| "Problem Dog" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Breaking Bad episode | |||
| Episodeno. | Season 4 Episode 7 | ||
| Directed by | Peter Gould | ||
| Written by | Peter Gould | ||
| Cinematography by | Michael Slovis | ||
| Editing by | Skip Macdonald | ||
| Original air date | August 28, 2011 (2011-08-28) | ||
| Running time | 47 minutes | ||
| Guest appearances | |||
| Episode chronology | |||
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| Breaking Badseason 4 | |||
| List of episodes | |||
"Problem Dog" is the seventh episode of thefourth season of the American television drama seriesBreaking Bad, and the 40th overall episode of the series. It originally aired onAMC in the United States on August 28, 2011.
AfterSkyler White tellsWalter White that she has negotiated the return ofWalter Jr.'sDodge Challenger to the dealership, Walter angrily drives the Challenger to a parking lot. There heburns donuts and strands the car on a concrete parking divider, then stuffs the ownership papers in the gas tank, lights them afire, and blows up the car.Saul Goodman covers up the outburst, which costs Walter $52,000.
When Walter later drops off approximately $274,000 — his bi-weekly profits — to Skyler, she is stunned by the amount, unsure how she will launder his annual meth-lab earnings of over $7 million, in mostly $50 bills, through their car wash. Meanwhile,Hank Schrader visitsLos Pollos Hermanos with Walter, Jr. and manages to getGus Fring's fingerprints on a cup.
Walter convincesJesse Pinkman to use his new position as a henchman in the organization to kill Gus, and concocts somericin poison in the lab that Jesse hides in one of his cigarettes.Mike Ehrmantraut brings Jesse along to a sitdown between Gus and the cartel. Jesse is told to make coffee for the meeting and contemplates poisoning the coffee, but he is interrupted before he can act. Mike is surprised when the cartel sends only one man to the meeting, who delivers to Gus an ultimatum. Gus, who had been prepared for a negotiation, rejects the ultimatum. Jesse contemplates shooting Gus as the cartel representative leaves but decides not to. Mike later tells Jesse that Gus is impressed by Jesse's loyalty, but that he thinks it is "for the wrong guy."
Jesse returns to hisNarcotics Anonymous group. During his turn, he discreetly shares his feelings about killingGale Boetticher, saying heput down a "problem dog" that otherwise did nothing wrong. The group leader tells him not to judge himself, but Jesse angrily disagrees and reveals to everyone that he had used the group as a market to peddle meth. The group leader finally expresses disapproval of Jesse.
Hank meets withSteven Gomez and ASACGeorge Merkert and explains his theory that Gus leads a large meth operation. Although Hank's investigation into Madrigal ElectromotiveGmbH — the German parent company of Los Pollos Hermanos — was stopped by its attorney, Hank reveals that Gus's fingerprints on the cup Hank had earlier obtained from Los Pollos Hermanos match fingerprints found in Gale's apartment.
Matt Richenthal of TV Fanatic awarded the episode a 4.5 out of 5,[1] Seth Amitin ofIGN rated it 9.5 out of 10, praising both the episode andAaron Paul's acting in it, calling it "the performance of the series".[2] Donna Bowman ofThe A.V. Club gave the episode an "A−".[3]
In 2019,The Ringer ranked "Problem Dog" 51st out of the 62 totalBreaking Bad episodes.[4]
