WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.640 Welcome back to The Deep Dive. Today, we're pulling 00:00:02.640 --> 00:00:05.620 a really specific file from the archives of television 00:00:05.620 --> 00:00:08.179 history. And honestly, I think we need to start 00:00:08.179 --> 00:00:10.320 with a bit of a vocabulary lesson before we even 00:00:10.320 --> 00:00:12.539 get into it. Oh, absolutely. Because we are looking 00:00:12.539 --> 00:00:15.800 at Breaking Bad Season 3, Episode 9. Right. And 00:00:15.800 --> 00:00:19.850 the title is Kafkaesque. which is a word that 00:00:19.850 --> 00:00:22.910 requires some unpacking. It really does. It's 00:00:22.910 --> 00:00:25.170 one of those terms that has been completely diluted 00:00:25.170 --> 00:00:27.789 in modern conversation. You hear people use it 00:00:27.789 --> 00:00:31.510 to describe like a long line at the DMV or a 00:00:31.510 --> 00:00:33.890 weird dream they had. It's kind of become a synonym 00:00:33.890 --> 00:00:36.810 for just anything vaguely weird. It has. And 00:00:36.810 --> 00:00:39.090 that's a shame because the actual meaning is 00:00:39.090 --> 00:00:41.289 much more specific. And frankly, it's much more 00:00:41.289 --> 00:00:43.609 terrifying. Yeah. When we talk about Franz Kafka, 00:00:43.750 --> 00:00:46.049 specifically his novels like The Trial or The 00:00:46.049 --> 00:00:48.030 Castle, we weren't just talking about oddities. 00:00:48.109 --> 00:00:50.369 We're talking about the individual being crushed 00:00:50.369 --> 00:00:54.969 by a massive, illogical, and totally inescapable 00:00:54.969 --> 00:00:57.530 bureaucracy. Right. It's that nightmare scenario 00:00:57.530 --> 00:01:01.090 where you are accused of a crime, but no one 00:01:01.090 --> 00:01:03.469 will tell you what the crime is. And you can't 00:01:03.469 --> 00:01:06.099 find the judge. And the rules keep changing, 00:01:06.159 --> 00:01:07.819 but you are still somehow expected to follow 00:01:07.819 --> 00:01:09.939 them perfectly. It's about the suffocation of 00:01:09.939 --> 00:01:12.700 the soul by the system. Precisely. And in this 00:01:12.700 --> 00:01:15.420 deep dive, our mission is to explore why the 00:01:15.420 --> 00:01:18.180 writers Peter Gould and George Mastros chose 00:01:18.180 --> 00:01:20.840 that specific heavyweight philosophical label 00:01:20.840 --> 00:01:24.840 for this exact 47 minutes of television. because 00:01:24.840 --> 00:01:26.819 it isn't just a cool sounding title. No, it's 00:01:26.819 --> 00:01:29.099 the thesis statement for the whole episode. Right. 00:01:29.239 --> 00:01:32.280 It's the thesis for where Walt, Jesse, and even 00:01:32.280 --> 00:01:35.439 Hank are in their lives at this moment. So to 00:01:35.439 --> 00:01:37.280 set the stage for you guys listening, let's ground 00:01:37.280 --> 00:01:39.519 ourselves in the timeline really quick. This 00:01:39.519 --> 00:01:43.079 aired on May 16th, 2010. And if you look at the 00:01:43.079 --> 00:01:45.099 arc of the whole show, this is a massive pivot 00:01:45.099 --> 00:01:47.780 point. We aren't watching a scramble for survival 00:01:47.780 --> 00:01:50.680 in a dusty RV anymore. No, the cowboy phase of 00:01:50.680 --> 00:01:53.180 Breaking Bad is entirely over. We are now firmly 00:01:53.180 --> 00:01:55.879 in the corporate phase. Which, in a way, is scarier. 00:01:56.640 --> 00:01:58.040 Because, I mean, you can shoot a drug dealer 00:01:58.040 --> 00:02:00.439 in the desert, but you can't shoot a corporate 00:02:00.439 --> 00:02:02.400 structure. You can't shoot a quota. Exactly. 00:02:02.620 --> 00:02:05.790 You cannot shoot a quota. And that is what we 00:02:05.790 --> 00:02:07.670 really want to dig into today. We're going to 00:02:07.670 --> 00:02:10.030 look at how the show transitions from a thriller 00:02:10.030 --> 00:02:14.750 about physical survival to this intense psychological 00:02:14.750 --> 00:02:17.030 drama about entrapment. We'll be breaking down 00:02:17.030 --> 00:02:19.009 the economics of the drug trade as presented 00:02:19.009 --> 00:02:21.689 here, the specific mechanics of money laundering, 00:02:21.810 --> 00:02:24.409 and the severe psychological toll that comes 00:02:24.409 --> 00:02:27.150 with this level of so -called success. So let's 00:02:27.150 --> 00:02:28.930 jump right into the first segment, the corporate 00:02:28.930 --> 00:02:31.840 grind. Because essentially Walt and Jesse have 00:02:31.840 --> 00:02:34.800 landed what looks on paper like the perfect job. 00:02:35.180 --> 00:02:37.639 They are finally in the super lab. They are and 00:02:37.639 --> 00:02:40.099 we need to really visualize this space to understand 00:02:40.099 --> 00:02:42.740 the shift in the show. This isn't a makeshift 00:02:42.830 --> 00:02:45.169 basement setup. It's a multi -million dollar 00:02:45.169 --> 00:02:47.610 subterranean facility. It's pristine. Right. 00:02:47.849 --> 00:02:50.330 It has industrial scrubbers, stainless steel 00:02:50.330 --> 00:02:53.509 vats, precise climate control. It is a factory. 00:02:53.750 --> 00:02:56.330 And they're in full production mode now. The 00:02:56.330 --> 00:02:58.110 source material gives us a very specific number 00:02:58.110 --> 00:03:00.270 here, which I love. They're easily producing 00:03:00.270 --> 00:03:02.810 200 pounds of meth per week. Let's pause and 00:03:02.810 --> 00:03:04.789 contextualize that number for a second, because 00:03:04.789 --> 00:03:07.169 it's really easy to just hear 200 pounds and 00:03:07.169 --> 00:03:10.349 move on. 200 pounds is roughly 90 kilograms. 