Editor’s Note: For eight weeks, WarriorsWorld’s Jesse Taylor will speak to Harrison Barnes about each episode of their favorite current TV show, Breaking Bad, as it completes its fifth and final season. This installment covers Season 5-B Episode 2: Buried.

WARNING: These are episode reviews, so there will be SPOILERS …


Jesse: So the ladies really ran this episode. It was like Aretha, Beyoncé and Alicia Keys getting together for a “Superwoman” type song but then Beyoncé slaps the hell out of Aretha and tries to steal Alicia’s baby.

Harrison: I thought the same thing about how those three strong women made powerful moves during the episode. Starting with Skylar.

So let’s get to that. We open with the old man finding Jesse’s money, and then finding Jesse in a daze spinning on the mini-merry-go-round. Next we pick up where last week’s episode ended as Walt walks out of Hank’s garage. From there it becomes a race to see who can talk to Skylar first. Hank gets her on the phone and she’s already gone before Walt can get to her.

Harrison: It was kind of odd how she left so quickly and didn’t consult with Walt first. I thought, if anything, they were supposed to be on the same side at this point. Even though she wasn’t in agreement with everything he was doing or had done.

She just leaves and goes right to Hank. I’m thinking maybe she’s going to try to flip on Walt to put him in jail or work with Hank to get Walt safe. But then Hank just blows it. His demeanor and how he conducted the interview with her was like he was a maniac. His eyes were blood shot like he hadn’t slept in days. This case has become his life and he’s become so obsessed that he’s no longer himself.

He scared Skylar off. The fact that she ignored Walt’s call and went straight to Hank has to make you believe she was at least considering leaning on Hank to walk her through what to do next.

If Hank would have kept the recorder under the table or if he would have just heard her out and was more comforting, I think that things would have gone a lot better between them. But once he set that recorder on the table and asked her to tell him everything, that made her realize that Hank was coming from the standpoint of a DEA officer and not her brother-in-law. He was just out to get her husband. That changed the whole dynamic of their conversation.

And on top of that, he throws out the news that Walt’s cancer is back, assuming Skylar knew when she actually didn’t. And that shakes her up even more.

I thought Walt would have been more up front with her about the cancer earlier this time around. He’s been transparent about everything else. They’re literally partners in crime. She knows everything now. Laundering the money.

So, with Walt fearing Skylar might be snitching to Hank, all that money he’s made that she’s kept in a storage facility has to be moved. And we get Huell and Bill Burr laying on a bed of money discussing the merits of making a run for Mexico.

Those two aren’t necessary the muscle that can pull something like that off. Plus, working with a lawyer like Saul Goodman doesn’t help. I’m pretty sure they left every bill in there, which was a wise decision.

I heard they might do a spin-off with Saul and those two guys, which would be great. They need to give Bill Burr a bigger role, so maybe he’ll get it there.

I was also surprised Walt wanted to bury all that cash instead of keeping some for himself and trying to take off somewhere.

Did you buy Walt’s anger with Saul when Saul suggested that they send Hank to sleep with the fishes in Belize?

I believe it was a front by Walt. Obviously, he’s not against killing anybody, but he doesn’t want to appear like murder is his only option. Unlike Lydia, for example, who’s first, second and last option is always to kill somebody. I think Walt at least tries to look for other options, but if it comes down to it, he’d be willing to kill Hank.

Up next is the epic faceoff between Skylar and Marie.

I was thinking Marie might have been mic’d because she kept probing and probing and probing for information from Skylar. As Marie kept asking questions it looked like Skylar was getting closer to verbally confirming some of the things Marie was accusing her of. She was crying and nodding along, and I was waiting for her to leak information. Which would have been completely wrong, because Hank sent Marie in there to get the details out of Skylar.

One thing I noticed in that scene was that Marie looked like a protective mother when she tried to take the baby out of the house. And that had to do with the time Hank and Marie took in the kids from Walt and Skylar. Which led Marie to be too attached to her sister’s baby.

The second thing I got from that scene was, where has Junior been?! That’s two episodes now where, not only haven’t we seen him, but not even a word has been mentioned about him.

He’s with his boy Louis. Junior’s growing up. Getting out of the house. Who are you siding with in this sibling rivalry between Skylar and Marie?

I go to the scene where Walt wakes up after passing out in the bathroom. It’s the first time Walt and Skylar are really openly talking about trying to work together to get through this thing. She seems much more optimistic.

And in the scene with Hank at home with Marie, where they discuss the next step, it’s Marie who is being much more aggressive like that fire behind Hank to really push him to put Walt in jail.

I’m in on the White family. And they are definitely ahead of the Schraders at this point.

Well, except physically. Hank and Marie got the only two good shots in so far.

Come on, Walt has cancer. You punch a guy in the face with cancer? What kind of guy does that? And then Marie, wow, Skylar is her sister and you slap her in the face? I mean, come on. You can’t just thug on the Whites like that.

Walt and Skylar, they know the whole situation – all the details – and they are working together as a team now. Whereas Hank is in a tough spot because he can’t really go to the DEA with his Walt info. One, he’s not even supposed to be working on this case. Two, Walt’s his brother-in-law so everyone is going to think he was in on it or just incompetent. Three, Marie is just now starting to get involved and already wants to put Walt behind bars without even knowing all the details. She doesn’t know the full extent of what’s going on.

And the Whites are playing with house money right now because not everyone knows the full situation. This episode was finally the first time they’ve been on the same side for such a long time. They’re working together instead of Skylar being that constant thorn in the side always watching and judging what Walt’s doing. For so long, it was, “Here comes Skylar. The buzz kill of the show.” You were just always dreading that she would break down in every scene.

Do you believe what Walt said in that bathroom scene? That he’s come full circle on his original plan? He’s given up on the empire plan and now just wants to have enough money to take care of his family when he’s gone?

I think that’s what is different now between him and Skylar. It’s not Walt being the greedy, empire hungry drug lord that he turned into. He was back to that innocent chemistry teacher trying to pay for his cancer treatment and take care of his family. It was nice to see Walt take those steps back in the right direction.

Let’s get to the always-quirky Lydia. She makes a huge power play, taking out the Arizona guys, but is still too shaken up to even look at the dead bodies.

She’s a funny character. She’s always looking to kill people, but she never wants to see the blood. She wants to be hard-core without her hands getting dirty.

It’s going to feed into Walt’s ego once he finds out they lost $50 million because the quality of the cook isn’t up to his standards. The market misses his meth. And that might be a big factor in why he comes back – his ego. It sounds like Todd can’t handle it. First he gets 74%, then he gets 68% and by his third cook he blew everything up.

We end with the cliffhanger of Hank walking into the interrogation room to speak with Zombie Jesse, who has been brought in for questioning about all the money he’s literally throwing around town. What’s your prediction for what happens next there?

I don’t think Jesse is going to talk. If anything, Hank will just turn him off. I think Walt and Jesse are going to be back on the same side. Regardless of how that scene goes with Hank, Jesse is going to end up getting in touch with Walt and that will get them talking again.

It’s sad to see Jesse regressing so much. He’s a shell of himself. Hopefully he can get out of that.

Regardless, I like that they keep cutting off each episode with enough to be desired where you can’t pinpoint exactly what’s going to happen next. Yet, you’re satisfied with what you just saw. I really like that about good TV shows.

One Response