All good things eventually have to come to an end and unfortunately for most of us, that means waiting another year for Breaking Bad. After Walt killed Mike in last week’s episode, ‘Say My Name’, I was wondering how Walt would be affected by killing someone who really didn’t need to die but it seems that Walt will remain the same emotionless monster that we’ve come to see throughout the entirety of this 5th season. So, last year’s season finale ended with a bang and a self proclaimed victory, how did this season end? Let’s find out.

The episode opens with Todd entering the Vamonos Pests garage that doubles as Walt’s operation headquarters with Todd eventually finding Walt spaced out sitting in front of a desk staring at a fly. In a concerning manner, Walt asks whether Todd was seen or followed. He claims he wasn’t and they approach Mike’s vehicle which contains his dead body in the trunk. Just as Walt and Todd are about to decompose the body, Jesse opens the garage and wants to talk to Walt in private. Jesse asks Walt about the Mike’s guys in prison and if Mike got out safely. Walt says that he’ll take care of Mike’s former henchmen and that Mike’s “gone”, although it seems as though Jesse just believed that Mike had gotten out of the country.

A little while later, Walt meets with Lydia at a diner where Walt demands the list of prison inmates that worked for Mike. She doesn’t want to give him the list of names because she feels that if she were to give the list up, Walt would have no use for her and kill her. So, she proposes that Walt expand his business to the Czech Republic where they could have a large market share and make a lot of money. Walt agrees to his proposition and as he leaves he reveals that he had the ricin poison underneath his hat during their whole conversation.

Walt tells Todd that he wants to get in touch with his uncle who has connections in prison. Todd sets up the meeting and they meet in a small hotel room. Todd’s uncle has connections with white supremacists whom are occupying all of the same prisons as the men on the list that Walt got from Lydia. Walt wants all the men, including the lawyer, killed all within 2 minutes and while Todd’s uncle protests that it can’t be done, Walt says, “Find a way. That’s what I’m paying you for.”. All the prisoners and the lawyer are killed in prison in a very well done montage sequence. Problem solved for Walt but this has a vastly negative effect on Hank’s yearning to be in his line of work which is confirmed when he reminisces about simpler jobs and times with Walt.

Nest, we’re treated to a scene that shows the passing of 3 months with successful cooks from Walt and Todd, money being laundered through the car wash and the transportation of meth to the Czech Republic. Marie mentions to Skyler that maybe after 3 months that she and Walt should take the children back but she’s still hesitant that Walt can’t provide a safe household for them. To convince Walt to leave the drug trade once and for all, Skyler takes Walt to a storage unit that she rent once she couldn’t launder any more of the money. She says that she tried to come up with a mathematical way of estimating the money but due to different bill denominations, there’s no way she’d ever be able to figure it out. The amount of money in the storage unit is more than they could spend in a number of lifetimes. Walt eventually agrees to bring his family back together and stop cooking.

After agreeing to quit the business, Walt visits Jesse at his home. He reminisces about pass adventures with Jesse in the early days of cooking meth. After their small chat, Walt begins to leave and Jesse looks real uneasy until Walt mentions that he left something for him. At the front door, a large duffle bag containing the $5 million methylamine money that was owed to him. Once inside his house, Jesse drops a pistol on the floor which he was going to use to defend himself again what he believed to be a hit on him by Walt. After that we witness a party at Walt’s house where we can assume that Walter Jr. and Holly have moved back into the house. Everyone’s laughing and having a great time. Hank goes to use the bathroom and stumbles on the poetry book Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman as reading material. Inside the book, Gretchen had written in the book to Walter, “…my other favorite W.W”. Hank remembers a conversation he had with Walt during the episode ‘Bullet Points’ about Heisenberg being W.W and he finally realizes, to his own shock and horror, that his brother-in-law is the man he’s been hunting.

A relatively slow paced finale in comparison to ones of recent memory but it still had it’s significant moments to make it an exceptional episode. So, what’s next for Walter White? What will Hank do with his theory that his brother-in-law is Heisenberg? Who will Walt be using that M60 machine gun that we saw in ‘Live Free or Die’? There are so many open possibilities to the start of next season and it’s ultimate end. Speculate all you want but we’ll have to wait another long year to see Breaking Bad’s conclusion.

The second to last episode of this shortened 5th season of Breaking Bad didn’t pull punches right from the opening bell. The introduction sequence for ‘Say My Name’ ranks as one of the best moments of television this year as Bryan Cranston may have just solidified another Primetime Emmy win for Lead Actor in a Drama Series. This week’s episode also contains the death of a major character which hasn’t happened since Gus Fring was killed in the fourth season finale. The episode moves quite quicker than most of the others have this season and major plot progression all leads up for the much anticipate close to the current season. Heisenberg wouldn’t like me taking up more time so I’ll gets to the events of the episode.

