AMC’s Breaking Bad
5×12: “Rabid Dog”
Directed & Written
by Sam Catlin

* For a recap & review of 5×11, click here.
* For a recap & review of 5×13, click here.
Walt discovers that Jesse’s been to his house in a rage, carefully making his way inside through the backyard in case his old partner is still somewhere. But Jesse’s long gone. Walt gets into the house and finds the living room covered in gasoline, so then he races to make the place look and smell like it wasn’t nearly burned down by an angry man. Walt works on washing the floor and airing the house out, concocting another one of his absolute bullshit stories to try keeping his family in the dark. He tells Walt Jr. and Skyler an elaborate story about spilling gas all over himself at the gas station pump before rushing home to clean off and forgetting he left his gas-soaked clothes on the floor, soaking into the carpet. Walt Jr. thinks it was gas fumes making his sick dad pass out, but the whole thing smells fishy to Skyler, who’s quite used to her husband’s brand of dishonest madness at this point. Walt further suggests they all go to a hotel together for the night because of the stink, and this only further makes Skyler wonder what’s happening, as well as whether she should be worried.
And there’s still the issue of Jesse. Plus, where exactly is he?

Nobody knows where Jesse is, nor why he decided against burning down the White house. Kuby’s checked with his cop friends and there’s nothing official on Pinkman. Neither is there any word about where to find Jesse, whatsoever. Saul’s sure, like “a bad penny,” Jesse will turn up, and he thinks it won’t go over well when it comes to the whole “child poisoning.” He thinks maybe it’s an “Old Yeller” situation. This is where the episode’s title comes from: is Jesse a rabid dog needing to be put down? Nah. At least not for us. And Walt is certainly against it. In the end, it’s easy to side with Jesse seeing as how Walt’s done the most horrible shit in the world. This whole meeting with Saul goes down in the parking lot of the hotel. Upstairs, Skyler’s curious about their little meeting, and the real story being the gas nonsense earlier. Walt tells his wife about Jesse being angry with him, though doesn’t fill in any of the awful details. It’s still unsettling to Skyler that someone was going to burn the house down. Interesting here to see Walt talk to Skyler about Jesse like a son, complete with lying through his goddamn teeth, too. She urges Walt to “deal with this.” She’s suggesting murder without saying it: “What‘s one more?”
Flashback to Jesse about to burn the White house down. He’s interrupted by Hank, who’s been following him. Hank asks Jesse to rethink what’s about to happen. He says they can fight Walt together and “burn him down.” After that, he gets Jesse in the vehicle and they head off together. A big change of pace from where they used to be, especially after the beating. Interesting to see Hank treat Jesse almost like a son, buckling him up before they leave. They’re gone just before Walt pulls up down the block.
But what next?
Marie’s at her therapist, divulging her brutal anger at Walt, though without giving up any names. She’s even been looking up “untraceable poisons” online. She feels awful for being wrong about who Walt is, blaming herself, just like Hank and everybody else is, too. At home, she sees Hank has packed her things. He’s got something cooking that he doesn’t think she’ll want to be involved in, and then she sees Jesse is in their home. Currently Jesse is passed out cold. Hank explains the situation and Marie thinks if it helps get Walt then it’s fine by her.

Soon, Hank checks Jesse’s Hello Kitty phone and hears a message from Walt. At the hotel, Walt and Walt Jr. talk hear to heart about his cancer coming back. He assures his son: “I‘m not going anywhere.” And Jr. hugs his father tightly. Afterwards is when Walt calls Jesse’s phone to leave the message Hank hears. Cut to Jesse waking up in the Schrader house, seeing photos of Walt and Skyler from Christmas. A surreal experience, no doubt. Jesse wanders out and meets Marie, offering coffee, before he sits down with Hank and Steve Gomez. Hank sets up a camera to record Jesse’s confessions and then they get down to business. They start from the beginning when Jesse met Walt as a student, then Jesse goes on and on about everything else. It all shocks Steve and Hank. Yet there’s also “no physical evidence.”
On the phone message, Walt says he wants to meet Jesse, offering to talk or whatever else may happen. He wants to talk one last time. Hank and Steve want to use this to put a sting on Walt. They want to put a wire on Jesse and get Walt talking about something criminal. But Jesse’s sure this is only a method for Walt to get him in public to kill him somehow. Hank thinks Walt actually cares about Jesse; Pinkman feels differently. (“Yeah, Mr. White‘s gay for me, everyone knows that!”) And Hank’s positive this is a foolproof way to get some actual evidence to pin on Walt. Jesse urges that Walt is “the Devil” and he’s sure he’ll be killed. Unfortunately he has to go along with Hank and Steve’s plan. And Hank doesn’t necessarily care if this ends up with Pinkman getting killed, either.

They head to the plaza with Jesse wired. He heads over to meet Walt, but gets suspicious, believing a man is waiting in the wings to kill him (the man’s actually just waiting for his daughter, which we see later). Jesse decides to go for a payphone and call Walt. He threatens Walt: “Next time I‘m going to get you where you really live.” Then Jesse’s gone again. It doesn’t sit well with Hank, but Jesse says he’s got a better plan to get Walt. At the same time, Walt calls Todd. He wants to arrange another job for Uncle Jack and the neo-Nazis. A line has been crossed and it can’t be uncrossed anymore.