Breaking Bad on AMC (10 Viewers)

[Tiger Fan]

Not a very good episode. Didn't like the leap of faith that Jesse is taking that Gus somehow gave the kid ricin. It seems like the writers needed somehow to get Jesse and Walt back together again.

Not sure how it was a leap of faith? When Jessie nixed killing Walt (again), Gus said "appropirate message will be sent" (or something to that effect). Of course, the viewers (and Jessie) thought this would mean an attack on one of Walt's family. But it was something to "motivate" Jessie instead. If Gus wanted to kill the kid, he could have...but he was sending Jessie a message: "Ok the hit on Walt, but bad things will happen to people you care about"right

 

[prosopis]

Some good suspense but I did not really like much of that episode.

I was buying into the kid being poisoned but I just assumed the kid stole a smoke and that was how it happened. Jesse thinking Walt did it and then thinking Gus did it was pretty lame.

I also dont like how Walt was able to manufacture and plant a bomb and get back across the street so fast. They made it look like he did all that way to quick.

It will take more then that to really turn me off but it certainly was not good this week.

 

[SacramentoBob]

Gus's spider sense at the end was lame too.

 

[prosopis]

Gus's spider sense at the end was lame too.

I agree I was giving them the benefit of doubt and assuming he had something he forgot to tell Jesse.

 

[Tiger Fan]

Gus's spider sense at the end was lame too.

I agree I was giving them the benefit of doubt and assuming he had something he forgot to tell Jesse.

that was probably the only moment of this entire series. I can live with that

 

[ArcticEdge]

I liked the episode. I thought for sure it was going to end with Gus and Walt's eyes meeting.

No mention of Ted.. Hmm.

Can't wait for next Sunday!!!

 

[whoknew]

I liked the episode. I thought for sure it was going to end with Gus and Walt's eyes meeting. No mention of Ted.. Hmm. Can't wait for next Sunday!!!

Its unclear whether Gus saw Walt, right? I'm guessing he did.

 

[Apple Juice]

So did Gus even really poison the kid? Seems like a stretch--in terms of plausibility, and as something Gus would do even if he somehow knew about the poison and was able to lift it from Jesse.

 

[whoknew]

So did Gus even really poison the kid? Seems like a stretch--in terms of plausibility, and as something Gus would do even if he somehow knew about the poison and was able to lift it from Jesse.

Why doesn't it seem like something Gus would do? He's done it before.

 

[ArcticEdge]

I also dont like how Walt was able to manufacture and plant a bomb and get back across the street so fast. They made it look like he did all that way to quick.

Don't you remember in season 1 when they talked about Walt being a track star?

 

[Major]

that episode was toilet

 

[Walton Goggins]

