WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.980 Welcome back to The Deep End. Today we aren't 00:00:02.980 --> 00:00:06.160 just looking at a TV episode. We're really standing 00:00:06.160 --> 00:00:08.519 in the wreckage of a catastrophe here. Oh, absolutely. 00:00:08.619 --> 00:00:11.439 We're looking at a city covered in debris, a 00:00:11.439 --> 00:00:14.000 family completely torn apart, and a man who is 00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:16.559 desperately trying to rationalize the irrational. 00:00:16.940 --> 00:00:19.800 Right. We're taking a deep dive into the season 00:00:19.800 --> 00:00:23.640 three premiere of Breaking Bad, the episode titled 00:00:23.640 --> 00:00:27.660 No Moss. It is... It's a massive turning point. 00:00:27.780 --> 00:00:29.440 If you look at the whole trajectory of television 00:00:29.440 --> 00:00:32.859 history, this specific hour serves as a major 00:00:32.859 --> 00:00:35.979 pivot. It basically stops being just this gritty 00:00:35.979 --> 00:00:38.380 crime thriller about a guy making meth and... 00:00:38.439 --> 00:00:41.399 It becomes a profound psychological study, a 00:00:41.399 --> 00:00:43.780 study on guilt, on trauma, and really the visual 00:00:43.780 --> 00:00:46.119 language of silence. And just to set the table 00:00:46.119 --> 00:00:48.200 for everyone listening, our sources for this 00:00:48.200 --> 00:00:50.299 deep dive are centered heavily on the extensive 00:00:50.299 --> 00:00:52.820 Wikipedia entry for the episode. But we're also 00:00:52.820 --> 00:00:54.979 pulling from some production notes, critical 00:00:54.979 --> 00:00:58.079 reception data, awards history, and a really 00:00:58.079 --> 00:01:00.780 deep analysis of the plot mechanics. We want 00:01:00.780 --> 00:01:03.380 to understand what exactly makes this specific 00:01:03.380 --> 00:01:06.019 hour of television tick. The mission here is 00:01:06.019 --> 00:01:08.780 really specific for you guys listening. We want 00:01:08.780 --> 00:01:12.120 to explore how no moss functions as a well kind 00:01:12.120 --> 00:01:14.599 of a reset button reset button Yeah, right because 00:01:14.599 --> 00:01:16.680 think about where we left off in season 2 it 00:01:16.680 --> 00:01:20.219 ended with this high octane fiery crash two planes 00:01:20.219 --> 00:01:23.060 colliding in midair Exactly. It was loud. It 00:01:23.060 --> 00:01:26.680 was chaotic destructive, but no moss transitions 00:01:26.680 --> 00:01:29.920 us into something else entirely It's a slow burning 00:01:29.920 --> 00:01:32.879 psychological study. I like to think of it as 00:01:32.879 --> 00:01:35.620 the hangover after the adrenaline spike That 00:01:35.620 --> 00:01:38.469 is a perfect way to put it the hangover It really 00:01:38.469 --> 00:01:41.150 is a massive shift in gears. Just to set the 00:01:41.150 --> 00:01:43.969 scene for where our characters are starting out, 00:01:44.329 --> 00:01:47.150 Albuquerque is completely traumatized. Yeah. 00:01:47.390 --> 00:01:50.049 A midair collision has rained literal debris 00:01:50.049 --> 00:01:53.829 over the city. Skylar has left Walt. Jesse is 00:01:53.829 --> 00:01:56.250 in rehab. It's incredibly grim. It feels like 00:01:56.250 --> 00:01:58.370 the morning after the end of the world. It really 00:01:58.370 --> 00:02:00.870 does. The whole color palette has changed. The 00:02:00.870 --> 00:02:03.230 energy has completely shifted. And the first 00:02:03.230 --> 00:02:06.129 thing we see isn't Walt and it isn't Jesse. Something 00:02:06.129 --> 00:02:08.490 entirely new. So let's unpack this, because I 00:02:08.490 --> 00:02:10.169 want to start right where the episode starts, 00:02:10.550 --> 00:02:13.330 which is that cold open. We are introduced to 00:02:13.330 --> 00:02:17.689 two very scary men in very nice suits. The cousins, 00:02:18.330 --> 00:02:21.030 Leonel and Marco Salamanca. Right. And the source 00:02:21.030 --> 00:02:24.849 material describes this opening scene as a pilgrimage. 00:02:25.610 --> 00:02:27.189 But let's paint the picture for you, if you haven't 00:02:27.189 --> 00:02:29.849 seen it recently. We aren't in the familiar suburbs 00:02:29.849 --> 00:02:32.629 of New Mexico anymore. We are in Mexico. Down 00:02:32.629 --> 00:02:35.250 in the dust? Yes, it is dusty, it is drenched 00:02:35.250 --> 00:02:37.710 in that yellow filter, and it looks incredibly 00:02:37.710 --> 00:02:40.590 hot. And these two men are just, they're crawling 00:02:40.590 --> 00:02:42.969 on their bellies. It's such a striking visual. 00:02:43.110 --> 00:02:45.710 You have these immaculately tailored, shiny, 00:02:45.870 --> 00:02:48.949 sharkskin suits, perfectly juxtaposed against 00:02:48.949 --> 00:02:51.789 the dirt and the filth of this rural Mexican 00:02:51.789 --> 00:02:53.770 road. Yeah, and they're crawling. They aren't 00:02:53.770 --> 00:02:55.930 running, they aren't even walking, they are dragging 00:02:55.930 --> 00:02:57.830 themselves through the dust. And the villagers 00:02:57.830 --> 00:03:00.370 are just watching them. There's this heavy sense 00:03:00.370 --> 00:03:03.430 of reverence but also fear. The source notes 00:03:03.430 --> 00:03:06.389 that this scene is almost entirely silent. There's 00:03:06.389 --> 00:03:08.530 no dialogue at all, just the sound of the wind 00:03:08.530 --> 00:03:10.449 and the scraping of their expensive suits on 00:03:10.449 --> 00:03:12.280 the rough ground. This is where we really have 00:03:12.280 --> 00:03:14.680 to talk about the cinematography. Michael Slovis 00:03:14.680 --> 00:03:16.939 was actually nominated for an Emmy for this episode. 00:03:17.000 --> 00:03:19.599 Wow, really? Yeah. And this opening sequence 00:03:19.599 --> 00:03:22.580 is the anchor for that nomination because it 00:03:22.580 --> 00:03:25.939 establishes a tone of impending doom without 00:03:25.939 --> 00:03:29.419 a single word being spoken. Just visual storytelling. 00:03:29.599 --> 00:03:32.360 Exactly. It's visual poetry, but it's the poetry 00:03:32.360 --> 00:03:35.099 of pure violence. And they're crawling towards 00:03:35.099 --> 00:03:37.599 a shrine. A shrine to Santa Muerte. St. Death. 