 that looks like genuine romance. Let's talk about 00:22:19.880 --> 00:22:22.799 segment four, art and connection. This is the 00:22:22.799 --> 00:22:25.380 start of the Jesse and Jane storyline. This is 00:22:25.380 --> 00:22:28.099 such a much needed breath of fresh air in a very 00:22:28.099 --> 00:22:31.099 dark, oppressive episode. We talked about Jesse 00:22:31.099 --> 00:22:33.180 being completely traumatized and locked in his 00:22:33.180 --> 00:22:35.390 house earlier. Right. Well, this segment shows 00:22:35.390 --> 00:22:38.089 us his coping mechanism shifting. He shifts from 00:22:38.089 --> 00:22:40.910 just smoking weed alone to seeking human connection. 00:22:41.170 --> 00:22:43.910 He encounters his new landlady, Jane Margulis, 00:22:44.190 --> 00:22:46.490 played wonderfully by Kristen Ritter. She's outside 00:22:46.490 --> 00:22:48.369 on the front stoop of the duplex and she's drawing. 00:22:48.710 --> 00:22:50.450 And Jesse actually connects with her over this. 00:22:50.730 --> 00:22:52.569 The source mentions they connect over a shared 00:22:52.569 --> 00:22:55.049 love of art. We sometimes forget this about Jesse. 00:22:55.240 --> 00:22:57.579 because of the tough guy act, the baggy clothes, 00:22:57.880 --> 00:23:01.519 the constant swearing. But Jesse Pinkman is fundamentally 00:23:01.519 --> 00:23:04.539 an artist. We've seen his elaborate superhero 00:23:04.539 --> 00:23:06.859 drawings in previous episodes. He has a creative 00:23:06.859 --> 00:23:11.420 soul. And seeing Jane draw triggers that dormant 00:23:11.420 --> 00:23:14.359 part of him. It's a really rare moment of innocence 00:23:14.359 --> 00:23:16.299 for his character. When he's sitting on the steps 00:23:16.299 --> 00:23:18.779 talking to her about sketching, he's not the 00:23:18.779 --> 00:23:21.400 fearsome guy who crushed ahead with an ATM. He's 00:23:21.400 --> 00:23:24.359 not Heisenberg's partner. He's just a guy. He's 00:23:24.359 --> 00:23:26.779 just Jesse. He's trying on a totally different 00:23:26.779 --> 00:23:29.500 identity. He's pretending to be normal. He's 00:23:29.500 --> 00:23:31.559 likely using an alias with her at this point, 00:23:31.720 --> 00:23:34.569 or at the very least, keeping his quote unquote 00:23:34.569 --> 00:23:37.049 work completely hidden from his landlady. He 00:23:37.049 --> 00:23:40.029 just wants to be seen as the cute regular neighbor 00:23:40.029 --> 00:23:42.690 next door. But the real world has a very nasty 00:23:42.690 --> 00:23:45.170 habit of crashing in on Jesse Pinkman. It always 00:23:45.170 --> 00:23:48.190 does. There's an instant identity crisis. A motorcyclist 00:23:48.190 --> 00:23:51.710 rides by this rough biker type and he recognizes 00:23:51.710 --> 00:23:53.809 Jesse sitting on the porch. And he yells out 00:23:53.809 --> 00:23:56.769 his real last name. He yells Pinkman. It completely 00:23:56.769 --> 00:23:59.890 blows his cover in front of Jane. The biker clearly 00:23:59.890 --> 00:24:02.529 knows him from the street. probably knows the 00:24:02.529 --> 00:24:05.089 very reputation that Walt is out there actively 00:24:05.089 --> 00:24:07.670 trying to build for him. And Jesse just freezes. 