"Say My Name" is the seventh episode of the fifth season of Breaking Bad and the fifty-third episode altogether.
In the middle of the desert, Walter White addresses Declan and his bodyguards about the methylamine deal Mike and Jesse Pinkman had previously arranged. Declan is not pleased to hear there's no methyl amine and that Walt is keeping it all for himself. Walt offers to continue cooking his 99.1% pure Blue Sky (which he points out is infinitely better than his weak ±70% pure stuff) and have Declan's organization buy out Mike Ehrmantraut's 33.3% share and be Walt's distribution channel, so everybody can make money. To further prove his point, Walt demands that Declan "say his name," to which Declan feigns ignorance. But after a little more convincing and at Walt's insistence, he resignedly agrees and acknowledges Walt as Heisenberg. "You're God-damned right!" Walt replies, all puffed up like a rooster.
Summary
Back at the Vamonos Pest Control headquarters, Mike takes his $5 million from Declan and says his farewells to Walt and Jesse, whom he warns to watch out for himself. As they share a last farewell handshake, Walt glares at them as he spies from behind a dirty window. After, Walt and Jesse retrieve the methylamine from the Car Wash to a load of worried questions from Skyler White who begs to be informed what's going on. Walt tells her to just ignore their actions because he has everything under control and will be out of her hair in no time if she'll only allow them to get on with it.
Dan Wachsberger delivering money to Gus' former employees
At a bank, Dan Wachsberger, Mike's partner is depositing hush money to Gustavo Fring's former crew: $15,000 into nine safety deposit boxes and a much larger sum into one final box that's now filled to the brim and has a card reading : "To Kaylee on her 18th birthday". In the parking lot, Mike thanks him and asks if he'll continue with the remaining funds for the nine families, to which Dan reassures him that he will.
At an undisclosed location in the desert, Mike, after hearing via the bug that Hank is all chuffed to have arranged a search warrant for his place, he gets a move on and dumps his surveillance gear and arsenal of guns into an old well. He then hides a duffle bag in the trunk of a second car and parks it in a long-term parking lot at the airport, hiding the keys nearby. At home, he makes a cup of coffee and waits for the DEA to arrive with said search warrant, personally served by a gloating Hank Schrader. He watches a film as they search his apartment but find nothing, much to a frowning Hank's chagrin.
Walt tries to convince Jesse that there will be no more violence
At the Vamonos headquarters, Jesse arrives to talk to Walt about getting his $5 million so he can depart the meth trade. Walt ignores him and pretends as if Jesse will just pick back up and join him in cooking, even all jovially handing him his blue lab gloves. When Jesse continues to refuse, Walt once again insists that there'll be no more violence in their operation now they're in control and that Jesse's life will be empty without cooking meth, even liable to start using again. Attempting to convince him with promises of ten times the amount of money. Jesse implies that Walt is seemingly unaffected by the youngster's murder, to which Walt denies and takes offence. But Jesse's eyes are finally open to the hissing, spitting manipulator in front of him, so he finally gives up and leaves, saying he doesn't even care about his share of the money if Walt's unwilling to give it to him, "I'm just done!" As Jesse walks out, Walt, frustrated and incensed at his slipping control of Jesse, yells after him that if he leaves now he will not receive a single penny.
At a DEA supervisor meeting, SAC Ramey tells Hank to drop the tail of Mike Ehrmantraut and that the Fring Drug Empire case is effectively closed. He's chastised for neglecting all his many other cases and told to shape up to the obligations of his new position. Steven Gomez arrives and the two talk about the lawyer of the nine henchman, Dan Wachsberger and decide to switch their resources to following him instead.
In a bug-bombed house, Walt and Todd Alquist, Walt's eager new protégé, prepare to cook a batch of Blue Sky. Walt asks him to try his best and listen as close as possible. Todd attentively takes notes while they cook and seems to give his 100%. At the end of the cook, Walt looks slightly let down, clearly missing Jesse, but realizes that Todd is putting in his full effort. When Walt wants to talk money, more so in an effort to boast and impress, Todd refuses a salary until he better knows what he's doing.
Back at the bank, Dan begins to drop more cash for the families, but neglecting to lock the door behind him, is soon surprised by Gomez and the DEA in the vault. At the White Residence, Walt attempts to have a microwave dinner with Skyler who walks out of the room the minute he sits down and starts talking. The next day at Hank's office, Walt visits with another bout of crocodile tears, pretending that he's distraught about Skyler and sobbing she no longer loves him. Hank again fidgets, not knowing what to say or do with himself, so is relieved when Walt requests a cup of coffee. Walt quickly retrieves bug and ethernet tracking device, as per Mike's last command, before Hank returns to drink their coffees in awkward silence. Gomez calls Hank out the office, excited to report that Wachsberger has flipped and is willing to rat out Mike - an eavesdropping Walt almost chokes on his coffee, as he attempts to mask his rising trepidation.
At the park with Kaylee Ehrmantraut, Mike receives a call from Wachsberger enquiring his whereabouts. Mike tells him which park and hangs up, but is clearly uneasy. Seconds later Walt calls and tells Mike that Wachsberger has flipped and the police are coming for him now. Mike shoots up and looks about, just as a police car pulls up across the park. Mike moves behind the nearest tree, deciding either to tell Kaylee goodbye and be arrested or to escape the police and leave Kaylee for good. As a second police car appears, he reluctantly decides to escape.
