WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.100 Welcome back to the deep dive. Today, we aren't 00:00:03.100 --> 00:00:05.620 just looking at a piece of television history. 00:00:06.219 --> 00:00:09.580 We are we are staring directly into the abyss 00:00:09.580 --> 00:00:12.060 of consequence. Yeah, that's a good way to put 00:00:12.060 --> 00:00:13.820 it. I mean, we are breaking down a moment where 00:00:13.820 --> 00:00:17.699 the floor doesn't just drop out. It it completely 00:00:17.699 --> 00:00:20.000 shatters. It's a heavy one. We're dissecting 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:23.260 a singular hour of television that reshaped the 00:00:23.260 --> 00:00:25.420 entire landscape of the story, both in front 00:00:25.420 --> 00:00:28.179 of the camera and surprisingly behind it, too. 00:00:28.300 --> 00:00:30.600 We're talking, of course, about Breaking Bad, 00:00:31.199 --> 00:00:33.960 specifically the Season 2 finale, which is titled 00:00:33.960 --> 00:00:38.219 ABQ. Right, ABQ, short for Albuquerque. setting 00:00:38.219 --> 00:00:40.979 the character, and in this specific case, the 00:00:40.979 --> 00:00:43.640 blast radius. Exactly. And to guide you through 00:00:43.640 --> 00:00:46.000 all this wreckage, we are pulling from a pretty 00:00:46.000 --> 00:00:48.280 massive stack of sources today. We have the detailed 00:00:48.280 --> 00:00:50.600 production notes, the original episode synopsis, 00:00:50.600 --> 00:00:53.359 and some really great critical essays. Yeah, 00:00:53.359 --> 00:00:56.299 from the AV Club and the Ringer. Plus, we've 00:00:56.299 --> 00:00:58.920 got some truly bizarre historical records regarding 00:00:58.920 --> 00:01:00.880 aviation disasters that we'll get into later. 00:01:01.079 --> 00:01:03.020 Which is just a fascinating collection of data 00:01:03.020 --> 00:01:05.060 to work with, because it really highlights how 00:01:05.060 --> 00:01:07.739 this episode serves as this massive pivot. It 00:01:07.739 --> 00:01:11.680 does. Our mission today is to unpack how ABQ 00:01:11.680 --> 00:01:15.239 ties together these huge character arcs, introduces 00:01:15.239 --> 00:01:18.840 iconic new players to the game. Entirely by accident, 00:01:18.859 --> 00:01:21.879 I might add. Right, by total accident, and how 00:01:21.879 --> 00:01:24.219 it delivers a climax that is, quite frankly, 00:01:24.500 --> 00:01:26.939 catastrophic. It really is. I want to start with 00:01:26.939 --> 00:01:29.040 the atmosphere, though, because if you look at 00:01:29.040 --> 00:01:33.000 the structure of Season 2, it was unique. We 00:01:33.000 --> 00:01:35.579 had those black and white flash forwards all 00:01:35.579 --> 00:01:38.280 season long. The pink teddy bear. Floating in 00:01:38.280 --> 00:01:42.480 the pool, the hazmat suits, the debris. It was 00:01:42.480 --> 00:01:44.620 basically a puzzle box for the audience. The 00:01:44.620 --> 00:01:46.739 writers were training us to expect a disaster. 00:01:46.859 --> 00:01:49.140 But they misdirected us completely. Exactly. 00:01:49.359 --> 00:01:51.540 We all thought, oh, Walt and Jesse are going 00:01:51.540 --> 00:01:53.680 to get caught cooking or the cartel is coming 00:01:53.680 --> 00:01:56.519 for them. Some external threat. Right. But the 00:01:56.519 --> 00:01:58.540 disaster wasn't external. It was entirely internal. 00:01:58.739 --> 00:02:01.019 And that brings us to the opening scene of ABQ, 00:02:01.379 --> 00:02:03.900 The Morning After. The silence of that opening 00:02:03.900 --> 00:02:06.019 is what really strikes you. It's haunting. The 00:02:06.019 --> 00:02:08.319 source material describes it as the morning after 00:02:08.319 --> 00:02:10.259 the events of the previous episode, Phoenix. 00:02:11.699 --> 00:02:14.620 Jesse Pinkman wakes up. But he's not just waking 00:02:14.620 --> 00:02:16.960 up from a normal sleep. He is waking up from 00:02:16.960 --> 00:02:20.860 a intense, heroin -induced stupor. And the lighting 00:02:20.860 --> 00:02:23.599 in this scene is so specific. It's this... bright, 00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:27.060 harsh, albuquerque morning light cutting directly 00:02:27.060 --> 00:02:30.180 into this dark, squalid drug den of an apartment. 00:02:30.340 --> 00:02:32.340 He wakes up and he finds his girlfriend, Jane 00:02:32.340 --> 00:02:34.840 Margolis, next to him. And she's not moving. 