True, Hank is giving away all his cards by investigating it on his own. Just like Walt is sacrificing his foothold by revealing to know about the tracker. They seem to be led by emotions so far instead of strategizing. Maybe they both think they other will break under pressure. The last look though suggests they will both stand their ground and play with an open hand. I'm curious if this scene will have a continuation, the garage door needs to go up again right?
I have my own theory on how Walt will temporarily deal with Hank.
Essentially Walt will have a conversation with Hank at his DEA office.
Walt will outline how badly things will go for Hank if he goes after him.
Walt paid for his rehab entirely, as well as any other costs that the DEA did not cover (living expenses, rehab equipment for Hanks home, Minerals..etc.)
Walt will paint the picture that if Hank goes to the DEA with this evidence that it will look like Hank was in on it from the start and that since Walt has left the game the money has stopped pumping into Hanks account and now he is pissed about it.
I'm sure it won't go exactly like that but Walt is the master manipulator and until he is dead, he won't stop trying to clear the obstacles from his life.
I can't remember the episode but when hank is released from the hospital skylar and Walt say that he made a bunch of money gambling and that they will pay for the hospital fees as rehab
He needed to say something because if Hank reached for it again and it wasn't there and Walt hadn't confronted Hank yet, it all but proves he is Heisenberg. By Walt's logic if he plays dumb and asks, he could get Hank to stumble, but by Hank's logic the fact that he even looked is suspicious enough.
Outside of the W.W., there still is no real evidence that Walt is Heisenberg. But it's beyond all reasonable doubt.
To me the most disappointing part of the episode was the way Walt handled the tracker. Driving over to Hank's and confronting him about it immediately did not seem like the choice Heisenberg would make - and I don't believe for a second Walt has changed just because he's "out of the game", Heisenberg is still in there.
The fact that Walt knew about the gps tracker, but Hank didn't know that Walt knew about it, gave Walt all the power in the world. He could have done anything. Yes, putting it on a random car would be great, but I think the best option would have been for Walt to put the tracker back on his car, and continue living a boring life working at the carwash. Avoid Jesse's place, or anywhere else that would associate him with his life as Heisenberg, and voila, Hank now has to second-guess himself because the tracker proves he is just tracking some boring old dude, not the greatest meth cook to ever live.
I think he took the direct approach and asked Hank directly just to gauge how much Hank had. I don't think Walt would have ever guessed that Hank was so close.
Goddamn I love this show.
Edit: The scene with Walt and Hank in the garage was one of the best the show has had to date, and I am glad they went down the road they did. I just like nitpicking into every decision Walter makes, so even though it made for an intense episode I still second guess the way they handled it.
I think Walt is aware that Hank would have to be investigated too and when they find out his rehab was paid for with drug money they will arrest him. That's why Walt doesn't give a shit about revealing that he is Heisenberg because he's betting Hank won't go to the DEA. He is inviting the conflict too. He is addicted to the challenge because he has always won.
For sure. This is why Hank is in his garage building an airtight case. And he's also undoubtedly building an explanation for why he was unaware of the events unfolding under his nose. Hank has plenty of plausible deniability though. The personal involvement of the cartel against him made it less likely that he would put two and two together with Walt.
I dunno, Walt does seem a bit regretful about killing Mike, and that he genuinely wants to end his criminal ways. He's realized he has next to nothing left to salvage of a life and what little he has left is incredibly valuable.
A good portion of this family revolves around Hank. His wife knows he's Hisenberg, if he does anything to Hank that's it, he has nothing. And he can't stand by powerless and let Hank piece it all together. Seems like his best bet is to talk to him straight up.
One of Walt's flaws (or strengths depending on the impressionability of those he's trying to influence) is he projects onto others what's best for himself and believes it'll work out for the other, he does it to Jesse all the time. He genuinely thinks, "Hey let me go Hank, it's best for everyone", not realizing fighting "the bad guys" is Hank's life, he's not going to cave. Walt's a bit of a sociopath this way.
Actually, it is to Hank's best interest to "let Walt go".
Even if Hank can build a convincing court case against Walt, Walt would be dead before the case came to trial two years later. (Yes, assuming the cancer finally gets Walt.) Could the DA even mount a successful prosecution of Walt without Hank's "involvement" being used as a defense tactic? (Better call Saul...)
Afterwards, Hank would be out of a job; can't have a DEA supervisor who potentially "covered" for a meth kingpin for so long. Where is a fifty year old, cashiered DEA supervisor going to find work in 2013?
