Breaking Bad Recap: Soggy Birthday

Walt says a bunch of things. His speeches are just a little too perfect, a little too clever in all the right places. The more crap he says (about a time that was happier, depending on how you look at it, certainly purer), the closer Skyler gets to the water. He obliviously tries to engage her in conversation. We then see their back-to-back positions with her face toward us. And then we tilt down to the blue, blue water. Skyler slowly Virginia Woolfs it into the pool.

But no pockets, so no rocks, so she just gets to hold her breath under there and look really ethereal with her blue skirt billowing around her. The other three try various attempts at humor and levels of firmness to try and get her out of there.

Walt jumps in to rescue her, looking vaguely menacing even as he saves her by grabbing her from behind.

Madrigal’s Elektromotoren. Lydia futzes with the circuit breaker, trying with no early luck to break the circuit that powers the security cameras. On the loading dock is the new methylamine guy, none other than Jesse, who’d be the ideal methylamine guy, I mean, if I was in Lydia’s position, I’d prefer Jesse Pinkman over almost anyone. She gives him the runaround at first, to make sure he’s not some 21 Jump Street cop. They go into the warehouse, where she points out the most impossibly placed barrel as the one she erased from the inventory and the one he must take. Got a forklift? asks the always-game Jesse. He’s got the can halfway down when she panics and stops him because there’s a giant Walkman-sized tracking device attached to the barrel with Silly Putty or Play-Doh. Oh dear.

White house. Skyler’s skirt hangs dripping. The other three talk about her in the dining room in hushed tones. Marie can’t help but think that those kids could use a safer environ Walt and Skyler could use some time alone to work out whatever this is. Marie cannot fool Walt, who quickly realizes this was Skyler’s idea and goes into the bedroom to give her what for.

He starts out trying to reason with her, with that know-it-all attitude and presentation of facts (such as Gus Fring is dead) to back up the assertion of the obvious and self-evident fact (unless you’re an idiot) that the current situation is the safest it’s ever been. Skyler’s all, WTF, Walt? There were threats to our lives like, last month. No, the danger is dead. But aren’t you the danger, Walt? Anyway, Walter eventually gets really belligerent and bullying at the idea of his kids being taken away from him. He’s never been this confident and calculating at once. He’s as menacing as one can be in a white underwear shirt, which is more menacing than you might think. He has an idea to thwart every plan she’s cooking. She remains firm in her conviction, even as she admits she hasn’t got much of a plan, but she’s got a victory every day her kids are away from him. She admits all she really can do is wait. For what, he asks.