Saul, Jesse and Walt talking to Mike via cellphone
At the Offices of Saul Goodman & Associates, Saul Goodman chastises Walt and Jesse for using Wachsberger in the first place. Mike calls and asks for Saul to retrieve his stashed duffle bag from the parked car, although Saul refuses, speculating he's being watched since the DEA know he is Mike's lawyer. Jesse immediately offers to help but Mike refuses as he doesn't want him caught. Finally, Walt agrees to do it. When he gets to Mike's stash, he looks into the bag in the trunk - it contains some bundles of cash, a passport, and a handgun.
Near a river, Mike waits for Walt to arrive. Walt finally does but demands that Mike tell him the name of his nine henchmen before he gives up his bag. Mike refuses, then calmly walks up and wrenches the bag out of Walt's hand. Another intense moment erupts between the two, as Mike is angered by Walt's insistence that he's owed at least some gratitude, on Mike leaving with a simple 'goodbye' but no 'thank-you'. Walt blames their predicament on Mike for using an outside lawyer instead of Saul to do the dirty work and allowing himself to be followed by the DEA. Mike, now truly frustrated, blames Walter for everything that's happening since he decided to oppose Gus Fring: "We had a good thing you stupid son of a bitch. We had everything we needed and it all ran like clockwork. You just had to blow it up. You and your pride and your ego. You just had to be the man. If you'd done your job, known your place, we'd all be fine right now!" Mike growls in Walt's face, then gets in his car to drive off. Walt is left clenching his fists in surging ire, unwilling to accept the truth in Mike's words.
When Mike checks the bag, he discovers that the gun is missing from it's holster, just as Walt, seething out of frustration and anger, walks up to the window and uses Mike's own gun to shoot him - a single shot, the bullet shattering through the glass and into his stomach. Mike steps on the gas only to soon veer off and crash into a nearby rock. Off-screen Mike gets out of the car to attempt escape on foot. Walt's left agape, realizing what he has just done, then runs over only to find the car empty. He frantically looks about, but soon finds and follows Mike's footprints. He finds Mike sitting down on a rock, calmly watching the flow of the river, a gun in one hand, gripping his wound with the other. Walt takes the gun from him and comments that he just realized he could have gotten the names from Lydia Rodarte-Quayle, which leads him to begin apologizing to Mike about how this could've all been avoided. Mike interrupts him with his final request - "shut the fuck up and let me die in peace!" - the two watch the sun about to set and the river in silence until Mike quietly slumps over, finally succumbing to his wound.
Credits
Starring
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Guest Starring
Co-Starring
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Uncredited
- Bill Peterson as Senior DEA Agent
- Cruz Taylor as Airport Traveler
Official Photos
Trivia
- The initial title for this episode was "Everybody Wins," referring to the last line spoken at the end of the previous episode.
- The title of this episode refers to Walter's demand for Declan to call him Heisenberg during their confrontation by urging him to "say my name".
- Mike Ehrmantraut is the second main character to die.
- The movie Mike is watching is Fritz Lang's The Big Heat (1953).
- Because of a line said in the movie and the scene where Walt gets the bug from Hank's office, many fans have speculated about the ending of the series.
- Marie and Walt, Jr. do not appear in this episode.
- This is the first episode of Season 5 to exclude both at once in the same episode.
- This is the third time Skyler and Jesse have met, the first being in Episode 2 and the second being in the previous episode.
- This episode was the series' most-watched episode at the time of its airing with 2.98 million viewers, but was later passed by "Blood Money", which had 5.91 million.
- The crew members wore black clothing or black materials tied around their arms as a sad goodbye symbol to Jonathan Banks.
- The code for the bank's safety deposit box room is 265.
- The number of the deposit box reserved for Kaylee, 603, is the area code for the state of New Hampshire.
- Antoine Lavoisier (26 August 1743 – 8 May 1794) was a famous French chemist mentioned during Walt and Todd's first cooking session. He is known for discovering and naming oxygen and hydrogen.
Memorable Quotes
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- "We had a good thing, you stupid son of a bitch! We had Fring. We had a lab. We had everything we needed, and it all ran like clockwork. You could’ve shut your mouth, cooked, and made as much money as you ever needed. It was perfect. But, no, you just had to blow it up. You and your pride and your ego! You just had to be the man. If you’d done your job, known your place, we’d all be fine right now!"
- ―Mike to Walter at their meeting by the river.
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Featured Music
- "The Long Walk Alone (Heisenberg's Theme)" by Dave Porter (as Walt, Jesse & Mike arrive to the meet in the teaser)
- "Clear Waters (A)" by Alan Hawkshaw & Alan Parker (as Dan brings bacon & banana cookies to the bank teller)
- "Overture" [From Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's, "The Nutcracker Suite"] (Remastered) by Duke Ellington (feat. Johnny Hodge & Paul Gonzalves) (while Dan fills the safety deposit boxes)
- "Goin' Down" by The Monkees (as Walt and Todd cook for the first time)
- "Return To Summer" by Reg Tilsley (in the background as Dan returns to the bank)