The Rogue
From Geek Goes Rogue TV Editor Zach Lorton, who should NOT be eating gelato directly out of the container…
It’s that time again, time to see what Heisenberg and his (now defunct) crew are up to. Here we go with my blow-by-blow review of the Breaking Bad episode “Buried”.
#SpoilerAlert.
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0:01:01 – Recap. Read the last review if you really want to know.
0:01:50 – It’s late at night, and a kindly older gentleman is approaching his classic red pickup, complete with his fur-lined cap to keep his head warm in the cold New Mexico desert. He hops in his car, cranks it up, turns the headlights on, and find a stack of cash that had been thrown onto his lawn by Jesse Pinkman. Like following a trail, he sees more down the street, and begins to pick them up.
0:03:24 – The old man approaches Jesse’s car, which is sitting against some playground equipment with the hazard lights flashing and the bag of cash in open in the front seat. Jesse has retired to the nearby merry-go-round (do those even exist anymore?) where Jesse is laying on his back, slowly turning around and around and around…
0:04:23 – Title card.
0:06:56 – The kid that lives on the Shraders’ block is still playing with his RC car, which travels over towards the Shrader house. When the garage door opens, the car zooms off in the other direction. I guess the kid doesn’t want it to get crushed again by the Purple Lady.
0:07:20 – Walter exits Hank’s garage, walking towards his car. He turns to look at Hank, who is standing at the edge of the garage. They stand facing each other for a few moments, then Hank silently clicks the remote, closing the garage door. Walt backs out of the driveway, almost crushing the kid’s RC car, then begins to take off before stopping to make a phone call.
0:08:53 – Turns out Hank is on the phone with Skyler, at the car wash. She looks upset, and her cell phone is vibrating in front of her on the desk.
0:09:35 – Skyler walks into a restaurant, and Hank stands up at a booth on the other side of the room. She approaches him, and he hugs her. It’s a tender moment, one you’re not sure how will end up, but this gesture reveals the depth of these characters.
0:10:40 – Hank: “He’s a monster.” He tries to hash out a plan for Skyler to bring the kids to Hank and Marie’s place, but also tries to get Skyler to talk about the details of what’s been happening. Skyler’s less than comfortable with the idea, and Hank lets it slip that Walt’s cancer has returned.
0:14:15 – Skyler wants to lawyer up. She’s panicking, and for good reason.
0:16:50 – #AmIUnderArrest.
0:20:56 – Huell and Bill Burr are walking through the storage center where Walt’s meth earnings are piled high in the storage locker Skyler rented out. They pull the tarp back, revealing the stack, and Huell says, “I gotta do it, man.” He lays down on the pile of money, getting as comfortable as he can, Scrooge McDuck style.
0:22:08 – Bill Burr joins Huell on the pile. I love these guys.
0:23:37 – Walt and Saul are trying to strategize. Saul looks more worried than he has ever been, and it’s not a good look for Bob Odenkirk. The situation is so bothersome that Saul suggests sending Hank “on a trip to Belize … you know, where Mike went to.”
0:25:07 – Bill Burr and Huell have arrived with Walt’s money in industrial barrels (you know, like the one that took Mike to Belize) strapped into the back of a utility van. Walt admonishes Saul to find Jesse and drives off.
0:26:55 – Walt’s digging in the desert. Time to bury the money.
0:27:38 – The White House. Marie is knocking on door, and Skyler notices that Hank is standing by the car in front of the house. Marie is insisting, saying she’ll wait hours if she has to. Skyler finally lets her in, but insists, “No Hank.”
0:30:00 – In the bedroom, sitting on opposite corners, Marie and Skyler talk. Actually, Skyler hasn’t said word one, but Marie is figuring it all out anyway. The boom comes when Marie asks, “Did you know before Hank was shot?” Oooooohh, crap.
0:31:15 – Oh no she DI’INT! Marie, NEVER take a baby from her mama. Have nature documentaries about bears taught you nothing?
0:33:06 – Marie’s back in the car, Hank comes and joins her, and Marie sits in horrified silence. Then, shaken, but determined, she speaks: “You have to get him.” Hank looks at her with the look of someone being charged with something he doesn’t think he can do, but knows he must. So far, this episode is a master class on how to act by doing as little as possible. And it’s working.
0:37:47 – Walt’s still digging.
0:39:06 – Walt’s done burying the barrels and re-planting the vegetation. He takes out a GPS tracker and get the coordinates of where he is, then commits them to memory. He then places the unit on a boulder and smashes it with a rock.
0:40:34 – Back at home, Walt disrobes and gets undressed, ready to bathe, but collapses on the bathroom floor from exhaustion and dehydration, or from the effects of the chemotherapy.
0:4207 – After reviving Walt, Skyler confirms his prognosis, that the cancer is back. Sadly, he asks her, “Does that make you happy?” #RipMyHeartOut. You know Skyler doesn’t really feel that way, but it wouldn’t be that far-fetched if it was true. On a side note, this episode has more whispered dialogue than any other episode of the series. Except for those scenes involving Lydia in public places.
0:43:10 – Walt assumes Skyler made a deal, and he offers to give himself up if she promises to keep the money instead of giving it to the D.E.A. After informing him that he can’t turn himself in without giving up the money, Skyler tells Walt that they need to say nothing.
0:45:40 – Lydia has been taken into the desert, blindfolded, to meet with Declan, and she’s insisting on seeing his operation so that she can figure out where the drop in quality is coming from. She’s doing her own version of the FDA inspection, which takes less than 30 seconds, and determines that the underground bus lab is not up to her standards, or those of her contact in the Czech Republic. She suggests that Declan use Todd again.
0:50:50 – So the woman who just helped orchestrate an ambush doesn’t want to see the aftermath of what fury she hath wrought? Ruthless with a weak stomach, always an interesting combination. Eyes closed, Todd leads her around the dead bodies to the vehicle while the rest of the guys plan to scavenge the underground lab.
0:56:46 – Shrader Haus. Marie tries to convince Hank to go to the D.E.A. and tell everyone what he knows. Hank knows that once he does, his career is over, since the man he’s been hunting is a member of his family. But Marie counters that if he knew and said nothing, and someone else at the agency fingered Walt, Hank could go down for that, too.
0:59:59 – Steve Gomez informs Hank that Jesse Pinkman has been picked up in connection to a “money thing”. Jesse’s in the police interrogation room, being complimented on his lack of being boring. He’s not saying a word. Smart man. Sort of. Because Hank shows up and enters the interrogation room.
I don’t know what to make of the ending. It’s possible it could go many different directions from here. But man, this episode was an exercise in waiting it out. What will happen next? Tune in next week…
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