Cat's in the Bag...

Walt and Jesse return the RV to Jesse's house, which was previously owned by Jesse's late aunt. When they open the RV to remove the two bodies inside, they notice that Krazy-8 is still breathing, despite inhaling the toxic phosphine gas. The unconscious Krazy-8 is taken into the basement and secured to a pole with a bike lock around his neck. Walt suggests that they should use hydrofluoric acid to dissolve Emilio's corpse so that it leaves no evidence behind. Walt and Jesse must dispose of the corpse and kill Krazy-8, and toss a coin to see who will do which task. Jesse wins and chooses to dispose of the corpse, leaving Walt to kill Krazy-8.

Walt instructs Jesse to buy a bin made from polyethylene in which the corpse can be properly dissolved, but Jesse cannot find a bin big enough to accommodate it. Walt thinks about suffocating Krazy-8 but is unable to go through with the act. He instead gives Krazy-8 food, water and toilet paper out of guilt. When Jesse returns home and asks if Krazy-8 has been killed yet, Walt promises to take care of Krazy-8 the next day. Meanwhile, Skyler begins to suspect that Walt is doing something in secret due to his recent strange behaviour. After Jesse makes a call to Walt's home phone, Skyler traces his phone number online and discovers his drug-related website. She questions Walt as to who he is, and Walt lies by saying that Jesse sells him marijuana. Skyler finds his address and confronts Jesse while he is trying to dispose of Emilio, warning him that her brother-in-law is a DEA agent. Skyler doesn't notice the corpse.

Jesse does not find the specific plastic bin Walt instructed him to use, so he decides to dissolve the corpse in his upstairs bathtub. However, the hydrofluoric acid dissolves the ceramic and metal bathtub along with the body. This causes the ceiling beneath it to collapse, spilling Emilio's liquified remains onto the hallway below. Walt tells Jesse that hydrofluoric acid will dissolve anything except plastic. Meanwhile, two Native American children playing in the desert find Walt's gas mask.

The episode was written by Vince Gilligan, and directed by Adam Bernstein; it aired on AMC in the United States and Canada on January 27, 2008.

The episode received critical acclaim. Seth Amitin of IGN gave the episode a rating of 9.6 out of 10, commenting: "It's strange, but there's a great chemistry between these three characters, like they're puzzle pieces and their jagged edges aren't even close to matching, but they fit somehow."[1] Donna Bowman of The A.V. Club gave the episode a "A-", saying: "At the end of the powerhouse premiere last week, I thought: Well, it's all downhill from here... I found it hard to imagine that such an episode could maintain the premiere's edge-of-psychosis tone."[2]

In 2019, The Ringer ranked "Cat's in the Bag..." 31st out of all 62 Breaking Bad episodes.[3]

Mythbusters tested the hypothesis that hydrofluoric acid could dissolve a body but not plastic, but found that this was untrue.[4]

The episode title is a part of a line from the 1957 film Sweet Smell of Success, in which a character reports that he resolved an issue. It means that Walt and Jesse capture Krazy-8 and lock him in the basement.

J.J. Hunsecker: That means you've got a plan. Can you deliver?
Sidney Falco: Tonight, before you go to bed. The cat's in the bag and the bag's in the river.

• "Cat's in the Bag..." at the official Breaking Bad site
• "Cat's in the Bag..." at IMDb
• "Cat's in the Bag..." at TV.com