Cancer Man

Episode Summary & Review

Summary

Walter announces to the family that he has cancer; the DEA believes there is a new big-time player in the Albuquerque drug business; a depressed Walter takes his anger out on a worthy recipient; Jesse pays a surprise visit to his parents’ house.

Our Take

Walt tells his family about the cancer, and everyone reacts exactly as themselves: Skyler goes into research overdrive, Hank offers to take him on a DEA ride-along (again), Walt Jr. curses at his parents and calls him a pitiful show. Jesse, kicked out of his parents’ house over a joint while his brother is the real stoner, lands in Walt’s apartment. The episode is the season’s quiet hour: cancer as a family system, denial as a group project, and Walt walking out of his own birthday party in his underwear — the first public display of the rage building underneath.