Home > Breaking Bad

Gray Matter

Here is, uh-- Here's my résumé.

Um, I mean, technically it says, uh, "curriculum vitae," which I think is more professional, but, uh, you know, same thing, pretty much.

MAN:

That's, uh-- Wow, great.

This position truly is a no-experience-necessary kind of thing.

And, uh, it doesn't really say it here, but, um, I have a solid background in, uh--

In sales.

I'm pretty much a self-starter, so...

That's excellent, but, um--

Excellent.

I just...

I really feel I could be a major, major asset to your sales force.

Ah.

I'm thinking there's a little misunderstanding.

This isn't actually a sales job.

I mean, I'd be happy to consider you for a sales position, but all our agents need to be licensed, have at least two years on-the-job experience and usually a college degree.

Wow.

What you'll be doing is more like... advertising.

Hey, Jesse.

Hey, man.

Yo, man.

What up?

Badger?

Where you been keeping yourself?

Nice duds.

Yeah, you too.

Thanks.

JESSE:

Yo, why would you wanna do this lame-ass job, anyway?

I mean, no--

No offense.

'Cause I'm on probation, yo.

I gotta prove to the man

I'm rehabilitated.

Upstanding citizen, all that shit.

It's really good exercise too.

You can't just stand there, you have to spin the arrow.

There's all these moves you have to learn, like "the helicopter."

[GRUNTING]

Wow.

Yeah. See, yeah?

That one's a bitch.

I'm not very good at it yet.

You, uh, really opened my eyes to the possibilities.

Yeah.

Hey, anyways, um, thanks for the toke.

Any time.

Speaking of which, you think you could maybe, uh, hook me up with some crystal?

Uh, no, I've-- I've been out of the business for a while.

Actually, now thinking about retiring.

What? No.

Yeah.

That stuff you made is unbelievable.

It was pretty awesome.

Retirement? Argh!

I can't be hearing this.

No, man, I-I had this, uh--

This partner who was helping me cook.

I mean, I was doing most of the work...

[SIGHS]

...but he was an asshole, so.

Anyway, I mean, pseudo's getting harder and harder to come by and--

Yo, I can hook you up with some pseudo.

Major pseudo.

I got channels, bro.

We could partner up.

Huh?

No pressure.

No pressure.

Just think about it, all right?

Oh, shit. I gotta go.

[SIGHS]

Yo, this way to savings.

Save your dollar bills, y'all.

[SIGHS]

♪ Big savings

This way and save♪

[SIGHS]

Come on! Save some money.

[♪♪♪]

[♪♪♪]

WALT: It's a stupid gift.

SKYLER:

No, it isn't. He'll love it.

I don't know what I was thinking.

Didn't the invitation even say "no gifts"?

Walt.

What?

We have to go.

I know, I'm not complaining.

Yes, you are.

Look, we need this.

We've been through a lot lately. Okay?

Mm-hm.

[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]

SKYLER:

Jesus, guess we didn't get the "beige" memo.

Ah, we're okay.

Yes, I-- I look like I'm wearing a prom dress from 1985.

Honey, you look fine.

Walt, this is the only thing

I could find that fit me.

God, would you look at that.

The invitation said "no gifts."

[WHISPERS]

So? Come on.

Sir, I'll take that for you.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Oh, look, there's Elliott.

Oh, come on, let's go say hello.

Elliott. Ha!

Walt.

You made it.

WALT: Ha-ha-ha!

Happy birthday.

Wouldn't miss it for the world.

Thank you. Skyler.

Hi. Oh. Oh, that's right.

Hee-hee-hee!

Great to see you.

You look beautiful, as always.

Well, these days a little more big than beautiful, but...

Of course, congratulations.

That was such great news.

Thank you.

Gretchen, look who's here.

Oh. Oh.

It's been ages.

Oh, it's so good to see you.

Heh!

Ha-ha-ha!

It's really good.

Skyler, welcome.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

It's really nice to be here.

When are you due?

SKYLER: In about 10 more weeks.

And actually, we recently found out that it's a girl.

