WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.600 Say my name. Just three words. Three words. That 00:00:02.600 --> 00:00:05.179 is literally all it takes. You say those three 00:00:05.179 --> 00:00:08.800 words to almost anyone who has owned a television 00:00:08.800 --> 00:00:10.759 in the last 15 years, and they know exactly who 00:00:10.759 --> 00:00:12.519 you're talking about. Oh, absolutely. They know 00:00:12.519 --> 00:00:15.140 the pork pie hat. They know the sunglasses, the 00:00:15.140 --> 00:00:18.940 goatee, and they definitely know that menacing 00:00:18.940 --> 00:00:22.750 growl. Right. It's arguably the most famous quote 00:00:22.750 --> 00:00:25.289 from the entire run of Breaking Bad, maybe right 00:00:25.289 --> 00:00:28.489 up there with, uh, I am the one who knocks. I'd 00:00:28.489 --> 00:00:30.129 say it is. I mean, it's the moment that ended 00:00:30.129 --> 00:00:32.469 up on all the t -shirts, you know, the posters, 00:00:32.670 --> 00:00:36.469 the internet memes. It is just this iconic ultimate 00:00:36.469 --> 00:00:39.880 alpha male flex. For sure. But what is really 00:00:39.880 --> 00:00:42.259 fascinating to me is that if you ask the average 00:00:42.259 --> 00:00:44.600 person to describe the episode that quote actually 00:00:44.600 --> 00:00:46.759 comes from, they might just remember that one 00:00:46.759 --> 00:00:48.859 single scene. Right. They remember the triumph 00:00:48.859 --> 00:00:52.000 of it. Exactly. They remember Heisenberg at his 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:54.679 absolute peak. But if you actually sit down and 00:00:54.679 --> 00:00:58.020 re -watch season five, episode seven, which is 00:00:58.020 --> 00:01:01.420 literally titled Say My Name, you realize that 00:01:01.420 --> 00:01:05.719 this really cool triumphant moment is Well, it's 00:01:05.719 --> 00:01:07.939 actually the wrapper for a completely different, 00:01:08.200 --> 00:01:10.480 really tragic event. It's a devastating hour 00:01:10.480 --> 00:01:12.599 of television. It really is. And interestingly, 00:01:13.260 --> 00:01:15.239 the original working title for this episode was 00:01:15.239 --> 00:01:18.099 Everybody Wins. Everybody Wins. Wow. Yeah. That 00:01:18.099 --> 00:01:21.340 is incredibly dark considering how the hour actually 00:01:21.340 --> 00:01:23.480 ends. Because spoiler alert for a show that ended 00:01:23.480 --> 00:01:25.939 over a decade ago, absolutely nobody wins in 00:01:25.939 --> 00:01:28.799 this episode. Nobody. It is a zero -sum game 00:01:28.799 --> 00:01:30.500 by the time the credits roll. Actually, you know 00:01:30.500 --> 00:01:32.700 what? It's a negative -sum game. Every single 00:01:32.700 --> 00:01:35.060 person loses something vital. Yeah, they really 00:01:35.060 --> 00:01:37.780 do. So for our deep dive today, our mission is 00:01:37.780 --> 00:01:40.359 to look past the meme. We really want to unpack 00:01:40.359 --> 00:01:43.140 the exact moment Walter White's ego fully takes 00:01:43.140 --> 00:01:45.939 the wheel, which results in the completely senseless 00:01:45.939 --> 00:01:49.200 loss of a major fan favorite character. We are 00:01:49.200 --> 00:01:51.239 going to look at how a simple business negotiation 00:01:51.239 --> 00:01:53.780 out in the desert somehow turns into an absolute 00:01:53.780 --> 00:01:56.980 nightmare down by a river. Right. And for you 00:01:56.980 --> 00:01:58.900 listening, we've pulled from a bunch of different 00:01:58.900 --> 00:02:02.219 sources for this. Production notes, plot summaries, 00:02:02.480 --> 00:02:05.420 viewership statistics, and some really insightful 00:02:05.420 --> 00:02:07.540 critical reviews from when the episode aired 00:02:07.540 --> 00:02:10.719 just to build a complete picture of this pivotal 00:02:10.719 --> 00:02:12.860 hour. So let's just set the scene right away. 00:02:12.979 --> 00:02:15.479 Yeah. Where exactly are we in the story here? 00:02:16.120 --> 00:02:18.759 because season five is split into two halves, 00:02:19.340 --> 00:02:21.340 and we're approaching the end of that first half. 00:02:21.500 --> 00:02:23.919 Yeah, we are in the first half of the final season, 00:02:23.960 --> 00:02:25.939 and the walls are really starting to close in. 00:02:26.400 --> 00:02:29.919 To recap briefly, Walt, Jesse, and Mike Ermentrout 00:02:29.919 --> 00:02:32.520 have been running their own meth operation. Right, 00:02:32.539 --> 00:02:34.800 after guest -frying. Exactly, and they just pulled 00:02:34.800 --> 00:02:37.379 off that massive train heist, the one where they 00:02:37.379 --> 00:02:39.819 stole a thousand gallons of raw methylamine. 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:42.300 Which is a mind -boggling amount of precursor. 00:02:42.360 --> 00:02:44.560 It really is, so they're sitting on an absolute 00:02:44.560 --> 00:02:48.060 fortune in... But the heat is severely on. The 00:02:48.060 --> 00:02:50.620 DEA is breathing down Mike's neck. Hank Schrader 00:02:50.620 --> 00:02:53.219 is circling them. Tensions are just at an all 00:02:53.219 --> 00:02:55.780 -time high. And the group is fracturing. This 00:02:55.780 --> 00:02:57.780 isn't that sort of happy family dynamic they 00:02:57.780 --> 00:02:59.960 had for a brief second. Far from it. I mean, 00:03:00.159 --> 00:03:03.189 Mike wants out. He is tired, he's getting older, 00:03:03.650 --> 00:03:05.469 he just wants his money so he can give it to 00:03:05.469 --> 00:03:07.870 his granddaughter. And Jesse wants out too. Right, 00:03:08.050 --> 00:03:10.189 because Jesse is completely traumatized by the 00:03:10.189 --> 00:03:12.969 death of that innocent kid on the dirt bike right 00:03:12.969 --> 00:03:15.289 after the train heist. Drew Sharp. Yeah, Drew 00:03:15.289 --> 00:03:17.990 Sharp. So both Mike and Jesse, they just want 00:03:17.990 --> 00:03:20.009 to take their shares of the methylamine, sell 00:03:20.009 --> 00:03:24.319 it, and run. Walt is just getting started. He 00:03:24.319 --> 00:03:27.620 is finally the king, and he has zero intention 00:03:27.620 --> 00:03:29.740 of abdicating the throne. Which brings us right 00:03:29.740 --> 00:03:33.060 to the desert. The desert deal. This is the scene 00:03:33.060 --> 00:03:35.919 that literally gives the episode its title. And 00:03:35.919 --> 00:03:38.219 I just have to say, purely on a visual level, 00:03:38.500 --> 00:03:40.819 this scene is striking. It's the opening act. 00:03:41.099 --> 00:03:43.639 And honestly, if you hit mute on your TV, you 00:03:43.639 --> 00:03:45.840 would think you were watching an old Sergio Leone 00:03:45.840 --> 00:03:48.180 movie. Oh, completely. The cinematography here 00:03:48.180 --> 00:03:49.919 is doing so much heavy lifting. You have these 00:03:49.919 --> 00:03:53.340 incredible wide shots, the really harsh New Mexico 00:03:53.340 --> 00:03:55.860 sunlight. The characters are arranged in a tense 00:03:55.860 --> 00:04:00.180 little triangle. It is classic. Western visual 00:04:00.180 --> 00:04:01.939 language. You essentially have the good, the 00:04:01.939 --> 00:04:03.860 bad, and the ugly all just standing there in 00:04:03.860 --> 00:04:06.360 the dust. You really do. Yeah. You half expect 00:04:06.360 --> 00:04:08.860 Clint Eastwood to walk into the frame chewing 00:04:08.860 --> 00:04:10.900 on a cigarill. But instead of a shootout at the 00:04:10.900 --> 00:04:14.400 OK Corral, we get, well, we get a business seminar. 