We start out presented with Walt, Mike and Jesse pulling up to another group vehicles in a remote deserted area. The cars currently there are that of the men from Phoenix that Mike and Jesse were trying to do business with last week. Walt takes center stage and gives the men an ultimatum. He proposes that the group of men take over their distribution for Mike (who’s retiring) and they’ll receive 35% for the total profits but their share will have to pay Mike’s $5 million buyout. After some discourse, the man becomes frustrated with Walt’s terms and demands to know his name. Walt throws the blue sky meth on the ground and demands, “Say my name.”. The man replies, “You’re Heisenberg.”, to which Walt growls, “You’re goddamn right!”. Epic!

The deal is a go and Mike gets his $5 million buyout money. He mentions to Walt that he needs to remove the bug from his brother-in-law’s office and says that he’ll pay the remaining legacy hazard payments out of his share. Jesse’s sad to see Mike leave their operation and says they should see each other which Mike replies that he doesn’t want to be visited by former co-workers. Jesse tries to convince Mike that he’s out too but Mike doesn’t believe that Walt will let Jesse leave so easily. We follow Mike a bit as he hears that the DEA’s warrant to search his house finally goes through. We then se him leaving a go bag in a locked trunk in an airport. The DEA, including Hank, arrive at Mike’s door with the warrant but come up short with finding anything concrete to arrest him. After a meeting with the DEA bosses, Hank is instructed to quit tracking Mike but instead digs a bit deeper into things and decides to have Gomez trail a lawyer who represents all Mike’s locked up crew. We’re shown the lawyer making the hazard payments but he is caught in the act and takes the lawyer into custody.

After Mike leaves, Jesse wants to talk about how he’ll get his share of $5 million but Walt wants his help with something. After Jesse helps Walt move the stolen methylamine from the his car wash back to their Vamanos Pest hideout. Afterwards, Jesse confronts Walt about wanting his money and leaving the business. Walt becomes enraged and says that Jesse has done nothing with his life and that they are on to bigger things with this empire Walt hopes to create. Jesse rejects this and Walt says he’s not going to pay Jesse as he storms off out of their hideout. After Jesse leaves, Walt is forced to make a quick replacement for his cook as he chooses Todd as a partner. Todd applies himself to Walt’s instructions but finishes the cook with a couple mistakes. When Walt goes to talk to Todd about money, Todd says they’ll worry about that when he gets everything right. Walt is impressed by his new partner and tells Skyler so at dinner where she walks off with a glass of wine to the bedroom in silence. The next day, Walt removes the bug from Hank’s office by pretending to be saddened by his crumpling relationship with Skyler.

At the DEA office, Walt overhears a conversation between Hank and Gomez talking about Mike’s whereabouts which they received from the lawyer who flipped. Walt calls Mike to inform him that the DEA are on his tail and Mike leaves the park where he was at with his granddaughter to escape capture. Mike then calls Saul from a remote location for him to locate the go bag. Saul refuses and Jesse’s request to get it is denied by Mike which leaves Walt to volunteer to retrieve the bag. Walt takes the bag from the car in the airport lot and opens it to notice a gun inside. Once Walt drives up to Mike’s location, they have a bit of a verbal exchange. Walt then demands that Mike give him the names of the men that they’re paying the hazard money to. Mike refuses and when he’s about to drive away, Walt shoots him through the window of his car. After being shot, Mike crashes the car and Walt follows quickly behind. Walt eventually finds Mike sitting on a log looking into a beautiful lake. Walt tries to apologize saying that he could’ve gotten the list from Lydia and Mike tells him to shut up and let him die in peace. We see Mike fall back from the log in silence.

Only one more episode left of Breaking Bad for the year. It’s been a quick 7 weeks and next week’s episode will be pivotal in setting up the second half of season 5, unless they’re calling it season 6. Anyway, as the last few season finales have been, I’m expecting a lot out of this episode so hopefully we’ll see something that would shock and amaze. Here’s a preview of the season finale ‘Gliding Over All’.

After the events of last week’s final moments in ‘Dead Freight’, Jesse, Walt, and Mike are contemplating their next move. This week’s episode of Breaking Bad, ‘Buyout’ mainly deals with the aftermath of the train heist and what the gang’s next step will be. While Mike and Jesse begin to think of greener pastures outside of the meth business, Walt has other ideas on where he sees his future heading and it sure as hell is not selling out. Let’s jump into this episode recap, shall we?

