WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.780 You know, there are moments in television that 00:00:01.780 --> 00:00:05.540 you watch and you just, you enjoy them. Right. 00:00:05.660 --> 00:00:07.700 You appreciate the writing. You like the acting. 00:00:08.359 --> 00:00:10.980 You are entertained. And then there are moments 00:00:10.980 --> 00:00:13.640 that physically hurt to watch. Yeah, absolutely. 00:00:13.800 --> 00:00:15.859 Moments where the audio creates this massive 00:00:15.859 --> 00:00:18.120 pit in your stomach, where the tension is so 00:00:18.120 --> 00:00:20.379 tight you feel like your own chest is going to 00:00:20.379 --> 00:00:23.039 snap. And you realize you aren't really watching 00:00:23.039 --> 00:00:25.260 a crime drama anymore. You're watching a horror 00:00:25.260 --> 00:00:28.039 movie. Exactly. You are watching a horror movie. 00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:30.780 Welcome to the Deep Dive. I am your host, and 00:00:30.780 --> 00:00:33.219 I am beyond excited to get into this one. And 00:00:33.219 --> 00:00:36.320 I am your resident analyst for this Deep Dive. 00:00:36.920 --> 00:00:39.600 And yeah, excited is one word for it. Terrified 00:00:39.600 --> 00:00:41.899 might be another. Yeah, terrified works too. 00:00:42.090 --> 00:00:44.570 Because today, we're dissecting what might be 00:00:44.570 --> 00:00:47.270 the most stressful 60 minutes of television ever 00:00:47.270 --> 00:00:49.990 aired. We are looking at Breaking Bad Season 00:00:49.990 --> 00:00:53.189 4, Episode 11. Just hearing the title gives me 00:00:53.189 --> 00:00:57.170 the shivers. Crawl Space. Crawl Space. Even saying 00:00:57.170 --> 00:00:58.969 it makes you want to gasp for air a little bit. 00:00:59.390 --> 00:01:01.509 And honestly, it really should. This isn't just 00:01:01.509 --> 00:01:04.250 another hour of the show. No, it is a master 00:01:04.250 --> 00:01:07.030 class. Yeah. And for you listening at home... 00:01:07.079 --> 00:01:09.900 You know, we don't mess around. We have a massive 00:01:09.900 --> 00:01:11.900 stack of notes here today. Yeah. We have got 00:01:11.900 --> 00:01:14.359 the shooting script. We have frame -by -frame 00:01:14.359 --> 00:01:17.019 breakdowns from Inverse and the AV Club. We also 00:01:17.019 --> 00:01:19.180 have critical reception data from IGN and The 00:01:19.180 --> 00:01:21.459 Ringer. We are going full forensic on this one. 00:01:21.480 --> 00:01:23.439 Full forensic. Yeah. Because our mission today 00:01:23.439 --> 00:01:25.879 isn't just to recap the plot. If you were listening 00:01:25.879 --> 00:01:27.519 to this, you probably already know what happens. 00:01:27.900 --> 00:01:30.019 Walter White completely loses it. We know that. 00:01:30.180 --> 00:01:33.000 Right? We know that. But our goal is to figure 00:01:33.000 --> 00:01:35.879 out how the showrunners took three completely 00:01:35.879 --> 00:01:39.420 different genres. a cartel war movie, a slapstick 00:01:39.420 --> 00:01:42.700 tax audit comedy, and a claustrophobic psychological 00:01:42.700 --> 00:01:45.180 thriller. and literally smashed them all together 00:01:45.180 --> 00:01:47.819 to break Walter White. A genre collision. That 00:01:47.819 --> 00:01:49.900 is really the perfect way to describe it. And 00:01:49.900 --> 00:01:51.379 by the end of this deep dive, I think we are 00:01:51.379 --> 00:01:53.879 going to prove that this specific hour, even 00:01:53.879 --> 00:01:57.019 more than the series finale or the famous Ozymandias 00:01:57.019 --> 00:02:00.159 episode, is the actual spiritual death of Walter 00:02:00.159 --> 00:02:02.079 White. Spiritual death. I love that phrasing. 00:02:02.260 --> 00:02:04.500 Because the man who climbs out of that hole in 00:02:04.500 --> 00:02:06.719 the floor at the end, that is someone else entirely. 00:02:07.060 --> 00:02:09.360 It really is. Yeah. So let's unpack this. We 00:02:09.360 --> 00:02:11.159 have to start right where the previous episodes 00:02:11.159 --> 00:02:14.120 left us. We aren't in Albuquerque to begin with. 00:02:14.180 --> 00:02:16.520 We are south of the border. We are in the immediate 00:02:16.520 --> 00:02:18.800 aftermath of Sleuth. Right, picking up the pieces 00:02:18.800 --> 00:02:21.039 right after the mass poisoning of the cartel. 00:02:22.300 --> 00:02:24.919 The context here is just so vital. Gus Fring, 00:02:24.979 --> 00:02:26.819 the calm collected chicken man, has just pulled 00:02:26.819 --> 00:02:29.479 off his masterstroke. The absolute ultimate power 00:02:29.479 --> 00:02:32.000 play. Exactly. He has poisoned the entire leadership 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:35.360 of the cartel, including Don Aladio. But, you 00:02:35.360 --> 00:02:37.240 know, he had to poison himself to do it. Right, 00:02:37.240 --> 00:02:39.960 which makes it a Pyrrhic victory in the immediate 00:02:39.960 --> 00:02:43.150 sense because he is dying. Or, well, he would 00:02:43.150 --> 00:02:45.270 be if he hadn't prepared for it like he always 00:02:45.270 --> 00:02:47.770 does. And that preparation is staggering. The 00:02:47.770 --> 00:02:50.469 scene opens in this makeshift emergency room. 00:02:50.770 --> 00:02:52.490 And I want