00:03:37.770 --> 00:03:40.870 Right. And this is a crucial piece of cultural 00:03:40.870 --> 00:03:43.909 context from our sources. Santa Muerte is a folk 00:03:43.909 --> 00:03:46.389 saint. She's not recognized by the Catholic Church, 00:03:46.389 --> 00:03:49.069 obviously. She is often associated with healing 00:03:49.069 --> 00:03:51.789 and protection by some. But in the context of 00:03:51.789 --> 00:03:54.150 the cartel culture we see in the show, she is 00:03:54.150 --> 00:03:57.650 the patron saint of the drug trade and of violent 00:03:57.650 --> 00:04:01.090 death. So by having the cousins pay homage here, 00:04:01.129 --> 00:04:04.250 what is the show telling us about them? It's 00:04:04.250 --> 00:04:06.729 signaling that their mission isn't just a job. 00:04:06.919 --> 00:04:09.580 It's not just a standard contract killing for 00:04:09.580 --> 00:04:12.979 money. It is deeply spiritual. A ritual. Yes, 00:04:13.080 --> 00:04:15.240 a ritual. Think about it. If a hitman is doing 00:04:15.240 --> 00:04:18.480 it for cash, you can maybe pay them double to 00:04:18.480 --> 00:04:20.879 stop. Right. You can outbid them. Exactly. You 00:04:20.879 --> 00:04:23.300 can reason with greed. But if they are doing 00:04:23.300 --> 00:04:25.959 it for a deity, if they're dragging themselves 00:04:25.959 --> 00:04:29.000 through the dirt for Santa Muerte, you cannot 00:04:29.000 --> 00:04:31.259 reason with that. They are elemental forces. 00:04:31.540 --> 00:04:33.240 That makes them so much more terrifying than 00:04:33.240 --> 00:04:35.930 just regular thugs. Mm. And when they finally 00:04:35.930 --> 00:04:38.449 reach the shrine after this grueling crawl, they 00:04:38.449 --> 00:04:40.790 leave an offering. Yeah, they do. And it's not 00:04:40.790 --> 00:04:43.329 flowers or a candle or anything traditional. 00:04:43.649 --> 00:04:46.389 It's a drawing. A drawing of Heisenberg. That 00:04:46.389 --> 00:04:48.689 crude little pencil sketch of Walter White in 00:04:48.689 --> 00:04:51.550 the pork pie hat and the sunglasses. It honestly 00:04:51.550 --> 00:04:54.009 gave me chills rewatching it. You have this ancient, 00:04:54.610 --> 00:04:57.589 dusty, mystical setting. And then suddenly, bam, 00:04:57.790 --> 00:05:00.430 there's this direct link to Walter White's suburban 00:05:00.430 --> 00:05:03.899 life. Yeah. It bridges the gap between the folklore 00:05:03.899 --> 00:05:06.579 of Mexico and the crime drama of Albuquerque 00:05:06.579 --> 00:05:09.399 so perfectly. It connects the consequences. Walt 00:05:09.399 --> 00:05:11.480 thinks he's just a guy who cooks a meth to pay 00:05:11.480 --> 00:05:13.939 for his cancer treatments. He doesn't realize 00:05:13.939 --> 00:05:16.500 he has become a mythic figure pinned on a shrine 00:05:16.500 --> 00:05:19.699 in Mexico. He has no idea. He has invoked forces 00:05:19.699 --> 00:05:22.399 he fundamentally doesn't understand. And speaking 00:05:22.399 --> 00:05:24.839 of forces he doesn't understand, we have to talk 00:05:24.839 --> 00:05:27.779 about how these guys get across the border. Because 00:05:27.779 --> 00:05:30.240 if the shrine scene was the spiritual side of 00:05:30.240 --> 00:05:34.100 the cousins, the border crossing is the practical, 00:05:34.500 --> 00:05:36.500 brutally efficient side. It's a really stark 00:05:36.500 --> 00:05:38.980 display of their methodology. They need to get 00:05:38.980 --> 00:05:40.920 into the U .S., and obviously they don't have 00:05:40.920 --> 00:05:44.420 visas, so they hide in a truck. Specifically, 00:05:44.639 --> 00:05:47.860 a hay truck transporting migrants. Right. Which, 00:05:48.120 --> 00:05:49.980 at first glance, seems like a pretty standard 00:05:49.980 --> 00:05:51.839 smuggling operation. They're just sitting in 00:05:51.839 --> 00:05:54.279 the back, surrounded by A -bails and other people 00:05:54.279 --> 00:05:56.990 who are just trying to find a better life. But 00:05:56.990 --> 00:05:59.610 then the tension just skyrockets because one 00:05:59.610 --> 00:06:01.870 of the fellow migrants notices something. He 00:06:01.870 --> 00:06:05.069 spots the boots. And then the tattoos. Right. 00:06:05.410 --> 00:06:08.329 The cousins have very specific skull tattoos 00:06:08.329 --> 00:06:10.829 indicating their affiliation with the Hua's cartel. 00:06:11.009 --> 00:06:12.930 And the moment that recognition happens, you 00:06:12.930 --> 00:06:15.990 can feel the energy in that truck shift instantly. 00:06:16.189 --> 00:06:18.750 It's a death sentence. In that specific world, 00:06:19.069 --> 00:06:21.870 recognizing a cartel member isn't some friendly 00:06:21.870 --> 00:06:25.050 small world moment. It's a total liability. The 00:06:25.050 --> 00:06:27.670 migrant recognizes them, and the cousins instantly 00:06:27.670 --> 00:06:30.189 know they've been made. The source material details 00:06:30.189 --> 00:06:33.389 the resolution of that conflict, and it is, well, 00:06:34.310 --> 00:06:36.310 comprehensive is one word for it. It is a total 00:06:36.310 --> 00:06:38.730 massacre. They don't just kill the guy who recognized 00:06:38.730 --> 00:06:40.449 them. They kill all the passengers. They kill 00:06:40.449 --> 00:06:42.449 the driver. Everyone. And then they blow up the 00:06:42.449 --> 00:06:44.769 truck. They erase the evidence completely. And 00:06:44.769 --> 00:06:47.329 this scene serves a very specific narrative purpose. 00:06:47.689 --> 00:06:50.389 We've spent two whole seasons watching Walt deal 00:06:50.389 --> 00:06:53.009 with the bad guys. Right, like Tuco. Yeah, Tuco, 00:06:53.110 --> 00:06:56.550 who is erratic and crazy, and crazy eight, who 00:06:56.550 --> 00:06:58.750 was inexperienced. Even the local street dealers 00:06:58.750 --> 00:07:02.470 are kind of sloppy. But the cousins, they are 00:07:02.470 --> 00:07:05.209 silent permanators. They are so efficient. They're 00:07:05.209 --> 00:07:07.990 brutal. They represent a level of professionalism 00:07:07.990 --> 00:07:10.670 that Walt is completely unprepared for. Exactly. 