libraryseraph

The episode opens with the janitor being made a scapegoat, including how he shouldn;t have been hired bc he had weed once. Walt is there, and completely ignoring that this is all his fault, in favour of feeling up Skyler. He's good at compartmentalizing.

Jesse is understandably very angry about Walt's "understanding" with Tuco. Walt was angry about what happened to Jesse, and vengeful about it, but not so much that he won;t just push it aside when it comes to making deals.

I think the point of this scene with Walt's doctor is that everything here can apply to Walt's drug dealing. "a better outlook" and "we have to be realistic" can refer to Walt using his drug dealing to feel more in power, and trying to convince himself that teaming up with Tuco's fine, and the realism concern can apply to how Walt thinks he can make a on of drug, money and get out scot free.

"Oh, I saw this in a movie. Oooh, look at me."... "Nobody ever gets shot at Taco Cabeza" Jesse points out that Walt doesn't actually know anything about crime, and that his determination to live up to this imagined idea of criminality could lead to them getting shot in a junkyard. It also emphasizes that Walt acts like crime and regular life are completely separate, but they;re not. As different as Jesse and Tuco are, crime is just their regular life, and they don;t try to separate them.

Walt keeps pushing, because he wants to feel important, and he doesn't realize just how dangerous it can be. He goes even harder after Jesse has to translate crime slang for him, and he realizes he's out of his element, so his attempts to regain control lead to him going out of his element even farther. Walt loses control, tries to regain control, and makes it worse: the show.

"Yeah, science!" THE LINE. On a sadder note, this scene is one of the first clear indicators we get of Walt's willingness to manipulate Jesse, since here he uses the fact Jesse looks up to him and wants his approval to get Jesse to do something he's uncomfortable with.

SHowing the baby shower as a video through Walt Jr's, with the colour issues/lack of fidelity removes it one level, and makes it seem even more fictional. While watching the show, we see the characters as real, because we're caught up in the narrative, so putting the baby shower in a context where we see it at the remove indicates that this is a construct even in the world of the show. Said construct, of course, being the Whites as a normal family.

I have nothing to say about the tiara thing, I just think SKyler's fake polite enthusiasm is really funny

The "Hank, I already have lung cancer" scene is also jsut really funny. There is also the aspect of Walt doing dangerous stuff because he'll die before the consequences hit, and Hank saying "the forbidden fruit tastes the sweetest" to Walt unironically.

This sweat lodge thing is so uncomfortable. Walt, using not just his illness, but Skyler's suggestion of alternative medicine as a cover, so she'll be happy and won;t look too closely, I don;t like it. And you;re not supposed to like it.

The fact that Walt has no idea what he's doing makes him more dangerous. No one else would use thermite to cut through a chemical supply lock, and steal chemicals on his own, because it's ridiculous and incomprehensible. Walt tries, because he doesn't KNOW it's impossible, and he succeeds. His outside-context worldview can be very dangerous, when he gets a handle on it

I think the writers said this Marie shoplifting subplot was dropped bc it was too comedic, so it probably wasn't meant to mean anything, but what the hell, I'm an English major, so. This helps set up Skyler being implicated/entangled in the criminal activities of her loved ones, and also her internal struggle with whether to value the law or her family loyalties.

The drug lords of albequerque: tying a port-a-potty shut so they can perform a heist in very silly masks

I feel like the comedy of Error stuff is related to Walt's control issues. He can;t stop stuff like the realtor coming for an open house at Jesse's house, no matter how hard he tries.

Walt hears about Marie and SKyler's issues, and goes "people do things for their families". SKyler IMMIDIATELY goes "so that justifies stealing?". She also says Walt "doesn't want to find out" what she;d do if it was him. For now, when it's theoretical, she can say she's on the side of the law

Walt is flying high with the deal he's made with Tuco, and then Tuco snaps, beats one of his guys to death, and Walt can't talk him down. Even winning in this world keeps Walt in danger, because to win he has to interact with people like Tuco. And Walt knows it. He takes off his sunglasses, removing his facade, and there's a pretty extensive shot of him just. Shaking.

And that's the season finale, thanks to a writer's strike. The dual points of Walt's victory and him realizing what that victory entails make it a pretty good stopping place. (Plus, if it wasn;t for the writer's strike, Jesse might have died, so I 100% support the writers strike in this case. I haven't been saying a ton abt Jesse, bc he's still very comic relief at this point, but he;s the best character)