Oh, that's so wonderful.

Yeah.

Yeah, we've been thinking about it for ourselves.

Yeah, thinking about it.

[CHUCKLES]

Uh... Oh, hey, by the way, uh, securing that patent was just amazing.

I mean, the work that your company is doing...

Congratulations to both of you.

Hard work and a lot of luck.

A lot.

Yeah. Oh, well, now.

MAN:

Elliott.

Will you excuse us?

We gotta say hi.

Make yourselves at home, we'll catch up later.

Sure, sure. Okay.

Okay.

May I? So glad you're here.

Thank you.

Bye.

John, Missy. How are you?

Shall we?

MAN:

Congratulations.

Happy birthday.

[MUSIC PLAYING IN DISTANCE]

Oh.

Whoa.

Hm.

[COUGHING]

[SIGHS]

[SNIFFS]

[MUSIC PLAYING]

[INAUDIBLE SPEECH]

Walt?

I thought that was you.

Farley.

Ha-ha-ha!

Long time no see.

This is Walter White.

Oh. Hello.

Back at Caltech, he was--

You were just a master of crystallography.

I remember this one time we were stuck on this protein problem for-- For weeks.

You just breezed right in, and--

And you had one word for us...

Synchrotrons.

It was synchrotrons, yeah.

They generate pure and more complete patterns than x-ray beams.

Data collection takes a fraction of the time.

This is the White in Gray Matter.

Tell 'em, Walt.

Okay.

Uh, well, back when Elliott and I were in grad school, we came up with the name.

Ahem.

Schwartz, black. Walter White.

So together they became

Gray Matter Technologies.

Cute, huh?

So you run the company with Elliott?

FARLEY:

No. No, that's--

That's Gretchen and Elliott.

Yeah, yeah. You know, I--

I gravitated toward education.

Ah. What university?

Oh, wow, it's a Stratocaster.

Not-- Not just any Strat.

That's one of Clapton's.

ELLIOTT:

No way.

"To Elliott, sorry about the buckle rash, Eric Clapton."

Thank you.

This is beautiful.

Why is he doing this?

Beautiful.

What is he, like, 8 years old?

Here, honey.

Thanks.

Oh, this is from Walt.

Oh, God.

It's okay.

Hey.

Let's see what we got.

[CHUCKLES LIGHTLY]

Yum Good Ramen.

[CHUCKLING]

This is what Walt and I lived on for, uh, 10 months straight while we were working on our thesis.

Sold them down at Ralstow's in the hardware isle.

Right next to the-- The--

What was it?

Sterno. Yeah.

The Sterno.

Yeah, ten for a dollar ninety-nine.

To this day,

I am convinced these noodles were responsible for our success.

This was our lifeblood.

Man, where'd you find these?

I thought they'd been outlawed years ago.

[CROWD CHUCKLES]

I love it.

Thank you, Walt.

Well.

For the man who has everything.

ELLIOTT: No.

WALT: It was.

No, you remember the fat guy.

Yes.

We used to call him

Snot Trough.

He had that thing under his nose.

What do you call that thing?

That was Dobkins.

That was the same guy who always smelled like chocolate milk.

It was.

No, no, no, no.

It-- It wasn't Dobkins, it was...

Anyway, I swear to Christ, he used to iron those patches onto the elbows of his-- His members-only jacket because he thought it made him look more distinguished.

Didn't it? I thought it--

No.

[BOTH CHUCKLE]

Oh, God.

Well, here's to Snot Trough.

To Snot Trough.

Wherever you may be.

God bless him.

Heh-heh-heh!

Hmmm.

Do you remember the--? The professor who used to hate

Robert Wilhelm Bunsen?

Yes. All you had to do was mention the Bunsen burner and he was off on a rant.

"Oh, he didn't invent it."

Do you remember the waving?

"He just improved it," you know.

Oh. It was easy to kill 15 minutes.

Yeah.

[BOTH LAUGH]

Oh, God.

I miss this, Walt.

Yeah. Me too.

Listen, uh, we-- We ought to get together more often.