00:02:34.919 --> 00:02:37.340 She's not. The specific medical detail provided 00:02:37.340 --> 00:02:40.000 in the analysis is just tragic. She had choked 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:42.539 on her own vomit. Aspiration of vomitous. Right. 00:02:42.659 --> 00:02:45.099 While sleeping on her back. Yeah. Which is the 00:02:45.099 --> 00:02:47.099 direct result of the heroin use, but also, as 00:02:47.099 --> 00:02:49.919 we, the audience know, a result of Walt turning 00:02:49.919 --> 00:02:51.969 her over the night before. But Jesse doesn't 00:02:51.969 --> 00:02:54.250 know that part. No, to Jesse, this is just a 00:02:54.250 --> 00:02:56.569 random cruel act to the universe. His reaction 00:02:56.569 --> 00:02:59.110 is so visceral. The source describes him attempting 00:02:59.110 --> 00:03:02.250 CPR. He is frantic. He's pumping her chest. He's 00:03:02.250 --> 00:03:04.789 screaming. But the source also notes a really 00:03:04.789 --> 00:03:07.490 grim reality here. She had already been dead 00:03:07.490 --> 00:03:09.710 for several hours. Rigor mortis hadn't fully 00:03:09.710 --> 00:03:12.469 set in yet, but she was gone. There is a specific 00:03:12.469 --> 00:03:15.250 psychological break that happens here for Jesse. 00:03:15.949 --> 00:03:17.930 Up until this point, the consequences of his 00:03:17.930 --> 00:03:21.620 lifestyle were violence or jail. external threats 00:03:21.620 --> 00:03:23.659 again. Yes, exactly. Yeah. This is the first 00:03:23.659 --> 00:03:27.139 time the consequence is pure unadulterated loss. 00:03:28.080 --> 00:03:31.060 He is described in the text as horrified and 00:03:31.060 --> 00:03:33.819 distraught, which honestly feels like an understatement. 00:03:33.879 --> 00:03:35.800 He is completely destroyed. And what does he 00:03:35.800 --> 00:03:38.060 do? Because this is a really telling moment for 00:03:38.060 --> 00:03:40.159 his character. He doesn't call 911 immediately. 00:03:40.560 --> 00:03:43.379 No. The instinct for self -preservation or perhaps 00:03:43.379 --> 00:03:46.120 the instinct instilled by Walt overrides the 00:03:46.120 --> 00:03:49.080 instinct to get help. He contacts Walter White. 00:03:49.240 --> 00:03:51.460 I woke up. I found her. That's all I know. Right. 00:03:51.460 --> 00:03:54.319 He's looking for a father figure. Or a fixer. 00:03:54.439 --> 00:03:57.199 And Walt, in turn, calls Saul Goodman. This is 00:03:57.199 --> 00:03:58.979 where the machinery of the show really shifts 00:03:58.979 --> 00:04:01.080 gears. Saul doesn't come to the apartment himself. 00:04:01.240 --> 00:04:03.500 Saul's way too careful for that. He is. He sends 00:04:03.500 --> 00:04:06.120 a cleaner. And this is a massive moment for the 00:04:06.120 --> 00:04:08.740 series. This is the introduction of Mike Ehrmantrapp. 00:04:09.060 --> 00:04:11.539 Played by the incredible Jonathan Banks. The 00:04:11.539 --> 00:04:14.560 source explicitly states that ABQ is the episode 00:04:14.560 --> 00:04:17.540 that introduces Mike. And he arrives at the apartment 00:04:17.540 --> 00:04:21.120 not to comfort Jessie, but to sanitize the crime 00:04:21.120 --> 00:04:23.480 scene. The contrast there is so jarring. You 00:04:23.480 --> 00:04:25.920 have Jessie, who is hyperventilating, crying, 00:04:26.019 --> 00:04:28.060 just completely falling apart. And then you have 00:04:28.060 --> 00:04:30.959 Mike. Who moves with this terrifying clinical 00:04:30.959 --> 00:04:33.579 efficiency. He's collecting needles. He's wiping 00:04:33.579 --> 00:04:36.600 surfaces. It's the introduction of true professionalism 00:04:36.600 --> 00:04:39.480 into their amateur criminal world. Mike gives 00:04:39.480 --> 00:04:41.839 Jessie a script. Do you remember the exact instructions? 