00:24:07.690 --> 00:24:10.190 You can see the panic. He realizes the game is 00:24:10.190 --> 00:24:12.710 up. He has to turn to Jane and admit that he 00:24:12.710 --> 00:24:15.269 was lying to her about who he is. He is totally 00:24:15.269 --> 00:24:17.869 exposed. He expects her to kick him out. But 00:24:17.869 --> 00:24:20.390 look at the resolution of this scene. This is 00:24:20.390 --> 00:24:23.349 the moment that defines their entire tragic relationship 00:24:23.349 --> 00:24:25.990 moving forward. Jane doesn't freak out. She doesn't 00:24:25.990 --> 00:24:28.230 call the cops. She doesn't evict him. She basically 00:24:28.230 --> 00:24:30.529 just shrugs it off. She tells him she honestly 00:24:30.529 --> 00:24:32.769 doesn't care what he does for a living. With 00:24:32.769 --> 00:24:36.730 one major, fateful condition, she says, as long 00:24:36.730 --> 00:24:38.690 as you don't do it at the house. That is such 00:24:38.690 --> 00:24:41.309 a loaded statement. It is the ultimate enablers 00:24:41.309 --> 00:24:43.769 contract. It's a strict don't ask, don't tell 00:24:43.769 --> 00:24:46.150 policy. It sets the boundaries of their relationship 00:24:46.150 --> 00:24:48.230 immediately. It allows them to get incredibly 00:24:48.230 --> 00:24:50.670 close, incredibly fast without Jane ever having 00:24:50.670 --> 00:24:53.690 to confront the ugly, violent reality of his 00:24:53.690 --> 00:24:56.269 day job. It creates a protective bubble around 00:24:56.269 --> 00:24:58.849 the two of them. Inside the duplex bubble, they 00:24:58.849 --> 00:25:01.609 can just be artists and lovers. Outside the bubble, 00:25:01.829 --> 00:25:04.099 he's a hunted drug dealer. And that brings us 00:25:04.099 --> 00:25:06.299 to the final image of the segment, which I just 00:25:06.299 --> 00:25:08.839 I absolutely love. It is one of my favorite visual 00:25:08.839 --> 00:25:12.119 moments in the entire second season. It's so 00:25:12.119 --> 00:25:14.680 good. Jesse invites Jane inside his apartment 00:25:14.680 --> 00:25:17.069 to watch TV. But there's a problem. He's got 00:25:17.069 --> 00:25:20.890 this brand new, massive, expensive, flat -screen 00:25:20.890 --> 00:25:23.690 television. Bought with cartel drug money, presumably. 00:25:23.950 --> 00:25:26.650 Exactly. But he can't get it to work. It's likely 00:25:26.650 --> 00:25:29.410 a digital converter issue or just a lack of signal, 00:25:29.650 --> 00:25:32.910 which, if you remember 2009, was a very common, 00:25:33.049 --> 00:25:35.849 frustrating issue with new TVs. He just can't 00:25:35.849 --> 00:25:37.769 get a picture to show up. So what do they do? 00:25:37.869 --> 00:25:40.269 Do they give up? Does Jane leave? No. They don't 00:25:40.269 --> 00:25:42.329 leave. They just pull up two folding chairs, 00:25:42.529 --> 00:25:46.150 sit down, hold hands, and stare directly at a 00:25:46.150 --> 00:25:49.150 completely blank, glowing blue screen. Let's 00:25:49.150 --> 00:25:50.869 connect that visual right back to the title of 00:25:50.869 --> 00:25:53.990 the episode, Negro Iyazul. Black and blue. The 00:25:53.990 --> 00:25:56.869 screen is glowing blue. The room around them 00:25:56.869 --> 00:25:59.549 is pitch black. It reflects his internal mood 00:25:59.549 --> 00:26:02.849 perfectly. It represents a quiet eye of the storm 00:26:02.849 --> 00:26:05.710 for Jesse. Amidst all the trauma of the spooge 00:26:05.710 --> 00:26:08.130 murder, the relentless pressure from Walt to 00:26:08.130 --> 00:26:10.910 be a killer, the looming fear of the cartel, 00:26:11.369 --> 00:26:14.180 here he is. holding hands with a pretty girl 00:26:14.180 --> 00:26:17.460 staring into nothingness. It's incredibly intimate, 00:26:17.740 --> 00:26:20.099 but if you look at it analytically, it's also 00:26:20.099 --> 00:26:22.859 really strange and kind of empty. They are quite 00:26:22.859 --> 00:26:25.759 literally bonding over a void. It's the calm 00:26:25.759 --> 00:26:28.880 before the chaos. It's a moment of peace, sure, 00:26:29.279 --> 00:26:31.779 but it's a completely artificial peace. They 00:26:31.779 --> 00:26:34.039 are staring at a screen that isn't broadcasting 00:26:34.039 --> 00:26:36.779 any truth. It suggests that their relationship 00:26:36.940 --> 00:26:39.920 while very sweet in this moment, might also be 00:26:39.920 --> 00:26:41.880 totally disconnected from reality. They were 00:26:41.880 --> 00:26:43.980 hiding in the blue light together, avoiding the 00:26:43.980 --> 00:26:46.619 real world. It's beautiful, but incredibly ominous. 