Previously: The great train robbery turned into a terrible train robbery celebration when an unsuspecting ... or maybe he was suspecting ... hell, it's a moot point now, because Landry from Friday Night Lights killed his second person in as many series, this one an innocent little spider-wrangling kid. Jesse, and you could imagine, took it hard.
Currently: Another week, another riveting cold open, this one not as obscure as last week's. Walter, Mike, and Landry (Jesse is conspicuous by his absence) are digging the dead kid's motorbike out of the back of their truck, where they've got it buried in sand. They begin breaking the bike down into small enough parts so it can fit into the big plastic barrel. After it's in the barrel comes the acid bath. We've seen this before on this show. With Krazy-8. With Victor. This is how dead bodies go away without leaving evidence. In fact, it's because we've seen those bodies get disposed of that the scene here is so effective. We know the process here. We're old pros at the meth business and all its unsavory extracurriculars. Everything they're doing to this bike -- cutting it into pieces, shoving it into the barrel, melting it with acid -- they're going to have to do to the body as well. We don't see that part, but with the bike as stand-in, what we see is gruesome enough. The men undertake the task with grim efficiency, probably one of the reasons Jesse isn't participating. His feelings would only slow the process down. (I should note we also get a patented Breaking Bad "Stuff gets poured on the camera" scene. This show loves to pour some stuff on you.)
Outside the garage, Jesse's smoking a cig. Landry comes out to join him, which you know is his first mistake. They're both leaning against a tank of something, and Jesse won't even look at him. After an awkward attempt at making small talk ("You didn't tell me this stuff smelled like cat piss"), Landry makes his second mistake by trying to lighten the mood with a "Hey, shit happens." Jesse waits not one second before turning, punching Landry right in the face, and heading back to the garage. ...Wait, didn't Tyra do that to him on FNL too?
Let the record show that I still cannot handle the vodka ads with Aaron Paul and Diddy and Omar and Phil Leotardo and Eva Pigford and Jesse Williams all being the New Rat Pack without even the faint whiff of irony.
After the credits, the Triad are holding a debrief/interrogation/morbidity & mortality conference, seemingly at Jesse's behest, to figure out what to do about Landry's haste. Landry defends himself pretty well (you know, for a child-killer), saying that he didn't exactly relish the opportunity to blow the kid away, but he reacted quickly and neutralized a "threat" and he'd do it again. Jesse, who's been pacing this whole time, objects to the term "threat," as the kid was kind of just waving at them. Landry has a point, though (again, if you think a child-killer can have a point): They didn't know how much the kid saw, and if he started to ride the dirt bike away, they'd never have been able to catch him. Besides, Jesse had already expressed the paramount importance of them not getting caught. At these words, Aaron Paul's nonverbals in the background are off the charts. You know that thing you do where you're so mad all you can do is flex your fingertips? Jesse's doing that. Landry finally appeals to Walt, very contrite, but resolute that in the kid-or-us choice he was given, he chose the right option. Walt and Mike are both silent and likely thinking the same thing: the kid's right, even if it's ugly to admit it. Walt asks him to step outside while they talk. At this, Landry starts to get a little antsier. On his way out, he talks about how "the business" is his top priority and he wants to be a real part of this AND he's got connections, like for instance his uncle in prison and all his connections.
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