WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.120 Hello and welcome back to the deep dive. If you're 00:00:03.120 --> 00:00:05.679 joining us today, you are clearly ready to go 00:00:05.679 --> 00:00:07.759 way beyond the surface. You're not just here 00:00:07.759 --> 00:00:10.779 for, you know, the basic summary. Right. You 00:00:10.779 --> 00:00:12.980 are here because you want to understand the actual 00:00:12.980 --> 00:00:15.980 machinery under the hood. So today we are turning 00:00:15.980 --> 00:00:19.120 our attention to a very specific, incredibly 00:00:19.120 --> 00:00:21.379 volatile moment in television history. Extremely 00:00:21.379 --> 00:00:24.219 volatile. Yeah. We are cracking open the archives 00:00:24.219 --> 00:00:26.480 and looking at Breaking Bad, but we aren't just 00:00:26.480 --> 00:00:29.019 doing some general overview. We are zooming in. 00:00:29.120 --> 00:00:32.399 really microscope style on season four, episode 00:00:32.399 --> 00:00:34.899 seven. That's right. The episode is titled Problem 00:00:34.899 --> 00:00:39.020 Dog. And honestly, just that title alone gives 00:00:39.020 --> 00:00:41.420 you a shiver if you know the context. Oh, absolutely. 00:00:41.579 --> 00:00:44.179 It's evocative. It's really heavy. It implies 00:00:44.179 --> 00:00:46.979 something messy, something that just... needs 00:00:46.979 --> 00:00:49.159 to be dealt with. Definitely. Now for the learner 00:00:49.159 --> 00:00:51.299 joining us, let's just set the stage a bit. We 00:00:51.299 --> 00:00:53.600 need to orient ourselves in time because context 00:00:53.600 --> 00:00:56.000 is everything with this show. Right. The timeline 00:00:56.000 --> 00:00:58.560 is crucial here. Exactly. So this episode originally 00:00:58.560 --> 00:01:02.399 aired on August 28th, 2011. It is the 40th overall 00:01:02.399 --> 00:01:05.719 episode of the series. And being 40 episodes 00:01:05.719 --> 00:01:09.040 in, the tension is just, it's suffocating. I 00:01:09.040 --> 00:01:10.700 mean, this is right in the middle of the fourth 00:01:10.700 --> 00:01:13.250 season. Yeah, right in the thick of it. Critics 00:01:13.250 --> 00:01:16.310 and fans often argue that this specific stretch 00:01:16.310 --> 00:01:19.750 of episodes represents the absolute peak of the 00:01:19.750 --> 00:01:23.390 show's slow burn intensity. We are past the initial 00:01:23.390 --> 00:01:25.890 setup of the super lab, but we aren't quite at 00:01:25.890 --> 00:01:28.409 the explosive finale yet. Right, we're in the 00:01:28.409 --> 00:01:30.829 pressure cooker. Exactly. The heat has turned 00:01:30.829 --> 00:01:33.250 up, the lid is rattling, but it hasn't blown 00:01:33.250 --> 00:01:35.930 off just yet. It's that sweet spot of anxiety. 00:01:36.269 --> 00:01:38.689 And we have some really interesting credits here 00:01:38.689 --> 00:01:40.829 that are worth noting before we get into the 00:01:40.829 --> 00:01:43.510 plot itself. This episode was written and directed 00:01:43.510 --> 00:01:46.530 by Peter Gold, which is incredibly significant. 00:01:46.609 --> 00:01:49.230 I mean, Peter Gold isn't just a hired gun director 00:01:49.230 --> 00:01:52.090 stepping in for a week. He is a key creative 00:01:52.090 --> 00:01:54.549 force in this entire universe. He really is. 00:01:54.670 --> 00:01:57.090 He's the writer who introduced Saul Goodman way 00:01:57.090 --> 00:01:59.489 back in season two. He's the guy who later went 00:01:59.489 --> 00:02:02.000 on to co -create Better Call Saul. So when you 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:05.180 see his name as both writer and director, you 00:02:05.180 --> 00:02:07.459 know you're in for a very specific kind of ride. 00:02:07.579 --> 00:02:09.060 You know it's going to be good. You know it's 00:02:09.060 --> 00:02:10.900 going to be heavily character driven, and you 00:02:10.900 --> 00:02:14.379 know it's going to explore the absurdity and 00:02:14.379 --> 00:02:17.349 really the tragedy of the criminal life. So here's 00:02:17.349 --> 00:02:20.150 our mission for today. We have the source material, 00:02:20.629 --> 00:02:23.129 we've got the plot summaries, the reception notes, 00:02:23.289 --> 00:02:25.909 the production details, and the critical analysis. 00:02:25.990 --> 00:02:28.629 All of it. All of it. And we are going to strip 00:02:28.629 --> 00:02:31.069 this episode down to its bolts. We're going to 00:02:31.069 --> 00:02:33.430 look at the shifting power dynamics, the crushing 00:02:33.430 --> 00:02:36.949 weight of guilt, and frankly, the totally bizarre 00:02:36.949 --> 00:02:39.550 financial logistics of running a meth empire. 00:02:39.949 --> 00:02:41.629 And we really have to talk about that title. 00:02:42.389 --> 00:02:46.229 The metaphor of the problem dog. It is central 00:02:46.229 --> 00:02:48.610 to understanding Jesse Pinkman's psychology in 00:02:48.610 --> 00:02:51.370 this hour. It's the key. It's the key that unlocks 00:02:51.370 --> 00:02:53.990 his entire arc for the season, and maybe even 00:02:53.990 --> 00:02:56.090 for the whole series. And on the other side of 00:02:56.090 --> 00:02:58.530 the spectrum, we have Walter White's ego, which 00:02:58.530 --> 00:03:00.830 I think we can agree is basically becoming its 00:03:00.830 --> 00:03:02.550 own character at this point. Oh, without a doubt. 00:03:02.729 --> 00:03:05.669 It's growing limbs. It's taking up physical space 00:03:05.669 --> 00:03:08.530 in the room. It's volatile. It's dangerous. And 00:03:08.530 --> 00:03:11.289 in this episode, it creates a literal explosion. 00:03:11.569 --> 00:03:14.229 OK, let's untack this. I really want to start 00:03:14.229 --> 00:03:16.349 with what I call the eruption of Walter White 00:03:16.349 --> 00:03:19.750 because this episode starts with a bang. Literally. 00:03:20.069 --> 00:03:22.310 Literally. It does. And what's so fascinating 00:03:22.310 --> 00:03:26.030 is that it stems from something so mundane. Right. 00:03:26.289 --> 00:03:28.969 A domestic dispute. A simple conversation about 00:03:28.969 --> 00:03:31.189 a car return. Yeah. So let's look at the setup. 00:03:31.889 --> 00:03:34.889 Skylar White, Walter's wife, has negotiated the 00:03:34.889 --> 00:03:38.729 return of a Dodge Challenger. Now, for context. 00:03:39.250 --> 00:03:41.810 Remind us about this car, because it's not just 00:03:41.810 --> 00:03:45.050 a car. No, it's a massive symbol. This is the 00:03:45.050 --> 00:03:47.370 car Walter bought for his son, Walter Jr. It's 00:03:47.370 --> 00:03:50.909 a 2009 Dodge Challenger SRT8. A beast of a car. 00:03:51.110 --> 00:03:54.150 A total beast. It is bright red with black racing 00:03:54.150 --> 00:03:56.909 stripes. It's loud, it's aggressive, and it's 00:03:56.909 --> 00:03:59.530 very expensive. And most importantly, to Skyler 00:03:59.530 --> 00:04:02.310 at least, it absolutely screams drug dealer money. 