00:04:14.539 --> 00:04:17.220 A corporate merger. Yeah. Because that is essentially 00:04:17.220 --> 00:04:20.339 what Walt does here. He holds a hostile corporate 00:04:20.339 --> 00:04:22.920 takeover seminar on supply chain economics. He 00:04:22.920 --> 00:04:25.420 really does. And this is crucial to understand 00:04:25.420 --> 00:04:28.899 the dynamic. Walt, Jesse, and Mike. are meeting 00:04:28.899 --> 00:04:32.360 with a competitor named Declan. Declan runs a 00:04:32.360 --> 00:04:35.300 major distribution network out of Phoenix. He 00:04:35.300 --> 00:04:37.560 is the competition. And the deal on the table, 00:04:37.660 --> 00:04:39.459 the one that Mike and Jesse are desperate for, 00:04:39.579 --> 00:04:41.899 is actually very straightforward. They want to 00:04:41.899 --> 00:04:44.240 sell their share of the methylamine to Declan. 00:04:44.500 --> 00:04:47.779 Declan pays them $15 million, takes the chemical, 00:04:48.139 --> 00:04:50.939 and in exchange, the famous blue meth disappears 00:04:50.939 --> 00:04:53.240 from the market forever. It's a clean buyout. 00:04:53.290 --> 00:04:55.829 Declan's only real condition is that Walt's Blue 00:04:55.829 --> 00:04:58.050 Math has to leave the market. He doesn't want 00:04:58.050 --> 00:05:00.470 the competition cutting into his margins. It's 00:05:00.470 --> 00:05:03.250 a clean break, everyone walks away incredibly 00:05:03.250 --> 00:05:06.189 rich. Five million for Mike? Exactly. Mike gets 00:05:06.189 --> 00:05:08.709 his five million, Jesse gets his five million, 00:05:08.949 --> 00:05:12.050 and Walt gets his. It is the most logical... 00:05:12.199 --> 00:05:14.360 take -the -money -and -run moment imaginable. 00:05:14.740 --> 00:05:16.879 But logic really doesn't apply to Walser White 00:05:16.879 --> 00:05:19.379 anymore. Or I guess a very different kind of 00:05:19.379 --> 00:05:21.639 logic applies to him now. Right. Logistically 00:05:21.639 --> 00:05:24.040 speaking, Declan has the muscle in this scene. 00:05:24.199 --> 00:05:26.740 He has the trucks. He has the territory. He could 00:05:26.740 --> 00:05:28.480 honestly just shoot Walt right there and take 00:05:28.480 --> 00:05:31.120 the methylamine. He could. But Walt pulls his 00:05:31.120 --> 00:05:33.439 Sherlock Holmes on him. He doesn't attack Declan 00:05:33.439 --> 00:05:36.360 with threats. He attacks the math. He counters 00:05:36.360 --> 00:05:39.500 the offer. And the way he does it is just so 00:05:39.500 --> 00:05:42.779 arrogant, but it's also mathematically undeniable. 00:05:42.899 --> 00:05:45.220 He gives this hardened drug lord a chemistry 00:05:45.220 --> 00:05:47.980 lesson right there in the dirt. Yes. But I want 00:05:47.980 --> 00:05:49.939 to drill down on this for you listening, because 00:05:49.939 --> 00:05:53.579 the show throws around the number 99 .1 % a lot. 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:57.100 Walt says his product is 99 .1 % pure, while 00:05:57.100 --> 00:06:00.920 Declan's guys are cooking it maybe. 70 % at best. 00:06:01.220 --> 00:06:03.759 Yeah. So to the average end user on the street, 00:06:03.939 --> 00:06:07.439 does that 30 % gap really actually matter? Or 00:06:07.439 --> 00:06:10.279 is Walt just using marketing? Like is a junkie 00:06:10.279 --> 00:06:11.839 really going to notice the difference between 00:06:11.839 --> 00:06:15.879 70 and 99? That is the million dollar question. 00:06:16.259 --> 00:06:19.779 Literally. And the answer is. The end user might 00:06:19.779 --> 00:06:22.720 not care about the chemical nuance, but the distributor 00:06:22.720 --> 00:06:26.579 cares deeply about the yield. This is the underlying 00:06:26.579 --> 00:06:28.779 chemistry insight that makes this entire scene 00:06:28.779 --> 00:06:31.899 work. It is not just about the kick the user 00:06:31.899 --> 00:06:35.160 gets, it's about how much final sellable product 00:06:35.160 --> 00:06:37.920 you can create from the raw base material. Break 00:06:37.920 --> 00:06:39.980 that down for me. How does that work? Think of 00:06:39.980 --> 00:06:42.000 it like baking bread. Let's say you have a huge 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:44.259 sack of flour. If you were a bad baker, maybe 00:06:44.259 --> 00:06:45.980 you waste a lot of flour on the floor, or you 00:06:45.980 --> 00:06:48.060 mess up the dough, or you burn a bunch of loaves 00:06:48.060 --> 00:06:49.980 in the oven. You might only get 50 loaves out 00:06:49.980 --> 00:06:52.079 of that sack. Great. But if you were an absolute 00:06:52.079 --> 00:06:55.050 master baker, you waste nothing. Your process 00:06:55.050 --> 00:06:57.149 is perfect. You get a hundred loaves out of that 00:06:57.149 --> 00:07:00.250 exact same sack of flour. Ah, okay. So Walt isn't 00:07:00.250 --> 00:07:03.149 just selling a better high. He is selling better 00:07:03.149 --> 00:07:06.730 efficiency. Exactly. If you have a thousand gallons 00:07:06.730 --> 00:07:08.569 of methylamine, which is what they just stole 00:07:08.569 --> 00:07:11.790 from the train, and you cook it with a 70 % proficiency 00:07:11.790 --> 00:07:16.310 like Declan's guys, you are wasting a massive 00:07:16.310 --> 00:07:19.490 amount of incredibly rare raw material. You're 00:07:19.490 --> 00:07:21.430 leaving money on the table. You are throwing 00:07:21.430 --> 00:07:23.629 money down the drain with every single batch. 00:07:23.850 --> 00:07:27.310 because the chemical reaction just isn't efficient. 