Skyler and I would love to have you and Gretchen over for dinner sometime.

Oh, sure, yeah, absolutely.

But, you know, what I mean is that--

That you and I should work together again.

[CHUCKLES]

Are you gonna teach high school?

No, no, no, seriously.

W-what's stopping us?

Wait a minute, Elliott, what are you--?

Are you asking me to come work for you at Gray Matter?

Yeah, why not? You--

You'd fit right in.

You're brilliant, you--

You got a ton of experience.

Well, I...

I wouldn't really know where to begin.

I mean...

God, you have no idea.

I spend my days just drawing out atoms on the chalkboard and trying to get these kids to learn the periodic table.

Look, I--

I-- I understand.

Y-you're a little rusty, but you're not seeing the upside here.

We-- We could really benefit from a-- A new set of eyes.

You know when you've been trying to crack some problem for months on end, you get tunnel vision.

One guy thinking outside of the box, you may be exactly what we need.

[CHUCKLES LIGHTLY]

Well, listen, Elliott, it--

The offer is very appealing, it really is, I thank you.

But, uh, there's...

There's something you should know.

I-- I--

I have some personal issues.

Look, there's nothing we can't work out.

Well, yeah... but it's--

It's complicated.

We can help you.

We-- We have excellent health insurance.

The best.

[INAUDIBLE SPEECH]

[CLEARS THROAT]

Um, hey, did you--? Did you try those prosciutto-wrapped figs?

They were, like, wow.

They were just--

I must have had about 30 of those suckers.

Oh, and the seafood table, did you see that?

They had lobster tail, they had crab legs, like, shrimp.

They had...

[SIGHS]

Walt.

What the hell did you say to Elliott?

What?

You told him about the cancer, didn't you? Didn't you?

I can't believe it.

Okay, we were talking, he asked how you were doing, and I am sorry, but I don't have the best poker face these days where that's concerned.

He knew something was wrong with you, and he pressed me.

He pressed you? Come on.

Walt, when it came right down to it,

I didn't know what else to do but tell him the truth.

The truth? Well, how about you just said, "He's fine," huh?

You could have said that. "He's fine." It would have been done.

I don't like the way you're talking.

I don't like the way you talk about my private affairs to people who are not even in our lives anymore.

Well, what exactly did he say to you?

He offered me a job.

What?

Yes. Kind of like some fig leaf, you know.

Some face-saving bullshit that allowed me to generously accept his charity.

And then when I turned that down, he flat out offered to pay for my treatment.

Which is exactly what you expected him to do, didn't you?

Walt.

Didn't you?

No. I did not put him up--

Please. Come on. Come on.

[COUGHING]

Okay, what did you say?

Walt?

What do you think I said?

Why? Walt.

[SIGHS]

[CAR DOOR SLAMS]

[CUTLERY CLATTERING]

[INDISTINCT SPEECH OVER TV]

Hm.

Ready to go?

I'm taking the bus.

Okay.

Bye, honey.

[SIGHS]

[DISHES CLATTER]

Hey, dude.

Are these bullet holes?

Uh...

No, man. Those are for, like, um, you know, uh, ventilation.

Cool.

Woo.

Nice setup, huh?

Ha-ha!

Man.

This is nothing, man.

I used to have, like, twice as much glassware until my, um, dumb-ass ex-partner drove us into a ditch and wrecked most of it.

Big-ass beaker, huh?

Hey, wait, wait, no, that's--

Yeah, that's a boiling flask.

This is a beaker.

Here's a Griffin beaker.

Here's a, uh, volumetric beaker.

Here's, uh, an Erlenmeyer flask.

Um, you got--

Wow.

You really know your shit.

It's just basic chemistry, yo.

So... you got something for me?

Aw, hells, yeah.

Okay.

We're in business.

Right on, Badger.

Dude, check this out.

Jesus.

What are you bringing that for?

Hunting.

We might see javelinas.

[FUJIYA & MIYAGI'S

"UH" PLAYING]

♪ I guess

I wasn't feeling okay♪

♪ I felt that space and time♪

♪ Went back and forth

And sideways♪

♪ I'm putting up fast♪

♪ All over the place♪

♪ I guess...♪

[WHEEZING]

Are you gonna help me or what?

