"ABQ"
Breaking Bad episode
The introduction of Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks). His role in "ABQ" had been intended for Saul Goodman before scheduling conflicts prevented Bob Odenkirk from reprising his role.[1]
Episode no.Season 2
Episode 13
Directed byAdam Bernstein
Written byVince Gilligan
Featured music
Cinematography byMichael Slovis
Editing byLynne Willingham
Original air dateMay 31, 2009 (2009-05-31)
Running time47 minutes
Guest appearances

"ABQ" is the thirteenth and final episode of the second season of the American television crime drama series Breaking Bad.

This episode introduces cleaner and hitman Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks).

Plot

In a flashforward, National Transportation Safety Board investigators catalog debris, including a half-burnt pink teddy bear,[lower-alpha 1] that has fallen around the Whites' pool. Two columns of smoke rise in the distance. In the present, Jesse Pinkman wakes from his heroin-induced sleep to find Jane Margolis dead, having choked on her own vomit.[lower-alpha 2] Horrified, Jesse contacts Walter White. Walt calls Saul Goodman, who sends a cleaner, Mike Ehrmantraut, to remove evidence of drugs from Jesse's apartment. Jane's father Donald arrives at the apartment and discovers she has died. Jesse blames himself for Jane's death and runs off to a crack house. Walt locates Jesse and takes him to a rehab clinic.

Walt is preparing to undergo surgery to remove his cancer. The website that Walter Jr. made to bring in anonymous donations—in reality being used by Saul to launder Walt's drug money—garners media attention due to its apparent success; Walt is uncomfortable in the spotlight due to the pity instilled upon him and the potential of someone in the drug trade recognizing him on television. On the day of Walt's operation, as he is put under anesthetics, he reveals the existence of a second cell phone he uses, making Skyler White suspicious of his activities. When Walt is released from the hospital six weeks later, Skyler reveals that she has investigated his behavior over the past several months and found he has lied to her many times. Her discoveries include Gretchen never sending any money and Walt not visiting his mother. Walt offers to tell her everything, but she is too afraid to know and drives away.

Donald returns to work as an air traffic controller. While on the job, his mind wanders to Jane and he inadvertently allows the flight path of a commercial airliner to cross the space of a small corporate turboprop over Albuquerque. Walt sits beside his swimming pool as he is startled by an explosion overhead. As he watches the midair collision in horror, the teddy bear lands in the pool.

Production

The episode was written by Vince Gilligan, and directed by Adam Bernstein. It aired on AMC in the United States and Canada on May 31, 2009. The plane crash at the end of the episode was inspired by the 1986 Cerritos mid-air collision, in which the air-traffic controller who was directing air traffic at the time of the real-life accident shares the name of the lead character of Breaking Bad, Walter White.

This episode introduced the character of Mike as played by Jonathan Banks.[2] The role of the cleaner to help Jesse prepare to deal with the police was originally meant to be handled by Saul Goodman, played by Bob Odenkirk. However, due to commitments to How I Met Your Mother, he was not available for filming of this episode, so Gilligan created Mike for that episode and into the next season as a cleaner.[1][3]

Critical reception

Donna Bowman, writing for The A.V. Club, commented that the episode "was horrific perfection".[4]

In 2019 The Ringer ranked "ABQ" as the 28th best out of the 62 total Breaking Bad episodes.[5]

For her work on this episode, Lynne Willingham won Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series at the 61st Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, while Michael Slovis was nominated for Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series (One Hour).

Notes

  1. ↑ Also depicted in the cold opens for "Seven Thirty-Seven", "Down" and "Over"
  2. ↑ As depicted in "Phoenix".

References

  1. 1 2 Hiatt, Brian (March 16, 2015). "Bob Odenkirk on Saul and Mr. Show's Non-Reunion". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on October 24, 2019. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  2. ↑ Herzog, Kenny (April 21, 2020). "Every Breaking Bad Crossover Character in Better Call Saul". Vulture. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  3. ↑ Makuch, Eddie (March 9, 2023). "Breaking Bad's Mike Ehrmantraut Was Not Originally Planned For The Series". GameSpot. Archived from the original on March 11, 2023. Retrieved March 22, 2023.
  4. ↑ Bowman, Donna (May 31, 2009). "Breaking Bad: "ABQ"". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on May 30, 2015. Retrieved May 30, 2015.
  5. ↑ Siegel, Alan (September 30, 2019). "The Ringer's Definitive 'Breaking Bad' Episodes Ranking". The Ringer. Archived from the original on October 30, 2020. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
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