00:07:27.949 --> 00:07:29.649 Walt does this math right there in the sand for 00:07:29.649 --> 00:07:33.550 Declan. He calculates that the 30 % margin difference 00:07:33.550 --> 00:07:35.889 spread over the lifespan of those thousand gallons 00:07:35.889 --> 00:07:38.649 equals hundreds of millions of dollars in lost 00:07:38.649 --> 00:07:41.430 profit. Hundreds of millions. He basically looks 00:07:41.430 --> 00:07:43.709 Declan in the eye and tells him, you are setting 00:07:43.709 --> 00:07:45.850 money on fire every single day you don't hire 00:07:45.850 --> 00:07:49.029 me. That is the core of his argument. He tells 00:07:49.029 --> 00:07:51.410 Declan that even if Declan gives Walt a huge 00:07:51.410 --> 00:07:54.379 share of the profits, say, 35 % decline will 00:07:54.379 --> 00:07:56.399 still make significantly more money distributing 00:07:56.399 --> 00:07:58.800 Walt's highly efficient product than he would 00:07:58.800 --> 00:08:00.959 selling his own low -grade stuff and keeping 00:08:00.959 --> 00:08:03.959 100%. Because the pie gets so much bigger. Right. 00:08:04.360 --> 00:08:06.860 The yield is higher, the street demand is higher, 00:08:06.899 --> 00:08:09.519 and the brand value of the blue meth is higher. 00:08:09.819 --> 00:08:13.000 It's the Coke versus generic cola argument. Walt 00:08:13.000 --> 00:08:15.579 literally asks him, do you really want to live 00:08:15.579 --> 00:08:18.620 in a world without Coca -Cola? That is such a 00:08:18.620 --> 00:08:21.019 risky play, though. You are standing in the desert. 00:08:21.160 --> 00:08:24.259 telling a violent cartel -level drug lord that 00:08:24.259 --> 00:08:26.660 he is bad at math and insulting his cooks to 00:08:26.660 --> 00:08:29.339 his face. It is incredibly arrogant. But notice 00:08:29.339 --> 00:08:32.440 Declan's face in that scene. He listens. He runs 00:08:32.440 --> 00:08:34.379 the numbers in his own head. And he knows Walt 00:08:34.379 --> 00:08:36.600 is right. Yeah. And this leads to the pivot. 00:08:37.379 --> 00:08:40.059 Walt constructs a new deal on the fly. where 00:08:40.059 --> 00:08:42.580 Declan pays Mike his $5 million immediately, 00:08:42.740 --> 00:08:44.519 essentially buying out Mike's share of the chemical. 00:08:45.240 --> 00:08:47.080 But Walt and Jesse stay in the game to cook. 00:08:47.379 --> 00:08:49.940 So Walt stops being the businessman in that moment. 00:08:50.019 --> 00:08:52.019 He gets exactly what he wants. He gets the distribution 00:08:52.019 --> 00:08:54.440 deal. He secures the bag. He does. But he doesn't 00:08:54.440 --> 00:08:56.700 walk away. He needs the cherry on top. A say 00:08:56.700 --> 00:08:59.600 my name moment. This is where that Western trope 00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:02.179 comes roaring back. Because in a Western, the 00:09:02.179 --> 00:09:05.690 gunslinger wins by reputation, right? Walt needs 00:09:05.690 --> 00:09:09.029 Declan to verbally acknowledge who is the actual 00:09:09.029 --> 00:09:12.389 Alpha in this desert. Exactly. Declan asks him, 00:09:12.690 --> 00:09:15.389 who the hell are you? And Walt doesn't shout. 00:09:15.450 --> 00:09:17.190 He doesn't pull a gun. He just lowers his voice 00:09:17.190 --> 00:09:21.269 and asks a question. Say my name. And he definitely 00:09:21.269 --> 00:09:23.149 doesn't mean Walter White. No, not at all. He 00:09:23.149 --> 00:09:26.190 means the persona. He means the myth. Walt knows 00:09:26.190 --> 00:09:28.029 that the stories have spread through the underworld. 00:09:28.230 --> 00:09:30.110 He knows Declan has heard about what happened 00:09:30.110 --> 00:09:32.570 to Gus Fring. The man who killed Gus Fring, that 00:09:32.570 --> 00:09:34.970 is the exact reputation Walt is writing on. He 00:09:34.970 --> 00:09:37.549 literally blew up a nursing home to take out 00:09:37.549 --> 00:09:39.909 the biggest kingpin in the entire Southwest. 00:09:40.210 --> 00:09:43.269 And he is banking entirely on the fear that generates. 00:09:43.769 --> 00:09:45.990 He wants Declan to realize that the man standing 00:09:45.990 --> 00:09:48.549 in front of him, this very unassuming middle 00:09:48.549 --> 00:09:52.009 aged bald man wearing a cheap windbreaker, is 00:09:52.009 --> 00:09:54.389 the monster who took down the cartel's biggest 00:09:54.389 --> 00:09:56.970 earner. And you see it happen. You see the realization 00:09:56.970 --> 00:09:59.330 wash over Declan's face. The gears are turning. 00:09:59.409 --> 00:10:01.529 He connects all the dots. the blue meth, the 00:10:01.529 --> 00:10:03.830 sudden vacuum in the market, the explosion, and 00:10:03.830 --> 00:10:07.110 he finally says, you're Heisenberg. And Walt 00:10:07.110 --> 00:10:10.230 replies, you're goddamn right. Chills. I mean, 00:10:10.570 --> 00:10:12.690 every single time I watch it, it is so effective. 00:10:12.950 --> 00:10:14.769 It is electric television. But let's actually 00:10:14.769 --> 00:10:17.610 analyze what this really means for Walt as a 00:10:17.610 --> 00:10:19.769 character. This isn't about business anymore. 00:10:19.909 --> 00:10:22.250 Not at all. If it were about business, Walt would 00:10:22.250 --> 00:10:24.429 have taken the original $5 million buyout and 00:10:24.429 --> 00:10:27.490 retired. He has more than enough money to pay 00:10:27.490 --> 00:10:29.169 for his treatments and provide for his family. 00:10:29.230 --> 00:10:30.809 He could have gone home. He could have been done. 00:10:30.990 --> 00:10:32.129 He could have walked through the front door and 00:10:32.129 --> 00:10:34.710 told Skyler, we're safe. It's over. But he can't 00:10:34.710 --> 00:10:38.850 do it. This specific scene represents the massive 00:10:38.850 --> 00:10:42.350 shift in Walt's core motivation. It is no longer 00:10:42.350 --> 00:10:45.250 about providing for his family. That excuse is 00:10:45.250 --> 00:10:48.669 completely gone by season five. It's pure empire 00:10:48.669 --> 00:10:51.769 building now. Yes. It is about notoriety. He 00:10:51.769 --> 00:10:54.250 is relishing the reputation he has built. He 00:10:54.250 --> 00:10:56.409 wants to be the king. He wants people to fear 00:10:56.409 --> 00:10:59.009 the name Heisenberg. He is just constantly feeding 00:10:59.009 --> 00:11:02.029 this ego monster inside him. And while Walt is 00:11:02.029 --> 00:11:04.909 having this moment of supreme triumph out in 00:11:04.909 --> 00:11:07.389 the desert, feeling like an absolute god among 00:11:07.389 --> 00:11:11.029 men, the real world is crumbling back in Albuquerque 00:11:11.029 --> 00:11:14.210 for Mike. And this brings us to the next section 00:11:14.210 --> 00:11:16.809 of our deep dive. Right. Because while Walt is 00:11:16.809 --> 00:11:19.700 winning, Mike is definitely losing. The news 00:11:19.700 --> 00:11:23.139 tightens on Mike. This is the tragic counter 00:11:23.139 --> 00:11:25.980 narrative of the episode. The structure here 00:11:25.980 --> 00:11:28.659 is brilliant because it's designed to show these 00:11:28.659 --> 00:11:31.600 two character trajectories violently crossing. 