AMC’s Breaking Bad
Season 4, Episode 4: “Bullet Points”
Directed by Colin Bucksey
Written by Moira Walley-Beckett

* For a recap & review of the previous episode, “Open House” – click here
* For a recap & review of the next episode, “Shotgun” – click here
In a freezing cold Los Pollos Hermanos truck, Mike (Jonathan Banks) sits patiently in appropriate clothing. When the truck stops, he pulls his gun. Outside voices speak in Spanish, ordering the driver to open the doors before he’s shot, followed by the whole truck being shot up. Serious cartel shit. Mike ducks and covers until the bullets finish spraying and chicken fry batter’s everywhere.
Afterwards, Mike kills the gunmen. He makes it out with only part of an ear shot off.
At home in bed, Skyler (Anna Gunn) can’t stop thinking of ways to manipulate the story for their car wash and make money laundering appear legitimate. It’s everything she thinks of, even by day. She writes down every step of the whole story, working out the gambling addiction angle to perfection so their lies appear airtight. They’re revealing the whole ordeal to Marie (Betsy Brandt) and, more specifically, Hank (Dean Norris) in detail – the latter not even yet aware his insurance hasn’t covered his medical bills – which means Skyler’s got Walt (Bryan Cranston) practising until he’s got “the fiction” down like second nature.
The darkness in Walt’s readily apparent. He’s not even slightly ashamed of being a meth cook, he only sees it as “providing” for his family. And sure, he’s partly right. He’s also a meth cook providing dangerous product to addicts, a cog in a massive wheel of death.

“Maybe lying doesn’t come as easily to me as it does to you”

The Whites head over to the Schrader house for a nice get together. Perfect shot of Walt and Skyler on the porch before the door opens, as if they’re about to walk into a shooting gallery instead of a family dinner. Hank shows Walt Jr. (RJ Mitte) and Sr. his mineral collection, catching up. This is when Hank tells his brother-in-law and nephew about the case he’s working on. He puts in a DVD and who shows up onscreen? Gale Boetticher (David Costabile). Hilarious for Hank and Walt Jr. but horrifying for Heisenberg, sitting there with his family and watching his second life collide with the first one.
At the dinner table, Walt and Skyler tell their lies, even to their own son. Everybody’s satisfied, nobody asks too many pressing questions. All appears above board to the prying eye. Walt’s mostly caught up in concern for the new investigation Hank’s helping with, trying to get a look at the case file on the sly. Another of the biggest blows in this series is the one Walt delivers to his brother-in-law.
Hank willingly brings Walt in and shows him the files after dinner, the latter allowing him to do so. It only drives the nail deeper. Moreover, once the DEA agent says he believes Gale is Heisenberg – named after “one of Hitler‘s guy” – there’s a bit of jealous anger in the real Heisenberg, whose pride continually won’t allow him to do the smart thing in favour of doing the thing that’ll quell his ego. Gets worse when Hank shows him the inscription on the notes about Walt Whitman, jokingly suggesting the W.W. stands for Walter White. Such a tense moment. Also such a sad moment when Hank compares himself unfavourably to Popeye Doyle from The French Connection. Just a deeply melancholic tone in his voice.
That night, Walt goes to see Jesse (Aaron Paul), whose place is an absolute mess. Jesse’s shaving heads like it’s a barber shop. The chemist alerts his partner to the investigation into Gale’s death. He knows there are fingerprints. They’re likely not Jesse’s, because we saw the scene where he killed Gale and he wasn’t even inside the apartment, he knocked on the door and didn’t ring a doorbell. Pinkman gets so fed up with Walt’s questions he pays a couple junkies to kick him out of the house. He probably should’ve been keeping a better eye on where he keeps all his money, since his house is full of meth freaks.
Walt goes to see Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) the next morning. His lawyer tries to downplay things, as usual. But it doesn’t settle Mr. White’s worries about everything, from Jesse to Gus (Giancarlo Esposito) and Mike. It’s all a bit much for the struggling chemist. He feels everyone else lacks a “professional manner” and he only wants to keep everybody safe. This is the first mention of a “last resort” by Saul – it’ll come in handy during Season 5 – which involves a “disappearer.” Right now it’s not an actual option for Walt because Goodman says it’s an option from which there’s no return.
At the lab things continue as always, now with the security cameras watching Jesse and Walt constantly, recording every move. It doesn’t so much bother the younger cook, whereas the chemist finds it troubling. In the meantime, Jesse gets back to his house only to find all his money stash gone.
This causes further issues. In the morning, Jesse wakes to Mike over him— he found the stolen cash and the thief. The lack of concern for “$78,000 or so” is what Mike finds a problem. How can someone be trusted or controlled when he doesn’t give a shit about nearly $100K? Jesse won’t even play the game after he’s seen the terrible shit these people do. He’s numb, which means he’s not afraid of dying, either.
Mike goes to see Mr. Fring. He doesn’t like the “uncautious” nature of the younger cook and he feels something has to be done, in a permanent fashion. The only hitch is Walt, who won’t let anything happen to his partner. This may mean a chance in tactics for management. On the next cook, Walt finds Jesse missing, and it pisses him off. He starts wondering if something bad might’ve happened. So he heads back to the lab, shouting into the camera for answers. At the same time, Mike’s taking Jesse for a ride someplace towards the desert, just the two of them. Damn.
What an episode! Lots of new things happening, as the relationship dynamics have altered, for a variety of reasons. “Shotgun” is next time.