00:03:10.389 --> 00:03:12.729 That's the weight of a heavyweight boxer. or 00:03:12.729 --> 00:03:15.050 like a large refrigerator every single week. 00:03:15.389 --> 00:03:18.030 Exactly. Think about the physical logistics of 00:03:18.030 --> 00:03:20.530 that. We aren't just talking about mixing a few 00:03:20.530 --> 00:03:23.210 chemicals in a beaker on a table. We are talking 00:03:23.210 --> 00:03:26.009 about hauling massive barrels of methylamine, 00:03:26.169 --> 00:03:30.069 moving heavy trays of product, smashing giant 00:03:30.069 --> 00:03:32.789 sheets of crystal. Yeah, it's blue collar, heavy 00:03:32.789 --> 00:03:35.830 industrial labor. It's factory work. They just 00:03:35.830 --> 00:03:38.330 happen to be making a class A felony narcotic 00:03:38.330 --> 00:03:40.009 instead of car parts. And they're incredibly 00:03:40.009 --> 00:03:42.919 good at it. In fact, the source notes that Jesse 00:03:42.919 --> 00:03:45.960 discovers a problem. Well, a problem in this 00:03:45.960 --> 00:03:48.180 context. They're actually overproducing. Right. 00:03:48.280 --> 00:03:50.240 They're hitting the quota so efficiently that 00:03:50.240 --> 00:03:52.759 they have a surplus. They have leftovers. Which 00:03:52.759 --> 00:03:55.139 brings up the first major conflict. Because in 00:03:55.139 --> 00:03:57.759 a normal job, if you overproduce, you might get 00:03:57.759 --> 00:04:00.360 a bonus. Or, maybe you just save the inventory 00:04:00.360 --> 00:04:02.979 for next week to make your life easier. But here, 00:04:03.180 --> 00:04:06.120 that surplus becomes a massive crisis. Yes, because 00:04:06.120 --> 00:04:08.280 Jesse wants to take it. He figures, hey, we made 00:04:08.280 --> 00:04:11.560 it. It's extra. It's ours. But Walt completely 00:04:11.560 --> 00:04:14.379 shuts him down. Why though? I mean, is it just 00:04:14.379 --> 00:04:16.699 Walt being a control freak as usual or is there 00:04:16.699 --> 00:04:19.459 a real business logic to it? There is absolutely 00:04:19.459 --> 00:04:23.000 a logic, specifically a supply chain logic. In 00:04:23.000 --> 00:04:25.279 a clandestine operation like this, inventory 00:04:25.279 --> 00:04:28.279 is a huge liability. You do not want unauthorized 00:04:28.279 --> 00:04:31.100 product just sitting around. If Gus Fring comes 00:04:31.100 --> 00:04:33.680 in and weighs the batches and sees they're over 00:04:33.680 --> 00:04:36.040 the quota, it raises immediate questions. Are 00:04:36.040 --> 00:04:37.980 they stealing? Are they cooking off the books? 00:04:38.579 --> 00:04:40.879 Walt wants to maintain this sort of Six Sigma 00:04:40.879 --> 00:04:42.949 level of perfection. He wants to be the model 00:04:42.949 --> 00:04:45.509 employee. But Jesse doesn't care about Six Sigma. 00:04:45.990 --> 00:04:48.970 Jesse cares about the cash. And this leads us 00:04:48.970 --> 00:04:50.790 to what I think is one of the most fascinating 00:04:50.790 --> 00:04:53.410 economic breakdowns in the entire series. Ah, 00:04:53.449 --> 00:04:55.750 yes. Jesse's meth meth. Yeah, Jesse's meth meth. 00:04:56.089 --> 00:04:58.509 It is such a great scene because Jesse Pinkman, 00:04:58.569 --> 00:05:01.709 who we usually see as this impulsive burnout, 00:05:02.350 --> 00:05:04.769 suddenly turns into a forensic accountant and 00:05:04.769 --> 00:05:07.110 a labor economist. He really does. He has crunched 00:05:07.110 --> 00:05:09.290 the numbers. So walk us through his grievance 00:05:09.290 --> 00:05:12.079 here. How exactly does he arrive at his conclusion? 00:05:12.420 --> 00:05:15.759 Okay, so Jesse looks at the output. 300 pounds 00:05:15.759 --> 00:05:18.540 a week. He knows the street value. Now this is 00:05:18.540 --> 00:05:21.980 crucial. He isn't calculating the wholesale bulk 00:05:21.980 --> 00:05:24.279 price that Gus probably actually gets. Right, 00:05:24.420 --> 00:05:26.819 he's thinking in teenths. Sixteenths of an ounce. 00:05:27.079 --> 00:05:30.160 Exactly. He's thinking retail. He's thinking... 00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:32.939 If I sold this baggie by baggie out on the corner, 00:05:33.339 --> 00:05:35.420 what is it worth? Which is how he's always operated. 00:05:35.779 --> 00:05:38.879 Exactly. And based on that retail math, he calculates 00:05:38.879 --> 00:05:41.120 that over the course of their three -month contract, 00:05:41.620 --> 00:05:44.959 Gus Frang is going to net at least $96 million. 00:05:45.660 --> 00:05:50.139 $96 million in revenue in 90 days. I mean, that 00:05:50.139 --> 00:05:53.079 puts Gus's operation on track for nearly $400 00:05:53.079 --> 00:05:55.620 million a year. It is a mid -cap tech company. 00:05:55.720 --> 00:05:58.180 It is an absolute empire. And then Jesse looks 00:05:58.180 --> 00:06:00.740 at his own paycheck. Walt and Jesse are splitting 00:06:00.740 --> 00:06:03.339 $3 million for that same three -month period. 00:06:03.500 --> 00:06:06.240 So $1 .5 million each. Correct. Now, if you look 00:06:06.240 --> 00:06:09.019 at this from the outside, getting paid $1 .5 00:06:09.019 --> 00:06:11.339 million for three months of work is basically 00:06:11.339 --> 00:06:13.560 winning the lottery. Yeah. Most normal people 00:06:13.560 --> 00:06:15.439 would kill for that kind of money. And Walt knows 00:06:15.439 --> 00:06:18.620 that. Walt is thrilled with it. But... Jesse 00:06:18.620 --> 00:06:21.180 is looking at the ratio. He is doing the percentages. 00:06:21.699 --> 00:06:25.379 If Gus makes 96 million and they make 3 million, 00:06:26.279 --> 00:06:28.300 the labor, the talent, the chefs are getting 00:06:28.300 --> 00:06:31.379 roughly 3 % of the value they actually create. 