00:11:32.419 --> 00:11:35.519 Walt is ascending into a myth while Mike is crashing 00:11:35.519 --> 00:11:38.509 hard back down to reality. Which is wild because 00:11:38.509 --> 00:11:40.990 Mike is usually the guy who is 10 steps ahead 00:11:40.990 --> 00:11:43.889 of everyone else. He's the ultimate fixer. He's 00:11:43.889 --> 00:11:46.309 the guy who checks under his own car for bombs. 00:11:46.789 --> 00:11:49.309 He plants bugs in his own house just to see if 00:11:49.309 --> 00:11:51.710 anyone breaks in. The DEA is just relentless 00:11:51.710 --> 00:11:53.669 at this point. They really are. Hank is like 00:11:53.669 --> 00:11:56.850 a dog with a bone. Exactly. Mike discovers through 00:11:56.850 --> 00:11:59.690 his own bugs that the DEA has actually obtained 00:11:59.690 --> 00:12:02.340 a search warrant for his house. Now, Mike is 00:12:02.340 --> 00:12:05.100 a pro. He is prepared for this. We learned that 00:12:05.100 --> 00:12:07.360 he has a go -bag stashed in the trunk of a car 00:12:07.360 --> 00:12:09.360 sitting at the airport parking lot. Right. It 00:12:09.360 --> 00:12:12.139 has stacks of cash, a fake passport, a gun. He's 00:12:12.139 --> 00:12:14.700 ready to disappear to another country at a moment's 00:12:14.700 --> 00:12:17.059 notice. So Hank and Steve Gomez show up. They 00:12:17.059 --> 00:12:19.480 completely tear his house apart looking for anything 00:12:19.480 --> 00:12:22.559 tying him to Fring's empire. And they find absolutely 00:12:22.559 --> 00:12:25.059 nothing. Mike is way too careful. He literally 00:12:25.059 --> 00:12:28.120 just sits in his armchair watching old black 00:12:28.120 --> 00:12:31.519 and white movies while the DEA rips the drywall 00:12:31.519 --> 00:12:33.779 out of his living room. It's a testament to his 00:12:33.779 --> 00:12:36.639 intense discipline. But Hank is smart, too. He 00:12:36.639 --> 00:12:39.000 realizes that trying to catch Mike directly is 00:12:39.000 --> 00:12:41.879 like hitting a brick wall. So he changes tactics. 00:12:42.240 --> 00:12:44.759 He looks for the weak link in Mike's armor. The 00:12:44.759 --> 00:12:47.759 lawyer. Dan Waksberg. Right. Dan the lawyer. 00:12:48.340 --> 00:12:50.740 Hank instructs Steve Gomez to stop tailing Mike 00:12:50.740 --> 00:12:53.279 and focus entirely on the lawyer. And it pays 00:12:53.279 --> 00:12:56.480 off massively. They catch Dan right in the act 00:12:56.480 --> 00:12:58.919 of depositing illegal drug cash into multiple 00:12:58.919 --> 00:13:01.460 safety deposit boxes at the bank. And you have 00:13:01.460 --> 00:13:03.610 to remember what this money is for. These were 00:13:03.610 --> 00:13:06.570 the payments for Mike's guys, the nine men currently 00:13:06.570 --> 00:13:08.549 sitting in prison who are being paid hazard pay 00:13:08.549 --> 00:13:11.190 to stay silent about the whole Gus Fring operation. 00:13:11.529 --> 00:13:14.110 Exactly. The legacy costs, as Mike called them. 00:13:14.570 --> 00:13:16.789 And this is where Mike's perfect system finally 00:13:16.789 --> 00:13:18.909 fails. It wasn't Mike who messed up. It was the 00:13:18.909 --> 00:13:21.230 people he was forced to trust. The lawyer gets 00:13:21.230 --> 00:13:23.250 caught red handed and he flips immediately. He 00:13:23.250 --> 00:13:26.129 wants a plea deal to save himself. And here is 00:13:26.129 --> 00:13:28.879 where the two storylines intersect. Walt just 00:13:28.879 --> 00:13:31.980 happens to be in Hank's office at the DEA when 00:13:31.980 --> 00:13:34.559 this bus goes down. Which is a classic Walt move, 00:13:34.600 --> 00:13:37.600 by the way. He is sitting in Hank's office pretending 00:13:37.600 --> 00:13:40.919 to be this distraught, pathetic husband, crying 00:13:40.919 --> 00:13:43.659 his eyes out fake tears, obviously talking about 00:13:43.659 --> 00:13:46.019 how much he misses Skyler and how his marriage 00:13:46.019 --> 00:13:48.519 is falling apart. He does this entire theatrical 00:13:48.519 --> 00:13:51.840 performance just so he can retrieve some audio 00:13:51.840 --> 00:13:54.299 bugs he had secretly planted in Hank's office 00:13:54.299 --> 00:13:56.620 weeks earlier. Just another Tuesday for Walter 00:13:56.620 --> 00:13:59.570 White. Pure manipulation and acting. Precisely. 00:13:59.870 --> 00:14:01.710 But while he is in there putting on this show, 00:14:01.889 --> 00:14:04.590 he overhears the critical intel. He hears Steve 00:14:04.590 --> 00:14:07.049 Gomez come in and tell Hank that they have arrested 00:14:07.049 --> 00:14:09.549 Dan the lawyer and that Dan plans to tell them 00:14:09.549 --> 00:14:11.549 absolutely everything about Mike's operation. 00:14:12.029 --> 00:14:14.509 So Walt instantly knows Mike is burned. The DEA 00:14:14.509 --> 00:14:16.870 is coming for him. And, you know, to his credit, 00:14:17.049 --> 00:14:19.309 Walt actually calls Mike to warn him. He does. 00:14:19.429 --> 00:14:21.929 He tells him they are coming for you right now. 00:14:22.269 --> 00:14:24.409 And this leads us to the scene that I think just 00:14:24.409 --> 00:14:27.009 breaks every viewer's heart. the tragedy of the 00:14:27.009 --> 00:14:29.529 park. Oh, man. This scene, I want to pause here 00:14:29.529 --> 00:14:31.549 for a second because the directing and the sound 00:14:31.549 --> 00:14:34.870 design are just incredible. Mike is at the park. 00:14:35.169 --> 00:14:37.750 He is sitting on a bench watching his granddaughter, 00:14:38.110 --> 00:14:40.850 Kaylee. She is playing on the swings. It is a 00:14:40.850 --> 00:14:43.509 beautiful day, bright sunshine, the trees are 00:14:43.509 --> 00:14:45.769 green. Yeah. And there is a specific production 00:14:45.769 --> 00:14:48.590 detail here that I just love. If you listen closely 00:14:48.590 --> 00:14:51.269 to the sound design of this scene, it is hyper 00:14:51.269 --> 00:14:54.419 -focused. You hear the rhythmic squeak, squeak, 00:14:54.500 --> 00:14:57.059 squeak of the swing set. Yeah. It creates this 00:14:57.059 --> 00:15:00.080 hypnotic, almost peaceful baseline. It lulls 00:15:00.080 --> 00:15:02.480 the viewer into thinking, maybe he's safe. Maybe 00:15:02.480 --> 00:15:04.139 he actually got away with it. And then the phone 00:15:04.139 --> 00:15:06.539 rings. And the entire soundscape shifts in an 00:15:06.539 --> 00:15:08.860 instant. The comforting sound of the swing set 00:15:08.860 --> 00:15:11.179 fades into the background, and all you hear is 00:15:11.179 --> 00:15:13.399 the panic and dread in the voice on the other 00:15:13.399 --> 00:15:16.059 end of the line. It's Walt saying, they are coming 00:15:16.059 --> 00:15:19.399 for you. And Mike slowly looks up. He looks up. 00:15:19.580 --> 00:15:21.679 And he sees the police cruisers arriving in the 00:15:21.679 --> 00:15:24.019 distance. They aren't rushing in with sirens 00:15:24.019 --> 00:15:26.779 wailing. They are just rolling in silently, blocking 00:15:26.779 --> 00:15:29.659 the exit to the park. And he has to make a choice. 