Crawl Space
Directed by Scott Winant
Air date: September 25, 2011
Jesse drives Mike and Gus to a makeshift hospital in the Mexican desert after the cartel massacre. The head doctor, Barry Goodman, immediately has his staff tend to Gus, putting him on bypass to filter the poison from his blood, leaving Jesse to look after Mike as he bleeds profusely from his gunshot wounds.
Walt continues to cook without Jesse under Tyrus' supervision, and drives Hank at his request to surveil the Los Pollos Hermanos facilities. He learns from Hank of a cartel incident in Mexico that left a lot of people dead. Back in Mexico, Mike is finally given a blood transfusion. Dr. Goodman reveals to Jesse that Gus had planned for every medical contingency, having given him medical information on himself, Mike, and Jesse beforehand. Gus recovers from his poisoning and is cleared to return to the US, but Mike will need to stay for a while to recover. As the two set off on their six-mile trek back to Texas, Gus praises Jesse for his performance and declares that he is capable of running the lab by himself. Jesse, realizing what this would mean for his now-former partner, implores Gus not to kill Walt.
Back in Albuquerque, Skyler receives a voicemail message from Ted Beneke: he can't accept her money because he claims to find it immoral to pay his tax debt with what he thinks are illicit gambling winnings. Skyler goes to Ted's house to try to convince him to take her money to pay the IRS, since an audit on Ted would eventually lead back to her and possibly result in her and Walt's "gambling addiction" story becoming undone. Ted continues to refuse, reasoning that paying off his debt to the IRS would not restore his company; but Skyler, interpreting his refusal as blackmail, insists that he write a check to the IRS. When he continues to resist, Skyler, at her wit's end, calls Saul for help.
Upon returning to New Mexico, Gus and Jesse pay a visit to Hector Salamanca at Casa Tranquila. Gus gloats over Hector, telling him that the cartel is no more, that Don Eladio and his men are dead, and that Jesse personally killed his last living relative, Joaquin. Hector is destroyed at the news that the Salamanca name would die with him. Having avenged his friend Max, Gus asks Hector to look at him once more. Hector refuses to meet his gaze, the same as ever, but his eyes grow teary as his expression twists with a mix of rage and sorrow.
Hank has Walt accompany him on more surveillance, with Tyrus ever watchful of them. Hank tells Walt that he now plans to look into an industrial laundromat that Gus runs, having found connections between Gus, Gale Boetticher, Los Pollos Hermanos, and a German company called Madrigal Electromotive. Panicking, Walt "accidentally" drives past the laundromat, then causes a car wreck in a fake attempt to make a U-turn. Afterwards, when Marie insists an injured Hank stop making Walt take him out on surveillance, Hank states he'll get a vehicle with hand controls so he can do his own surveillance, leaving Walt concerned.
Saul calls Skyler to let her know he has his best men out to deal with Ted. Patrick Kuby and Huel Babineaux arrive at Ted's home and intimidate him into writing a check to the IRS to pay his fees, then, after mailing the check, announce they will stick around until the check clears. Ted tries to make a hasty escape, but his foot catches on a rug as he runs, causing him to fall over and crash head-first into a kitchen cabinet, breaking his neck.
When Walt returns to the superlab after taking a few days to recuperate after his car crash, he finds that someone has cooked recently: no doubt, Jesse has begun to cook without him! That night, he pays a visit to Jesse's house as he has Andrea and Brock over to play Sonic the Hedgehog. Walt begs Jesse to stop cooking without him, but Jesse is resentful of Walt because the last time Jesse asked him for help, Walt told him, "I hope you end up buried in a barrel in the Mexican desert." As Walt turns to walk away when Jesse dismisses him, he sees Tyrus waiting for him with a cattle prod...
Walt is taken out into the desert, his hands and feet tied. Gus is present, and informs Walt that he is fired, warning him never to approach the superlab or Jesse ever again. Walt figures out that the only reason he's still alive is because Jesse wouldn't cook for him otherwise. He brags about how Jesse would never sell him out, but Gus is unconcerned; he is certain that Jesse will see reason in time. As for Hank, however, since Walt couldn't deal with him, Gus would have to take matters into his own hands. He warns Walt that if he tries to interfere, he would kill his entire family.
Walt is cut loose and released. He makes a beeline for Saul's office and asks for the number to his "disappearer", who Saul warns will want $500,000 plus commission to transport four people. With the number in hand, Walt asks a reluctant Saul to give him one hour, then call the DEA and inform them of a hit being placed on Hank.
