Gliding Over All

"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 car, Walter (Bryan Cranston) 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 Jesse has 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, it is revealed that Walter had placed a vial of ricin on the table at which they were sitting, hiding it from her view with his hat.

Gliding Over All

Gliding o'er all, through all,
Through Nature, Time, and Space,
As a ship on the waters advancing,
The voyage of the soul—not life alone,
Death, many deaths I'll sing.

Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

Walter calls Todd and asks him to meet with his uncle, Jack (Michael Bowen), who has ties with neo-Nazi 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 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, with the murder of Mike, the loss of Jesse, and the continued separation of his family, 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 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.

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 dedication: "To my other favorite W.W. It’s an honour working with you. Fondly, G.B.” Hank flashes back to his conversation with Walter about the initials "W.W." found in Gale's lab notebook, and becomes visibly stunned upon the sudden realization.

Reception

Ratings

"Gliding Over All" was watched by 2.78 million viewers and received a 1.3 rating among viewers aged 18-49.

Critical reception

The episode received positive reviews. 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. 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."

Production

It features several nostalgic nods to earlier episodes, such as the fly at the beginning of the episode and Lydia's telling Walt, "We're gonna make a lot of money together", reiterating Tuco's quote from the first season finale. The series' creator Vince Gilligan saw the ending somewhat as Gale's "poetic justice from beyond the grave".

External links

• "Gliding Over All" at the official Breaking Bad site
• "Gliding Over All" at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com episode