♪ Oh

She made me go "uh"♪

♪ Uh♪

Hey.

♪ Uh, uh, uh♪

♪ Up against and underly♪

Badger!

♪ We are as prickly♪

♪ As a couple of porcupines♪

♪ I'm pulling up fast

All over the place♪

[MUFFLED SPEECH]

Yeah, buddy. Huh? Yeah.

♪ Oh

She made me go "uh"♪

♪ Go "uh"♪

♪ Uh, uh, uh♪

♪ Oh, sock it to me♪

♪ Oh, sock it to me♪

♪ Oh, sock it to me♪

♪ I'm pulling out fast

All over the place♪

♪ I guess

It knocked me sideways♪

♪ Oh♪

♪ She made me go "uh"

Go "uh"♪

♪ Uh, uh, uh

Uh, uh, uh, uh♪

WALT JR.:

Let's see the money.

Here.

I need five each.

Come on, two more.

Here.

What about him?

Are you kidding?

He looks younger than us.

Whatever.

What about that guy?

No, he looks like a businessman.

BOY:

So what?

So businessmen are always in a hurry.

They're always, like, going to some meeting or something.

Seriously, he's just gonna say no.

BOY:

Hey, hey, this guy.

This is our guy.

You're up.

Wh-why do I have to do it?

Give me the crutches and I'll go do it.

Shit.

Um, excuse me, hey, um, we forgot our IDs, and we were wondering if you could do us a favor and buy us a six-pack?

You know, what you're asking is illegal.

Um...

No, it's not.

Yeah, it is.

Oh, shit.

MAN:

Guess you win the jackpot.

This is not how I wanted to spend my night off.

Consider this your first and last warning.

Yes, sir.

You're lucky you got a good dad, here.

[CAR DOOR CLOSES]

The other guys had to run.

I-- I couldn't talk my way out of it.

Not cool, man. Not cool.

What, you never tried to buy beer when you were my age?

I'm talking about you calling me and not your father.

How do you think that'd make him feel?

[SIGHS]

[CAR STARTS]

SKYLER:

I don't even know what to say to you.

Just go.

I'll deal with you later.

[EXHALES]

Where's Walt?

I haven't seen him since this morning.

Your guess is as good as mine.

Listen, do me a favor, all right?

Don't tell him about the kid.

He's just a teenager trying to score some beer.

You know, growing pains.

I mean, he finds out his dad's sick, he starts acting out, you know?

First the pot, then this.

The pot?

You told me the kid was smoking.

That's what Skyler told me.

I mean, you may as well have.

I wasn't talking about

Walter, Jr.

[WHISPERS]

I was--

I was talking about Walt.

Excuse me?

He admitted it.

[WHISPERS]

He said he liked it.

Walt?

Mm-hm.

[LAUGHS]

Shit.

[LAUGHING]

I didn't think he had it in him.

It's like he's not himself lately.

Yeah.

I mean, why would anyone in their right mind choose not to do treatment?

Especially when it's completely paid for.

Why is he doing this?

You know what we need to do?

What we really need to do is sit him down, all of us, and-- And get everything out on the table.

Talk it all through.

You mean an in--? Intervention?

No, no.

Just a family meeting.

Where everyone can voice their concerns and be heard.

[WIND BLOWING]

BADGER:

You are a genius, bro.

This cankenstein is unreal.

When we get back, I'm gonna burn that dollar bill suit,

'cause we're gonna make some mad dough.

[CHUCKLES]

It's not right.

What do you mean, it's not right?

Tsk. It's...cloudy.

It's not supposed to be cloudy.

Okay, that last time, it was glass.

So what? Cloudy, not cloudy?

It looks good enough to me.

Good enough.

Wait, wait.

Yo, what are you doing?

[DOOR CLOSES]

Argh!

Are you out of your mind?

I totally would've smoked that.

Look, it's not for you, it's for our customers.

They're gonna demand a certain standard.