00:06:31.620 --> 00:06:34.199 This is literally the classic labor theory of 00:06:34.199 --> 00:06:36.860 value argument, isn't it? It is. Jesse's arguing 00:06:36.860 --> 00:06:39.509 that without their labor, Specifically, their 00:06:39.509 --> 00:06:42.230 highly specialized skill to make this pure blue 00:06:42.230 --> 00:06:45.110 meth. The raw materials are completely worthless. 00:06:45.649 --> 00:06:47.810 Therefore, the value comes entirely from them. 00:06:48.050 --> 00:06:51.310 He sees himself and Walt as the artists, the 00:06:51.310 --> 00:06:54.009 creators. He sees Gus as just the guy who owns 00:06:54.009 --> 00:06:56.629 the truck. But that's a heavily flawed economic 00:06:56.629 --> 00:06:59.310 view, isn't it? I mean, in the real world, Apple 00:06:59.310 --> 00:07:02.189 doesn't pay the... Factory worker in Shenzhen, 00:07:02.269 --> 00:07:04.490 the retail price of the iPhone. That is exactly 00:07:04.490 --> 00:07:06.709 the counter argument. Gus isn't just the guy 00:07:06.709 --> 00:07:09.009 with the truck. Gus provides the distribution 00:07:09.009 --> 00:07:11.649 network, the legal cover, the raw materials, 00:07:11.850 --> 00:07:14.589 the facility, and, most importantly, he provides 00:07:14.589 --> 00:07:17.949 the security. Gus absorbs all the systemic risk. 00:07:18.129 --> 00:07:21.410 The risk premia. Right. If the DEA busts a truck, 00:07:21.870 --> 00:07:25.069 Gus loses millions. If a competitor attacks the 00:07:25.069 --> 00:07:27.449 operation, Gus has to pay for the soldiers to 00:07:27.449 --> 00:07:30.660 defend it. Jessie isn't factoring in the massive 00:07:30.660 --> 00:07:33.019 overhead of running a transnational criminal 00:07:33.019 --> 00:07:36.579 empire. But emotionally, Jessie feels entirely 00:07:36.579 --> 00:07:39.699 exploited. The source material notes he is deeply 00:07:39.699 --> 00:07:42.470 resentful. He feels like a sucker. And Walt's 00:07:42.470 --> 00:07:44.589 reaction to this grievance is really telling. 00:07:44.970 --> 00:07:47.250 Walt is totally unconcerned. He treats Jesse 00:07:47.250 --> 00:07:49.370 like a petulant child. He brushes it off and 00:07:49.370 --> 00:07:52.050 calls him unappreciative. Because Walt has totally 00:07:52.050 --> 00:07:53.889 bought into the corporate structure? Completely. 00:07:54.170 --> 00:07:56.629 He has traded the huge upside of street sales 00:07:56.629 --> 00:07:58.970 for the safety and professionalism of the lab. 00:07:59.589 --> 00:08:01.970 He is perfectly happy to be the well -paid executive 00:08:01.970 --> 00:08:03.529 who doesn't have to worry about getting shot 00:08:03.529 --> 00:08:07.110 on a street corner. Walt values status and stability 00:08:07.110 --> 00:08:10.529 right now. Jesse values equity. It's a fundamental 00:08:10.529 --> 00:08:13.009 disconnect between them. And this resentment 00:08:13.009 --> 00:08:15.649 is what drives Jesse to make some very, very 00:08:15.649 --> 00:08:18.189 bad decisions later in the episode. But before 00:08:18.189 --> 00:08:20.689 we even get to the bad decisions, we have to 00:08:20.689 --> 00:08:23.629 talk about the money they actually do have. Because 00:08:23.629 --> 00:08:27.029 getting paid 1 .5 million in physical cash is 00:08:27.029 --> 00:08:29.410 actually a huge problem if you can't spend it. 00:08:29.600 --> 00:08:33.220 Yes. This brings us back to the Kafkaesque bureaucracy, 00:08:33.419 --> 00:08:36.279 but this time it's the bureaucracy of money laundering. 00:08:36.500 --> 00:08:39.019 Sol Goodman steps in here with a solution. He 00:08:39.019 --> 00:08:41.840 advises Jesse to buy a nail salon. Which seems 00:08:41.840 --> 00:08:44.279 so random at first glance, but there's a very 00:08:44.279 --> 00:08:46.700 specific structural reason for the nail salon. 00:08:47.100 --> 00:08:49.639 It's the perfect front for what forensic accountants 00:08:49.639 --> 00:08:51.940 call the placement phase of money laundering. 00:08:52.139 --> 00:08:54.299 Bring that down for us. What is placement? Money 00:08:54.299 --> 00:08:56.960 laundering usually happens in three stages. Placement, 00:08:56.980 --> 00:08:59.360 layering, and integration. Placement is always 00:08:59.360 --> 00:09:01.059 the hardest part, getting that dirty physical 00:09:01.059 --> 00:09:03.279 cash into the legitimate financial system without 00:09:03.279 --> 00:09:05.879 tripping alarms. A nail salon is ideal because 00:09:05.879 --> 00:09:08.480 it is a cash -heavy business with variable costs. 00:09:08.779 --> 00:09:11.559 Right, you can claim you did 50 manicures today 00:09:11.559 --> 00:09:14.419 when you really only did 10, and no one can really 00:09:14.419 --> 00:09:17.519 prove otherwise. Exactly. You mix the dirty money 00:09:17.519 --> 00:09:19.840 with the clean money, you deposit it into the 00:09:19.840 --> 00:09:22.320 bank as daily revenue, and then you pay taxes 00:09:22.320 --> 00:09:24.519 on it. Once you do that, it's clean. You can 00:09:24.519 --> 00:09:26.820 use it to buy a house or a car without the IRS 00:09:26.820 --> 00:09:29.700 asking where you got the cash. But Jesse refuses. 00:09:30.120 --> 00:09:32.899 He just flat out rejects the idea. He does, and 00:09:32.899 --> 00:09:36.019 his reasoning is both hilarious and deeply revealing 00:09:36.019 --> 00:09:38.860 about his character. He refuses because he doesn't 00:09:38.860 --> 00:09:41.320 want to pay taxes. He's a major drug trafficker, 00:09:41.659 --> 00:09:43.940 manufacturing hundreds of pounds of meth, but 00:09:43.940 --> 00:09:46.320 he draws the moral line at the IRS. It sounds 00:09:46.320 --> 00:09:48.700 totally absurd, but it fits Jesse perfectly. 