Immediately after returning from the heist of the train carrying the gang’s precious methylamine, the men begin to dismantle the boy’s dirt bike and dumping the scrap into a plastic barrel. They do the same to the young boy’s body and pour hydrofluoric acid to leave no trace of the remains. Afterwards, Todd tries to talk to Jesse about the rough day and Jesse loses it and punches him in the face. Later, Walt, Mike, and Jesse have a discussion ending with them agreeing to keep Todd on as part of their operation but on a very limited basis in dealing with the fumigations and setups of the house where they cook. As opposed to either killing him or paying him to keep quiet.

The next day we’re met with DEA officer Gomez as him and another stakeout Mike at the park watching his granddaughter play. Mike writes a note on a piece of paper before leaving and slips it underneath the trash can. Believing it to be a dead drop, Gomez retrieves the note to reveal an obscenity as a message to the DEA agent’s constant trailing. After listening into a call between Gomez and Hank, Mike decides that it may be too risky to continue involving himself in Walt’s new business venture. The next day he surprises Walt by telling him that he’s out. Even more shocking to Walt is that Jesse claims to want out as well. The pair plan to sell their third of the methylamine to a business man from Phoenix for around $5 million each and cash out. This would leave Walt with the remaining one-third to continue to operation or sell his share of the methylamine as well. As expected, Walt is severely opposed to this idea.

Jesse and Mike meet with the man whom they are willing to sell the methylamine but he was under the impression that by them selling the batch, they would also be ceasing the operation of the Blue Sky meth. The man refuses to buy the methylamine unless it’s all 1000 gallons. Meanwhile, Marie meets with Skyler where she tells Skyler to confess whatever she needs to get off her chest. Before Skyler spills the beans, Marie tells Skyler that she understands why should could be tempted to have the affair with Ted. Skyler plays along with her sister’s sensitivity but a furious look on her face tells it all.

Walt invites Jesse over to his home to discuss his and Mike’s eagerness to sell their portion of the methylamine. Walt tells Jesse how he used to be part of a once small company called Gray Matter. Due to certain circumstances, Walt sold his third of the business for $5,000 at the time. Currently the company that he helped create is worth over $2 billion. Walt doesn’t want this opportunity to slip away as they could easily make over $300 million on cooks from the methylamine they stole. He wants to create an empire with his product. The one which he missed out on with Gray Matter. Skyler then returns home from picking up precooked dinners from the supermarket where him and Skyler exchange awkward greetings. During dinner, Jesse keeps trying to compliment Skyler and tells her that Walt say nothing but nice things about her. She asks Jesse if Walt told him about her affair and leaves the dinner table with a bottle of wine and locks herself in her bedroom. Walt uses his loveless marriage and the fact that his kids are currently living with his in-laws to illustrate to Jesse that his meth business is really all he has.

The next day, Walt tries to break into the garage and steal the methylamine but Mike catches him an ultimately puts him in restraints. Mike then goes with Saul to pay a visit to Hank and Gomez where he threatens to gain a restraining order against the DEA for constant harassment. After their meeting, Mike listens in to the bug planted in Hank’s office where Hank says that he’ll lay off trailing Mike until the restraining order is thrown out. Walt breaks out of the restraints by sparking two electrical wires together while burning himself in the process. Afterwards he hides the methylamine and when Mike comes back he notices right away of the missing methylamine. Mike puts a gun to Walt’s head and is about to pull the trigger as Jesse’s screaming and saying that Walt has a plan to get them all what they want with Walt still keeping the methylamine.

Only two more episodes remaining and I still have so many questions unanswered. Looks like next week we’ll see the return of Walt calling himself Heisenberg minus the hat though. How will their meeting with the men from Phoenix go? We’ll have to find out in next week’s episode entitled ‘Say My Name’. Here’s a short preview!

It was a great train robbery night on AMC. Well, not really but both dramas, season premiere of Hell On Wheels and Breaking Bad, featured one of film making’s classic situations, train heists. While the two robberies were very different, I’d have to give the nod to Breaking Bad considering it was quite surprising, sans the episode title, and built the tension meter up to maximum. Without further ado, let’s see what ‘Dead Freight’ has in store for us.

The episode begins with a short and somewhat obscure scene where a young boy is off road dirt biking through the desert wasteland. He comes across a tarantula and puts it in a jar that was stored in his jacket pocket. Ok…? After the title screen, we’re shown Walt visiting his brother-in-law at in his new office as he was promoted due to his suspicions on Fring. Walt tells Hank that his relationship with Skyler has totally collapsed because she doesn’t love him anymore. Feeling uneasy by Walt’s crocodile tears, Hank leaves Walt in his office alone for a couple minutes where Walt takes the opportunity to plant an audio bug in a picture of Hank and Marie.