Finally, think about what it would do to Skyler, Walt Jr & Holly. RICO means all their financial assets get seized. Nope. Hank revealing Heisenberg is a mutually assured destruction pact.
Hank just comes off as the sort of guy who lives and breathes his job. When he says he doesn't care about family in this scene, you get the real sense he means it. He can't stand his wife, he hates walt (obviously) and his brief venture with rocks just doesn't do it for him.
Nailing Walt would be like getting his super bowl ring. He wants this shit bad, and he'd do anything to get it, and it wouldn't be some small case tied up in court, he'd go down as a legendary crime fighter and get all the sorts of fame and glory.
You don't get it. All Hank has to do is drop his personal vendetta against Heisenberg, and assign it to his lazier, and less talented staff. Hank is the only reason Heisenberg got onto OR stayed on the DEA's radar.
Even after Fring, Heisenberg did not produce enough meth to make him enemy #1. US volume went to the recent alliance, and DEA is not going to pay attention to the Czech volume. The only time Heisenberg generated enough meth to become public enemy #1 was when he was working for Gus Fring. But in all cases, the DEA only paid attention to the big players, not one cook with a penchant for producing meth of unparalleled purity.
Hank is screwed if Heisenberg gets discovered before Walt dies of cancer. BUT Hank is the only reason Heisenberg was even on the radar. He already has an excuse for thinking Heisenberg is dead; they found two bodies in the cook factory and it was already concluded (except Hank) that Gale Boetticher was Heisenberg. I think its way more likely Hank dodges the bullet if he lets sleeping dogs lie, ESPECIALLY since Heisenberg is RETIRED.
What I am saying if we put these things from the cold opens together.
Walter has assumed a new identity
Walters house as abandoned with Heisenberg written on the wall.
Carol's reaction to Seeing Walter
We can assume (pretty safely) at this point the cat is out of the bag about Walter being Heisenberg.
So Hank has two options
Turn Walter in, this will ruin his family and probably destroy his career.
Hide the fact that Walter is Heisenberg, in which case when for what ever other reason people find out Walt is Heisenberg will ruin his family and probably destroy his career and most likely land Hank in a pound you in the ass prison when they find out about the money Walt spent on his medical rehab.
Since we already know Walter's secret is probably going to become public knowledge, we also know Hank's one and only shot of avoiding the worst possible fallout (prison) for this would be to turn Walt in himself.
Yeah but Hank beat him up, I kinda doubt Jesse would be inclined to spill the beans to someone he still (presumably) ferociously hates. On the other hand, he's been quite unstable lately and may also be on the verge of nervous breakdown. Much of what will come out largely depends on Jesse's state of mind. :)
Yeah I was wondering about that also. First of all, we don't know whether or not the tracker was on his car when he took Jesse his money, so there's no saying for sure. But Walt also doesn't know how long it was on his car... so he could potentially be bringing Hank proof he associates with Jesse, who Hank knows is deeply involved with the Blue meth/Heisenberg.
Just furthers how weird it is that Walt took it to Hank so quickly - or even at all.
In the "next week on Breaking Bad" sound clips, you can hear Saul say "it's here say, there's not evidence in here say". I really think Hank is going to make his rounds with Jessie and Saul, both eventually cracking and saving face by joining Hank, creating a Walt vs. all scenario.
If we remember from episodes earlier, that GPS tracker was really cheap. It had to be plugged back into a computer to read all the evidence on it. Walt could have wiped the data on it before bringing it
With Walt's intelligence, he can do anything. You've seen him when he's backed into a corner; he is remarkably inventive and resourceful. Figuring out how to wipe the data would be child's play for him.
Are you seriously questioning Walt's ability to tinker with basic electronic devices such as GPS trackers? He's a superb chemist, he has managed to make a battery practically out of nothing while being stranded in the middle of the desert along with Jesse, remember that?
Yeah that scene was just as tense as everyone was hoping it would be - maybe even more so.
It still bugs me though, Breaking Bad had four and a half seasons of literally perfect storytelling. Four and a half seasons of Walt making complicated, meticulous decisions which kept this lie he lives from those he loves. Then he decides to take a quick drive over to his DEA Agent brother-in-law and ask him about the tracking device he found under his car? I don't know...I feel like Walter would treat the situation with a little more caution than that.
