Rabid Dog

Rabid Dog
Synopsis: An unusual strategy starts to bear fruit, while plans are set in motion that could change everything.
Season	5B
Episode	12
Directed by	Sam Catlin
Written by	Sam Catlin
Running time	47 minutes
Air date	September 1, 2013
U.S. Viewers	4.41 million
← Previous	"Confessions"
Next →	"To'hajiilee"

"Rabid Dog" is the twelfth episode of the fifth season of Breaking Bad and the fifty-eighth episode altogether.

Summary

Teaser

Walt parks down the street from the his house, seeing Saul's abandoned car in the driveway. He jumps the wall into his backyard and enters the house through the rear patio door. The living room is soaked in gasoline, but there are no signs of Jesse. Searching the car, he finds used meth residue on a compact disc; Jesse appears to have been using, but mysteriously changed his mind before torching the house.

Act I

Walt summons a cleaning crew and a locksmith while Huell retrieves Saul's car. Walt insists that the cleaning crew remove the scent of gasoline from the living room carpet but is told this cannot be done due to it being soaked into the padding and subfloor. He leaves a voicemail for Jesse, telling him that they should talk. As a cover story, Walt soaks his clothes and his driver's seat in gasoline. When Skyler and Walt Jr. return home, he attempts to explain away the scent by claiming that his clothes got soaked by a malfunctioning gas pump. Junior urges his father to be truthful, thinking his cancer has caused him to black out again. Walt suggests the family go to a hotel temporarily to escape the vapors.

Skyler talking with Walt

Outside the hotel, Walt meets with Saul and Kuby, urging them to find Jesse. Saul suggests that he put a hit on Jesse, but Walt pointedly refuses. In their hotel room, Walt tells Skyler that he just went to grab some ice, but she was spying on him and knows he was talking to Saul. Walt reluctantly comes clean, telling her that Jesse found out about something that he did and got angry, prompting him to attempt to burn down their house. Skyler is shocked, saying she knew that someone would eventually attack their home. Walt insists that he and Jesse can make peace. To his surprise, Skyler suggests that they have Jesse killed to make sure that this doesn't happen again.

Act II

Hours earlier, Jesse drives Saul's car onto Walt's driveway. He snorts a line of meth, grabs the gasoline can from the trunk, breaks into the house, and pours gasoline all over the living room. He is about to light the gasoline when Hank enters the house and points his gun at Jesse, telling him to calm down. Jesse yells that Walt can't keep getting away with the things he has done, mentioning that he poisoned a child as a means to an end. Hank suggests that there is a better way; he and Jesse can work together to take down Walt. He takes Jesse to his car and they drive away just as Walt turns the corner at the end of the street, missing Hank's departure by mere seconds.

Marie meets with her therapist and admits that she has contemplated poisoning a "family friend" who betrayed their trust and endangered many lives. Perceiving the therapist's alarm, she says that she is only fantasizing. Returning home, Marie notices two luggage bags waiting for her at the entrance; Hank urges her to leave because he is dealing with something she may not like. After asking what's going on, he tells her that he convinced Jesse to help him and that he's sleeping in the guest bedroom. Learning this is bad for Walt, Marie insists on staying and helping in any way she can. Jesse's cell phone rings inside Hank's pocket, but he doesn't answer. In the pocket of his jacket in the living room, Jesse's burner phone rings. Hank listens to Walt's voicemail.

Act III

Walt and Walt Jr. hug by the pool

Walt sits by the hotel pool, deep in thought, when Junior joins him and shares his concerns about his father's mortality. Walt stresses that he will survive his cancer and they hug. Junior heads back to his room as Walt decides to leave Jesse another voice message. 

