Thirty-Eight Snub
Fearful for his life after his "talk" with Gus the other day, Walt meets with an arms dealer named Lawson to purchase a gun. The gun he ultimately decides on is a Ruger light compact revolver with .38 snub ammo.
Meanwhile, Jesse buys a new sound system for his home, which he shows off to Badger and Skinny Pete. He then offers them meth. Badger and Skinny Pete are both reluctant, having been invested in their rehab group, but Jesse manages to coax them to fall off the wagon. Eventually, they invite other people over for a dance party at Jesse's house, mainly so Jesse can take his mind off of his guilt over Gale's death...
As Hank takes up collecting and examining minerals to help him cope with his disability after the cartel's attack and his struggles with physical therapy, he becomes increasingly cold and distant to Marie. Skyler calls Walt about his dragging his feet in purchasing Bogdan's car wash to launder their money. Walt is cross with Skyler for discussing the matter over a phone, but Skyler insists that if Walt won't "pull the trigger", she'd contact Saul and do it herself.
Back at the lab, Walt conceals his gun, in case Gus enters. Gus does not come, however: instead, he is greeted by Tyrus Kitt, Victor's replacement, and Mike, who institutes a "second weighing" policy. Walt asks Mike if he can talk with Gus so he can "clear the air", but Mike dismisses him, stating that Walt will never see him again.
At his house, Jesse keeps the party going when he is visited by Andrea. Outside, Andrea, who is concerned for Jesse after he had been absent from rehab, asks about an envelope of cash that she had received on the night of Tomás' murder. Jesse admits to giving her the money, and advises her to use the money to move herself and Brock to a better neighborhood before returning to his house party.
That night, Walt decides to try and take out Gus at his home. As he approaches Gus' front doorstep, however, Tyrus calls him and tells him to "go home". Walt looks around, but can't find anyone watching him. It's clear that Gus and Tyrus have eyes on him and are watching his every move.
The following day, Skyler visits Bogdan at his car wash to discuss buying out his business. Bogdan asks for ten million dollars. Skyler counters with an offer of approximately $800,000, based on research that she did on the car wash and the industry, to which Bogdan counters with a price of twenty million dollars. He recognizes Skyler as Walt's wife, talks about how he acted on the day he quit, and belittles Walt, stating that he wasn't man enough to come and "sends his woman" to do his dirty work for him, pissing Skyler off.
At a bar, Walt meets with Mike. Walt clarifies to Mike that everything he had done, from killing Gus' two dealers to having Jesse murder Gale, was done out of loyalty to his partner and self-defense; but Mike barely heeds his excuses and instead asks about his gun, which he noticed when he visited Walt at the lab. Walt tells Mike that they are both in the "same boat": that if Gus could kill Victor as casually as he had, what's to stop him from killing Mike as well? Walt asks Mike to get him alone in a room with Gus, so he could "do the rest".
After a moment or two's thought, Mike socks Walt in the face and kicks him on the ground. His loyalty to Gus is without question, and Walt would never be able to turn him...
Meanwhile, the party at Jesse's house finally winds down. The other revelers head home while Badger and Skinny Pete admit that they are exhausted from the last few days of non-stop partying. Jesse now finds himself alone in his house, with nothing but the loud beats of his sound system and his personal demons for company...
This episode provides examples of:
- Answer Cut: Jesse regards his house. "You know what this place needs?" Cut to a raging party that last for 3 straight days.
- Bait-and-Switch: It looks like Gus is coming into the lab to talk to Walt and Jesse, and Walt... prepares to greet him. Turns out it's just Tyrus Kitt, Victor's replacement.
- Berserk Button: Mike seems to have a berserk button when it comes to disloyalty, revealed when Walt tries to turn Mike against Gus, fishing for a way to get in a room with their ruthless boss so that Walt can kill him. Mike manages to calmly listen to the entire spiel, but afterwards he nonetheless beats Walt up for even suggesting such a thing.
- Binge Montage: Jesse gets Badger and Skinny Pete to fall off the wagon in spectacular fashion.
- Blatant Lies: Walt's repeated claims to the gun dealer that his new revolver is for "strictly defense." The dealer isn't fooled for a minute.
- "Cavemen vs. Astronauts" Debate: Badger and Skinny Pete have a lengthy debate about various zombie video games and the merits of their respective zombies.
- Continuity Nod: Jesse's party gets the same "doesn't cut the pie" pizza that Walter used to make an impromptu roof-frisbee.
- Saul has a new commercial that shows on a bar TV. It's directed squarely at people affected by the plane crash.
- Chekhov's Gun: Literal, with the revolver Walt buys in the Cold Open.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Walt tells Mike that Gus is going to kill them both, and pleads with Mike to get him (and his new gun) into a room with Gus. Mike responds by kicking the shit out of Walt.
- Didn't See That Coming: For the past few episodes, Skyler has been adamant to both Walter and Saul Goodman that buying the car wash Walt used to work at would be a significantly better and less suspicious investment than buying a random Lazer Tag building, since Walter has much more connection to the former. She clearly never suspected that Bogdan would be resentful of Walter quitting his job without warning, and so has no counteroffers when he insists on being paid between 10 to 20 million dollars out of spite for what happened.
- Downer Ending: After failing to keep his party going any longer, Jesse (alone in his house for the first time in days) proceeds to blast music on his stereo and sit next to one of the speakers. And as the wiki puts it:
- Head-Turning Beauty The reason Badger is partial to Resident Evil 4 - the "chick you've got to rescue" is very easy on the eyes.
- I Have to Iron My Dog: Badger's excuse for leaving Jesse's epic bacchanal: "I got, like, this cat? I think I'm supposed to feed it?"
- Insistent Terminology: Hank, to Marie: "This is not a rock. This is a mineral, for like the tenth time!" The second straight episode this happens.
- Nothing Is Scarier: Walt parks his car across the street from Gus' house and starts walking towards it firearm in hand, late at night with no other cars or people nearby. Then, he's interrupted by a call from Tyrus who simply states "Go home, Walter." He looks around, but can find no sign at all of anyone watching him.
- Off the Wagon: Badger and Skinny Pete both try to keep sober, but Jesse manages to tempt them back into taking meth.
- Our Zombies Are Different: Discussed at length between Badger and Skinny Pete after falling Off the Wagon as they excitedly compare zombies from Left 4 Dead, Resident Evil 4, and Call of Duty: Zombies.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Discussed. The Arms Dealer that Walt buys his gun from informs him that if Walt only plans on using the firearm in legitimate self-defense (as he insists is the case), he'd be much better off purchasing it legally from a gun store so as not to run the risk of being caught with a defaced firearm in case he ever does have to use it.
- Quick Draw: Downplayed. The gun dealer watches Walt's feeble attempts at quick-drawing during the purchase, and tells Walt he'll have to work on it... a lot.
- Revolvers Are Just Better: "If you're looking for reliability, nothing beats a wheel-gun."
- Shout-Out:Badger: I've been awake for like three straight days. I'm turning into a Sleestak.
- Stimulant Speedtalk: Badger and Skinny Pete get back on meth at Jesse's insistence, and immediately start rambling on about depictions of zombies in video games, to the point that they're left too high to notice that Jesse is clearly in the middle of a mental breakdown.
- Title Drop: By the dealer during the Cold Open. Walt chooses it for his purchase.
