TV Review: Breaking Bad 5.6, "Buyout"

“Buyout” is a fairly logical continuation of last week’s events.

rating: 5

After last week€™s episode ended with an innocent kid being shot, I assumed that the aftermath in €œBuyout€ would add another tally to the body count. However, as is typical with the show, I was dead wrong. Instead, €œBuyout€ is a fairly logical continuation of last week€™s events. People talk out their problems instead of doing something rash. Everything that happened in this episode made sense. Todd doesn€™t think he did anything wrong, and in a way he is right. The kid could have caused them to get caught (not very likely, but still) and Todd had been told multiple times by both Walt and Jesse that there could be no witnesses. Jesse wants Todd out. Thankfully he doesn€™t go through another catatonic faze like he did last season, but he still feels incredibly beat down. Dead kids are like Jesse€™s kryptonite, and he doesn€™t want to work next to a guy that sees no problem with killing a kid. But irony of ironies, he already does! Jesse has mostly been in the dark about how corrupt a man Walt is, but he begins to see it in this episode. Walt sees how beat down Jesse is while cooking and tells him to take the night off. While Jesse begins to leave, he hears Walt happily whistling like nothing happened. Jesse tries to shake it off, but the seed is still planted. How long do you think it€™ll take before he starts to put the pieces together? Walt goes to the Vamanos Pestos headquarters late at night and finds Mike and Jesse deep in discussion. They want out. They€™ll sell the methylamine to one of Gus€™ old competitors and each get $5 million. It€™s a good deal. Get more money than they could ever have dreamed of and be done with the business. But Walt isn€™t going to be a part in it. Mike and Jesse go to sell the methylamine but run in to a problem. The guy they€™re attempting to sell to won€™t buy it if the blue is still on the streets. And with Walt dead set on cooking away, that€™s going to be a problem. Mike and Jesse leave, defeated. Jesse calls Walt and asks him if he wants to come over to his place and talk, but Walt invites him over to his house. Jesse has only been to Walt€™s house three times. Once when he drove the RV to his front door, once when Tuco captured them, and last season when he came to kill him. Tonight, he€™s on the edge of his seat talking to Walt, who is calmly drinking. We get to learn more about Walt tonight, who reveals he sold his share of Gray Matter for $5,000 and now the company is worth $2 billion. He isn€™t going to settle for a puny $5 million when there is $300 million potentially in the methylamine. Walt is in the empire business now. Then Skyler walks in the door and things get awkward. Skyler is surprised to see another drug dealer hanging out at her house, and Jesse is terrified to see her home. Walt calmly offers that Jesse not leave and eat supper with them. Skyler, having no other choice, begins to cook supper for the happy family. The next scene is one of Breaking Bad€™s best, and it doesn€™t involve a gun, a bomb, or a train. Just three people eating at the world€™s most uncomfortable summer. Jesse is like a little kid sitting between a fighting mom and dad, trying to soften the tension by talking about the annoyances of microwaved foods. Skyler, having previously heard that Marie knows about her and Ted calmly asks Walt if Jesse knows she had an affair. Skyler then excuses herself and takes the bottle of wine she€™s been nursing to her bedroom. Walt wanted Jesse to eat supper with them so he could see the condition of Walt€™s life. One year ago Walt started to cook meth so he could provide for his family, and while he was in danger from drug lords and silent twins, he kept repeating that it would all be worth if it because he was doing it for them. Now, he€™s lost his family. His wife is counting the days until he dies of cancer. This business is the only thing he has left, and Jesse wants to take it away from him. Walt goes to get the methylamine before Mike does, but Mike is waiting. He ties Walt to a radiator because he has business to attend to, and leaves Walt alone. Walt MacGyver€™s his way out with a power cord, once again using science to his advantage. The episode ends as Mike returns to see Jesse and Walt in agreement. Walt€™s sob story turned Jesse back on his side. And as Mike is tempted to blow Walt€™s brains out, Jesse tells him that Walt has a plan where they can get the money and the meth. What€™s the plan? I can€™t wait to find out. Some thoughts: Somber cold open this week, with the dismantling and dissolving of the dirt bike and then the kid. The hand poking out of the sand was a haunting image. Mike was busy this week with the DEA. I loved the note he left to Gomez. Great to see Saul back defending Mike against Hank and Gomez. Haven't seen much of him this season. Great acting between Anna Gunn and Betsy Brandt when Marie tells Skyler she knows about the affair. I actually thought Skyler might tell Marie about Walt. Next week on Breaking Bad: "Say My Name": Walt assumes a new level of superiority in the business venture. Mike is left to deal with the consequences of his actions.
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