to pause on the production design 00:02:52.490 --> 00:02:54.490 here because it tells us so much about who Gus 00:02:54.490 --> 00:02:57.449 is. Yes, the tent. We are in the middle of a 00:02:57.449 --> 00:03:00.050 dusty, dirty environment in Mexico. But inside 00:03:00.050 --> 00:03:02.889 the structure, it is perfectly sterile. It is 00:03:02.889 --> 00:03:05.710 high tech. It is precise. It is basically a mobile 00:03:05.710 --> 00:03:08.139 hospital. It is. And look at who is actually 00:03:08.139 --> 00:03:11.340 in there. Gus is recovering thanks to his insane 00:03:11.340 --> 00:03:14.879 preparation. But Mike Ermentrout. Mike is in 00:03:14.879 --> 00:03:16.740 really bad shape. He took a bullet. He took a 00:03:16.740 --> 00:03:19.139 bullet. And the source material notes that while 00:03:19.139 --> 00:03:21.659 Gus recovers with this almost supernatural speed, 00:03:21.740 --> 00:03:23.560 which is just so Gus, by the way, Mike is totally 00:03:23.560 --> 00:03:26.599 grounded, he has to stay behind in Mexico for 00:03:26.599 --> 00:03:29.520 a week to heal before he can travel. And that 00:03:29.520 --> 00:03:32.120 detail is everything. Because that creates a 00:03:32.120 --> 00:03:36.840 very specific, a very dangerous vacuum. Because 00:03:36.840 --> 00:03:39.280 usually Mike is the buffer. Mike is the cool 00:03:39.280 --> 00:03:42.479 head. If Mike is stuck in a bed in Mexico who 00:03:42.479 --> 00:03:44.960 is the only able -bodied person left to drive 00:03:44.960 --> 00:03:47.780 the getaway car. Jesse Pinkman. The kid. The 00:03:47.780 --> 00:03:49.800 guy who was supposed to be the massive liability, 00:03:50.199 --> 00:03:52.060 the guy they literally brought along just to 00:03:52.060 --> 00:03:54.520 cook the meth, is now the getaway driver. And 00:03:54.520 --> 00:03:56.879 this completely shifts the power dynamic in a 00:03:56.879 --> 00:03:58.719 way that Walter White has no idea about yet. 00:03:58.939 --> 00:04:00.800 Back in New Mexico, Walt thinks Jesse is being 00:04:00.800 --> 00:04:04.039 killed or enslaved. But here we see Jesse driving 00:04:04.039 --> 00:04:06.719 Gus Fring. He is the protector now. Which is 00:04:06.719 --> 00:04:10.080 wild to see. It is wild. And there is a key piece 00:04:10.080 --> 00:04:12.520 of dialogue here that we absolutely have to highlight. 00:04:13.240 --> 00:04:15.460 Jesse is told explicitly that he is taking over 00:04:15.460 --> 00:04:17.920 the lab. He is the new cook. He has graduated. 00:04:18.399 --> 00:04:22.060 But this is the key leverage point. Jesse exerts 00:04:22.060 --> 00:04:25.439 the only real power he has left. He tells Gus, 00:04:25.620 --> 00:04:28.060 he says, I will do it, but you cannot kill Mr. 00:04:28.279 --> 00:04:30.959 White. He insists on it. You do not kill him. 00:04:31.379 --> 00:04:34.680 It is this moment of profound loyalty that stands 00:04:34.680 --> 00:04:37.259 in stark contrast to everything else happening. 00:04:37.459 --> 00:04:39.240 Yeah, because Jesse has every reason to let Walt 00:04:39.240 --> 00:04:41.259 die at this point. Every reason. Walt has been 00:04:41.259 --> 00:04:43.339 manipulative. He has been abusive. He has been 00:04:43.339 --> 00:04:46.519 secretive. But Jesse draws a firm line in the 00:04:46.519 --> 00:04:49.459 sand. It is tragic, really, because Jesse is 00:04:49.459 --> 00:04:52.079 saving Walt's life at the exact moment. Walt 00:04:52.079 --> 00:04:54.279 is back home convinced Jesse has betrayed him. 00:04:54.399 --> 00:04:56.660 The dramatic irony is off the charts. It really 00:04:56.660 --> 00:04:58.959 is. But before they leave Mexico, before they 00:04:58.959 --> 00:05:01.360 cross that border back into the chaos, we get 00:05:01.360 --> 00:05:04.480 a scene that really displays the sheer cruelty 00:05:04.480 --> 00:05:06.980 of Gus Fring. Oh, the visit to the nursing home. 00:05:07.120 --> 00:05:09.399 This scene gives me chills every single time. 00:05:09.660 --> 00:05:12.939 Gus takes Jesse and goes to visit Hector Salamanca. 00:05:13.699 --> 00:05:16.000 Now for you listeners who need a quick refresher, 00:05:16.240 --> 00:05:18.639 Hector is the old man in the wheelchair, the 00:05:18.639 --> 00:05:20.740 one who can only communicate with a bell. Ding 00:05:20.740 --> 00:05:23.560 ding! Exactly. He was the heavy hitter back in 00:05:23.560 --> 00:05:25.800 the day, but now he is trapped in his own body. 00:05:26.100 --> 00:05:28.720 The patriarch of the Salamanca family. And Guth 00:05:28.720 --> 00:05:31.079 is not there to just say, I won. He is there 00:05:31.079 --> 00:05:34.379 to torment him. This is psychological torture, 00:05:34.680 --> 00:05:37.110 plain and simple. Describe the blocking of this 00:05:37.110 --> 00:05:39.649 scene for us, because it is very specific. Gus 00:05:39.649 --> 00:05:41.850 pulls up a chair right through. He does. He sits 00:05:41.850 --> 00:05:44.550 intimately close to Hector, like, uncomfortably 00:05:44.550 --> 00:05:47.170 close. He wants Hector to see his face corny. 00:05:47.250 --> 00:05:49.610 He wants to see the actual light go out in Hector's 00:05:49.610 --> 00:05:52.550 eyes. Gus lays it all out. He tells Hector that 00:05:52.550 --> 00:05:55.110 the Salamanca lineage has been utterly destroyed. 