Breaking Bad Review- Say My Name

From this week’s title alone it was safe to say that we’d see an appearance from Walt’s ever-growing-ego, but I could have never anticipated the depth of crazy it reached in Say My Name. While last week’s opener was certainly the most disturbing of the series, this week’s made us pretty uncomfortable as well. Claiming that your crystal meth is the Coca-Cola of the drug realm doesn’t make you king Walt, it makes you a d-bag. We have to give it to him for having such a complex that he thinks he can make himself everyone happy through his deal making ways, but only one problem- Jesse and Mike both wind up as unhappy as ever by the end of this episode. “Everybody wins” once again translated to “I win.”
Back at the illegal car wash, things aren’t going so great for Mrs. White. Oddly enough, the massive tanks of stolen methylamine being stored in the family business are unsettling, pushing her to ask out of line questions like, “What is this?”. Walt basically tells Skyler to fuck off and mind her own business, and you can tell by the way Jesse looks at her when she walks away that he feels bad for her, maybe even relates to the way she falls victim to Walt. I would love nothing more than to see these two collaborate in some way against Walt, but for now I can only dream. I don’t know if Skyler would reach out to Jesse or if she respects him in any way, but Skyler has pretty much proved time after time that she’s smart. Really Smart.
Mike tells Walt and Jesse that he’s out- out out. I never thought I’d see the day where Mike voluntarily disposes of all of his guns, but it was also kind of relieving. I like this character. He has a grand-daughter that he enjoys spending time with. He’s old now. He doesn’t need to be running around erasing people’s mistakes all day anymore.  All of the hard work- the assassinating, the money laundering, the-getting-a chunk-of-your-ear-shot-off- it’s paid off because now little Kaylee has a nice big fund waiting for her. Awww.
 While Mike is getting his house searched by the DEA, Jesse decides to pay Mr. White a quick visit, yo. To Walt’s annoyance, the young twenty something year old former student of his actually wants to get out of the dirty meth business and make something of himself.  Walt scolds Jesse-“Look at you. What have you got in your life? Nothing, nobody.” As if that wasn’t harsh enough, Mr. White wanted to throw in a, “How soon ‘til you start using again?” Nice, Walter. The conversation between Walt and Jesse felt like a bad break up. “You and I are done.” Finally. After everything that Walt has dragged Jesse through, he basically dangles his fair share of the money above his head until Jesse walks out empty handed. It was gratifying to see Jesse avoid the black hole that is Walter White’s persuasive monologues, but it’s hard to think that after all that Jesse could be broke and out of luck again.
 If this show has taught me one thing, it’s that a DEA agent is usually wrong unless their name is Henry R. Schrader. Seriously, DEA guy on Skype, have you learned nothing from the Fring case? Hank was right all along but it was too late because nobody listened to him. Hank’s persistence is pretty much what keeps this show going, so it was no surprise when he told sidekick Gomie to start tailing Ehrmantraut’s Lawyer. Mike really should’ve called Saul.
 Walt has said before the cooking meth is a two man job, and who else to replace Jesse other than the infamous child murdering Todd? It’s obvious that Todd is able and willing to learn the methy ways of the business, ya know, if he’s not too busy playing with that dead kid’s tarantula.
 Seeing Mike leave his grand daughter at the park was the worst thing in the world ever to happen ever. The scene ended and cut straight to a gathering in Saul’s office, but I was left wondering what Kaylee did when she turned around and saw her grandpa gone. In a last attempt to get out of town as quickly as possible, Mike asks for Saul to bring him his ‘go bag’, but of course Walt goes instead and fucks everything up. It’s not enough that Mike has to leave town forever, no. Walt needs Mike’s recognition before he leaves. In a rare act of stupidity, Walt lets his anger get the best of him. Almost immediately Walt realizes what he’s done.
“This whole thing could have been avoided.”