00:04:42.100 --> 00:04:44.300 Vividly. I woke up. I found her. That's all I 00:04:44.300 --> 00:04:46.949 know. He makes Jesse repeat it. He drills him 00:04:46.949 --> 00:04:50.129 on it. It's a rehearsal for a lie. Mike is essentially 00:04:50.129 --> 00:04:52.829 deleting the truth of Jane's humanity and replacing 00:04:52.829 --> 00:04:54.949 it with a sterile police report. And while this 00:04:54.949 --> 00:04:57.290 cold cleanup is happening, the tragedy just deepens 00:04:57.290 --> 00:04:59.370 because Jane's father, Donald, arrives. That 00:04:59.370 --> 00:05:02.430 scene is almost unbearable watch. Donald Margolis 00:05:02.430 --> 00:05:04.670 knocking on the door expecting to take his daughter 00:05:04.670 --> 00:05:07.089 to rehab. The source notes the event simply as 00:05:07.089 --> 00:05:09.850 Donald finding the body. But the implication 00:05:09.850 --> 00:05:13.769 is total devastation. Mike leaves. Jesse is left 00:05:13.769 --> 00:05:16.589 to face the father. And Jesse, he just doesn't 00:05:16.589 --> 00:05:19.329 handle it. He breaks. The source says he blames 00:05:19.329 --> 00:05:22.370 himself entirely for Jane's death. He escapes 00:05:22.370 --> 00:05:25.389 the scene and flees to a crack house in the worst 00:05:25.389 --> 00:05:27.870 part of town. Which leaves Walt to clean up the 00:05:27.870 --> 00:05:31.769 emotional mess. Walt tracks Jesse down, and the 00:05:31.769 --> 00:05:34.310 scene in the crack house, it's incredibly pivotal. 00:05:34.629 --> 00:05:38.879 We see Walt enter this absolute den of squalor 00:05:38.879 --> 00:05:41.660 to find Jessie. The source describes Jessie as 00:05:41.660 --> 00:05:44.360 anguished, he is weeping into Walt's chest. I 00:05:44.360 --> 00:05:46.740 loved her, I loved her. And Walt comforts him. 00:05:47.199 --> 00:05:49.480 But, and this is the key insight from the critical 00:05:49.480 --> 00:05:52.100 reception we look at, is a comfort built entirely 00:05:52.100 --> 00:05:54.699 on a lie. Because Walt is the reason she is dead. 00:05:55.019 --> 00:05:57.420 Exactly. He is comforting Jesse for a trauma 00:05:57.420 --> 00:05:59.759 that he has walled actively allowed to happen. 00:06:00.300 --> 00:06:02.959 It is the height of manipulation masked as paternal 00:06:02.959 --> 00:06:04.939 care. So just in this first segment, we have 00:06:04.939 --> 00:06:06.980 a tragic death, a cover up, the introduction 00:06:06.980 --> 00:06:09.040 of a major new character and Jesse being sent 00:06:09.040 --> 00:06:11.180 to rehab. That's already a full season's worth 00:06:11.180 --> 00:06:13.560 of drama for most shows. It really is. Yeah. 00:06:13.699 --> 00:06:15.439 But I want to pause on that cleaner character, 00:06:15.540 --> 00:06:17.720 Mike, because this leads us to one of those production 00:06:17.720 --> 00:06:19.899 insights that I think is just as fascinating 00:06:19.899 --> 00:06:23.029 as the plot itself. Oh, the happy accident. Yes. 00:06:23.170 --> 00:06:26.370 I love this stuff. Because Mike feels so essential 00:06:26.370 --> 00:06:29.250 to the DNA of Breaking Bad. He's the third leg 00:06:29.250 --> 00:06:31.949 of the stool, eventually. Absolutely. He becomes 00:06:31.949 --> 00:06:35.810 the moral or maybe immoral compass of the entire 00:06:35.810 --> 00:06:37.189 show. But according to the production notes, 00:06:37.209 --> 00:06:39.129 that was never the original plan. Not at all. 00:06:39.350 --> 00:06:40.970 The role of the cleaner was originally written 00:06:40.970 --> 00:06:43.709 for Saul Goodman. Bob Odenkirk was supposed to 00:06:43.709 --> 00:06:46.009 be the one in the apartment slapping Jesse awake 00:06:46.009 --> 00:06:48.310 and telling him what to say. Which makes perfect 00:06:48.310 --> 00:06:51.649 sense narratively. Saul is the lawyer. He's the 00:06:51.649 --> 00:06:53.629 guy who knows how to game the system. So why 00:06:53.629 --> 00:06:56.009 didn't it happen? Scheduling. How I Met Your 00:06:56.009 --> 00:06:58.089 Mother. It sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? It 00:06:58.089 --> 00:07:01.089 does. Bob Odenkirk had a recurring role as Marshall's 00:07:01.089 --> 00:07:03.939 boss on the sitcom How I Met Your Mother. He 00:07:03.939 --> 00:07:06.860 was contractually obligated to be on that set 00:07:06.860 --> 00:07:09.819 in Los Angeles. He physically could not be an 00:07:09.819 --> 00:07:12.920 Albuquerque to film ABQ. So Vince Gilligan, the 00:07:12.920 --> 00:07:16.000 creator, is stuck. He has a crucial scene to 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:19.259 clean up and no actor to play it. He can't rewrite 00:07:19.259 --> 00:07:21.740 the scene because the plot requires the physical 00:07:21.740 --> 00:07:23.899 evidence to disappear before the cops arrive. 