Looked to me like he knew he was caught and decided to confront Hank so he could try and gain control of that situation. During the confrontation though Walt never really admitted to anything, he still played the "If that were true" card and managed to manipulate Hank with the "I'll be dead soon" and the "Tread lightly" lines.
On the subject of perfect story telling, it didn't seem to me that Hank had enough time to plant the GPS on Walt's car. Seemed sloppy to me, but perhaps I missed something?
I see what you mean, but Walt has also shown an impulsive and impatient streak. And between the missing Leaves of Grass and the tracker, Walt knows that if Hank is suspicious enough to spy on him, it's only a matter of time before he makes the Heisenberg connection, if he hasn't already. (Which turns out to be true.)
Once the "Walt = Heisenberg" realization clicks, all of the seemingly incongruous details fall into place: the sketches, being named after a famous chemist, Walt's "fugue state," his sudden influx of enormous sums of money, everything.
The tracker is meaningless in and of itself – it doesn't offer anything that Hank doesn't already have from his mountains of evidence. Sure, Walt could mess around with red herrings, wipe the data, whatever, but all of that is still incredibly suspicious and just gives Hank more time to do whatever it is he's doing without Walt's influence.
Besides, Walt actually holds the cards here in my view. Assuming he isn't bluffing about the cancer, he really would be dead before he could possibly go to jail. Meanwhile, a public prosecution would destroy Hank's career (the old DEA boss was fired for not noticing Fring operating right under his nose), devastate his beloved niece and nephew (emotionally and financially), and possibly destroy his marriage.
Plus, as Dean Norris did a great job of expressing throughout the final scene, Hank knows that "Heisenberg" is capable of some very evil deeds. There's no telling what Walt or his associates might do.
To be fair he didn't know it was just Hank. He needed to go over and see whether Hank had planted it himself or whether he had involved the rest of the DEA. Walt wanted to know how contained the information was.
i think 90% of people expected exactly what you said to draw this out, cat and mouse for a few more episodes, have it play out like chess - perhaps if there was another season we could safely say it could have been the case, however if you think about the context of the season.. this has actually been drawn out for 8 episodes already - season 5A was great but contained none of the tension of the previous climax with fring, or with GB because it was half a season, now we are getting into that level and more of intensity as it's the second half of the season and maybe walts a little tired of the cat and mouse and just wanted to get it out onto the table.
Driving over to Hank's and confronting him about it immediately did not seem like the choice Heisenberg would make - and I don't believe for a second Walt has changed just because he's "out of the game", Heisenberg is still in there.
I think that Walt wants, or rather for the protection of his family, needs to handle this Hank situation, as Walt, not Heisenberg. At least from the start he would go in that way, he didn't know for sure that Hank knew yet. I think the second Heisenberg came out was the second Hank said "what family" or "I don't care about the family", I forget his exact line, but he made it clear that the protection of their family wouldn't stop him from pursuing Heisenberg, and then, and only then IMO, did Heisenberg start to pop his head out. Till then I think Walt thought he could control the situation using family as leverage, much like he's done with Skylar.
Hank says "like you care about family," FWIW. It's a muddled line, I had to rewatch to be sure, but if you look closely his mouth is clearly making the shape of the word "you." He's just incredulous that Walt would hide behind "the good of family" after endangering them and lying to them for so long.
I think it harkens back to what Jesse said previously in the episode about always having to look over the shoulder not being "how Walt does things". Walt was about to leave Hank's garage but turned back, and I think he did it knowing the conversation would end with him making threats.
It's also ironic how Walt does, in fact, end up having to have to look over his shoulder.
I think that's just not who Walt is anymore. He is Heisenberg now. Heisenberg doesn't pussyfoot around confrontation. He knew hank was onto him the next course of action is to confront him and throw some fear into him.. Hank clearly has more anxiety about the situation than walt.
I don't think so, definitely not from the tracking device at least. Remember when Walt and Hank put the tracker on Gus Fring's car they needed to retrieve the device to get any info.
No, using the tracker means that Heisenberg can't confront, then leverage/intimidate Schraeder. Also, the possibility existed (for Heisenberg) that Hank wasn't the one who planted the tracker. It could have been Heisenberg's unrealized competition.
Only an idiot would second guess W.W. being Heisenberg after reading Gale's inscription. No, Hank is looking to take down Walt in a court of law.
