'Breaking Bad' Season 4, Episode 3 Recap - 'Open House'

After a tumultuous couple of weeks on "Breaking Bad," it seems that things are finally calming down for Walt. At least there were no murder attempts this week. It's a start, right?

In fact, Walter is mostly along for the ride in "Open House." The only moment we get alone with him is at the beginning of the episode, when he has a second of quiet appreciation for Gayle's coffee device...that is, until he remembers what he and Jesse did to the poor guy. That's followed by Walter's realization that there are now security cameras set up in the lab, which leads to one of the funniest outs into the title screen yet.

Walter spends most of the rest of the episode dealing with Skyler (with whom he's finally speaking again) and the predicament with the car wash. Skyler is really starting to shine now as a character: after spending three seasons mostly just reacting, she's now taking the lead.

Her insistence on, and handling of, taking the car wash over has given the character new life, and you can tell that Anna Gunn is enjoying it. Her brilliantly criminal idea goes surprisingly well (a nod to the talented comedian Bill Burr as the "inspector")...so well, in fact, that we almost feel bad for Mr. Eyebrows as he tries to insist that he's not dumping chemicals.

The scene with the champagne as Walter and Skyler celebrate is sweet, and it's a relief to see the two of them finally getting along. But Skyler's mini freak-out about Walt's $375 champagne purchase does not bode well. This show has a way of introducing small details early on that develop into something much larger later. And as Skyler says, "the devil is in the details."

But while the Whites are being constructive, everyone else is being completely self-destructive. Jesse is spiraling even further into ruin as he struggles to feel something. His short scene on the go-kart is almost as heartbreaking as the ending to last week's episode, and things take a real turn when we see the state of his house. Jesse's house, the house he grew up in, is being destroyed from the inside, just like he is. Walt is on to the fact that Jesse isn't okay, but he has no idea to what extent...will Walt have to save Jesse yet again this season?

Marie is getting self-destructive as well, as the stress in dealing with Hank has caused her to turn back to petty theft. She's taking it to a new level this time: her MO is to show up at open houses and invent a story about herself, then steal something before she leaves. And man, is she a good liar. That story about her "son" Eli just pours out.

When she gets arrested, though (that's one determined realtor!), Walt as to get a friend on the police force to bail her out. In return, he asks Hank for a favor: look over Gayle's lab notes from the murder scene and tell him if anything stands out. The episode ends with Hank flipping through the pages...inevitably, he'll come across a mention of blue meth, and the proverbial shit is really going to hit the fan. Now we know why Hank was talking about a blue mineral in such detail last week, eh?