00:09:49.049 --> 00:09:51.629 Jesse wants to be an outlaw. He wants to live 00:09:51.629 --> 00:09:55.210 outside the system. To him, filing a tax return, 00:09:55.429 --> 00:09:57.350 reporting income, playing by the government's 00:09:57.350 --> 00:09:59.429 rules, that is a form of submission. He wants 00:09:59.429 --> 00:10:01.769 the money, but he rejects the citizenship that 00:10:01.769 --> 00:10:04.029 comes with spending it. Which is a fatal flaw. 00:10:04.490 --> 00:10:06.669 Because as Al Capone learned the hard way, the 00:10:06.669 --> 00:10:09.309 IRS is the one agency you absolutely do not want 00:10:09.309 --> 00:10:12.120 to mess with. Absolutely. By refusing to launder 00:10:12.120 --> 00:10:15.100 the money, Jesse traps himself. He has duffel 00:10:15.100 --> 00:10:17.639 bags of cash he can't use. He's working a job 00:10:17.639 --> 00:10:20.559 where he feels vastly underpaid. He has a surplus 00:10:20.559 --> 00:10:23.440 of product he feels entitled to. It is just a 00:10:23.440 --> 00:10:25.740 pressure cooker waiting to explode. So while 00:10:25.740 --> 00:10:28.360 Jesse is dealing with these sort of low -level 00:10:28.360 --> 00:10:31.500 economic frustrations, Walt is dealing with the 00:10:31.500 --> 00:10:33.899 macro strategy. Let's move into segment two, 00:10:34.379 --> 00:10:36.799 the strategic masterclass. This segment centers 00:10:36.799 --> 00:10:39.299 on a meeting between Walt and Gus Fring at the 00:10:39.299 --> 00:10:42.220 Poultry Distribution Center. And the atmosphere 00:10:42.220 --> 00:10:45.399 in this scene is so heavy. It really is. Because 00:10:45.399 --> 00:10:47.320 Walt has figured something out. He's not just 00:10:47.320 --> 00:10:50.059 a cook anymore, he's playing detective. He reveals 00:10:50.059 --> 00:10:52.639 to Gus that he knows the actual truth about the 00:10:52.639 --> 00:10:54.929 attack on Hank. Let's quickly recap the board 00:10:54.929 --> 00:10:57.289 state here for context. Hank Schrader, Walt's 00:10:57.289 --> 00:10:59.370 brother -in -law and a DEA agent, was brutally 00:10:59.370 --> 00:11:02.029 attacked by two cartel assassins, the Cousins. 00:11:02.429 --> 00:11:04.169 Hank managed to kill them, but he was critically 00:11:04.169 --> 00:11:06.669 injured in the process. Walt deduces that this 00:11:06.669 --> 00:11:08.649 wasn't just random chance. Walt realizes that 00:11:08.649 --> 00:11:10.490 the assassins were originally coming for him, 00:11:10.909 --> 00:11:14.659 for Heisenberg. But Gus intervened. Gus redirected 00:11:14.659 --> 00:11:16.940 them away from Walt and pointed them directly 00:11:16.940 --> 00:11:19.860 at Hank. Which on the surface is just a monstrous 00:11:19.860 --> 00:11:22.639 betrayal. Gus traded Hank's life to save his 00:11:22.639 --> 00:11:25.299 investment in Walt's cooking ability. But Walt 00:11:25.299 --> 00:11:28.360 doesn't just see the betrayal. He sees the strategy 00:11:28.360 --> 00:11:30.720 behind it. And this is where the show really 00:11:30.720 --> 00:11:34.139 explains the geopolitics of meth. Why did Gus 00:11:34.139 --> 00:11:37.659 want the cartel to attack a DEA agent? Because 00:11:37.659 --> 00:11:40.659 at first glance, that seems like corporate suicide. 00:11:40.919 --> 00:11:43.399 It's the nuclear option. As Walt explains in 00:11:43.399 --> 00:11:45.720 the scene, attacking a federal agent brings down 00:11:45.720 --> 00:11:48.159 the full wrath of the U .S. and Mexican governments. 00:11:48.740 --> 00:11:51.419 The borders tighten up immediately. The DEA raids 00:11:51.419 --> 00:11:53.899 everything in sight. It makes it functionally 00:11:53.899 --> 00:11:56.139 impossible for the Mexican cartel to move their 00:11:56.139 --> 00:11:58.220 product across the border. So by triggering this 00:11:58.220 --> 00:12:00.759 massive government crackdown, Gus effectively 00:12:00.759 --> 00:12:03.080 places a hard embargo on his own competition. 00:12:03.240 --> 00:12:05.220 Exactly. And who benefits from a closed border? 00:12:05.500 --> 00:12:07.299 The guy who produces his product domestically. 00:12:07.360 --> 00:12:09.659 Gus. Because he has the super lab hidden right 00:12:09.659 --> 00:12:12.320 there in New Mexico. He essentially uses the 00:12:12.320 --> 00:12:15.740 DEA as a weapon to secure a monopoly. It is Machiavellian 00:12:15.740 --> 00:12:18.039 brilliance. He clears the market completely so 00:12:18.039 --> 00:12:21.360 he can own it entirely. Now, a normal person, 00:12:21.759 --> 00:12:23.980 a person who loves their family, who loves their 00:12:23.980 --> 00:12:26.899 brother -in -law, would be horrified by this 00:12:26.899 --> 00:12:30.740 revelation. They would be screaming at Gus. You 00:12:30.740 --> 00:12:32.980 know, you almost got Hank killed. But Walt isn't 00:12:32.980 --> 00:12:35.600 a normal person anymore. The source notes that 00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:39.360 Walt doesn't express anger. He expresses gratitude. 00:12:39.600 --> 00:12:42.539 He literally thanks him. He thanks him for saving 00:12:42.539 --> 00:12:46.460 his life. And he implicitly compliments the sheer 00:12:46.460 --> 00:12:49.360 ruthlessness of the strategy. He says to Gus, 00:12:49.840 --> 00:12:51.919 I would have done the same thing. That line is 00:12:51.919 --> 00:12:53.860 so chilling. I would have done the same thing. 00:12:54.399 --> 00:12:56.539 He's openly admitting to Gus that he would sacrifice 00:12:56.539 --> 00:12:58.299 his own family for the sake of the business. 00:12:58.480 --> 00:13:00.320 He is viewing the world entirely through the 00:13:00.320 --> 00:13:02.779 lens of a kingpin now. He respects the chess 00:13:02.779 --> 00:13:05.080 move. He respects the game far more than he respects 00:13:05.080 --> 00:13:07.539 any kind of traditional morality. And this mutual 00:13:07.539 --> 00:13:10.840 respect leads right into a new negotiation, because 00:13:10.840 --> 00:13:13.059 their three -month contract is expiring soon. 00:13:13.500 --> 00:13:15.639 Walt is fishing for an extension. And Gus gives 00:13:15.639 --> 00:13:18.320 him one. He offers a massive extension, one year, 00:13:18.759 --> 00:13:20.799 12 months. And money jumps up significantly. 