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Granite St At e Synopsis: Events set in motion long ago move toward a conclusion. Season Episode 5B 15 Directed by Peter Gould Written by Peter Gould Running time 53 minutes Air date September 22, 2013 U.S. Viewers 6.58 million ← Previous Next → " Ozymandias " " Felina " Images (49)

"Granite State" is the fifteenth and penultimate episode of the fifth season of Breaking Bad, and the sixty-first episode of the series altogether.​

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Teaser

Just as seen at the end of the previous episode, the extractor's red van drives off from the side of the road after picking up its passenger. Shortly afterward, it arrives at a vacuum shop. The extractor, a man named Ed, drives the van into the shop and we see that instead of Walter White, Ed tells Saul Goodman to get out. Saul is amused to learn that Ed's cover story about being a vacuum cleaner repairman is real. Ed takes a photo of Saul and starts working on Saul's new Nebraska ID. He says that Saul will have to wait at least two days to be extracted out of the state, since his face is well known in Albuquerque, and that in the meantime Saul will be staying in a downstairs bunker with another person awaiting extraction. Knowing the person is Walter White, Saul asks Ed how Walt is doing. Ed shows him a monitor screen with live footage of an impatient Walt angrily pacing around the bunker and slapping a ceiling lamp.

Summary

SAC Ramey and two DEA Agents are driving a distraught Marie Schrader home, still in shock from the news that Hank is dead; on the way, he promises that they will find Hank Schrader and Steven Gomez (though what he really means is that they will recover their bodies and give them a proper burial). When they arrive at the Schrader house, they find that somebody has broken in, raided and trashed the place. One agent drives a shocked Marie away as Ramey and the other agent investigate the premises. It is revealed that the White Supremacists have broken in and stolen Jesse Pinkman's confession DVD ("Rabid Dog") . At night, in the neo-Nazis' compound, Kenny is showing Jack Welker and the rest of the gang the footage of the DVD, as there's something important they need to see. Kenny fast-forwards the video to the moment that Jesse reveals Todd Alquist's murder of that "missing" kid Drew Sharp. Throughout the whole thing, Todd shows no emotion whatsoever, and actually appears slightly prideful at the description of his murder of Drew Sharp. Upon hearing this, Jack prepares to kill his prisoner, but Todd pleads with him to keep Jesse alive so they can cook more meth since they still have all that methylamine they took. Jack wonders why they need to make and sell more meth, i.e. make more money, since they already have most of Walt's millions; but Jesse is a rat and needs to be put down. He eventually realizes Todd wants to keep going with the meth production because he's attracted to Lydia Rodarte-Quayle, and needs a continuing meth supply for her Czech clients, as this is the only way Todd can keep in contact with her. After joking about the situation, "one can't help who one is sweet on", Jack decides to let Jesse live for his nephew's sake. The gang head back inside to continue watching Jesse's confession. Meanwhile, in his cage, Jesse is now in possession of the photo of Andrea Cantillo and Brock Cantillo from the lab. Attached to the photo is a paperclip, which he unhinges and attempts to unlock his handcuffs with.

In Ed's bunker, Walt is making plans to get revenge on Jack and his gang for killing Hank and stealing his money. He asks Saul for a list of trustable mercenaries that can help them with the job. Instead, Saul advises Walt to stay and turn himself in so Skyler White can go free, otherwise the police will squeeze her for everything until she gives Walt up, which she can't do, since she doesn't know where Walt is. Saul points out that, given that Walt is already dying, it would be better to turn himself in. The Feds just won't give up, given that two DEA agents are missing and presumed dead (especially since one of them was the ASAC and a public hero), and that they will throw everything they've got at Skyler, essentially making Walt's entire family outcasts from society, unable to get any job whatsoever. Ed comes calling for Saul, whose ride to Nebraska has arrived, while Walt will have to wait a little longer. Walt interrupts, saying that there is a change of plans: Saul is coming with him. Saul refuses, saying that he is no longer a lawyer but just a normal civilian trying to make a living in an honest way to get a nice retirement. Walt changes his expression to pure wrath and slowly approaches Saul, making him back up against the wall in a similar way as he did in the first episode of the season ("Live Free or Die") , but before Walt can finish his sentence, he erupts into a severe coughing fit and collapses onto the bed. No longer intimidated, Saul tells Walt it's over, grabs his bags and leaves.

Skyler meets with the Assistant United States Attorney and members of the DEA, including SAC Ramey, who push her for information about Walt's drug activities and her involvement in it. She tells them she can't help them even if she wanted to as she has absolutely no idea where Walt is. They, perhaps not believing her, insist that she consult with her attorney and think hard to come up with something they can use. At night, Skyler sits at home and looks out of her window at two DEA agents working surveillance in a car on her street. She goes to check on Holly White inside the bedroom and finds masked men (Todd and other White Supremacists) menacingly looming over Holly's crib. One of the neo-Nazis grabs Skyler and covers her mouth preventing her from screaming. Todd approaches and tells Skyler that they respect her husband a lot, so they are only passing by to leave a message: it's in her and her children's best interest to forget about "the black-haired lady at the car wash" (Lydia). The police can never hear about her involvement with Walt. After Skyler promises that she has not and will not say anything. Todd believes her though warns her that she really does not want them returning (as she will be killed if they do). Todd and the neo-Nazis leave the house, leaving Skyler severely shaken. The next day at a café, Lydia and Todd meet back-to-back, with Lydia insisting that, despite Todd's assurances to the contrary, intimidation is not enough to silence Skyler: she best be eliminated. Todd assures her they they have intimidated her enough and she will pose no threat to her at all. Lydia wants to call the partnership off but Todd tells her that, with Jesse cooking for them, they have reached 92% purity, as well as the signature blue color. He also tells her that he values their partnership, and Lydia reconsiders.

