Crazy Handful of Nothin'

"Crazy Handful of Nothin'"

"Crazy Handful of Nothin'" is the sixth episode of the first season of the American television drama series Breaking Bad. Written by George Mastras and directed by Bronwen Hughes, it aired on AMC in the United States and Canada on March 2, 2008.

Plot

Walter and Jesse come to an agreement: Walter will be the cook and silent partner only, while Jesse will sell the meth on the street. He also demands no more bloodshed. Meanwhile, Walter's chemo continues. He tells Skyler that Elliott's check came and he deposited it, when in actuality, he is struggling to pay for the treatment and plans on using the upcoming meth profits to cover it. At a family counseling session, Skyler tells Walter that she is concerned about his missing hours, but he explains that he just likes to be alone sometimes and take walks.

While cooking meth, Walter becomes dizzy and falls, and Jesse observes a radiotherapy burn on his chest, a sign of being treated for lung cancer as Jesse had seen with his deceased aunt. Jesse concludes Walter is trying to take care of his family before he dies. Jesse finishes their current batch and spends all night selling it, bringing Walter his share of $1,300, far less than Walter expected. Jesse explains they need a drug distributor if they want to make more; Krazy-8 had been Jesse's distributor before, but now that he is dead, Tuco Salamanca (Raymond Cruz) has taken over Krazy-8's area. Jesse gains a meeting with Tuco after getting his friend Skinny Pete to vouch for him. Though Tuco is willing to pay $35,000 for a pound of meth, he insists on only paying until after his dealers have completed the sales, which Jesse refuses and attempts to leave with the meth. Tuco, furious that Jesse might go to a different distributor, severely beats up Jesse, hospitalizing him.

Meanwhile, Hank has identified that the gas mask found in the desert belongs to the high school chemistry lab, and he visits Walter at school. They take inventory to find other equipment missing and Hank suspects that a student that got a hold of the lab key. Later, Hank comes to arrest a school janitor named Hugo, who would have had the keys as well as had a previous record for drug possession. Walter feels guilty letting Hugo take the fall and tries to contact Jesse, only to learn about him being in the hospital. He visits Jesse and learns what happened with Tuco. Now bald from his chemotherapy, Walter arranges for a meeting with Tuco under the name "Heisenberg". Walter demands $50,000 from Tuco, which includes the price of the meth he took from Jesse and another $15,000 for Jesse's treatment. Seeing Walter with another bag of material, Tuco calls Walter out on this, but Walter reveals that the bag contains fulminated mercury, and throws a piece against the floor. The entire floor is shaken by force, knocking them all off their feet. Walter threatens to smash the entire bag to the ground, but Tuco submits and agrees to the payment as well as offering Walter and Jesse $70,000 for producing two pounds of meth a week. Walter leaves the building, and, once back in his car, hyperventilates while realizing what he has just done, resulting in him screaming in both anger and satisfaction.

Production

The episode was written by George Mastras, and directed by Bronwen Hughes; it aired on AMC in the United States and Canada on March 2, 2008.

Title meaning

The episode title is a part of a line from the 1967 film Cool Hand Luke. A handful of nothing means that you don't have valuable cards in your hand, you have 2 options then, give up or bluff. Walter chooses the latter when he visits Tuco.

Dragline: Oh Luke, you wild, beautiful thing. You crazy handful of nothin'.

Critical reception

The episode was critically acclaimed and is generally regarded as one of the best episodes in the series. Seth Amitin of IGN gave the episode a rating of 9.8 out of 10 commenting: "There is a certain truism about television and this is it: start an episode with an explosion and we like you. Start it off with an explosion and someone walking away with a bag full of cash and no explanation, we love you. Build up five episodes that were leading to a conclusion as drastic as this, and we'll worship the ground you walk on. This, friends, was a fantastic episode."

External links

• "Crazy Handful of Nothin'" at the official Breaking Bad site
• "Crazy Handful of Nothin'" at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com episode