00:04:02.629 --> 00:04:04.699 Exactly. They are supposed to be living on a 00:04:04.699 --> 00:04:07.300 car wash owner's salary. You cannot explain a 00:04:07.300 --> 00:04:10.300 $40 ,000 muscle car to the IRS when you're supposedly 00:04:10.300 --> 00:04:12.340 just scrubbing tires for a living. Right. So 00:04:12.340 --> 00:04:14.479 Skyler takes charge. She puts on her responsible 00:04:14.479 --> 00:04:17.279 parent hat or maybe her criminal CFO hat. Her 00:04:17.279 --> 00:04:19.620 risk management hat. Yeah, exactly. She tells 00:04:19.620 --> 00:04:22.660 Walt, I handled it. I talked to the dealership. 00:04:22.779 --> 00:04:24.879 You just need to take it back. There's a restocking 00:04:24.879 --> 00:04:27.800 fee, but it's handled. Just drive it there and 00:04:27.800 --> 00:04:30.139 hand over the keys. It's a completely rational 00:04:30.139 --> 00:04:34.149 move by Skyler. She is the pragmatic force in 00:04:34.149 --> 00:04:36.750 this criminal enterprise, essentially. She's 00:04:36.750 --> 00:04:39.329 trying to keep a low profile. Right. She's protecting 00:04:39.329 --> 00:04:43.250 the family from an audit, from suspicion. But 00:04:43.250 --> 00:04:47.050 Walter, Walter perceives this entirely differently. 00:04:47.209 --> 00:04:48.769 He doesn't see it as protection, does he? He 00:04:48.769 --> 00:04:50.790 doesn't see, oh, thank you for saving us from 00:04:50.790 --> 00:04:53.910 federal prison. No. He perceives it as an insult. 00:04:54.009 --> 00:04:56.790 An attack. Yeah, an attack. He sees it as Skyler 00:04:56.790 --> 00:04:59.370 emasculating him. She is taking away his gift 00:04:59.370 --> 00:05:01.810 to his son. She is taking away his ability to 00:05:01.810 --> 00:05:04.209 be the provider, which is the central lie, he 00:05:04.209 --> 00:05:06.170 tells himself. That he does this all for his 00:05:06.170 --> 00:05:08.990 family. Right. If he can't give the boy the car, 00:05:09.410 --> 00:05:11.430 then what is the point of the money? An insult. 00:05:11.610 --> 00:05:14.589 It's a declaration of war in his head. So, describe 00:05:14.589 --> 00:05:16.930 what happens. He gets in the car to return it, 00:05:17.269 --> 00:05:19.050 but he doesn't just drive it back to the lot 00:05:19.050 --> 00:05:21.699 and hand over the keys, does he? No. He doesn't. 00:05:21.860 --> 00:05:24.860 And this is where we see the absolute petulance 00:05:24.860 --> 00:05:27.519 of Walter White. He drives the Challenger to 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:29.639 a parking lot. He doesn't go to the dealership. 00:05:29.639 --> 00:05:33.060 He goes to a large, empty, concrete lot. It's 00:05:33.060 --> 00:05:35.180 totally isolated. And he just sits there for 00:05:35.180 --> 00:05:37.600 a second. And then he starts doing donuts. Which 00:05:37.600 --> 00:05:40.800 is such a juvenile, aggressive expression of 00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:44.180 power. He's burning rubber, spinning this high 00:05:44.180 --> 00:05:46.600 -performance machine in circles. The tires are 00:05:46.600 --> 00:05:48.660 screeching. There's thick smoke everywhere. It's 00:05:48.660 --> 00:05:50.759 a total tantrum. It's a tantrum. Yeah. It is 00:05:50.759 --> 00:05:54.199 a middle -aged man screaming, I am in control 00:05:54.199 --> 00:05:56.680 by spinning in circles in an empty parking lot. 00:05:56.779 --> 00:05:59.680 Yeah. It's pathetic, but it's also genuinely 00:05:59.680 --> 00:06:01.939 terrifying because of the raw rage behind it. 00:06:01.959 --> 00:06:04.500 It's visually striking, too. The bright red car, 00:06:04.579 --> 00:06:07.560 the thick white smoke, the drab gray concrete, 00:06:07.839 --> 00:06:09.500 but he doesn't just stop at donuts. That would 00:06:09.500 --> 00:06:12.319 be too simple. Right. He crashes it. He loses 00:06:12.319 --> 00:06:14.879 control, or perhaps he gains control by losing 00:06:14.879 --> 00:06:17.519 it intentionally, you could argue, and he strands 00:06:17.519 --> 00:06:19.939 the car on a concrete parking divider. He just 00:06:19.939 --> 00:06:22.639 beaches it. He essentially beaches this incredibly 00:06:22.639 --> 00:06:26.439 expensive muscle car. The front fascia is smashed 00:06:26.439 --> 00:06:29.399 up. The chassis is stuck on the concrete. The 00:06:29.399 --> 00:06:31.600 rear wheels are just spinning in the air. It 00:06:31.600 --> 00:06:33.939 is completely stuck. And here's the part that 00:06:33.939 --> 00:06:36.720 is just pure chaos. He gets out of the car. He's 00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:40.000 panting. He's furious. He takes the ownership 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:43.060 papers, the literal title, to the car. Yeah. 00:06:43.100 --> 00:06:45.600 And what does he do? He stuffs them into the 00:06:45.600 --> 00:06:48.439 gas tank. He literally shoves the paperwork into 00:06:48.439 --> 00:06:50.600 the fuel net. He stuffs the papers into the gas 00:06:50.600 --> 00:06:53.420 tank. He lights a match. He throws it in. And 00:06:53.420 --> 00:06:56.350 he just walks away. Boom. Just like that. A massive 00:06:56.350 --> 00:06:58.649 fireball in the middle of Albuquerque. And he 00:06:58.649 --> 00:07:00.709 doesn't even look back? Doesn't even flinch. 00:07:00.970 --> 00:07:02.790 He puts his sunglasses on, or he would if he 00:07:02.790 --> 00:07:06.490 had them. It's a pure action movie moment, but 00:07:06.490 --> 00:07:09.290 in the context of this show, it's sheer insanity. 00:07:09.660 --> 00:07:11.899 It is a striking visual, but let's look at the 00:07:11.899 --> 00:07:14.319 actual fallout of this. Because you can't just 00:07:14.319 --> 00:07:16.240 blow up a car in a parking lot and walk away 00:07:16.240 --> 00:07:18.699 scot -free in the real world, or even in the 00:07:18.699 --> 00:07:21.399 Breaking Bad world. There are real consequences. 00:07:21.860 --> 00:07:23.500 You can't just incinerate a vehicle and expect 00:07:23.500 --> 00:07:26.360 nobody to ask any questions. Right. And this 00:07:26.360 --> 00:07:28.620 is where the criminal tax comes in. The source 00:07:28.620 --> 00:07:31.040 material notes that Saul Goodman, their lawyer, 00:07:31.319 --> 00:07:33.300 has to step in and cover this up. Because you 00:07:33.300 --> 00:07:36.360 can't have the police investigating why a chemistry 00:07:36.360 --> 00:07:38.970 teacher blew up a sports car. Exactly. That leads 00:07:38.970 --> 00:07:41.149 to questions about mental stability, finances, 00:07:41.410 --> 00:07:43.670 literally everything. Saul has to work his magic. 