‘Breaking Bad’ Retro Recap: ‘Crawl Space’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

It really is quite amazing how consistently the AMC series, Breaking Bad, was able to explore how everyday scenarios that we take for granted, would be handled in the world of the drug trade. Because one would think that eventually, the writers’ room would eventually run out of normal situations to explore in this series. But time and time again, these crafty and creative writers figured out a way to parallel our world with a twisted one and once again, we are here to discuss such a scenario. For the next episode in this fascinating series explored how someone in the drug trade would handle a complete and utter loss of control of their lives and their future and that led to one supremely grim tale. One that oddly enough, surprised us with said exploration.

For early on, ‘Crawl Space’ appears to be nothing more than a transitional tale. One designed to explore the fallout of some of the major moments that happened in the last episode. Since this particular tale took the time to show us that Gus and Mike survived the showdown with Don Eladio’s crew and would be okay in the long run and we also came to learn, that being successful in taking down the cartel… empowered Gus like never before. To the point where he was finally able to gloat and torment Hector Salamanca and of course, he was also quick to make arrangements to have Jesse Pinkman take over the lab on his own, permanently. Making it clear that Gus was ready to run a true empire through and through, one where no one would stand in his way.

Plus, this episode also took a little time to expand upon what came out of Skyler’s discussion with Ted and well… as it turns out, the end result of that discussion was nothing good. Because Ted suddenly felt the need to return the money and take his chances with the IRS, because he is and will forever be a prideful moron and well… that decision motivated Skyler to turn up the heat and get some of Saul’s boys in there. Which in turn, led to an unmitigated disaster since Ted panicked after signing over the check to the IRS, all before managing to badly, badly injure his skull from his stupidity, mostly wrapping up this plot thread in the strangest way imaginable. Because uh… Ted might not survive his injuries and there is little said about his fate beyond that unfortunate moment so... that's that?

But while all of that was wild and entertaining to watch, there was mention of this story really exploring what would happen to a person in this business if they lost control of everything and oddly enough, Fring’s rise to power… brought that examination forth. Because with no one to answer to, and Jesse on his side, Gus was finally able to fire Walter and threaten him in an impactful and terrifying manner. Making it clear that Walt was no longer in control of anything in life and well, being faced with that… put him in a dark place. One where he prepared to evacuate himself and his family from New Mexico post haste and where he also called in protection for his brother-in-law in the hopes of getting some semblance of control… but even that failed.

Because Walter came to discover that the money, he needed to make his family disappear, was in the hands of that idiot Ted and that left him hopeless and devastated and in the end, we learned that losing control in this world is about as terrifying as it gets. For when it happens, there is no help and no hope, just despair and worry and well at this point… who knows what kind of fate awaits Walter White. For he has no one on his side and nowhere to turn. Which means that one way or another… this whole nightmare is going to come to a head, since only two episodes remain in season four and it will be quite interesting to see what Walter and Jesse do next, now that they are at the mercy of a mad man, one that is firmly in the driver’s seat when it comes to their fate and their future. Until next time.  

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