"...and the Bag's in the River" is the third episode of the first season of Breaking Bad and the third episode overall.
Summary[]
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As he is helping Jesse to scrub up the dissolved remains of Emilio, Walt flashes back to his days as a graduate student. In a college classroom, Walt and a female lab partner are analyzing the human body's chemical composition. After discovering that only 99 percent of the body's makeup is accounted for chemically, Walt muses that there has to be more to a human being than that. Back in the present, Walt flushes a bloody bucketful down the toilet.
Act I[]
At the White residence, Skyler and Junior are painting the new baby's room as Marie looks on. Junior's cell phone rings and he departs. Having been told by Walt that he has been smoking marijuana, Skyler tells her sister that she's writing a story with a stoner character and asks her about pot. Marie jumps to the conclusion that it's Junior who is smoking marijuana and doesn't believe Skyler when she tries to insist otherwise.
Walt and Jesse scuffle over a bag of meth.
At Jesse's house, Jesse sneaks into the bathroom to smoke meth. In the basement, Krazy-8, who remains shackled to the pipe, surprises Walt by addressing him by name and revealing personal details that Jesse has told him. Walt angrily goes upstairs to confront Jesse, who is high and refuses to let him enter the bathroom, and kicks in the door. A scuffle ensues over Jesse's bag of meth, which he tosses out the window. Walt has a coughing fit while trying to chase Jesse downstairs, and barely recovers in time to catch Jesse before he drives off in his car. Walt says there's more work to do, but Jesse leaves.
Act II[]
Hank returns Marie's phone call while in the middle of a drug bust. She convinces Hank to scare Junior straight before shoplifting a pair of high heels when the shopkeeper is occupied by a phone call. While initially reluctant, Hank drives Junior to "The Crystal Palace," a local roach motel patronized by meth addicts and prostitutes. Hank warns Junior that marijuana is a gateway to heavier drugs, trying to prove his point by calling over a disheveled prostitute, Wendy, and showing Junior how meth has corroded her teeth. Disgusted, Hank threatens to bust Wendy if he sees her working there again. Wendy stumbles off and enters a motel room, where she has sex with Jesse.
Back at Jesse's house, Walt jots down the pros and cons of killing Krazy-8. He comes up with several arguments in support of clemency, while the sole entry in the "Kill Him" column is "He'll kill your entire family if you let him go." Walt calls Skyler to claim he is running late at the car wash, but learns that she already knows he quit that job. Skyler angrily tells Walt to spend the night wherever he is. He makes a sandwich for Krazy-8 but collapses on the basement floor while delivering it, shattering the plate.
Act III[]
After regaining consciousness, Walt tells Krazy-8 that he has lung cancer, scoops up the plate shards, and leaves to make another sandwich. Upon returning, he tries to get to know Krazy-8, who tells Walt that doing so won't make killing him any easier. Walt admits that he is looking for a reason not to. Walt brings a six-pack of beer and the two seem to bond as Krazy-8 reminisces about being the son of a local furniture-store owner whose commercials air on late-night television. Walt recalls buying a crib for Junior from the same store. When Walt admits that he hasn't told his family about the cancer diagnosis, Krazy-8 deduces that Walt is cooking meth so he can leave money for his family. Krazy-8 offers to write Walt a check, then suggests he isn't cut out for the drug trade. When Walt leaves to retrieve the key to the bike lock, Krazy-8 seems relieved.
Walt gets the key, but a sudden flash of insight prompts him to piece the broken plate back together; he realizes a large triangular shard is missing. Back downstairs, Krazy-8 stands quietly as Walt approaches and motions him to turn around so he can open the lock. When Walt hesitates, Krazy-8 gently commands him to unlock it. As he grasps the lock, Walt sees Krazy-8 reach into his pocket and asks if he is going stab him with the shard once set free. Krazy-8 stabs backward wildly while Walt pulls back hard on the lock, strangling him. Krazy-8 manages to stab Walt in the leg a few times before finally expiring. Walt tearfully apologizes as he dies.