00:07:43.829 --> 00:07:47.089 He has to bribe people, falsify reports, maybe 00:07:47.089 --> 00:07:49.470 pay off the lot owner to say it was an electrical 00:07:49.470 --> 00:07:52.149 fault or something totally ridiculous. Something 00:07:52.149 --> 00:07:54.569 to make it go away. Right. And the cost of this 00:07:54.569 --> 00:07:56.529 little outburst, the source is very specific. 00:07:56.769 --> 00:08:00.290 $52 ,000. $52 ,000. Yeah. Let's really sit with 00:08:00.290 --> 00:08:02.449 that number for a second just to clean up a temper 00:08:02.449 --> 00:08:05.209 tantrum. That is more than the median income 00:08:05.209 --> 00:08:07.490 for a lot of people in the United States. Easily. 00:08:07.689 --> 00:08:10.389 That is a year of work, hard work for a regular 00:08:10.389 --> 00:08:13.449 person. That's a down payment on a house. And 00:08:13.449 --> 00:08:17.329 Walt burns it literally and metaphorically in 00:08:17.329 --> 00:08:19.050 five minutes just because he didn't want to listen 00:08:19.050 --> 00:08:22.170 to his wife. It really highlights his complete 00:08:22.170 --> 00:08:25.620 inability to accept control. If Skyler says return 00:08:25.620 --> 00:08:28.220 the car, returning the car feels like losing 00:08:28.220 --> 00:08:30.860 to destroying the car. That feels like winning. 00:08:31.120 --> 00:08:33.600 Even if it costs him 50 grand. He'd rather pay 00:08:33.600 --> 00:08:37.419 $50 ,000 to destroy something than $0 to admit 00:08:37.419 --> 00:08:40.559 Skyler was right. It's a Pyrrhic victory. It's 00:08:40.559 --> 00:08:42.820 distinctively Walter White logic. I will burn 00:08:42.820 --> 00:08:45.200 my own kingdom down before I let you rule it. 00:08:45.840 --> 00:08:48.259 It shows how his ego is actually an expense line 00:08:48.259 --> 00:08:51.860 item in their business now. Precisely. His ego 00:08:51.860 --> 00:08:55.120 is the biggest liability they have. But this 00:08:55.120 --> 00:08:57.299 scene transitions us perfectly to the next segment, 00:08:57.539 --> 00:09:00.080 which is all about the actual economics of his 00:09:00.080 --> 00:09:02.600 crime. Right. Because right after burning money, 00:09:02.940 --> 00:09:05.419 he feels this intense need to prove exactly how 00:09:05.419 --> 00:09:08.240 much he has. He needs to show Skyler that 52 00:09:08.240 --> 00:09:10.539 grand is nothing to him. It's pocket change. 00:09:10.720 --> 00:09:12.840 So he drops off money to Schuyler. He just dumps 00:09:12.840 --> 00:09:14.700 it on the table. It's his bi -weekly profits. 00:09:15.200 --> 00:09:17.360 And the number here is staggering. It is. He 00:09:17.360 --> 00:09:21.240 hands her approximately $274 ,000. Let's just 00:09:21.240 --> 00:09:25.519 pause on that math for a second. $274 ,000. That 00:09:25.519 --> 00:09:28.600 is every two weeks. It's wild. That is his take 00:09:28.600 --> 00:09:32.159 -home pay for cooking meth for Gus Fring. So 00:09:32.159 --> 00:09:34.639 if we extrapolate that let's do the math for 00:09:34.639 --> 00:09:37.379 you listening because the scale here is Mind 00:09:37.379 --> 00:09:40.220 -boggling compared to his old teacher salary 00:09:40.220 --> 00:09:44.480 if you run that out over a year 26 pay periods 00:09:44.480 --> 00:09:47.480 you are looking at an annual income of over seven 00:09:47.480 --> 00:09:50.539 million dollars Seven point one million to be 00:09:50.539 --> 00:09:54.480 precise seven million dollars a year From cooking 00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:56.860 meth in a basement under a commercial laundry, 00:09:57.220 --> 00:09:59.919 he went from making maybe $45 ,000 a year teaching 00:09:59.919 --> 00:10:02.840 high school chemistry to making $7 million. It's 00:10:02.840 --> 00:10:04.960 astronomical. It puts him in the realm of professional 00:10:04.960 --> 00:10:07.919 athletes or CEOs of major corporations. But here 00:10:07.919 --> 00:10:10.340 is the catch. Right. The source specifically 00:10:10.340 --> 00:10:13.240 mentions Skylar's reaction to this massive pile 00:10:13.240 --> 00:10:16.360 of cash. She isn't doing a happy dance. She isn't 00:10:16.360 --> 00:10:18.559 thrilled. She isn't popping champagne. No. She 00:10:18.559 --> 00:10:21.580 is stunned. And she is terrified. She looks at 00:10:21.580 --> 00:10:24.379 that bag of money like it's a live bomb. Why? 00:10:24.700 --> 00:10:26.659 I mean, just playing devil's advocate here, who 00:10:26.659 --> 00:10:30.659 wouldn't want seven million dollars? Why is she 00:10:30.659 --> 00:10:33.100 scared? Is it just the illegality of it? It's 00:10:33.100 --> 00:10:35.399 the laundering problem. Yeah. She owns a car 00:10:35.399 --> 00:10:38.740 wash. That is their business. Now, the car wash 00:10:38.740 --> 00:10:41.059 is a cash business, which is obviously good for 00:10:41.059 --> 00:10:44.639 laundering. But there is a limit. Right. Imagine 00:10:44.639 --> 00:10:47.399 trying to explain seven million dollars in profit. 00:10:47.529 --> 00:10:51.269 through a single generic car wash in Albuquerque. 00:10:51.450 --> 00:10:54.090 Yeah, that's a lot of premium wax and air fresheners. 00:10:54.330 --> 00:10:56.610 You have to fake a lot of car washes to justify 00:10:56.610 --> 00:10:59.289 that income. You'd need a line of cars stretching 00:10:59.289 --> 00:11:01.490 all the way to the Arizona border every single 00:11:01.490 --> 00:11:03.490 day to make the math work. Exactly. You can't 00:11:03.490 --> 00:11:05.710 just walk into a bank and deposit it. You have 00:11:05.710 --> 00:11:08.110 to create fake receipts, fake customers, dummy 00:11:08.110 --> 00:11:10.690 ledgers. And the source adds a really great detail 00:11:10.690 --> 00:11:13.870 here. The money is mostly in $50 bills. Oh, wow. 00:11:14.009 --> 00:11:16.470 So physically, that is a lot of paper. Exactly. 00:11:17.819 --> 00:11:20.340 It's not a number on a screen. It's not a wire 00:11:20.340 --> 00:11:22.539 transfer from an offshore account. It's piles 00:11:22.539 --> 00:11:24.480 and piles of paper that you have to somehow make 00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:29.580 look perfectly legal. A stack of 274 ,000 in 00:11:29.580 --> 00:11:33.399 fifties is bulky. It takes up a ton of space. 00:11:34.379 --> 00:11:37.080 Skylar looks at that pile and she doesn't see 00:11:37.080 --> 00:11:40.820 financial success. She sees a logistical nightmare. 