Walt is transported while sitting in the tank of a propane truck. Arriving in the middle of a snowy, forested reservation, Ed lets Walt out and says, "Mr. Lambert, welcome to New Hampshire" ("Live Free or Die") . Walt enters his new home — a cabin with no external utilities. Ed says he'll return monthly for grocery runs in exchange for tens of thousands of dollars. Walt complains about living here with no electricity or contact with anyone. Ed informs him that if he leaves the cabin's surrounding two-acre property, he will get caught, as his face is all over national news. Ed takes off and suggests Walt take the opportunity to clear his head. Once he's alone, the first thing Walt does is stuff his pockets with bundles of cash and prepares to leave, but he stops and remembers something he brought with him inside one of the bags. He opens the bag and takes out his Heisenberg pork pie hat. He dons the hat and goes outside, heading to his property's gate. He opens it, but stops and looks at the long, snowy road ahead ... "Tomorrow," Walt mutters to himself, returning to the cabin and lighting a fire instead.

Jesse uses the paperclip to unlock his hand- & ankle-cuffs, and tries to reach the cage bars above his head. Hearing Todd approaching, he quickly puts the cuffs back on and pretends to be resting. Bringing Jesse some ice cream to celebrate their latest 96% pure batch, Todd congratulates him and tells him to get ready to cook another batch in the morning. After Todd leaves, Jesse frees himself again and manages to escape the cage. He heads to the fences, but unknowingly runs past a security video camera and is caught by the white supremacists while trying to climb the fence. Refusing to cook meth for them anymore, Jesse tells them to just kill him. Instead, they take Jesse, bound and gagged, to Andrea's house. Todd walks to the front door and rings the doorbell. Andrea answers and believes Todd's story that he is a friend of Jesse's and brought him to see her. Jesse, terrified and horrified, despairingly tries to scream from inside the car to alert her, but Andrea is unable to see him before Todd pulls a silenced pistol out and shoots her in the head from behind. Jesse wails with remorse as he witnesses her drop to the ground, dead; as Jack tells him, "Remember, there's still the kid." Jesse continues to cry uncontrollably, wracked with sadness and guilt, likely both at Andrea's death because of his actions, and that Brock is now an orphan because of it.

Months later, Walt walks up to his property's gate as Ed arrives for another supply drop, and eagerly lets him in. Walt now has a beard and full (albeit patchy) head of hair. Walt's vision is going bad so he grabs a new pair of glasses from a selection box Ed brought him, since he didn't know his prescription. He avidly reads through newspapers from Albuquerque, looking for articles about himself and his family. Ed tells him Skyler is living in a place just off of Eubank, working as a part-time taxi dispatcher, still has custody of both children, and is now using her maiden name. Walt's now-abandoned house has become a macabre tourist attraction, and due to the neighbors' complaints the bank has erected a fence around the house. Ed then hooks up a homemade chemotherapy rig for Walt, injecting him with a drip, then prepares to leave, saying that he has a long trip ahead of him. Out of loneliness, Walt asks him to please stay a little longer, even offering an extra $10,000 for another two hours. Ed agrees to stay for a single hour (for the $10,000), and the two play seven-card stud to pass the time. Seemingly resigned to his likely fate, Walt asks Ed if he would give the barrel of money to his family when he dies. Later, alone again, Walt wakes to the sound of his wedding band falling off his thinning finger. After looping a string through it and making a necklace, Walt spots the box of Ensure Ed left on the counter in an attempt to help fatten him. He empties the box and fills it with $100,000 from his money barrel. In the morning, Walt heads toward the property gate once again, but this time he leaves the reservation and walks along the snow-covered road to the nearest town and pub.

At the J. P. Wynne High School, Walter Jr. (addressed through the PA system as "Flynn White") is called out of class by Principal Carmen. She takes him to her office and tells him that his aunt Marie is calling and it seems to be important. When Jr. answers the phone, it is actually Walt on the other line, calling from a tavern in New Hampshire and having paid a barfly to pose as Marie on the phone. Walt instructs his son not to alert anyone and tries to explain his actions, but is unable to quite find the words, attempting to explain that a lot happened that wasn't his intention. Walt checks if Louis Corbett still lives at the same address, and tells Jr. that he will mail Louis a package containing $100,000, which Jr. can pick up. Walt tells him to keep it a secret or the police will take it. The money is for him, his mother, and his sister, which is all he ever intended. "It can't all be for nothing," Walt cries, "Please!" However, distraught that Walt is trying to send them his 'ill-gained' money, Jr. begins yelling at his father, repeatedly saying, "You killed Uncle Hank!" Refusing to accept his help, Jr. furiously wishes Walt dead - "Why are you still alive? Why don't you just die already? Just die!" - then hangs up. Defeated, Walt calls the DEA office in Albuquerque and asks to speak with the agent in charge of the Walter White case; when the receptionist asks who is calling, Walt gives his true name and leaves the phone off the hook so they can trace the call and send police to arrest him.

