'Breaking Bad' Season 5, Episode 7 Recap - 'Say My Name' and Preventable Tragedies

Sometimes watching "Breaking Bad" is like actually being in the meth business: sooner or later it kills everyone you love. Like, say, Gus. Or Mike.

I found myself rooting for Gus to live at the end of last season, and that was back when Walt was still kind of a good guy. So you can bet that when the second-best character (possibly the best) on this show croaked tonight, I was pretty upset about it. And the real tragedy in all of this is, as both Mike and Walt put it (albeit in different terms), it was all preventable.

It didn't have to be this way.

Walt's New Deal

But let's begin at the beginning: Mike and Jesse drag Walt to the meeting with their Phoenix meth friends, who are understandably upset that they scrounged up $15 million and brought it out into the desert so that this bald dude could tell them that they're not getting their methylamine. But Walt turns on his salesmanship and ends up convincing Declan to be his supplier.

Even in this moment of triumph, where we would normally be saying "yeah, Walt" and fist pumping, it's really difficult to be on Walt's side. The ego that it takes, in the face of these people, to stand there and actually say "say my name," is tremendous. It's the same ego that has caused Walt to make every terrible decision thus far.

Jesse's Exit

So Jesse and Mike are free to go, only Jesse isn't quite so free after all. Walt keeps putting off the discussion of how to get Jesse his $5 million, waving it off as though Jesse will change his mind any minute and decide to join back up.

Walt fails to realize a few things about Jesse, though. Firstly, the kid has an actual conscience: while Walt almost goes overboard in trying to show that he's upset about the murder of the little boy, Jesse calls him out on it. Secondly, Jesse doesn't have the ego Walt has, to keep him in the game.

Thirdly, he lacks the greed that Walt has... and that lack of greed may be his saving grace. When the two of them get into a full-on argument over Jesse leaving, Jesse has the ultimate trump card: saying "screw the money" and leaving. He so geniunely wants out, and is so genuinely uninterested in money, that he gives up $5 million just to be done with everything.

A side note: Jesse seems to be feeling for Skylar (again, because he has a conscience), and the two almost shared a sympathetic look when he was picking up the hidden methylamine from the car wash. Could Walt's ego-driven decision to force Jesse to stay for dinner end up being his undoing? Will Jesse team with Skylar? Oh I hope they both kill him.

Mike's... Exit.

With the deal with Declan done, Mike makes his exit. He leaves the payoff responsibilities in the hands of the lawyer from a few episodes back, Daniel Wachsberger. Unfortunately, SuperHank makes the connection that Wachsberger is representing all of Mike's "guys," so he puts a tail on him. Sure enough, Wachsberger is caught putting the money in the safety deposit boxes.

That's bad news for Mike, as Wachsberger is not so well compensated as to keep his mouth shut. Mike is actually forced to flee the park and leave his granddaughter behind in order to avoid arrest.

And then Walt volunteers to bring Mike his "go bag." And Jesse doesn't see a problem with it.

We can at least take solace in the fact that Mike got to give Walt a thorough tongue lashing before it all went down: it's the first time that anyone has stood up to Walt and explained to him in no uncertain terms how idiotic, selfish and egotistical he has been since the Gus incident. "You had to be the man," he says, saying that Walt could have just done his job for Gus and everything would have been fine.

It's too much for Walt to handle: after that chewing-out, he turns right back around and shoots Mike in the gut out of anger. We're allowed one brief moment of hope as Mike drives away, only to have it taken away when he crashes, only to have it come back again when we see the car is empty, only to have it taken away again when we see that he's clearly at death's door.

Perhaps the worst part of it all is Walt's sniveling over the act. This wasn't a calculated move, it was the act of a petulant child with too much power whose ego had just been bruised. "I'm sorry Mike," he says, "I just realized I could have gotten the names from Lydia. All of this could have been avoided."

"Walter, shut the fuck up and let me die in peace," Mike responds.

And that is why I'm going to miss him.

Notes and Stray Observations:

- Fun fact: Mike's last name comes from the German words for "strength," "all-encompassing" and "world"

- For as much as I hate him right now, Walt's comparison to his product vs. Declan's as "grade school tee ball versus the New York Yankees" was pretty good

- "Breaking Bad" has always been creative with camera placement. This time, the camera was on Wachsberger's arm as he opened the boxes

- Todd as Jesse's replacement? If Jesse doesn't kill Walt, Todd sure might. His aw-shucks attitude is working on Walt, too. This kid is on to something

- "Vamanos." "I wish."

- Skylar has downgraded from buying meals at the grocery store to buying microwave dinners. Maybe she's trying to starve Walt to death?

- I couldn't tell what movie Mike was watching while they searched his house. Was it "He Walked By Night?" If you know, put it in the comments! [EDIT]: It was "The Big Heat." Duh. Stupid me.