Breaking Bad: Kafkaesque

 "One taste and you'll know!"

This is one of those episodes which, while easy to follow, have a lot of three dimensional chess going on beneath the surface, most obviously with the frank (and superbly acted) discussion between Walt (Heisenberg) and the ever-impassive Gus. Walt is always nervous before his boss, a proven princeling of crime, but his approach is all realpolitik and honesty. He shows he knows Gus' thinking, and would have done the same. He is at once demostrating to Gus that he's not a threat, an intellectual equal, able to cope with all this Kafkaesque complexity, and a supplicant. The alpha male competition may be latent, but it's there. Walt may be salaried middle management for now, with a pay rise to boot, but we (and Gus, who is no fool) know that he won't be satisfied being a middle manager for long.

Jesse, for once, in a role reversal, is the ambitious one. He now has drive, as we see from his desire to cream off a bit at the side and from a very revealing monologue at that ridiculous twelve step thing. He cares about his work and doesn't want to see success slip away- hence the very clever use of his underlings toexploit the group for advertising. Even if he's not willing (yet) to listen to Saul about money laundering. Which follows on from the very unusualopening advert for Los Pollos Hermanos, itself a front business.

Also, interestingly, we have signs of possible rapprochement between Skyler and Walt. She comes up with an inspired gambling cover story to explain Walt's wealth so she can excuse using the money to ensure Hank gets decent medical care in spite of the USA's third world lack of a health system. And yes, there's a deep irony if this comes to pass: Hank, of all people, benefiting hugely from blue meth money. And Skyler's reaction to Ted's awkward visit is hugely revrealing. Is her marriage to Walt perhaps showing signs of potentia llife after all?

I love these kinds of layered episodes. Top telly, as Breaking Bad always is.