Thursday, September 12, 2013

'Breaking Bad' 5x12 - "Rabid Dog"


"Rabid Dog" (5x12) Review by Kartik Chainani

"We've come this far...what's one more?" These words uttered by Skyler White both send a slight shudder down our spines but also can hardly be argued with when we look at the White family's magnificently horrific track record. If you watched "Rabid Dog" this week, then you know Skyler is referring to Walt "taking care" of "the Jesse problem". After last week's intense ending, which left us watching Jesse in a frantic rage storm into Walt's house and douse everything he could see in gasoline, we returned to Walt finally arriving home to try and stop Jesse. Entering with extreme caution and the help of the handgun he kept stashed in his car wash vending machine, Walt fearfully screamed out to Jesse to come out so they could talk. After walking through the gas-soaked carpets, he discovers that Jesse isn't there, leaving Walt, and the rest of us, wondering where the hell he went.
 After Walt span his usual web of lies that Skyler is always able to see right through about the house, the family ended up in a hotel for the night. When Walt meets up with Saul and Huell in the parking lot to discuss how to handle "the Jesse situation", we get another play on the Scarface theme of Breaking Bad that Vince Gilligan is so famous for. Saul looks at the aftermath of Jesse's attack on him in the mirror and says " You think this will leave a scar?"  While this in itself isn't necessarily a tie-in to the Scarface theme, Saul's all white tux with red button-down shirt sticking out definitely is a tribute to Pacino. In this scene, Saul compares Jesse to a rabid dog that needs to be put out of its misery. At this, and then at Skyler's insistence to take care of him in the same fashion, Walt sticks to his guns that eliminating Jesse is completely out of the question.
         Finally, we get to learn what exactly happened to Jesse, as we flashback to the gasoline incident. We see that just as Jesse is ready to torch the place, Hank bursts in to the house in a jaw-dropping scene that ends with this unlikely duo pairing up to destroy a common enemy. The scene after Jesse's video confession to Hank and Gomez (Hank's DEA partner), we see just how far Hank is willing to go to bring Walt down. While it often looks like we have good vs. evil in the battle between Hank and White, it appears all characters are "breaking bad" so to speak, when we learn that Hank is even willing to sacrifice Jesse if it means bringing him down. They arrange a meeting for Walt and Jesse in hopes of gaining recorded proof straight from Walt's mouth about anything that can incarcerate him.

We were all very anxious to see Jesse finally on his way to confront Walt about everything he found out about him, but alas, we were teased once again. Jesse had a revelation just feet away from Walt and turned around to call him from a pay phone. On this call, he tells Walt that he still plans to bring him down, only this time, he's going to get him "where he really lives." This could mean a couple of different things. The most likely thing being that Jesse plans to go after Walt's money. Walt's money has been what all of this has been about since the very beginning, and is also enough incriminating evidence to at least raise a few eyebrows. If Walt is scared enough about his money, it will draw him out in a desperate and unsuspecting fashion, making him ripe for Hank's picking. In addition, next week's episode is entitled '' which as us die-hard fans that watch the behind-the-scenes videos know is the place where Walt buried his money. It is also coincidentally the location that Jesse and Walt had their first cook.  This is just speculation of course, as you can never assume anything when watching Breaking Bad. 

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