Breaking Bad: Open House

 "What? I'm Nixon now?"

This entire episode is about a failure to communicate. Mostly. But it's also, of course, about Skyler mirroring the Walt of earlier seasons as she slips slowly into criminality... and not without success. 

Walt lies to Skyler about his black eye, a failure to communicate. There's a camera in the lab, a bluntly one way mode of communication to which Walt has an entirely mature and adult response. Walt and Jesse are barely communicating and, in Jesse's disgusting cesspit of a house which is an endless round of soulless parties mongst the squalour, Jesse just sits and gets high, interacting with no one.

Hank and Marie are, of course, mot communicating in a healthy way, and Hank's understandable depression does not in any ay justify his behaviour towards Marie. However, Marie seeks refuge in absurd lies and fantasies ultimately leading to disaster, humilation and criminality of a very white, middle class lady kind.

But Skyler is triumphant here, cleverly getting Bogdan's business of him for very little, and doing it through awesome skill and excellent communication. Yet the only skilful piece of communication in this episode is about swindling a poor bloke out of his business, not meaningful human connection.

Communication aside, this is a transitional episode that subtly advances the arc and moves pieces around rather than a big "event". Such episodes have to exist, and are rarely done with such skill.