Breaking Bad: Problem Dog

And finally, the answer to the twice asked “Do you know how much money I make a year?” is put out there for Skyler to gasp at. Walter, after expenses, makes $7.5 million a year. A much greater amount than Skyler was expecting and one certainly not able to be laundered in a car wash. She has no choice but to continue on with the front – once the car wash opened its doors Skyler became an accomplice. No backing out now.

We talked in the comments last week about uncertainty in where the hell this season was heading. Personally, I couldn’t see what Vince and his crew were building up a climax to. But now, there’s a buffet of conflicts to choose: Walt vs. Gus, the cartel vs. Gus, Hank and the DEA vs. Gus, Jesse vs. Gus, Jesse vs. Walt, and, once the investigation digs a little deeper, Hank vs. Walt. With 16 more episodes in the pipeline, chances are we won’t see most of these conflicts resolved this season. And that’s why Breaking Bad rules.

I included Jesse vs. Walt above because it’s still unclear which side Pinkman is on. At first he’s clearly on Walt’s, but after being trusted with a loaded gun and putting on the villain act at the NA meeting, Jesse’s really teetering on the edge. Jesse’s been an introvert this season, but taking on another hit assigned by demeaning Walt while he’s still being haunted by Gale seems to have pushed him over the edge. It’s obvious and been said to death, but holy hell Aaron Paul is incredible. Whether he’s playing reserved or going off like in the NA meeting, he’s brilliant.

After the heaps of misery thrown upon him, Hank is finally returning to his usual full-fledged smart-ass, shitty joke, DEA hound dog. I thought he was taking Junior to Pollo Hermanos just for a little reconnaissance, but Hank managed to pull a print from Gus – matching it to ones in Gale’s apartment. His shrug at the end was so perfect because I’m pretty sure every one watching was having an “oh shit” moment. I was.

IN BRIEF: That first-person shooter opening was kind of lame. BB has the best prologues of any show in history, but the “restart” or “quit” decision was a bit ham-fisted for me. — I’m surprised Walt didn’t gloat a bit when he disclosed his income to Skyler. Dude kind of deserved it. — Well played by Gus to off Junior a job. Imagine the advantage he would have over Walt if Junior was frying birds for the Chicken Man? — Nice display of string-pulling by Saul. Shows he can actually get shit done.

This article originally appeared on the Mishka Bloglin