00:07:24.259 --> 00:07:27.259 Right. So he invents a guy. Saul says, I know 00:07:27.259 --> 00:07:29.500 a guy who knows a guy. Enter Jonathan Banks, 00:07:29.639 --> 00:07:32.100 says Mike. And think about how profoundly that 00:07:32.100 --> 00:07:34.790 changes the tone of the scene. Completely. If 00:07:34.790 --> 00:07:37.290 Saul's in that room, the scene is frantic. It's 00:07:37.290 --> 00:07:40.589 loud. Saul is panic. He's probably cracking jokes 00:07:40.589 --> 00:07:42.410 to deal with his own stress. It would have played 00:07:42.410 --> 00:07:44.610 his dark comedy. But with Mike, it's silent. 00:07:45.069 --> 00:07:48.089 It's deadly serious. It introduces a level of 00:07:48.089 --> 00:07:50.949 genuine menace that Saul never had. Mike doesn't 00:07:50.949 --> 00:07:53.589 crack jokes. Mike hits you in the throat. And 00:07:53.589 --> 00:07:55.670 the source notes the legacy of this decision. 00:07:56.490 --> 00:07:59.050 Mike wasn't just a one -off character. He was 00:07:59.050 --> 00:08:01.310 promoted to the main cast in season three. And 00:08:01.310 --> 00:08:03.410 subsequently became the co -lead of the prequel 00:08:03.410 --> 00:08:06.209 Better Call Saul. It's staggering to think about. 00:08:06.449 --> 00:08:09.009 An entire pillar of this narrative universe, 00:08:09.209 --> 00:08:12.009 the entire backstory of the cartel enforcer, 00:08:12.470 --> 00:08:14.949 his relationship with Gus Fring, the tragedy 00:08:14.949 --> 00:08:17.629 of his son. All of that exists solely because 00:08:17.629 --> 00:08:20.149 Bob Odenkirk had to go film a network sitcom. 00:08:20.449 --> 00:08:23.110 It's the chaos theory of creativity. Yeah. Constraint 00:08:23.110 --> 00:08:25.420 breeds invention. Because they were missing a 00:08:25.420 --> 00:08:27.939 piece they built a better piece speaking of building 00:08:27.939 --> 00:08:30.899 or rather destroying while Jesse is hitting this 00:08:30.899 --> 00:08:33.980 absolute rock bottom Walt is dealing with his 00:08:33.980 --> 00:08:36.899 own domestic collapse and this part of the episode 00:08:37.200 --> 00:08:39.860 operates almost like a procedural detective story. 00:08:39.980 --> 00:08:42.519 It really does. It's Skyler's turn to break bad, 00:08:42.539 --> 00:08:44.620 in a way. Not criminally, but intellectually. 00:08:44.799 --> 00:08:47.299 She stops being the passive, worried wife and 00:08:47.299 --> 00:08:49.580 starts being the active investigator. The context 00:08:49.580 --> 00:08:52.080 here is that Walt is finally preparing for his 00:08:52.080 --> 00:08:54.399 surgery. This is the big medical moment they've 00:08:54.399 --> 00:08:56.399 been building towards since the pilot episode. 00:08:56.500 --> 00:08:58.720 He is getting the tumor removed. But the financial 00:08:58.720 --> 00:09:01.840 side of things is a ticking time bomb. The source 00:09:01.840 --> 00:09:05.519 mentions the website Walter Jr. created, savewalterwhite 00:09:05.519 --> 00:09:08.389 .com. Which is iconic in its own right, the Comic 00:09:08.389 --> 00:09:11.289 Sans font, the early internet PayPal button. 00:09:11.389 --> 00:09:14.090 It's pathetic and sweet at the exact same time. 00:09:14.149 --> 00:09:16.730 But the reality, as the source points out, is 00:09:16.730 --> 00:09:19.809 incredibly sinister. Sol Goodman is using this 00:09:19.809 --> 00:09:22.330 wholesome website to launder Walt's drug money. 00:09:22.549 --> 00:09:24.710 He's having a hacker in Belarus or somewhere 00:09:24.710 --> 00:09:27.149 funnel these small anonymous donations into the 00:09:27.149 --> 00:09:29.830 site. So to the world, Walt is a charity case. 00:09:30.269 --> 00:09:32.710 He's a viral sensation. The source notes that 00:09:32.710 --> 00:09:35.549 the website even garners local media attention. 00:09:35.820 --> 00:09:38.500 And Walt's reaction to this is fascinating to 00:09:38.500 --> 00:09:41.860 watch. He absolutely hates it. He is visibly 00:09:41.860 --> 00:09:44.299 uncomfortable on camera. He's a dangerous drug 00:09:44.299 --> 00:09:47.340 kingpin, a man earning millions of dollars illegally. 00:09:48.100 --> 00:09:50.080 But he has to sit on his living room couch and 00:09:50.080 --> 00:09:52.340 pretend to be grateful for charity. His ego is 00:09:52.340 --> 00:09:55.840 just screaming the entire time. But the ego isn't 00:09:55.840 --> 00:09:58.100 actually what gets him caught. It's the biology. 