"Gray Matter" is the fifth episode of the first season of the American television

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

series ''

Breaking Bad ''Breaking Bad'' is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan. Set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series follows Walter White (Bryan Cranston), an underpaid, overqualified, and dispirited hig ...

''. Written by

Patty Lin Patty Lin is an American television screenwriter and producer. She is a graduate of Cornell University Career She has written episodes for the television series ''Friends'', ''Freaks and Geeks'', ''Martial Law'', ''Citizen Baines'', ''Desperate ...

and directed by Tricia Brock, it aired on

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** AM ...

in the United States and Canada on February 24, 2008.

Plot

Walter Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...

and

Skyler White Skyler White ( née Lambert) is a fictional character in '' Breaking Bad'', portrayed by Anna Gunn. For her performance, Gunn received critical acclaim, with some critics even lauding her character as the template for television anti-heroines. ...

attend a birthday party for their wealthy acquaintance,

Elliott Schwartz Elliott Shelling Schwartz (January 19, 1936 – December 7, 2016) was an American composer. A graduate of Columbia University, he was Beckwith Professor Emeritus of music at Bowdoin College joining the faculty in 1964. In 2006, the Library of ...

. Years earlier, Walt and his then-girlfriend

Gretchen Gretchen (, ; literal translation: "Little Grete" or "Little Greta") is a female given name of German origin that is mainly prevalent in the United States. Its popularity increased because a major character in Goethe's ''Faust'' (1808) has th ...

had formed a company called Gray Matter Technologies with Elliott—the company name derived from mixing the colors in their last names, "White" and "Schwartz" (German for "black")—but Walt opted to sell his share for $5,000 after breaking up with Gretchen. Subsequently, the company had become extremely successful, making billions, and Elliott married Gretchen. Walt is tense at the birthday party due to this troubled past. When Elliott offers him a job and tells him Gray Matter has excellent

health insurance Health insurance or medical insurance (also known as medical aid in South Africa) is a type of insurance that covers the whole or a part of the risk of a person incurring medical expenses. As with other types of insurance, risk is shared among ma ...

, Walt realizes that Skyler told Elliott about his cancer and gets upset with her. After a failed

job interview A job interview is an interview consisting of a conversation between a job applicant and a representative of an employer which is conducted to assess whether the applicant should be hired. Interviews are one of the most popularly used devices for ...

Jesse Pinkman Jesse Bruce Pinkman is a main character in the American television series '' Breaking Bad'', played by Aaron Paul. He is a crystal meth cook and dealer and works with his former high school chemistry teacher, Walter White (Bryan Cranston). Jess ...

shows his friend Badger the RV Walt and Jesse use as a

meth lab A rolling meth lab is a transportable laboratory that is used to illegally produce methamphetamine.Staff writerMethamphetamine, meth-lab assessment and clean-up" ''Forensic Applications Consulting Technologies Inc.'' Retrieved on 2009-02-14. Ro ...

. In the desert, Jesse is frustrated that the quality of his meth is inferior to that of Walt's and throws his own product away, much to Badger's dismay. Jesse cooks a couple more batches, which he also discards. Badger and Jesse brawl over the wasted meth, and Jesse pushes him out of the RV and drives away. Over the weekend, Walt Jr. and two

friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa ...

are waiting outside a

convenience store A convenience store, convenience shop, corner store or corner shop is a small retail business that stocks a range of everyday items such as coffee, groceries, snack foods, confectionery, soft drinks, ice creams, tobacco products, lottery ticket ...

, waiting for somebody to buy them beer. The friends run away when Walt Jr. approaches a policeman. The policeman tells him he got his "first and last warning." Skyler holds an intervention for Walt, where she says she does not understand why Walt is refusing treatment.

Hank Schrader Henry R. Schrader ASAC is a fictional character in the AMC drama series '' Breaking Bad'' and its spin-off series ''Better Call Saul''. He is portrayed by Dean Norris and was created by series creator Vince Gilligan. Hank's character development ...

, Walt Jr., and

Marie Schrader Marie Schrader (''née'' Lambert) is a fictional character in the AMC series '' Breaking Bad'' and its spin-off series ''Better Call Saul.'' Portrayed by Betsy Brandt, she is Skyler White's sister, Hank's wife, and Walter White's sister-in-l ...

argue over what to do: while Skyler and Walt Jr. want him to take the treatment, Marie, and later Hank, feel Walt should be given the choice to decline the treatment if he wants. Walt ends the intervention by saying he will not do the treatment. The next morning, Walt has a change of heart and tells Skyler he will do the treatment, and he will take care of Elliott's check. Later, Gretchen calls, telling him that he has to accept the money. Walt says he appreciates the offer, but lies and says his insurance will now cover it. Walt then goes to Jesse's house and asks him if he wants to cook.

Production

The episode was written by

and directed by Tricia Brock; it aired on AMC in the United States and Canada on February 24, 2008. Actress Ali MacGraw filmed a cameo scene for the episode but it was cut.

Critical reception

Seth Amitin of

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

gave the episode a rating of 8.9 out of 10. Donna Bowman of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' gave the episode an "A−". In 2019 '' The Ringer'' ranked "Gray Matter" as the 34th best out of the 62 total ''Breaking Bad'' episodes.

References

External links

"Gray Matter"
at the official ''Breaking Bad'' site * {{Breaking Bad episodes 2008 American television episodes Breaking Bad (season 1) episodes