"Over" is the tenth episode of the second season of Breaking Bad and the seventeenth episode altogether.
The episode opens on the pink teddy bear previously seen in other episodes ("Seven Thirty-Seven") ("Down"). The bear is placed into a container along with the other retrieved items as people in hazmat suits continue to clean the area. From behind a broken windshield, we see two of them carrying out the container, teddy bear sitting on top. Another person in a hazmat suit takes a photograph of the windshield, which we suddenly see is of Walt's Aztek. As it becomes clear that this is a flashforward, we pan up higher to reveal two body bags (with remains inside) lying in the driveway in front of the White Residence.
Summary
Walter White prepares to return to work, but Skyler White convinces him to stay home. She wants him well for the weekend celebration she's planning. "Brownie points for taking a nap," she tells him. As soon as she leaves, he calls Jesse Pinkman.
The pair catch up at a restaurant. "You must be so psyched!" Jesse exclaims when Walt reports he is in remission. Jesse wonders how they'll proceed "in light of this kickass news." Walt says that he plans to retire from the drug trade after they unload the remaining meth.
At Walt's party, Skyler thanks everyone for their support. When she toasts the absent Gretchen and Elliott Schwartz as "heroes," Walt sips his beer in silence. His own remarks are brief and met with further, awkward silence: "When I got my diagnosis — cancer — I said to myself, you know...'Why me?' And then... the other day when I got the good news... I said the same thing."
Poolside with Walt and a Walter White Jr., Hank Schrader says that the "cartel boys" were being "poetic" when they delivered Tortuga's severed head on a tortoise rigged with explosives. The name is "Bean-speak for tortoise," Hank explains.
Walt pours tequila shots for himself, Hank, and after a thought for Walter Jr. too. "What're you going for 'Father of the Year?'" Hank asks when Walt pours his son another round. "What are you looking at him for?" Walt asks Walter Jr., irritated that his son looks to Hank for permission to drink.
"We're celebrating." After Walt pours a third round, Hank snatches the bottle and walks away. "My son, my bottle, my house," Walt snarls, insisting Hank bring the bottle back. The tension builds until Walter Jr., sick from the tequila, stumbles to the pool and retches in it. While Skyler attends to her son, an obstinate Walt downs another shot.
The next morning, Jesse awkwardly prepares Jane Margolis a surprise breakfast of huevos rancheros. "I don't want you to have to do anything," he says when she wakes up before he's finished. He forgets the forks and she has to pick a piece of eggshell from her food, but Jesse's efforts earn him a kiss.
Meanwhile, Walt leaves an apology on Skyler's voicemail: "I'm not exactly sure who that was yesterday, but it wasn't me." He starts washing the dishes, but stops when the faucet spits out brown, frothy water from the house's busted old water heater.
At work, Ted bumps into Skyler while she listens to Walt's message. During their conversation, Skyler explains that Walt has cancer, but that they got good news last week.
Walt heads to the hardware store and is proud to pay cash for a top of the line tankless water heater. Counting out the bills, he discreetly pockets a twenty that's smeared with blood and tells the clerk he'll install the heater himself.
Back at Jesse's apartment, Jesse and Jane lounge on his bed while she peruses superhero sketches he drew as a kid. "Only female kangaroos have pouches," she points out after Jesse explains how Kanga-Man transports his crime-fighting sidekick Joey. The character is "definitely a dude," Jesse counters feigning he knew that, "he's a product of genetic engineering, so...". "They all look like you," Jane concludes. "I wonder what a shrink would say if he saw them." Someone knocks on Jane's front door. Without explanation, she races out Jesse's back door and into her apartment. Jane greets her father, Donald Margolis, just before he uses his key to open her door. While they talk, Jesse emerges from his apartment and introduces himself, but Jane brushes him off. "This is the new tenant," she says.
After testing the new water heater, Walt apologizes to his son for his bad behavior at the party. "But I kept up, right?" Walter Jr. asks. "You and Uncle Hank — I drank three." Looking concerned, Walt shuffles out of the room.
In his apartment Jesse asks Jane why she was so rude to him in front of her father. she claims to be covering for him but Jesse believes that she embarrassed of him and she responds with "You think I'm gonna be all like, hey Dad, meet the stoner guy who lives next door?'" she asks. "And by the way, I'm sleeping with him?" Jesse says that it's not about her father but about "you and me." "Who's you and me?" she asks. "I'm outta here," says Jesse.
