Breaking Bad, "Thirty-Eight Snub": cross-draw

Quick Take: Breaking Bad, "Thirty-Eight Snub"
"Thanks for the drink." – Mike

Review: Breaking Bad, "Thirty-Eight Snub"
(S0402) Before I get into all of the bells and whistles of “Thirty-Eight Snub,” can I just point out how awesome Jim Beaver is? He seems like he should have been on Breaking Bad earlier than the second episode of the fourth season, but better late than never. His cameo as the man who sells Walt an illegal firearm is pretty perfect within the overall tone of the show. Ellsworth, man. Ellsworth. I doubt we will, but I’d love to see him again.

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But maybe I shouldn’t have my doubts because who would have thought we’d see Bushy Eyebrows Man from the pilot episode again? After researching the market value of his car wash business, Skyler approaches him with an offer to purchase it. For $879,000. B.E. Man refuses, however, because he hasn’t forgotten Walt and the way he stormed off from his employment responsibilities. Because of this, his counter-offer is closer to the $20 million range.

Speaking of the White household’s current income levels, despite Mike’s claims that Walt makes so much more than him, you have to wonder if he’s going to still be banking what Gus had previously been paying him. Sure, Walt has leverage because Gus absolutely needs him to keep cooking, but why keep paying him at his previously high rate? If Gus just walked around me with that box cutter, I’d do the Charleston on top of a flagpole if he told me to.

Of course, however much money Walt is making, a lot of it should be going to Hank’s rehabilitation expenses, but is it? Skyler leaves a voicemail on Walt’s machine (he’s totally screening his calls, by the way) telling him that the bills are piling up a bit. What can’t help the Schrader household is Hank’s continued obsession with purchasing rocks, er, minerals. I feel like there’s an episode of My Strange Addiction waiting to happen here. It’s no eating toilet paper, but it’s still pretty odd.

But the real crux of “Thirty-Eight Snub” falls back on both Walt and Jesse. Walt purchases the pistol from Ellsworth with the intent of offing Gus. But as he waits for Gus to come into the lab the following day, he is surprised to find the guy who has replaced Victor coming in to pick up the day’s shipment. When Mike enters the Super Lab soon after, Walt asks him if he can get a meeting with Gus to “clear the air.” Mike’s response: “Walter, you’re never going to see him again.”

Walt isn’t going to take “you’re never going to see him again” for an answer and decides to go on the offensive. Outside of Gus’ home (which I had forgotten he had been to last season), he pops on his still surprisingly menacing pork pie hat and makes the slow trek to his boss’ front door. And then his phone rings and it’s Mike who is watching the whole thing. He tells him to go home.

The two bald men meet some time later at a bar Mike frequents and Walt tries a few amateur psychological tricks and gauges how interested Mike might be in betraying Gus. Victor’s death seemingly had an effect on Mike (who, let’s not forget, is a loving grandfather and not entirely the cold-blooded operator he appears to be) and he’s Walt’s only real conduit to a face-to-face meeting with Gus. But apparently Victor’s death didn’t have that much of an effect on Mike because when Walt pushes the matter (a little too strongly I might add), Mike beats the shit out of him in the middle of the bar.

Except can we with certainty say that Mike still feels like he can trust Gus going forward? We don’t know for sure what Gus was trying to say when he sliced Victor’s throat (hell, Walt rhetorically asks Mike himself), but maybe it’s the seemingly-without-reason nature of the act that concerns Mike. He’s a character that follows orders pretty blindly, but maybe that’s because there is typically a very substantial, clear logic to every action Gus takes. And while there might be a reasonable reason in Gus’ mind for murdering Victor, he sure as hell didn’t make it substantial or clear. So maybe Mike will turn. Or maybe his loyalty runs too thick.

And meanwhile as Walt looks to make a preemptive strike against Gus, all Jesse cares about is being distracted from the violent, terrifying events going on around him. His defense mechanism is to splurge big money on expensive speakers (and a Roomba) and throw a round-the-clock party at his crib (very few shows can film a party scene as well as Breaking Bad can). He’s still responsible enough to go to work every day, but he expects Badger and Skinny P to keep the party going when he returns home. Eventually, though, the party comes to its inevitable end (Badger has to feed a cat, he thinks) and Jesse is left alone with those violent, terrifying events invading his mind. All alone, he can only crank the speakers as loud as they go and sit in front of the subwoofer, hoping to drown out his own thoughts.

“Thirty-Eight Snub” was something of a “spin-its-wheels”-type episode as most of the characters are more or less exactly where they were at the beginning. And yet Vince Gilligan and company can succeed where other creative teams cannot and make a somewhat complacent episode (plot-wise at least) exceedingly interesting. From the opening scene with Jim Beavers to the beautifully-shot party scenes to the new-and-improved “Better Call Saul” commercial to Mike’s beatdown of Walt, “Thirty-Eight Snub” was full of memorable, gripping moments.

And in spite of some very dark scenes, this was a pretty hilarious episode too. My favorite line was Mike’s “admission” that Walt hold no ill will towards him is a weight off his chest, but the zombie conversation and Hank’s insistence that Marie check for box damage on his mineral deliveries were great too. It was nice to have a few laughs because you just know things are going to get very dark again sooner rather than later.

Lingering thoughts about "Thirty-Eight Snub":