First off,
HE CLAPPED THE BOY! OH MY GOD, HE CLAPPED THE BOY!
-I thought the cold open was a future shot ala 52 on the bacon until hearing the train whistles at the very end.
-Walt continues his moral downfall w/ crocodile tears and inserting just enough truth to make the lie believable. He also banked on Hank's nervousness dealing w/ emotional breakdowns (Hank/Skyler in season 2) in order to plant the bug. The bug is interesting, will they leave it there in order to get a leg up on Hank and the DEA or will Walt eventually try to get it out ASAP?
-Lydia proved her worth after people suspected she was the one who planted the device. I noticed that Lydia tends to exaggerate (She said the DEA agents were shouting at her when they were very civil a couple of episodes ago) and going from an ocean to a swimming pool.
-Jesse is clearly the conscience of the trio, this is probably the first time that Walt agreed with Mike to kill Lydia. Lydia owes Jesse and they owe Lydia greatly because had they gone with Mike's plan to steal the methlaymine barrels they would've been busted.
-Walt and Lydia's private meeting will definitely come into play later on as Walt was intrigued that she put the hit out on Mike and the other guys. As others pointed out, Walt meeting Lydia is bad for Mike as he now knows the connect but Mike still is in charge of distribution and they need that almost more than anything right now.
-Walt/Jesse/Mike in Jesse's place echoed the season premiere. Jesse was drinking with a straw when he came up with the plan. The hoses=the straw.
-Marie once said in season 3 that she could take care of Holly "for the next 18 years". I'm just sayin. Hank likes children and it's kinda curious that they don't have any of their own. The "Heat" reference was great since this episode basically was a nod to the film.
-Walt and Jesse have been getting along well this season. Walt almost seemed proud when Jesse was revealing the plan. We also got teacher Walt telling Todd of the heist. No witnesses. Yes Sir. "Yes Sir" was how Mike wanted the B&E crew to answer Walt and Jesse a couple of episodes ago.
-Walt put his foot down with Walt Jr. Over the course of the show it seems that Flynn is closer with his father than his "bytch" mother ever since Walt's come alive dealing meth. Interesting how last episode Walt wanted the kids in the home but is now in favor of them leaving. I thought it was great that Skyler called out Walt almost being proud of Jesse putting the gun to his head. "Out burying bodies?" "Robbing a train". It's ironic that he told Todd that no one must know of the heist but he tells his wife anyway.
-The train heist was very suspenseful and great callback with Saul's man driving the truck. Of course it wouldn't go exactly to plan w/ the good Samaritan and Walt trying to get the methlaymine despite Mike's orders was very reckless and almost got Jesse killed under the train. It's the same scenario as the season premiere when Walt turned the magnet switch all the way up and they had to leave the truck at the precinct.
-The boy. I was legit surprised when Todd killed him, I thought the episode was gonna end w/ Todd waving and
he shot him point blank. Jesse will definitely be fukked up from this considering it was his idea in the first place and it was mainly devised to avoid the engineer and conductor (or any innocents) from being killed.
-Even though Todd didn't have to kill the boy he (and the audience) didn't exactly know how much of the robbery he saw. He might have been there for a while or he just got there. As much as you don't want to kill children, you can't leave something like that up to chance. No witnesses. Shoot first ask questions later is what almost got Lydia killed and will have disastrous results on the operation.
-How Walt acts upon the boy's death is crucial. If he
over the kid then I'm pretty sure Jesse will walk from the operation. If he feigns sympathy for him then Jesse may cook again but I doubt it. This shooting IMO, starts the downfall of Walt & Jesse.
Three episodes left (or eleven). Mike's out. Jesse may be out. Skylar's gonna break. Todd and Lydia are loose cannons. A child is dead. Walt's empire may burn before it's even built. 5>3>2>4>1.