The following morning, Jesse wakes up and is greeted by Marie, who offers to fetch him coffee. He finds Hank and Gomez setting up a camcorder, which they will use to film Jesse's confession. After showing some initial concern about their approach, Jesse tells them everything that went down between him and Walt, from his murder of Gale Boetticher on Walt's orders to Todd's killing of Drew Sharp. Hours later, Hank and Steve stand silent on the balcony, struggling to process the sheer magnitude of Walt's crimes. Gomez believes Jesse, but they need solid proof to convince the DEA. Plotting their next move, Hank reveals to Jesse and Gomez that Walt left a second voicemail, asking to meet Jesse at the downtown plaza the following day at noon. Hank asks Jesse to wear a wire so they can record any incriminating statements from Walt. Jesse asserts that Walt will try to kill him at the meet. Hank tries to reassure Jesse, but when Jesse's out of earshot, he tells Gomez that he doesn't care if Jesse is killed; he only cares about catching Walt.

Act IV

Jesse calling Walt from a payphone

The following day, Hank tapes a wire to Jesse and leaves him at the plaza; Walt sits nearby on a bench. Jesse approaches him from behind but notices a hulking man seemingly staring at him. Jesse flips the script by calling Walt from a payphone, calling off the meeting and promising to get at Walt "where you really live." A furious Hank picks Jesse up, but Jesse tells him he has a better plan. Back at the plaza, Walt gets up from the bench and passes the hulking man, who was actually not associated with him at all; he was merely a passerby. Now convinced that Jesse is a liability, Walt gets in his car and calls Todd, telling him that he has "another job" for his uncle.

Official Photos

Trivia

• The title refers to a scene where Saul implies Jesse is like a rabid dog that needs to be put down (references the movie "Old Yeller (1957)"), but Walt shoots down the idea. It is the seventh episode to reference an animal in the title.
  • In the episode "Problem Dog", the dog that needed to be put down was Gale Boetticher, shot by Jesse himself. In this episode, Jesse became the dog.
  • It also refers to a scene between Skyler and Walter where Walter states that "Jesse is not just some rabid dog" (probably inspired by the aforementioned conversation with Saul he just came back from) when Skyler implies that they should kill Jesse.
    • Skyler asking Walt to kill Jesse, to make sure that problems won't happen again, leaving Walt speechless, resembles the scene in "Breakage" where Walt asks Jesse to handle the Spooge situation.

• As Walt douses his clothing in gasoline, his gun is shown to be tucked in the back of his underwear. This seems to reference the "Pilot", which also showed Walt having his gun in the back of his underwear.
• When Walt asks Patrick Kuby about his search for Jesse, Kuby tells him, "I put a bug in the tall kid's mom's place.  For three hours straight all he kept talking about was something called Babylon 5."  Bryan Cranston had a small part in that show as Ranger Captain Ericsson in the episode "The Long Night."
• When Saul is in the car talking with Walt, he makes a joke by saying that even though Jesse beat him, "deep down inside he loves me." Mike says this same line in his speech to Walt in the episode "Half Measures".
• In this episode, Jesse meets Marie for the first time. Walt Jr. is the only series regular who never shared a scene with Jesse.
• Marie’s Therapist Dave makes his first and only appearance in this episode
• When Hank encounters Jesse in Walt's house just before Jesse burns the house down, Jesse is standing in the same spot where Walt was when Jesse had a gun pointed right between Walt's eyes ("End Times"). But this time the gun is pointed at Jesse.
• The scene where Jesse starts recording his confession to Hank and Gomez mirrors Walt's confession in the previous episode.
  • At the same scene, there is a book named "The Rat" while Jesse becomes a "rat". Additionally, the coffee Marie gives to him is in a DEA mug, fitting as he is now working alongside a pair of DEA agents.
  • When Jesse is looking at Hank's bookcase, he picks up a copy of "Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan". Ronald Reagan heavily opposed illicit drug use and declared them a threat to national security. Drug raids and drug-related incarcerations rose dramatically during his administration.
  • A DVD box set of "Deadwood" appears on a bookshelf in Hank's house. It does lead one to ask why Hank doesn't think his sister-in-law looks like the actress who played Martha Bullock, a Deadwood character played by Anna Gunn.
  • Also in a bookcase at Hank’s house is a DVD box set of Breaking Bad.
• The scene where Jesse warns Hank and Steve about how dangerous Walt is, saying "Whatever–whatever you think is supposed to happen–I’m telling you, the exact reverse opposite of that is going to happen, okay?" is a foreshadowing of the drastic change of events in the subsequent episode.
  • Jesse is worried about the meeting with Walt being an assassination attempt, saying "There will be one of those guys in a clocktower". In the plaza scene, a clock can be heard chiming in the background.
  • The microphone and wireless audio system Hank uses during the failed meeting was the actual equipment used by the film crew to record the dialog.
• The scene where Hank and Jesse plot to meet Walt at the plaza, the table centerpiece resembles the 5000 milliliter flask Walt was excited about in Season 1 while stealing glassware from the school.
• When Jesse is getting into Hank's car, the pink teddy bear can be seen stuck in a tree behind him.
• The hotel pool where the White family is staying is reminiscent a batch of Blue Sky during its final stage of production.
• Saul's white jacket and the red shirt with long collar resemble the clothes of Al Pacino in a scene in "Scarface (1983)". Fittingly, when he looks at his bruised face in the mirror he asks if it will leave a scar.
• Laura Fraser (Lydia) and Jesse Plemons (Todd) do not appear in this episode, although both are mentioned in dialog.

