Breaking Bad Recap: Pain Train

Recaps

By Saint Clare of Assisi | Tuesday, August 14, 2012 | 4:34 pm | 9 Comments
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Posted in: Breaking Bad, Featured, Recaps

The guys celebrate.

And then…the kid on the motorbike pulls up.

The kid waves to them. He doesn’t seem to think anything criminal is going on. Walt, Jesse, and Todd stand there, stunned.

Well, Walt and Jesse are stunned. Todd suddenly waves back. Then, he pulls out a pistol and shoots the kid dead.

Uh…I hate being right.

THE END

-Wowowowowowowow. I think the dead kid pretty much takes precedent over everything else at this point.

I know,  I put a joke at the end of Act Two about the kid dying…first, I assume everyone’s already seen the show before they read the recaps, so I hope I wasn’t spoiling anything. But second, I promise I didn’t goose the recap and go back and make that joke after I already knew the kid was gonna die. I really did pause the show during that commercial break and make that prediction. I usually don’t predict stuff all that well in movies and TV, so for me to get it right like that is unusual. Did anyone else see it coming?

Actually, before I thought the kid was gonna die, I actually thought they were gonna reveal the kid was a flashback to a young Walt. In his boyhood, Young Walt used to go exploring in the desert collecting specimens, which is what interested him in science. Although, that’s a biology origin story, not a chem one.

-That kid was pretty badass on the bike. He was jumping hills and shit. When I went on the jetski on vacation I barely got it over 20 miles an hour because I was terrified of falling off.

-Also, I hate to say it, but my first thought when Todd shot the kid was..”At least they’re already in the desert. Won’t be too hard to get rid of the body.” That leads me to the big question of the episode, which is, how will the dead kid affect the group? I actually don’t think they’ll feel much heat from law enforcement over it. MAYBE law enforcement will find the bike tracks in the desert, but it’s a big desert. It IS easy to hide a small body.

The bigger impact is probably gonna be on the group itself…we already saw how horrified Jesse is when he witnesses the shooting. I’m guessing Mike won’t like it, either. He already tried to object to the heist because innocent people might be harmed. We’ve also seen how much he loves his granddaughter. Is this a dealbreaker for Jesse and Mike?

I left Walt out because I’m pretty sure we all already know how Walt is gonna react…by not really minding at all. Walt already poisoned Brock. The only question I really have is, when Jesse sees Walt’s non-reaction to the kid’s death in the coming weeks, will it make him second-guess Brock’s poisoning?

-Doesn’t it seem a little too risky to bug Hank’s office? For one thing, the bug on the computer is visible in plain sight…what if the IT guy comes in in to help Hank with something? He’d spot the bug in a second. And Walt didn’t clean his prints off either bug, so if they’re found, Walt’s sunk.

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Saint Clare of Assisi attended Boston University and has written for The Onion.  He took his name from the patron saint of television, who was a virgin and saved a boy from a wolf one time.

9 Comments

  1. 1
    Some guy
    Posted August 14, 2012 at 5:52 pm

    Welcome back and hope u feel better. I thought this was one of the better shows this year. I forgot about kid until he showed up at the end . I was wondering how they were going to divide Jessie and Walt. I think this will be the start and Mike will go with Jessie. I can see Walt and Lydia getting together she is just as ruthless as he as long it doesn’t effect her kid.

    Great recap as always and catch way more things in the show that lets me watch again in new light.
    Thanks
    T

  2. 2
    Kammie
    Posted August 14, 2012 at 5:57 pm

    I did not see it coming when the boy showed up. Actually, I had forgotten about him, which is rookie mistake #1. It did make me think that Todd isn’t an undercover agent though, which I have heard a little chatter that possibly he was working for the DEA.

    This show has had me on the edge of my seat many times, and this was definitely one of those episodes! The writing, acting, everything is just so awesome I feel privileged to witness how it’s unfolding. Between Mad Men, The Walking Dead, and Breaking Bad, AMC is really getting my vote for best channel EVER!