00:11:40.960 --> 00:11:43.580 She sees the work. She sees hours and hours of 00:11:43.580 --> 00:11:46.440 counting, hiding, and faking ledgers in the back 00:11:46.440 --> 00:11:48.580 room. It's the classic, mow money, mow problems. 00:11:49.220 --> 00:11:51.679 The cash itself is becoming a massive liability. 00:11:51.879 --> 00:11:54.519 It's almost like the cash is physical evidence 00:11:54.519 --> 00:11:57.220 just accumulating in her living room. Where do 00:11:57.220 --> 00:12:00.059 you even hide that much money? Under the floorboards. 00:12:00.419 --> 00:12:03.139 In the air vents. And Walt just drops it there 00:12:03.139 --> 00:12:05.139 like, look what I did. He doesn't care about 00:12:05.139 --> 00:12:07.539 the logistics. He leaves the headache entirely 00:12:07.539 --> 00:12:09.860 for her. Typical. He's the producer. She's the 00:12:09.860 --> 00:12:11.700 launderer. He thinks his job is done the minute 00:12:11.700 --> 00:12:14.340 the cook is over. It's incredibly arrogant. He 00:12:14.340 --> 00:12:16.700 creates the mess, whether it's a blown up car 00:12:16.700 --> 00:12:19.200 or a mountain of illegal cash. And he just expects 00:12:19.200 --> 00:12:21.539 everyone else to clean it up. It's a great juxtaposition. 00:12:21.919 --> 00:12:24.360 He destroys a car to feel powerful, then dumps 00:12:24.360 --> 00:12:26.720 money on his wife to feel powerful. But in both 00:12:26.720 --> 00:12:29.440 cases, he's really just creating massive structural 00:12:29.440 --> 00:12:31.679 problems for the people around him. Which brings 00:12:31.679 --> 00:12:34.519 us to the other side of the law. While Walt is 00:12:34.519 --> 00:12:36.620 creating headaches for Skyler, Hank Schrader 00:12:36.620 --> 00:12:38.639 is creating headaches for everyone else. Hank 00:12:38.639 --> 00:12:41.360 is on an absolute tear in this episode. This 00:12:41.360 --> 00:12:45.340 brings us to segment two, The Silent War. Hank 00:12:45.340 --> 00:12:49.120 versus Gus. Now, Hank has been recovering from 00:12:49.120 --> 00:12:51.399 his injuries. He was shot multiple times. He's 00:12:51.399 --> 00:12:55.019 been bedridden. He is not 100 % physically. He's 00:12:55.019 --> 00:12:57.600 walking with a cane. He's clearly in constant 00:12:57.600 --> 00:13:00.980 pain. But his mind... His mind is razor sharp. 00:13:01.299 --> 00:13:04.419 It really is. He's closing in on Gus Fring. He 00:13:04.419 --> 00:13:07.879 has this working theory that Gus, who is a pillar 00:13:07.879 --> 00:13:09.840 of the community, a friend of law enforcement, 00:13:09.980 --> 00:13:13.059 a massive booster for the DEA, is actually a 00:13:13.059 --> 00:13:15.539 major drug lord. And nobody believes him? Nobody. 00:13:15.740 --> 00:13:17.980 His boss doesn't believe him. The entire department 00:13:17.980 --> 00:13:20.460 thinks he's chasing ghosts or that the trauma 00:13:20.460 --> 00:13:22.639 from the shooting has made him paranoid. So what 00:13:22.639 --> 00:13:24.399 does he do? He goes straight to the source. He 00:13:24.399 --> 00:13:26.600 visits Los Palos Hermanos. The lion's den. He 00:13:26.600 --> 00:13:28.220 goes right to the headquarters of the operation. 00:13:28.360 --> 00:13:30.320 But he doesn't go alone. He takes Walter Jr. 00:13:30.480 --> 00:13:32.759 with him. Which is absolutely fascinating and 00:13:32.759 --> 00:13:35.480 a little disturbing. He takes his teenage nephew. 00:13:35.659 --> 00:13:38.899 to a ruthless drug lord's restaurant for a casual 00:13:38.899 --> 00:13:41.919 lunch. That is so bold. Is he using Walter Junior 00:13:41.919 --> 00:13:45.759 as a shield or just a prop? It's tactical. He's 00:13:45.759 --> 00:13:48.120 using the guise of a casual lunch. You know, 00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:50.879 hey, just grabbing a bite with my nephew. It 00:13:50.879 --> 00:13:53.759 disarms Gus. Right. It makes Hank look like he's 00:13:53.759 --> 00:13:55.879 just there for the fried chicken. If he went 00:13:55.879 --> 00:13:58.860 in alone with a notepad and a scowl, Gus would 00:13:58.860 --> 00:14:01.159 be on high alert instantly. But with a teenager 00:14:01.159 --> 00:14:03.559 eating curly fries, it looks perfectly innocent. 00:14:03.700 --> 00:14:05.399 But he manages to get something crucial while 00:14:05.399 --> 00:14:08.659 he's there. The cup. The cup. He manages to secure 00:14:08.659 --> 00:14:11.440 a standard paper soda cup that Gus Fring drank 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:14.139 from. Or at least handled. How does he even pull 00:14:14.139 --> 00:14:18.139 that off? Because Gus is careful. Gus is meticulously 00:14:18.139 --> 00:14:20.220 careful. It's a brilliant bit of social engineering 00:14:20.220 --> 00:14:23.759 by Hank. Gus comes over to the table, to be polite, 00:14:23.919 --> 00:14:26.360 to ask how the meal is. He's playing the role 00:14:26.360 --> 00:14:30.059 of the Friendly, hands -on owner, Hank asks for 00:14:30.059 --> 00:14:32.960 a refill of his soda. Gus, being the gracious 00:14:32.960 --> 00:14:35.879 host, takes the cup to go refill it. But in the 00:14:35.879 --> 00:14:38.840 shuffle, or perhaps by grabbing a cup Gus had 00:14:38.840 --> 00:14:42.659 used or touched, Hank secures the evidence. It's 00:14:42.659 --> 00:14:45.120 sleight of hand. This is such a classic detective 00:14:45.120 --> 00:14:47.440 move. It really reminds me of Columbo, you know, 00:14:47.580 --> 00:14:49.879 playing the fool, playing the, oh, just one more 00:14:49.879 --> 00:14:52.000 thing guy, while actually being the smartest 00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:54.220 person in the room. Exactly. Despite everything, 00:14:54.460 --> 00:14:57.539 despite the PTSD, despite the physical limitations, 00:14:58.179 --> 00:15:01.240 Hank is actively gathering hard forensic evidence 00:15:01.240 --> 00:15:03.279 while looking like he's just enjoying a combo 00:15:03.279 --> 00:15:05.679 meal. And this directly leads to the meeting 00:15:05.679 --> 00:15:08.220 with Stephen Gomez and A .S. tech George Merkert. 