00:15:30.019 --> 00:15:32.360 A split second decision. If you really think 00:15:32.360 --> 00:15:34.960 about it, this is a profound study in opportunity 00:15:34.960 --> 00:15:38.080 cost. Exactly. Mike does the brutal math in his 00:15:38.080 --> 00:15:41.320 head in a fraction of a second. Option A. He 00:15:41.320 --> 00:15:43.980 runs over to Kaylee, hugs her, says a proper 00:15:43.980 --> 00:15:46.679 goodbye, and gets violently tackled by the police 00:15:46.679 --> 00:15:49.470 right in front of her eyes. Option B, he turns 00:15:49.470 --> 00:15:51.909 and walks away, disappears forever, believes 00:15:51.909 --> 00:15:54.169 they're completely alone at the park. That breaks 00:15:54.169 --> 00:15:56.590 me every single time I watch it. Because as viewers, 00:15:56.690 --> 00:15:59.330 we know exactly why Mike did all of this terrible 00:15:59.330 --> 00:16:01.730 stuff. The millions of dollars, the brutal murders, 00:16:01.929 --> 00:16:05.049 the constant stress. It was all for her. It was 00:16:05.049 --> 00:16:07.070 entirely for her nest egg so she would be taken 00:16:07.070 --> 00:16:09.610 care of. And in the end, to save her from the 00:16:09.610 --> 00:16:11.889 lasting trauma of seeing her beloved grandfather 00:16:11.889 --> 00:16:14.990 arrested as a cartel hitman, he has to abandon 00:16:14.990 --> 00:16:17.799 her. He essentially has to ghost the only person 00:16:17.799 --> 00:16:20.379 he truly loves in the world. Do you think he 00:16:20.379 --> 00:16:22.600 made the right choice? I mean, from a psychological 00:16:22.600 --> 00:16:24.860 standpoint for the kid. That is the real tragedy 00:16:24.860 --> 00:16:27.399 of it, isn't it? There was no right choice left 00:16:27.399 --> 00:16:30.759 for him. If he stays, she is scarred for life 00:16:30.759 --> 00:16:33.879 by the arrest. If he leaves, she thinks her pop 00:16:33.879 --> 00:16:35.379 -pop just got tired of her and abandoned her 00:16:35.379 --> 00:16:37.580 at a public park. She's just a little kid. She 00:16:37.580 --> 00:16:39.379 doesn't know the cops are there for him. She 00:16:39.379 --> 00:16:40.980 just knows she turned around and he vanished. 00:16:41.240 --> 00:16:43.799 And the visual of him walking behind that large 00:16:43.799 --> 00:16:46.860 tree, it's like a ghost fading away into the 00:16:46.860 --> 00:16:50.919 background. He is already dead, in a way. The 00:16:50.919 --> 00:16:53.240 pop -pop version of Mike Armantrout dies right 00:16:53.240 --> 00:16:55.679 there at the playground. It is the ultimate cost 00:16:55.679 --> 00:16:58.220 of his criminal lifestyle. He loses the only 00:16:58.220 --> 00:17:00.820 thing he ever really cared about. And that intense 00:17:00.820 --> 00:17:03.679 desperation, that sudden unplanned flight sets 00:17:03.679 --> 00:17:05.819 up all the chaos of the next section because 00:17:05.819 --> 00:17:08.539 now Mike is panicked. For the first time, he 00:17:08.539 --> 00:17:11.559 is truly off his game. So this leads us directly 00:17:11.559 --> 00:17:14.079 into the failed escape plan. Mike is on the run. 00:17:14.099 --> 00:17:16.299 He's hot. Every cop in Albuquerque is looking 00:17:16.299 --> 00:17:18.319 for him, but he doesn't have any of his stuff. 00:17:18.539 --> 00:17:20.519 His go bag is still in that trunk at the airport. 00:17:20.720 --> 00:17:23.220 He is completely stuck. He can't go to the airport 00:17:23.220 --> 00:17:25.200 himself because they are probably watching it. 00:17:25.200 --> 00:17:28.000 So he calls Saul Goodman. But Saul can't go get 00:17:28.000 --> 00:17:30.920 the bag either. Saul knows the DEA is watching 00:17:30.920 --> 00:17:34.079 his law office too. If Saul shows up at the airport 00:17:34.079 --> 00:17:36.940 parking lot, he leads the cops directly to this 00:17:36.940 --> 00:17:39.980 dashcar. So Jesse volunteers. Jesse is sitting 00:17:39.980 --> 00:17:43.660 right there in Saul's office. And Jesse is fiercely 00:17:43.660 --> 00:17:47.359 loyal. He loves Mike in his own somewhat dysfunctional 00:17:47.359 --> 00:17:49.579 way. He looks at Saul and says, I'll go get the 00:17:49.579 --> 00:17:53.019 bag. And this is the bitter irony that ultimately 00:17:53.019 --> 00:17:56.940 seals Mike's fate. Mike refuses the offer. Why, 00:17:57.220 --> 00:17:59.220 though? Why not just let Jesse do it? It solves 00:17:59.220 --> 00:18:01.480 the problem. Because he is deeply protective. 00:18:02.019 --> 00:18:04.500 Mike thinks Jesse is too high profile. He worries 00:18:04.500 --> 00:18:06.660 Jesse might be spotted by the cops or get caught 00:18:06.660 --> 00:18:09.339 holding a bag full of guns and cash. He doesn't 00:18:09.339 --> 00:18:11.960 want to risk the kid's life for freedom. Mike 00:18:11.960 --> 00:18:14.200 has developed this very paternal instinct for 00:18:14.200 --> 00:18:16.400 Jesse over the last few seasons, so he firmly 00:18:16.400 --> 00:18:18.740 says no to Jesse. Which leaves literally only 00:18:18.740 --> 00:18:20.740 one person available to make the run. Light or 00:18:20.740 --> 00:18:23.079 white? The absolute last person on earth Mike 00:18:23.079 --> 00:18:26.400 wants to see right now. Exactly. By trying to 00:18:26.400 --> 00:18:29.500 protect Jesse, Mike inadvertently hands his own 00:18:29.500 --> 00:18:32.640 life over to Walt. It is a decision made purely 00:18:32.640 --> 00:18:35.759 out of care and love that results in total catastrophe. 00:18:36.160 --> 00:18:38.299 So Walt goes to the airport. He finds the car. 00:18:38.480 --> 00:18:40.640 He retrieves the bag. He looks inside and sees 00:18:40.640 --> 00:18:43.000 the cash, the fake passport, and the revolver. 