Sepinwall

"I have lived under the threat of death for a year now. Because of that, I've made choices. Listen to me. I alone should suffer the consequences of those choices. No one else. And those consequences, they're coming. No more prolonging the inevitable." -WaltWell, maybe just a little bit longer, Walt."Breaking Bad" is a show about a man with a death sentence. As with most legal death sentences, though, we've had time to wait between pronouncement of sentence and execution of it - four years in the real world, around one in Walt's - as Walt has gone through various cancer treatments and cheated what seems like 17 different murder attempts. And because Bryan Cranston is so good, and because Vince Gilligan and the rest of the creative team so effective at building and sustaining tension while constantly pushing the story forward, it rarely feels like they're stalling the inevitable. Maybe the series ends with the death of Walter White, and maybe not, but I've never felt cheated that we're not at that moment quite yet, even as Gus, Tuco, the Cousins, Krazy-8, et al have all tried to do what the lung cancer couldn't on its own. (Not yet, anyway.)"End Times" is another brilliant, knuckle-whitening example of that phenomenon. We know intellectually that Walt isn't going to die here, whether by Jesse's hands or by someone else's. (Tyrus has been looking to put a bullet in Walt for half the season, it seems.) And though it seems that Walt and Gus can't co-exist any longer, we can probably guess that Gus isn't going to die with an episode to go in the season. ("The Wire" and "The Sopranos" loved to put their big dramatic climaxes in the penultimate episode, but Gilligan has always pushed the plot as hard as he can as deep into the finale as possible.) And yet the scene where Jesse is the one who knocks for Walt is almost unbearably tense; Aaron Paul is so phenomenal in the moment that you can almost imagine him pulling the trigger in a fit of indignant rage, and the show reinventing itself as The Jesse Pinkman Story. And even though I didn't expect Walt to successfully blow up Gus's car - as I've said before, when has a Walter/Jesse assassination attempt ever gone according to plan? - I still caught my breath when Gus stopped himself and went to look out of the parking garage.(*)(*) I was discussing this episode with Time's James Poniewozik, and he said he wished Jesse had given more of a tell to Gus when they met in the hospital chapel, rather than Gus suddenly developing a Spidey-sense at the worst possible moment. I see his point, but it also seems like Gus has turned into a super-criminal by now - as Walt tells Jesse in his house, Gus has cameras everywhere, knows everything and has always been 10 steps ahead of them - so while this was skirting the edges of plausibility, the Chicken Man has already displayed many super powers.As befits an episode with an apocalyptic title like "End Times," this was an hour (written by Thomas Schnauz and Moira Walley-Beckett, and directed by Gilligan himself) tinged with dread. The music was ominous throughout, the camera so often in tight on Walt or Jesse - and, in the case of the hospital scene where Jesse tells Andrea about the ricin, constantly on the move with them - and the sound and pictures absolutely created the sense that something horrible was going to happen. (It didn't help my sense of unease that Walt disappeared for a large chunk of the episode, in between Walt spinning his gun by the pool and Jesse showing up to accuse him of poisoning Brock; who know what Walt was up to, or whether he was just frozen and waiting to die?) Walt said what he believed to be his final goodbyes to Skyler and Holly, and didn't even get a chance to do the same with his son. Saul packed up to skip town as quickly as possible. The mood of the whole episode was so damn dark that I wouldn't have been the least bit surprised if, moments after she stepped out onto the balcony of Hank and Marie's house for a calming cigarette, Skyler had been shot between the eyes by a Gus-employed sniper.And then Chekhov's Ricin Cigarette, which we'd all but forgotten about these past few weeks as Jesse's loyalty shifted from Walt to Gus, came back in the worst possible way, with Jesse once again inadvertently setting things in motion for Gus to order the death of a child related to Andrea.(**) Though it might be interesting for the culprit to be ambiguous - for Jesse to have no one to blame but himself - the chain of custody timeline Jesse lays out for Walt makes it pretty clear that someone had to fish the cigarette out of the pack while he was at the Super Lab, and this is pretty diabolical (and slightly convoluted) even by Gustavo Fring standards. He spent a long time underestimating the loyalty Walt and Jesse had for each other, but he camethisclose to finding a way to trick one into murdering the other, and what does he care if some little boy is collateral damage in the salvation of his empire and destruction of his most troublesome opponent?(**) As the CDC website explains, there is no antidote for ricin.There are ways to treat the symptoms of the poisoning, but if it's been ingested in the way that Tyrus or one of Gus's other goons presumably got it into Brock's food, I wouldn't put his survival odds very high.So what now? If this was the final season, I would be prepared for anything and everything to hit the fan a week from tonight. Knowing that there are 16 episodes to go takes some of the suspense away, at least on the Walt end of things (and almost certainly with Jesse), and seems to point to Gus going down (likely the result of the kind of desperate last-minute improv that killed Tuco, the Cousins, etc.), but it sure looks like Walt just missed his best possible window for doing that.Whatever happens, though? Damn, this has been an incredible stretch run for the fourth season.Some other thoughts:• Loved seeing Hank once again be smarter than anyone gives him credit for and realizing immediately that the reported cartel hit was just a smokescreen to keep him away from the laundry. And nice to see Gomez be so persuasive and clever in talking his way past the laundry manager, even if he understandably didn't spot the switch to open the trap door into the Super Lab.• Hank and Marie's balcony, by the way? Very cool, and great view. Surprised this is the first time we've seen it, though I suppose for the most part the show either films the driveway of that house or on interior sets. May have required special dispensation from the homeowners.• Paul was fantastic in the Walt/Jesse confrontation scene, but Cranston was no slouch himself, from the paternal way he spoke as Walt tried to explain why he wouldn't have poisoned Brock to the defiant, almost eager look on his face when he pulled the gun to his forehead. Walt has made so many decisions out of blind self-preservation, but his early conversation with Skyler suggested a man who had finally accepted, perhaps even welcomed, the prospect of death rather than more running, more crime, more chance for his loved ones to suffer for his sins.

 

[Raider Nation]

Sepinwall

That'll be all, Goggins. Find your own shtick.

 

[Raider Nation]

I loved how Flynn was so dumbfounded as to why a car wash tycoon was in so much peril.

 

[Walton Goggins]

Sepinwall

That'll be all, Goggins. Find your own shtick.