Next we find Walt, Jesse and Mike holding a tied up Lydia in what looks to be a large damp basement. Mike accuses Lydia of planting the GPS unit of the barrel of methylamine and forces her to call Hank at the DEA office to see if he was responsible for planting the device. Hank says that he didn’t know anything about it and they listen in on a call between Hank and Gomez where he says that their office wasn’t behind planting the unit. Right as Mike is about to pull the trigger as his gun is pressed up against Lydia’s temple, Hank phones the Houston DEA office where the man says they had planted the tracking device. With their batch of methylamine now gone at the Madrigal warehouse, the gang has to decide what to do about Lydia. Thinking quickly as he life was still in jeopardy, Lydia tells the men that she knows where they can get an enormous amount of methylamine.

Lydia spills the details about this “ocean” of methylamine which is transported by train throughout the south west. Luckily for Walt and the others, the train passes through a remote, dead area (no communication) of New Mexico where they could potentially be able to rip off the train. Mike is extremely cautious about this idea considering that the department of homeland security would be on them almost instantly if they were to hold up, kill or even if the train weighed in significantly different at it’s weigh station at the next stop. Lydia goes over all the details with Walt, Jesse and Mike including the number of people on the train and the weight of the methylamine contents. When mulling over their options, Jesse has an epiphany (much like the magnets) on how they can steal the methylamine without the conductor or engineer even knowing they did so. To do this, they bury two 1000-gallon tanks underneath the trestle that the train is going over. They also get help from Todd who works for Vamonos Pests to help with the heist.

Back at the home front, Walter Jr. is upset with his living situation and decides that he’s going to move back home at the expensive of Skyler’s fears. When Walt arrives home, Skyler says that he got what he wanted but Walt tells his son to stay with his aunt and uncle. Walter Jr. asks for an explanation which Walt give him the old “we’re your parents and we say so” answer. Lydia later phones Mike about when the next shipment of methylamine will be coming through their state and the time of arrival. The heist begins with a diversion. Mike employ’s one of his guys to park a dump truck on the railroad tracks. He desperately tries to get the train conductor’s attention and eventually they stop quite close to the “broken down” dump truck. The conductor and engineer leave the train to try and help the man fix his truck. Once the conductor and engineer leave the vehicle, Jesse and Todd go to work by opening the contents of the tank containing the methylamine. Jesse hooks a hose up with the bottom of the truck that’s connected to the empty 1000-gallon tanks located underground. Todd is tasked with opening the top of the methylamine tank where they will be adding water to balance the weight of the tank once they have taken enough methylamine out of the tank. The plan goes well for a while until a good Samaritan comes along and pushes the dump truck off the tracks. After getting the remaining amount of their supply, Jesse almost gets run over by the train but barely slithers between the rails while Todd is forced to jump from the moving train to remain undetected.

Walt, Jesse and Todd celebrate their seemingly impossible task. Although, not everything turned out well as the young boy who was on the dirt bike in the beginning of the episode shows up and interrupts their party. Remember Mike’s words to kill anyone that sees them, Todd pulls out a gun and shoots the boy as Jesse screams, “No!”. The boy falls off the bike as the camera focuses on the tarantula in the jar the falls out of his jacket pocket on recoil.

‘Dead Freight” was, in my opinion, the most exciting and shocking episode of this shortened fifth season. I can’t believe there’s only 3 episodes left as Jesse, Walt and Mike have just begun their next venture into the drug trade. While things seem to be going well, next week’s episode will test the gang’s nerves as their may be some dissension between the men. Here’s a short preview of next week’s episode entitled ‘Buyout”.

Happy birthday Walter White! This week’s Breaking Bad celebrated another year in the life of the man known as Heisenberg. While last week we were treated to the next step in Walt, Jesse and Mike’s meth business but they seem to have hit a brick wall with their supply of methylamine in jeopardy. This episode mainly focuses on Walt’s relationship with Skyler and his family as he constantly transforms from the family man Skyler once knew into an uncontrollable monster. So, let the family drama begin!

‘Fifty-One’ begins with Walt and Walter Jr. at the mechanic’s shop where he finally got his old car fixed after the damages it ensued during last season. Walt eventually sells the fixed car to the mechanic for $50 which leads to a cheesy scene where Walt and Walter Jr. get sports cars and rev their engines while dubstep music plays in the background. Cue the intro music. Next we jump over to Madrigal Enterprises where we’re met with nervous nelly Lydia as she realizes that she’s wearing two different high heels. An omen perhaps? Mike calls he explaining that the police will be in her office in under a minute. She’s met with Hank and Gomez whom she leads to the Madrigal warehouse where they store the methylamine. She leads Hank and Gomez to the foreman, Ron, whom they arrest instantly. Lydia calls Mike in a panic but Mike assures her that Ron won’t talk just like the rest of his men and that he’d send over a new guy to help he with the next methylamine delivery.

