S04E04: Last night’s episode of Breaking Bad is exemplary in just how well this show, more than so many others, can introduce new story without sacrificing old. Thus far, this season has been about Walt’s augmented conflict with Gus, the decay of Jesse, Skyler’s attempts to buy the car wash, and the Schraders’ marital problems: all plotlines more or less unique to Season 4. However, “Bullet Points” reintroduces elements of Breaking Bad past, and promises to expand upon them: notably, the cartel. Season 4 has kept the cartel at a distance from Walt and his company, but they are finally brought back into the conscious of the viewers in this episode. It is also suggested that their presence will become increasingly presence, which is optimistic, as the cartel has been one of the show’s founding sources of tension since the beginning
"Siiiiiiiiigh..." - Mike
Mike hides out in a Pollos Hermanos freezer truck and guns down two cartel musclemen—after avoiding a barrage of bullets; impossible, but we’ve already accepted that Mike is a superhero. But he’s not without his kryptonite. Mike is growing remarkably jaded with his work, apparently. As depicted in Box Cutter and Thirty-Eight Snub, Mike is beginning to question his connection to Gus, and may be shown to take a new approach to his work in upcoming episodes.
Meanwhile, Walt and Skyler prepare to explain to Marie and Hank how they have come into enough money to purchase a car wash. This brings up another element, though a far more subtle one, reintroduced in this episode—Skyler’s pre-marital crisis/drug-ring involvement character arc: her drive to be a writer. Skylar works arduously on Walt’s gambling addiction backstory to share with Marie, Hank and Walt Jr. in explanation for the family’s fortune and ability to purchase the car wash. She visits Gamblers Anonymous meetings and pens a rough script for the Whites’ dinner party with Hank and Marie. The ‘rehearsal scene’ highlights both her control fix and Walt’s insatiable pride: he refuses to “look bad” in front of his son, what with the pathetic gambling addict backstory Skyler has come up with, and contests her every step of the way. The pair’s relationship, however, has come miles since Season 3. I’m still not totally convinced that this was natural/believable, but as with last week’s episode, I quickly forgot my qualms as the rest of the episode was delivered.
"Watching in a trance, the crew is waiting / Nothing left to chance, all is working." - Gale Boetticher
In the family’s first scene all together this season, a superb dinner party that is reminiscent of the series early days of Walt’s double-life (some of the most benign scenes were the most exciting thanks to dramatic irony). Hank shows Walt and Flynn (remember that?) a hilarious music video of Gale Boetticher singing a green-screened karaoke of Zombie’s “Major Tom” that the police found at the crime scene, which chills Walt to the core. Walt then finagles his way into collaborating with Hank on the case file in an attempt to find out all he can. Hank has attributed the Heisenberg identity to Gale. If we know Walt, we can assume that the possibility of his work being publicly attributed to someone else probably doesn’t sit well with him. Walt also finds out that fingerprints were discovered at the crime scene, so he rushes to speak with Jesse, who is desperate to avoid conversation on the subject matter.
Walt pays his weekly visit to Saul, who offers a plan that, while shrugged off by Walt in this instance, seems to be foreshadowing a plot arc: Saul describes a business partner who can help organize a The significance connoted to this speech by the episode direction should indicate that this idea will be revisited later on. This could also explain why Saul asked his partner Hule in Box Cutter if he had a passport.
Jesse’s decadent party continues on until he gets a visit from Mike, who informs him that one of his party guests has attempted to steal a large amount of money from him. Jesse is unconcerned, so Mike, considering him a liability, convinces Gus to allow him to take action, despite what this will provoke from Walt—the end of the episode sees Mike driving Jesse to an undisclosed location. What with Mike’s seasonal development, this cliffhanger begs the question: is Mike going to (attempt to) exterminate Jesse (we can assume that Jesse won’t be killed off any time soon, just because of the rules of television), or is he actually taking action against the boss with whom he has become suspicious and jaded, and helping Jesse to achieve some kind of freedom?
Though not as tense as recent Breaking Bad episodes, tonight’s may be my favorite yet this season: it revisited the cartel, Walt’s façade around his family, Skylar’s extra-Walt character identity, Walt Jr. as an existing person, and further exemplified Jesse’s sapped will and, subtly, Walt’s pride and selfishness. Plus, that Gale music video was fodder for internet meme phenomena.