Granite State (Breaking Bad)

Ed Galbraith, the "disappearer", brings Saul Goodman to the basement of his vacuum repair shop. Saul sees Walt, who has also paid for a new identity and relocation. Walt asks Saul to put him in contact with hitmen so he can kill Jack Welker and Jack's gang and recover his other barrels of money, but Saul refuses. Saul tells Walt that if he turns himself in, Skyler might still keep their house instead of losing it to the authorities. Walt thinks of giving up only when his entire wealth is recovered and given to his family, so he refuses. He attempts to coerce Saul into coming with him, but is subdued by a coughing fit. No longer intimidated, Saul bids Walt farewell and leaves for his new life in Nebraska.[lower-alpha 1]

Jack's gang raids Marie Schrader's house and finds Jesse Pinkman's confession tape. The gang wants to kill Jesse for being an informant, but Todd Alquist wants him to cook more high-quality meth in order to impress Lydia Rodarte-Quayle, with whom Todd is now infatuated. Knowing Skyler once met Lydia at the car wash, Todd and some gang members break into the Whites' house and threaten Skyler to keep quiet about Lydia's involvement, and a shaken Skyler complies. Lydia is not convinced Skyler will stay silent, and wants to end their meth operation, but reconsiders after Todd reveals that quality and yield are up because the meth composition is now at 92% purity because of Jesse's work. At Jack's hideout, Jesse uses a paper clip to unlock his chains and tries to run, but is captured. The gang takes him to Andrea Cantillo's house and forcing him to watch as Todd kills her. They threaten to kill Brock if Jesse disobeys again.

Ed takes Walt to his new home, a secluded cabin in the woods of northern New Hampshire. Ed tells Walt that he should remain confined to the cabin and the two acres around it or risk being captured. Walt is frequently tempted to leave, but does not. A few months later, a disheveled Walt has a full beard and head of hair. Ed arrives on his monthly visit to drop off food and supplies, including an assortment of eyeglasses and a chemotherapy dose. He tells Walt that Skyler has returned to using her maiden name, that she works as a part-time taxi dispatcher to earn money, and that she and Walt Jr. have left their home for a small apartment. There is a nationwide manhunt for Walt, and his abandoned house is now something of a tourist attraction. A lonely Walt pays Ed $10,000 to stay for an extra hour and play cards with him.

Later, Walt stuffs $100,000 into a cardboard box and leaves the cabin. He walks the eight miles into town, stops at the local bar and pays the barmaid to call Walt Jr.'s school pretending to be Marie. Walt Jr. is pulled from class to answer the call, and Walt tries reconciling with him. He tells Walt Jr. that he is going to send money to Walt Jr.'s friend Louis, who should give it to Walt Jr., who should give it to Skyler. Walt Jr., enraged that Walt would attempt to give him drug money, blames him for Hank's death and wishes his father dead before hanging up.

A dejected Walt intends to surrender and calls the DEA to identify himself, leaving the phone hanging so they can trace his location. Before police arrive, he sees Gretchen and Elliott Schwartz being interviewed by Charlie Rose on TV about their $28 million contribution for drug abuse rehabilitation efforts in the American Southwest. They discuss that blue meth is still on the street. Walt is angered when Elliot and Gretchen openly dismiss his contribution to Gray Matter Technologies to protect their professional reputation, but motivated to act by the knowledge that someone is making blue meth without him. With this knowledge, Walt decides to flee.

Bob Odenkirk made his final (pre-Better Call Saul) appearance as Saul Goodman in this episode.

On September 18, 2013, it was announced that both "Granite State" and "Felina" would run for 75 minutes including 22 minutes of commercials.[1] The episode title refers to the nickname of New Hampshire, which is where Walt is relocated upon being given a new identity.[2] Parts of the phone call of Walt and Walt Jr. needed to be reshot, because during the transport an airplane rolled over the film.[3]

This episode marks the final appearance of Bob Odenkirk as a series regular, as his character, Saul Goodman, flees to Nebraska. Odenkirk returned as Saul in the spinoff prequel to Breaking Bad entitled Better Call Saul. In the episode, Saul tells Walt, "If I'm lucky, a month from now, best-case scenario, I'm managing a Cinnabon in Omaha." Gould said he wrote this throwaway line simply because "it sounded funny" and Better Call Saul had not yet been conceptualized, but once that series was greenlit, it was decided to show in the flashforward of the series premiere that Saul has indeed become a Cinnabon manager in Omaha, Nebraska.[4]

The episode was watched by 6.58 million viewers on its original broadcast.[5][6]

The episode was generally acclaimed, with critics commenting on how the change of pace from the previous week's explosive episode allowed for a more contemplative narrative.[7]

Peter Gould was nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Episodic Drama for this episode.[8]

Robert Forster's guest performance earned him the Saturn Award for Best Guest Starring Role on Television.[9]

The Ringer ranked "Granite State" as the 7th best out of the 62 total Breaking Bad episodes.[10]

• "Granite State" at the official Breaking Bad site
• "Granite State" at IMDb
• "Granite State" at TV.com

• Tim Goodman (September 22, 2013). "'Breaking Bad' Deconstruction, Ep. 15: 'Granite State'". The Hollywood Reporter.