Breaking Bad: I.F.T.

"Honesty is good, don't you think?"

Big tug of war between Walt and Skyler. Walt may have won, but Skyler certainly got the last word.

I loved how Walt left the duffel bag full of money on the floor in front of Skyler, like cheese in a mousetrap. This is why I did it, he told her. College tuition. Health insurance. Physical therapy for Junior. He didn't steal it; he earned it. He must have thought it out pretty carefully, because it was exactly the right thing to say to Skyler, even though she was quite aware that she was being manipulated.

Skyler called the cops on Walt, but couldn't bring herself to take the next step and put him in jail. Walt learned his lesson from the pepper spray incident and was acting like a much-maligned saint in front of the cops, calmly holding the baby in his arms and feeding her a bottle as if he were father of year, and selflessly telling Junior not to be angry with Skyler. So he won the skirmish. He can sleep in the baby's room, where he used to hide his money and gun, and think about the fact that Skyler struck back in the only way she had left -- which was Ted.

(I had no idea what the title of the episode meant, and had to look on the internet. It was what Skyler said to Walt. I.F.T. "I fucked Ted.")

Skyler said to her lawyer that the Walt problem will eventually solve itself. But now that he's had the surgery, hasn't Walt quite possibly beaten the cancer? Was that just an excuse because Skyler doesn't really want to get rid of Walt? I think she does want him to go away, but she just can't handle sending him to jail. And then, of course, there is the money.

This week's dirty water imagery is brought to you by... Walt peeing in the sink. Did he walk right by the hall bathroom in order to make a statement about how pissed he was with Skyler? Okay, there was a lot more in the way of water imagery. Before his gruesome beheading (way to open an episode, guys) Tortuga said that there are two kinds of men: one who drinks, and one who pours. And that a man can never drink his fill waiting in line at the tap. Ah, the wisdom of Tortuga, who did such a stupid thing ratting on the cartel. The Jefe (another bald man -- what's with all the bald men on this show?) quipped that Tortuga's words flowed like a waterfall.

The situation with the cartel is now a bit clearer. Gus does work for the cartel, but he has control over his territory, and by extension, Walt. The Twins are the cousins Tuco kept mentioning, and the cartel Jefe might not be able to control them because they aren't rational businessmen like himself and Gus. The Twins were the ones that beheaded Tortuga and apparently, Gus is just fine with them doing the same to Walt -- but not until Gus is finished with him.

The Twins stole a wheelchair-accessible van for Tio. (What did they do to that poor woman in the wheelchair?) It was interesting that they got a wheelchair accessible van, but there was no wheelchair access for Tio into Gus's meeting room at the chicken farm. There's only so much the Twins can do. I think that was a visual hint that Gus was in control.

In other news, Jesse spent this episode wandering around his completely empty house calling Jane's voice mail over and over. And then her account was canceled. Man, I don't think they could have jammed in more symbolism about the emptiness of Jesse's life if they had tried. Jesse is almost certainly broke, now that he's blown half a mil on a house. It's pretty obvious what will happen next.

Bits:

-- I love how the White house is right at the end of a street, at the juncture of a T. It makes the house seem oddly disjointed, out of place. I've always meant to mention it. And now I have.

-- Walt took the rotten pizza off the roof. Of course, he's back in the house now, so the real rottenness is indoors.

-- How delightful that Gus prepared a vegetable snacking tray for his guests. That was so very Gus-like.

-- I loved the juxtaposition of Skyler playing "Old MacDonald had a Farm" for baby Holly and Gus's factory chicken farm.

-- El Paso wants Hank back. Hank was not pleased, even though he pretended he was. In fact, he was so frightened that he deliberately got in a fight and Gomez had to lie for him. Lots of symbolic broken glass during that scene.

-- Saul brought Jesse a cactus as a housewarming present. Very Saul. Happy new house, don't get too comfy, Jesse.

Fascinating episode. But they always are. Three out of four housewarming cacti,

Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.

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