Act IV[]
The following morning, Jesse returns home to find his driveway gate open, Walt gone, the RV cleared of meth supplies, Krazy-8 missing from the basement, and the bike lock left behind. Meanwhile, the DEA discover Walt and Jesse's cook site in the desert and Walt's discarded gas mask. Hank and Gomez quickly put together a theory that a mobile meth lab was in the area and accidentally started a fire with the occupants fleeing after putting it out. However, Krazy-8's low-rider car has been left behind. Hank wonders why until he discovers a hidden drug bag behind the stereo. He is unsure of the color to confirm it's meth and concludes Krazy-8, who had been their snitch, has been killed. Meanwhile, Walt has called in sick at work and parks his Pontiac Aztek on the shoulder of a freeway overpass, resuming his flashback to discussing human chemistry with his lab partner. Returning home, he finds Skyler sobbing in their bedroom. He informs her that there is something he has to tell her.
Official Photos[]
Trivia[]
- Uncensored on home video. Jesse says, "Fucking do it already." Krazy-8 tells Walt, "Up until the day I said, 'Fuck you,' and quit."
- The title (completed from Episode 2) "Cat's in the Bag..."", and the bag's in the river" is a quote from the film Sweet Smell of Success, spoken in reassurance that a situation is being handled. The toilet that Walt flushes the blood bucket contents down can be thought of as a metaphorical river.
- Walt is using baking soda to clean up Emilio's body, since baking soda is an alkali and can neutralize the acid.
- In the next episode, it is revealed that Walt's crib is indeed from Tampico Furniture.
- According to Walt, the human body broken down by chemical element:[1]
- Hydrogen: 63%
- Oxygen: 26%
- Carbon: 9%
- Nitrogen: 1.25%
- Calcium: 0.25%
- Chlorine 0.2%
- Phosphorous 0.19%
- Sodium 0.04%
- Sulfur 0.050002%
- Iron: .00004%
- The scene between Walt and Gretchen, at the time his lab assistant, in the teaser is chronologically the first scene of the series, taking place somewhere between 1985 and 1989.
Errors[]
Production[]
When Walt confronts Jesse in the bathroom about him telling Krazy-8 about Walt's name and his son, Jesse accidentally knocks over a painting making it shatter to the ground. But one shot later, the shattered painting on the floor somehow disappears and reappears multiple times (both on the floor and on the wall).
Production[]
Credits[]
Starring
Guest Starring
Uncredited
Filming Locations[]
- The Crossroads hotel Hank takes Walt Jr to and where Wendy makes her first appearance is located at 1001 Central Ave NE, Albuquerque in real life. As of 2016 the soda machine at the lobby door no longer there.
- The next to last scene has Walter sitting in his car on an overpass, thinking about the chemical makeup of a body. He's looking down I-25 from the Bobby Foster Rd Overpass. Billboards and the 2 lanes eastbound and 1 lane westbound helped to locate it.
Featured Music[]
- "Gray Matter" by Dave Porter (playing during the episode teaser and while Walt sits in his car on the highway bridge)
- "Without You" by Sasha Dobson (playing in the store where Marie steals a pair of shoes)
- "The Missing Piece" by Dave Porter (as Walt retrieves the pieces of broken plate from the trash)
- "The Morning After" by Dave Porter (as Jesse returns to his house the morning after Walt has killed Krazy-8)
Memorable Quotes[]
- "Oh well, heil Hitler, bitch! And let me tell you something else. We flipped a coin, okay? You and me. You and me! Coin flip is sacred! Your job is waiting for you in that basement, as per the coin!"
- ―Jesse Pinkman to Walter White.
- Krazy-8: "Unlock me, Walter."
- Walter: "The moment I do, are you gonna stick me with that broken piece of plate?"
- ―Just before Walt kills Krazy-8 by choking him with the bike lock
- Walter: "I don't know. Just...doesn't it seem like...something's missing?"
- Gretchen: "What about the soul?"
- Walter: "The soul? There's nothing but chemistry here."
- ―Walter and Gretchen discussing about human body composition.