Breaking Bad - Recap: There's Another Way To Get Him
Recap video and review of Breaking Bad - Season 5 Episode 12 - Rabid Dog:
We're halfway through the final eight episodes of Breaking Bad, and the series hasn't displayed any signs of slowing down. If nothing else, the show has really pushed the notion that there is no longer any way for Walt (Bryan Cranston) to talk his way out of his problems. His words are no longer able to win the begrudging loyalty of his associates once they've discovered the umpteenth scumbag thing he's done. His gift is gone, and not even Walt Jr. (RJ Mitte) is buying his lies. Worse, since Walt is retired, he no longer has the promise of future riches, of "one last score," to keep his soldiers in line. And so Walt is left to rely upon his own wits, and what few dubious allies remain, whether it's Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) or Todd Alquist (Jesse Plemons). "Rabid Dog" is, in many respects, an episode about desperation, and last resorts. As a result, the episode has the sort of dread and unease that makes for one of the fifth season's tensest hours of yet.
So Jesse (Aaron Paul) ultimately doesn't go through with burning down Walt's house. However, it's not for lack of trying. While tripping on drugs (having sadly broken his sobriety), Jesse fiddles with a zippo lighter, intent on setting the White household ablaze -- but Hank (Dean Norris), his gun drawn, is there to stop him. We get a conversation that leads to a weird father-son dynamic between the two, as Hank takes Jesse in with the hopes of using him to get Walt. It's strange seeing him in the Schrader household, and even Marie (Betsy Brandt) seems stunned to actually see him there. Marie is, of course, going through some issues of her own, confessing to her psychiatrist that she's been so taxed by the drama in her life that she's been looking up untraceable poisons online, which is a tidbit that could come back to bite her in the ass. Hank, meanwhile, brings in Gomez (Steven Michael Quezada) to serve as witness for their videotaping of Jesse's confession, despite Jesse's insistence that Walt is much cleverer than the DEA, and that using a camcorder to get him isn't going to work. Still, Gomez ultimately finds Jesse's confession believable, and so it's only natural that Hank would then suggest that they send Jesse undercover to bust Walt, who has left a voicemail offering to meet with his former protege at a public square. The episode spends much of its runtime building to the inevitable confrontation between Walt and Jesse, and a DEA-proposed setup is a fitting route to get us there.
As for Walt, he's trying to keep his life afloat despite the clear threat Jesse poses to his well-being. At the start of the episode, he stealthily sneaks into his own house and does a full check for Jesse, but his former protege is already long gone. Of course, now Walt has to come up with an excuse for why the house smells like gasoline after a cleaning company proves unable to remove the liquid without fully replacing the carpet. And so he comes up with an utterly ridiculous story in which he was sprayed with gasoline by a malfunctioning pump at the gas station, returning home to shower and only then realizing that he left his gasoline-soaked clothes on the floor to seep into the carpet. Skyler (Anna Gunn) is immediately suspicious but doesn't voice her concerns, for Junior's sake. But Walt Jr. calls his dad on his B.S. and asks him to just tell the truth for once. Walt Jr. suspects that his father got dizzy from the gas fumes, as a result of his cancer having come back, and fainted, causing him to pour gas all over himself. It's heartbreaking to see the logistical hoops Junior jumps through in order to continually justify his father's lies, to continue to believe that his dad is a good man. It's a setup for a later scene that's even more touching, given how far Walter White has fallen.
Walt takes his family to a hotel under the guise of getting away from the gaseous fumes in their house, but he's actually intent on keeping them away from Jesse, who is still at large. Walt meets with Saul and Kuby (Bill Burr) in a car outside the hotel, and Saul draws a comparison between Jesse and Old Yeller, suggesting that perhaps it's time to put down the "rabid dog." However, that's a bridge too far for Walt, and he simply instructs his henchmen to find Jesse so he can talk to him and explain why he had to poison Brock. Of course, I doubt any explanation in the world would justify poisoning a child, and at some level, I'm sure Walt knows this, but his belief in his own verbal prowess is symptomatic of his ego. Yet he isn't all that good at lying to Skyler, who sees through Walt's lies about not having seen Saul Goodman in ages, despite her having seen them talking in a car together just moments ago. She demands the truth from Walt, and so he tells her everything, revealing that Jesse has a vendetta that needs settling. Naturally, this leads Skyler to tear into her husband for putting them all in harm's way. However, Walt insists that Jesse has never harmed anyone, and is really only a danger to himself (Gale Boetticher would beg to differ). Skyler comes back with the astute observation that he nearly burned down their house, to which Walt replies, "He changed his mind!" (Not realizing that Jesse never did. Hell, had it not been for Hank, the White household would have been razed to the ground) Skyler roars, "What if he changes it back?!" Cue an ominous cry from baby Holly, who could be the next victim of Heisenberg's criminal hubris, if that is in any way meant to be foreshadowing (and with this show, everything and nothing could be foreshadowing).
Credit: AMC
As Walt ponders his options by the crystal blue hotel pool, he has a heart-to-heart with a worried Walt Jr., who is convinced that his father is far worse off than he's leading on. Overall, this is RJ Mitte's best episode in a long time, as Walt assures his son that he wouldn't let anything as simple as lung cancer beat him after all this time, prompting Junior to reach across the divide for a hug. It's a moment as simple and beautiful as it is devastating, since so much of Walt Jr.'s affection is couched in everything he doesn't know about his father. The mind reels at the ways that relationship could change, were Walt Jr. to learn what his father has really been up to. But then, maybe Walt Jr. would love his father anyway. Who knows? It's a credit to the character, and to RJ Mitte's portrayal, that it's hard to know for certain whether Walt Jr. would shun his father, or if he'd just keep on loving him anyway, Heisenberg be damned.
The episode largely centers on how two separate parties try to use Jesse Pinkman to their own ends. Walt wants to bring Jesse back into the fold in order to neutralize the threat he presents to his freedom. If Jesse rats to the DEA, everything Walt has done will have been for nothing. However, for Hank, Jesse is his ace in the hole -- he plans on using "the kid" (as Gomie calls him) to finally get the drop on Walt. But plans don't exactly work out for either party, as Jesse inevitably goes into business for himself. It's a complete left-hand turn that serves as a bold statement from Jesse: he recognizes he's being used, and he's sick to death of being jerked around. At the plaza, Jesse is about to meet with Walt while Hank and Gomie watch from the van, but he decides at the last minute to simply call Walt instead. Over the phone, he digs into his former mentor, essentially declaring war, and telling Walt that he plans on hitting him where he "really lives." Hank is furious at Jesse for deviating from the game plan, but he insists that he has a plan of his own. So, for that matter, does Walt, who now has no other choice but to put the "rabid dog" down. He calls Todd and tells him he has one more job for his uncle. Killing Jesse has been the one line Walt has been most hesitant to cross, yet he's now been backed into a corner by his former partner threatening to harm his family. And so, just like that, Jesse Pinkman's death warrant has been signed.
"Rabid Dog" is intense, between the confrontations and the silences, both of which speak volumes for the characters and their respective plights. We're halfway through the final eight, and it's inconceivable that the clash between Walt, Todd, Hank, Jesse and all the associated pawns in this explosive little game of chess, wouldn't be one of TV's most epic.