I was the first to talk about Sep on this site

 

[Raider Nation]

Sepinwall

That'll be all, Goggins. Find your own shtick.

I was the first to talk about Sep on this site

Negative. I was pimping Sep on USENET way back in the mid-90s when he was reviewing NYPD Blue.So there.

 

[prefontaine]

Does no one else think that Walt did actually poison the kid? Even Sepenwall points out that there is a large missing section to what happened with Walt and he's supposed to do something to make us hate him. Kinda running out of time on that if it's true.

He's totally desperate knowing he's going to die and maybe his family too if he doesn't do something. But he has no shot himself. He needs Jesse. It crossed my mind during the Jesse/Walt scene that this was Walt's plan because how on earth would Fring know about the ricin? I guess I may be reading too much into it though

 

[Kumerica]

Does no one else think that Walt did actually poison the kid? Even Sepenwall points out that there is a large missing section to what happened with Walt and he's supposed to do something to make us hate him. Kinda running out of time on that if it's true. He's totally desperate knowing he's going to die and maybe his family too if he doesn't do something. But he has no shot himself. He needs Jesse. It crossed my mind during the Jesse/Walt scene that this was Walt's plan because how on earth would Fring know about the ricin? I guess I may be reading too much into it though

How did he get to the smokes? No way he got into the lab. And I rewatched the frisking/Saul scene and there was no grab.

 

[Raider Nation]

They are entitled to one far-fetched, below average episode.

 

[ArcticEdge]

If Gus was so paranoid about someone sabotaging his car, then why not leave this new henchman that we are seeing standing by it while Gus and Tyrus go inside to talk to Jessie?

I say Gus was just thinking. What about? I'm not sure. Obviously he wants something else from Jessie.

 

[ArcticEdge]

Does no one else think that Walt did actually poison the kid? Even Sepenwall points out that there is a large missing section to what happened with Walt and he's supposed to do something to make us hate him. Kinda running out of time on that if it's true.

He's totally desperate knowing he's going to die and maybe his family too if he doesn't do something. But he has no shot himself. He needs Jesse. It crossed my mind during the Jesse/Walt scene that this was Walt's plan because how on earth would Fring know about the ricin? I guess I may be reading too much into it though

Yeah. Gus did it. Walt wouldn't be capable of poisoning a child. Gus would.

It's either Gus or an accident. An accident seems far fetched though.

 

[ArcticEdge]

@ Tyrus not giving the phone to Jessie

 

[Jojo the circus boy]

Sepinwall

The mood of the whole episode was so damn dark that I wouldn't have been the least bit surprised if, moments after she stepped out onto the balcony of Hank and Marie's house for a calming cigarette, Skyler had been shot between the eyes by a Gus-employed sniper.

We could have only hoped, I thought the same thing.

 

[OddibeMcD]

Here's where the logic fails for me:

When mammacita mentioned the flu-like symptoms that didn't get better, I automatically thought of Jessie's ricin. Jessie made the connection after seeing his pack of smokes. I then thought that the kid was the dumbest thief in the world. If you are going to cage a cigarette, you don't take the one that stands out, the one the owner of the pack will know is missing. You sneak one of the unassuming, ordinary smokes.

Apparently Jessie never thought that the kid could have been wholly responsible for his predicament. Jessie lept to the conclusion that baby tio was poisoned, automatically blaming his erstwhile partner. As Walt correctly pointed out, the timeline to make Walt responsible for the poisoning makes zero sense. Walt didn't have access to Jessie's cigarettes (the fingle fingers of Saul not-withstanding), the kid and the kid's mother knew Walt's face and would have been wary of accepting anything from him and Walt has more time-sensitive issues than a spite poisoning.

So, the conclusion that Gus was behind the poisoning was quickly reached. Walt stated that Gus must have done it to drive Jessie to rage so hard he offed Walt. But, the mystery was unraveled so quickly, that it stretches my belief that a man as calculating as Gus could have relied on so flimsy a plan. Therefore, I conclude that Gus wants Jessie to know that he poisoned the kid and wants the poisoning to act as a warning of some sort to Jessie. However, we have seen Jessie's nihilistic streak and a dude as smart as Gus should know that killing this kid is the absolute worst way to coerce cooperation out of Jessie.

In the Gus-Jessie interaction, Gus made no sign of tipping Jessie off to the truth. If Gus is relying on this event to act as a way to force Jessie away from Walt, he did an awfully poor job of planning. If Gus did this as a subtle warning to Jessie, he completely misread Jessie's character. Both options are completely out of place from the calculating chickenman we have grown to know and love.

