The Heisenberg Files: “Rabid Dog”

You can say a lot about Walt and his dastardly ways. But you can say that he at least keeps loyalty. There were numerous parts over the run of “Breaking Bad” where he could’ve cut ties with Jesse in any fashion. (Series creator Vince Gilligan even considered offing the character in the first season. Thankfully he changed his mind and we’ve benefited from Aaron Paul’s outstanding acting.)

Walt had many choices to dump Jesse and didn’t. Sure, you can go along with the claim that since they worked so well together he was an incredible asset. But it still doesn’t hold up as well compared to the other times where Walt put Jesse ahead of business. Even when poisoning Brock, his intentions were to never kill the kid, but only to tip the scales in his favor over Jesse’s loyalty to Gus.

It’s the same poisoning that had Jesse going bonkers at the end of the last episode; drenching the White residence in gasoline with the intention of burning that mother down. Walt stops by the house to see that Jesse never followed through and must’ve had a change of heart. Walt comes up with a sly lie to his wife and son about a malfunctioning gas pump that Skyler sees through almost immediately. Walt tries to calm her down and pleads that he can still reason with Jesse. She makes the suggestion to get rid of him.  Like she says: ater all they’ve been through, what’s one more?

Walt doesn’t know the full details though. Jesse was fully intending on going through with his plan until he was stopped by none other than Hank. Hank talks Jesse out of it by convincing him that teaming up with the DEA will put Walt away for good. Jesse follows through by giving a full confession to Hank and Gomez — from the “crystal ship” RV to Lydia and the Czech’s. Even though Jesse’s recounting of events is a fairly solid piece of evidence, they still need him wear a wire and meet with Walt.

Jesse backs out at the last minute. He calls Walt from a distance at a pay-phone, threatening to hit him where it really hurts. Botching the plan pisses off Hank, but Walt is somewhat scared. Who does a man turn to in a time like this? Walt dials his second right-hand-man, and one of the most cold-blooded killers around. Todd.

Breaking Baddest: Still Jesse who is reeling. You may think that there’s no way in hell that Walt can talk him down. If that’s the case, he might be a goner sooner rather than later.

Now We’re Cookin’… With TMI Surveillance: Kuby notes that his surveillance of Badger only resulted in deep discussions of “Babylon 5”. Am I the only person who thinks “Beaver and Whats-His-Face” would make a solid sitcom spinoff?