00:13:21.259 --> 00:13:25.929 It does. He bumps the pay to $15 million. Which 00:13:25.929 --> 00:13:28.409 is up from the projected 12 million a year rate. 00:13:28.610 --> 00:13:31.309 They were on 15 million dollars Plus as the source 00:13:31.309 --> 00:13:34.149 points out Gus throws in security for his family 00:13:34.149 --> 00:13:36.750 This is the golden handcuffs moment right in 00:13:36.750 --> 00:13:38.429 the corporate world This is when they give you 00:13:38.429 --> 00:13:41.429 the huge stock options that vest over four years 00:13:41.429 --> 00:13:44.230 They are locking him in it changes the dynamic 00:13:44.230 --> 00:13:47.409 completely. It's no longer a scramble of Let's 00:13:47.409 --> 00:13:49.269 make some quick money for my cancer treatments 00:13:49.269 --> 00:13:52.429 and get out. It's this is your permanent career 00:13:52.429 --> 00:13:55.029 now And Walt clearly considers it. He doesn't 00:13:55.029 --> 00:13:56.990 say yes immediately in the room, but you can 00:13:56.990 --> 00:13:59.389 see the wheels turning in his head. He loves 00:13:59.389 --> 00:14:02.149 the validation. Fifteen million dollars is the 00:14:02.149 --> 00:14:04.149 market telling him you are the absolute best 00:14:04.149 --> 00:14:06.549 in the world at this. But while Walt is being 00:14:06.549 --> 00:14:08.769 wined and dined with these eight figure corporate 00:14:08.769 --> 00:14:12.629 offers, the actual human victim of this 4D chess 00:14:12.629 --> 00:14:15.509 game is suffering horribly. So let's go to segment 00:14:15.509 --> 00:14:18.090 three, the home front, because this is where 00:14:18.090 --> 00:14:20.370 the Kafkaesque theme really hits home for me. 00:14:20.389 --> 00:14:22.730 We're talking about Hank Schrader. Yes. Hank 00:14:22.730 --> 00:14:25.289 is in the hospital. He's alive, but he is just 00:14:25.289 --> 00:14:27.529 shattered. He is conscious, but his legs are 00:14:27.529 --> 00:14:30.590 mostly paralyzed. The prognosis is grim. He may 00:14:30.590 --> 00:14:32.649 not walk again, even with months and months of 00:14:32.649 --> 00:14:35.350 therapy. And for a man like Hank, whose entire 00:14:35.350 --> 00:14:38.389 identity is built on physical strength, dominance, 00:14:38.789 --> 00:14:41.710 being the tough guy in the room, this is truly 00:14:41.710 --> 00:14:44.230 a fate worse than death. He's trapped in his 00:14:44.230 --> 00:14:47.529 own body. That's the first layer of the Kafkaesque 00:14:47.529 --> 00:14:50.200 nightmare. But then comes the second layer. which 00:14:50.200 --> 00:14:53.139 is the system, the financial reality of the American 00:14:53.139 --> 00:14:55.559 medical system. The doctor pulls Maria aside 00:14:55.559 --> 00:14:58.360 and tells her there is a specific intensive physical 00:14:58.360 --> 00:15:02.179 therapy program that might just might help Hank 00:15:02.179 --> 00:15:04.779 walk again. But of course, their insurance doesn't 00:15:04.779 --> 00:15:07.179 cover it. It is the classic. American health 00:15:07.179 --> 00:15:09.759 care tragedy. You survived the cartel bullet, 00:15:09.840 --> 00:15:11.820 but the hospital bills would actually ruins you. 00:15:11.919 --> 00:15:14.080 And this is where the Kafka connection is the 00:15:14.080 --> 00:15:16.259 absolute strongest. Hank played by the rules 00:15:16.259 --> 00:15:18.399 his whole life. He was the enforcer of the rules. 00:15:18.500 --> 00:15:21.120 He served the institution of the law. And now 00:15:21.120 --> 00:15:23.580 the institution of the insurance company is completely 00:15:23.580 --> 00:15:26.720 abandoning him. He is fighting a faceless bureaucracy 00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:29.019 that denies his claim based on a technicality 00:15:29.019 --> 00:15:31.799 in the fine print. It's completely absurd. The 00:15:31.799 --> 00:15:34.940 good guy. is punished and paralyzed. And the 00:15:34.940 --> 00:15:38.500 bad guy Walt is currently weighing a 15 million 00:15:38.500 --> 00:15:41.179 dollar job offer. And the financial burden here 00:15:41.179 --> 00:15:44.320 is massive. The source mentions the out of pocket 00:15:44.320 --> 00:15:47.600 costs could be tens of thousands of dollars. 00:15:47.919 --> 00:15:50.320 Marie is desperate. She is drowning financially. 00:15:50.940 --> 00:15:53.139 And also during this time, Steve Gomez visits 00:15:53.139 --> 00:15:55.779 Hank and reveals that the blue meth has reappeared 00:15:55.779 --> 00:15:57.860 in several states. Right. Which means Hank was 00:15:57.860 --> 00:15:59.799 right all along. Heisenberg is still out there. 00:15:59.799 --> 00:16:02.730 So he's Paralyzed, broke, and his major case 00:16:02.730 --> 00:16:05.889 is still unsolved. Exactly. And this total desperation 00:16:05.889 --> 00:16:08.389 creates the opening for Skyler. Skyler White. 00:16:09.250 --> 00:16:11.309 This episode is such a massive turning point 00:16:11.309 --> 00:16:13.610 for her character. She sees Marie's desperation 00:16:13.610 --> 00:16:16.029 and she knows about Walt's giant piles of cash. 00:16:16.330 --> 00:16:18.409 So she decides to step up and bridge the gap. 00:16:18.570 --> 00:16:20.970 She offers to pay the medical bills, but obviously 00:16:20.970 --> 00:16:23.029 she can't tell Marie it's drug money, so she 00:16:23.029 --> 00:16:25.289 has to invent a cover story on the spot. And 00:16:25.289 --> 00:16:26.970 she invents what has to be one of the greatest 00:16:26.970 --> 00:16:29.629 lies in the history of television. The gambling 00:16:29.629 --> 00:16:32.240 lie. It's brilliant. It really is. Because it 00:16:32.240 --> 00:16:35.960 uses the actual truth to sell the lie. And that 00:16:35.960 --> 00:16:38.519 is always the mark of a truly great liar. Explain 00:16:38.519 --> 00:16:40.620 that. How does she use the truth in this context? 