00:18:43.180 --> 00:18:45.099 And then he drives out to the middle of nowhere 00:18:45.099 --> 00:18:48.000 to meet Mike at the agreed drop -off point. And 00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:49.880 this brings us to the climax of the episode, 00:18:50.279 --> 00:18:52.849 the confrontation and the shot. I remember watching 00:18:52.849 --> 00:18:55.289 this when it first aired back in 2012. Social 00:18:55.289 --> 00:18:58.250 media absolutely melted down. But looking back 00:18:58.250 --> 00:19:00.529 at it now, the setup feels almost, I don't know, 00:19:00.690 --> 00:19:02.990 awkward. The vibe in this scene is just incredibly 00:19:02.990 --> 00:19:06.009 toxic. Walt pulls up. Mike is waiting by his 00:19:06.009 --> 00:19:07.650 car. Mike just wants the bag so he can leave 00:19:07.650 --> 00:19:10.269 the state. He is completely done. He never wants 00:19:10.269 --> 00:19:12.569 to see Walter White again. But Walt is. Yeah. 00:19:12.730 --> 00:19:15.109 Well, Walt is Walt. He refuses to hand over the 00:19:15.109 --> 00:19:16.970 bag immediately. He holds it hostage. Because 00:19:16.970 --> 00:19:19.970 he wants the names. Right. He is utterly obsessed 00:19:19.970 --> 00:19:22.369 with those nine guys in prison. Now that Dan, 00:19:22.410 --> 00:19:26.130 the lawyer, has flipped to the DEA, Walt is terrified 00:19:26.130 --> 00:19:27.769 that those nine guys are going to start talking 00:19:27.769 --> 00:19:30.170 to save themselves. He wants their names so he 00:19:30.170 --> 00:19:32.730 can handle them. Which means kill them. Let's 00:19:32.730 --> 00:19:34.849 be very clear about what Walt is implying. Yes. 00:19:35.170 --> 00:19:38.230 He wants to have them violently silenced inside 00:19:38.230 --> 00:19:41.150 the prison. And he demands the list of names 00:19:41.150 --> 00:19:43.710 from Mike before he'll hand over the money. And 00:19:43.710 --> 00:19:46.289 Mike flat out refuses. Mike has a strict code. 00:19:46.829 --> 00:19:49.849 He is a criminal, but he has ethics. He isn't 00:19:49.849 --> 00:19:51.630 going to give up his guys to be slaughtered just 00:19:51.630 --> 00:19:54.329 to save Walt's skin. He snatches the bag out 00:19:54.329 --> 00:19:57.609 of Walt's hands and then the explosion happened. 00:19:57.650 --> 00:20:01.410 The argument. Mike turns back to Walt and delivers 00:20:01.410 --> 00:20:03.970 what is probably the most scathing, blisteringly 00:20:03.970 --> 00:20:06.049 accurate deconstruction of Walter White we have 00:20:06.049 --> 00:20:08.220 ever seen on the show. It is a monologue for 00:20:08.220 --> 00:20:10.500 the ages. Jonathan Banks delivers it perfectly. 00:20:10.980 --> 00:20:12.980 Mike looks at him with pure disgust and says, 00:20:13.339 --> 00:20:15.460 we had a good thing, you stupid son of a bitch. 00:20:15.980 --> 00:20:18.160 We had Fring. We had a lab. We had everything 00:20:18.160 --> 00:20:20.400 we needed, and it all ran like clockwork. He 00:20:20.400 --> 00:20:23.420 is laying it all out. He is telling him, you 00:20:23.420 --> 00:20:26.660 broke it. You ruined a perfectly functional, 00:20:26.980 --> 00:20:29.380 highly profitable operation. And then he delivers 00:20:29.380 --> 00:20:32.660 the final crushing blow. He says, you just had 00:20:32.660 --> 00:20:35.210 to be the man. If you'd done your job, known 00:20:35.210 --> 00:20:37.089 your place, we'd all be fine right now. You just 00:20:37.089 --> 00:20:39.430 had to be the man. That is really the core of 00:20:39.430 --> 00:20:41.650 the entire series, isn't it? It pierces Walt's 00:20:41.650 --> 00:20:44.509 ego like a dagger. Mike is telling him that his 00:20:44.509 --> 00:20:47.670 supposed genius is actually worthless because 00:20:47.670 --> 00:20:50.430 his pride is completely destructive. He is telling 00:20:50.430 --> 00:20:52.349 him straight to his face that he is not a king. 00:20:52.789 --> 00:20:55.710 He is just a reckless wrecking ball. And Walt's 00:20:55.710 --> 00:20:59.519 reaction? He is humiliated. He is furious. His 00:20:59.519 --> 00:21:02.180 face just twitches with rage. Mike turns his 00:21:02.180 --> 00:21:04.440 back, gets in his car to leave, and Walt is just 00:21:04.440 --> 00:21:06.819 standing there silently fuming. And then Walt 00:21:06.819 --> 00:21:09.079 realizes something. He looks down. He realizes 00:21:09.079 --> 00:21:11.839 the revolver that was in the go -bag. is now 00:21:11.839 --> 00:21:14.079 in his pocket. He took it out before he handed 00:21:14.079 --> 00:21:16.299 the bag over. And he snaps. He briskly walks 00:21:16.299 --> 00:21:18.799 right up to the car window, raises the gun, and 00:21:18.799 --> 00:21:20.839 he shoots Mike. Right through the glass. It is 00:21:20.839 --> 00:21:23.400 genuinely shocking because it is so pathetic. 00:21:23.759 --> 00:21:26.240 It wasn't a strategic chess move. It wasn't self 00:21:26.240 --> 00:21:28.460 -defense. Mike wasn't threatening him at all. 00:21:28.819 --> 00:21:31.839 Mike was literally driving away forever. Walt 00:21:31.839 --> 00:21:35.000 shot him simply because Mike hurt his feelings. 00:21:35.480 --> 00:21:37.880 It was a temper tantrum with a loaded weapon. 00:21:38.500 --> 00:21:42.130 It is the very definition of narcissistic rage. 00:21:42.430 --> 00:21:44.470 Now, I want to address something here for a second, 00:21:44.630 --> 00:21:46.410 because you mentioned the critics earlier. When 00:21:46.410 --> 00:21:48.210 this episode originally came out, a lot of people 00:21:48.210 --> 00:21:51.089 felt the setup for this was a bit of a plot hole. 00:21:51.210 --> 00:21:53.150 You are touching on a point that critics actually 00:21:53.150 --> 00:21:55.829 hammered on quite a bit at the time. Alan Sebenwald, 00:21:56.009 --> 00:21:59.069 who is one of the absolute heavyweights of TV 00:21:59.069 --> 00:22:01.970 criticism, gave this episode a really great review 00:22:01.970 --> 00:22:04.690 overall, but he pointed out a specific contrivance. 00:22:04.930 --> 00:22:07.769 Is this the why did Mike ever trust Walt in the 00:22:07.769 --> 00:22:10.559 first place argument? Exactly. Seppenwall argued 00:22:10.559 --> 00:22:13.200 that Mike Ermintraugh, the highly trained ex 00:22:13.200 --> 00:22:15.319 -cop, the guy who checks under his car for bombs, 00:22:15.640 --> 00:22:18.200 the guy who was profoundly paranoid about everything, 00:22:18.359 --> 00:22:20.759 would never in a million years let Walter White 00:22:20.759 --> 00:22:23.660 hold his escape bag. Especially not when he knows 00:22:23.660 --> 00:22:26.619 full well how unstable and treacherous Walt is. 00:22:26.779 --> 00:22:29.039 I have to say, I kind of agree with Seppenwall 00:22:29.039 --> 00:22:32.019 there. It felt a little like the writers desperately 00:22:32.019 --> 00:22:34.980 needed Mike to die in this episode, so they made 00:22:34.980 --> 00:22:37.799 Mike momentarily stupid to get him into that 00:22:37.799 --> 00:22:41.039 vulnerable position. I completely see that perspective. 