Breaking Bad Recap: “Buried”
This episode brings the family dynamics in Breaking Bad to a whole level of conflict. The episode mainly revolves around Hank telling Skyler and Marie about Walt’s involvement in the meth business, and how they react to the news. Walt is frantically trying to call Skyler, but turns to see that Hank has reached her first.
Skyler meets with Hank in a diner. Skyler and Hank have a conversation as to what to do about the situation, and she picks Walt’s side. Hank lets slip that the cancer is back, and Skyler looks at him completely shocked. Hank realizes that she had no idea about the cancer coming back. She refuses to answer any questions about Walt, even when Hank uses a different approach – saying that it is in Marie’s best interest – to be completely honest about the situation. Skyler doesn’t budge, and says that she feels that Hank wants to get Walt “at all costs.” She screams, “am I under arrest?” over and over to Hank, showing she refuses to answer any questions, and leaves the diner.
Walt is furious, and thinks Skyler has blown his cover. He goes to the car wash to look for Skyler, and knows that she has gone with Hank. He immediately thinks that she has gone with Hank to confess everything she knows, and pays a visit to Saul about the situation. He says the only evidence she has is the money in the storage locker, so he sends two of his men to get rid of the money. Saul even suggests that Walt does the same thing to Hank that he did to Mike – kill him in order to keep in him quiet. This shows a huge sign of humanity in Walt. Though he is now seen as a villain in the eyes of the audience, he says blatantly that he can’t because “Hank is family.”
Later, Marie meets with Skyler. Once you see the two interact, you know that there is about to be a showdown. Marie asks Skyler how long she has known, and if she knew about it when they told the family that the large amounts of money were due to Walt’s gambling problem. She then asks the inevitable question, “Did you know since before Hank was shot?” Skyler looks at her sister, tears in her eyes. Her only response is, “Marie, I’m so sorry.” Marie looks furious, and slaps Skyler across the face. Holly is heard crying in the next room, and Marie is trying to leave with Holly to keep her safe from what is going on with Walt. Skyler is begging her to give the baby back, where Hank comes in and tells Marie to give Holly back to Skyler. In the car, Marie tells Hank, “You have to get him.” There is no longer any peace between the family, and they have officially declared war on each other.
Walt buries the money in the desert, and tells no one of his whereabouts. He comes home, where Skyler tells him that she told Hank nothing. He collapses of exhaustion, and we finally see a tender moment between this married couple that have acted like strangers towards each other for the past two seasons. She asks him if the cancer is back. Walter’s chilling response is, “does that make you happy?” Skyler is finally seeing that Walt is in fact a human being like everyone else, despite being a rich and powerful drug lord. He then tells her to make sure the money goes to the kids, and to make sure that he didn’t do this all for nothing.
The scene changes to Lydia meeting with Declan. She sees that his meth lab is sub par, and tells him to use Todd because Walt trained him. Declan refuses, and while they are in the underground lab, he leaves because of a situation. Gunshots are heard, and all of Declan’s men are dead, shot by Todd and his uncles. Are they trying to solely control the meth business? Was Lydia in on this plan? I would think, yes. She was advocating for Todd’s participation, and wanted a purity as close to Walt’s as possible. Lydia even said Declan’s product would not be satisfactory for the new deal in the Czech Republic. I think Lydia is trying to rebuild Heisenberg’s empire with a new cook, a new generation at hand.
The episode ends with Jesse being questioned by the police for throwing his millions at doors in poor neighborhoods. Jesse’s depression worsens, and he stares blankly. Though he has a blank stare, I’m guessing there are a million things going through his head. If he gives up Walt, maybe they will go easy on him? Or maybe it’ll still be a dire fate for him regardless. Hank finds out Jesse is in custody, and the episode ends on the cliffhanger that he goes in to question Jesse himself.
I’m looking forward to seeing Hank and Jesse battle it out, or see how Jesse reacts to being questioned by someone he hates. Hank, now angry at the situation with his family, might push Jesse to his limits.
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