"Over" is the tenth episode of the second season of the American television action drama 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 ...

''. It was written by

Moira Walley-Beckett Moira Walley-Beckett is a Canadian television actress, producer, and writer. She was a writer and producer for the AMC drama ''Breaking Bad'' and the creator of two television series, '' Flesh and Bone'' and '' Anne with an E'' (titled ''Anne'' ...

and directed by

Phil Abraham Phil Abraham is an American cinematographer and television director. He worked on all six seasons of ''The Sopranos'', initially as a camera operator, then as a cinematographer and eventually as an episodic director. He won the 2008 Primetime Emm ...

Plot summary

Following his discovery that he is in remission,

Walter White Walter White most often refers to: * Walter White (''Breaking Bad''), character in the television series ''Breaking Bad'' * Walter Francis White (1893–1955), American leader of the NAACP Walter White may also refer to: Fictional characters ...

takes

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. ...

's advice to take the week off from work, but secretly meets with

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 ...

. He tells Jesse the news, and that he is out of the drug trade now that he no longer has to pay for treatment. During Skyler's party celebrating the remission, Walt pours Walt Jr. some

tequila Tequila (; ) is a liquor, distilled beverage made from the Agave tequilana, blue agave plant, primarily in the area surrounding the city of Tequila, Jalisco, Tequila northwest of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Guadalajara, and in the Jaliscan Highlands ...

that he and

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 ...

are drinking. After Walt keeps pouring, Hank takes the bottle away from him. Walt angrily demands it back, leading to a tense standoff which is broken as Walt Jr. vomits into the pool. The next day, Skyler refuses to answer Walt's calls in which he tries to apologize. In order to distract himself, he goes on a

home improvement The concept of home improvement, home renovation, or remodeling is the process of renovating or making additions to one's home. Home improvement can consist of projects that upgrade an existing home interior (such as electrical and plumbing), ...

spree, replacing their

water heater Water heating is a heat transfer process that uses an energy source to heat water above its initial temperature. Typical domestic uses of hot water include cooking, cleaning, bathing, and space heating. In industry, hot water and water heated t ...

, then creating a

crawl space A crawl space is an unoccupied, unfinished, narrow space within a building, between the ground and the first (or ground) floor. The crawl space is so named because there is typically only enough room to crawl rather than stand; anything larger t ...

in the basement to fix a rot problem. At work, Skyler confides in

Ted Beneke ''Breaking Bad'' is a neo-Western crime drama franchise created by American filmmaker Vince Gilligan, primarily based on the television series ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–13), its prequel/sequel series, ''Better Call Saul'' (2015–22), and its s ...

about Walt's condition. When Ted notices that she is purposefully staying late, she breaks down, saying that she doesn't feel optimistic because she knows that Walt still has cancer. Ted understands, having suffered physically while caring for his dying father. They tenderly hold hands. The next day, as Ted is leaving, Skyler creates a distraction in order to spend more time with him. Meanwhile, Jesse clumsily makes breakfast for

Jane Margolis Jane Margolis is a social scientist and faculty member at the University of California, Los Angeles Graduate School of Education and Information Studies who studies why so few African American, Latino, and female students are learning computer sc ...

and tells her they can spend the day together. She admires his drawings of superheroes, which she points out all look like him. They hear knocking on Jane's door, which turns out to be her father, the owner of the property. When Jesse goes outside to speak with him, Jane acts like she does not know him. Later, she tells him she was protecting him from her overbearing father, but Jesse is upset that she does not take their relationship seriously. He smokes

meth Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug and less commonly as a second-line treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obesity. Methamphe ...

to comfort himself, but brightens when Jane slides a drawing under his door: a superhero called "Apology Girl" that looks like her. At the hardware store, Walt notices the cart of a young man buying materials to make drugs. He offers advice about what ingredients to get, causing the man to run away. Outside in the parking lot, he sees the young man with his partner; Walt orders the two to stay out of his territory.

Title meaning

This episode's title is the third to reference the Wayfarer 515 disaster that occurs in the episode "

ABQ ABC Television in Brisbane comprises national programming on the ABC television network in or from Brisbane, Queensland which broadcasts on a number of channels under the ABC call sign. There is some local programming from the Brisbane studio ...

". When placed together, the

first First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

, fourth, tenth, and

thirteenth In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the note thirteen scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the thirteenth. The interval can be also described as a compound sixth, spanning an octa ...

episodes' titles from this season read "

Seven Thirty-Seven "Seven Thirty-Seven" is the second season premiere episode of the American television drama series ''Breaking Bad''. It was written by J. Roberts and directed by series star Bryan Cranston. Plot summary In the junkyard, after his purchase of me ...

Down Over

". The title also refers to the fact that the partnership between Walt and Jesse will be over once they sell their remaining product, as Walt's condition had improved significantly.

Production

The episode was written by

, and directed by

. It aired on AMC in the United States and Canada on May 10, 2009.

Critical reception

The episode was well received. Donna Bowman, writing for ''

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 rating. She praised the show's ability to create a contrast between "intensity" and "quieter character moments". It's the first appearance of Jane's father Donald Margolis (played by

John de Lancie John Sherwood de Lancie, Jr. (born March 20, 1948) is an American actor, television director, director, film producer, producer, writer, and comedian, best known for his role as Q (Star Trek), Q in various ''Star Trek'' series (1987–present); ...

). In 2019 The Ringer ranked "Over" 45th out of the 62 total ''Breaking Bad'' episodes.

References

External links

"Over"
at the official ''Breaking Bad'' site * {{Breaking Bad episodes 2009 American television episodes Breaking Bad (season 2) episodes