00:22:41.180 --> 00:22:44.140 It does feel a bit forced on paper, but I want 00:22:44.140 --> 00:22:46.220 to offer a counter argument to that. You really 00:22:46.220 --> 00:22:48.279 have to look at Mike's state of mind in that 00:22:48.279 --> 00:22:52.380 specific hour. He has been up for days. The feds 00:22:52.380 --> 00:22:55.420 just tossed his house and seized his assets. 00:22:55.640 --> 00:22:57.700 He just had to abandon his young granddaughter 00:22:57.700 --> 00:23:00.160 at a park, which probably broke his heart. He 00:23:00.160 --> 00:23:02.700 is physically and emotionally exhausted. So you're 00:23:02.700 --> 00:23:05.079 saying it's mostly fatigue? Fatigue and sheer 00:23:05.079 --> 00:23:08.029 desperation. When you are drowning, you reach 00:23:08.029 --> 00:23:10.349 for the only hand available, even if it happens 00:23:10.349 --> 00:23:12.009 to be the hand of the guy you hate most in the 00:23:12.009 --> 00:23:15.109 world. He just wanted to leave. He let his legendary 00:23:15.109 --> 00:23:17.210 guard down for ten seconds, because he just wanted 00:23:17.210 --> 00:23:19.210 the nightmare to be over. Fair enough. That makes 00:23:19.210 --> 00:23:22.569 sense. So, the shot is fired, Mike's car rolls 00:23:22.569 --> 00:23:25.170 forward and crashes, Walt follows the trail of 00:23:25.170 --> 00:23:27.950 blood, and we get to the death of Mike Ermintrot. 00:23:28.289 --> 00:23:30.829 Mike has stumbled out of the crashed car. He 00:23:30.829 --> 00:23:33.130 is down by the edge of the riverbank. He's just 00:23:33.130 --> 00:23:35.960 sitting on a fallen log, mortally wounded. And 00:23:35.960 --> 00:23:38.160 the imagery here is surprisingly beautifully 00:23:38.160 --> 00:23:40.440 peaceful. The river is flowing quietly. There 00:23:40.440 --> 00:23:42.700 are ducks swimming by. And Walt catches up to 00:23:42.700 --> 00:23:44.740 him, walking through the brush, gun still in 00:23:44.740 --> 00:23:48.839 his hand. And then the realization hits Walt. 00:23:49.140 --> 00:23:51.259 This is what fundamentally distinguishes this 00:23:51.259 --> 00:23:53.180 murder from all the others Walt has committed. 00:23:53.819 --> 00:23:56.099 Walt looks at Mike bleeding out and the adrenaline 00:23:56.099 --> 00:23:58.940 of the temper tantrum fades. And he says, I just 00:23:58.940 --> 00:24:01.569 realized that Lydia has the names. I can get 00:24:01.569 --> 00:24:03.329 them from her. He actually admits it out loud. 00:24:03.470 --> 00:24:05.069 He says, I'm sorry, I didn't need to shoot you. 00:24:05.289 --> 00:24:07.930 It is the ultimate admission of utter incompetence. 00:24:08.390 --> 00:24:10.769 He killed a man, his own partner, for absolutely 00:24:10.769 --> 00:24:14.230 no logical reason. It was pure reactive ego. 00:24:14.369 --> 00:24:16.630 He could have just let Mike drive away to Alaska 00:24:16.630 --> 00:24:20.349 or wherever called Lydia in Houston and gotten 00:24:20.349 --> 00:24:22.509 the prison list from her. It turns the entire 00:24:22.509 --> 00:24:25.869 scene from a dark. gangster tragedy into a dark 00:24:25.869 --> 00:24:28.609 farce. It really underlines the senselessness 00:24:28.609 --> 00:24:31.250 of it all. It's the show loudly telling the audience, 00:24:31.470 --> 00:24:34.529 this wasn't a cool mob hit. This was a catastrophic 00:24:34.529 --> 00:24:37.430 screw up by an amateur. And Walt actually tries 00:24:37.430 --> 00:24:40.829 to apologize. He starts to say, I'm sorry. And 00:24:40.829 --> 00:24:43.269 Mike just cuts him right off with his final words. 00:24:44.230 --> 00:24:46.470 Shut the fuck up and let me die in peace. And 00:24:46.470 --> 00:24:49.430 that's it. Mike stares across the water, succumbs 00:24:49.430 --> 00:24:52.369 to the wound, and falls over. Gone. It is such 00:24:52.369 --> 00:24:55.690 a quiet, powerful ending for that specific character. 00:24:56.269 --> 00:24:58.569 He lived his entire life surrounded by violence 00:24:58.569 --> 00:25:01.630 and noise and lies. And in the very end, he just 00:25:01.630 --> 00:25:04.250 wanted silence. He didn't want to hear Walt's 00:25:04.250 --> 00:25:06.869 frantic justifications anymore. It is a perfect 00:25:06.869 --> 00:25:09.750 send off. Mike lived by a strict code of silence. 00:25:10.130 --> 00:25:13.029 He hated Walt's constant rambling, his rationalizations, 00:25:13.450 --> 00:25:16.150 his endless lies. In his final fading moment, 00:25:16.210 --> 00:25:18.250 he just wanted the noise of Walter White to stop. 00:25:18.380 --> 00:25:20.279 Let's talk about the production side for a second 00:25:20.279 --> 00:25:22.119 here, because this episode feels really special 00:25:22.119 --> 00:25:24.039 behind the scenes, too. It was. It was written 00:25:24.039 --> 00:25:26.240 and directed by Thomas Schnauz. And get this, 00:25:26.240 --> 00:25:28.640 it was his first ever professional television 00:25:28.640 --> 00:25:30.960 directing gig. Are you kidding? Talk about hitting 00:25:30.960 --> 00:25:33.240 a grand slam on your first at bat, first time 00:25:33.240 --> 00:25:35.740 in the director's chair, and you are handed the 00:25:35.740 --> 00:25:37.619 script where you have to kill off a beloved main 00:25:37.619 --> 00:25:41.380 character. No pressure at all. Seriously. But 00:25:41.380 --> 00:25:44.200 Vince Gilligan... the creator of the show, has 00:25:44.200 --> 00:25:46.740 repeatedly called this one of his absolute favorite 00:25:46.740 --> 00:25:49.680 moments in the entire series. He described the 00:25:49.680 --> 00:25:52.660 final river scene as a sad moment, beautifully 00:25:52.660 --> 00:25:55.059 written. And what about Jonathan Banks, the actor 00:25:55.059 --> 00:25:58.720 who played Mike? What was his take on it? I can't 00:25:58.720 --> 00:26:00.599 imagine what it's like to inhabit a character 00:26:00.599 --> 00:26:02.319 for that long. I mean, he was a huge part of 00:26:02.319 --> 00:26:04.799 seasons two, three, four and five. And then get 00:26:04.799 --> 00:26:07.839 the script that just says you die today. Banks 00:26:07.839 --> 00:26:10.680 is a total realist about the business. He said 00:26:10.680 --> 00:26:12.900 the death didn't surprise him in the least. He 00:26:12.900 --> 00:26:15.440 always said in interviews that Mike was, at his 00:26:15.440 --> 00:26:18.160 core, the bad guy. And in the moral universe 00:26:18.160 --> 00:26:20.359 of this show, the bad guys eventually got to 00:26:20.359 --> 00:26:22.700 die. True. Although, thankfully for all of us, 00:26:22.880 --> 00:26:25.099 he reprised the role in Better Call Saul and 00:26:25.099 --> 00:26:27.019 the movie El Camino, so we definitely got to 00:26:27.019 --> 00:26:29.019 see a lot more of Mike Herman Trout later on. 00:26:29.099 --> 00:26:32.279 We did. So the episode airs. How did the world 00:26:32.279 --> 00:26:34.380 react? Let's look at the reception and critical 00:26:34.380 --> 00:26:37.329 impact. The viewership numbers were massive for 00:26:37.329 --> 00:26:41.789 the time. 2 .98 million viewers tuned in live. 00:26:42.329 --> 00:26:47.809 It pulled a 1 .4 rating in the key 18 -49 demographic. 