What? What--?

What are you--?

What?

We'll just do it again.

Until we get it right.

[BLOWING]

Walt.

Please have a seat and join us.

[SIGHS]

We can do better.

Don't you fucking think about it!

Hey.

Come on.

[BOTH GRUNTING]

Three entire pounds of pseudo wasted.

Do you know how long

I had to spin that stupid sign?

Get off me, psycho.

Helicopter, bitch!

[GLASS SHATTERING]

[GRUNTING]

God! Argh!

[BOTH GRUNTING]

Asshole.

[♪♪♪]

Open the door.

[CAR STARTS]

[GRUNTING]

[ENGINE STALLING]

BADGER:

Come back here, you bitch!

I'm gonna mess you up!

This isn't funny!

[GRUNTS]

I really need to understand your thought process, because clearly I don't.

I feel that this decision you've made is not only not in your best interest, it's not in the best interest of our entire family.

Look, Skyler--

SKYLER: Not yet, please. I--

I have the talking pillow.

Everybody gets to speak their minds, remember?

And then you'll get your chance.

Money has always been an issue for us,

I'll give you that.

But now that Elliott is more than willing to pitch in--

Walt, I know,

I understand that it's hard for you to accept help.

Maybe it's the way you were raised.

But, honey, it's okay to lean on people now and again.

You need this treatment.

And nothing can stop you from getting it except you.

Am I allowed to respond?

SKYLER: In a minute.

I think we need to go around the circle first.

Hank, would you like to start?

Uh, yeah. Okay, well...

What I would say is--

Take-- Take the talking pillow.

All right, look, buddy, um...

I know I don't get to tell you this enough, but, uh, I care about you.

A hell of a lot.

And this cancer thing...

Let's just-- Let's face it, you know, you were dealt a shit hand.

But, um, sometimes your luck can change.

I mean--

I mean, I can't tell you how many times I was--

You know,

I started with a shit hand, and I ended up with a, you know, a full house. Okay?

I mean, the key is, you gotta hang in there.

Man, you gotta keep placing your bets, keep placing your bets.

Boom.

Hank, what the hell are you saying?

SKYLER:

No, please, Marie, let him talk.

That's what we're here to do.

Please.

Go on, Hank.

All right, l--

Look at it this way, okay?

It's the bottom of the ninth, bases are loaded, you're up.

But you got a bum arm, right?

There's no fricking way you're gonna hit a homer, okay?

So you can either let the pinch hitter take the bat, or you can hold on to your pride and lose the game.

You get what I'm saying?

No.

You got your pride, man.

I get it, okay? I get it.

But this Daddy Warbucks wants to chip in, man.

I'm-- I'm with your old lady on this one.

[LAUGHS]

I say take the money and run, man.

[SNIFFS, SIGHS]

Somebody wanna take this thing?

Here.

Y-yes, Walter--

Walter, Jr., I'm-- I'm sure that you have about a million things to say, probably.

And now is your chance.

Go ahead. Just let it all out.

This is bullshit.

All right, come on.

SKYLER: It's all right.

It--

[SIGHS]

Talk.

Tell your dad how you feel.

I'm pissed off.

Tell him.

I-I'm pissed off.

'Cause you're being--

You're being...

Y-you're--

[SIGHS]

You're a pussy.

You're, like, ready to give up.

You're-- God.

What if you gave up on me, huh?

This here, all the stuff

I've been through, and y-you're scared of a little chemotherapy?

Me, personally...

I think you should do whatever you wanna do.

What?

You told us to be honest about our feelings.

Walt's the one with cancer, it's his decision.

It's not up to any of us.

Why in hell would you do this?

Hey, hey.

I wasn't planning on agreeing with Walt.

But after sitting and listening to you all talk about his future like he has no say in it--

He's not gonna have a future if he doesn't get treatment.

I am a medical professional.

Ugh.

I x-ray people in treatment every day.

I see them every day.

And you know what?

Some of them are absolutely miserable.

Marie--

I'm sorry, but it's true.

And some of them don't wanna spend their last weeks or months being picked at by doctors.