00:09:58.769 --> 00:10:02.409 The anesthesia. Ah, the truth serum effect. Exactly. 00:10:02.610 --> 00:10:05.429 The source details this specifically. On the 00:10:05.429 --> 00:10:07.509 day of the operation, Walt is being put under. 00:10:07.590 --> 00:10:10.330 He's in that groggy, twilight state just before 00:10:10.330 --> 00:10:12.870 the surgery begins. Skyler is holding his hand. 00:10:13.409 --> 00:10:16.110 She asks him a simple question. She asks if he 00:10:16.110 --> 00:10:18.190 brought his cell phone. And he mumbles, which 00:10:18.190 --> 00:10:22.190 one? Which one? Two simple words. and that is 00:10:22.190 --> 00:10:24.470 the crack in the dam. The source says this simple 00:10:24.470 --> 00:10:28.090 phrase makes Skyler deeply suspicious. It validates 00:10:28.090 --> 00:10:30.490 every single paranoia she's had for two seasons. 00:10:30.710 --> 00:10:32.889 Why would a mild -mannered high school chemistry 00:10:32.889 --> 00:10:35.610 teacher need two cell phones? And while Waltz 00:10:35.610 --> 00:10:38.190 is recovering while he is physically incapacitated 00:10:38.190 --> 00:10:41.549 in a hospital bed, Skyler goes to work. She launches 00:10:41.549 --> 00:10:44.009 a full -scale investigation into his behavior 00:10:44.009 --> 00:10:46.789 over the past few months. The source lists the 00:10:46.789 --> 00:10:49.889 key discoveries she makes, and it's brutal because 00:10:49.889 --> 00:10:53.309 it dismantles Walt's entire web of lies, one 00:10:53.309 --> 00:10:56.450 by one. First, she calls Gretchen Schwartz. Walt's 00:10:56.450 --> 00:10:59.090 wealthy former friend. His primary cover story 00:10:59.090 --> 00:11:00.889 was that Gretchen and Elliot were paying for 00:11:00.889 --> 00:11:03.210 the cancer treatment. Styler calls her directly. 00:11:03.389 --> 00:11:06.350 She finds out Gretchen never sent a single dime. 00:11:06.710 --> 00:11:08.830 The money came from somewhere else entirely. 00:11:09.190 --> 00:11:11.789 Strike one. Then she investigates his alleged 00:11:11.789 --> 00:11:14.259 visits to his mother. Right. Walt had claimed 00:11:14.259 --> 00:11:16.200 he was visiting his mother to borrow money or 00:11:16.200 --> 00:11:20.659 help her out. Another solid alibi. He was never 00:11:20.659 --> 00:11:24.460 there. He hadn't visited her at all. By the time 00:11:24.460 --> 00:11:27.039 Walt is finally released from the hospital, groggy 00:11:27.039 --> 00:11:29.679 and stitched up, Skyler has solved the puzzle. 00:11:29.860 --> 00:11:31.960 She doesn't know exactly what he's doing, she 00:11:31.960 --> 00:11:34.039 doesn't know it's a meth empire, but she knows 00:11:34.039 --> 00:11:36.980 he is a fundamental liar. The confrontation described 00:11:36.980 --> 00:11:39.279 in the source is devastatingly quiet. There's 00:11:39.279 --> 00:11:41.799 no massive screaming match, no throwing plates. 00:11:42.220 --> 00:11:45.740 Skyler simply packs her things and reveals she 00:11:45.740 --> 00:11:48.379 knows everything is a lie. And Walt He tries 00:11:48.379 --> 00:11:50.720 the same old tactic. He pivots. He says, I can 00:11:50.720 --> 00:11:53.200 explain. Let me tell you everything. And this 00:11:53.200 --> 00:11:54.980 is the most heartbreaking line in the episode. 00:11:56.039 --> 00:11:58.840 Skylar refuses. She says, I am too afraid to 00:11:58.840 --> 00:12:01.299 know. That is such a profound admission. She 00:12:01.299 --> 00:12:04.379 knows that whatever the actual truth is, it's 00:12:04.379 --> 00:12:06.639 highly criminal. And if she knows the details, 00:12:06.840 --> 00:12:09.460 she officially becomes an accomplice. She chooses 00:12:09.460 --> 00:12:12.460 ignorance to save her own soul, or perhaps just 00:12:12.460 --> 00:12:14.259 to protect the children from whatever fallout 00:12:14.259 --> 00:12:17.090 is coming. She tells him to move out. And she 00:12:17.090 --> 00:12:19.990 drives away. So Walt has effectively won. He 00:12:19.990 --> 00:12:22.450 survived the deadly surgery. He has the millions 00:12:22.450 --> 00:12:25.049 in drug money. But he returns to a completely 00:12:25.049 --> 00:12:28.210 empty house. He has lost the very thing he constantly 00:12:28.210 --> 00:12:30.529 claimed to be doing all of this for. The family 00:12:30.529 --> 00:12:33.049 is gone. And this brings us to the climax of 00:12:33.049 --> 00:12:35.429 the episode, the