The Belize Option: Recapping Breaking Bad "Buried" (Season 5, Episode 10)

A bed of money; a baby fight; and more than a few bad decisions.

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Complex Original

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A bed of money; a baby fight; and more than a few bad decisions.

When will we have Jesse Pinkman back? Last night's episode of Breaking Bad, entitled "Buried," opened on the night of our most troubled meth cook's trickle down party. An anonymous old man finds a fat stack sitting in the yellow beams of his headlights, the result of Jesse's one man campaign to give back to Albuquerque. It looks that this grizzled Scooby Doo villian is gonna walk away with the entire fortune, as he picks his way across the driveways of his neighbors. Then he spots a red glow off near the playground. (Those damn meddling kids). Jesse turns himself in slow circles on a piece of playground equipment. And that's it.

Since Todd killed Drew Sharp, Jesse's been broken. There isn't a viewer alive that doesn't understand that. But with only six episodes left, it is high time that Jesse open his mouth—he has no dialogue in "Buried"; not an errant "bitch" leaves his lips—and try to get out of this mess alive.

On second thought, maybe staying lost in his own brain will save him, as conversation didn't help anyone last night. No, any time the four members of the White-Schrader family spoke to one another, they only succeeded in taking steps toward sealing their own fates.

Hank, for instance, meets with his sister-in-law at a local diner for a quick chat. Pay no attention to your conspicuous lack of legal representation, Skyler, and just quickly recap seasons one through four for this here voice recorder. That's near-supercop Hank Schrader's plan. In the panicked wake of the garage confrontation, Hank is thinking with his badge. He wants to nab Walt so, so badly that he's willing to let Skyler incriminate herself to do it. Now, perhaps Hank believes that Skyler could give her deposition and come out unscathed. Maybe. Regardless, he only succeeds in turning Skyler away.

Marie comes calling to drive the wedge between the Shraders and the Whites even deeper. She plays detective and reads Skyler's tear-soaked trembling for what it is: an admission of guilt. Skyler has known the truth (some of it, anyway) for a long, long time. Since before Hank was shot, in fact. With this fact spoken aloud, Marie wrinkles up her Schrader brow and slaps her sister in the face.

Then she tries to make off with Holly. In what is one of the most agonizing moments in the history of a show that excels at agonizing moments, they fight over the infant. You wanted another high-tension moment after last week's "tread lightly"? Here you go. Hope you're happy. This is what the destruction of a family looks like. You don't grapple with your sibling over a screaming baby and then make nice over takeout.

Turned away from her sister and brother-in-law, the two people who could offer shelter from the impending storm, Skyler is left with just her husband. Walt's been busy. First he had to get the money, which led to the funniest shot of the night: 

That's Huell realizing his childhood dream of resting on a bed of money, just like Don Draper. Note that there is nothing in the frame other than money and Huell. It's like a bad Photoshopped wallpaper you'd turn up searching for "Huell + #KING," except that it's beautiful.

Huell and the Gingerhead Man bring the money to Saul's office in large barrels, which Walt then drives into the desert to bury. Anytime you get Walt, some soil, and a shovel in the same scene, it's hard to shake the feeling that you're watching him dig his own grave. He digs and digs. Eventually he finishes the job and goes home to Skyler. She explains that she told Hank nothing and then Walt collapses, exhausted. When he comes to on the bathroom floor, which Skyler has fashioned into a makeshift bed, he confirms what Hank let slip at the diner: His cancer is back. He says that he can turn himself in on the condition that Skyler dig up the money and give it to Holly and Walt Jr., so that his efforts haven't been for nothing. And here's where Skyler blows her own out. No, she tells him. Wait. Hank doesn't have enough for a case; they'll wait and see what happens.

The way it looks now, Jesse stands the best chance of escaping the next six episodes. "Buried" leaves him right before an interrogation with Hank. (He's been brought in for questioning on account of his Robin Hood escapades.) Will Hank walk in there and try to turn Jesse against Walt? Hank needs someone to give him some shred of evidence, and since it won't be Skyler, Pinkman is his next best shot.

During the episode's only unbelievable exchange, Saul asks if Walt might consider sending Hank to Belize. Walt doesn't follow, even though Saul has suggested this option before. Walt isn't as good a criminal as he thinks he is, but the likelihood of the guy who had ten imprisoned men killed in just two minutes not understanding the suggestion of murder is ridiculous. That criticism aside, "The Belize Option" has a nice ring to it.

Which characters will meet Belize, and who will send them there? Will Lydia spill more blood trying to get her meth up to snuff for the Czech Republic? She did a great job of having everyone in Declan's crew killed in under two minutes. Is Lydia just Heisenberg in Louboutins? Quick, someone figure out what her maiden name is—that must hold the key to everything.

Written by Ross Scarano (@RossScarano)
GIFs via Randal Mitchell and Nevergods

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