00:05:55.329 --> 00:05:58.009 Every major player, every cousin, the Don, they're 00:05:58.009 --> 00:06:00.970 all gone. All gone. But he saves the absolute 00:06:00.970 --> 00:06:03.329 worst for last. He doesn't just say, I killed 00:06:03.329 --> 00:06:05.790 your grandson. No, he brings Jesse forward. He 00:06:05.790 --> 00:06:08.250 physically positions Jesse right in Hector's 00:06:08.250 --> 00:06:11.089 line of sight. And he explains that this man, 00:06:11.250 --> 00:06:13.930 this kid, this gringo, as they call him, killed 00:06:13.930 --> 00:06:18.250 Joaquin. Joaquin was Hector's grandson, his absolute 00:06:18.250 --> 00:06:20.709 last living descendant. That is the dagger. It 00:06:20.709 --> 00:06:23.209 is not just that the cartel is gone. It is that 00:06:23.209 --> 00:06:26.110 the Salamanca name ends right here. It dies with 00:06:26.110 --> 00:06:28.189 Hector. And the person standing right there in 00:06:28.189 --> 00:06:30.430 the room is the one who snipped the final thread. 00:06:30.709 --> 00:06:34.050 That is just ice cold. It is not enough to kill 00:06:34.050 --> 00:06:37.370 them. He has to let Hector know that his family 00:06:37.370 --> 00:06:38.990 line has been wiped off the face of the earth. 00:06:39.149 --> 00:06:41.629 It is total victory for Gus. But you know, if 00:06:41.629 --> 00:06:43.310 we connect this to the bigger picture analysis, 00:06:43.490 --> 00:06:46.089 this is also where Gus's hubris picks. Oh, absolutely. 00:06:46.350 --> 00:06:48.769 We talk about Walter's ego a lot, but Gus has 00:06:48.769 --> 00:06:51.610 a massive ego, too. He belives he has won the 00:06:51.610 --> 00:06:54.180 war. He believes he has neutralized every threat. 00:06:54.660 --> 00:06:57.079 He thinks breaking Hector's spirit is the final 00:06:57.079 --> 00:06:59.279 nail in the coffin. So he leaves Hector alive 00:06:59.279 --> 00:07:01.819 to suffer. Exactly. And as you know, in this 00:07:01.819 --> 00:07:04.639 universe, leaving enemies alive, even ones in 00:07:04.639 --> 00:07:07.740 wheelchairs, has serious consequences. The classic 00:07:07.740 --> 00:07:10.839 pride before the fall. But while Gus is taking 00:07:10.839 --> 00:07:13.639 his dark victory lap down in Mexico, things are 00:07:13.639 --> 00:07:15.620 getting incredibly tense back in New Mexico. 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:18.160 We really need to shift gears to the Hank Schrader 00:07:18.160 --> 00:07:20.980 problem. The walls are closing in on Walt and 00:07:20.980 --> 00:07:24.740 they are closing fast. Hank is relentless. He 00:07:24.740 --> 00:07:28.240 is like a dog with a bone. He has been investigating 00:07:28.240 --> 00:07:30.439 the Blue Meth and he has fully connected the 00:07:30.439 --> 00:07:33.540 dots to Gus Fring's legitimate businesses. And 00:07:33.540 --> 00:07:36.220 in this episode, he makes a request that puts 00:07:36.220 --> 00:07:39.300 Walt in an impossible position. He asks Walt 00:07:39.300 --> 00:07:42.259 to drive him to a chicken farm. Apollo's Hermanos 00:07:42.259 --> 00:07:45.160 farm. But you know that is just the cover. On 00:07:45.160 --> 00:07:48.110 the way there, Hank drops the bomb. He reveals 00:07:48.110 --> 00:07:50.470 that he actually wants to investigate an industrial 00:07:50.470 --> 00:07:53.389 laundry facility owned by the same parent company. 00:07:53.589 --> 00:07:55.589 The laundry, which is literally where the super 00:07:55.589 --> 00:07:57.870 lab is. Exactly. It is the beating heart of the 00:07:57.870 --> 00:08:01.569 entire operation. Walt is driving the DEA straight 00:08:01.569 --> 00:08:04.110 to the hidden meth lab. So put yourself in Walt's 00:08:04.110 --> 00:08:05.649 shoes here for a second. We have to talk about 00:08:05.649 --> 00:08:08.550 the tension in this car ride because this is 00:08:08.550 --> 00:08:12.040 Hitchcock one. Oh, right. The bomb under the 00:08:12.040 --> 00:08:14.519 table. Perfectly put. Hitchcock always said surprise 00:08:14.519 --> 00:08:16.480 is when a bomb goes off, but suspense is when 00:08:16.480 --> 00:08:18.319 the audience knows the bomb is there, but the 00:08:18.319 --> 00:08:20.439 characters do not. In this case, Walt and the 00:08:20.439 --> 00:08:23.639 audience know the bomb is a laundry. Hank is 00:08:23.639 --> 00:08:25.980 totally oblivious. He is singing along to the 00:08:25.980 --> 00:08:28.839 radio. He is chatting away. And Walt is just 00:08:28.839 --> 00:08:31.740 sweating bullets, because if he arrives, it is 00:08:31.740 --> 00:08:34.779 game over. Gus will kill him for leaving the 00:08:34.779 --> 00:08:37.159 DEA there, or Hank will find the lab and arrest 00:08:37.159 --> 00:08:40.360 him. It's a binary choice between exposure or 00:08:40.360 --> 00:08:42.990 death. So Walt chooses a third option, panic, 00:08:43.629 --> 00:08:45.730 or maybe calculated panic is a better word. He 00:08:45.730 --> 00:08:48.149 crashes the car. He deliberately steers into 00:08:48.149 --> 00:08:51.169 oncoming traffic or rather swerves to cause a 00:08:51.169 --> 00:08:53.950 major accident. It is a desperate physical act. 00:08:54.289 --> 00:08:56.830 We see him grit his teeth and just yank the wheel. 