Breaking Bad Review: “Buried”

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As Walter White’s life starts to unravel, so do the lives of everyone else around him. This week we focused on the show’s favorite punching bag, Skyler, who despite being a much reviled character over the years, is integral to how everything is going to play out between Walt and Hank from here on out.

After their showdown in their garage, both Hank and Walt’s immediate reaction is to call Skyler. Hank gets to her first, and she goes to meet him at a diner. Hank, thinking this is all very cut and dry, wants to get admissible testimony from Skyler on the spot, while Skyler is suddenly realizing she could be in a very large amount of trouble herself.

I spent this entire episode trying to figure out what the hell Skyler was thinking, and by the end, I still didn’t have any idea. I don’t know what was going through her head in any of these scenes. At first, I thought that she was simply scared that she could get in trouble for aiding Walt in his criminal enterprises. Yes, she’s committed a laundry list of crimes herself, but isn’t it fairly obvious she could get immunity for testifying against Walt and turning over everything she knows? He would go away, and she could live in witness protection with her family, or something similar. Hasn’t this been what she’s essentially wanted all along?

Then I thought that maybe she was just so scared of Walt himself, that she didn’t want to turn against him for fear he may have her killed. That’s a good reason I suppose, until you question the fact that if that was the case, why did she agree to meet Hank in the first place? By ducking Walt’s calls and bailing on the car wash, that sent a very obvious signal to Walt was she was doing, so fear can’t really be a motivator.

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Then…she loves him? I was incredibly confused by where we ended the night, with her saying things like “we should lay low.” Is she genuinely siding with Walt here even as the game is obviously up? And how does that jive with her past character progression where she’s wanted Walt dead and/or gone for a good long while now?

So really, none of these make sense. If she’s concerned about her own safety and the safety of her kids, her best bet would obviously be to throw her lot in with Hank, and get herself and  her family somewhere secure. Her testimony could have Walt behind bars immediately, but now the situation she’s put herself in is the worst of both worlds. She’s being uncooperative with Hank and Marie, but Walt is already assuming she’s made a deal with them. What the hell is she thinking?

Hank, meanwhile, is being more rational. He recognizes the fact that once he brings this to his colleagues, his career is over. To do so he needs hard proof of Walt’s guilt so that once he is let go, at least he can be the one who finally took down Heisenberg. I respect his line of thought here, even if he is putting himself at risk by sharing this knowledge between only himself and Marie. Risky, considering how many people Walt has killed/ has ordered killed.

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Perhaps the most surprising part of the night was Walt outright rejecting the idea of killing Hank as a solution to his most recent problem. I think we view him as such a monster now, it’s almost strange to see him actually not considering murder as an option, when I thought it would be a given. But “family is family” which theoretically means Hank, Marie and Skyler are safe. But I have a hunch this season is going to be all about getting Walt to break that rule.

There was death in the air, as Lydia had Todd’s uncle’s neo-Nazi crew take out the crappy meth cookers who had taken over for Walt and made the quality of the batches go to shit. So, what exactly is the plan here? Master Chef Todd who had cooked a handful of times with WW is now going to take over things? What could go wrong?  I’m wondering how the current handling of the meth business will play into Walt’s new situation, as the two seem rather disjointed at present, but I guess that may change.

The episode concluded with Hank about to interrogate Jesse, who was caught by the police (how exactly? did he turn himself in?) for throwing millions of dollars out of his car into a neighborhood. That kind of cash only comes from serious drug connections, and Hank has likely pieced together that Jesse worked with Walt in some capacity. I have no earthly idea why Jesse wouldn’t want to turn on Walt at this point, as his current state of deep depression as a result of Mike and motocross kid’s death is directly tied to his former boss. Granted, he hates Hank, so that’s a bit of a hurdle, but if he has nothing else to live for, why not try to take down Walt? Perhaps Jesse will be more valuable to Hank than Skyler. Honestly, he’s the only character I really hope makes it out of this alive, which probably means he won’t.