Walt immediately returns home to gather the money to pay the disappearer. Unfortunately, when he looks at the money he has stowed in his crawl space, he finds most of it missing. A distraught Skyler finds Walt in the crawl space. Walt asks where the money is in a panic; Skyler admits that she gave over half of it to Ted to cover his IRS fees. Realizing that now he had been fucked by Ted, Walt completely loses his grip and lets out a howling shriek of despair and anger which then suddenly shifts into laughter. As a terrified Skyler gets a voicemail message from Marie about how Hank's life is in danger again, Walt is left in the crawl space, cackling like a madman before falling catatonic...
This episode provides examples of:
- Badass Boast: Gus delivers one to Héctor Salamanca at the retirement home, saying that he killed off all members of the cartel and Jesse killed his grandson, making him the last of the Salamanca line.
- Black Comedy:
- Ted's near-death is probably one of the best examples of this in the show's history. It helps that it feels like a scene that would feel right at home in a Coen Brothers flick like Fargo what with the entire interaction with Huell and Kuby.
- While Walt's Laughing Mad is primarily a case of Sanity Slippage, at least some of it probably comes from the fact that he's spent several seasons with so much money he can barely hide it and couldn't spend it if he tried, only to find himself with too little the one time he actually needs it.
- "Blackmail" Is Such an Ugly Word: Skyler interprets Ted's message as this. He makes it clear to Skyler that he feels there is no point to paying the IRS unless he can also pay off his other debts, and he is aware that if he doesn't pay them off they will inevitably audit Skyler and Walt and all three of them will go to jail. Ironically, he interprets Skyler's attempts to confirm this ("But you would accept a larger amount?") as offers to pay the rest of his debts as well and refuses. He's not blackmailing her, he's just an idiot who thinks he's doing the right thing. Or so he says.
- Chekhov's Gun: Ted's rug. He almost trips over it when answering Skyler, then trips over it again when trying to flee from Huell and Kuby, breaking his neck.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Saul's identity eraser guy.
- Crazy-Prepared:
- Gus has a secret hospital set up with medical staff on his payroll to revive him when he self-poisons. Not only that, the hospital is supplied with matching blood types for himself, Jesse, and Mike (and they even know Jesse's entire medical history).
- Dr. Goodman knows the complete medical history of Gus, Mike, and Jesse whilst also having their blood samples. Given that he's a doctor, it's part of the job description, but still impressive considering he set up a make-shift hospital on short notice.
- Despair Event Horizon:
- Walt returns to this when he learns that Gus declared him and his family free game and all of the money they had was given to Ted Beneke by Skyler.
- Hector breaks down and silently sobs as Gus taunts that the Salamanca name will die with him.
- The Dog Bites Back: When Walt begs Jesse for his help because he knows Gus wants him dead, Jesse kicks him off his property, reminding him about the last time Jesse asked for Walt’s help.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
- Downplayed because it's Walter, who does everything in his power to protect Hank from Gus.
- He also tries to have his wife and children flee so they'll be safe from Fring's retaliation.
- Foreshadowing: Early in the episode, Ted nearly tripped on his carpet while sipping coffee and he flattened it down with his foot hoping it won't happen again.
- Heroic BSoD: Walt experiences one of these after learning Skyler's given Ted the lion's share of his money.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Ted is so frightened by Huell and Kuby strong-arming him into paying off the IRS that he impulsively tries to flee, only to trip on the edge of a rug and break his neck in the fall. If Ted had done nothing he would've been perfectly fine.
- Idiot Ball: The consequences of Skyler's ill-thought plan to give money to Ted to pay the IRS come to fruition here. Now that a transaction has taken place between Skyler and Ted, even if Ted returned the money to Skyler, the IRS would now be interested in this money trail and why Skyler would want to give money to Ted in the first place. And as indicated under Artistic License – Law in that episode, Skyler wasn't even criminally liable in the first place, making this All for Nothing.
- I Will Punish Your Friend for Your Failure: Gus tells Walt that he will "take care of" Hank and threatens to kill Walt's entire family if he ever tries to intervene.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Although Jesse kicks Walt off of his property, and was even ok if Walt was fired by Gus, Jesse still doesn’t want Gus to kill him, despite all that Walt put him through.