Walt goes back to the hardware store and loads up on supplies to rip out the utility closet floor. Later, Walter Jr. comes home and finds Walt sawing away under the house. "We've got rot," he tells Walter Jr. "Fungus. And it's on a rampage."
Working late, Skyler gets teary-eyed with Ted, confessing she feels guilty for not feeling better after Walt's good news. "Being that rock" for one's family "takes everything you've got," Ted tells her, putting his hand on hers. She withdraws her hand, but then returns it.
The next morning, Skyler and Walter Jr. eat their breakfast in silence as Walt continues his construction project. When he takes a break to munch some toast, Skyler asks Walt if he's going to work that day. "Skyler, there's rot," he replies.
Over at his apartment, a distraught Jesse smokes meth and curls up in his recliner. A sheet of paper slides under his door. It's a sketch of a superheroine named "Apology Girl" leaving Jesse smiling.
At work, Skyler deliberately upends her penholder to draw Ted's attention. When he comes to her aid she plays with her hair and says, "No, no, Ted, you don't have to do that."
Back at the hardware store, Walt notices acetone, lye, and other meth supplies in a shopping cart. "Do it piecemeal," Walt advises the tweeker who loads more supplies into the cart. "Different items, different stores." Spooked, the guy runs away. Walt gets in line to purchase his own selections but suddenly changes his mind and heads to the parking lot. Staring down the tweeker's burly pal, Walt says, "Stay out of my territory." Frightened, the two jump in their motorhome and drive away.
Credits
Starring
Guest Starring
Trivia
- Jesse references the This Is Your Brain on Drugs ad campaign.
- The type of coating Walt gets is a brand called "KILZ", possibly a reference to his criminal life, because a slogan for "KILZ" is "KILZ EVERYTHING".
- The water heater purchased by Walt is from the Bosch Therm 520 range.
- Walter Jr is said to be 16 years old in this episode, however, in Bit By A Dead Bee, Walter Jr is said to be 15 years old. So it's probable he's turned a year older sometime during the intervening seven episodes, or else his 16th birthday is imminent.
- The rot under the house isn't as bad as Walt makes it out to be. Walt's just keeping himself busy with something he'd rather be doing, reluctant to go back to a job he no longer 'needs' now that he has more ready cash than ever before.
- The rot/fungus running through the house is a good analogy for the cancer coursing through Walt's body, and his renewed vigour to tackle both now that he's in remission.
- This episode foreshadows Jane's death when Jesse tells Jane that she should not supposed to wake up.
- As Skyler weeps and holds hands with Ted, items on an accounting printout are visible - most legibly: "Rubber Baby Buggy Bumper" - 15.93 and "Electro-Pogotronic Rectifier" - 7734.03.
- While Skyler and Walter White Jr are eating breakfast towards the end of the episode we can hear in the background the news that is talking about the economic recession that happened in 2008.
Memorable Quotes
- "It’s kind of funny. When I got my diagnosis–cancer–I said to myself, “Why me?” And then, the other day, when I got the good news, I said the same thing. Anyway–thank you for coming and enjoy."
- ―Walter, about the remission of his cancer.
- "Stay out of my territory."
- ―Walt threatening two amateur drug manufacturers.
Featured Music
- "Dance Hall Days (re-record)" by Wang Chung (during the party)
- "Heard it in a Love Song" by The Marshall Tucker Band (outside during the party)
- "Every Kinda People" by Robert Palmer (outside during the party)
- "Unknown Track #1" by Unknown Artist (in the background at the hardware store when Walt buys a water heater)
- "Zungguzungguguzungguzeng (12"Mix)" by Yellow Man (while Jesse shows Jane his comic book characters)
- "My Rims" by Chops & Lil' Weavah (in Jesse's car as he drives away from his apartment)
- "Unknown Track #3" by Unknown Artist (while Walt is in the hardware store buying lumber)
- "Unknown Track #3 (Reprise)" by Unknown Artist (the same music as previous plays while Walt is in the hardware store near the end of the episode)
- "DLZ" by TV On the Radio (as Walt confronts the two meth manufacturers outside the hardware store)