00:07:11.189 --> 00:07:14.790 Walt is clumsy. He's hesitant. Walt spends entire 00:07:14.790 --> 00:07:16.870 episodes debating whether or not to kill someone 00:07:16.870 --> 00:07:19.730 in a basement. The Cousins wipe out a truckload 00:07:19.730 --> 00:07:21.750 of people without a change in their heart rate. 00:07:21.810 --> 00:07:24.790 Yeah, it establishes them as an unstoppable force 00:07:24.790 --> 00:07:26.790 of nature. It's the classic shark in the water 00:07:26.790 --> 00:07:29.069 technique. While our protagonist is dealing with 00:07:29.069 --> 00:07:31.529 his personal drama on the beach, the audience 00:07:31.529 --> 00:07:33.949 gets to see the fin cutting through the water. 00:07:34.230 --> 00:07:37.250 And it is swimming fast. You're very fast. So 00:07:37.250 --> 00:07:39.970 let's pivot to the man on the beach. Or rather, 00:07:40.129 --> 00:07:43.899 the man alone in the condo, Walter White. Because 00:07:43.899 --> 00:07:46.600 while this shark is approaching, Walt is just 00:07:46.600 --> 00:07:49.360 living in his own personal purgatory. He really 00:07:49.360 --> 00:07:51.899 is. The contrast is super sharp. The cousins 00:07:51.899 --> 00:07:54.259 are purposeful and constantly moving forward. 00:07:54.740 --> 00:07:57.439 Walt is totally stagnant. Yeah, he's living alone. 00:07:58.060 --> 00:08:00.339 Skylar has moved out. She's demanding a divorce. 00:08:00.819 --> 00:08:03.240 He's... deeply depressed. And we get this incredible 00:08:03.240 --> 00:08:05.220 sequence that I think perfectly encapsulates 00:08:05.220 --> 00:08:08.800 the war going on inside his head. The money ritual. 00:08:08.879 --> 00:08:10.860 The barbecue grill scene. This is iconic. It 00:08:10.860 --> 00:08:13.079 really is. Walk us through this, because on paper 00:08:13.079 --> 00:08:17.160 it sounds completely insane. A grown man grilling 00:08:17.160 --> 00:08:19.860 money. It is insane, but as the sources analyze 00:08:19.860 --> 00:08:22.379 it, it's psychologically consistent. Yeah. So 00:08:22.379 --> 00:08:24.120 Walt is sitting by his pool in the backyard. 00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:27.259 He has these heavy duffel bags of cash. millions 00:08:27.259 --> 00:08:29.639 of dollars. The very object he destroyed his 00:08:29.639 --> 00:08:32.179 entire life to get. Exactly, and he starts taking 00:08:32.179 --> 00:08:34.440 bundles of it, lighting his barbecue grill, and 00:08:34.440 --> 00:08:36.779 just throwing the cash onto the flames. It's 00:08:36.779 --> 00:08:40.159 such a visceral image. The fire literally consuming 00:08:40.159 --> 00:08:42.759 the cash, the thing that everyone kills for, 00:08:42.860 --> 00:08:45.539 the thing he ruined his soul for, he's just treating 00:08:45.539 --> 00:08:48.039 it like charcoal. What's the deep read on this 00:08:48.039 --> 00:08:51.000 from the sources? It represents a profound desire 00:08:51.000 --> 00:08:54.279 to punish himself. He feels the agonizing guilt 00:08:54.279 --> 00:08:56.639 of the plane crash. He feels the loss of his 00:08:56.639 --> 00:08:59.799 family. He knows it's his fault. He knows, on 00:08:59.799 --> 00:09:02.980 a deep subconscious level, that this money is 00:09:02.980 --> 00:09:05.419 blood money. It's the physical manifestation 00:09:05.419 --> 00:09:09.059 of his sin. So he wants to burn the sin. He wants 00:09:09.059 --> 00:09:11.559 to purify himself by destroying the root cause 00:09:11.559 --> 00:09:14.000 of his misery. And then he stops. The reversal. 00:09:14.240 --> 00:09:16.220 This is the key to the whole scene. He watches 00:09:16.220 --> 00:09:18.320 the money burn for a few seconds and then pure 00:09:18.320 --> 00:09:21.100 panic sets in. The Heisenberg side of his brain 00:09:21.100 --> 00:09:23.200 wakes up and just screams, what are you doing? 00:09:23.340 --> 00:09:24.919 He realizes he's burning his accomplishment, 00:09:25.299 --> 00:09:28.539 his trophy. Exactly. He dives into action. He 00:09:28.539 --> 00:09:31.279 wildly starts throwing the burning flaming bills 00:09:31.279 --> 00:09:33.899 into the pool to save them. That image of the 00:09:33.899 --> 00:09:35.960 charred, wet money just floating in the bright 00:09:35.960 --> 00:09:39.080 blue pool water. It feels like the perfect symbol 00:09:39.080 --> 00:09:41.799 for Walt's life at this point. It totally is. 00:09:41.960 --> 00:09:45.679 It's salvaged, but it's ruined. It's toxic debris. 00:09:46.340 --> 00:09:48.600 And the fact that he saves it tells us everything 00:09:48.600 --> 00:09:50.700 we need to know about who actually won the internal 00:09:50.700 --> 00:09:53.179 war. The guilt lost. The guilt lost. The greed 00:09:53.179 --> 00:09:55.799 won. The pride won. He just couldn't let go of 00:09:55.799 --> 00:09:57.519 the one thing that proves he's special, even 00:09:57.519 --> 00:09:59.440 if that thing destroyed absolutely everything 00:09:59.440 --> 00:10:02.419 else. The greed definitely wins out. But he's 00:10:02.419 --> 00:10:04.879 still desperately trying to convince himself 00:10:04.879 --> 00:10:07.440 and everyone else around him that he's actually 00:10:07.440 --> 00:10:11.139 a good guy. which perfectly leads us to the assembly 00:10:11.139 --> 00:10:15.000 speech. Oh, this scene. This is arguably one 00:10:15.000 --> 00:10:16.899 of the most painful scenes to watch in the entire 00:10:16.899 --> 00:10:19.799 series. It defines cringe. It really does. Let's 00:10:19.799 --> 00:10:22.039 set the context for the listeners. The local 00:10:22.039 --> 00:10:24.340 high school is holding an assembly. The whole 00:10:24.340 --> 00:10:27.399 city is traumatized. Physical debris from the 00:10:27.399 --> 00:10:30.019 plane crash literally fell onto the school grounds. 00:10:30.100 --> 00:10:32.279 Yeah, right in the courtyard. Students and teachers 00:10:32.279 --> 00:10:34.360 are passing the microphone, sharing their trauma. 00:10:34.519 --> 00:10:36.519 People are crying. They're incredibly upset. 00:10:36.600 --> 00:10:39.039 It's a heavy moment of collective grief. And 00:10:39.039 --> 00:10:41.379 then the principal hands the microphone to Mr. 00:10:41.580 --> 00:10:44.539 White. And Walt, in his infinite lack of wisdom, 00:10:45.019 --> 00:10:47.799 decides this is the exact right moment to use 00:10:47.799 --> 00:10:49.919 logic to cheer people up. He actually tries to 00:10:49.919 --> 00:10:53.070 put it in perspective. He does. He compares the 00:10:53.070 --> 00:10:55.870 horrific collision over Albuquerque to the Tenerife 00:10:55.870 --> 00:10:58.549 Airport disaster. Which is a real -world event. 