Tense. Tense. Tense. These last few episodes are proving to be worth the wait. See you next week.

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15 Comments

  1. I think the 2 pieces of information that you’re missing that help make sense of Skylar’s reactions were: The realization that Hank doesn’t actually have any real evidence thus far, and the revelation that Walt’s cancer is back and he doesn’t have long to live.

    Before those things came out, I think she would have eventually worked with Hank, but when she realizes he basically has nothing without her, and when she realizes that Walt’s days are numbered, she comes to decide she can keep her family (and the illusion of its normalcy) intact by staying quiet and riding it out. Out of love for what Walt used to be and out of not wanting to see his kids realize the truth about him (and also, pragmatically, out of wanting to keep that money) she decides to stick with him.

  2. While I was reading the part that Walt doesn’t want to kill Hank because he’s family, I thought of the possibility that there’s gonna be an arc where Walt does want to kill Hank. This would show Walt going even further, and Hank and Marie have said they want revenge and need to catch Walt. So Walt doesn’t want to kill Hank yet, but he wants to survive more so when it comes to it…

    I also found Skyler a bit hard to get this episode, but maybe that was intentional. Skyler hardly knew what to do and is problably stuck between two worlds. She’s an acomplice to Walt and knew his secrets for a long time now. She has actually pretty much committed herself to Walt’s life, laundering his money, keeping his secrets, etc. On the other hand she still hates Walt on some level and wants him to get caught so that she can have a happy life again.

    What Corey said (first comment) also makes sense.

  3. I think Skyler was affraid to go down with Walt. When Hank pulled out the recorder in the diner, she almost panicked. She had lied to Marie and Hank for so long, and partaken in laundering all that money. Later on she probably realized, all Hank knew was theory. He lacked the evidence to do much really. Skyler thinks her and Walt can walk free as long as they don’t talk.

  4. In addition to what was said in the above comments about Skyler, consider the fact that if she cooperates with Hank she would have to admit her role in everything and would be diminished in the eyes of her son. Also, her son might see her betrayal of his father as an unforgivable sin. She would rather alienate Hank and her sister than alienate her son.

  5. Don’t underestimate the influence of her children on Skyler’s actions. We saw Marie attempt to take the baby and the confrontation that provoked. I think the kids are going to be a big chess piece in the final episodes.

  6. I think it’s strongly implied that the man who discovered Jesse on the playground also called the cops on him and that’s why he’s being questioned.

  7. It’s safe to assume that the guy who found Jesse in the park also called the cops on him.

    I doubt immunity would be granted to Skyler, and even if it were, she doesn’t think it would be. She would have to face charges of laundering money and tax fraud (That whole thing with Ted).

  8. Whatever happens, I don’t want Hank to win. I think Lydia well be arrested as Heisenberg, Jessie will be set free And be killed by Todd, Walt will die In a firefight, and Skyler will walk.

  9. Another thing, at some point Walt will leave, remember the flash forwards? He’s coming back for a good reason. Why else would someone get away Scott free and come back? For the money? For the kids and Skyler?

  10. It’s all about the kids. Skyler realizes that Hank would only ask for her testimony at a restaurant because he can’t officially question her. Then she pieces together the end result of the truth coming out, which will ultimately mean Walt Jr. learning that she was complicit even after she learned about the horrible things Walt had done, this is what the separation was all about, etc., etc. She might even believe that she’d lose Holly if the courts find out she’s involved. She’s afraid that she’ll lose whatever relationship she has with her children if this blows up.

    I’m pretty interested to see what they say to Walt Jr. when they have to bug out. What BS are they going to make up for packing up and leaving?

  11. Confused by the interpretation….did Paul see the same episode I did? It is obvious that Sklyer knew Hank has nothing, and obvious that Hank’s career would be affected even if he had proof. And as the poster above mentioned she wants to protect her children and ideally keep the money. If she cooperates the money is almost certainly gone, and her children will live with their father being a meth dealer/murderer.

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