Later that day, Walt gives Skyler a stack of money to launder through their business. Skyler asks Walt if he’s back at it which Walt responds that he needs to make back the $600,000 that they gave to Ted. Skyler then mentions to Walt they she should send the kids to boarding school which Walt shoots down immediately and then tells Skyler that she should try a birthday party for him. The next day, Hank is offered the open position as head of his DEA office which would lead him to have to give up being a field agent thus ending his personal tailing of Heisenberg. For Walt’s birthday, Hank and Marie join Walt, Skyler and Walter Jr. for a meal that Skyler bought at the grocery store and heated up in the microwave. After dinner, Walter Jr. leaves and while Walt is making a disguised heartfelt speech about his yearlong battle with cancer, Skyler walks deeper and deeper into the swimming pool. Walt dives in and pulls her out of the cold water.

Meanwhile, Jesse arrives at Madrigal to help Lydia with the methylamine delivery. He picks up the barrel which Lydia had erased from the database but Lydia notices a GPS on the barrel that she believes was put there by the police. Back at Walt’s house, Walt, Marie and Hank discuss what had just happened with Skyler. Walt knows that Marie had earlier told Hank about Skyler’s affair with Ted and Marie suggests that the kids stay with her or Hank for a night or two until her and Walt resolve some of their problems. Walt later confronts Skyler about her sideshow act during dinner which Skyler says that she would do anything to get her children out of the dangerous environment that is their home. Walt challenges her on her plan to rid the kids of their home and shoots down every one of her ideas with a logical answer to why they can’t leave. Skyler shoots back saying that she’s got a plan but she’ll have to wait for Walt’s cancer to return.

The next day at their headquarters, Vamonos Pests garage, Walt, Jesse and Mike discuss their next move after being unsuccessful getting the methylamine from the Madrigal warehouse. Mike figures that Lydia had planted the GPS unit on the barrel because of how amateur the job had been. If it were the police they would’ve put the unit inside the methylamine barrel instead of on the bottom where it could be seen. Mike immediately says that he’s going to go kill her and Jesse attempts to stop him. Walt, not caring about Lydia’s life, says that they need to keep the methylamine flowing and that their business will not stall. After the meeting, Jesse gives Walt an expensive watch as a birthday present.

When Walt arrives home from their meeting, Skyler is chain smoking and ashing her cigarettes in his brand new 51st birthday coffee mug. No doubt hoping that the smoke will help contribute to the return of his cancer. Walt informs her that there will be money coming in sometime soon. Walt then proceeds to tell Skyler about how Jesse had tried to kill him only recently and now had bought him a watch for his birthday. He tells her that Jesse’s opinion of him had changed over time and so will hers. The episode ends with a close-up of the watch ticking loudly.

What drama! Lots of internal conflicts brought to light as Walt’s deceptions continue to take place. Next Sunday’s episode should be a barn burner as everyone’s favorite fanatic, Lydia, seems to have herself in some hot water with the gang. Can Lydia make it out alive? Here’s a preview of next week’s episode ‘Dead Freight’.

Walt and Jesse are back in business in this week’s episode of Breaking Bad. After Mike joined up with their brand new cook project in last week’s episode, ‘Madrigal’, the guys are eager to make some money. ‘Hazard Pay’ is a pretty formulaic episode without any of the curveballs that may have appeared in the earlier episodes of previous seasons. This episode addresses the humorless instances of last week’s episode and greets the audience with some chuckles and lighthearted moments but also pounds more emphasis into the ever evolving monster that Walter White has become. Time to jump into the events of this week’s entry into the series.

The episode opens with Mike entering a prison disguised as a paralegal to visit one of his men whom was serving 8 years. The man mentions that the RICO Act has taken away the hazard pay Gus put away in the account in the Caymans in case something would happen to him or his operation. Mike tells the man that he will be taken care of even though the DEA recovered all the cash stored away for Mike’s employees. The man assures Mike that he won;t talk but he couldn’t vouch for others whom were in prison elsewhere. Mike leaves the prison saying to the man posing as a lawyer that he need to visit all him men that same day. After this we are shown a short scene where Walt begins to move back into his house as Skyler tries to talk him out of it with a look of horror on her face.