00:26:46.839 --> 00:26:49.119 So we've broken down the plot. We've seen the 00:26:49.119 --> 00:26:51.740 horror in El Paso, the lies in Albuquerque, and 00:26:51.740 --> 00:26:53.880 the romance in the blue light. Now let's zoom 00:26:53.880 --> 00:26:55.720 out and look at how the world actually reacted 00:26:55.720 --> 00:26:58.799 to this episode. Segment five, critical reception 00:26:58.799 --> 00:27:01.700 and legacy. The reception history here is super 00:27:01.700 --> 00:27:04.839 fascinating to me because there is a bit of a 00:27:04.839 --> 00:27:07.099 disparity between the immediate reaction when 00:27:07.099 --> 00:27:10.339 it first aired on AMC and their retrospective 00:27:10.339 --> 00:27:13.079 rankings years later when the show ended. Let's 00:27:13.079 --> 00:27:15.680 start with the immediate reaction in 2009. The 00:27:15.680 --> 00:27:18.539 source quotes Seth Amiatan from IGN. He gave 00:27:18.539 --> 00:27:21.599 the episode a 9 .3 out of 10. That is a stellar 00:27:21.599 --> 00:27:24.759 score. That is instant classic territory for 00:27:24.759 --> 00:27:27.490 IGN. His quote in the review was, One of the 00:27:27.490 --> 00:27:29.490 better episodes this season, and now we've only 00:27:29.490 --> 00:27:31.589 just dipped our toes into the deep end. Dipped 00:27:31.589 --> 00:27:34.269 our toes into the deep end. That perfectly captures 00:27:34.269 --> 00:27:37.069 the vibe. It suggests that at the time of airing, 00:27:37.410 --> 00:27:39.730 critics really felt the momentum shift. They 00:27:39.730 --> 00:27:41.930 felt the pivot we talked about at the very beginning 00:27:41.930 --> 00:27:44.069 of this deep dive. The expansion of the world, 00:27:44.190 --> 00:27:45.890 the introduction of the cartel, the music video, 00:27:45.950 --> 00:27:48.630 the higher stakes. It felt fresh and incredibly 00:27:48.630 --> 00:27:50.990 exciting. It felt like Breaking Bad was leveling 00:27:50.990 --> 00:27:53.970 up from a quirky crime show to an epic tragedy. 00:27:54.109 --> 00:27:56.640 But then we look at the legacy ranking. years 00:27:56.640 --> 00:28:00.700 later. The Ringer, in 2019, ranked Negro et Azul 00:28:00.700 --> 00:28:05.180 as the 36th best out of 62 total episodes. 36 00:28:05.180 --> 00:28:07.819 out of 62? That's squarely in the middle of the 00:28:07.819 --> 00:28:10.079 pack. Just average for the series. And Vulture 00:28:10.079 --> 00:28:13.579 ranked it 58th overall. 58th. That's near the 00:28:13.579 --> 00:28:15.519 very bottom of the list. Why the massive drop 00:28:15.519 --> 00:28:18.359 from a 9 .3 to the bottom tier? That's the interesting 00:28:18.359 --> 00:28:21.400 question for TV nerds like us. I think it comes 00:28:21.400 --> 00:28:23.279 down to the nature of the episode structure. 00:28:23.500 --> 00:28:26.289 It's fundamentally a set up episode. Exactly. 00:28:26.829 --> 00:28:29.130 It moves all the chess pieces into place on the 00:28:29.130 --> 00:28:32.130 board. We meet Tortuga, but he dies in the same 00:28:32.130 --> 00:28:34.950 hour. We meet Jane. We get Skyler back at her 00:28:34.950 --> 00:28:37.569 desk at work. But it doesn't have the explosive, 00:28:37.910 --> 00:28:40.369 satisfying narrative resolution of a season finale. 