Breaking Bad – The ricin cigarette that won’t die

I’ll admit up front that I know very little about who the next “big bad” might be in the Breaking Bad universe, though I’ve heard rumblings. Who comes next, now that the big guy Gus is gone? Was he answering to anyone? As it turns out, he was, and it’s these people Walt is going to have to contend with as the series winds down to its finale. The people at Madrigal are obviously going to be a force to be reckoned with, and neither Walter, Mike nor anyone else has any idea that Gus wasn’t the top rung of the ladder.

It’s really interesting how Jessie still calls Walter “Mr. White.” Jessie’s called Walter by his first name before, but Gilligan clearly wants to remind us who Walter is to Jessie. Walter is as close to a father as Jessie’s going to get right now; seeing Aaron Paul‘s great performance in showing the agony Jessie felt at almost putting a bullet into Walt’s head shined a light on that. The fact that Jessie also continues to follow Walter into reestablishing their meth business also shows what kind of hold Walter has on him, especially considering Jesse probably has little reason for the money at this point.

Speaking of those two, why do you think Walt kept the ricin and instead threw a salt-filled capsule into the one he faked Jessie into finding? It was classic Walter to have him go way overboard in hiding it, in a place I’m still not sure feds or DEA agents wouldn’t look. Was us seeing Walter keep that aside a means for foreshadowing, or just to further show Walter attempting to cover all of his bases? I can just picture an episode down the line where we see that wall plate hanging opened, and we’ll all know what’s likely coming next. Whatever the reason for seeing Walt keep that ricin, if it’s the writers’ goal to make us wonder what’s going to happen, it’s working.

I thought sometime last season that Mike (who we now know is Mike Ehrmantrout) would be part of Walt and Jessie’s business after Gus was inevitably taken out. It also made some sense that Mike had really no interest in getting back into the game, since his only real reason for doing anything he’s doing at this point is for his granddaughter. I had no idea that those off-shore accounts would lead to Mike — and the others — to lose pretty much everything Gus had put aside for them while under his employment. Ouch. That’s a lot of people out some serious cash. It seems a bit sloppy, though, for tidy Mr. Fring to have to hide account information in a picture frame rather than on his encrypted laptop. And, on top of that, not have those accounts thoroughly locked down and completely unassociated with him or his business. Can the DEA so easily obtain account holder information for off-shore accounts like that?

I have little to say about Skyler’s reaction to Walter except that it accomplished what it meant to, for the viewers: Skyler is completely skeeved out by Walter, and the thought of even his touch repulses her. Mark my words: she will be part of, if not THE reason for Walter’s downfall, should he have one.

The scene in departing DEA boss Merkert’s office, when discussing Gus Fring, had a line that spells out the tone for the rest of Hank’s involvement in the hunt for Heisenberg: “He was somebody else completely; right under my nose.” In my talks with the Breaking Bad cast at the San Diego Comic-Con, it was all but said outright that Hank will find out about Walt — it’s only a matter of time. How Hank reacts to that — and how his life is affected should he bring Walt in — is going to be one hell of a fascinating thing to behold.

Clacked by Keith McDuffee
on Jul 22, 2012 @ 23:24 EST5EDT