00:15:08.980 --> 00:15:11.240 Hank calls them in. He lays it all out on the 00:15:11.240 --> 00:15:14.019 table. This is the big reveal. He has the cup. 00:15:14.179 --> 00:15:16.000 He has the prints pulled from it, and he has 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:18.399 a match. The fingerprints on the cup from Los 00:15:18.399 --> 00:15:21.299 Polos Hermanos match the fingerprints found in 00:15:21.299 --> 00:15:23.960 Gale Boetticher's apartment. Boom. For you listening 00:15:23.960 --> 00:15:25.519 who might have forgotten, let's connect that 00:15:25.519 --> 00:15:28.379 specific dot. Gale Boetticher was the eccentric 00:15:28.379 --> 00:15:30.399 meth cook who was murdered at the end of season 00:15:30.399 --> 00:15:32.720 three. The police found his apartment full of 00:15:32.720 --> 00:15:35.360 libertarian literature, vegan food, and unidentified 00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:38.519 fingerprints. Exactly. And until now, those prints 00:15:38.519 --> 00:15:41.759 were just unidentified latents in a file. But 00:15:41.759 --> 00:15:45.620 now, Hank has a direct, undeniable match. He 00:15:45.620 --> 00:15:47.960 has connected the owner of a massive fast food 00:15:47.960 --> 00:15:50.639 chain to the apartment of a murdered meth cook. 00:15:51.120 --> 00:15:53.919 There is no innocent explanation for that. None. 00:15:54.490 --> 00:15:57.190 Why would a fast food CEO be hanging out in the 00:15:57.190 --> 00:16:00.350 apartment of a weird reclusive underground chemist? 00:16:00.629 --> 00:16:02.769 It completely destroys Gus's narrative. He can't 00:16:02.769 --> 00:16:04.870 claim he's just a legitimate businessman anymore. 00:16:04.970 --> 00:16:07.970 He was there. It validates literally everything 00:16:07.970 --> 00:16:10.549 Hank has been saying. But Hank goes even further 00:16:10.549 --> 00:16:13.250 in this meeting. He drops a name that completely 00:16:13.250 --> 00:16:15.830 changes the scope of the entire series. He isn't 00:16:15.830 --> 00:16:18.330 just looking at Gus anymore. Madrigal Electromotive. 00:16:18.629 --> 00:16:21.159 Exactly. Hank reveals that he was investigating 00:16:21.159 --> 00:16:23.299 this German company. This is the parent company 00:16:23.299 --> 00:16:26.100 of Los Palos Hermanos, right? Yes. Los Palos 00:16:26.100 --> 00:16:28.659 isn't just a local southwestern chain. It's a 00:16:28.659 --> 00:16:31.539 subsidiary of a massive multinational German 00:16:31.539 --> 00:16:34.379 conglomerate. Wow. And Hank reveals that his 00:16:34.379 --> 00:16:36.759 initial investigation into Madrigal was abruptly 00:16:36.759 --> 00:16:38.960 stopped by an attorney. Oh, interesting. But 00:16:38.960 --> 00:16:41.539 the implication is massive. This isn't just a 00:16:41.539 --> 00:16:44.120 local drug ring in New Mexico. This is a global 00:16:44.120 --> 00:16:46.879 corporate conspiracy. It's huge. You have this 00:16:46.879 --> 00:16:50.779 massive German conglomerate, Madrigal, shielding 00:16:50.779 --> 00:16:54.000 this fast food chain in Albuquerque. Hank is 00:16:54.000 --> 00:16:56.480 connecting dots that nobody else even sees on 00:16:56.480 --> 00:16:58.840 the board. He's pulling a thread from a chicken 00:16:58.840 --> 00:17:00.799 restaurant that leads all the way to Europe. 00:17:00.840 --> 00:17:02.960 From his bedroom. He's uncovering international 00:17:02.960 --> 00:17:05.039 corporate crime from his bedroom while recovering 00:17:05.039 --> 00:17:07.359 from gunshot wounds. And the walls are closed. 00:17:07.309 --> 00:17:09.730 in on Gus. Think about it from Gus's perspective 00:17:09.730 --> 00:17:13.730 for a second. He can handle the cartel, maybe. 00:17:13.910 --> 00:17:16.890 Sure. He can handle rival street gangs. He can 00:17:16.890 --> 00:17:21.349 handle erratic employees like Walt, but a relentless 00:17:21.349 --> 00:17:24.579 federal agent. who has physical forensic evidence 00:17:24.579 --> 00:17:27.299 linking him to a murder scene. That's different. 00:17:27.440 --> 00:17:29.160 That is a different kind of threat entirely. 00:17:29.200 --> 00:17:31.339 It's an existential threat. It really shifts 00:17:31.339 --> 00:17:33.660 the genre of the show. It becomes a high stakes 00:17:33.660 --> 00:17:36.839 cat and mouse thriller. And Gus realizes the 00:17:36.839 --> 00:17:39.779 mouse has very sharp teeth. Speaking of threats, 00:17:39.880 --> 00:17:41.740 let's talk about the threat coming from inside 00:17:41.740 --> 00:17:44.579 the house, or rather, inside the lab. We have 00:17:44.579 --> 00:17:46.839 to talk about the assassination plot. We do. 00:17:47.299 --> 00:17:51.420 Segment three, the ricin returns, Chekhov's gun. 00:17:51.630 --> 00:17:54.549 Or rather, Chekhov's poison. Walt is really feeling 00:17:54.549 --> 00:17:57.190 the heat. He knows Gus wants to replace him. 00:17:57.329 --> 00:18:00.450 He wants Gus gone. And he convinces Jesse to 00:18:00.450 --> 00:18:03.269 be the one to do it. He manipulates Jesse. He 00:18:03.269 --> 00:18:05.650 uses Jesse's new position within the organization. 00:18:05.849 --> 00:18:08.069 Remember, Jesse has been getting closer to Mike 00:18:08.069 --> 00:18:10.369 and Gus. He's becoming a henchman, as the source 00:18:10.369 --> 00:18:12.750 puts it. He's riding along on pickups. He's providing 00:18:12.750 --> 00:18:15.410 backup. Walt sees this not as Jesse growing, 00:18:15.630 --> 00:18:18.289 but as an opportunity. Use your access. That's 00:18:18.289 --> 00:18:20.430 the pitch. You can get close to him. I can't. 00:18:20.430 --> 00:18:23.170 You have to do this. Exactly. So, while concocts 00:18:23.170 --> 00:18:26.839 the rice and poison in the super lab, And they 00:18:26.839 --> 00:18:28.619 hide it. Where do they hide it? In a cigarette. 00:18:28.799 --> 00:18:31.259 A single cigarette. They switch out the tobacco 00:18:31.259 --> 00:18:33.140 for a small glass vial of rice, and they put 00:18:33.140 --> 00:18:35.559 it back in the pack, which is such a terrifying 00:18:35.559 --> 00:18:39.000 image. You have this incredibly potent weapon 00:18:39.000 --> 00:18:41.400 of mass destruction basically hidden in something 00:18:41.400 --> 00:18:43.539 you routinely put in your mouth. One mistake, 00:18:43.779 --> 00:18:45.880 one absent -minded mix -up, and you're dead. 00:18:46.119 --> 00:18:48.140 So Jesse is carrying this death sentence in his 00:18:48.140 --> 00:18:50.380 pocket. Everywhere he goes, he's walking around 00:18:50.380 --> 00:18:54.779 with it. And he finally gets his chance. Mike 00:18:54.779 --> 00:18:57.259 Ehrman -Trout takes Jesse to a sit down. This 00:18:57.259 --> 00:18:59.519 is a high stakes meeting. It's not just a low 00:18:59.519 --> 00:19:02.339 level drug deal. It's Gus Fring meeting directly 00:19:02.339 --> 00:19:05.200 with the cartel. And the tension at this location 00:19:05.200 --> 00:19:08.460 with this cavernous industrial distribution center 00:19:08.460 --> 00:19:12.539 is palpable. And Jesse is there to... essentially 00:19:12.539 --> 00:19:14.859 make coffee. Basically, he's the junior guy in 00:19:14.859 --> 00:19:17.200 the room. He's not a boss. He's told to make 00:19:17.200 --> 00:19:19.119 the coffee for the bosses while they wait. And 00:19:19.119 --> 00:19:21.279 there it is, the opportunity. He has the poison 00:19:21.279 --> 00:19:23.059 in his pocket. He has the coffee pot. He could 00:19:23.059 --> 00:19:25.460 end it right there. Just slip the raisin in the 00:19:25.460 --> 00:19:28.519 brew. Gus drinks it. He's dead in 36 hours. And 00:19:28.519 --> 00:19:30.559 it looks like natural causes. The source says 00:19:30.559 --> 00:19:33.420 he actually contemplates it. He stands there 00:19:33.420 --> 00:19:36.160 staring at the coffee maker. He fingers the cigarette 00:19:36.160 --> 00:19:38.920 pack in his pocket. He really thinks about poisoning 00:19:38.920 --> 00:19:41.319 it. But he is interrupted before he can act. 00:19:41.549 --> 00:19:44.049 Mike calls him over or the meeting suddenly starts. 