Mike, Jesse, and Walt meet with Saul to discuss taking the next step and starting up their business. Saul is hesitant to work with Mike due to him threatening Saul towards the end of last season. Mike insists that he should take control of all of the business aspects of their dealings. Walt and Jesse accept this proposal and they begin hunting for places to set up their cook lab. No location worked for them so Walt comes up with the idea to never cook in the same place. This plan could only be attained with the help of another company. The men team up with pesticide house bombers by the name of Vamonos Pests so they could infiltrate a house, cook there without anyone knowing and then set off the pesticides to finish off the operation. The men of Vamonos Pest were more than happy to give up the burglary game to get their cut using the house they fumigate as cook labs. We also get a glimpse of Jesse’s old crew mates Badger and Skinny Pete as they buy roadie equipment so Walt and Jesse can store their lab equipment which they could be disguised as fumigation paraphernalia.

While Jesse and Walt were discussing plans on their upcoming cook when Jesse’s girlfriend, Andrea, and her son, Brock, enter where they invite Walt for dinner. As Jesse and Andrea leave enter the kitchen, Walt is awkwardly stuck on the couch alone with Brock whom he had poisoned at the end of last season. Meanwhile, Marie visits Skyler at the car wash where she brings up the subject of Walt’s 51st birthday. Skyler says that she doesn’t want to do anything for the event and Marie starts pressing her on it. Skyler then completely flips out and repeats “Shut up!” over and over until she breaks down into tears. Walt and Jesse’s first house cook goes without a problem and we’re treated to a cool montage sequence as they work. After the cook is finished, Walt pretends to be interested with Jesse’s relationship with Andrea and tells him that he may eventually have to disclose all his dealings with her one day. This ultimately leads to Jesse deciding to break off his relationship with Andrea.

Marie visits Walt to talk about Skyler’s behavior when she was visiting her at the car wash. Walt lies and tells Marie about her affair with Ted and that she is unhealthily concerned about his wellbeing. Marie leaves abruptly and completely shocked by the news of her sister’s affair. Skyler emerges from the bedroom hours later as she witnesses in horror as her family sits around the television watching the final scene of Scarface. Foreshadowing perhaps of a drug dealer tycoon’s rise and fall as his family and loved ones are cut down tragically in the end? Mike distributes their shares from their first cook and begins taking out for all those whom were a part of the cook such as Saul, Vamonos Pests, drivers, etc. Walt becomes increasingly angry as his pile of money keeps dwindling with each contributor. Once Mike mentions that they each have to take money out of their share for Mike’s personal employee’s hazard pay, Walt loses it. To end Walt’s complaining Jesse offers to pay both of their shares but Walt reluctantly concedes and pays the hazard pay money. After everything taken out they only made about $150,000 for their high risk cook. When leaving the place where they split the money, Walt mentions Gus’ man Victor and why he believes that Gus cut his throat. This little story hints that Walt will not hesitate to clear out those who get in his way.

With Walt and Jesse just getting started with their newest operation, there may be a couple hurdles in their way in the upcoming weeks. Next week’s episode entitled ‘Fifty-One’ clearly hints at Walt’s 51st birthday. I wonder what kind of celebration we’ll see on Sunday. Here’s a promo of next week’s installment.

Before the airing of season 5 of Breaking Bad, director Vince Gilligan had said that these 8 episodes had been the most humorous of the entire series. In the opening episode of the season, ‘Live Free or Die’, there were some laugh of loud moments which mostly involved Jesse, magnets and the word “bitch”. From Gilligan’s statements, I had expected Sunday’s episode to be on a similar scale of humor but that was far from the case. ‘Madrigal’ is a return to the gritty and serious tone of the show that we’ve witnessed throughout it’s duration. The pacing of ‘Madrigal’ is very similar to that of last week as we’re moving closer and closer to the end of this short season. Let’s jump into episode 2′s recap.

The first image we’re shown is an older man whom is tasting new kinds of condiments in front of a group of people. We soon find out that the location is Germany and the man is Peter Schuler, head of fast food operations at Madrigal Electromotive, whom is a parent company for Los Pollos Hermanos. Mr. Schuler gets word from his assistant that the police are in the office to question him and Schuler calmly avoids the police officers and strolls to the bathroom but not before picking up a defibrillator. He uses the defibrillator to commit suicide by making his heart stop so the police couldn’t find out his relationship with Gus Fring.

Back in New Mexico, we find out that Walt had kept the poisonous ricin cigarette all along. He had switched out the ricin cigarette for one with salt and had given it to Jesse which he then used the lilly of the valley plant to poison Jesse’s girlfriend’s son so Walt could convince Jesse to help him kill Gus. Walt falsely helps Jesse search his house for the deadly (fake) cigarette which they eventually find in his floor cleaning robot. Walt quickly flushes the fake cigarette down the toilet knowing full well that the real poison is in his bedroom taped behind a plug socket. Jesse breaks down crying while apologizing for almost killing Walt at the end of last season. The pair then make their way to Mike’s house to offer him a partnership in their new operation. Mike declines telling Jesse that Walt is a dangerous time bomb. The pair then visit Saul whom suggests that with Gus’ death they should quit the drug trade but with the money Walt owes Jesse and that Skyler lent Ted, he has almost nothing left. The biggest hurdle in starting up their next operation is getting their hands on methylamine.