In my imagination, once the kid was in the hospital, I thought the story line would prove the kid caged a smoke and managed to unintentionally kill himself. This death would send Jessie into an even more nihilistic state than after the death of Jane. Walt and Gus would have to form an uneasy alliance for Gus would need a cook and Walt would need protection from a former protege now set on revenge against Walt, Gus and anyone else that Jessie associated with on his meth journey. The first victim of Jessie's vigilante revenge would have been poor Badger. Walt's "heinous" action would have been killing Jessie before Jessie managed to complete his revenge vision. Even better is if Jessie manages to take out Gus first, allowing the ascension of Heisenberg and setting the stage for a Season 5 Hank-Walt showdown.

Now, I just have to trust the writers to be better than my inane ideas, a feat that is not hard at all.

 

[Daywalker]

Here's where the logic fails for me:

When mammacita mentioned the flu-like symptoms that didn't get better, I automatically thought of Jessie's ricin. Jessie made the connection after seeing his pack of smokes. I then thought that the kid was the dumbest thief in the world. If you are going to cage a cigarette, you don't take the one that stands out, the one the owner of the pack will know is missing. You sneak one of the unassuming, ordinary smokes.

Apparently Jessie never thought that the kid could have been wholly responsible for his predicament. Jessie lept to the conclusion that baby tio was poisoned, automatically blaming his erstwhile partner. As Walt correctly pointed out, the timeline to make Walt responsible for the poisoning makes zero sense. Walt didn't have access to Jessie's cigarettes (the fingle fingers of Saul not-withstanding), the kid and the kid's mother knew Walt's face and would have been wary of accepting anything from him and Walt has more time-sensitive issues than a spite poisoning.

So, the conclusion that Gus was behind the poisoning was quickly reached. Walt stated that Gus must have done it to drive Jessie to rage so hard he offed Walt. But, the mystery was unraveled so quickly, that it stretches my belief that a man as calculating as Gus could have relied on so flimsy a plan. Therefore, I conclude that Gus wants Jessie to know that he poisoned the kid and wants the poisoning to act as a warning of some sort to Jessie. However, we have seen Jessie's nihilistic streak and a dude as smart as Gus should know that killing this kid is the absolute worst way to coerce cooperation out of Jessie.

In the Gus-Jessie interaction, Gus made no sign of tipping Jessie off to the truth. If Gus is relying on this event to act as a way to force Jessie away from Walt, he did an awfully poor job of planning. If Gus did this as a subtle warning to Jessie, he completely misread Jessie's character. Both options are completely out of place from the calculating chickenman we have grown to know and love.

In my imagination, once the kid was in the hospital, I thought the story line would prove the kid caged a smoke and managed to unintentionally kill himself. This death would send Jessie into an even more nihilistic state than after the death of Jane. Walt and Gus would have to form an uneasy alliance for Gus would need a cook and Walt would need protection from a former protege now set on revenge against Walt, Gus and anyone else that Jessie associated with on his meth journey. The first victim of Jessie's vigilante revenge would have been poor Badger. Walt's "heinous" action would have been killing Jessie before Jessie managed to complete his revenge vision. Even better is if Jessie manages to take out Gus first, allowing the ascension of Heisenberg and setting the stage for a Season 5 Hank-Walt showdown.

Now, I just have to trust the writers to be better than my inane ideas, a feat that is not hard at all.

Jesse had the cigarette that morning. Last time he was with the kid was the night before. Jesse naturally assummed it was Walt because he knew about the Ricin.

 

[Daywalker]

Walt kissing his daughter goodbye was pretty riveting stuff. The whole first season was terrific.

The criticism of Gus not going to the car may be warranted. I thought is was a reach. But in the past moments like that have been cleared up in the following episode. We'll see.

I also thought the way Gus came at Jesse was a bit off. Or I'm not sure what message he was trying to send to Jesse. No way Jesse was leaving to go make another batch why try to strong arm him? Gus finally relented and tried to play nice guy just wonder why he didn't take that approach from the start. Millions of dollars are on the line I know but that's why you have an assistant.

I would have preferred Walt setting up a standard car bomb. Detonate on ignition. Thinking Gus would be in the car only to have Tyrus be sent to pull up the car to the front thereby getting blasted solo. But I guess they want to save the firworks for next week and this was just a little suspense to tide us over. Above scenario would have made for a nice finale although.

The ricin is a bit serious but Jesse getting sent to jail for something would have solved some problems as far as, "What the hell are the writers going to do?"