00:19:44.349 --> 00:19:46.849 It's one of those incredible sliding doors moments. 00:19:47.769 --> 00:19:49.990 If he hadn't been interrupted, the entire trajectory 00:19:49.990 --> 00:19:53.230 of the show changes. Gus dies. The cartel probably 00:19:53.230 --> 00:19:55.549 kills Jesse and Mike immediately. Total chaos 00:19:55.549 --> 00:19:58.809 ensues. But let's talk about the meeting itself. 00:19:59.170 --> 00:20:02.109 The cartel pulls a massive power move here. They 00:20:02.109 --> 00:20:06.309 fin only one man. His name is Gaff. One guy for 00:20:06.309 --> 00:20:08.529 a sit down with the biggest distributor in the 00:20:08.529 --> 00:20:11.579 entire Southwest. It's an intentional insult. 00:20:12.140 --> 00:20:14.660 And it's a very clear message. Gus brought his 00:20:14.660 --> 00:20:17.640 team. He brought Mike. He brought Jesse. The 00:20:17.640 --> 00:20:20.339 cartel sent one messenger. Wow. And the man delivers 00:20:20.339 --> 00:20:23.140 an ultimatum to Gus. He basically says, surrender 00:20:23.140 --> 00:20:25.799 or else. He offers Gus a terrible, unacceptable 00:20:25.799 --> 00:20:27.839 deal. And how does Gus handle it? Does he try 00:20:27.839 --> 00:20:30.480 to negotiate? Does he haggle? Well, Gus was actually 00:20:30.480 --> 00:20:32.180 prepared to negotiate, according to the source 00:20:32.180 --> 00:20:34.900 material. He had an offer of $50 million ready 00:20:34.900 --> 00:20:37.299 to make the cartel problem go away. $50 million? 00:20:37.380 --> 00:20:41.200 $50 million. But when he sees this this blatant 00:20:41.200 --> 00:20:44.319 disrespect. When he sees they only sent one messenger 00:20:44.319 --> 00:20:47.359 to threaten him in his own territory, he rejects 00:20:47.359 --> 00:20:49.140 the ultimatum entirely. He stands his ground. 00:20:49.299 --> 00:20:52.500 He does. It's icy cold. He looks the man dead 00:20:52.500 --> 00:20:55.680 in the eye and refuses. He just says no. And 00:20:55.680 --> 00:20:58.400 as the cartel representative leaves, we get another 00:20:58.400 --> 00:21:01.380 moment of hesitation from Jesse. Right. The source 00:21:01.380 --> 00:21:04.339 notes that Jesse contemplates shooting Gus as 00:21:04.339 --> 00:21:07.539 the cartel guy leaves. The situation is extremely 00:21:07.539 --> 00:21:10.279 volatile. Right. The cartel guy had actually 00:21:10.279 --> 00:21:12.680 sniped one of Gus's men earlier at the farm as 00:21:12.680 --> 00:21:16.559 a warning. There is a gun available. Jesse has 00:21:16.559 --> 00:21:19.579 a gun. Chaos is happening all around them. He 00:21:19.579 --> 00:21:21.839 could do it. He could end his Gus problem right 00:21:21.839 --> 00:21:24.660 there in the confusion. But he doesn't. He actively 00:21:24.660 --> 00:21:26.720 decides not to pull the trigger. Why do you think 00:21:26.720 --> 00:21:29.819 that is? Fear. Loyalty. Pure confusion. Maybe 00:21:29.819 --> 00:21:31.740 he's just paralyzed by the sheer gravity of what 00:21:31.740 --> 00:21:34.569 he's about to do. It's complex. But I think Mike's 00:21:34.569 --> 00:21:36.650 observation later in the episode tells us a lot. 00:21:36.970 --> 00:21:38.789 Mike tells Jesse that Gus is actually impressed 00:21:38.789 --> 00:21:41.029 by his loyalty. Loyalty. That word just keeps 00:21:41.029 --> 00:21:43.650 coming up. Over and over. Gus thinks Jesse didn't 00:21:43.650 --> 00:21:46.589 shoot because he's loyal to Gus. Gus thinks he's 00:21:46.589 --> 00:21:49.109 successfully winning Jesse over. He thinks he's 00:21:49.109 --> 00:21:51.250 turning Walt's student against him. But Mike 00:21:51.250 --> 00:21:53.549 sees it differently. Mike sees right through 00:21:53.549 --> 00:21:56.690 it. Mike adds a stinging caveat to that observation. 00:21:56.849 --> 00:21:58.910 What does he say? He tells Jesse that he thinks 00:21:58.910 --> 00:22:03.059 that loyalty is for the wrong guy. Oof. Implying 00:22:03.059 --> 00:22:05.819 Walt. Exactly. Mike is telling Jesse, you're 00:22:05.819 --> 00:22:08.980 loyal to Walter White. And that is a fatal mistake. 00:22:09.880 --> 00:22:12.240 Mike knows Walt is a ticking time bomb. He knows 00:22:12.240 --> 00:22:15.700 Walt is purely manipulative. He's trying to warn 00:22:15.700 --> 00:22:18.720 Jesse. That is the central tragedy of Jesse Pinkman, 00:22:18.859 --> 00:22:21.769 isn't it? His loyalty is his best quality. He 00:22:21.769 --> 00:22:24.789 is fiercely, fiercely loyal. He is. But he gives 00:22:24.789 --> 00:22:26.970 it to people who completely manipulate him. He 00:22:26.970 --> 00:22:29.109 gives it to Walt, who eventually poisons a child 00:22:29.109 --> 00:22:31.049 to keep him in line. He gives it to Gus, who 00:22:31.049 --> 00:22:33.849 just uses him as a pawn against the cartel. He's 00:22:33.849 --> 00:22:36.549 a loyal soldier in an army of generals who literally 00:22:36.549 --> 00:22:38.750 do not care about him. Which leads us directly 00:22:38.750 --> 00:22:41.069 to the emotional core of this entire episode. 00:22:41.470 --> 00:22:44.569 The scene that gives the episode its title. This 00:22:44.569 --> 00:22:46.670 is where all that pressure, all that manipulation 00:22:46.670 --> 00:22:49.920 finally cracks him open. Segment four. The title 00:22:49.920 --> 00:22:52.980 track, Problem Dog. This is the scene that everyone 00:22:52.980 --> 00:22:55.940 remembers. Jesse returns to his narcotics anonymous 00:22:55.940 --> 00:22:58.099 group. Now, let's be honest about what Jesse 00:22:58.099 --> 00:23:00.039 has actually been doing there up to this point. 00:23:00.400 --> 00:23:03.000 He hasn't been going for recovery. No, he's been 00:23:03.000 --> 00:23:05.299 going there with his friends Badger and Skinny 00:23:05.299 --> 00:23:08.980 Pete to sell meth to recovering addicts, which 00:23:08.980 --> 00:23:12.220 is it's just despicable. It really is. It's one 00:23:12.220 --> 00:23:14.759 of the darkest, most cynical things Jesse does 00:23:14.759 --> 00:23:17.660 in the entire series. It's rock bottom behavior. 