Season 5, Episode 8: ‘Bagman’

It takes nerve and skill to tell a story as grueling as the one told in “Bagman,” an episode which consists largely of two men trudging through the desert, dragging $7 million in cash and some high powered weaponry. The nerviest choice made by the writers is surely the one made at the end.

There is no end. At least there is no end to the suffering. We close with Mike and Jimmy, more parched than ever, walking on a desolate dirt road, no closer to salvation than when that Suzuki Esteem sputtered and died. Well, slightly closer. At least no one is trying to kill them now.

Any other show would have written the last scene like this: Mike shoots the driver in the head. Driver crashes, but in a way that leaves the car intact. Also, there’s a jug of water on the passenger seat.

In the merciless universe of this show — much as with the merciless universe we live in — good luck is doled out sparingly. Jimmy had the superb fortune to be tailed by Mike as he ran his $7 million errand, which saved his life. That, in tandem with Mike’s astounding chops as a sniper, is plenty of luck, when you consider the alternatives.