Walt, then working at the prestigious Sandia Laboratory, envisions a bright future with three children and worries that they are not setting their sights high enough with the "starter house".
The next day, Walt arrives at the lab and discovers that Gale Boetticher has been reinstated as his partner, and Victor now supervises them constantly.
As Walt is leaving his home to kill Gale, Victor arrives and claims there is a chemical leak at the lab.
This led to wide speculation among fans and reviewers that Jesse did not actually kill Gale, but rather aimed away from him and fired the gun.
[4] Bryan Cranston won his third consecutive Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his performance in this episode.
[5][6] Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle praised the season's character development, describing the finale as "an exclamation mark on the tortured journey of Jesse".
Club stated the episode "should cement this season of Breaking Bad as one of television's finest dramatic accomplishments".
"[10] The finale of the episode (and season), where Jesse Pinkman hesitantly shoots Gale point-blank, was critically acclaimed.