 

[Tiger Fan]

For anyone who thinks Walt poisoned the kid...why would he take the cigarette? He has access to the Ricin, he's the one who gave it to Jessie in the first place. If he wanted to poison the kid, he could have done it from his own stash...no need to take the smoke to raise suspicision with Jessie.

 

[Brock Middlebrook]

Does no one else think that Walt did actually poison the kid? Even Sepenwall points out that there is a large missing section to what happened with Walt and he's supposed to do something to make us hate him. Kinda running out of time on that if it's true. He's totally desperate knowing he's going to die and maybe his family too if he doesn't do something. But he has no shot himself. He needs Jesse. It crossed my mind during the Jesse/Walt scene that this was Walt's plan because how on earth would Fring know about the ricin? I guess I may be reading too much into it though

I think Walt may very well have poisoned the kid in order to manipulate Jesse into helping him get to Gus.I wonder if, when Gus stopped, he realized the same thing.

 

[Harry Manback]

Does no one else think that Walt did actually poison the kid? Even Sepenwall points out that there is a large missing section to what happened with Walt and he's supposed to do something to make us hate him. Kinda running out of time on that if it's true. He's totally desperate knowing he's going to die and maybe his family too if he doesn't do something. But he has no shot himself. He needs Jesse. It crossed my mind during the Jesse/Walt scene that this was Walt's plan because how on earth would Fring know about the ricin? I guess I may be reading too much into it though

I think Walt may very well have poisoned the kid in order to manipulate Jesse into helping him get to Gus.I wonder if, when Gus stopped, he realized the same thing.

 

[Brock Middlebrook]

For anyone who thinks Walt poisoned the kid...why would he take the cigarette? He has access to the Ricin, he's the one who gave it to Jessie in the first place. If he wanted to poison the kid, he could have done it from his own stash...no need to take the smoke to raise suspicision with Jessie.

1) He needed Jesse to realize that Brock wasn't sick, je was poisoned2) He needed Jesse to come to him so he could manipulate and plan, rather than having Jesse going off half-cocked and getting himself killed.

 

[OddibeMcD]

For anyone who thinks Walt poisoned the kid...why would he take the cigarette? He has access to the Ricin, he's the one who gave it to Jessie in the first place. If he wanted to poison the kid, he could have done it from his own stash...no need to take the smoke to raise suspicision with Jessie.

1) He needed Jesse to realize that Brock wasn't sick, je was poisoned2) He needed Jesse to come to him so he could manipulate and plan, rather than having Jesse going off half-cocked and getting himself killed.

When would he take the smoke? Walt is persona non grata around the laundry lab. Are we really to believe that tube steak managed to lift the pack of cigarettes when he was frisking Jesse, slid a smoke out of the pack and replaced the pack all in the matter of a 5-second frisk? Then Saul would have to get personally involved in this plan. Now, Saul isn't the most ethical attorney out there, but he probably would stop short of defrauding one of his own clients. He has kept Walt and Jesse's monies for them.

 

[beer 30]

Does no one else think that Walt did actually poison the kid?

He's totally desperate knowing he's going to die and maybe his family too if he doesn't do something. But he has no shot himself. He needs Jesse. It crossed my mind during the Jesse/Walt scene that this was Walt's plan because how on earth would Fring know about the ricin? I guess I may be reading too much into it though

I absolutely thought that as soon as he started trying to convince Jesse it was Gus. Couple reasons why, Walt is not as dumb & panicky as he was portrayed last night and Jesse is as dumb & panicky as he appeared last night. Walt's MO through this whole story line has been that of the evil (and lucky) genius when he needs to be. I think we'll see somewhere down the road that Walt poisoned the kid to motivate Jesse to side with him. Jesse is all that Walt has left.

 

[Tiger Fan]

For anyone who thinks Walt poisoned the kid...why would he take the cigarette? He has access to the Ricin, he's the one who gave it to Jessie in the first place. If he wanted to poison the kid, he could have done it from his own stash...no need to take the smoke to raise suspicision with Jessie.

1) He needed Jesse to realize that Brock wasn't sick, je was poisoned2) He needed Jesse to come to him so he could manipulate and plan, rather than having Jesse going off half-cocked and getting himself killed.

Walt would have accomplished these things w/o taking the cig b/c Jessie would have realized this b/c he knew the effects of Ricin, and had first hand witness of Gus poisoning the cartel.

 

[SacramentoBob]

All the people saying Walt poisoned Jesse have to explain how Jesse had the cigarette when he was at the laundry.

