In this week’s Breaking Bad recap, Matt Zoller Seitz considered the moral axis dividing Walt and Jesse, writing, “The opposition between Walt and Jesse has defined the series up to now, and it surely defines this episode. Walt’s cold confidence contrasts starkly with Jesse’s agonized, numbed expressions.†Seitz also placed Hank in the center of the episode’s “moral and dramatic power,†writing, “I couldn’t help thinking about the arc of this good man’s suffering, all of which is directly or indirectly due to his brother-in-law … †— but refrained from making predictions, admitting what many of you agreed with: “This show is smarter than all of us.†Here’s what you thought of “Blood Money.â€
You paid attention to the smallest details …
• “Do Hank and Marie have a cat?  I just noticed during the garage scene in the final minutes that a container of Cat’s Pride cat litter is clearly visible in the background. It shows up right after Hank moves the last box from the table and asks Walt how the car wash is going. If they don’t have a cat, perhaps Hank uses it to absorb any oil leaks that might occur on the garage floor. (Cat’s Pride is part of the Oil-Dri Corporation of America out of Chicago.)†—Elinor51
• “Anyone else catch what Marie said to Hank while leaving the Whites after his revelation? Skylar had told her about a planned trip to Europe. Marie said something about how he was surprised, after all they had gone through and they could take a trip etc… Anyone think this could be a trip to check on Walt’s European division of the ‘empire’ or something innocuous?†—maley2389
• “Walt displays two Gus-isms in tonight’s episode: folding the towel in front of the toilet before he vomits and smiling through his teeth at Lydia while talking work under his breath.†—modage
… down to the clothes.
• “I noticed that Hank’s shirt in the scene with Walt was red. Doesn’t red signify death in the Breaking Bad world? For a second, I thought Walt was going to kill him right there.†—becks13
• “I think what was more important about Walt and Skyler’s clothes at the car wash is that they were wearing the exact same colour — they’re both finally on the same page on this thing. (Although obviously just for now).†—MegP
• “I don’t understand why Walt is still wearing that skimpy, juvenile, underwear. Considering how much humiliation he’s suffered in them, Heisenberg would be wearing at least boxers by now.†—Drum1871
• “Skyler and Walt’s beige clothing is such a nice callback to Gretchen and Elliott. The Whites finally got the ‘beige memo,’ as Skyler said when she wore the blue satin maternity/prom dress to Elliott’s party … †—gnarlex
You debated about (and pitied) Jesse …
• “I’m disappointed in Jesse. His great moralizing. As if giving the money away after all that he’s done will somehow change the past, or cleanse his soul. Before this season finale I was actually wishing that Jesse made it out OK, but now I really think Walt should just put him out of his misery already. A nice little ricin sandwich.†—triniman65
• “Is there any significance in Jesse’s suggesting that Walt’s motivation for killing Mike was the fact that Mike was dangerous to Walt — whereas Walt had offed him just out of spite? Poor Jesse underestimates how dangerous and unstable Walt is, but i am also wondering what he knows and why he is convinced that Mike is gone.†—bananka
• “Poor Jesse. The Badger and Skinny Pete Show was leavened with fear for me, because I almost believed that when Jesse trudged upstairs we were going to hear a single gunshot. Thank God he’s too important to kill this early.†—seanmurd
• “I do not see Jesse as a weak soul. Yes, he has vulnerability; he needs a particular kind of parental love and acceptance. This is why Walt has been able to repeatedly seduce him back. But, a weak soul? No … he shows a kind of courage that NONE of the other characters show. True, some of that comes out of the near nihilism that his loyalty to Walt brings him to, but still — he is repeatedly fearless in his attempts to make up for past sins, and at times he is outright courageous. (The difference, I think, being that you need to feel fear to be courageous; if you don’t feel the fear, it’s not really courage. Jesse does both depending on when you catch him.)†—Nomi
… and you speculated how it will all end for Walt.
• “I think Walt takes the Ricin himself. If you look back on the series they have hinted at using the Ricin on various Enemies (Tuco, Gus, Lydia), but they never do.†—paynterboyy335
• “While I suspect Walt is going to die in the end, I propose an alternate ending, mirroring Al Pacino in Godfather 3, where Lydia and/or her partners have killed off his entire family, but he’s retaliated so he’s the only one left. He lives out his years alone in some faraway place where there’s no extradition treaty. He dies at age 90, falling off a chair, haunted forever by the crimes of his life.†—supergoddess
• “I think that ultimately, it will come down to ‘The Powers that Be’ and Walt. He never understood he was just a cog in the machine. Once again his pride and hubris has been his downfall. The arch is, Grey Matters is the corporation running everything (all Walt’s research buddies stealing his skills again and not giving him recognition) His anger and the loss of family (Skylar signed her death warrant confronting Lydia and acknowledging her participation) will propel him to confront them with M16 and Ricin at yet another poolside mansion party. […] he breaks my heart- he isn’t fighting his “cancer†he is going to commit suicide I fear. His disillusionment ,fear, and disappointment in Walt is what I always thought would happen with Jr. Instead it is the surrogate son Jesse we see destroyed by realizing the man he so emulated is a monster.†—Atlantaseabreeze
• “Couldn’t the ricin be … for him? If Walt has lost everything and/or killed everyone, why not trump the cancer and die by his own hand? That’s an act of hubris, and hubris is his downfall.†—harrylime
• “When Walt sees Carol, the neighbor, and she drops the groceries - she reacts like she’s seen a ghost. I think that whatever happened in that house it’s assumed Walt is dead.†—loreoeo
• “Maybe he is going to use the Ricin on his former “Gray Matter†partners, Gretchen and her husband. Walt spent a while last season, explaining to Jesse the bitterness he felt because he sold out his share of Gray Matter for $5000. It is now worth over two billion dollars — Walt checks the value EVERY week. He’s still bitter. If Walt is dying, why would he kill Skyler, Jesse, Hank, Saul? Even if they did flip on him, he would make it to trial. The only other reason for using the Ricin would be if he needed to save his children for some nefarious character lurking out there.†—lizbennett
• “If Walt has a full head of hair in the present day scenes, does that mean he’s even given up on the chemo — indicating the end is very near?†—fightingirish
• “Don’t forget Hank’s treatment was paid by Walt’s drug money. In fact what is to stop Walt from turning around and saying that Hank was his partner-in-crime all along — ‘it was his idea in the first place.’ How else do you ignore the fact that he remained uncaptured all this time? That he managed to keep his business a success inspite of the entire DEA being after him. Hank will be made to back-down by Walt is one of the outcomes I see coming out of this episode.†- zenlancelot
Whether it ends in ricin, cancer, or hubris, something we can all agree on is that we’re in good hands for the last seven episodes.
• “So I watch a lot of shows … and I’m always picking them apart for all the inevitable loopholes and such. What I love about Breaking Bad and its writers is that I’m not often left with empty plot holes or questions about how things occurred … I’m just left with “What happens next????!!!!†—mrgreenbird