00:10:58.809 --> 00:11:02.889 The collision of two Boeing 747s in 1977. It 00:11:02.889 --> 00:11:05.750 is still the deadliest accident in aviation history. 00:11:05.970 --> 00:11:07.590 Right, and Walt's argument to these grieving 00:11:07.590 --> 00:11:09.669 kids is essentially, hey, look on the bright 00:11:09.669 --> 00:11:11.970 side. The death count here wasn't nearly as high 00:11:11.970 --> 00:11:14.370 as Tenerife. The planes weren't fully booked. 00:11:14.679 --> 00:11:17.679 He's standing in a gymnasium full of traumatized 00:11:17.679 --> 00:11:19.799 teenagers, telling them statistically it could 00:11:19.799 --> 00:11:21.639 have been worse. He literally starts listing 00:11:21.639 --> 00:11:23.940 the numbers. He says something like, it's only 00:11:23.940 --> 00:11:26.700 the 50th worst air disaster. Why does he do this? 00:11:27.039 --> 00:11:29.679 I mean, is he just that socially awkward? No, 00:11:29.700 --> 00:11:31.860 it's much deeper than social awkwardness. If 00:11:31.860 --> 00:11:33.659 we connect this back to the bigger picture of 00:11:33.659 --> 00:11:35.639 Walt's psychology that the sources talk about, 00:11:35.940 --> 00:11:39.159 it is a massive defense mechanism. How so? Break 00:11:39.159 --> 00:11:41.799 that down. Well, Walt knows deep down that he 00:11:41.799 --> 00:11:44.529 is directly connected to this crash. He let Jane 00:11:44.529 --> 00:11:47.070 die. Right, he stood there and watched. Exactly. 00:11:47.470 --> 00:11:50.309 And Jane's death caused her father, Donald Margolis, 00:11:50.649 --> 00:11:53.350 to deeply grieve and lose focus at his job as 00:11:53.350 --> 00:11:56.230 an air traffic controller. Donald's error caused 00:11:56.230 --> 00:12:00.149 the crash. Walt is the first domino. So by minimizing 00:12:00.149 --> 00:12:02.629 the tragedy to the school, he minimizes his own 00:12:02.629 --> 00:12:05.309 responsibility. If the crash isn't that bad statistically, 00:12:05.490 --> 00:12:07.830 then his original sin isn't that bad morally. 00:12:08.409 --> 00:12:10.870 He is desperately trying to rationalize human 00:12:10.870 --> 00:12:13.629 emotion into cold data points so he doesn't have 00:12:13.629 --> 00:12:15.730 to feel the crushing weight of what he's actually 00:12:15.730 --> 00:12:18.789 done. That is wow. That makes so much sense. 00:12:18.990 --> 00:12:20.649 He's not talking to the kids at all. He's talking 00:12:20.649 --> 00:12:22.870 to himself. Precisely. He is conducting a public 00:12:22.870 --> 00:12:25.250 debate with his own conscience. He is entirely 00:12:25.250 --> 00:12:27.549 unable to process human emotion because to do 00:12:27.549 --> 00:12:30.389 so would require him to admit his own monstrous 00:12:30.389 --> 00:12:33.350 guilt. So he retreats into facts. He retreats 00:12:33.350 --> 00:12:35.450 into the one single place where he feels safe 00:12:35.450 --> 00:12:37.909 and in control science and data, but applied 00:12:37.909 --> 00:12:40.289 to a raw human tragedy, it just makes him look 00:12:40.289 --> 00:12:43.190 like a total sociopath. It's the ultimate well, 00:12:43.389 --> 00:12:46.110 actually, of grief. And it lands terribly. The 00:12:46.110 --> 00:12:48.190 look on the faces of the students and the faculty 00:12:48.190 --> 00:12:51.370 as he's talking, they're just horrified. They 00:12:51.370 --> 00:12:53.970 are desperately looking for comfort, and he basically 00:12:53.970 --> 00:12:56.730 gives them a spreadsheet. And right in the middle 00:12:56.730 --> 00:13:00.190 of all this internal chaos, the external world 00:13:00.190 --> 00:13:03.409 knocks on the door, or rather, buzzes in his 00:13:03.409 --> 00:13:06.929 pocket. The text message. Pulego. Just one word. 00:13:08.290 --> 00:13:10.629 It's the harsh intrusion of the criminal world 00:13:10.629 --> 00:13:13.570 right back into his domestic stasis. He's trying 00:13:13.570 --> 00:13:15.649 to figure out who he is. He's trying to mathematically 00:13:15.649 --> 00:13:18.450 rationalize his guilt. And Gus Fring is just 00:13:18.450 --> 00:13:21.289 reminding him, hey, I'm still here. We have business. 00:13:21.690 --> 00:13:23.450 We'll get to Gus in a minute because that meeting 00:13:23.450 --> 00:13:26.710 is super crucial to the plot of the season. But 00:13:26.710 --> 00:13:28.610 first, we really have to look at the other side 00:13:28.610 --> 00:13:30.610 of the coin. We have to look at Jesse Pink, then. 00:13:30.909 --> 00:13:33.190 The contrast between Walt and Jesse in this episode 00:13:33.190 --> 00:13:35.649 is really the emotional anchor of the whole story. 00:13:35.789 --> 00:13:38.389 Yeah, while Walt is making charts about air disasters 00:13:38.389 --> 00:13:40.970 and trying to minimize the event, Jesse is in 00:13:40.970 --> 00:13:44.649 rehab and he is completely broken. He is dealing 00:13:44.649 --> 00:13:47.409 with profound self -loathing. He blames himself 00:13:47.409 --> 00:13:49.950 entirely for Jane's death. He blames himself 00:13:49.950 --> 00:13:53.409 for the collision. He is feeling everything that 00:13:53.409 --> 00:13:56.409 Walt is refusing to feel. Right. Walt is building 00:13:56.409 --> 00:13:58.610 walls and Jesse is just sitting in the rubble. 00:13:58.649 --> 00:14:01.210 There's a specific scene in rehab that really 00:14:01.210 --> 00:14:03.950 stands out in the analysis. The group leader, 00:14:04.169 --> 00:14:07.190 played brilliantly by Jer Burns, tells a story 00:14:07.190 --> 00:14:10.269 to the group and it is incredibly heavy. Jer 00:14:10.269 --> 00:14:13.330 Burns gives an amazing performance here. It's 00:14:13.330 --> 00:14:15.370 a monologue that could honestly stand on its 00:14:15.370 --> 00:14:18.389 own as a short film. The group leader confesses 00:14:18.389 --> 00:14:21.009 a really dark secret from his past. He talks 00:14:21.009 --> 00:14:24.909 about how 10 years ago he was high on cocaine. 