Walter frantically drives off with Krazy-8’s and Emilio’s bodies rolling around in the back of the RV. Walter’s pants, which he has taken off in order to preserve his ‘good’ clothes while he cooks, fly off the RV and into the air. We then return to the opening of the episode with Walter now turning the gun on himself, preparing to commit suicide before being apprehended by the approaching police whom, he believes, are coming for them. Instead, fire engines pass him by, hurrying to put out a fire started by their activities at the RV’s original location. Later that night, Walter returns home and has what we are led to believe is unusually passionate sex with his wife (Skyler: “Walt, is that you?”), at which point the pilot episode ends.
The second episode, “The Cat’s in the Bag…” (1/27/08), is more comedic in tone than the pilot, centering on sometimes gruesome, black humor as Walter and Jesse attempt to “clean up the mess” they have created in the pilot. But in both episodes much ground is covered through short scenes and a continually forward-moving series of events. “The Cat’s in the Bag…” chronicles a succession of mishaps as Walter and Jesse attempt to dispose of Emilio’s body and kill the badly wounded but still alive Krazy-8. Through the flip of a coin, Jesse is charged with dissolving Emilio’s body in acid while Walter becomes responsible for killing Krazy-8 whom, in the meantime, they have shackled to a column in Jesse’s basement with a rigid, motorcycle U-lock around his neck, rendering him immobile. Walter, however, cannot bring himself to murder Krazy-8. Instead, he provides the shackled Krazy-8 with water, a bologna and cheese sandwich, a waste bucket, toilet paper, and hand sanitizer, as if preparing him for a prolonged stay. Walter’s inability to act heightens the suspense as we wait for the inevitable encounter between him and Krazy-8.
The pace and tone of the third episode, “…And the Bag’s in the River,” vary from the initial two. It is slower and more contemplative, including a flashback to Walter’s past. Character development and character interaction play a more prominent role, and do so in an especially noteworthy manner between Walter and Krazy-8. The first time we see the two together in “… And the Bag’s in the River,” Krazy-8 insists that Walter look at him, complaining that the lock around his neck is degrading. Walter apologizes, indicating his susceptibility to feeling guilty for the inhumane way he is treating Krazy-8. Krazy-8 then exerts additional emotional pressure by challenging Walter to either kill him or let him go. Krazy-8 has sized Walter up, telling him that he isn’t suited for “this line of work”—the drug business. Again increasing the pressure and playing to Walter’s vulnerabilities, Krazy-8 emphasizes that Walter’s choices are either to let him go or to commit cold-blooded murder. In their initial to-and-fro, Krazy-8 extends a challenge to Walter, based on the guilt and fear the prisoner has accurately identified as his captor’s emotional ‘weaknesses.’
For his part, Walter has just learned that Krazy-8 knows who he is and where to find him if released. Walter attempts to make his decision on whether to commit cold-blooded murder through rational means, in a situation and over a choice that is wholly unreasonable within the terms of Walter’s existence heretofore. Nonetheless, he draws up a pro and con list over whether to kill Krazy-8 but finds that next to six ‘cons’ he can only come up with one ‘pro:’ “He’ll kill your entire family if you let him go.”[2] As the subsequent sequence between them makes clear, Walter must act by making a decision based on emotions—his ‘gut’ feelings—with which he is not particularly comfortable or adept at, rather than relying on his accustomed, ‘calm,’ ‘scientific,’ powers of reasoning. Thus begins an intricate emotional encounter between the two, in which they each attempt to gauge the other’s feelings and influence the other’s emotions over life and death stakes.
Walter again makes Krazy-8 a bologna and cheese sandwich, this time cutting off the bread crusts, having previously noticed that Krazy-8 does not like them. This seems an odd gesture of thoughtfulness in view of the situation facing the two men, but one that Walter strategically hopes will help ‘seduce’ Krazy-8 to engage with him. Walter places the sandwich on a yellow Fiestaware plate and heads down to the basement. Before he reaches Krazy-8, Walter suffers another coughing fit and passes out.[3] When he comes to, Krazy-8 informs him that he has been unconscious for ten to fifteen minutes. Then, in a startling admission given the context, in which Walter must decide whether to kill Krazy-8 or not while Krazy-8 knows full well this is the decision Walter must make, Walter confides in Krazy-8 that he has lung cancer. The two men share similarity of circumstances, both facing the threat of impending death that creates a certain bond between them. And, as we are beginning to understand, Walter is attempting to entice Krazy-8 to his side in order to escape having to kill him. Here, though, it is the captor who is trying to humanize himself to the prisoner.
Walter returns to the kitchen to make Krazy-8 another sandwich, throwing the pieces of broken plate in the garbage, and returning to the basement. This marks the beginning of a remarkable set-piece, lasting twelve minutes—a full quarter of the episode’s running time—establishing an emotional intimacy between the two that belies the reality of the circumstances, and in which Walter’s decision whether to kill Krazy-8 becomes a mutual determination.
The two now sit down, taking up more casual, less confrontational bodily positions. Walter rolls a can of beer to Krazy-8 from the six-pack he has brought with him to the basement, then asks Krazy-8 what his given name is: Domingo. Walter next questions Krazy-8 about his background. Instead of answering, Krazy-8 counters that getting to know him will not make it easier for Walter to kill him (nor, narratively, for the audience to witness). Krazy-8’s frankness in warning Walter about the dangers of ‘personalizing’ him serves as a strategic move on Krazy-8’s part, singling out his sincerity and capacity for truth telling because he does not immediately jump at the chance of humanizing himself to the clearly uncertain Walter. Rather than opting to establish the familiarity that is in Krazy-8’s best interests for survival, he appears to consider the predicament from Walter’s position as well. Krazy-8’s ability to appreciate Walter’s circumstances is critical to the encounter, as we will see. Further, Krazy-8 is being honest in that he is genuinely resentful of the situation, finding himself in a position of emasculating humiliation after having been outsmarted by a neophyte in the drug business, in which he perceives himself as having attained a certain status of prominence and toughness.
In a surprisingly honest—or desperate—countermove, Walter tells Krazy-8 that he is searching for a good reason to not kill him and Krazy-8 should tell him one. Here, Walter admits to what motivates his apparent gestures of kindness. Again, Krazy-8 returns the volley with a mixture of pride and defiance, telling Walter he could promise not to go after him if released, but that doing so is pointless because Walter will never know if he’s telling the truth or not. Thus, Krazy-8 initially rejects Walter’s efforts to establish a sympathetic connection between the two. He refuses to beg, grovel, or be submissive, even with his life at risk. Krazy-8’s courage must strike Walter as admirable, especially in light of his own failure of nerve. Both men have clearly staked out their positions in this encounter that is simultaneously a battle of wills and an intimate exchange.
Concluding that Krazy-8 is not willing to respond to his questions, Walter moves to leave the basement, spurring Krazy-8 to begin talking about himself, his educational background, his family. Krazy-8’s father owns a furniture store with which Walter is familiar. He explains that he knows who Krazy-8’s father is from the store’s TV commercials. His prisoner’s concession in responding to Walter provides the latter with a sense of victory, a moment in which Walter has exerted his power over the physically constrained and trapped Krazy-8. Effectively using the asymmetrical power relations between them, at this point Walter has prevailed.
2
Walter’s reasons on the “Let Him Live” side of the page include: “It’s the moral thing to do”; “Won’t be able to live with yourself”; and “Murder is wrong!”
3
The fact that both Walter and Krazy-8 cough continuously serves as another link between them.