Gliding Over All

"Gliding Over All" is the eighth episode of the fifth season and the mid-season finale of the American television drama series Breaking Bad, and the 54th overall episode of the series. Written by Moira Walley-Beckett and directed by Michelle MacLaren, it aired on AMC in the United States on September 2, 2012.

The episode is titled after poem 271 of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass, a book which is featured prominently in the series.

Plot

With Mike's (Jonathan Banks) dead body stuffed in the trunk of Walter's (Bryan Cranston) car, Walter and Todd (Jesse Plemons) prepare a barrel of hydrofluoric acid. When Jesse (Aaron Paul) arrives, Walter informs him that Mike is "gone." When asked by Jesse how they will deal with Mike's nine henchmen now that they will not be receiving their hazard payments, Walter tells Jesse that he will address the issue by himself now that Mike and Jesse have left the business.

Walter meets with Lydia (Laura Fraser) at a coffee shop to obtain the names of Mike's henchmen. Suspecting that Walter will see her as a liability and kill her, Lydia proposes a partnership in which Walter expands his distribution overseas to the Czech Republic, which has a high percentage of meth users. When asked why she didn't pitch her idea to Gus, she claims that he had approved her idea before he was killed. When Walter agrees with her proposal, Lydia provides him with a list of nine names. After Lydia leaves, Walter removes his hat from the table, revealing the vial of ricin from his and Jesse's plot to kill Gus, which he then re-hides in his house.

Walter calls Todd and asks him to meet with his uncle, Jack (Michael Bowen), who has ties with white supremacist gangs operating in various prisons. Meeting in a motel room, Walter enlists Jack and his men to kill Mike's nine henchmen and their now-imprisoned lawyer Dan (Chris Freihofer), insisting that they be killed simultaneously. In a period of less than two minutes and across three different prisons, the ten are killed. When Hank (Dean Norris) learns of the deaths, he is crushed and tells Walter that he yearns for a simpler job that does not involve "chasing monsters".

For the next few months, Walter's meth production runs profitably and uninhibited, raking in millions of dollars; however, Walter is not happy and is notably shaken. Elsewhere, Marie (Betsy Brandt) encourages Skyler to start repairing the family. Later, Skyler brings Walter to an enormous pile of money she has been collecting in a storage unit. After explaining to a stunned Walter that there is simply too much money to launder, Skyler pleads with him: "I want my kids back. I want my life back. Please tell me. How much is enough? How big does this pile have to be?" Later, Walter relents and informs her that he is "out".

In the meantime, Walter visits Jesse. Although Jesse is fearful of Walter, the two reminisce about the simpler days of cooking meth in the RV. When his visit is over, Walter leaves behind two bags. Fearing for his safety, Jesse unzips the bags slowly, only to find them filled with cash. Relieved, Jesse tosses a gun he had been concealing earlier.

Walt Jr. (RJ Mitte) and Holly move back in with Walter and Skyler, and the family seems to be in repair. During a lunch by the pool with Hank and Marie, Hank leaves to use the bathroom. Rummaging for reading material, he finds Walter's copy of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass under some magazines in the bathroom, the same copy given to Walter by Gale Boetticher. As he thumbs through the pages of the book, Hank finds a handwritten dedication: "To my other favorite W.W. It's an honour working with you. Fondly, G.B." Hank then recalls a much earlier conversation, in which Walter jokingly admitted to being the "W.W." found in a handwritten dedication in Gale's lab notebook. Hank becomes visibly shocked, implying that he has at last come to the realization that Walter is Heisenberg.

Production

This episode features several nostalgic nods to earlier episodes, such as the fly at the beginning of the episode,^[2] the painting Walt stares at during the planning of the prison murders (the same painting from Season 2, Episode 3), the damaged paper towel dispenser (caused by Walt punching it in Season 2, Episode 9) in the restroom of Walt's cancer clinic, and Lydia's telling Walt, "We're gonna make a lot of money together", reiterating Tuco's quote from the first season finale.^[3] Walt tells Lydia, "Lydia, learn to take yes for an answer," which is exactly the same advice Mike gave him in the bar (Season 4, Episode 2). Series creator Vince Gilligan saw the ending somewhat as Gale's "poetic justice from beyond the grave".^[3]

It was estimated that the pile of money measured 6 ft x 3 ft x 2 ft and that Skyler would have not needed a storage unit until she had upwards of $10 million.^[4]

According to Peter Gould, the episode originally featured a scene where Walt is told by his doctor that his cancer is still in remission. However, the scene was cut so that Walt's current state would be left ambiguous.^[5]

Reception

Ratings

"Gliding Over All" was watched by 2.78 million viewers and received a 1.3 rating among viewers aged 18–49.^[6]

Critical reception

The episode received highly positive reviews from critics. TV Fanatic's Matt Richenthal gave it a 4.8 out of 5 star rating, stating:"'Gliding Over All' still managed to shock, taking Walt to a place I never imagined he'd be prior to the big reveal: contentment. Happiness. A sense of satisfaction over a job well done, an emperor who no longer needed an empire." Richenthal particularly liked the two "gorgeous" montages showing the prison hits and the time lapse.^[7] Alan Sepinwall of HitFix called the episode "an absolutely gorgeous piece of work, in both the visual sense and the way it brought us to the next, final phase of Walter White's story."^[8]

Michelle MacLaren was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for directing this episode.^[9]

References

External links

• "Gliding Over All" at the official Breaking Bad site
• "Gliding Over All" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Gliding Over All" at TV.com

v t e Breaking Bad Created by: Vince Gilligan Characters Walter White Skyler White Jesse Pinkman Hank Schrader Saul Goodman Gus Fring Todd Alquist Episodes Season 1 Season 2 Season 3 Season 4 Season 5 Related articles Awards and nominations Better Call Saul Metástasis AMC "to break bad" Quotations Media Database entry Category