00:23:17.839 --> 00:23:20.859 It's totally predatory. He's preying on people 00:23:20.859 --> 00:23:23.900 actively trying to get better. But in this specific 00:23:23.900 --> 00:23:27.220 session, something breaks in him. He discreetly 00:23:27.220 --> 00:23:30.180 shares his feelings, but he speaks in a very 00:23:30.180 --> 00:23:33.460 specific code. He talks about a dog. He tells 00:23:33.460 --> 00:23:36.759 the group he put down a problem dog. But we know, 00:23:36.960 --> 00:23:39.140 and you listening know, he isn't talking about 00:23:39.140 --> 00:23:41.920 a canine. He's talking about Gale Bowediture. 00:23:42.109 --> 00:23:44.390 The innocent chemist. The innocent chemist he 00:23:44.390 --> 00:23:46.569 shot in the face at the end of season three just 00:23:46.569 --> 00:23:48.809 to save Walt's life. Right. He says the dog did 00:23:48.809 --> 00:23:51.269 nothing wrong. It wasn't sick. It wasn't biting 00:23:51.269 --> 00:23:54.490 anyone. But he just he had to do it. It's a confession 00:23:54.490 --> 00:23:57.230 of murder thinly veiled as a story about a pet. 00:23:57.670 --> 00:24:00.730 And he describes the dog looking at him. That's 00:24:00.730 --> 00:24:03.250 the part that clearly haunts him. The way Gale 00:24:03.250 --> 00:24:05.109 looked at him right before he pulled the trigger. 00:24:05.269 --> 00:24:07.849 And how does the group react to this story, the 00:24:07.849 --> 00:24:09.910 group leader specifically? The group leader. 00:24:10.119 --> 00:24:12.759 does what group leaders in those settings are 00:24:12.759 --> 00:24:16.559 trained to do. He offers absolution. He tells 00:24:16.559 --> 00:24:19.779 Jesse, don't judge yourself. He tries to rationalize 00:24:19.779 --> 00:24:22.240 it for him. Right. He says, you did what you 00:24:22.240 --> 00:24:25.500 had to do. Sometimes we have to make hard choices. 00:24:25.720 --> 00:24:28.079 And that is exactly the wrong thing to say to 00:24:28.079 --> 00:24:30.839 Jesse Pinkfin in that exact moment. That is the 00:24:30.839 --> 00:24:33.140 match in the powder keg. It triggers an absolute 00:24:33.140 --> 00:24:36.039 explosion. Jesse completely rejects the forgiveness. 00:24:36.400 --> 00:24:39.000 He snaps. He doesn't want to be told it's OK. 00:24:39.549 --> 00:24:42.329 He stands up. He gets right in their faces. He 00:24:42.329 --> 00:24:44.089 reveals everything. Well, not the murder, but 00:24:44.089 --> 00:24:47.150 the meth. He tells them he's been using the sacred 00:24:47.150 --> 00:24:50.089 space of the group as a market to peddle meth. 00:24:50.369 --> 00:24:52.690 He just throws it in their faces. I made you 00:24:52.690 --> 00:24:54.869 my customers. I sat here and listened to your 00:24:54.869 --> 00:24:57.349 tragic stories just so I could figure out who 00:24:57.349 --> 00:24:59.769 was weak enough to sell to. He wants to be judged. 00:25:00.349 --> 00:25:02.549 He genuinely believes he deserves punishment. 00:25:02.630 --> 00:25:05.690 He's begging for it. He is begging for someone 00:25:05.690 --> 00:25:08.089 to look at him and tell him he's a bad person. 00:25:08.359 --> 00:25:10.940 Right. Because he feels like a bad person. Right. 00:25:11.019 --> 00:25:13.380 He can't live with the crushing guilt of murder 00:25:13.380 --> 00:25:15.480 if everyone keeps telling him, oh, it's OK, forgive 00:25:15.480 --> 00:25:18.359 yourself. He needs the moral universe to make 00:25:18.359 --> 00:25:21.539 sense again. And in a sensible universe, he should 00:25:21.539 --> 00:25:24.519 be punished for what he did to Gail. And he finally 00:25:24.519 --> 00:25:27.460 gets it. The group leader finally turns on him. 00:25:27.700 --> 00:25:30.140 The source says the group leader finally expresses 00:25:30.140 --> 00:25:33.140 disapproval. That silence in the room must have 00:25:33.140 --> 00:25:35.920 been deafening. The group leader realizes he's 00:25:35.920 --> 00:25:39.539 been played. He looks at Jesse with pure disgust. 00:25:39.700 --> 00:25:41.400 You know, weirdly that is exactly what Jesse 00:25:41.400 --> 00:25:44.059 wanted. It is. Jesse burns that bridge to the 00:25:44.059 --> 00:25:46.259 ground because he can't stand the hypocrisy of 00:25:46.259 --> 00:25:48.779 being forgiven for something he considers totally 00:25:48.779 --> 00:25:51.299 unforgivable. We really have to talk about the 00:25:51.299 --> 00:25:53.519 performance here. The source mentions the critical 00:25:53.519 --> 00:25:55.900 reception specifically highlighting this one 00:25:55.900 --> 00:25:58.940 scene. Yes. IGN called Aaron Paul's acting in 00:25:58.940 --> 00:26:01.240 the scene the performance of the series. The 00:26:01.240 --> 00:26:04.579 series. That is incredibly high praise considering 00:26:04.579 --> 00:26:07.299 he is sharing the screen every week with Bryan 00:26:07.299 --> 00:26:09.859 Cranston who won four Emmys for playing Walt. 00:26:10.200 --> 00:26:12.619 It's well deserved though. It is raw, it is ugly, 00:26:12.759 --> 00:26:16.000 and it is totally pivotal. Aaron Paul does this 00:26:16.000 --> 00:26:18.980 thing where his voice cracks, his eyes swell 00:26:18.980 --> 00:26:22.690 up, you can physically feel the self -hatred 00:26:22.690 --> 00:26:25.170 radiating off him. It's visceral. This is the 00:26:25.170 --> 00:26:27.569 moment Jesse officially stops pretending he's 00:26:27.569 --> 00:26:30.630 okay with any of this. He is a completely broken 00:26:30.630 --> 00:26:33.630 man. He is screaming into the void, basically 00:26:33.630 --> 00:26:36.009 asking for consequences. It's interesting to 00:26:36.009 --> 00:26:38.289 look at how the critics viewed this episode as 00:26:38.289 --> 00:26:40.490 a whole, because when you have a powerhouse scene 00:26:40.490 --> 00:26:43.490 like that, you expect the episode to be universally 00:26:43.490 --> 00:26:46.369 considered legendary. Right. But looking at the 00:26:46.369 --> 00:26:48.049 stats and the source material, it's a bit of 00:26:48.049 --> 00:26:50.250 a mixed bag historically. Let's look at segment 00:26:50.250 --> 00:26:53.740 five. Critical reception. The numbers are incredibly 00:26:53.740 --> 00:26:56.200 strong from the time of airing. IGN gave it a 00:26:56.200 --> 00:26:59.039 9 .5 out of 10. That is nearly perfect. That 00:26:59.039 --> 00:27:02.180 is masterpiece territory for television. TV Fanatic 00:27:02.180 --> 00:27:05.200 gave it a 4 .5 out of 5. The AV Club gave it 00:27:05.200 --> 00:27:07.980 an A minus. So universally acclaimed at the time. 00:27:08.400 --> 00:27:10.839 Critics uniformly cited the acting, especially 00:27:10.839 --> 00:27:13.220 Aaron Paul, and the incredibly high tension. 