The cold open kicks off the episode's unofficial string of callbacks by Walt Sr. and Jr. pick up the infamous Pontiac Aztek, which has been repaired following Walt's late-in-season-4 crash to avoid bringing Hank to the laundromat. (My favorite comment by the mechanic: "Didn't have to replace the windshield this time!") Inside the Aztec is the legendary Heisenberg hat, which triggers Walt to sell the Aztec to the mechanic for a whopping $50. After donning the hat once again, Walt drives home with a newly leased Chrysler... and doubles down by leasing Walt Jr. a Dodge Challenger just like the one he bought (and subsequently blew up) last season. But, just as she acted in response to the Challenger purchase last season, Skyler isn't responding very nicely to these new leases... if only because of The Story.
You recall The Story, don't you? The elaborate backstory that Walt and (primarily) Skyler concocted to explain Walt's influx of cash as a result of an insane gambling addiction? Now, Walt does his darndest to justify it against The Story by noting that they are, in fact leases: the Chrysler as a birthday present, and Walt Jr.'s Challenger on account of "me being a softie!") But then, Walt plops down $20,000 on the bathroom sink, indicating that he's back making meth. His rationale? "We have to make up that $600,000 we lost!" - the $600,000 that, you'll recall, Skyler gave to Ted to help him escape his financial troubles. And suddenly, Skyler's moral conscience - which you'd think would've all but disappeared on account of Skyler's financial backing of Ted, not to mention her role in the car wash cover business - returns with a vengeance, as she starts talking about shipping Walt Jr. off to boarding school in Arizona, even though he's only one year away from graduating high school. "A new environment might be good for them," she says, but Walt asks, "What's wrong with our environment?"
Skyler's discomfort with Walt has been steadily building over the course of the first four episodes, from Walt's semi-threatening bedside talks to the awkward family viewing of Scarface. But, it all comes to a head on Walt's 51st birthday, beginning with Skyler's reluctance to write out Walt's age in bacon - just as she did in the show's very first episode, and which Walt is left to do himself in the season premiere's flash-forward. But, nothing prepares Walt - or Hank or Marie, for that matter - for Skyler's dip into the family pool during Walt's birthday party. The pool scene, evocatively directed by Rian Johnson, best known for Brick and the upcoming time-travel extravaganza Looper, stages Skyler slowly descending in the background as the camera pushes in on Walt, who waxes poetic about how far he's come in the past year, in a speech that could easily serve as both a reflection of his criminal life and his fight against cancer: "There were times when I was sure I was done for... but then someone, or something, would come through for me." From the piecing luminescence of the pool water, to the entranced look on Skyler's face as she wades her way across the pool, it's a wonderfully sustained moment of unease that serves as the highlight of the episode.
It leads to a bedroom confrontation between Walt and Skyler, who's not convinced that Walt's rebuilt operation won't bring harm to the family: sure, Walt assures Skyler that Gus was the danger, but Skyler throws Walt's "I am the danger!" line from last season back in his face. Skyler still has guilt from what happened to Ted, and even though she's in this mess for the long haul, she doesn't want the kids to be harmed as a result - and is seemingly willing to go the extra mile to ensure that her children are removed from the White home. It's this control for Walt Jr. and the baby that leads to a disturbing face-off between husband and wife: Walt counters Skyler's self-inflicted bruises by saying that he'll have her committed in order to gain custody of the kids… which prompts Skyler to act as if the bruises were inflicted by Walt when he learned of her affair with Ted. But as much as Walt tries to poke holes in all of Skyler's plans, and as much as Skyler admits that she's no match for Walt's masterful mind, she lays down the trump card: "All I can do is wait… hold on, bide my time, and wait… for the cancer to come back." (The point is iterated in the episode's final scene, which focuses on the tick-tick-tick of Walt's new watch.)
Meanwhile, we got to view the Continuing Adventures of Lydia, the panicky Madrigal employee from the episode of the same name. This week, we meet Lydia in her Houston office, where she's still barely keeping it together... as made evident by the mismatched shoes she wore to work (and the screaming-into-the-pillow moment). But suddenly, Lydia gets a heads-up call from Mike, indicating that she's 30 seconds away from having some visitors: Hank and Gomez. We then head to the Madrigal warehouse, where the purpose of the DEA's visit becomes clear: to arrest one of the warehouse employees... in fact, the very employee who's been responsible for the methylamine barrels. Enter Jesse, who makes the long drive from Albuquerque to Houston to pick up a barrel himself... but Lydia just so happens to find a nice surprise under the barrel: a Garmin GPS device. Mike, however, finds the planting of the device quite sloppy - certainly nothing that the DEA would do - and immediately pinpoints Lydia as the likely culprit, saying "Okay, she's dead!" Jesse bargains for her life, ultimately calling on Walt to make the deciding vote. His response - that the meth keeps flowing, no matter what - is presented in another wonderful and intense shot, the camera slowly pushing in as Walt holds the Heisenberg hat in his hands.
As a viewer, I'm somewhat inclined to side with Mike with regards to Lydia: given the generous pass Mike gave Lydia in the final act of "Madrigal", the GPS act isn't exactly what I'd consider a "thank you". But even more than that, I'm a little concerned as to how long the show will be able to reasonably involve Lydia in full-on panic mode before things go horribly wrong. More likely than not, something major will come to pass within the final four episodes of this season... the question at this point is, "How soon?"
But, ultimately that plot progression is secondary in "Fifty-One" to the new character dynamics between Walt and Skyler. It's certainly uncomfortable, and it's significant evidence in how insufferable Walt has become this season… something that will no doubt grow as we head into the last four episodes of this summer. (That's right, folks, we're already halfway through the 2012 season! Say whaaaaaaaaa?) Given the enemies he's making this year - and the enemies he's crafted in his mind - we're certainly headed in a position to get Walt to the solitary state that we find him in when he turns 52.
- This weekend, I checked out Bryan Cranston's latest movie, the Total Recall remake, and I was very disappointed. Specifically with regards to Cranston's performance as Cohaagen, I kept waiting for Cranston to make the character as villainous as Walt, but he never gets to that level, which was underwhelming. And as for Cranston's horrible wig? The less said, the better.
- Jesse giving Walt the watch for his birthday was a nice moment: it's probably as sentimental as this show wants to get. :-)
- So what does Hank's promotion mean for the DEA's Gus Fring case? Certainly, the look on Hank's face as he heard about the offer was one of uncertainty... and we all know that Hank would've loved to shut this case down, even though he was stuck at the moment. My guess is that this is likely a temporary slowdown in the investigation, in order to stretch out these final batches of episodes.
- Next week: Time for a heist!
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