00:14:25.129 --> 00:14:27.289 It was his daughter's birthday and all he wanted 00:14:27.289 --> 00:14:29.980 was vodka. Right. He was tasked with getting 00:14:29.980 --> 00:14:32.139 the ice cream cake for the party, but all he 00:14:32.139 --> 00:14:34.639 cared about was getting the vodka. So he got 00:14:34.639 --> 00:14:37.340 in his truck to go to the liquor store. And he 00:14:37.340 --> 00:14:39.220 didn't check the driveway. He backed over his 00:14:39.220 --> 00:14:40.940 own daughter. He ran over his own daughter and 00:14:40.940 --> 00:14:43.139 killed her. Killed her. Such a dark, breathless 00:14:43.139 --> 00:14:45.100 reveal in that room. And the reason he tells 00:14:45.100 --> 00:14:47.080 this story is to make a specific point to the 00:14:47.080 --> 00:14:50.149 group. He argues that hating oneself for past 00:14:50.149 --> 00:14:53.269 mistakes is only an impediment to moving on. 00:14:53.629 --> 00:14:55.570 Yes. He says he hated himself for years, and 00:14:55.570 --> 00:14:57.769 it almost killed him. He's offering this core 00:14:57.769 --> 00:15:00.549 philosophy of radical self -forgiveness. He's 00:15:00.549 --> 00:15:03.210 saying, I did this terrible, unforgivable thing, 00:15:03.269 --> 00:15:05.330 but I can't let it completely destroy me, or 00:15:05.330 --> 00:15:08.230 I'll never get better. He's preaching that acceptance 00:15:08.230 --> 00:15:11.529 is the only real path forward. But Jesse, Jesse 00:15:11.529 --> 00:15:13.870 hears this, and he has a very different reaction. 00:15:14.649 --> 00:15:16.769 This leads to what the source is called the bad 00:15:16.769 --> 00:15:19.429 guy epiphany. Yeah, because Walt actually visits 00:15:19.429 --> 00:15:22.110 Jesse later at the rehab center to try and give 00:15:22.110 --> 00:15:24.690 him that exact same absolution. Right. Walt tells 00:15:24.690 --> 00:15:27.549 him, the crash wasn't your fault. The money wasn't 00:15:27.549 --> 00:15:29.929 your fault. Walt is desperately trying to play 00:15:29.929 --> 00:15:32.450 the benevolent father figure. But notice Jesse's 00:15:32.450 --> 00:15:34.970 demeanor here. He's not the manic, screaming, 00:15:35.210 --> 00:15:37.269 crying Jesse from season one or two. He's so 00:15:37.269 --> 00:15:40.230 quiet. He's Kong, almost dead inside, and he 00:15:40.230 --> 00:15:42.970 completely rejects Walt's attempt to fix it. 00:15:43.129 --> 00:15:45.850 He totally shuts him down, and then he says that 00:15:45.850 --> 00:15:48.570 iconic line, I learned not to shy away from who 00:15:48.570 --> 00:15:51.720 I really am. The bad guy. That line is pivotal. 00:15:51.879 --> 00:15:54.399 It's a massive turning point for his entire character 00:15:54.399 --> 00:15:56.259 arc. What does that actually mean for him? Is 00:15:56.259 --> 00:15:58.759 he just giving up? In a way, it's a very twisted 00:15:58.759 --> 00:16:02.000 form of maturity. Jesse is finally taking responsibility. 00:16:02.139 --> 00:16:04.720 He's looking at his actions, selling meth to 00:16:04.720 --> 00:16:07.419 recovering addicts, enabling Jane's relapse, 00:16:07.500 --> 00:16:09.899 the chaos he brings, and he's saying, I cause 00:16:09.899 --> 00:16:12.879 pain. I am a criminal. I am the bad guy. He's 00:16:12.879 --> 00:16:15.179 fully owning his nature. Whereas Walt is still 00:16:15.179 --> 00:16:17.240 out there pretending to be the victim or the 00:16:17.240 --> 00:16:19.440 hero. Exactly. Walt is constantly Constantly 00:16:19.440 --> 00:16:22.179 deflecting, Walt is saying, we are good people 00:16:22.179 --> 00:16:25.220 caught in a bad situation. Jesse is saying, no, 00:16:25.259 --> 00:16:28.559 we are bad people creating bad situations. It's 00:16:28.559 --> 00:16:31.539 tragic, really, because Jesse's acceptance is 00:16:31.539 --> 00:16:33.940 highly self -destructive. How so? Well, if you 00:16:33.940 --> 00:16:36.000 truly believe you are the bad guy, you stop trying 00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:38.230 to be good. You just accept your damnation. But 00:16:38.230 --> 00:16:40.610 at the same time, it's vastly more honest than 00:16:40.610 --> 00:16:42.590 anything Walt is doing. It is deeply honest, 00:16:42.629 --> 00:16:44.549 and that honesty makes him dangerous in a brand 00:16:44.549 --> 00:16:47.289 new way. He has nothing left to lose now. He 00:16:47.289 --> 00:16:49.429 has accepted his role in the tragedy. So we have 00:16:49.429 --> 00:16:52.090 the cousins actively coming for blood. We have 00:16:52.090 --> 00:16:54.629 Walt in deep denial, trying to math his way out 00:16:54.629 --> 00:16:57.429 of guilt. We have Jesse accepting his villainy. 00:16:57.730 --> 00:17:00.509 And then we have Skyler. The domestic collapse. 00:17:00.759 --> 00:17:02.639 This is where the rubber really meets the road 00:17:02.639 --> 00:17:05.099 for the white marriage. Skylar is completely 00:17:05.099 --> 00:17:07.539 done. She's sitting in the divorce lawyer's office. 00:17:07.720 --> 00:17:11.099 But notice her hesitation in that scene. The 00:17:11.099 --> 00:17:13.799 lawyer is very aggressive. She starts talking 00:17:13.799 --> 00:17:16.819 about uncovering hidden assets. She says, if 00:17:16.819 --> 00:17:19.319 he's hiding money, we'll find it. We'll turn 00:17:19.319 --> 00:17:22.299 over every rock. And Skylar just freezes. Yes. 00:17:22.599 --> 00:17:25.380 Why, though? She wants him gone. She wants to 00:17:25.380 --> 00:17:28.299 hurt him. Why pause when the lawyer offers to 00:17:28.299 --> 00:17:30.819 take him down? Because she knows something is 00:17:30.819 --> 00:17:33.779 there. She strongly suspects it. And she deeply 00:17:33.779 --> 00:17:36.480 fears what actually finding it might mean. Because 00:17:36.480 --> 00:17:38.799 if the lawyer finds drug money, the police find 00:17:38.799 --> 00:17:41.079 drug money. And if the police find the drug money, 00:17:41.299 --> 00:17:44.609 Hank finds out. Her teenage son, Flynn, finds 00:17:44.609 --> 00:17:47.410 out the entire family's reputation is completely 00:17:47.410 --> 00:17:50.049 destroyed. They lose the house. They lose everything. 