00:16:40.830 --> 00:16:42.850 Well, she sits Marie and Walt down, and keep 00:16:42.850 --> 00:16:44.889 in mind, Walt has absolutely no idea what she 00:16:44.889 --> 00:16:47.090 is about to say. And she spins this intricate 00:16:47.090 --> 00:16:50.570 yarn that Walt is a compulsive blackjack gambler. 00:16:50.889 --> 00:16:53.690 She uses their real marital problems as evidence. 00:16:54.169 --> 00:16:56.950 She explains Walt's distance, his weird secrecy, 00:16:57.029 --> 00:16:59.250 his erratic behavior, his disappearances. All 00:16:59.250 --> 00:17:01.549 of that was true. Marie saw all of that. She 00:17:01.549 --> 00:17:04.190 just swaps the word meth for the word gambling. 00:17:04.529 --> 00:17:06.950 Exactly. And she adds the sympathy card. She 00:17:06.950 --> 00:17:08.849 claims he started gambling to try and pay the 00:17:08.849 --> 00:17:10.779 medical bills for his cancer. which makes him 00:17:10.779 --> 00:17:12.799 look like a desperate, loving father trying to 00:17:12.799 --> 00:17:15.359 save his family, rather than a ruthless drug 00:17:15.359 --> 00:17:18.579 lord building a meth empire. It makes him a sympathetic 00:17:18.579 --> 00:17:20.500 sinner in Marie's eyes. And the kicker to the 00:17:20.500 --> 00:17:23.099 whole story is the payout. She claims his blackjack 00:17:23.099 --> 00:17:25.420 system actually worked and he won a sum in the 00:17:25.420 --> 00:17:29.480 seven figures. It's a masterstroke. Perfectly 00:17:29.480 --> 00:17:32.079 explains the massive amounts of cash. It explains 00:17:32.079 --> 00:17:34.599 their ability to pay for Hank's insanely expensive 00:17:34.599 --> 00:17:38.019 therapy. It solves every single logistical problem 00:17:38.019 --> 00:17:40.680 they have in one fell swoop. Karee is horrified, 00:17:40.700 --> 00:17:43.059 of course. She's appalled that Walt has this 00:17:43.059 --> 00:17:45.960 dark secret life as a gambler. But she accepts 00:17:45.960 --> 00:17:48.480 the money. She has to. The system has failed 00:17:48.480 --> 00:17:50.259 her, so she has to take the dirty money to save 00:17:50.259 --> 00:17:53.440 her husband's legs. Talk about dark irony. Hank's 00:17:53.440 --> 00:17:56.240 recovery is being directly funded by the very 00:17:56.240 --> 00:17:58.960 blue meth he is hunting. It is a closed loop 00:17:58.960 --> 00:18:01.880 of moral compromise. Hank is literally standing 00:18:01.880 --> 00:18:03.960 or trying to stand on a foundation of crystal 00:18:03.960 --> 00:18:06.559 meth. And Walt's reaction in the scene is just 00:18:06.559 --> 00:18:09.420 priceless. He's staring at Skyler like he has 00:18:09.420 --> 00:18:12.220 never seen her before in his life. He is stunned. 00:18:12.440 --> 00:18:14.500 Walt prides himself on being the mastermind, 00:18:14.539 --> 00:18:17.640 the great deceiver. But Skyler just improvised 00:18:17.640 --> 00:18:20.380 a masterclass narrative in real time that he 00:18:20.380 --> 00:18:21.859 couldn't have topped. And when they finally get 00:18:21.859 --> 00:18:24.019 out to the car, Skyler drops the hammer. She 00:18:24.019 --> 00:18:26.099 looks at him and says, I learned from the best. 00:18:26.519 --> 00:18:29.319 That line is incredibly loaded. She's acknowledging 00:18:29.319 --> 00:18:32.200 his criminality, but she is also fully implicating 00:18:32.200 --> 00:18:34.740 herself. She's saying, I am part of this now. 00:18:34.960 --> 00:18:38.240 I am a liar, too. But she also draws a very firm 00:18:38.240 --> 00:18:41.069 line in the sand regarding Hank. She tells Walt 00:18:41.069 --> 00:18:43.849 that she knows he is ultimately responsible for 00:18:43.849 --> 00:18:46.089 Hank's attack. She says, I am not forgetting 00:18:46.089 --> 00:18:49.029 that. It's a transaction. She will be his partner 00:18:49.029 --> 00:18:51.970 in crime, essentially his money launderer. But 00:18:51.970 --> 00:18:53.589 she makes it clear she is no longer his wife 00:18:53.589 --> 00:18:56.349 in the emotional sense. She's doing this strictly 00:18:56.349 --> 00:18:58.970 to protect the family image, but she hates him 00:18:58.970 --> 00:19:01.369 for putting them in this position. So Skyler 00:19:01.369 --> 00:19:03.750 is trapped in her new lie. Hank is trapped in 00:19:03.750 --> 00:19:05.990 the hospital bed. Walt is trapped in his corporate 00:19:05.990 --> 00:19:09.220 contract. But Jesse... Jesse is about to build 00:19:09.220 --> 00:19:11.380 a trap of his own. Which takes us to segment 00:19:11.380 --> 00:19:15.000 four. The dissent. Because this is where the 00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:17.579 episode gets really, really dark. We talked about 00:19:17.579 --> 00:19:20.640 Jesse's economic resentment earlier. He's furious 00:19:20.640 --> 00:19:24.000 about the pay disparity. He has the surplus mech 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:26.519 that Walt refuses to let him sell. And he flat 00:19:26.519 --> 00:19:29.099 out refuses to use Saul's nail salon to wash 00:19:29.099 --> 00:19:31.799 his money. So feeling underpaid and bored with 00:19:31.799 --> 00:19:34.140 the whole corporate quota system, he decides 00:19:34.140 --> 00:19:37.140 to steal the surplus meth himself. He goes rogue. 