Next we’re met with Hank Schrader whom is meets with the CEO of Madrigal Electromotive whom assures the police that Schuler’s actions were an isolated incident and that they will do everything in their power to aid in the police investigation. Afterwards, we learn that Hank’s boss has been forced into retirement due to his inability to suspect Gus as being a high up man in the drug trade. He tells a story about how he had Gus over for dinner and was shocked to find out that he was living a double life. He ponders about who else could be leading a double life as the camera conveniently zooms in on Hank. Next we follow Mike as he meets a mysterious woman in a diner. This woman, Lydia has some connection to Gus and his operation as she is completely nervous about their meeting. She gives Mike a list of 11 name whom she wants him to kill but the list contains the names of all of Mike’s hired guys and that Gus had paid them to keep their mouth’s shut in case something would happen to him and his operation. He assures her that they won’t talk and leaves somewhat infuriated.

Mike is then called into the police station for questioning where he meets one of his men Chow whom took care of getting methylamine for their operation. Chow looked incredibly frightened and nervous coming from questioning. Mike plays dumb during Hank’s grilling question session and is about to leave when Hank drops a bombshell that they know about Gus’ account in the Cayman’s that has $2 million in the name of Mike’s granddaughter. Mike retains that he doesn’t know anything about it and leaves.

Mike then receives a phone call from Chow saying that they have to meet. Mike says that they’ll meet in 2 hours as he’s babysitting his granddaughter as we see Chow being held against his will by a man with a silencer pistol. Mike uses one of his granddaughter’s toys to distract the masked man at the front door as he sneaked around the back of the house. The masked man, Chris, is actually a former worker for Mike and Lydia paid him to kill all the men on the list for $10,000 a head and Mike was worth $30,000. Mike did not come in time to save Chow, whom was shot in the head, but he took care of Chris once he knew that Lydia was behind the hit.

Mike hunts down Lydia to her home and gets the jump on her. Right before he is about to execute her, he reconsiders and asks her if she could get her hands on methylamine. Mike calls Walt and tells him that he’s changed his mind and is in on their operation. The episode ends as Walt is trying to seduce a frightened Skyler. He mentions that her fear of him and what he does will go away because they are a family. Once again, the episode closes with a look of terror on Skyler’s face which may be a glimpse of things to come.

A much darker episode than last week and we’re moving quickly along. The preview for next week’s episode hints at a power struggle between Walt and Mike as their new partnership in the meth trade is underway. Here’s a small glimpse of next week’s episode ‘Hazard Pay’. See you then!

After what seems like an eternity, a brand new Breaking Bad episode has finally returned on AMC. After the explosive finale to season 4, we pick up at the exact moment where Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) left off. With the death of Walt and Jesse’s former boss and meth distributor, they face a couple major setbacks before they can make the decision of whether they’re out of the cooking game or not. The first being that with Gus Fring’s (Giancarlo Esposito) death comes a huge investigation into his operations which could lead to Walt and Jesse being discovered as accomplices and covering their tracks. Can Walt and Jesse erase police suspicion with all the information Gus had on his operations? Let’s find out!

Ok, I lied. The show doesn’t exactly pick up where we left off at the end of last season. We’re actually introduced to Walt sometime in the future at a Denny’s restaurant. His food order is up and he breaks his bacon into the numbers “52″ which he tell the waitress that today is his birthday. Walt’s appearance is notably different as he’s sporting a full head of hair and thick rimmed glasses. He meets with Lawson (whom sold him a pistol in season 4) in the bathroom where Walt exchanges a bag of money for car keys. Walt leaves the Denny’s but not before giving the waitress a $100 tip for an uneaten meal. He opens the truck of the car to reveal an M60 automatic machine gun with a number of ammunition boxes.