But they got talked into it by their families.

Can I get the pillow back?

'Cause I agree with Marie.

Thank you.

SKYLER: Hank--

What? Maybe Walt wants to die like a man, all right?

I don't want him to die at all!

That's the whole point of this.

So either help or leave!

Skyler, I just wanted to do you the courtesy of giving you my honest opinion.

You know, Marie, this is not debate club.

This is my husband's life--

I made one simple observation--

And it's like you-- How dare you--

Okay, so we disagree--

Ladies! Marie!

[WHISTLES]

This is so stupid.

All right,

I've got the talking pillow now.

Okay?

We all, in this room, we love each other.

We want what's best for each other, and I know that.

I am very thankful for that.

But what I want--

What I want, what I need... is a choice.

What does that mean?

Sometimes I feel like I never actually make any of my own choices,

I mean.

My entire life... it just seems I never... you know, had a--

Had a real say about any of it.

Now, this last one, cancer... all I have left is how I choose to approach this.

SKYLER:

Then make the right choice,

Walt.

You are not the only one it affects.

What about your son?

Don't you wanna see your daughter grow up? I just...

Of course I do.

Skyler, you've read the statistics, you...

[SIGHS]

These doctors talking about "surviving" one year, two years, like it's the only thing that matters.

But what good is it to just survive if I am too sick to work?

To enjoy a meal?

To make love?

For what time I have left,

I wanna live in my own house.

I wanna sleep in my own bed.

I don't wanna choke down

30 or 40 pills every single day and lose my hair and lie around, too tired to get up... and so nauseated that I can't even move my head.

And you.

Cleaning up after me.

And me? What--?

Some, uh--

Some dead man, some artificially-alive--

Just marking time.

No. No.

And that's how you would remember me.

That's the worst part.

So that is my thought process,

Skyler.

I'm sorry. I just...

I choose not to do it.

[♪♪♪]

All right.

"All right" what?

I'll do the treatment.

[PAN CLATTERS]

[SIGHS]

[SIGHS]

It's gonna be okay.

Okay.

[MUSIC PLAYING OVER PA]

[DOOR OPENS]

Um, the lady from the billing office said they usually bill the insurance company directly.

But since our HMO's not paying for it, we can pay up front with a credit card.

Oh, good.

Oh, and then Elliott will send a check. Right.

I will take care of it.

[DOOR OPENS]

[DOOR CLOSES]

Walter White?

Yes.

Okay. Heh-heh!

All right.

Okay.

See you in a minute.

WALT: Okay.

Okay.

[♪♪♪]

[MACHINERY WHIRRING]

[MACHINERY BEEPING]

[♪♪♪]

[CELL PHONE RINGING]

[CAR DOOR SLAMS]

[PHONE BEEPS]

Ha-ha! Elliott.

GRETCHEN:

Walt, it's Gretchen.

Oh, hey.

Hey, Gretchen, how are you?

You know, it was--

It was really great

seeing you two

the other day, you know.

Wow, what a party.

Um, Elliott told me about the cancer.

I-I-I'm-- I'm so sorry.

Well, you know, it is what it is, I guess.

I don't--

I don't know what to say.

Except, I'm always here for you.

Both of us are.

We wanted you to know that.

Yeah, well, thank you.

Walt, Elliott told me

that he'd offered to pay

for the treatment.

You have to accept.

That money, as far as we're both concerned, that-- That belongs to you.

Even the name of our company, it-- It's-- It's half yours.

Walt?

Is this about you and me?

Gretchen, I really appreciate the offer.

I do. Um, but we're fine.

Uh...

As it turns out, the insurance came through after all.

So, um,

I am covered. And, uh...

Well, and, anyway,

I-I-I really appreciate it,

I really do.

Thank you.

Good. That's good news.

You know, that really was a--

A great party.

Keep in touch, okay?

Sure. Sure, and... thank you for calling.

[PHONE BEEPS]

[DOOR OPENS]

[SCOFFS]

Yo!

[FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING]

Wanna cook?

[♪♪♪]