00:19:37.359 --> 00:19:40.240 He decides to become his own boss again. He recruits 00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:42.880 his buddies Badger and Skinny Pete to help him 00:19:42.880 --> 00:19:45.519 move it. But he needs a customer base. He can't 00:19:45.519 --> 00:19:47.500 just stand on a street corner anymore. That's 00:19:47.500 --> 00:19:50.039 way too dangerous and too slow. He needs a captive 00:19:50.039 --> 00:19:52.299 audience. And where does he find one? In his 00:19:52.299 --> 00:19:55.400 rehab support group. It is genuinely monstrous. 00:19:55.799 --> 00:19:58.700 He decides to sell crystal meth to recovering 00:19:58.700 --> 00:20:01.200 meth addicts. It's predatory in the extreme. 00:20:01.539 --> 00:20:03.980 He enters a sanctuary, a place where people are 00:20:03.980 --> 00:20:06.259 stripping themselves bare, trying to heal, trying 00:20:06.259 --> 00:20:08.779 to rebuild their lives, and he just views it 00:20:08.779 --> 00:20:11.420 as an untapped market. He treats a recovery group 00:20:11.420 --> 00:20:15.319 like a lead generation pool. Exactly. The execution 00:20:15.319 --> 00:20:18.200 of it is so cynical. He has Badger and Skinny 00:20:18.200 --> 00:20:20.299 Pete pose as new members. They sit in the circle, 00:20:20.440 --> 00:20:22.319 they listen to these heartbreaking stories of 00:20:22.319 --> 00:20:24.680 addiction, and then they start subtly weaving 00:20:24.680 --> 00:20:27.460 in conversations about the blue meth. They act 00:20:27.460 --> 00:20:29.849 like they're reminiscing. Yeah. Like, oh, man, 00:20:29.849 --> 00:20:31.470 have you heard about that really good stuff going 00:20:31.470 --> 00:20:33.869 around? It's amazing. They're literally trying 00:20:33.869 --> 00:20:36.650 to pique the interest of vulnerable people and 00:20:36.650 --> 00:20:39.910 trigger relapses. And this circles back to the 00:20:39.910 --> 00:20:42.849 Kafka -esque theme in a very twisted way. Oh, 00:20:42.849 --> 00:20:45.049 so. Think about the addicts sitting in that room. 00:20:46.069 --> 00:20:49.009 You are trying to escape the drug. You go to 00:20:49.009 --> 00:20:50.890 the one place in the world that is supposed to 00:20:50.890 --> 00:20:53.529 be safe from it. And the drug is sitting in the 00:20:53.529 --> 00:20:56.390 folding chair right next to you. The temptation 00:20:56.390 --> 00:20:59.269 is literally built into the cure. There is no 00:20:59.269 --> 00:21:02.390 escape. The walls of the maze have closed in. 00:21:03.009 --> 00:21:05.730 That is a terrifying interpretation. The sanctuary 00:21:05.730 --> 00:21:08.369 itself is the trap. And Jesse justifies it to 00:21:08.369 --> 00:21:10.009 himself because he feels the corporate world 00:21:10.009 --> 00:21:12.569 has screwed him over. He's sticking it to the 00:21:12.569 --> 00:21:14.369 system by corrupting the system of recovery. 00:21:14.509 --> 00:21:17.230 It's a dark moral descent for him. Meanwhile, 00:21:17.630 --> 00:21:20.250 while Jesse is spiraling downward, Walt have 00:21:20.250 --> 00:21:23.210 a moment of... I don't even know what to call 00:21:23.210 --> 00:21:26.849 it. Madness. Clarity. You mean the driving scene 00:21:26.849 --> 00:21:29.990 on the way back from the poultry farm? Yes. Walt 00:21:29.990 --> 00:21:32.509 is driving home after the meeting with Gus. He 00:21:32.509 --> 00:21:35.630 just got offered a stable $15 million contract. 00:21:36.250 --> 00:21:38.130 He should be blasting the radio. He should be 00:21:38.130 --> 00:21:40.329 celebrating his victory. Instead, the source 00:21:40.329 --> 00:21:43.710 describes a very specific, quiet action. Walt 00:21:43.710 --> 00:21:46.789 is doing 60 miles per hour on the highway, and 00:21:46.789 --> 00:21:49.390 he just closes his eyes. He shuts his eyes behind 00:21:49.390 --> 00:21:52.420 the wheel. And he lets the car drift. He steers 00:21:52.420 --> 00:21:55.339 into oncoming traffic. He hears the horn of a 00:21:55.339 --> 00:21:57.839 massive semi -truck bearing down on him. He plays 00:21:57.839 --> 00:22:00.599 chicken with oblivion. But at the very last second, 00:22:00.740 --> 00:22:03.339 he swerves back into his lane. He saves himself. 00:22:03.519 --> 00:22:06.339 Why does he do this? Is it the pressure? The 00:22:06.339 --> 00:22:08.960 guilt of Hank's paralysis? Psychologists call 00:22:08.960 --> 00:22:11.059 this la parle du vide, the call of the void. 00:22:11.500 --> 00:22:13.839 It's that sudden, inexplicable urge you get when 00:22:13.839 --> 00:22:16.220 you stand on a high ledge to just jump. But usually 00:22:16.220 --> 00:22:18.740 that comes from an irrational fear. Here, it 00:22:18.740 --> 00:22:20.839 feels like it stems from a profound sense of 00:22:20.839 --> 00:22:23.200 entrapment. I think you're right. Walt realizes 00:22:23.200 --> 00:22:25.559 that with the $15 million offer, his life is 00:22:25.559 --> 00:22:27.960 effectively over. His ability to choose is over. 00:22:28.279 --> 00:22:31.519 He is now owned by Gus Fring. The chaotic adventure 00:22:31.519 --> 00:22:34.299 of Breaking Bad is done. Now the relentless job 00:22:34.299 --> 00:22:36.920 has begun. So for one split second, he thinks. 