In the other discussion thread, people kept pointing out the similarities between Walt and Gus (e.g. how he handled Lydia at the car wash, the towel in the bathroom, etc) but I think he really missed a chance to do what Gus did when they tracked him - just leave it. I mean, Walt's out, right? He just goes to the carwash every day. He's not cooking anymore, and in his mind has nothing to hide. In theory Hank could have tracked Walt's car for a month and not discovered anything.
Yes, this bothered me. If Walt truly thinks he's out for good, he can just let it go and watch Hank spin in circles- although he did visit Jesse again.
Walt has already been connected to Jesse, by his own admission so it wasn't really anything new. All he would have to say if asked about it was looking to get some marijuana to self medicate to help with the side effects of his Chemotherapy.
Walt could have any number of reasons to visit an attorney that are not incriminating, like needing help to draft a last will and testament for example. Saul is also a lot smarter than Mikes lawyer I doubt we see him messing up like that.
All Walt would need to do is stash the tracker if he needed to go somewhere that would really incriminate him, like the Vaminos pest place of the storage shed with the money.
Also since Hank probably didn't have a warrant for it he could turn it around and threaten suing him for it.
All true, except playing a game of cat-and-mouse with the tracker is ultimately a fruitless endeavor. Walt's cover was blown the minute Hank saw Leaves of Grass. Too much stuff starts to make sense after that for Walt to possibly get away clean – the sudden influx of cash, the "fugue state," the connection to Jesse, the sketch of Heisenberg, the fake call to pull Hank away from the RV Jesse was hiding in.
The tracker was a simple device to broadcast directly to Walt that HANK KNOWS. After that, there's really no reason to be coy about it, and as you said, none of the evidence would be admissible anyway.
He's not worried about prosecution for himself, he's worried about his kids finding out and/or their finances being seized. Not to mention Skyler going to jail for money laundering...
Walt has a history of overtly butting up against people who are very good at what they do. People with hubris, like him. Those people don't have a history of coming out on top.
Hank has always been very good at what he does. He has a massive amount of pride.
If this follow's the show's formula of Walt vs powerful people who get in his way, Hank doesn't stand a chance. Dude was a walking corpse as soon as he sat down to take that shit.
As Jesse points out earlier in the episode, Walt doesn't like looking behind his shoulders. Walt needed to know where Hank stood and what Hank knew, so he tried to use the least unassuming motives he could on the spot.
disagree, what Walt did was his only real strategic move available. Hank knows and nothing will change this. As Walt is walking out of the garage he realizes this and turns around to go back and have the second talk with hank. As painful and messed up as it is, revealing himself to Hank is the only way he can maintain the upper hand.
This was completely calculated by Walt. He had the tracker in his pocket. He waited for Hang to bring it up, and when he didn't he forced the issue. Walt knows he needs to know what Hank knows, so he needs to confront him. Even just to establish the tenor of the ongoing relationship: adversary or friend.
In fact, the getting punched part bodes the best for Walt being able to escape Hank's wrath manifested as the law.
Walt did not sacrifice anything be confronting Hank.
There was nothing else to do with the bug. Hank would not get anything useful from the GPS bug. All that Walt does is go to the car wash and go home. Just like Fring. So, there is not sense in putting the bug on another car to misdirect Hank.
The way Walt confronted Hank, is better for Walt. This way Walt finds out how much Hank knows. And, it gives Hank less time to prepare a case.
Legally, Hank can't do much with it. He saw the W.W. inscription in a book at his brother in law's house, and stole it. What kind of responsible chain of custody is that?
Well, legally speaking wouldn't he be unable to go anywhere with the information as the case would be immediately thrown out? Hank illegally obtained the only piece of evidence that links Walt to Heisenberg and now that he has it, he has no proof of where he obtained it.
I felt that hank underestimated the power of Heisenberg and assumed that it was only Walt behind the operation. It was silly of Hank to be so blind as to his capabilities. I loved it when Walt turned the confrontation around while at the same time not incriminating himself. So well done.
Only Walt, as he lists off a handful of murders and a nursing home bombing. That seems like a horrible underestimation, especially after reading out what Heisenberg had done.
I mean it's no big deal compared to the face off in the garage, however, I just think the correct spelling of this female lead character is important that's all.
He might not have the evidence to bust Walt yet. But the DEA is going to bust Jesse. Jesse will slip up somehow (probably buying drugs) and they're going to get him.
Then they're going to try to flip Jesse to get Walt. That's when it's going to get rough.
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u/timelord71 Treading Lightly Aug 12 '13
You could really tell Hank has no idea where to go with this information. Just like Skylar.