 

[Don Quixote]

For anyone who thinks Walt poisoned the kid...why would he take the cigarette? He has access to the Ricin, he's the one who gave it to Jessie in the first place. If he wanted to poison the kid, he could have done it from his own stash...no need to take the smoke to raise suspicision with Jessie.

My thoughts too. And when Walt was spinning the gun, it landed on a plant.ETA: On second read, misread this. My thought was that Walt poisoned the kid (and Walt spinning the gun and it landing on a plant seemed to suggest that), but would not have been required to steal the one from Jesse. Though if Walt did make something himself, it would not explain what happened to Jesse's cigarette.

 

[Brock Middlebrook]

For anyone who thinks Walt poisoned the kid...why would he take the cigarette? He has access to the Ricin, he's the one who gave it to Jessie in the first place. If he wanted to poison the kid, he could have done it from his own stash...no need to take the smoke to raise suspicision with Jessie.

1) He needed Jesse to realize that Brock wasn't sick, je was poisoned2) He needed Jesse to come to him so he could manipulate and plan, rather than having Jesse going off half-cocked and getting himself killed.

When would he take the smoke? Walt is persona non grata around the laundry lab. Are we really to believe that tube steak managed to lift the pack of cigarettes when he was frisking Jesse, slid a smoke out of the pack and replaced the pack all in the matter of a 5-second frisk? Then Saul would have to get personally involved in this plan. Now, Saul isn't the most ethical attorney out there, but he probably would stop short of defrauding one of his own clients. He has kept Walt and Jesse's monies for them.

All tube steak would have had to do was a switcheroo on packs

 

[Brock Middlebrook]

For anyone who thinks Walt poisoned the kid...why would he take the cigarette? He has access to the Ricin, he's the one who gave it to Jessie in the first place. If he wanted to poison the kid, he could have done it from his own stash...no need to take the smoke to raise suspicision with Jessie.

you answered your own question

unless Jesse comes to Walt, the plan has no chance.

 

[boofatty]

Great episode, I agree with most everyone here on the ricin scenario, but I was shocked that Jesse seemed to keep cool when Gus was around. He was able to not give away that he may have suspected Gus. When the ricin was tipped off, I thought the kid stole it but Jesse would assume it was Walt. Gus didn't appear to be responsible, and I agree that I don't think he would have done it to motivate Jesse. The more I think about it, I tend to think it was Walt, though not sure how he did it. Walt is a very desperate man right now, Gus is too smart. If Gus' guy found the ricin, how would he or Gus even know what it is? Why wouldn't they assume it was a drug for Jesse to get high instead of a poison? We don't know what type of poison Gus used on the cartel, so why assume it was Ricin?

Did anyone else get the feeling that Hank is suspicious of his former partner, or DEA in general? Or was he just trying to push him into checking out the laundry?

I'll bet next week starts with Gus going back to Jesse to reaffirm trust and say he did not do it, and then try to pin it on Walt, which of course puts Jesse in a real tough spot. This twist further pushes Walt into working with the DEA to save his ###.

 

[whoknew]

When they first brought up the ricin poisoning - in earlier seasons - didn't Walt tell Jesse it would take a few days for the ricin to kick in? That was why they were using the ricin - because nobody could trace it back to them.

So how did it kick in on the kid so quickly?

 

[Dvorak]

Ok, not an expert on hospitals and poison control here. But wouldn't a kid showing up with ricin poisoning raise ALL KINDS of red flags? Especially since the doctors didn't diagnose it, but a friend of the mother suggested it as a possible cause? I'm talking Homeland Security level response? Certainly, they'd want to talk to Jesse about it, right?

 

[SacramentoBob]

When they first brought up the ricin poisoning - in earlier seasons - didn't Walt tell Jesse it would take a few days for the ricin to kick in? That was why they were using the ricin - because nobody could trace it back to them. So how did it kick in on the kid so quickly?

Details.

 

[Jojo the circus boy]

Ok, not an expert on hospitals and poison control here. But wouldn't a kid showing up with ricin poisoning raise ALL KINDS of red flags? Especially since the doctors didn't diagnose it, but a friend of the mother suggested it as a possible cause? I'm talking Homeland Security level response? Certainly, they'd want to talk to Jesse about it, right?

Spoiler

don't watch the previews if you don't want the answer

 

[NYRAGE]

If Gus was so paranoid about someone sabotaging his car, then why not leave this new henchman that we are seeing standing by it while Gus and Tyrus go inside to talk to Jessie?I say Gus was just thinking. What about? I'm not sure. Obviously he wants something else from Jessie.