00:28:40.809 --> 00:28:44.009 Right. It doesn't have the iconic, meme -able, 00:28:44.410 --> 00:28:47.130 mind -blowing moments of an episode like Ozymandias 00:28:47.130 --> 00:28:50.490 or Crawl Space. It does all the heavy, structural 00:28:50.490 --> 00:28:54.029 lifting to make those later famous episodes possible. 00:28:54.190 --> 00:28:56.369 It's the support beam of season two. That's a 00:28:56.369 --> 00:28:58.029 great way to put it. You don't take pictures 00:28:58.029 --> 00:28:59.829 of the support beams in your house to show your 00:28:59.829 --> 00:29:02.109 friends, but if you take them out, the whole 00:29:02.109 --> 00:29:04.809 roof collapses. Exactly. Without Negro Yuzo, 00:29:04.950 --> 00:29:07.170 the massive tragedy of the season two finale 00:29:07.170 --> 00:29:10.109 just isn't possible. You don't get the emotional 00:29:10.109 --> 00:29:12.509 devastation of the ending without the me -cute 00:29:12.509 --> 00:29:15.349 we saw today between Jesse and Jane. You don't 00:29:15.349 --> 00:29:18.630 get Hank's gripping PTSD arc in season three 00:29:18.630 --> 00:29:21.549 without the tortoise trauma today. It is foundational 00:29:21.549 --> 00:29:24.109 to the mythos. And I think sometimes in hindsight, 00:29:24.150 --> 00:29:25.950 when we rank these things, we forget that the 00:29:25.950 --> 00:29:28.710 foundation had to be poured somewhere. This episode 00:29:28.710 --> 00:29:31.950 is that poor. It's a completely necessary bridge 00:29:31.950 --> 00:29:34.990 between the small time amateur struggles of season 00:29:34.990 --> 00:29:38.910 one and the operatic cartel level tragedy of 00:29:38.910 --> 00:29:40.930 the later seasons. So let's wrap this up with 00:29:40.930 --> 00:29:43.369 a quick summary of our key takeaways. What have 00:29:43.369 --> 00:29:45.250 we really learned today by digging into this? 00:29:45.549 --> 00:29:47.369 First, we've learned that Walt is accidentally 00:29:47.369 --> 00:29:50.190 building a massive reputation as a ruthless kingpin. 00:29:50.359 --> 00:29:53.359 He is taking a complete lie, the ATM murder, 00:29:53.859 --> 00:29:56.279 and he's actively forging it into a weapon to 00:29:56.279 --> 00:29:58.700 expand his business. He is galvanizing his empire 00:29:58.700 --> 00:30:01.599 with pure fiction. Second, Hank has learned the 00:30:01.599 --> 00:30:04.039 hard way that the drug war in El Paso is a different 00:30:04.039 --> 00:30:07.900 beast entirely. He has seen true theatrical brutality. 00:30:08.420 --> 00:30:10.339 His macho bravado has been stripped completely 00:30:10.339 --> 00:30:12.700 away, and he realizes that being the tough guy 00:30:12.700 --> 00:30:14.940 in the office isn't nearly enough to survive 00:30:14.940 --> 00:30:18.200 against an enemy like the cartel. Third, Skyler 00:30:18.200 --> 00:30:20.900 is re -entering a world of employment and serious 00:30:20.900 --> 00:30:23.980 temptation with Ted Benaki. The crushing financial 00:30:23.980 --> 00:30:26.240 pressure of Walt's cancer is pushing her into 00:30:26.240 --> 00:30:28.819 a situation that mirrors Walt's own drift away 00:30:28.819 --> 00:30:31.539 from the family unit. She is seeking autonomy 00:30:31.539 --> 00:30:34.740 and finding a world of secrets. And finally, 00:30:35.000 --> 00:30:37.259 Jesse has found a brief moment of human connection 00:30:37.259 --> 00:30:40.380 with Jane amidst his overwhelming trauma. He's 00:30:40.380 --> 00:30:42.720 found a way to be Jesse the artist again, even 00:30:42.720 --> 00:30:44.599 if just for a fleeting moment sitting in front 00:30:44.599 --> 00:30:47.299 of a blue screen. But that connection is built 00:30:47.299 --> 00:30:50.119 on a very fragile, don't ask, don't tell foundation. 