00:26:48.589 --> 00:26:50.670 Now, I know that might not sound like modern 00:26:50.670 --> 00:26:53.490 Super Bowl numbers, but for a dark cable drama 00:26:53.490 --> 00:26:57.390 in 2012, that was huge. At that specific time, 00:26:57.640 --> 00:26:59.859 Those are the highest ratings the series had 00:26:59.859 --> 00:27:02.759 ever achieved. Everyone was tuning in. The cultural 00:27:02.759 --> 00:27:05.519 word of mouth was absolutely peaking. And the 00:27:05.519 --> 00:27:08.240 critics were mostly just blown away. Matt Ridgenthal 00:27:08.240 --> 00:27:10.880 from TV Fanatic gave it a perfect five stars. 00:27:11.200 --> 00:27:13.519 Seth Amitin from IGN gave it a nine out of ten. 00:27:13.740 --> 00:27:16.200 He called it mind blowing, even though he openly 00:27:16.200 --> 00:27:17.900 admitted he hated the ending just because it 00:27:17.900 --> 00:27:21.319 was so profoundly sad. He said, I hate to see 00:27:21.319 --> 00:27:23.339 Mike go out like that. He deserved more. I think 00:27:23.339 --> 00:27:25.220 a lot of the fans felt that exact same way. He 00:27:25.220 --> 00:27:27.539 deserved to go out fighting a cartel hit squad 00:27:27.539 --> 00:27:29.819 or protecting his granddaughter, not shot in 00:27:29.819 --> 00:27:32.039 the stomach by a former chemistry teacher having 00:27:32.039 --> 00:27:34.420 a temper tantrum over a bruised ego. But that 00:27:34.420 --> 00:27:37.099 is the entire point, isn't it? Breaking Bad doesn't 00:27:37.099 --> 00:27:39.279 give you the heroic ending you want. It gives 00:27:39.279 --> 00:27:41.539 you the grim consequences of the character's 00:27:41.539 --> 00:27:44.289 actions. Very true. The Ringer actually ranked 00:27:44.289 --> 00:27:47.369 it the eighth best episode of the entire series 00:27:47.369 --> 00:27:50.670 in a 2019 retrospective. And Thomas Schnauss 00:27:50.670 --> 00:27:53.009 got an Emmy nomination for outstanding writing 00:27:53.009 --> 00:27:55.750 for a drama series for this specific script. 00:27:56.029 --> 00:27:57.990 So clearly it landed exactly how they wanted 00:27:57.990 --> 00:28:01.230 it to. It absolutely landed. It is a master class 00:28:01.230 --> 00:28:03.430 in building tension and delivering a crushing 00:28:03.430 --> 00:28:05.849 character payoff. So as we wrap this up, what 00:28:05.849 --> 00:28:08.170 is the big takeaway here? What does this episode 00:28:08.170 --> 00:28:10.250 really tell us about the human condition or at 00:28:10.250 --> 00:28:12.009 least the Walter White condition? But we started 00:28:12.009 --> 00:28:15.650 the hour with Walt at his absolute highest point, 00:28:15.890 --> 00:28:19.549 say my name. He is commanding respect from cartel 00:28:19.549 --> 00:28:22.269 bosses, he is the undisputed king, and we end 00:28:22.269 --> 00:28:25.470 the exact same hour with him at his lowest, most 00:28:25.470 --> 00:28:28.390 pathetic point, impulsively killing his own partner 00:28:28.390 --> 00:28:30.529 at a pure spite and realizing a minute later 00:28:30.529 --> 00:28:32.750 it was a completely unnecessary mistake. It really 00:28:32.750 --> 00:28:34.789 feels like the point of no return for his soul. 00:28:35.109 --> 00:28:37.069 It definitely is. Before this episode, you could 00:28:37.069 --> 00:28:39.390 almost argue his kills were necessary for survival. 00:28:39.549 --> 00:28:41.609 Crazy Eight, the gang bangers on the corner, 00:28:41.730 --> 00:28:45.269 Gus Fring. They're all lethal threats to Walt's 00:28:45.269 --> 00:28:48.869 life. But Mike wasn't a threat anymore. Mike 00:28:48.869 --> 00:28:51.369 was leaving. This murder marks the definitive 00:28:51.369 --> 00:28:54.349 shift. Walt is no longer a brilliant criminal 00:28:54.349 --> 00:28:57.390 mind navigating a dangerous world. He has become 00:28:57.390 --> 00:29:00.589 a chaotic, toxic force of destruction. He is 00:29:00.589 --> 00:29:02.569 dangerous not because he is smart, but because 00:29:02.569 --> 00:29:05.259 he is completely unstable. And it leaves us with 00:29:05.259 --> 00:29:07.460 a really provocative thought to chew on. We had 00:29:07.460 --> 00:29:10.099 Mike, the ultimate underworld professional, highly 00:29:10.099 --> 00:29:12.299 competent, incredibly careful, loyal to his guys. 00:29:12.680 --> 00:29:16.160 And we had Walt, the completely ego -driven amateur. 00:29:16.319 --> 00:29:17.779 And the amateur killed the profession. Right. 00:29:18.099 --> 00:29:20.039 So for everyone listening, think about this. 00:29:20.819 --> 00:29:23.220 In a world governed by chaos, does being good 00:29:23.220 --> 00:29:26.400 at your job actually matter? Or is success just 00:29:26.400 --> 00:29:28.420 about who is willing to be the most ruthlessly 00:29:28.420 --> 00:29:31.279 destructive? Mike died because he had a moral 00:29:31.279 --> 00:29:34.240 code. He died because he cared about Jesse and 00:29:34.240 --> 00:29:37.119 because he trusted just for 10 seconds that Walt 00:29:37.119 --> 00:29:40.299 wouldn't be crazy enough to shoot him. Walt survived 00:29:40.299 --> 00:29:43.519 because he had absolutely no code left. It really 00:29:43.519 --> 00:29:45.599 makes you wonder if competence and rules are 00:29:45.599 --> 00:29:47.819 actually a liability when you're dealing with 00:29:47.819 --> 00:29:50.859 a monster. Yeah. Mike played by the established 00:29:50.859 --> 00:29:54.019 rules of the criminal underworld. Walt just burned 00:29:54.019 --> 00:29:56.960 the rule book. And in that specific moment by 00:29:56.960 --> 00:29:59.599 the river, the arsonist won. That is a chilling 00:29:59.599 --> 00:30:01.839 thought to leave you with. Being good isn't enough. 00:30:02.259 --> 00:30:04.420 Being smart isn't enough. Sometimes the person 00:30:04.420 --> 00:30:06.200 who is willing to burn it all down is the only 00:30:06.200 --> 00:30:08.759 one who walks away. At least for now. At least 00:30:08.759 --> 00:30:10.720 for now. Thanks for listening to this deep dive 00:30:10.720 --> 00:30:12.500 into Say My Name. We'll catch you on the next 00:30:12.500 --> 00:30:13.079 one. Thank you.