Gus was thinking that Walt and Jessee were in cahoots thanks to Jessee mentioning that "he was poisoned". Here is a quick video from AMCTV that discusses the scene.http://www.amctv.com/breaking-bad/videos/inside-breaking-bad-episode-412-end-times

 

[OddibeMcD]

If Gus was so paranoid about someone sabotaging his car, then why not leave this new henchman that we are seeing standing by it while Gus and Tyrus go inside to talk to Jessie?I say Gus was just thinking. What about? I'm not sure. Obviously he wants something else from Jessie.

Gus was thinking that Walt and Jessee were in cahoots thanks to Jessee mentioning that "he was poisoned". Here is a quick video from AMCTV that discusses the scene.http://www.amctv.com/breaking-bad/videos/inside-breaking-bad-episode-412-end-times

Yep, that sold me. I'm the idiot here.

 

[Tiger Fan]

For anyone who thinks Walt poisoned the kid...why would he take the cigarette? He has access to the Ricin, he's the one who gave it to Jessie in the first place. If he wanted to poison the kid, he could have done it from his own stash...no need to take the smoke to raise suspicision with Jessie.

you answered your own question

unless Jesse comes to Walt, the plan has no chance.

my mind is blown

 

[Tiger Fan]

When they first brought up the ricin poisoning - in earlier seasons - didn't Walt tell Jesse it would take a few days for the ricin to kick in? That was why they were using the ricin - because nobody could trace it back to them. So how did it kick in on the kid so quickly?

good point. I do remember this...maybe it works quicker on young kids?

 

[Abraham]

Good episode, but it felt a little rushed. As if they had three episodes of material and only two episodes in which to place it. Felt sort of like "part 1" of a two part finale. The tension between Walt and Jessie and Jessie coming back around should have been one episode in itself.

 

[SacramentoBob]

If Gus was so paranoid about someone sabotaging his car, then why not leave this new henchman that we are seeing standing by it while Gus and Tyrus go inside to talk to Jessie?I say Gus was just thinking. What about? I'm not sure. Obviously he wants something else from Jessie.

Gus was thinking that Walt and Jessee were in cahoots thanks to Jessee mentioning that "he was poisoned". Here is a quick video from AMCTV that discusses the scene.http://www.amctv.com/breaking-bad/videos/inside-breaking-bad-episode-412-end-times

Yep, that sold me. I'm the idiot here.

Lame explanation.

 

[Apple Juice]

Here's where the logic fails for me:

When mammacita mentioned the flu-like symptoms that didn't get better, I automatically thought of Jessie's ricin. Jessie made the connection after seeing his pack of smokes. I then thought that the kid was the dumbest thief in the world. If you are going to cage a cigarette, you don't take the one that stands out, the one the owner of the pack will know is missing. You sneak one of the unassuming, ordinary smokes.

Apparently Jessie never thought that the kid could have been wholly responsible for his predicament. Jessie lept to the conclusion that baby tio was poisoned, automatically blaming his erstwhile partner. As Walt correctly pointed out, the timeline to make Walt responsible for the poisoning makes zero sense. Walt didn't have access to Jessie's cigarettes (the fingle fingers of Saul not-withstanding), the kid and the kid's mother knew Walt's face and would have been wary of accepting anything from him and Walt has more time-sensitive issues than a spite poisoning.

So, the conclusion that Gus was behind the poisoning was quickly reached. Walt stated that Gus must have done it to drive Jessie to rage so hard he offed Walt. But, the mystery was unraveled so quickly, that it stretches my belief that a man as calculating as Gus could have relied on so flimsy a plan. Therefore, I conclude that Gus wants Jessie to know that he poisoned the kid and wants the poisoning to act as a warning of some sort to Jessie. However, we have seen Jessie's nihilistic streak and a dude as smart as Gus should know that killing this kid is the absolute worst way to coerce cooperation out of Jessie.

In the Gus-Jessie interaction, Gus made no sign of tipping Jessie off to the truth. If Gus is relying on this event to act as a way to force Jessie away from Walt, he did an awfully poor job of planning. If Gus did this as a subtle warning to Jessie, he completely misread Jessie's character. Both options are completely out of place from the calculating chickenman we have grown to know and love.