  3. 3
    nativepeach
    Posted August 15, 2012 at 4:27 am

    After the cold open with the kid, I watched the rest of the episode anticipating his return. I knew when I saw the site of the train robbery that the kid would reappear there. That still didn’t prepare me for the end though. I had two physical reactions when Todd shot the kid, my stomach flipped, and my eyes teared up. I wasn’t expecting that kind of reaction after knowing how brutal this show can be. Jesse isn’t going to take this well at all, and it very well may be what finally severs his loyalty to ‘Mr. White’ if Walt doesn’t measure his response very closely. Good shit!! I jones for it every week…

    Thanks for the awesome recaps, too. I always want to go back and rewatch after reading.

  4. 4
    mjhhawk
    Posted August 15, 2012 at 6:29 am

    I had forgotten about the kid by the time he pulled up at the end. I never it coming – I also thought Todd was a cop. It actually is just like the movie Heat (referenced by Hank earlier in the show), when they bring in a new guy for a job and he ends up killing an innocent.

    I personally think it was done because Gilligan wanted to remind everyone that these are all bad people. By now everyone has turned on Walt as evil, but most seem to have sympathy for Jesse and Mike. You literally forget that their business is selling life ruining meth. This was a brutal reminder that even if Jesse was horrified by the shooting, his actions have devastating collateral effects that ruin lives.

    All in all a great episode and recap (even with the prediction so good it needed a spoiler alert).

  5. 5
    MrsMiaWallace MrsMiaWallace
    Posted August 15, 2012 at 8:13 am

    Great recap!

    I too totally forgot about the kid. Congrats on putting it together so well! This was a great episode and I think you’re right about how it was set up with scant information, but the whole thing was just so… cool.

    I had the same reaction to Walt bugging Hank’s office. He didn’t bother to wipe prints, left a key logger in plain view and was caught holding Hank’s photo. Unless he plans to head back in there in a day or two, he is really risking a lot. I didn’t think of IT guy interfering but Hank doesn’t seem like someone who could fix his own PC!

    I already feel like the final showdown will be Walt v Jesse and I can totally see Walt pairing with Lydia to take out the 9 and Mike. How they get there will be interesting, and if I’m wrong of course that will be interesting too!

    I wonder what the final arc is for Walt and Skylar. I know he is turning megalomaniacal but before the show wraps (and I suspect Walt’s life), I would like to see a glimpse of the old Walt and Skylar for redemption purposes.

    @mjhhawk – you are dead on. This show is so good it is easy to forget what a terrible drug Meth is. Just have to think back to the two junkies ( and their poor kid ) who dropped the ATM… shudder

  6. 6
    sweetblondie
    Posted August 15, 2012 at 12:50 pm

    I’m crushing hard on Lydia…hope she becomes a regular. Now, back to reading…

  7. 7
    sweetblondie
    Posted August 15, 2012 at 1:05 pm

    Jesse is getting smarter (and wiser) by the week!

    My prediction stands…Jesse will find out the truth about everything, kill Walt and burn the whole operation down by end of series. And Skyler will be okay with the world.

    And I agree MsMiaWallace, I can totally see Walt and Lydia trying to forge a plan to kill the 9 too.

  8. 8
    SuburBint
    Posted August 15, 2012 at 2:07 pm

    It must be the mom in me, but when that kid pulled out the glass jar for the tarantula, all I could think of was how dangerous it is to ride a dirt bike with something that breaks in to several extremely sharp, stabby pieces in your jacket pocket.

  9. 9
    maryedith
    Posted August 16, 2012 at 8:41 pm

    I am still having trouble with the it’s-only-been-a-year business. Remember all the time spent here working out Walt’s finances? Maybe now we could construct a timeline? For some reason it’s Jesse’s stint in rehab, relapse, etc. that’s bothering me the most. Also the shifts in Hank and Marie’s relationship. I know it can all be explained, but it’s still hard for me!

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