00:17:50.250 --> 00:17:52.970 She realizes the blast radius. Exactly. She doesn't 00:17:52.970 --> 00:17:55.190 want the raw truth to blow up her family's life. 00:17:55.289 --> 00:17:57.230 Even if she desperately wants the marriage to 00:17:57.230 --> 00:17:58.950 end, she's protecting the son. She's protecting 00:17:58.950 --> 00:18:01.829 the image. It's a fascinating, terrible position 00:18:01.829 --> 00:18:04.309 to be in. She is functionally trapped by his 00:18:04.309 --> 00:18:06.710 crime just as much as he is. She essentially 00:18:06.710 --> 00:18:09.529 becomes an accomplice after the fact simply by 00:18:09.529 --> 00:18:11.470 wanting to protect her children from the public 00:18:11.470 --> 00:18:13.700 shame. But she can't hold it in forever. We get 00:18:13.700 --> 00:18:16.019 that incredible confrontation scene. She goes 00:18:16.019 --> 00:18:18.019 back to the house to pack up some things or check 00:18:18.019 --> 00:18:21.180 on the place, and Walt is there. And she finally 00:18:21.180 --> 00:18:23.380 accuses him. She lays it all out. She's done 00:18:23.380 --> 00:18:25.619 the math. She's looked at the long hours, the 00:18:25.619 --> 00:18:27.900 sudden influx of money, the second cell phone. 00:18:28.480 --> 00:18:30.779 She looks at him and says, you're a drug dealer. 00:18:31.420 --> 00:18:35.019 And Walt, he finally stops lying. Well, partially. 00:18:35.339 --> 00:18:38.259 He admits it, but he has to correct her. Oh, 00:18:38.259 --> 00:18:40.700 he can't help himself. He says specifically, 00:18:41.359 --> 00:18:43.839 I am a methamphetamine manufacturer. Not a dealer, 00:18:44.220 --> 00:18:47.900 a cook, a manufacturer. It is typical Walt Pride. 00:18:48.400 --> 00:18:50.920 Even in his confession, even as his wife is looking 00:18:50.920 --> 00:18:53.940 at him with absolute horror, he has to claim 00:18:53.940 --> 00:18:56.220 the technical expertise. He has to distinguish 00:18:56.220 --> 00:18:58.500 himself from the street level thugs. Yeah, he's 00:18:58.500 --> 00:19:00.779 an artist. He's a manufacturer. It's pure ego. 00:19:00.920 --> 00:19:02.740 He really can't help himself. So the secret is 00:19:02.740 --> 00:19:05.910 finally out. Skylar knows the truth. She knows 00:19:05.910 --> 00:19:08.869 he cooks meth. What is her move here? Does she 00:19:08.869 --> 00:19:11.930 run out and call the police? No. And this is 00:19:11.930 --> 00:19:14.049 where Skylar's character complexity really shines 00:19:14.049 --> 00:19:16.390 and where the show pivots her role going forward. 00:19:16.630 --> 00:19:18.789 She bargains. She negotiates with a drug ping 00:19:18.789 --> 00:19:21.190 -pong. She does. She demands a divorce and full 00:19:21.190 --> 00:19:24.650 custody of the children. And in exchange, her 00:19:24.650 --> 00:19:27.970 complete silence. She uses the secret as leverage. 00:19:28.230 --> 00:19:30.950 She says, I won't tell anyone. I won't go to 00:19:30.950 --> 00:19:34.059 the police. but you have to get out right now 00:19:34.059 --> 00:19:36.599 and you stay away from the kids. It's a massive 00:19:36.599 --> 00:19:38.700 tragedy when you step back. Yeah. Think about 00:19:38.700 --> 00:19:41.259 it. Walt started all of this, supposedly, for 00:19:41.259 --> 00:19:43.900 his family, to provide for them, to leave them 00:19:43.900 --> 00:19:46.500 a nest egg after he died. Right. And now, the 00:19:46.500 --> 00:19:48.839 very act of revealing the truth of how he got 00:19:48.839 --> 00:19:51.599 the money is what guarantees he loses them completely. 00:19:51.759 --> 00:19:54.059 The irony is suffocating. He has the money. Well, 00:19:54.180 --> 00:19:55.740 he has the money he didn't burn on the grill, 00:19:55.799 --> 00:19:57.960 but he has no family left to spend it on. Yeah. 00:19:58.099 --> 00:20:00.160 He has wildly succeeded in his business goal, 00:20:00.180 --> 00:20:02.259 but completely failed in his personal goal. He 00:20:02.259 --> 00:20:04.619 has absolutely nothing. Which brings us right 00:20:04.619 --> 00:20:07.240 back to that text message. Polos. The business 00:20:07.240 --> 00:20:10.160 of empire. Gus from WALT. WALT has nothing left 00:20:10.160 --> 00:20:12.660 at home. So he goes to the one place where he 00:20:12.660 --> 00:20:15.869 is actually valued. Los Polos Hermanos. He meets 00:20:15.869 --> 00:20:19.470 Gus. And this meeting is a master class in power 00:20:19.470 --> 00:20:22.769 dynamics. Walt walks in and he feels entirely 00:20:22.769 --> 00:20:25.769 defeated. And he tells Gus, no moss. No moss. 00:20:25.970 --> 00:20:29.940 He tells Gus he is quitting. He's out. He's lost 00:20:29.940 --> 00:20:32.019 his family. He's got enough money. He's done 00:20:32.019 --> 00:20:33.799 with the whole thing. But Gus is a businessman. 00:20:34.019 --> 00:20:37.119 He doesn't accept no easily. But he also doesn't 00:20:37.119 --> 00:20:39.279 threaten. He doesn't pull a gun or threaten to 00:20:39.279 --> 00:20:41.779 kill Walt's family. That's not Gus's style. Gus 00:20:41.779 --> 00:20:44.279 uses a carrot, not a stick. He makes a counter 00:20:44.279 --> 00:20:46.799 offer. And the numbers are just staggering. Only 00:20:46.799 --> 00:20:49.880 a million dollars. Three million dollars for 00:20:49.880 --> 00:20:52.390 three months of work. That is a staggering amount 00:20:52.390 --> 00:20:54.730 of money, especially for a guy who just burned 00:20:54.730 --> 00:20:57.089 half his stash in the backyard. It's an incredibly 00:20:57.089 --> 00:21:00.230 calculated offer. Gus knows Walt's ego. He knows 00:21:00.230 --> 00:21:03.130 Walt's greed. By offering three million, he is 00:21:03.130 --> 00:21:05.569 validating Walt's genius. He's saying, you are 00:21:05.569 --> 00:21:07.609 worth a million dollars a month. You are the 00:21:07.609 --> 00:21:09.849 absolute best in the world. That validation is 00:21:09.849 --> 00:21:12.190 exactly what Walt isn't getting at home. At home, 00:21:12.190 --> 00:21:14.829 he's a monster. With Gus, he's a valued artist. 00:21:15.490 --> 00:21:18.470 Exactly. Gus is appealing directly to his vanity. 00:21:18.910 --> 00:21:22.349 Walt refuses, though, at least for now. He's 00:21:22.349 --> 00:21:24.430 trying hard to hold onto that no -moss idea. 00:21:24.549 --> 00:21:26.950 He walks away. But the seed is firmly planted. 