Production

Credits

• Starring
• Guest Starring
• Co-Starring
• Uncredited

Starring

Bryan Cranston as Walter White Anna Gunn as Skyler White Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman Dean Norris as Hank Schrader Betsy Brandt as Marie Schrader

RJ Mitte as Walter White Jr. Bob Odenkirk as Saul Goodman Laura Fraser as Lydia Rodarte-Quayle (credit only) Jesse Plemons as Todd Alquist (credit only)

Guest Starring

• Steven Michael Quezada as Steven Gomez
• Bill Burr as Patrick Kuby
• Lavell Crawford as Huell Babineaux
• Bruce McKenzie as Dave

Co-Starring

Wray Crawford as Locksmith

Manny Rey as Carpet Cleaner

Rafael Herrera as Carpet Cleaner #2

Sachie Capitani as Kid

Jack Burning as Homeless Man

Uncredited

Chester Gayao as Businessman

Holly Pinnell as Homeless Man's Wife

Filming Locations

• The location used for the failed meeting was also used as the "playground" for the game Society in the film Gamer.

Featured Music

• "Fumes" by Dave Porter (as Walt stalks his home)
• "Chaotica" by The Bambi Molesters (Walt cleans up the gasoline and fabricates a story)
• "Gas Can Rage" by Dave Porter (as Jesse pours gas over Walt's lounge and is confronted by Hank)
• "Hello Kitty Wonderland (Instrumental)" by M3m (After Hank tells Marie about Jesse staying with them, Jesse's cellphone rings with this ringtone and Hank listens to Walt's voicemail to Jesse)
• "Circling the Square" by Dave Porter (during the sting operation with Jesse) 

Memorable Quotes

Walter: "I–I don’t know how we got off on whatever it is we’re talking about here. But clearly, I haven’t explained the situation well enough, because this is a big overreaction. We all need to just take a deep breath and calm down, because Jesse isn’t just some–some–some rabid dog. This is a person."

Skyler: "A person that is a threat to us. I mean–my God–where we are now with Hank and Marie and that awful tape we made. After everything we’ve done, you can’t just talk to this person."

Walter: "You’re saying that I just…What–what exactly are you saying?"

Skyler: "We’ve come this far. For us. What’s one more?"

―Skyler asking Walter to eliminate Jesse.

---

"Look– look, you two guys are just guys, okay? Mr. White–he’s the devil. You know, he is–he is smarter than you, he is luckier than you. Whatever–whatever you think is supposed to happen–I’m telling you, the exact reverse opposite of that is going to happen, okay?"

―Jesse to Hank and Gomez at Hank’s house.

---

Gomez: "What if the kid’s right? What if it’s a trap?"

Hank: "The kid? Oh, you mean the junkie murderer that’s dribbling all over my guest bathroom floor? Well, then, he’s right. Pinkman gets killed, and we get it all on tape."

―Gomez and Hank about sending Jesse to the appointment organized by Walter.