Cut back to present day, Walt rushes home to dispose of the pipe bomb ingredients and the lily of the valley plant which he used to poison Jesse’s girlfriend’s son to convince Jesse that Gus had to be killed. Skyler and Walter Jr. come home soon after he disposes the incriminating material in the trunk of his car. Walter Jr. is excited to see that the media attention that Fring’s death is getting and the recognition his Uncle Hank may get for being suspect that Fring may be Heisenberg. Skyler rushes into the bedroom without talking to Walt. He follows her in assuring her that they’re safe and everything’s going to be alright. She responds by saying that she’s afraid of Walt. Walt then remembers that their lab had video cameras recording all their work. We’re then met with Hank Schrader whom is investigating the destoryed lab where he noticed the melted video camera on the wall.

what seems like the next day, we meet Gus’s enforcer, Mike, as he’s fully recovered from the gunshot wound that he received when Gus poisoned and killed Don Eladio. Mike’s doctor receives a phone call and tells Mike that Gus has been killed. Mike races off in his car meeting Walt and Jesse on the way there as they were looking for Mike to get information on Gus’s security equipment. Mike pulls a gun on Walt and would most likely have shot if Jesse hadn’t talked him down. Walt explains that they need to find where the security camera are being transmitted to which Mike tell them that the recorded footage is on a laptop in Gus’s off at his restaurant Los Pollos Hermanos. Unfortunately for Walt, Jesse, and Mike, The police had bagged the laptop into evidence.

They soon find out that the laptop was taken to the Albuquerque Police Department. Mike tries to convince Walt and Jesse to go on the run but Jesse comes up with the idea of using a magnet to destroy the laptop’s hard drive. They go to a junkyard and purchase an old moving truck, 42 car batteries and a large magnet used for moving cars in the junkyard. The initial test of the magnets worked so well that Jesse screamed, “Yeah, bitch! Magnets!” Meanwhile, Skyler finds out Ted is in the hospital (not dead as I had presumed) having suffered from severe neck injuries. Skyler visits Ted where he swears to her that he won’t say a word about what happened.

Mike breaks Walt and Jesse, whom are driving the truck, into the police facility. They roll up on the curb and park next to the evidence room. Walt turns the magnet on and it worked even more effectively than when first test. To make sure that the laptop was truly destroyed, Walt cranks the magnet’s force to the max which causes their van to tip up against the wall of the police station. They escape the police station and Walt assures Mike that the laptop was destroyed. We do indeed see the destroyed laptop but during the clean up the police find a piece of paper in a picture of Gus which has information to a bank account in the Cayman Islands. We next see Walt talking to Saul about Saul not consulting him on the whole business with his wife and Ted. They argue a bit and Saul tries to end their business relationship which Walt doesn’t allow. Skyler apologizes to Walt about not telling him and they hug where the final shot shows a look of fear on Skyler’s face.

A nice start of the new season but it’s a shame that this season will only have another 7 episodes. Next week we’ll probably see Walt trying to take the offensive now that Gus is out of the picture. Here’s a glimpse of next week’s episode entitled ‘Madrigal’. See you next week!

 
HBO’s hit drama Boardwalk Empire is returning for it’s 3rd season on September 16th at 9PM. Boardwalk Empire was renewed for a third season in October 2011 as it’s season finale hit season high viewership. After a thrilling conclusion to season 2, Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi) and the rest of the gang will be attempting to make Atlantic City the premier location for entertainment and illegal alcohol. Not much is known about the specifics on what to expect from the new season as a trailer has yet to be released but we look forward to future announcements.

All good things must come to an end. Luckily for Game of Thrones, it’s only the end of season 2. Well, luck really doesn’t have too much to do with it considering viewership for the HBO hit show has maintained a million more viewers than last season and is one of HBO’s most watched programs. Ratings aside, the overall quality of the show doesn’t slow up in ‘Valar Moghulis’ as the episode closes out the season but leaves a great deal of questions and excitement for next year. Let’s get going with the recap.

Post siege King’s Landing is a great place for the Lannisters at the moment. Well, everyone except Tyrion as he suffered a nasty slash wound to his face and had been stripped of his title of Hand of the King. Tywin’s return to King’s Landing leads him to take back his role as Hand of the King from his son, Tyrion, and King Joffrey names Tywin savior of the city. Loras Tyrell is also honored by Joffrey and requests that Joffrey and his sister, Margaery, be wed so their houses could join. Joffrey is hesitant with the proposal as he made a vow to wed Sansa but Cersei and Grand Maester Pycelle say that the vow is null due to the treason of her father and brother. Leaving the throne room with a smile on her face, Sansa is soon reminded by Petr Baelish that Joffrey is not one to let his toys leave his sight. Jumping back to Tyrion in his recovery chamber, Varys meets with him exclaiming that he is a hero who will go unwritten and that they will probably not see much of each other from then on. Shae comes to see a withered Tyrion where she suggests that they move back to her homeland and live out their lives in peace. Tyrion refuses saying that matching wits with those in King’s Landing is the happiest times he’s ever had. He and Shae profess their love for each other but it seems as though the dangers of living in King’s Landing will follow them into the next season.
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