00:30:50.420 --> 00:30:52.420 It is such a dense episode when you break it 00:30:52.420 --> 00:30:54.500 down like this. Every single major character 00:30:54.500 --> 00:30:57.059 is shifting gears. They are all actively moving 00:30:57.059 --> 00:31:00.059 toward the cliff edge. Now, for our final deep 00:31:00.059 --> 00:31:01.980 dive provocation, we always like to leave you, 00:31:02.000 --> 00:31:04.240 the listener, with a question to mull over after 00:31:04.240 --> 00:31:06.200 the episode ends. Something to think about on 00:31:06.200 --> 00:31:08.660 your commute. The episode is titled Black and 00:31:08.660 --> 00:31:11.940 Blue. And as we discussed, we see the deep bruises 00:31:11.940 --> 00:31:15.259 on all the characters' psyches, Jesse's survivor's 00:31:15.259 --> 00:31:18.880 guilt, Hank's explosive trauma, Skyler's financial 00:31:18.880 --> 00:31:21.019 and marital stress. So here's the question for 00:31:21.019 --> 00:31:23.839 you to consider. In this episode, every single 00:31:23.839 --> 00:31:27.299 character, Walt, Skyler, Hank, and Jesse, is 00:31:27.299 --> 00:31:29.559 actively lying to the person they are closest 00:31:29.559 --> 00:31:33.099 to. They are all meticulously constructing false 00:31:33.099 --> 00:31:36.380 realities to protect themselves or to project 00:31:36.380 --> 00:31:38.700 a certain image. So who is currently playing 00:31:38.700 --> 00:31:41.440 the most dangerous game? Is it Walt, taunting 00:31:41.440 --> 00:31:43.579 a violent cartel he doesn't actually understand, 00:31:43.920 --> 00:31:46.140 relying on a street reputation that is entirely 00:31:46.140 --> 00:31:48.839 smoke and mirrors? Or is it Skyler, who is stepping 00:31:48.839 --> 00:31:51.759 toward emotional and maybe physical infidelity 00:31:51.759 --> 00:31:54.299 while her husband is technically dying of cancer? 00:31:54.430 --> 00:31:57.170 Or is it Hank, who is pretending to his wife 00:31:57.170 --> 00:31:59.190 and his colleagues that he is strong enough to 00:31:59.190 --> 00:32:01.730 fight a border war that has absolutely no rules 00:32:01.730 --> 00:32:04.690 and no mercy? Or perhaps it's Jesse, thinking 00:32:04.690 --> 00:32:06.869 he can somehow keep a violent drug life and a 00:32:06.869 --> 00:32:09.029 tender love life completely separate in a small 00:32:09.029 --> 00:32:11.589 duplex apartment just by staring at a blue screen. 00:32:11.829 --> 00:32:14.109 They are all walking a very high tightrope right 00:32:14.109 --> 00:32:18.410 now. And as we know from gravity, well, nobody 00:32:18.410 --> 00:32:21.609 stays up there forever. Eventually you fall. 00:32:21.720 --> 00:32:23.740 That is where we are going to leave you today. 00:32:24.200 --> 00:32:26.420 Thank you so much for tuning in to the Deep Dive. 00:32:26.859 --> 00:32:29.579 And just a quick reminder for transparency that 00:32:29.579 --> 00:32:31.740 everything we analyzed and discussed today came 00:32:31.740 --> 00:32:34.420 strictly from the Wikipedia entry in the Associated 00:32:34.420 --> 00:32:37.519 Production Notes for Nigro Yazul. We didn't make 00:32:37.519 --> 00:32:39.619 any of the facts up. We just connected the narrative 00:32:39.619 --> 00:32:41.779 dots for you. Keep digging into your favorite 00:32:41.779 --> 00:32:44.859 shows. Stay curious and keep watching the little 00:32:44.859 --> 00:32:47.019 details. The answers are always in the details. 00:32:47.559 --> 00:32:49.480 We will catch you on the next dive. Goodbye, 00:32:49.559 --> 00:32:49.839 everyone.