Walt walks to the bartender and orders a Dimple Pinch Scotch whiskey, neat. While Walt is drinking, something on the television catches his interest while the bartender flips through the channels. Gretchen Schwartz and Elliott Schwartz are being interviewed by Charlie Rose, who asks them about their recent donation of $28 million to fund drug rehab clinics throughout the American Southwest. Rose asks if they made the donation to make amends for "your association with Walter White," who helped start their very successful and profitable technology company Gray Matter Technologies, now worth over $2 billion. Both claim that Walt has not been associated with Gray Matter since its earliest days. When asked what Walt's contribution to the company was, Elliott untruthfully says that it was "essentially nothing." Gretchen agrees, saying the only thing Walt contributed was the company's name. Elliott explains: Schwartz (German for black) plus White equals Gray. Rose next asserts that Walt's iconic blue methamphetamine is still circulating in the southwestern United States and has even been seen in Europe, implying that Walter White is still active and that Elliott and Gretchen must know something about this.

As Walter watches the television interview and listens to Elliott and Gretchen's lies, he becomes increasingly and visibly angry. Gretchen says she can't speak for the "Heisenberg" person, but that Walter White, "the sweet, kind, brilliant man that we once long ago knew - he's gone." Walt, his face hardening, jaws and fist clenching in anger, has a change of heart on hearing his old girlfriend's words. Four Crawford County Sheriff's Deputies arrive at the tavern with their guns drawn and storm the establishment, but Walt has already left, his unfinished Dimple Pinch, a $20 bill left to cover it, and a crumpled napkin sitting on the bar.

Official Photos

Trivia

Production

Credits

Filming Locations

The outdoor New Hampshire scenes were filmed in the Sandia Mountains of New Mexico. The tavern scenes were filmed in the Manzano Mountains. The tavern itself is the former Ponderosa Eatery and Saloon which is on NM Hwy 337 just north of the intersection of NM Hwy 217 and the unincorporated village of Yrissari, NM. [3]

Featured Music

"Sign of the Gypsy Queen" by April Wine (Jack and crew watch Jesse's confession video)

by April Wine (Jack and crew watch Jesse's confession video) "Salvador" by Philip E. Baker (when Todd meets Lydia at The Grove)

by Philip E. Baker (when Todd meets Lydia at The Grove) "Girl from Sao Paolo" by Vince Constantino (when Walt meets Todd and Lydia at The Grove)

by Vince Constantino (when Walt meets Todd and Lydia at The Grove) "The Final Hat" by Dave Porter (when Walt puts on his hat and heads towards his gate for the first time and over the end credits)

by Dave Porter (when Walt puts on his hat and heads towards his gate for the first time and over the end credits) "Dimple Pinch Neat" by Dave Porter (as Gretchen and Elliott talk about Walt and the police raid the bar)

Memorable Quotes

Saul: "Hey, I'm a civilian. I'm not your lawyer anymore. I'm nobody's lawyer. The fun's over. From here on out, I'm Mr. Low Profile. Just another douche bag with a job and three pairs of Dockers. If I'm lucky, month from now, best-case scenario, I'm managing a cinnabon in Omaha." Walter: "You're still part of this. Whether you like it or not." Saul: "I'm sorry. I don't think so." Walter: "You remember what I told you? It's not over. Unti... [Walter erupts into a severe coughing fit and collapses onto the bed]" Saul: "It's over." ―Saul and Walter in Ed's bunker.

US Attorney: "Do you understand what's happening here?" Skyler: "Yes. I understand. I understand I'm in terrible trouble. I understand that you will use everything in your power against me and my children unless... unless I give you Walt. But the truth is, I can't give you what you want. I don't know where he is." ―US Attorney pushing Skyler for information about Walter.

"I just think we work together good. We make a good team. I think it's kind of mutually good." ―Todd to Lydia after raising the purity of his meth.

Walter: "One of these days when you come up here, I’ll be dead. My money over there–What happens to it then? What if I ask you to give it to my family? Would you do it?" Ed: "If I said yes would you believe me?" ―Walter and Ed in the cabin in New Hampshire.

"Will you just–just leave us alone. You asshole! Why are you still alive? Why don’t you just–just die already? Just–just die." ―Walter Jr's final words to his father.

Charlie Rose: "Is Walter White still out there?" Gretchen: "No, he's not." Charlie Rose: "You sound very sure." Gretchen: "I am. I can't speak to this Heisenberg that people refer to, but whatever... whatever he became, the... the kind, sweet brilliant man we once knew, long ago, is gone." ―Charlie Rose interviewing Gretchen about Walter.