- Kick the Dog: Gus' threat to Walt that he would murder his entire family, including his infant daughter, should Walt interfere with Hank's murder. But it may have just been a bluff, since if Walt's family was suddenly wiped out, Jesse would probably figure out Gus was responsible.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Jesse understandably rejects Walter when he comes begging for help, after Walter has repeatedly belittled and abused Jesse, even telling Jesse to wind up in a barrel.
- Laughing Mad: Walt's reaction when Skyler tells him she gave Ted the $600,000 they needed to escape Gus, who said he would kill them all if Walt interfered by tipping off the DEA about the hit on Hank... which Saul had done on Walt's orders mere minutes before.
- My God, What Have I Done?: While she's not privy to the details, Walt's hysterical reaction after being told she gave the money to Ted is enough to make Skyler realize that she potentially made a terrible, terrible mistake.
- Oh, Crap!: This happens to the White/Schrader family and Ted for different reasons.
- The Oner: The final shot is one long pull-out shot, showing Walt lying in the titular crawl space after realizing that Gus plans to kill his entire family and he doesn't have the money he needs to run away from the Los Pollos syndicate. The crawl space almost looks like a grave. This has caused many fans to believe that Walter died in the crawl space, and only Heisenberg remained.
- Only in It for the Money: Dr. Goodman operates on Gus first whilst ignoring Mike. When Jesse points this out, he casually replies that Gus is the one who pays him.
- Pet the Dog: Saul is willing to tip the DEA off about Gus' hit on Hank.
- Sanity Slippage: Walt, after finding out that his wife gave most of their money to Ted to pay his back taxes, when Walt desperately needed it to disappear them all after Gus threatened to murder his entire family if he tried to stop him from killing Hank.
- Shoo Out the Clowns: Huell and Kuby are shooed out of Saul’s office just as Walt comes in asking Saul to help him and his family get new identities and call the DEA to warn them about the call to kill Hank.
- Sickening "Crunch!": Just barely audible under the sounds of the impact itself when Ted slides head-first into his cabinet.
- A Taste of Their Own Medicine: Walt, who has so far spent most of the last two seasons justifying his drug money and increasingly less sympathetic habits to Skyler by insisting he did it for the family, is on the other end for once, when Skyler admits that she had to give most of the drug money to Ted, the man she cheated on Walt with, and even uses the exact same excuse that she had to do it "for the family". Walt goes absolutely insane, given that this has happened at the worst possible time.
- Too Dumb to Live: Ted. It's unlikely that even he could've explained why and where he dashed to run from Huell and Kuby. If they wanted to kill him they certainly wouldn't bother with the IRS check.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: By giving most of their money to Ted, Skyler accidentally puts all of their family in so much danger that Walt has to pull out all the stops to get rid of Gus for good, finalizing the death of Walter White and leaving only Heisenberg in his place.
- Villainous Breakdown: Walter has a rather terrifying breakdown at the end, complete with insane laughter.
- Villainous Friendship: Gus and his head doctor are very warm and affectionate towards one another, even calling each other friends.
- Wham Episode: Gus drags Walt out to the desert and tells him that Hank is getting too close. He says that Hank will be killed, and if Walt tries to interfere, Gus will murder his wife and children. Walt rushes into Saul's office and demands the number for a criminal who can give his family new identities in exchange for half a million dollars. He tells Saul to wait one hour, then place an anonymous call to the DEA to let them know that Hank is in danger. Afterwards Walt rushes home to gather the money needed to disappear, only to discover that Skyler has given it to the IRS to get her boss out of trouble, and they don't have nearly enough to obtain new identities. Walt has a mental breakdown as he realises that Gus' men are coming to kill his entire family, and he has no way of stopping them.
- Wham Line: "If you try to interfere, this becomes a much simpler matter. I will kill your wife. I will kill your son. I will kill your infant daughter."
- Worf Had the Flu: Mike has to stay in Mexico for the time being in order to recover from his gunshot wound, thus taking one of Gus' strongest and most dependable men out of action for the next several episodes.
- Would Hurt a Child: Gus threatening Holly is low, even for him.
- You Have Failed Me: For failing to throw Hank off of Gus's trail and for all of the death, destruction, and drama Walt caused, Gus fires him with the implication that he will kill him once Jesse has no more qualms with Gus offing Walt. Then Gus tells him that in the meantime, he'll deal with Hank himself and threatens to kill the rest of Walt's family if he intervenes.
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