AMC’s Breaking Bad
Season 4, Episode 6: “Cornered”
Directed by Michael Slovis
Written by Gennifer Hutchison

* For a recap & review of the previous episode, “Shotgun” – click here
* For a recap & review of the next episode, “Problem Dog” – click here
Like Mike (Jonathan Banks) did once, two men sit in the back of a Los Pollos Hermanos truck awaiting any problems. The truck’s hijacked. Instead of coming in the normal way, the hijackers turn the exhaust back in through the vents and lock the doors, flooding the back with carbon monoxide. Eventually the guys die, as the hijackers wait patiently. Afterwards they find the marked fry batter container and take it with them.
Skyler’s (Anna Gunn) been reading about the murder of Gale Boetticher and listening to the voicemail Walt (Bryan Cranston) left her repeatedly. She believes something sinister was at play when her husband called home. She starts asking him questions about Gale. He tries putting her mind at ease, and it only works so much. He feels a separation like “church and state” needs to be in place between home life and work life, y’know, considering he’s a meth cook for a cartel-connected businessman. At the same time, Skyler worries her husband wants to be caught somehow. She thinks he’s in over his head.
Here comes the iconic line, when Skyler says she knows Walt’s in danger. He lets her know, in no uncertain terms, he’s an important man, one who draws in billions of dollars for his employers. “I am the danger,” he tells her: “I am the one who knocks.” For the first time, she looks genuinely afraid of him. After he has a shower, Walt gets out and finds his wife’s gone.
At the car wash, Walt talks to Bodgan (Marius Stan) as the business is being handed over once and for all. The previous owner tries being a bit of a prick before he’s got to leave. Bogdan talks some shit. He’s not talking to the same man who once worked for him, he’s talking to a much tougher, more ruthless person. He’s got no clue. So, as a final act of humiliation, he refuses to let Bogdan take his framed first dollar from the wall. After the man’s gone Walt smashes the frame and uses the bill to buy a soda. Fuck you, Bogdan!
In a diner, Mike and Jesse (Aaron Paul) sit together, the former noticing his young companion’s got the shakes from withdrawal. He slides his plate across the table, urging Jesse to have a bit. They’re done work to the day, at least together— Mike doesn’t want a junkie in need for whatever else he has to get done.
Skyler still isn’t around, leaving Walt and Walt Jr. (RT Mitte) to eat breakfast alone in the morning. Sad to see their son caught in the middle, blaming his mother because he believe his dad’s got “a disease” – gambling addiction – when the situation is something entirely different. Walt has to straddle a line between truth and fiction to try talking to his son. It also helps he distracts Jr. by going to look at cars. They come home with something far too expensive for a meth cook trying to keep his finances in check.
At the lab, Jesse’s back to cook with Walt. Their relationship steadily gets worse because of the divide Gus (Giancarlo Esposito) is creating between them. The “field trips” with Mike are doing what they’re intended to— create unease, particularly in Walt, which it does in spades. Walt sees through it, and Jesse takes it as insulting. The insults are twofold, as Jesse gets a call in the lab to leave and Walt has to stay and clean after their cook. This prompts Mr. White to involve some cleaning ladies from the laundromat. Oops! Even they know they shouldn’t be going down there.
Skyler’s debating whether to leave. She goes to the Four Corners Monument. There, she tosses a coin to decide on where to go. The first says Colorado. The second says the same. Yet she drags it back over the line to New Mexico with her own foot, she isn’t ready to leave despite everything happening in her life currently.
Out together, Mike and Jesse watch a house where “three pounds” of the blue meth ended up without consent. The dudes inside are likely armed, plus they’re heavy into the product. Lots of waiting ahead. Mike’s got sandwiches. Not so bad! Jesse decides on a different plan of action, pretending to be a buyer. He meets a guy named Tucker (Blake Berris) at the door, further in’s the voice of Scary Skell (Damon Herriman) yelling.
When that doesn’t work, Jesse puts his first-hand meth head knowledge to use by digging in the yard. Tucker comes out inquiring, so Jesse convinces him it’s to both their benefit, which the tweaker accepts willingly. Soon, the meth head’s digging obsessively as if it was his idea all along, and Mr. Pinkman slips into the house diffusing the problem. Then he and Mike find the fry batter container with a message in Spanish on it.
After the lab’s clean, Walt and the cleaning ladies head out. But they’re met by Tyrus (Ray Campbell), who sends them for a bus headed to Honduras. What Walt refuses to see, again and again, is the collateral damage he causes continually. It’s always in front of his face, whether these cleaning ladies, his family, Jesse— he sacrifices those around him in order to get what he wants, only after does he feel bad.
In that diner, Mike and Jesse eat, when Gus shows up. Mike and his boss talk about what happened with the meth. The situation was “about sending a message.” Mike wants to hit the hijackers, but Gus says no, and he wants to have a meeting. The boss asks about Pinkman, getting the lowdown on how things went on their run.

“Someone has to protect this family from the man who protects this family”

What a killer end to this episode. The more Jesse’s reeled in, the worse things get for both himself and Walt and he can’t see it yet. There’s also the never ending shitstorm at the White house, fascinating as always. Skyler’s scared of Walt. This will have more ramifications than her taking time to herself.
“Problem Dog” is coming up.