Madrigal (Breaking Bad)

"Madrigal"
Breaking Bad episode
Walter, Jesse and Mike discuss starting a meth operation again.
Episode no.	Season 5 Episode 2
Directed by	Michelle MacLaren
Written by	Vince Gilligan
Produced by	Bryan Cranston, Diane Mercer, Stewart A. Lyons
Featured music	Dave Porter
Cinematography by	Michael Slovis
Editing by	Kelley Dixon
Original air date	July 22, 2012 (2012-07-22)
Running time	47 minutes
Guest appearance(s)
Laura Fraser as Lydia Rodarte-Quayle Steven Michael Quezada as Steven Gomez Michael Shamus Wiles as ASAC George Merkert Norbert Weisser as Peter Schuler Wolf Muser as Herr Herzog Carrington Vilmont as Food technician James Ning as Duane Chow Kaija Bales as Kaylee Ehrmantraut Christopher King as Chris Mara
Episode chronology
← Previous "Live Free or Die" Next → "Hazard Pay"
Breaking Bad (season 5) List of Breaking Bad episodes

"Madrigal" is the second episode of the fifth season of the American television drama series Breaking Bad, and the 48th overall episode of the series. Written by series creator Vince Gilligan and directed by Michelle MacLaren, it originally aired on AMC in the United States on July 22, 2012.

In Hanover, Germany, Peter Schuler, an executive for Madrigal Electromotive GmbH, the parent company of Los Pollos Hermanos, kills himself with a portable defibrillator after local police arrive to question him about his longstanding relationship with Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito).

Back in Albuquerque, Jesse (Aaron Paul) panics over the missing ricin cigarette, worried that someone will find it and poison themselves. Walt (Bryan Cranston) hides the vial of ricin behind an electrical outlet cover in his house and creates a fake one, planting it in Jesse's Roomba when he helps search Jesse's house for it. Jesse finds the fake ricin cigarette in his Roomba. Jesse tearfully laments what he believes is his own stupidity and apologizes to Walt for suspecting him of poisoning Brock. Walt and Jesse later meet with Mike (Jonathan Banks), and Walt offers him an equal, three-way partnership in a new meth operation. Mike coldly refuses, explaining that Walt is a dangerous "time bomb."

Saul (Bob Odenkirk) points out the obvious to Walt: that Gus' elimination gave him freedom to safely and cleanly quit the drug trade. However, Walt justifies rebooting the meth business by claiming that it is a golden opportunity that he cannot afford to leave behind, since he's actually $40,000 in debt after (Skyler (Anna Gunn) gave over $600,000 to Ted Beneke (Christopher Cousins), and paid for Hank's (Dean Norris) home-based physical therapy). But the main obstacle to Walt and Jesse's comeback plan is the need for a new source of methylamine, the precursor to their premium-grade version of meth.