segment we are calling The Butterfly 00:12:35.429 --> 00:12:37.850 Effect. Because if we thought the personal destruction 00:12:37.850 --> 00:12:41.269 was bad, the episode now scales up to a level 00:12:41.269 --> 00:12:44.960 of disaster that is almost biblical. The source 00:12:44.960 --> 00:12:48.019 mentions a significant time jump here. Five weeks 00:12:48.019 --> 00:12:52.120 pass. Walt is living alone in his house. Jesse 00:12:52.120 --> 00:12:54.840 is recovering in rehab. And the camera focus 00:12:54.840 --> 00:12:57.360 dramatically shifts to a character we've barely 00:12:57.360 --> 00:13:00.759 noticed outside of his grief, Donald Margolis. 00:13:01.039 --> 00:13:04.179 Jane's father. We finally find out what his job 00:13:04.179 --> 00:13:06.559 actually is. He is an air traffic controller. 00:13:06.899 --> 00:13:10.679 Talk about a high stakes reveal. It totally recontextualizes 00:13:10.679 --> 00:13:12.940 everything about him. We see him returning to 00:13:12.940 --> 00:13:15.299 work after his bereavement leave. His colleagues 00:13:15.299 --> 00:13:18.220 ask how he is doing. He says he's fine. But the 00:13:18.220 --> 00:13:21.679 source notes he is visibly not fine. He is sweating. 00:13:21.899 --> 00:13:24.620 He is distracted. He is still deeply grieving 00:13:24.620 --> 00:13:27.539 Jane's death. And in that specific job, distraction 00:13:27.539 --> 00:13:30.419 is lethal? The sequence is edited masterfully. 00:13:31.049 --> 00:13:33.330 We see him staring at the glowing radar screen. 00:13:33.529 --> 00:13:35.529 The little blips are moving. The trigger is so 00:13:35.529 --> 00:13:38.129 tragic, a charter plane checks in over the radio. 00:13:38.350 --> 00:13:40.950 The pilot's voice or perhaps the flight call 00:13:40.950 --> 00:13:43.110 sign reminds him of Jane. Maybe it's similar 00:13:43.110 --> 00:13:45.929 initials or a phonetic similarity. The source 00:13:45.929 --> 00:13:48.690 indicates his mind wanders for just a few critical 00:13:48.690 --> 00:13:50.629 seconds. He's thinking about his little girl 00:13:50.629 --> 00:13:52.809 on the morgue. And he misses a massive conflict 00:13:52.809 --> 00:13:55.629 on the screen. He inadvertently allows the flight 00:13:55.629 --> 00:13:59.230 path of Wayfair Airlines Flight 515, which is 00:13:59.230 --> 00:14:02.710 a commercial Boeing 737, to cross directly into 00:14:02.710 --> 00:14:05.070 the path of a smaller charter plane. We then 00:14:05.070 --> 00:14:07.490 cut back to Walt. He's sitting outside by his 00:14:07.490 --> 00:14:10.570 pool. He's wearing that white bathrobe, looking 00:14:10.570 --> 00:14:13.789 up at the sky. He hears a sound, a massive boom. 00:14:13.909 --> 00:14:17.070 He looks up. And he witnesses a mid -air collision. 00:14:17.419 --> 00:14:19.940 Two planes hitting each other in the clear blue 00:14:19.940 --> 00:14:22.759 sky right above Albuquerque. The visual description 00:14:22.759 --> 00:14:26.220 of this is surreal. It's not a fiery, loud action 00:14:26.220 --> 00:14:28.759 movie explosion immediately. It's a sudden puff 00:14:28.759 --> 00:14:31.220 of smoke and then the horrifying rain of debris. 00:14:31.399 --> 00:14:34.019 And then the symbol. The source notes that a 00:14:34.019 --> 00:14:36.500 charred pink teddy bear falls from the sky, bounces 00:14:36.500 --> 00:14:38.940 off the pavement, and lands right in Waterpool. 00:14:39.220 --> 00:14:41.759 Floating face down on the water. One eye missing. 00:14:42.029 --> 00:14:44.210 The source connects this directly back to the 00:14:44.210 --> 00:14:46.470 flash -forward teasers we saw all season. We 00:14:46.470 --> 00:14:48.409 finally understand what we've been looking at. 00:14:48.710 --> 00:14:50.830 The body bags in the driveway weren't Walt and 00:14:50.830 --> 00:14:54.110 Jesse. They were innocent passengers. The hazmat 00:14:54.110 --> 00:14:56.549 suits weren't for a new meth lab. They were government 00:14:56.549 --> 00:14:59.169 officials cleaning up human remains and jet fuel 00:14:59.169 --> 00:15:01.269 from a suburban neighborhood. It's an absolute 00:15:01.269 --> 00:15:03.870 gut punch to the viewer. But let's trace the 00:15:03.870 --> 00:15:06.110 line of causality here because it is vital. This 00:15:06.110 --> 00:15:08.049 isn't just a random accident. No, this is the 00:15:08.049 --> 00:15:11.250 big so -what of the episode. Walt, let Jane die. 00:15:11.370 --> 00:15:13.970 He stood there and watched her choke to protect 00:15:13.970 --> 00:15:17.149 his own selfish interests. Because Jane died, 00:15:17.789 --> 00:15:21.110 Donald was consumed by unmanageable grief. Because 00:15:21.110 --> 00:15:24.309 Donald was consumed by grief, he failed at his 00:15:24.309 --> 00:15:27.210 highly sensitive job. Because he failed at his 00:15:27.210 --> 00:15:31.370 job, 167 people died. Walt killed those people. 