Having decided to get back into business with Jesse, Walt explains the division of labour; he is in charge of production and Jesse will deal with the distribution... and neither will get involved in the other's area. Of course the best laid plans don't always work; after a bout of chemotherapy Walt collapses while cooking and Jess learns about the cancer; he also ends up finishing the cooking. The distribution doesn't meet Walt's expectations despite Jess working all night; the problem is he is shifting small amounts... if they are to make the sort of money Walt expects they will need to find a distributor. Jesse knows somebody who knows a distributor, named Tuco, but the meeting does not go well. With Jess in the hospital Walt must confront Tuco and make it clear that he is not to be messed with... and with the help of a little bit of chemistry Tuco gets the message and agrees to another deal.
While all this is going on Hank has learnt that the respirator they found at the desert cook site came from Walt's school; Walt claims to have no knowledge of how it got there but an inventory check shows that two are missing along with the sort of glassware a meth chemist would want. Obviously Hank doesn't suspect his brother in law though... after all Walt 'wouldn't know a criminal if he were seated right next to him'... or so Hank thinks.
This was a great episode with plenty of drama, a couple of surprises, some good laughs and even a dramatic explosion! Bryan Carston continues to do a great job as Walt; the shaven-headed look he adopts makes him look tougher and can be explained to his family as wanting to loose his hair on his terms rather than having it fall out a clump at a time due to his treatment. Once again Dean Norris provides the most laughs as Hank; these laughs mainly come from his obvious ignorance of what Walt is up to. New cast member Raymond Cruz gives a delightfully over the top performance as Tuco; a character who is clearly both crazy and dangerous. He isn't the only dangerous person around though; the way Walt talked Tuco into the paying him and agreeing another deal shows that he has what it takes to face down a serious player in the drugs business.
While all this is going on Hank has learnt that the respirator they found at the desert cook site came from Walt's school; Walt claims to have no knowledge of how it got there but an inventory check shows that two are missing along with the sort of glassware a meth chemist would want. Obviously Hank doesn't suspect his brother in law though... after all Walt 'wouldn't know a criminal if he were seated right next to him'... or so Hank thinks.
This was a great episode with plenty of drama, a couple of surprises, some good laughs and even a dramatic explosion! Bryan Carston continues to do a great job as Walt; the shaven-headed look he adopts makes him look tougher and can be explained to his family as wanting to loose his hair on his terms rather than having it fall out a clump at a time due to his treatment. Once again Dean Norris provides the most laughs as Hank; these laughs mainly come from his obvious ignorance of what Walt is up to. New cast member Raymond Cruz gives a delightfully over the top performance as Tuco; a character who is clearly both crazy and dangerous. He isn't the only dangerous person around though; the way Walt talked Tuco into the paying him and agreeing another deal shows that he has what it takes to face down a serious player in the drugs business.