‘Breaking Bad’ Retro Recap: ‘Bit by a Dead Bee’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

At some point or another, each and every one of us, will be faced with quite an important and potentially difficult decision. One that requires us to look at a current situation or particular path in our lives and ponder upon whether or not we should step away from said situation or walk another path. Because what we are dealing with now, has us concerned about our future or whether or not we can continue to dedicate the energy to the issue at hand and this is a big decision for one reason and one reason alone. Because we know that we if stay in that situation or on that path, that we are about to cross a point of no return, and whatever happens past that point, happens, and we must deal with all the consequences… both good and bad, that will stem from our final call.

If anything, this is relevant to our discussion today, simply because this is precisely where Walter ‘Heisenberg’ White was mentally in the next episode of Breaking Bad. For ‘Bit by a Dead Bee’ picked up shortly after the harrowing events of ‘Grilled’, wherein Walter came to realize that Hank was undoubtedly going to zero in on Jesse, now that his car was discovered in close proximity to the now deceased Tuco Salamanca and of course, they were free from that madman's clutches. Which meant that Walter needed to explain to his family his whereabouts over the past few days and well, that motivated him to come up with quite the plan to exonerate both he and Jesse of any wrongdoing. The kind that quite frankly, made it seem as though Walt had thought long and hard about his situation and opted to step away from the drug business after all.

Now Jesse’s part of the plan was to move the meth cooking gear into the RV and have that bad boy towed away. So, that he could park himself in a hotel room and pretend as though he’d been there for days. All to throw the DEA off and make it appear as though he was just getting high and getting some while things went down with Tuco. And Walter, well he stripped down and made it seem as though he lost his memory for the past couple of days, allowing for him to escape any scrutiny on his whereabouts and well, their plan worked to a tee. Because Walter was put under observation for a bit and was genuinely seen as a guy who perhaps had collapsed mentally due to all the stress in his life, and eventually… Jesse beat the case that Hank tried to bring against him. Making it genuinely seem as though, life was about to change direction for both men and their meth days would be behind them since they were now free and clear to hit the reset button.

But that’s when this episode took quite the shocking turn. Because just when it seemed as though Hank was going to confess what he’d done to his hospital appointed therapist, an act that would have purged his guilt and helped to bring closure to this weird chapter in this life… he instead fired off a brash lie about needing to escape his family’s smothering ways and that he disappeared for a few days to make that happen. And he offered up that lie for one reason and one reason alone. So that he could in fact, continue to cook and make all kinds of money. Which means that in the end, Walter saw the death of Tuco as a second chance to do the drug trade right and make money with a dealer/distributor that wouldn’t try and kill he and Jesse at the drop of a hat and that makes this quite the stunning and pivotal episode when all is said and done. Since this was the moment that an innocent high school teacher, in a precarious state of health, chose to live out his final years as drug kingpin known only as Heisenberg. 

But what truly makes this episode so powerful and so worth the audience’s while, is that this moment didn’t come about from giant score or epic showdown with a stronger dealer. Walt just used a little quiet time to weight the pros and the cons of his current situation and eventually and saw more pros with Tuco out of the way, and that allowed for him to lock into this path and concoct one hell of a scheme to take control of his financial and professional future. And to top it all off, this is a damn good episode to boot. Because the tension is thick in this one, and it, along with some top-tier performances help to suck you into this compelling tale and well, just like that… we’re now in the midst of a grand American tragedy, one that is going to see a good man indulge the darkest parts of the human soul… all to enjoy a taste of empowerment. Until next time.   

---