00:15:31.610 --> 00:15:35.090 Morally. Yes, absolutely. Legally. No. But the 00:15:35.090 --> 00:15:36.950 universe of the show is clearly telling us that 00:15:36.950 --> 00:15:39.149 Walt's cancer isn't just a tumor in his lung. 00:15:39.570 --> 00:15:42.889 It's his moral decay, and it is contagious. It 00:15:42.889 --> 00:15:45.409 spreads to absolutely everyone he touches. It's 00:15:45.409 --> 00:15:47.629 the ultimate narrative argument for consequences. 00:15:48.049 --> 00:15:50.470 You simply cannot control the blast radius of 00:15:50.470 --> 00:15:53.210 your actions. And speaking of mind -blowing connections, 00:15:53.289 --> 00:15:55.509 we have to talk about the real -life inspirations 00:15:55.509 --> 00:15:57.889 for this disaster. Because when I read this part 00:15:57.889 --> 00:15:59.990 of the source material, I genuinely had to double 00:15:59.990 --> 00:16:02.690 -check it. It feels way too perfect to be true. 00:16:02.830 --> 00:16:05.769 It really does. The source states that this plane 00:16:05.769 --> 00:16:08.470 crash plot line was not entirely fiction. It 00:16:08.470 --> 00:16:11.009 was heavily inspired by the Aeromexico flight 00:16:11.009 --> 00:16:14.970 498 crash that happened in 1986. That was a catastrophic 00:16:14.970 --> 00:16:18.009 collision over Cerritos, California. Yeah. A 00:16:18.009 --> 00:16:21.309 DC -9 and a small Piper aircraft cross paths. 00:16:21.629 --> 00:16:23.830 But here is the coincidence that makes the hair 00:16:23.830 --> 00:16:27.210 on my arms stand up. The source reveals the actual 00:16:27.210 --> 00:16:29.570 name of the real -life air traffic controller 00:16:29.570 --> 00:16:32.450 involved in that 1986 crash. Tell the listeners. 00:16:32.549 --> 00:16:35.129 Yeah. Because it is wild. His name was Walter 00:16:35.129 --> 00:16:37.070 White. It just stops you in your tracks. I am 00:16:37.070 --> 00:16:39.090 not joking. The air traffic controller who was 00:16:39.090 --> 00:16:41.549 on duty, who was held partially responsible for 00:16:41.549 --> 00:16:44.090 the mid -air crash was literally named Walter 00:16:44.090 --> 00:16:46.320 White. Did Vince Gilligan know this when he wrote 00:16:46.320 --> 00:16:48.460 the pilot? It's heavily debated in the fandom. 00:16:48.860 --> 00:16:51.320 Some sources say it's a pure cosmic coincidence. 00:16:51.500 --> 00:16:53.639 Others suggest he might have subconsciously heard 00:16:53.639 --> 00:16:56.240 the name in passing years ago while researching 00:16:56.240 --> 00:16:58.580 aviation crashes. But think about the sheer odds 00:16:58.580 --> 00:17:01.519 of that. You name your main character Walter 00:17:01.519 --> 00:17:04.920 White specifically because it's a generic, bland, 00:17:05.259 --> 00:17:07.700 everyman name. And then two years later, you 00:17:07.700 --> 00:17:10.599 write a season finale about an air traffic controller 00:17:10.599 --> 00:17:13.220 causing a plane crash because of your character's 00:17:13.220 --> 00:17:15.819 actions. And the real guy was named Walter White. 00:17:16.599 --> 00:17:18.759 It really blurs the line between fiction and 00:17:18.759 --> 00:17:21.980 reality. It adds this eerie layer of a curse 00:17:21.980 --> 00:17:24.019 to the whole production. It certainly deepens 00:17:24.019 --> 00:17:26.400 the mythos of the show. It feels like the dark 00:17:26.400 --> 00:17:28.680 universe of Breaking Bad was bleeding into the 00:17:28.680 --> 00:17:31.099 real world. Before we wrap up the analysis, we 00:17:31.099 --> 00:17:32.640 should definitely touch on the critical reception. 