00:08:57.149 --> 00:09:00.230 It is brutal to watch. The car smashes up the 00:09:00.230 --> 00:09:02.809 airbags deploy and the source material mentions 00:09:02.809 --> 00:09:05.590 that Hank is injured. Though minorly, he has 00:09:05.590 --> 00:09:08.169 got a neck brace on later. But the crazy plan 00:09:08.169 --> 00:09:10.350 works. They do not get to the laundry. They do 00:09:10.350 --> 00:09:12.570 not. But the consequence of that crash is severe. 00:09:12.830 --> 00:09:15.049 And I do not just mean the car repair bill. This 00:09:15.049 --> 00:09:18.070 is the absolute end of Walt's ability to monitor 00:09:18.070 --> 00:09:20.450 the DEA investigation. Right. Because up until 00:09:20.450 --> 00:09:23.149 now, Walt has been the inside man. He has been 00:09:23.149 --> 00:09:25.210 literally driving Hank around, steering him away 00:09:25.210 --> 00:09:28.389 from clues. Exactly. But after the crash, Hank 00:09:28.389 --> 00:09:31.429 realizes he cannot rely on Walt anymore. Walt 00:09:31.429 --> 00:09:33.669 is too skittish. He is too dangerous behind the 00:09:33.669 --> 00:09:36.549 wheel. So what does Hank do? He buys a specially 00:09:36.549 --> 00:09:39.850 adapted van so he can drive himself. Which means 00:09:39.850 --> 00:09:42.669 Walt is now blind. He was using those drives 00:09:42.669 --> 00:09:45.269 to steer Hank away from the truth, and now he 00:09:45.269 --> 00:09:46.990 is completely cut out of the loop. He bought 00:09:46.990 --> 00:09:50.710 himself a day, maybe two, but he lost his entire 00:09:50.710 --> 00:09:53.769 intelligence network. And while Walt is out there 00:09:53.769 --> 00:09:56.669 crashing cars to save his meth empire, there 00:09:56.669 --> 00:09:58.929 is a subplot bubbling up that feels at first 00:09:58.929 --> 00:10:01.480 like just a nuisance. but it turns out to be 00:10:01.480 --> 00:10:03.700 the catalyst for the entire tragedy. We have 00:10:03.700 --> 00:10:05.679 to talk about Ted Benaki. We have to, and this 00:10:05.679 --> 00:10:08.220 is where that massive genre shift happens. We 00:10:08.220 --> 00:10:10.779 go from the high stakes thriller of the car crash 00:10:10.779 --> 00:10:12.659 to, well, almost a sitcom. A very dark sitcom. 00:10:13.080 --> 00:10:15.340 So for the listeners, Ted is Skyler's former 00:10:15.340 --> 00:10:17.899 boss, and while they had a thing, but the issue 00:10:17.899 --> 00:10:21.659 right now is money. Ted is in... really deep 00:10:21.659 --> 00:10:24.879 trouble with the IRS. Right. He owes six hundred 00:10:24.879 --> 00:10:27.100 and seventeen thousand dollars in back taxes 00:10:27.100 --> 00:10:30.220 and fines. Skyler trying to keep the IRS from 00:10:30.220 --> 00:10:33.240 looking too closely at her own finances, which 00:10:33.240 --> 00:10:35.840 would expose the car wash and obviously the meth 00:10:35.840 --> 00:10:37.639 money arranged for Ted to get the money. Right. 00:10:37.639 --> 00:10:40.080 She gave it to him pretending it was an inheritance 00:10:40.080 --> 00:10:42.480 from a fake aunt. She basically handed him a 00:10:42.480 --> 00:10:44.299 get out of jail free card. All he had to do was 00:10:44.299 --> 00:10:46.620 write a check to the IRS. But Ted being Ted, 00:10:46.620 --> 00:10:49.259 he did not pay the IRS. No, he bought a Mercedes. 00:10:50.120 --> 00:10:53.820 and a heated floor. He leased a luxury car. And 00:10:53.820 --> 00:10:56.620 in this episode, he comes back to Skyler essentially 00:10:56.620 --> 00:10:59.379 to blackmail her. He implies that because she 00:10:59.379 --> 00:11:01.639 helped him cook his books, she is liable too. 00:11:01.899 --> 00:11:04.519 He wants more money. It is crazy. He refuses 00:11:04.519 --> 00:11:06.799 to pay the IRS because he says he needs the cash 00:11:06.799 --> 00:11:09.159 to reboot his business. The audacity of this 00:11:09.159 --> 00:11:11.740 guy is just infuriating. So Skyler decides she 00:11:11.740 --> 00:11:14.759 needs a quote unquote deluxe solution. She goes 00:11:14.759 --> 00:11:17.059 to Saul Goodman. And this gives us one of the 00:11:17.059 --> 00:11:19.539 funniest yet darkest sequences in the entire 00:11:19.539 --> 00:11:22.860 show. Saul sends in his A -Team. We get the formal 00:11:22.860 --> 00:11:25.159 introduction of Huell Babineau and Patrick Cooby. 00:11:25.419 --> 00:11:28.120 Played by Lavelle Crawford and Bill Burr. I always 00:11:28.120 --> 00:11:30.220 love the Bill Burrs in this show. It is just 00:11:30.220 --> 00:11:33.320 perfect casting. You have Huell, who is this 00:11:33.320 --> 00:11:36.759 massive silent mountain of a man, and Cooby, 00:11:36.940 --> 00:11:39.519 who is the fast talking redhead. They aren't 00:11:39.519 --> 00:11:42.139 there to kill Ted. They are just there to intimidate 00:11:42.139 --> 00:11:45.090 him. It is not a hit. It is an intense audit 00:11:45.090 --> 00:11:47.549 assistance program. Exactly. They sit him down 00:11:47.549 --> 00:11:49.549 in his own living room. They make him write the 00:11:49.549 --> 00:11:51.450 check. They tell him, we're going to stay right 00:11:51.450 --> 00:11:54.490 here until the check clears. It is physically 00:11:54.490 --> 00:11:57.090 forced compliance. They stand over him and make 00:11:57.090 --> 00:11:59.029 him sign the check to the government. And this 00:11:59.029 --> 00:12:01.029 is where the black comedy element that the critics 00:12:01.029 --> 00:12:03.289 talk about really shines. Ted writes the check. 