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Gliding Over All

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"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

Walter (Bryan Cranston) and Todd (Jesse Plemons) attempt to dissolve Mike's (Jonathan Banks) body in a barrel of hydrofluoric acid, when Jesse (Aaron Paul) arrives and asks Walter what he will do to keep Mike's former henchmen quiet, but Walter turns his back on him, as Jesse has left the business. Walter later meets with Lydia (Laura Fraser) to obtain the names of Mike's henchmen so he can kill them. Lydia suspects that Walter will see her as a liability once he obtains the names and dispose of her, so she proposes to partner with him to expand his distribution overseas to the Czech Republic, which has a high rate of meth users and which was a plan that she claims Gus (Giancarlo Esposito) had approved before he was killed. Walter agrees and after Lydia leaves, it is revealed that he was indeed going to kill her by using the ricin that he hid in his house.

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 takes the names to Todd's uncle, who has ties with neo-Nazi gangs operating in the prisons. The nine prisoners, as well as their now imprisoned lawyer Dan (Chris Freihofer), are killed simultaneously across three different prisons in under two minutes. Hank (Dean Norris) learns of the deaths and is crushed; his case is ruined and he yearns for a simpler job.

For three months, Walter's meth production runs profitably and uninhibited, raking in millions of dollars. Walter, however, is not happy: he is notably shaken by his murder of Mike, his loss of Jesse, and the continued separation of his family. Marie (Betsy Brandt) suggests that Skyler should start repairing the family. In an effort to convince Walter to give up meth production, Skyler brings him to an enormous pile of money she had been collecting in a storage unit. After explaining to him that there was simply too much money to launder through the car wash, Skyler pleads with a stunned Walter: "I want my kids back. I want my life back. Please tell me. How big does this pile have to be?" Walter, seeing an opportunity to reunite his family, relents and agrees to stop cooking meth. Walter visits Jesse, and the two reminisce about the simpler days of cooking meth in the RV, although Jesse fears that Walter is there to kill him. Walter pays Jesse his cut of the methylamine buyout and leaves in peace.

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 (David Costabile). As he thumbs through the pages of the book, Hank finds a dedication on the inside cover: "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. Shocked, Hank realizes a connection between Walter and Gale, whom he once thought was Heisenberg.

Reception

Ratings

"Gliding Over All" was watched by 2.78 million viewers and received a 1.3 rating among viewers aged 18-49.[1]

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.[2] 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."[3]

References

  1. ^ Bibel, Sara (September 5, 2012). "Sunday Cable Ratings: NASCAR Wins Night, 'Breaking Bad', 'Keeping Up With the Kardashians', 'Leverage', 'Hell on Wheels', 'Married to Jonas', & More". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved September 5, 2012.
  2. ^ Richenthal, Matt (September 3, 2012). "Breaking Bad Review: Down the Toilet". TV Fanatic. Retrieved September 3, 2012, 2012. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  3. ^ Sepinwall, Alan (September 3, 2012). "Mid-season finale review: 'Breaking Bad' - 'Gliding Over All'". HitFix. Retrieved September 3, 2012.
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