00:17:33.140 --> 00:17:35.759 How did people react to this at the time? Because 00:17:35.759 --> 00:17:38.339 ending a season with a commercial airline disaster 00:17:38.339 --> 00:17:41.059 is a very dark, bold choice. It was definitely 00:17:41.059 --> 00:17:43.579 polarizing at the time it aired. But the reviews 00:17:43.579 --> 00:17:46.380 quickly settled into really high praise. The 00:17:46.380 --> 00:17:48.519 source quotes Donna Bowman from the A .V. Club. 00:17:49.220 --> 00:17:51.299 She reviewed the episode and called it horrific 00:17:51.299 --> 00:17:54.000 perfection. Which is an incredibly accurate summary 00:17:54.000 --> 00:17:56.460 of the tale. The Ringer did a massive retrospective 00:17:56.460 --> 00:18:00.000 in 2019 and ranked this episode 28th out of all 00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:03.220 62 episodes. Vulture put it at 35th overall. 00:18:03.660 --> 00:18:06.819 It's generally seen as a solid high tier episode, 00:18:07.339 --> 00:18:10.119 mostly praised for its narrative boldness. And 00:18:10.119 --> 00:18:12.460 technically speaking, it was highly recognized 00:18:12.460 --> 00:18:15.640 by the industry. Yes. Lynne Willingham won the 00:18:15.640 --> 00:18:18.380 Emmy for outstanding single camera picture editing 00:18:18.380 --> 00:18:21.859 for a drama series specifically for this episode. 00:18:22.460 --> 00:18:25.119 If you watch the intercutting between the quiet 00:18:25.119 --> 00:18:27.460 tension of the air traffic control room and Walt 00:18:27.460 --> 00:18:30.299 relaxing by the pool, you can easily see why 00:18:30.299 --> 00:18:32.920 she won. Or the rapid montage of Mike cleaning 00:18:32.920 --> 00:18:36.259 the apartment. It's masterful editing. And Michael 00:18:36.259 --> 00:18:39.039 Slovis was nominated for cinematography. The 00:18:39.039 --> 00:18:41.599 distinct look of this episode, the harsh bright 00:18:41.599 --> 00:18:44.400 light, the floating pink bear in the blue water, 00:18:44.619 --> 00:18:46.900 it's visually iconic. He really established the 00:18:46.900 --> 00:18:48.839 visual language of the series going forward from 00:18:48.839 --> 00:18:51.279 this point. So let's bring it all home. We've 00:18:51.279 --> 00:18:54.000 unpacked the devastating tragedy of Jane, the 00:18:54.000 --> 00:18:56.519 accidental birth of Mike Ermentrout. Skyler's 00:18:56.519 --> 00:18:59.019 relentless detective work breaking down Walt's 00:18:59.019 --> 00:19:02.339 lies. And the literal raining down a fiery degree 00:19:02.339 --> 00:19:05.299 onto Albuquerque. We've seen how the show powerfully 00:19:05.299 --> 00:19:08.519 argues that no single action is an island. everything 00:19:08.519 --> 00:19:10.619 as a reaction. I want to leave you with a final 00:19:10.619 --> 00:19:12.400 thought to chew on as we close out. We talked 00:19:12.400 --> 00:19:14.980 a lot about luck today. The terrible bad luck 00:19:14.980 --> 00:19:17.059 of Donald looking away from the radar screen 00:19:17.059 --> 00:19:20.539 for just five seconds. The bad luck of Walt groggily 00:19:20.539 --> 00:19:23.299 mumbling which one while under anesthesia. But 00:19:23.299 --> 00:19:25.579 also the incredibly good luck of Bob Odenkirk 00:19:25.579 --> 00:19:28.319 being too busy to film a scene. It raises a really 00:19:28.319 --> 00:19:30.599 provocative question for you about storytelling 00:19:30.599 --> 00:19:33.400 and honestly about real life. How much of Breaking 00:19:33.400 --> 00:19:37.970 Bad or even your own life is driven by careful, 00:19:38.170 --> 00:19:41.009 meticulous planning, and how much is driven by 00:19:41.009 --> 00:19:44.190 pure random chance. If Bob Odenkirk isn't busy 00:19:44.190 --> 00:19:47.210 filming a sitcom, we never get Mike Ehrman Trout. 00:19:47.589 --> 00:19:50.670 If Walt doesn't mumble two words, Skyler probably 00:19:50.670 --> 00:19:52.809 stays in the marriage a while longer. If Jane 00:19:52.809 --> 00:19:55.009 happens to roll over on her side during the night, 00:19:55.329 --> 00:19:57.930 the planes simply don't crash. It is the ultimate 00:19:57.930 --> 00:20:01.069 chaos theory on display. one butterfly flaps 00:20:01.069 --> 00:20:04.329 its wings and a Boeing 737 falls out of the sky. 00:20:04.549 --> 00:20:07.009 It's terrifying and it is absolutely brilliant 00:20:07.009 --> 00:20:09.410 television. It really is. That is all for this 00:20:09.410 --> 00:20:11.609 deep dive into ABQ. Thanks so much for exploring 00:20:11.609 --> 00:20:13.470 the wreckage with us. Thank you for joining us. 00:20:13.589 --> 00:20:14.490 We will see you next time.