If you watch Breaking Bad, you’re probably very familiar with the term Chekhov’s Gun. Recappers and critics love to reference Chekhov’s Gun while discussing Breaking Bad, and I’m no exception. It makes a guy feel smart, even if it’s one of the more obvious foreshadowing devices. Basically, it’s the technique whereby an element that’s meaning is not immediately evident is introduced early in a story and its significance becomes clear later on. It’s a very popular technique in Breaking Bad, and while some of the more smug viewers like to poo-poo it as obvious, obnoxious, or irritating, I think it’s kind of awesome. It’s a nice reward for people who pay attention to the details. Plus: Literature!

There will be SPOILERS through season four.

I won’t address all of the instances of Chekhov’s Gun used in Breaking Bad mostly because I am not likely familiar with them all. Vince Gilligan is a mad genius, and he’s probably buried several throughout the series that viewers may not catch until the fourth of fifth time they watch the show all the way through. But just for the sake of “Hey! That’s cool!” let’s look at some of the most obvious ones so far.

The Bullet — Season Three, Episode 7 (“One Minute”) — Early in the episode, an arms dealer gives the Cousins a hollow-point bullet “on the house.” That bullet later falls out of one of the Cousin’s pocket and is used by Hank to kill both Cousins before they kill him.

The Box Cutter — Season Four, Episode One (“The Box Cutter”): Seen in the first act, used later by Gus to slice open Victor’s throat.

The Thirty-Eight Snub — Season Four, Episode Two (“Thirty Eight Snub”): Walt purchases a gun in the second episode, and while that gun appears several times throughout the season, it is not used until the final episode of season four (the man who he purchased the gun from also reappears in the opening episode of season five to sell Walt an M-60).

The Throw Rug — Season Four, Episode 11 (“Crawl Space”): Seen early on when Ted answers the door and nearly trips. Later, he trips over it and is nearly killed.