00:21:27.470 --> 00:21:30.170 The seed is planted deeply. He can't unhear that 00:21:30.170 --> 00:21:32.289 number. There's a little side note here that 00:21:32.289 --> 00:21:35.109 I think is hilarious but also terrifying, and 00:21:35.109 --> 00:21:37.930 it involves Hank. Hank helps Walt move into his 00:21:37.930 --> 00:21:40.990 new depressing apartment. Oh, the duffel bag 00:21:40.990 --> 00:21:43.670 scene. This is a brilliant bit of writing. So 00:21:43.670 --> 00:21:46.809 Walt is moving into this bleak furnished condo. 00:21:47.049 --> 00:21:49.089 Hank is being the good brother -in -law, carrying 00:21:49.089 --> 00:21:51.789 boxes, helping out. He picks up a heavy double 00:21:51.789 --> 00:21:54.710 bag. It's the bag with the money, the drug money 00:21:54.710 --> 00:21:57.390 Walt got from the deal with Gus. It's incredibly 00:21:57.390 --> 00:21:59.730 heavy because cash is heavy. Hank strains with 00:21:59.730 --> 00:22:01.569 it. He asks, what the hell do you have in here? 00:22:01.930 --> 00:22:04.190 Cinder blocks. And Walt just looks him dead in 00:22:04.190 --> 00:22:06.880 the eye and says half a million in cash. He literally 00:22:06.880 --> 00:22:09.380 tells the truth. He tells a DEA agent it's half 00:22:09.380 --> 00:22:11.500 a million in cash. And Hank just laughs. Hank 00:22:11.500 --> 00:22:13.519 laughs out loud. He thinks it's a joke. He says 00:22:13.519 --> 00:22:15.240 something like, that's a good one, Walt. Bricks, 00:22:15.359 --> 00:22:18.039 right? It really highlights just how effective 00:22:18.039 --> 00:22:21.619 Walt's disguise still is. He is so pathetic in 00:22:21.619 --> 00:22:24.579 Hank's eyes, so mild -mannered, so completely 00:22:24.579 --> 00:22:27.339 beta, that he can confess to a massive felony 00:22:27.339 --> 00:22:30.299 right to the face of a DEA agent, and the agent 00:22:30.299 --> 00:22:33.119 just laughs it off. It's the ultimate camouflage. 00:22:33.339 --> 00:22:36.099 Being constantly underestimated is Walt's superpower, 00:22:36.279 --> 00:22:38.619 but it's also his personal torture. Yeah, his 00:22:38.619 --> 00:22:41.519 ego hates it. He wants to scream, I am the danger, 00:22:41.680 --> 00:22:44.400 I am the guy with the cash. But he can't. He 00:22:44.400 --> 00:22:46.740 has to eat the insult to keep his freedom. It's 00:22:46.740 --> 00:22:49.339 a moment where he's totally safe, but he feels 00:22:49.339 --> 00:22:52.759 incredibly small. And Walt hates feeling small 00:22:52.759 --> 00:22:54.960 more than anything. He does. And that feeling 00:22:54.960 --> 00:22:57.480 of smallness is exactly what Gus will exploit 00:22:57.480 --> 00:22:59.680 later on. So we've covered the plot mechanics, 00:22:59.839 --> 00:23:02.440 we've got the cousins approaching, Walt isolated, 00:23:02.599 --> 00:23:05.059 Jesse broken, Skyler bargaining. But we really 00:23:05.059 --> 00:23:07.039 need to talk about the episode itself as a piece 00:23:07.039 --> 00:23:09.400 of production. Because no Maz feels different 00:23:09.400 --> 00:23:11.500 than season two. It really does. As the sources 00:23:11.500 --> 00:23:13.799 point out, this episode was directed by Bryan 00:23:13.799 --> 00:23:16.819 Cranston. The man himself. It's highly significant. 00:23:17.220 --> 00:23:19.819 This was his directorial debut on the show. The 00:23:19.819 --> 00:23:22.559 lead actor also shaped the entire visual tone 00:23:22.559 --> 00:23:24.680 of the season opener. That's a ton of pressure. 00:23:25.119 --> 00:23:27.000 You're leading the hit show, and now you're setting 00:23:27.000 --> 00:23:28.660 the visual language for the whole new season. 00:23:28.809 --> 00:23:31.630 And he totally nailed it. It shows his incredibly 00:23:31.630 --> 00:23:34.150 deep understanding of the character and the world. 00:23:34.690 --> 00:23:37.009 The choices he made, the long silence of the 00:23:37.009 --> 00:23:39.650 cousins, the framing of the burning money, the 00:23:39.650 --> 00:23:42.809 agonizing awkwardness of the gym assembly. These 00:23:42.809 --> 00:23:46.210 are directorial choices that emphasize profound 00:23:46.210 --> 00:23:48.890 isolation. And the critics definitely noticed. 00:23:49.099 --> 00:23:51.680 The sources highlight a review here from IGN. 00:23:52.039 --> 00:23:54.880 Seth Amatun gave it an 8 .8 rating. And he's 00:23:54.880 --> 00:23:56.759 a great baseball analogy that I love. He said 00:23:56.759 --> 00:23:59.059 season two is a fastball, that high speed crash, 00:23:59.140 --> 00:24:01.819 the action, the constant intensity. And season 00:24:01.819 --> 00:24:04.279 three opens with an emotionally impacted change 00:24:04.279 --> 00:24:06.859 up. A change up that lands softly in the catcher's 00:24:06.859 --> 00:24:08.740 mitt, but it totally messes with your timing. 00:24:08.920 --> 00:24:11.680 It's a perfect description. It slows things way 00:24:11.680 --> 00:24:13.940 down to make you feel the impact. A fastball 00:24:13.940 --> 00:24:16.720 is exciting, but a change -up requires serious 00:24:16.720 --> 00:24:19.140 precision, and this episode is precise. The ratings 00:24:19.140 --> 00:24:22.460 were really solid, too. 1 .95 million viewers 00:24:22.460 --> 00:24:26.220 tuned in. Which, for Cable, back in 2010, for 00:24:26.220 --> 00:24:28.700 a show that was still steadily growing its cult 00:24:28.700 --> 00:24:31.359 following, was a very strong start. Remember, 00:24:31.559 --> 00:24:34.099 Breaking Bad wasn't a massive ratings juggernaut 00:24:34.099 --> 00:24:36.359 in the beginning. It grew through word of mouth. 00:24:36.640 --> 00:24:38.799 But interestingly, when we look at the rankings 00:24:38.799 --> 00:24:42.960 like lists from The Ringer or Vulture, this episode 00:24:42.960 --> 00:24:45.759 often lands in the middle. or even lower tier. 00:24:45.880 --> 00:24:49.680 The Ringer ranked it 54th out of 62 episodes. 00:24:50.099 --> 00:24:52.700 Vulture had it at 45th. That raises an interesting 00:24:52.700 --> 00:24:54.859 point. Why is it ranked lower when it's so important? 00:24:55.220 --> 00:24:57.660 Maybe because it's a setup episode. I think so. 00:24:57.819 --> 00:25:00.059 It definitely suffers from the setup tax. It 00:25:00.059 --> 00:25:02.539 doesn't have the explosive climax of a face -off 00:25:02.539 --> 00:25:05.319 or the pure emotional devastation of a nazi mandias. 