00:12:03.750 --> 00:12:06.309 The job is done. The tension should be completely 00:12:06.309 --> 00:12:09.679 over. But then things go sideways and the rug 00:12:09.679 --> 00:12:12.799 happens the rug head panics He thinks and I don't 00:12:12.799 --> 00:12:14.480 even know what he thinks that he can outrun them 00:12:14.480 --> 00:12:16.799 in his own house He tries to make a run for it. 00:12:16.799 --> 00:12:19.240 He trips on a loose rug in his hallway. It is 00:12:19.240 --> 00:12:22.840 so incredibly clumsy It is not a cinematic graceful 00:12:22.840 --> 00:12:25.679 fall. It is a pathetic trip He falls and he smashes 00:12:25.679 --> 00:12:27.759 his head against a piece of furniture a counter 00:12:27.759 --> 00:12:31.250 or a heavy side table and the sound We have to 00:12:31.250 --> 00:12:33.250 mention the sound when he hits. Oh, it is sickening. 00:12:33.269 --> 00:12:35.870 It is a hard -cracking sound. And then the oranges. 00:12:36.210 --> 00:12:39.090 The oranges falling on him. That is a direct 00:12:39.090 --> 00:12:41.769 homage to The Godfather, right? It is indeed. 00:12:42.250 --> 00:12:45.029 In cinema history, oranges usually signal death. 00:12:45.389 --> 00:12:47.490 So you have this highbrow cinematic reference 00:12:47.490 --> 00:12:49.950 mixed with a guy tripping like a total clown. 00:12:50.269 --> 00:12:52.970 It completely disarms the viewer. You are laughing 00:12:52.970 --> 00:12:56.690 because it is ridiculous. A man defeated by his 00:12:56.690 --> 00:12:59.919 own hallway carpet. But then you realize, wait. 00:13:00.159 --> 00:13:03.240 Wait, if Ted is dead, or even just gravely hurt, 00:13:03.700 --> 00:13:06.720 the money is gone. And that is the key. The source 00:13:06.720 --> 00:13:08.879 material notes it results in a serious injury. 00:13:09.440 --> 00:13:11.240 At the moment, Saul's guys do not know if he 00:13:11.240 --> 00:13:14.460 is dead or alive. They panic and they flee. But 00:13:14.460 --> 00:13:16.769 the money... That physical check has been mailed. 00:13:17.090 --> 00:13:18.950 And this isn't just a funny side story. This 00:13:18.950 --> 00:13:21.730 is the exact hinge upon which the entire series 00:13:21.730 --> 00:13:24.009 turned. The ultimate butterfly effect. We have 00:13:24.009 --> 00:13:26.590 the exact number. Six hundred and seventeen thousand 00:13:26.590 --> 00:13:29.269 dollars. That is money that Skyler took directly 00:13:29.269 --> 00:13:31.549 from the crawl space. Money that belongs to Walt. 00:13:31.850 --> 00:13:34.070 Money that is now permanently gone. We will put 00:13:34.070 --> 00:13:36.149 a pin in that because that deficit is going to 00:13:36.149 --> 00:13:38.509 come back in a massive way in about 20 minutes. 00:13:38.730 --> 00:13:40.809 So let's reset the board for a second. We have 00:13:40.809 --> 00:13:43.649 the cartel destroyed, but Gus is angry. We have 00:13:43.649 --> 00:13:45.929 Hank sniffing around the laundry. We have Ted 00:13:45.929 --> 00:13:49.629 knocking himself out. And now Walt makes a discovery 00:13:49.629 --> 00:13:52.669 that shatters his ego completely. He finds out 00:13:52.669 --> 00:13:56.070 about the cook. Walt realizes that the lab has 00:13:56.070 --> 00:13:59.289 been active. He checks the equipment. It has 00:13:59.289 --> 00:14:01.909 been used. Someone has been cooking the blue 00:14:01.909 --> 00:14:04.370 meth without him. And there is only one other 00:14:04.370 --> 00:14:07.850 person who knows the recipe. Jessie. Walt realizes 00:14:07.850 --> 00:14:10.809 Jesse has effectively replaced him. The one card 00:14:10.809 --> 00:14:13.370 Walt thought he held, the idea that I am the 00:14:13.370 --> 00:14:16.429 only chemist, is gone. So he tries to go to Jesse's 00:14:16.429 --> 00:14:18.850 house. He pleads with him. He tries to use the 00:14:18.850 --> 00:14:21.149 old manipulation, saying we have to stick together 00:14:21.149 --> 00:14:23.950 to thwart Gus. But Jesse isn't having it. Not 00:14:23.950 --> 00:14:26.009 at all. Jesse is still bitter. Remember they 00:14:26.009 --> 00:14:28.269 had a massive physical fight in the previous 00:14:28.269 --> 00:14:31.669 episode, Bug? Jesse feels used and discarded 00:14:31.669 --> 00:14:35.460 by Walt. And now, thanks to Gus's careful manipulation 00:14:35.460 --> 00:14:38.179 in Mexico, Jesse feels like he actually has a 00:14:38.179 --> 00:14:40.440 respected place in the organization. He turns 00:14:40.440 --> 00:14:43.019 his back on Walt. He effectively chooses Gus 00:14:43.019 --> 00:14:46.139 over Walt at this exact moment. And that rejection 00:14:46.139 --> 00:14:48.860 leads straight to the abduction. Walt is grabbed 00:14:48.860 --> 00:14:51.139 by Gus's men. He is hooded. He is thrown into 00:14:51.139 --> 00:14:53.279 a car and he is driven out to the desert. The 00:14:53.279 --> 00:14:55.440 desert scenes in this show are always terrifying. 