00:22:37.359 --> 00:22:39.839 The only way to actually break this contract 00:22:39.839 --> 00:22:43.059 is to die. Death is the only true freedom left 00:22:43.059 --> 00:22:45.160 on the table. But he can't go through with it. 00:22:45.220 --> 00:22:48.039 He swerves back. He chooses the cage. He chooses 00:22:48.039 --> 00:22:51.220 the money in the lap. It's such a powerful silent 00:22:51.220 --> 00:22:54.319 sequence. It tells you everything about his internal 00:22:54.319 --> 00:22:57.039 psychological state without a single word of 00:22:57.039 --> 00:22:59.740 dialogue. It really does. Let's move to our final 00:22:59.740 --> 00:23:03.359 segment. Production, reception, and the ultimate 00:23:03.359 --> 00:23:06.500 meaning of the episode. We've unpacked the narrative 00:23:06.500 --> 00:23:09.220 threads, but how did this actually land in the 00:23:09.220 --> 00:23:11.839 real world when it aired? Well, from a production 00:23:11.839 --> 00:23:13.640 standpoint, it was written by the powerhouse 00:23:13.640 --> 00:23:16.400 team of Peter Gold and George Mastras and was 00:23:16.400 --> 00:23:18.700 directed by Michael Slovis. Who's also the show's 00:23:18.700 --> 00:23:21.119 primary cinematographer, right? Exactly. That's 00:23:21.119 --> 00:23:23.319 why the visual language in this episode, like 00:23:23.319 --> 00:23:25.980 that intense driving scene with Walt, or the 00:23:25.980 --> 00:23:28.539 sterile framing of the super lab is so incredibly 00:23:28.539 --> 00:23:30.799 strong. And touching on the title one more time, 00:23:31.099 --> 00:23:33.440 Kafkaesque. I feel like we've really justified 00:23:33.440 --> 00:23:35.819 why they chose that title now. Oh, absolutely. 00:23:36.299 --> 00:23:39.059 The soul -crushing insurance bureaucracy Hank 00:23:39.059 --> 00:23:42.680 faces. The inescapable corporate contract Walt 00:23:42.680 --> 00:23:45.740 signs. The support group trap Jesse builds. The 00:23:45.740 --> 00:23:48.460 massive lie. Seth, a meeting from IGN, had a 00:23:48.460 --> 00:23:50.779 great quote about it. He said, it reminded us 00:23:50.779 --> 00:23:53.460 that the process of breaking bad story is as 00:23:53.460 --> 00:23:56.140 much fun to watch as the product. The process. 00:23:56.279 --> 00:24:00.140 That is the key word. Watching Skyler meticulously 00:24:00.140 --> 00:24:03.059 construct the gambling lie, watching Jesse do 00:24:03.059 --> 00:24:06.059 the retail math, watching Gus build the cartel 00:24:06.059 --> 00:24:09.859 strategy, that process is the show. However, 00:24:10.299 --> 00:24:12.160 if you look at modern retrospective rankings 00:24:12.160 --> 00:24:15.200 of the series, this episode often falls to the 00:24:15.200 --> 00:24:17.660 bottom of the pile. The Ringer ranked it 48th 00:24:17.660 --> 00:24:21.440 out of 62 episodes. Vulture ranked it 50th overall. 00:24:21.700 --> 00:24:23.220 I think that's the curse of the bridge episode. 00:24:23.500 --> 00:24:25.579 When fans look back at the entire series, they 00:24:25.579 --> 00:24:28.099 remember the massive explosions. They remember 00:24:28.099 --> 00:24:30.539 the big payoffs. You don't necessarily remember 00:24:30.539 --> 00:24:32.880 the quiet episode where the characters negotiated 00:24:32.880 --> 00:24:35.819 a contract extension or calculated revenue splits. 00:24:36.079 --> 00:24:38.160 But without this episode, the rest of the season 00:24:38.160 --> 00:24:40.940 literally doesn't make sense. It is the structural 00:24:40.940 --> 00:24:43.099 steel that holds the narrative building up. It's 00:24:43.099 --> 00:24:45.660 not the pretty facade, but it is absolutely essential 00:24:45.660 --> 00:24:47.819 to the architecture of the show. So as we wrap 00:24:47.819 --> 00:24:49.819 this deep dive up, Let's try to synthesize all 00:24:49.819 --> 00:24:52.319 of these threads. What is the big takeaway from 00:24:52.319 --> 00:24:54.839 Kafka -esque? For me, it has to be the utter 00:24:54.839 --> 00:24:57.220 tragedy of Hank Schrader. The man trapped in 00:24:57.220 --> 00:24:59.920 the bed? Yes. He represents the total failure 00:24:59.920 --> 00:25:02.160 of doing things the right way. He followed the 00:25:02.160 --> 00:25:04.579 law, he did everything right, and he was physically 00:25:04.579 --> 00:25:06.920 and financially destroyed by it. And now his 00:25:06.920 --> 00:25:09.319 recovery has to be saved by the wrong way. It 00:25:09.319 --> 00:25:11.920 completely deconstructs the idea of moral karma 00:25:11.920 --> 00:25:14.740 in this universe. And for me, it's the structural 00:25:14.740 --> 00:25:17.680 transformation of the show itself. This is the 00:25:17.680 --> 00:25:22.269 exact moment. Breaking Bad stops being a gritty 00:25:22.269 --> 00:25:24.329 story about a desperate guy trying to make ends 00:25:24.329 --> 00:25:26.609 meet for his family and starts being a story 00:25:26.609 --> 00:25:29.230 about the crushing bureaucratic weight of empire 00:25:29.230 --> 00:25:31.289 building. The empire business, as Walt later 00:25:31.289 --> 00:25:33.710 calls it, this episode is the groundbreaking 00:25:33.710 --> 00:25:36.029 ceremony for that empire. And I want to leave 00:25:36.029 --> 00:25:38.450 the listener with one final provocative thought 00:25:38.450 --> 00:25:40.950 about that title. We've talked extensively about 00:25:40.950 --> 00:25:43.509 traps today. We've talked about cages and systems. 00:25:43.650 --> 00:25:47.029 The Kafkaesque nightmare. Right. If the situation 00:25:47.029 --> 00:25:50.519 is a trap, who is the real jailer? Is it Gus 00:25:50.519 --> 00:25:52.660 Frang locking them into a contract? Is it the 00:25:52.660 --> 00:25:54.819 Mexican cartel? Is it the American insurance 00:25:54.819 --> 00:25:57.599 company? Or when Walt closes his eyes and lets 00:25:57.599 --> 00:26:00.960 go the steering wheel on that highway, is the 00:26:00.960 --> 00:26:03.900 true jailer his own ego? Is the prison the multi 00:26:03.900 --> 00:26:06.400 -million dollar super lab or is the prison the 00:26:06.400 --> 00:26:08.559 man himself? That is the question you have to 00:26:08.559 --> 00:26:10.680 ask yourself. Indeed. Thank you for listening 00:26:10.680 --> 00:26:13.240 to this Deep Dive. We will catch you on the next 00:26:13.240 --> 00:26:13.440 file.