00:25:05.619 --> 00:25:08.000 It's doing the heavy lifting of moving the chess 00:25:08.000 --> 00:25:09.960 pieces around the board. Right. It has to move 00:25:09.960 --> 00:25:11.779 Walt out of the house. It has to move Jesse to 00:25:11.779 --> 00:25:14.819 rehab, introduce the cousins, and reset the cartel 00:25:14.819 --> 00:25:16.980 dynamics all in one hour. It's the foundation, 00:25:17.200 --> 00:25:20.529 not the flashy skyscraper. Exactly. It's a completely 00:25:20.529 --> 00:25:23.250 necessary episode, a brilliant episode, but maybe 00:25:23.250 --> 00:25:26.009 not the most quote unquote exciting one on a 00:25:26.009 --> 00:25:28.109 casual rewatch if you're just looking for thrills. 00:25:28.430 --> 00:25:30.630 But without this foundation, the rest of season 00:25:30.630 --> 00:25:32.970 three just doesn't work. You don't get the tension 00:25:32.970 --> 00:25:35.009 of the parking lot shoot out later in the season 00:25:35.009 --> 00:25:38.069 if you don't clearly establish the Cousins' silent 00:25:38.069 --> 00:25:40.589 menace here. You don't get Walt's descent into 00:25:40.589 --> 00:25:43.390 working for Gus if you don't establish his stark 00:25:43.390 --> 00:25:45.980 isolation right now. It lays the groundwork for 00:25:45.980 --> 00:25:49.180 absolutely everything. But technically, it's 00:25:49.180 --> 00:25:51.839 a marvel. We mentioned the cinematography nomination 00:25:51.839 --> 00:25:55.059 for Michael Slois, but also The editing is called 00:25:55.059 --> 00:25:57.920 out. Skip McDonald was nominated for outstanding 00:25:57.920 --> 00:26:01.039 single camera picture editing, and you can really 00:26:01.039 --> 00:26:03.279 feel it. The way it cuts between the silent menace 00:26:03.279 --> 00:26:05.619 of the cousins in the hot Mexican desert and 00:26:05.619 --> 00:26:08.240 the noisy internal chaos of Walt in the cool 00:26:08.240 --> 00:26:12.000 blue suburbs. The pacing is incredibly deliberate. 00:26:12.140 --> 00:26:14.859 It creates a full sensory experience. You feel 00:26:14.859 --> 00:26:16.339 the heat, then you feel the air conditioning, 00:26:16.400 --> 00:26:18.700 you feel the silence, then you hear the awful 00:26:18.700 --> 00:26:21.579 speech. It's a master class in atmospheric storytelling. 00:26:21.920 --> 00:26:24.589 So if we synthesize all of this for you guys 00:26:24.589 --> 00:26:27.829 listening. What does No Mas really mean for the 00:26:27.829 --> 00:26:31.589 show? It literally means no more. Right. But 00:26:31.589 --> 00:26:34.329 look at the characters. Walt tries to say no 00:26:34.329 --> 00:26:37.410 more to crime. Skylar says no more to the marriage. 00:26:38.049 --> 00:26:40.630 Jessie says no more to the lies. They are all 00:26:40.630 --> 00:26:42.789 trying to draw a line in the sand. They're all 00:26:42.789 --> 00:26:44.990 trying to say, this is where it stops. I'm done. 00:26:45.230 --> 00:26:47.430 But the past doesn't care about their lines. 00:26:47.809 --> 00:26:50.329 Exactly. The past is completely inescapable. 00:26:50.390 --> 00:26:52.509 You can say no ma's all you want. You can burn 00:26:52.509 --> 00:26:54.789 the money on a grill. You can move to a sad new 00:26:54.789 --> 00:26:58.089 apartment. You can go to rehab. But the cousins 00:26:58.089 --> 00:27:01.210 are already crawling across the border. The consequences 00:27:01.210 --> 00:27:03.470 are already in motion. You can't put the genie 00:27:03.470 --> 00:27:06.230 back in the bottle. or the smoke back in the 00:27:06.230 --> 00:27:08.950 plane. Precisely. No Maz is just a wish. It's 00:27:08.950 --> 00:27:11.410 a plea. But the harsh reality of the universe 00:27:11.410 --> 00:27:13.769 they inhabit is there's always more. That's a 00:27:13.769 --> 00:27:15.750 really chilling thought. It makes you realize 00:27:15.750 --> 00:27:18.049 that Season 3 isn't actually about making new 00:27:18.049 --> 00:27:20.349 choices. It's entirely about paying the bill 00:27:20.349 --> 00:27:22.069 for the old ones. The bill always comes due. 00:27:22.390 --> 00:27:24.450 Before we go, I want to leave you guys listening 00:27:24.450 --> 00:27:27.589 with something to really mull over. Something 00:27:27.589 --> 00:27:30.410 that builds on what we discussed. Think about 00:27:30.410 --> 00:27:33.269 that group leader's philosophy in rehab. The 00:27:33.269 --> 00:27:36.349 idea that self -forgiveness is absolutely necessary 00:27:36.349 --> 00:27:38.750 to move on. It's a very provocative question. 00:27:39.130 --> 00:27:41.829 Is self -forgiveness actually a virtue? Is it 00:27:41.829 --> 00:27:44.789 a genuine way to heal? We see the group leader 00:27:44.789 --> 00:27:47.289 who killed his own daughter, and now he seems 00:27:47.289 --> 00:27:50.089 okay. He's functioning. He's even helping others. 00:27:50.349 --> 00:27:53.710 But he did it by forgiving himself for the unforgivable. 00:27:53.890 --> 00:27:56.230 And we clearly see Walt trying to do the exact 00:27:56.230 --> 00:27:58.990 same thing with his assembly speech. He's trying 00:27:58.990 --> 00:28:01.230 to forgive himself for the plane crash so he 00:28:01.230 --> 00:28:03.450 can keep functioning. So the question to explore 00:28:03.450 --> 00:28:05.789 is that is self -forgiveness a tool for healing 00:28:05.789 --> 00:28:08.130 or is it just a tool for permission? Is it just 00:28:08.130 --> 00:28:10.450 a convenient way to permit oneself to do terrible 00:28:10.450 --> 00:28:12.509 things, move on, and then potentially do them 00:28:12.509 --> 00:28:14.690 again without the heavy burden of guilt? If you 00:28:14.690 --> 00:28:16.789 forgive yourself for everything, do you eventually 00:28:16.789 --> 00:28:19.589 lose your conscience? Is forgiveness a release 00:28:19.589 --> 00:28:22.309 or is it just an eraser? And in the world of 00:28:22.309 --> 00:28:24.829 Breaking Bad, the answer is usually very dangerous. 00:28:25.210 --> 00:28:27.849 If you erase the guilt, you erase the guardrails. 00:28:28.190 --> 00:28:31.140 Indeed you do. Well, that's all we have for this 00:28:31.140 --> 00:28:34.400 deep dive into Nomaz. It's a heavy one, but man 00:28:34.400 --> 00:28:37.079 is it good. A true masterpiece of setup. Thanks 00:28:37.079 --> 00:28:38.579 for diving in with us, everyone. We'll catch 00:28:38.579 --> 00:28:40.740 you on the next deep dive. Stay curious.