Breaking Half: "Blood Money"

Bryan Cranston

Are you tired of long, tedious accounts of Breaking Bad episode recaps? Then look no further than Breaking Half: a weekly column that takes the good and bad from each week's episode of Breaking Bad and dilutes it down to the core necessities. Each Monday, Breaking Half will attempt to take a few key moments from the episode and boil it down to one juicy paragraph. 

Season 5, Episode 9
"Blood Money"

"Then maybe your best course 

would be to tread lightly."

-Walter (Bryan Cranston)

Following the events immediately after "Gliding Over All," Hank (Dean Norris) exits the bathroom with the copy of Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass." He decides to begin investigating how Walter (Bryan Cranston) ties into the whole Heisenberg ring. However, he is so overwhelmed with stress that he crashes a car and works from home. Meanwhile Walter and Skyler (Anna Gunn) are trying to work a nice little operation out of the car wash. Lydia (Laura Fraser) comes for a visit to try and convince him to come back. It was unsuccessful. Jesse (Aaron Paul) tries to give the money to Kaylee Ehrmantraut and Drew Sharp, but Saul (Bob Odenkirk) refuses, causing Walter to interfere. He tries to give Jesse back the money while claiming that Mike is still alive. Jesse decides to toss the money into the yards of homeless people. After Walter finds out that Hank put a tracker on his car, he confronts him. It is discovered that Hank knows and wants him in a jail cell. However, Walter's defense is that his cancer is back and he has six months to live. Also, the evidence doesn't entirely sound convincing. Hank insists on telling the family.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Aaron Paul

MVP: Jesse (Aaron Paul)

We have come to know Jesse as the moral center of the story. He's helped to raise kids and try to put the dirty past behind him. In this episode, he isn't quite onto Walter's devious methods including a lie of Mike being alive. While that could mislead and open up questions involving Mike, it is also just impressive that while everyone is trying to live a better life here, Jesse is the only one doing it. Of course, it is also just great for him to invite Badger (Matt Jones) and Skinny Pete (Charles Baker) over for some Star Trek fan fiction talk. By the time he is slinging stacks of money to homeless people, there is something poetic and cathartic about it. Jesse may not quite be free of his past, but this selfless deed almost makes it hard for anyone to really hate him. It is only time before he finally fully turns on Walter.

(First): Dean Norris, (Second): Cranston

Best scene: It is the moment that every Breaking Bad fan has been waiting for. We have all wanted Hank to succeed for years now, and we have finally moved to the next step. From the devious look into his eyes to Dean Norris actually playing somewhat subdued, we get the momentum we have wanted. From the moment that Hank punched Walter to the discussion of his discovery, the final moments of this episode are both a triumph and a conundrum. Hank doesn't have enough evidence to convict Walter. Walter reveals that he has cancer and potentially six months to live. Hank doesn't care that turning Walter in would destroy the family. What is going to happen next? At very least, we are getting the most exciting version of Hank that we have had in awhile, and to see him go off on Walter is a great change of pace. One can only imagine how things will go when Hank goes totally nuts on Walter.