‘Breaking Bad’ Retro Recap: ‘I See You’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Normally, when a family crisis arises in our lives, we follow a pretty standard process to handle it. One where we inform our employer of what’s going on and put in whatever personal time we need, so that we can be there for our family in their time of need without any question or financial concern. But while a great deal of us follows that process to a tee and save up a little personal time in the event an emergency arises, not everyone has that safety net to fall back upon. For some are working multiple jobs and stepping away from any one of them could bring them great financial harm, making a decision to be there for their family a difficult one and some folks… well they work jobs that really don’t think about anything outside of profit or they're tough to step away from because they are illegal in nature. 

Which does beg a fascinating question, in that, what do say… drug dealers do when they’re faced with a family emergency? Do they hand the business over to someone else or do they shut the whole thing down and resume their activity when the time is right and well… it just so happens that the next episode of Breaking Bad explores this in great detail. For ‘I See You’ picks up mere moments after Hank’s ugly shootout with the Salamanca cousins. Wherein he’s rushed to the hospital and sent into surgery for his wounds and well, right before Jesse heads over to the Superlab, he sees Hank heading into the Emergency Room and that matters… simply because Walt is already at the lab and hasn’t a clue that his brother-in-law is in peril and well, that motivates him to drop everything and leave Jesse chilling in the lab to support his family.

An act that proved to be problematic for certain. Because Walt was up against a big quota, since he owed Gus and the operation two-hundred pounds by the end of the week and well, it didn’t take long for Jesse to point that out and to complicate matters further… it didn’t take long for Gus to find out that Walt wasn't cooking. Because Fring's lackey dropped by to check on Walt and Jesse's progress, only to find Jesse puffing up his suit with air and well, that led to a tense conversation between Walt and Gus. Wherein the former tried to keep Hank’s status a secret whilst promising to double his efforts and well, this particular part of the show made it inherently clear, that stepping away to take care of personal matters when personal time isn’t available, and when the trade in question is illegal, is a scary and incredibly difficult experience. Because not only does the cash flow stop, but so does the offending activity in question and those who stand to profit from that, aren't good with a loss in productivity in the slightest.

But while that definitely allowed for the viewer to gain new insight on an aspect of the world few of us will ever understand, this particular tale also made a point to move some important plot points forward. Because Leonel Salamanca survived his injuries and learning of this, motivated Gus to make a personal voyage down to the hospital to feed everyone there, remind Walter of who is in charge… and to deal with Leonel as only a drug lord can. Since the last surviving Salamanca twin went into cardiac arrest out of the blue, thanks to Mike and his incredible stealth. Plus, the end of this tale also takes the time to reveal Gus’ plans for the future. In that, he wanted the cousins to strike at the DEA to bring all kinds of heat down on his bosses back in Mexico, so he could finally be free of the cartel and take over his own empire. 

Which was quite the twisted and fitting way to end this tale. One that speaks to Gus’ patience since it took him decades to reach this particular point and well, hopefully Walter can get back on track with cooking and soon, since Fring made it inherently clear that he sees all, knows all and controls all. And the sooner Walt understands that the better for him and his family and his future. But while it was incredible to see just how sneaky and intelligent Gus can be, we would be remiss to not point out that this episode is a masterclass in exploring the sheer darkness of the drug trade. Since it teaches us that there really are no rules in this world and anything can happen to anyone at any time and this is undoubtedly going to be a relevant message in the weeks to come, since this show doesn’t introduce lessons like that for no good reason and well… now that Hank is on the mend it will be quite interesting to see what comes next for Walter and Gus. Now that Mister Fring has cornered the market on the drug trade in the southwestern United States. Until next time.

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