00:27:13.259 --> 00:27:15.660 They loved the character work. But there is a 00:27:15.660 --> 00:27:18.500 discrepancy. And I really love digging into things 00:27:18.500 --> 00:27:23.329 like this. In 2019, The Ringer, a major pop culture 00:27:23.329 --> 00:27:26.009 website, did a definitive ranking of all Breaking 00:27:26.009 --> 00:27:28.970 Bad episodes. All 62 of them. And where did Problem 00:27:28.970 --> 00:27:33.190 Dog land on that list? 51st. 51st out of 62. 00:27:33.329 --> 00:27:36.529 That is bottom tier. That is comfortably in the 00:27:36.529 --> 00:27:39.150 bottom 20 % of the entire show. It is really 00:27:39.150 --> 00:27:42.910 surprising. A 9 .5 at the time it aired, but 00:27:42.910 --> 00:27:46.210 ranked so low. years later. So how do we explain 00:27:46.210 --> 00:27:48.710 that massive gap? How does an episode go from 00:27:48.710 --> 00:27:51.930 nearly perfect in the moment to largely forgettable 00:27:51.930 --> 00:27:53.950 in the retrospective rankings? I think it comes 00:27:53.950 --> 00:27:55.710 down to the fundamental nature of the episode. 00:27:55.869 --> 00:27:58.650 It is a setup episode. Right. It's moving pieces 00:27:58.650 --> 00:28:00.970 on the chessboard. It's moving Hank closer to 00:28:00.970 --> 00:28:04.329 Gus. It's moving Jesse closer to the edge. It's 00:28:04.329 --> 00:28:07.029 moving the money to the car wash. It's arranging 00:28:07.029 --> 00:28:09.230 the furniture for the massive finale. It doesn't 00:28:09.230 --> 00:28:12.269 have the huge explosive payoff like face off, 00:28:12.309 --> 00:28:14.369 which is the season four finale or Ozymandias 00:28:14.369 --> 00:28:17.069 in the final season. It doesn't have a major 00:28:17.069 --> 00:28:19.730 character. Well, except for the challenger. Exactly. 00:28:20.230 --> 00:28:22.170 When you look back at the series as a whole, 00:28:22.450 --> 00:28:25.069 the episodes with the explosions other than the 00:28:25.069 --> 00:28:28.660 car. and the major deaths, tend to naturally 00:28:28.660 --> 00:28:32.180 rank higher in our memory. Problem Dog is a deeply 00:28:32.180 --> 00:28:34.000 psychological episode. It does all the heavy 00:28:34.000 --> 00:28:36.259 lifting, so the later episodes can actually fly. 00:28:36.339 --> 00:28:38.400 It's the bridge. And sometimes people forget 00:28:38.400 --> 00:28:40.079 the bridge when they're looking at the destination, 00:28:40.319 --> 00:28:42.240 but if the bridge wasn't there, you'd never get 00:28:42.240 --> 00:28:45.420 across. Precisely. Without this episode, Jesse's 00:28:45.420 --> 00:28:47.859 arc just doesn't make any sense. If he doesn't 00:28:47.859 --> 00:28:50.359 break down here in the NA meeting, his later 00:28:50.359 --> 00:28:53.000 actions don't work. Hank's discovery doesn't 00:28:53.000 --> 00:28:56.380 happen without the soda cup. This episode provides 00:28:56.380 --> 00:28:58.519 the structural integrity of the entire season. 00:28:58.779 --> 00:29:01.039 If you skip this, the rest just falls apart. 00:29:01.259 --> 00:29:02.960 So what does this all mean for us? Let's just 00:29:02.960 --> 00:29:05.079 recap what we've learned today. It has been a 00:29:05.079 --> 00:29:07.660 really dense hour. We've got Walt blowing up 00:29:07.660 --> 00:29:10.779 $52 ,000 worth of his own ego in a parking lot 00:29:10.779 --> 00:29:13.579 just because he felt small. He turned a midlife 00:29:13.579 --> 00:29:16.380 crisis car into a fireball. We've got Skyler 00:29:16.380 --> 00:29:19.039 staring at a seven million dollar laundering 00:29:19.039 --> 00:29:21.160 headache that she genuinely doesn't know how 00:29:21.160 --> 00:29:24.140 to solve, realizing the money is a trap, not 00:29:24.140 --> 00:29:26.690 a blessing. We've got Hank Schrader. defying 00:29:26.690 --> 00:29:29.509 every odd, getting the exact fingerprints that 00:29:29.509 --> 00:29:32.450 link Gus Fring to a murder. Right. Blowing the 00:29:32.450 --> 00:29:35.069 case wide open using nothing but a paper cup 00:29:35.069 --> 00:29:37.670 and his own gut instinct. And we've got Jesse 00:29:37.670 --> 00:29:39.789 Pinkman, the problem dog himself, confessing 00:29:39.789 --> 00:29:42.789 his soul in a church basement, aggressively rejecting 00:29:42.789 --> 00:29:44.730 forgiveness because the guilt is the only thing 00:29:44.730 --> 00:29:47.049 that feels real to him anymore. It is a dense, 00:29:47.190 --> 00:29:49.650 heavy hour of television. It explores the true 00:29:49.650 --> 00:29:53.900 cost of crime, financial, legal. deeply psychological. 00:29:54.220 --> 00:29:56.319 It really is. Now before we sign off I want to 00:29:56.319 --> 00:29:57.759 leave you listening with a thought. You mentioned 00:29:57.759 --> 00:30:00.000 Mike's line about loyalty earlier. You're loyal 00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:02.839 to the wrong guy. As we look at these characters, 00:30:03.319 --> 00:30:06.220 Walt's utter selfishness, Gus's cold calculation, 00:30:06.859 --> 00:30:09.680 Jesse's crushing guilt, it really raises a profound 00:30:09.680 --> 00:30:12.740 question. It does. Who actually deserves loyalty 00:30:12.740 --> 00:30:15.440 in this world? Is Jesse the problem dog because 00:30:15.440 --> 00:30:18.259 he bites? Or is he the problem dog because he 00:30:18.259 --> 00:30:20.799 is the only one in this entire criminal underworld 00:30:20.799 --> 00:30:23.660 who actually still feels bad about biting? Is 00:30:23.660 --> 00:30:26.599 the conscience the actual problem? Exactly. Is 00:30:26.599 --> 00:30:29.240 his humanity the defect here? In their specific 00:30:29.240 --> 00:30:31.759 world, yes. Yes. Having a conscience makes you 00:30:31.759 --> 00:30:34.619 a massive liability. It makes you weak. It makes 00:30:34.619 --> 00:30:38.119 you a problem dog. In a world entirely populated 00:30:38.119 --> 00:30:41.019 by wolves, the dog that feels bad about killing 00:30:41.019 --> 00:30:43.670 is the one that inevitably gets put down. That 00:30:43.670 --> 00:30:45.549 is a chilling thought to end on. If you have 00:30:45.549 --> 00:30:47.990 the time, go back and watch that NA scene again 00:30:47.990 --> 00:30:50.410 with all of this context in mind. Really watch 00:30:50.410 --> 00:30:52.549 Aaron Paul's face. It is a total master class 00:30:52.549 --> 00:30:55.150 in regret. It absolutely is. Thank you for taking 00:30:55.150 --> 00:30:57.450 this deep dive with us today. We will catch you 00:30:57.450 --> 00:30:59.390 on the next one. Goodbye. End of transmission.