00:14:55.679 --> 00:14:57.720 Nothing good ever happens in the desert. And 00:14:57.720 --> 00:15:00.860 the lighting here is so harsh. It is bright midday 00:15:00.860 --> 00:15:03.940 sun. Everything is exposed and stark. And this 00:15:03.940 --> 00:15:05.980 is the ultimate confrontation. We really need 00:15:05.980 --> 00:15:08.159 to spend some time here because this is the absolute 00:15:08.159 --> 00:15:11.379 death of Heisenberg's ego. Gus Fring now, fully 00:15:11.379 --> 00:15:14.379 recovered and back in total control, fires Walter 00:15:14.379 --> 00:15:16.799 White. He fires him. He looks down at him and 00:15:16.799 --> 00:15:18.720 tells him, you are done. Do not return to the 00:15:18.720 --> 00:15:21.759 laundry. Do not speak to Jesse. But Walt, being 00:15:21.759 --> 00:15:24.639 Walt, thinks he still has cards to play. He assumes 00:15:24.639 --> 00:15:26.759 Gus cannot kill him because Jesse won't allow 00:15:26.759 --> 00:15:30.379 it. And he is right, partially. Gus admits that 00:15:30.379 --> 00:15:32.379 Jesse is the only reason Walt is still breathing. 00:15:32.679 --> 00:15:35.960 But then Gus pivots. He says he is gonna deal 00:15:35.960 --> 00:15:38.279 with Hank. He says Hank has become a liability 00:15:38.279 --> 00:15:41.399 and needs to be handled. Which means death. Gus 00:15:41.399 --> 00:15:44.100 is explicitly saying he is going to murder a 00:15:44.100 --> 00:15:47.960 DEA agent. And when Walt protests, when he tries 00:15:47.960 --> 00:15:50.399 to stand up to Gus and say you cannot do that, 00:15:50.799 --> 00:15:53.240 Gus delivers the line, the threat. I will kill 00:15:53.240 --> 00:15:55.879 your wife. I will kill your son. I will kill 00:15:55.879 --> 00:15:58.870 your infant daughter. It is so chilling. the 00:15:58.870 --> 00:16:01.870 specific mention of the infant daughter. It strips 00:16:01.870 --> 00:16:05.049 away any lingering pretense that Gus is just 00:16:05.049 --> 00:16:07.889 a strict businessman. He is a monster. This is 00:16:07.889 --> 00:16:10.169 the moment expert analysis always points to as 00:16:10.169 --> 00:16:13.049 the ultimate breaking point. For four entire 00:16:13.049 --> 00:16:14.889 seasons, Walt has believed he is the smartest 00:16:14.889 --> 00:16:16.970 man in the room. He believed he was the danger. 00:16:17.090 --> 00:16:20.210 Right. But here in the desert, on his knees with 00:16:20.210 --> 00:16:22.730 a bag having just been pulled off his head, he 00:16:22.730 --> 00:16:25.580 realizes he's nothing. He is an employee who 00:16:25.580 --> 00:16:27.980 has been fired, and now his entire family is 00:16:27.980 --> 00:16:30.840 marked for execution if he steps one single toe 00:16:30.840 --> 00:16:32.840 out of line. He is no longer an asset. He is 00:16:32.840 --> 00:16:35.379 just a loose end. Exactly. And that realization 00:16:35.379 --> 00:16:37.820 triggers the climax of the episode. We are heading 00:16:37.820 --> 00:16:40.440 right toward the crawl space. So Walt is in full 00:16:40.440 --> 00:16:43.080 -blown panic mode. He rushes to Saul Goodman's 00:16:43.080 --> 00:16:45.860 office. He basically barges in. He is desperately 00:16:45.860 --> 00:16:48.039 looking for the escape hatch. In a previous episode, 00:16:48.220 --> 00:16:50.960 bullet point, Saul had mentioned a guy, a disappear. 00:16:51.279 --> 00:16:53.700 The Vacuum Cleaner Repair Man. Right. It is a 00:16:53.700 --> 00:16:56.620 deluxe service, new identities, a new location, 00:16:56.960 --> 00:16:59.899 a completely fry start. But it costs an absolute 00:16:59.899 --> 00:17:02.240 fortune. Sol tells him it is going to cost half 00:17:02.240 --> 00:17:04.650 a million dollars cash. just to move a family 00:17:04.650 --> 00:17:07.250 of four. Saul hands him the card. It is kept 00:17:07.250 --> 00:17:10.210 locked in a safe. It is a very specific procedure. 00:17:10.329 --> 00:17:12.829 You call the number, you say the code words about 00:17:12.829 --> 00:17:16.329 a dust filter for a Hoover Max extract, and you 00:17:16.329 --> 00:17:18.869 have to have the cash ready. Walt also forces 00:17:18.869 --> 00:17:20.650 Saul to do something else here, right? Yes. He 00:17:20.650 --> 00:17:23.890 makes him call the DEA. Yes. He knows he cannot 00:17:23.890 --> 00:17:26.509 save Hank himself, and he cannot be seen warning 00:17:26.509 --> 00:17:29.430 him. So he forces Saul to place an anonymous 00:17:29.430 --> 00:17:32.349 tip to the DEA, warning that Hank is a target 00:17:32.349 --> 00:17:35.990 again. buying time exactly he is trying to get 00:17:35.990 --> 00:17:38.329 DEA protection for his family while he gathers 00:17:38.329 --> 00:17:40.569 the cash to run away so the clock is ticking 00:17:40.569 --> 00:17:43.730 loudly Walt rushes home the house is empty or 00:17:43.730 --> 00:17:45.930 so he thinks he goes to the hallway closet he 00:17:45.930 --> 00:17:48.130 opens the hatch in the floor he descends into 00:17:48.130 --> 00:17:51.109 the crawlspace this is where he has been meticulously 00:17:51.109 --> 00:17:53.710 stashing the bricks of cash all season he starts 00:17:53.710 --> 00:17:56.809 throwing them into a bag he is frantic he is 00:17:56.809 --> 00:17:59.589 covered in sweat the lighting down there is dim 00:17:59.589 --> 00:18:02.609 it is dusty it feels suffocating And then he 00:18:02.609 --> 00:18:06.130 