5. Todd Murders A Child (Season Five, Episode Five)
The cyclical format of episodes is something that has been employed on more than one occasion in Breaking Bad. Think back to the first season, with random shots of the desert in the beginning and then the DEA finding the gas mask at the end. Flash forward to season five and in the fifth episode a young boy is seen riding a dirt bike around the desert of New Mexico, before dismounting and collecting a tarantula in a glass jar. It was obvious that this seemingly non-connected sequence had some relevance to the events of the episode, especially as a train is heard in the distance before the boy rides off in its direction. In order to keep a large enough supply of methylamine Walt and the gang must rob a freight train during transport. It was a risky endeavor, and one that needed to be pulled off with maximum attention to detail, and absolutely no witnesses. Miraculously they pull it off! They get the train to stop, steal the methylamine, and replace it so as not to arouse suspicion when the train arrives with a different weight than when it departed. One problem. That child that was seen in the beginning of the episode riding towards a train in the distance? Yup, it was this train. Which means the worst possible thing that could have happened during the train robbery happened someone had witnessed them. Acting independently, and on impulse Todd pulls out his pistol and shoots the kid in the chest without hesitation, later explaining his actions as having no other choice but to eliminate the sole witness. Worse? It would appear that not only does Walter agree with Todds reasoning, but that he completely condones the action. This would be one of the final occurrences leading to both Mike, and Jesse calling it quits, hitting Jesse especially hard after everything he had to endure with Andrea and Brock.