History Recap / BreakingBadS5E4FiftyOne

Directed by Creator/RianJohnson

[[caption-width-right:350:"[[BlackComedy Hey-O. Pool party!]]"]]

->'''Walt:''' ''I can promise you that Gus Fring is dead, and he was the threat. He was the danger.''\\
'''Skyler:''' ''I thought you were the danger.''

!!This episode contains examples of:

-->'''Walt:''' Gus Fring is dead. And he was the threat. He was the danger.\\

* ContinuityNod: Skyler reluctantly arranges Walt's bacon to form a "51" for [[Recap/BreakingBadS1E1Pilot his]] [[Recap/BreakingBadS5E1LiveFreeOrDie birthday]].

-->'''Jesse:''' Lydia spotted it.
-->'''Mike:''' Okay. She's dead!
-->'''Jesse:''' Wait, what?!

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* CatharticScream: After the DEA's visit at Madrigal, Lydia retreats to her office, closes the blinds and screams in a pillow before calling Mike.

* DoubleMeaningTitle: It's Walt's 51st birthday. It could also be the point where Heisenberg is now the dominant ego in Walt's body.
** Maybe a coincidence but the very next episode, an important one, is the 51st episode. Though admittedly this is probably a coincidence.

At the DEA, Hank and Gomez go over diagrams of Gus's drug empire as they have hit a dead end: none of the men on Gus's payroll are saying anything, and "Blue Sky" is appearing on the streets once more. Hank is pulled aside for a moment by the standing Assistant Special Agent in Charge, who offers to promote Hank to ASAC in light of his having broken the case with Gus wide open, a promotion that Hank accepts.

* DissonantSerenity: The pool scene, one of, if not, the ''only'' time in all of Season 5 where Skylar looks anything other than perpetually stressed.

* DissonantSerenity: The pool scene.

->'''Skyler:''' ''This is the best I could come up with, okay? I—I will count every minute that the kids are away from here—away from you—as a victory. But you're right. It's a bad plan. I don't have any of your magic, Walt. I don't know what to do. I'm a coward. I—I can't go to the police, I can't stop laundering your money, I can't keep you out of this house, I can’t even keep you out of my bed. All I can do is wait. That's it, that's the only good option. Hold on. Bide my time. And wait.''\\
'''Walt:''' ''Wait for what? What are you waiting for?''\\
'''Skyler''' ''For the Cancer to come back.''

** While going over the repairs to his vehicle, the mechanic mentions cleaning up some residue from the time Walter [[Recap/BreakingBadS3E12HalfMeasures "ran over that deer"]].

In Houston, Lydia, working at Madrigal's US office, receives a tip-off from Mike about the DEA coming to question her. Lydia manages to evade suspicion by selling out her patsy, Ron Forenall, with Mike promising to get her a replacement to help deliver his methylamine after the DEA leave.

Before Walt returns home, Jesse tells Walt he liked his idea for dealing with Lydia and gives him a late birthday present: a new watch. Walt flaunts the watch to Skyler when he returns home, bragging of how Jesse wanted to kill him a few weeks ago, but how he managed to bring him back around, just like he believes he'll bring Skyler around.

Walt rescues Skyler from her apparent suicide attempt and have a conversation with Hank and Marie about what to do next. Marie suggests she and Hank look after the kids to give Walt and Skyler space to work through their marriage, but admits that this was Skyler's idea when Walt questions her. After Hank and Marie go home, Walt chastises Skyler for being "shortsighted" with her plan. Skyler adamantly demands that the children not be at home with them while Walt conducts his illegal enterprise, in spite of Walt's assurances that they were the safest they had ever been now that he was in charge. Walt, stalking Skyler around the room as she backs away from him, demands Skyler explain just how she intends to keep his children away from him. Skyler suggests she have another self-injurious incident like at the pool, to which Walt counters that he would have her placed in a mental institute and raise the children by himself. Skyler states she will hurt herself and tell the police Walt abused her, but Walt shoots down that suggestion, stating that learning his father was a wife-beater would destroy Junior. Skyler claims she'll send Junior to boarding school, but Walt questions the logic in trying to convince Junior to uproot his entire school life so late in the school year and be separated from his friends.