In my imagination, once the kid was in the hospital, I thought the story line would prove the kid caged a smoke and managed to unintentionally kill himself. This death would send Jessie into an even more nihilistic state than after the death of Jane. Walt and Gus would have to form an uneasy alliance for Gus would need a cook and Walt would need protection from a former protege now set on revenge against Walt, Gus and anyone else that Jessie associated with on his meth journey. The first victim of Jessie's vigilante revenge would have been poor Badger. Walt's "heinous" action would have been killing Jessie before Jessie managed to complete his revenge vision. Even better is if Jessie manages to take out Gus first, allowing the ascension of Heisenberg and setting the stage for a Season 5 Hank-Walt showdown.

Now, I just have to trust the writers to be better than my inane ideas, a feat that is not hard at all.

Good post, this is mostly what was going through my mind. The reason I think it's a stretch that Gus would attempt this plan is because it's so flimsy. There are a thousand variables involved and a thousand ways for it to completely backfire. I believe Walt poisoned the kid at this point. I don't think he necessarily used ricin. He found a way to get the cigarette from Jesse to make Jesse think the kid was poisoned by the cigarette and Gus was who did it. I don't think Walt would kill a kid, but he could find a way to make the kid look sick as if he were poisoned by ricin.

If Gus really wanted Jesse to think Walt poisoned the kid, he could have done a much better job of framing Walt.

 

[Tiger Fan]

Here's where the logic fails for me:

When mammacita mentioned the flu-like symptoms that didn't get better, I automatically thought of Jessie's ricin. Jessie made the connection after seeing his pack of smokes. I then thought that the kid was the dumbest thief in the world. If you are going to cage a cigarette, you don't take the one that stands out, the one the owner of the pack will know is missing. You sneak one of the unassuming, ordinary smokes.

Apparently Jessie never thought that the kid could have been wholly responsible for his predicament. Jessie lept to the conclusion that baby tio was poisoned, automatically blaming his erstwhile partner. As Walt correctly pointed out, the timeline to make Walt responsible for the poisoning makes zero sense. Walt didn't have access to Jessie's cigarettes (the fingle fingers of Saul not-withstanding), the kid and the kid's mother knew Walt's face and would have been wary of accepting anything from him and Walt has more time-sensitive issues than a spite poisoning.

So, the conclusion that Gus was behind the poisoning was quickly reached. Walt stated that Gus must have done it to drive Jessie to rage so hard he offed Walt. But, the mystery was unraveled so quickly, that it stretches my belief that a man as calculating as Gus could have relied on so flimsy a plan. Therefore, I conclude that Gus wants Jessie to know that he poisoned the kid and wants the poisoning to act as a warning of some sort to Jessie. However, we have seen Jessie's nihilistic streak and a dude as smart as Gus should know that killing this kid is the absolute worst way to coerce cooperation out of Jessie.

In the Gus-Jessie interaction, Gus made no sign of tipping Jessie off to the truth. If Gus is relying on this event to act as a way to force Jessie away from Walt, he did an awfully poor job of planning. If Gus did this as a subtle warning to Jessie, he completely misread Jessie's character. Both options are completely out of place from the calculating chickenman we have grown to know and love.

In my imagination, once the kid was in the hospital, I thought the story line would prove the kid caged a smoke and managed to unintentionally kill himself. This death would send Jessie into an even more nihilistic state than after the death of Jane. Walt and Gus would have to form an uneasy alliance for Gus would need a cook and Walt would need protection from a former protege now set on revenge against Walt, Gus and anyone else that Jessie associated with on his meth journey. The first victim of Jessie's vigilante revenge would have been poor Badger. Walt's "heinous" action would have been killing Jessie before Jessie managed to complete his revenge vision. Even better is if Jessie manages to take out Gus first, allowing the ascension of Heisenberg and setting the stage for a Season 5 Hank-Walt showdown.

Now, I just have to trust the writers to be better than my inane ideas, a feat that is not hard at all.

Good post, this is mostly what was going through my mind. The reason I think it's a stretch that Gus would attempt this plan is because it's so flimsy. There are a thousand variables involved and a thousand ways for it to completely backfire. I believe Walt poisoned the kid at this point. I don't think he necessarily used ricin. He found a way to get the cigarette from Jesse to make Jesse think the kid was poisoned by the cigarette and Gus was who did it. I don't think Walt would kill a kid, but he could find a way to make the kid look sick as if he were poisoned by ricin.

If Gus really wanted Jesse to think Walt poisoned the kid, he could have done a much better job of framing Walt.

Dammit...now I think I'm on your side of this discussion. Guess it was a pretty solid episode after all.But still...when and how did Walt get the cigarette?