stops. He's counting the stacks. And he realizes 00:18:06.130 --> 00:18:08.730 something is terribly wrong. The deficit. He 00:18:08.730 --> 00:18:11.450 does not have enough. He is short. Skyler walks 00:18:11.450 --> 00:18:14.849 in. She hears him rummaging. She comes to the 00:18:14.849 --> 00:18:17.250 opening of the crawl space. Walt looks up at 00:18:17.250 --> 00:18:20.470 her covered in dirt and sweat and asks the question, 00:18:20.970 --> 00:18:23.670 where is the money? And this is the massive collision 00:18:23.670 --> 00:18:26.210 we talked about earlier. The Ted Benaki plot 00:18:26.210 --> 00:18:28.849 line crashes headfirst into the main escape plan. 00:18:29.190 --> 00:18:31.390 Skyler admits it. She gave the money to Ted. 00:18:31.630 --> 00:18:33.690 She starts explaining, I did it for us. I did 00:18:33.690 --> 00:18:35.890 it to protect us from the audit. But Walt isn't 00:18:35.890 --> 00:18:38.190 hearing the justification. He is doing the math 00:18:38.190 --> 00:18:40.609 in his head. The money is gone. The escape route 00:18:40.609 --> 00:18:42.769 is fully closed. The threat from Gus to kill 00:18:42.769 --> 00:18:45.250 his infant daughter is now immediate. And he 00:18:45.250 --> 00:18:47.609 has absolutely no way to stop it. And this brings 00:18:47.609 --> 00:18:50.710 us to the breakdown. The moment. It starts as 00:18:50.710 --> 00:18:54.349 a scream. A guttural, terrifying scream of pure 00:18:54.349 --> 00:18:57.289 anguish. He is lying on his back in the dirt, 00:18:57.430 --> 00:19:00.069 just screaming at the ceiling, but then the scream 00:19:00.069 --> 00:19:03.109 changes. It morphs. It slowly turns into this 00:19:03.109 --> 00:19:07.000 cackle. This rhythmic maniacal laughter. It creates 00:19:07.000 --> 00:19:10.119 this deeply terrifying contrast. You have Skyler 00:19:10.119 --> 00:19:12.720 standing above the hole looking down. She is 00:19:12.720 --> 00:19:15.180 terrified. She is physically backing away. She 00:19:15.180 --> 00:19:17.319 sees her husband completely unraveling before 00:19:17.319 --> 00:19:19.259 her eyes. And while he is laughing, the phone 00:19:19.259 --> 00:19:21.799 starts ringing. The soundscape here is just brilliant. 00:19:21.940 --> 00:19:23.819 You have the laughter which sounds broken like 00:19:23.819 --> 00:19:25.980 an engine trying to turn over and failing. And 00:19:25.980 --> 00:19:27.880 you have the phone ringing endlessly. Skyler 00:19:27.880 --> 00:19:30.740 finally answers it. It is Marie. And Marie is 00:19:30.740 --> 00:19:33.200 completely terrified, too. She's calling to say 00:19:33.200 --> 00:19:35.819 the DEA just got a tip. The cartel is coming 00:19:35.819 --> 00:19:37.599 for Hank. Agents are on their way to the White 00:19:37.599 --> 00:19:40.240 House right now to protect them. The irony is 00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:42.380 suffocating. The threat to Hank is real, but 00:19:42.380 --> 00:19:44.779 the tip actually came from Walt. The protection 00:19:44.779 --> 00:19:46.759 is coming, but the protection traps Walt there. 00:19:47.119 --> 00:19:49.400 He cannot run now, even if he had the money. 00:19:49.920 --> 00:19:52.440 And meanwhile, Walt is laughing because he realizes 00:19:52.440 --> 00:19:55.819 the grand cosmic joke. What is the cosmic joke, 00:19:55.839 --> 00:19:57.539 in your view? The joke is that he earned the 00:19:57.539 --> 00:19:59.849 money to save his family. But because he earned 00:19:59.849 --> 00:20:01.990 the money, his family is now in lethal danger. 00:20:02.630 --> 00:20:04.470 And the money he earned was used by his wife 00:20:04.470 --> 00:20:07.349 to save another man, which now actively prevents 00:20:07.349 --> 00:20:09.789 him from saving his family. It is a perfectly 00:20:09.789 --> 00:20:13.029 closed loop of total failure. Oh, a closed loop 00:20:13.029 --> 00:20:16.210 of failure. That is heavy. Sean Hutchinson from 00:20:16.210 --> 00:20:18.369 Inverse analyzes this exact scene perfectly. 00:20:18.490 --> 00:20:21.250 He points out the camera work. The episode ends 00:20:21.250 --> 00:20:23.569 with the camera slowly panning upward away from 00:20:23.569 --> 00:20:25.609 Walt. Yeah, moving straight up toward the floorboards. 00:20:25.750 --> 00:20:28.829 It is a slow dolly shot. Visually, the framing 00:20:28.829 --> 00:20:32.109 turns the crawlspace into a coffin. Walt is quite 00:20:32.109 --> 00:20:34.869 literally buried alive. The wooden floor beams 00:20:34.869 --> 00:20:37.509 above him look like prison bars. Hutchinson notes 00:20:37.509 --> 00:20:39.990 that this shot perfectly mirrors the final shot 00:20:39.990 --> 00:20:42.630 of the entire series finale, Felina. Oh, that 00:20:42.630 --> 00:20:44.509 is right. In the finale, the camera pulls up 00:20:44.509 --> 00:20:46.509 from Walt lying dead on the floor of the meth 00:20:46.509 --> 00:20:48.450 lab. Here it pulls up from him lying in the dirt. 00:20:48.630 --> 00:20:51.569 It is a profound visual rhyme. In crawlspace, 00:20:51.769 --> 00:20:54.390 Walter White effectively dies. The man who climbs 00:20:54.390 --> 00:20:56.509 out of that hole in the next episode is pure 00:20:56.509 --> 00:20:59.950 Heisenberg. That is a man who finally has nothing 00:20:59.950 --> 00:21:02.789 left to lose. Hutchinson also calls this black 00:21:02.789 --> 00:21:05.670 comedy. Do you agree with that assessment? I 00:21:05.670 --> 00:21:08.250 really do. It is the textbook definition of black 00:21:08.250 --> 00:21:11.089 comedy. The situation is horrific. genocide of 00:21:11.089 --> 00:21:14.049 a family threats of child murder. But the mechanics 00:21:14.049 --> 00:21:16.869 bringing it about are farcical. Ted tripping 00:21:16.869 --> 00:21:19.230 on a rug, a man laughing at his own impending 00:21:19.230 --> 00:21:22.049 doom. It is laughter in the face of the abyss 00:21:22.049 --> 00:21:24.269 because the only other option is complete madness. 00:21:24.849 --> 00:21:26.970 Let's talk about how this was received by everyone. 00:21:27.069 --> 00:21:28.250 I mean, we were sitting here talking about it 00:21:28.250 --> 00:21:30.650 15 years later, so obviously left a mark. It 00:21:30.650 --> 00:21:33.230 definitely stuck. Bryan Cranston actually submitted 00:21:33.230 --> 00:21:36.069 this specific episode for his Emmy consideration 00:21:36.069 --> 00:21:38.869 for outstanding lead actor in a drama series. 00:21:39.660 --> 00:21:42.480 Total sense. The sheer range he shows in that 00:21:42.480 --> 00:21:45.500 final minute alone is incredible. He goes from 00:21:45.500 --> 00:21:48.579 intense determination, to sheer panic, to primal 00:21:48.579 --> 00:21:52.259 rage, to complete insanity all in about 60 seconds 00:21:52.259 --> 00:21:54.900 of screen time. Critics universally agreed. Noel 00:21:54.900 --> 00:21:57.299 Murray from the AV Club gave it a straight A 00:21:57.299 --> 00:22:00.480 grade. He called it intense and terrifying. And 00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:03.460 IGN gave it a 9 out of 10. Seth Amadon called 00:22:03.460 --> 00:22:06.779 it shocking and eyebrow raising. The Ringer did 00:22:06.779 --> 00:22:10.220 a massive ranking of all 62 Breaking Bad episodes 00:22:10.220 --> 00:22:13.299 and they put crawlspace at number nine. Top 10 00:22:13.299 --> 00:22:15.660 of the entire run of the show. That is incredibly 00:22:15.660 --> 00:22:17.920 high praise considering how many iconic episodes 00:22:17.920 --> 00:22:20.720 there are. You are competing with Ozymandias' 00:22:21.019 --> 00:22:23.609 Face Off Phoenix. It is. Hutchinson even called 00:22:23.609 --> 00:22:26.289 it the show's most underrated moment praising 00:22:26.289 --> 00:22:28.789 the mise -en -scene, the arrangement of everything 00:22:28.789 --> 00:22:31.829 in the frame, the dirt, the harsh light filtering 00:22:31.829 --> 00:22:35.569 down the framing of Skyler's terrified face versus 00:22:35.569 --> 00:22:38.349 Walt's manic face. So when we look at this episode 00:22:38.349 --> 00:22:41.039 as a whole... It really is the grand pivot point. 00:22:41.440 --> 00:22:43.460 Absolutely. Before crawl space, Walt is fighting 00:22:43.460 --> 00:22:45.559 for dominance and control. After crawl space, 00:22:45.599 --> 00:22:48.339 he is strictly fighting for survival. It permanently 00:22:48.339 --> 00:22:50.819 shifts the genre. We are no longer watching a 00:22:50.819 --> 00:22:52.400 guy build a secret business. We are watching 00:22:52.400 --> 00:22:54.460 a horror movie where the monster is coming to 00:22:54.460 --> 00:22:56.500 the house. And the monster isn't just Gus Fring. 00:22:57.099 --> 00:22:59.099 The monster is the consequences of their own 00:22:59.099 --> 00:23:02.289 choices. You know, it's funny. We spend so much 00:23:02.289 --> 00:23:04.529 time talking about Gus, the massive cartel, the 00:23:04.529 --> 00:23:07.309 super lab, the DEA. But when you really break 00:23:07.309 --> 00:23:10.390 it down, the one thing that truly destroyed Walter 00:23:10.390 --> 00:23:13.769 White in this episode was a rug. That is the 00:23:13.769 --> 00:23:15.829 perfect provocative thought to leave the listeners 00:23:15.829 --> 00:23:17.970 with today. Think about that butterfly effect. 00:23:18.549 --> 00:23:21.069 If Ted Benaki does not trip on that loose rug, 00:23:21.509 --> 00:23:24.069 maybe he runs away. Maybe he somehow gets out 00:23:24.069 --> 00:23:26.769 the door. Maybe he doesn't pay the IRS, but Skyler 00:23:26.769 --> 00:23:30.079 can somehow get the money back. Or maybe he just 00:23:30.079 --> 00:23:32.640 calmly writes the check and leaves. But the specific 00:23:32.640 --> 00:23:36.099 chaos of that silly injury, the panic it caused 00:23:36.099 --> 00:23:38.599 Skyler, the confession it forced. It all comes 00:23:38.599 --> 00:23:40.680 down to a loose piece of carpet in a hallway. 00:23:41.240 --> 00:23:43.640 History turns on the absolute smallest things. 00:23:43.859 --> 00:23:45.660 Well, on that note, I think I am going to go 00:23:45.660 --> 00:23:47.680 check all the rugs in my hallway. Probably a 00:23:47.680 --> 00:23:50.000 very good idea. Make sure they are taped down. 00:23:50.180 --> 00:23:51.940 Thank you for diving deep with us today into 00:23:51.940 --> 00:23:54.140 crawlspace. It is a heavy one, but man, is it 00:23:54.140 --> 00:23:56.079 a masterpiece of television. Thanks for listening, 00:23:56.200 --> 00:23:57.940 everyone. See you next time on The Deep Dive.