All language subtitles for Mythbusters.S12E10.Breaking.Bad.Special.1080p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-XEON_track3_[eng]

Do not try what you're
about to see at home.

We're what you call experts.

Ow!

On this episode of "Mythbus--"

Did you bring it?

Yeah, we brought it.

It's beautiful.

That's right, folks.

We are smack in the beginning

Of a "Mythbusters"/
"Breaking Bad" special.

Yep, it's gonna be unstable...

Ooh!
Whoa!

...Volatile, and dangerous...

Look at that!
Oh, my god!

...As we break out
with "Breaking Bad."

Walter White with 50 grams
of mercury fulminate.

Whoa!

Who are the Mythbusters?

Adam Savage...

Am I missing an eyebrow?

...And Jamie Hyneman.

I feel like I just got spanked.

Between them, more than 30 years
of special-effects experience.

Together with Grant Imahara...

Somebody order an explosion?

...Kari Byron...

Science gets more fun
when I get a bigger gun.

...And Tory Belleci.

Say hello to my little friend!

They don't just tell the myths.

They put them to the test.

-- Captions by Vitac --
www.vitac.com

Captions paid for by
Discovery Communications

Shall we get our viewers
up to speed? Okay.

Ladies and gentlemen,
this is Vince Gilligan,

Creator of the amazing show
"Breaking Bad,"

And this is Aaron Paul,

Who plays one of the main
characters on the show,

Jesse Pinkman.

Now, a few months ago,
Vince was asked in an interview

What show he would most like
to do a crossover

With "Breaking Bad,"

And his answer was,
"Mythbusters."

So, guys,
what do you have for us?

Well, "Breaking Bad" is usually
about Walt and Jesse

Getting themselves
into a whole lot of trouble,

And typically, it's science
that bails them out.

But, you know, we've been
getting a lot of grief

Whether or not that science

Is actually scientifically
accurate,

And we're here hoping
you can separate

"Breaking Bad"
fact from fiction.

Like what?

First off, can you, indeed,
use mercury fulminate

As an impact explosive
and decimate an entire room?

Nice.

And two, can you dissolve

Through a bath, floor,
and ceiling

Just by filling up the tub
with hydrofluoric acid?

Explosives and acid.

Let's party.

Totally.

Yes.

The hit show "Breaking Bad"

Sees chemistry teacher Walt
and his dropout student

Take on the crazy world
of cartels,

Crime, and crystal.

There is gold in the streets.

But while science
is always on their side,

Is their chemistry correct?

Well, first up,
it's rub-a-dub-dub,

Acid eats through a tub.

Can hydrofluoric acid really
chew through a crime scene?

And for this acid test,
what's the plan?

Clearly, we should start
in small scale

With, I think, small samples
of each of the substances

The acid's supposed to
have eaten through

Like ceramic for the bath,
steel for the gun,

Pig bone and pig flesh
for the body,

And wood for the floor,

And see if the acid
actually reacts with it.

And if it can, then you'll
ramp up to full scale?

We're gonna ramp it up
to full scale no matter what,

But, yes, exactly.

Well, there's one thing
you guys need to remember.

H.F. Is really,
really dangerous.

Yeah. And that's
an understatement.

We're gonna really have to lock
down our safety procedures.

Good luck.

Yeah, good luck.

And since
hydrofluoric acid is so toxic

That even a tiny amount
on your skin could be deadly...

Stylish.

...It's off to berkeley,

Where their crack team
of chemists

Have a supply of this
concentrated corrosive.

Now, in the actual program,

Walt describes hydrofluoric acid
as being capable

Of dissolving metal, rock,
glass, and ceramic,

All materials commonly findable
in an average bathroom.

We've added a couple of others

Plus our favorite
human analogue, pig,

And we're gonna introduce them
to some hydrofluoric acid

And see what happens.

All right, so, I'm gonna
go ahead and load these

With 100 mils
of hydrofluoric acid.

Eric the chemist
carefully pours the acid...

Well, there's the meat.

It's not bubbling up
right away though, is it?

No.
Or smoking.

...Making sure
that all the samples

Receive exactly 100 mils.

Well, now the most crucial
aspect of any experiment.

Waiting.
Yep.

And after an eight-hour soak
in their acid bath,

According to "Breaking Bad,"

There should be
nothing left, right?

Let's see what we got.

There's some residue
on the bottom there,

But it seems completely
unaffected by the acid.

Yeah.

The steel is still intact,

And so is the linoleum
and the wood.

It seems like it's
pretty much unaffected.

But the drywall
is a different matter.

Ohh! Oh, the drywall is just
a soggy, soupy mush.

Yeah, it looks like
the plaster's pretty much gone.

And the acid has also affected
the cast-iron tub.

Yeah, it's clearly eaten through
the ceramic glaze.

Look at that.

Underneath,
it feels quite solid.

Hmm.
Now for the meat.

The main course.

Yeah, it's definitely
affected the meat,

But, you know, I still see
a bunch of fatty tissue there.

Despite some minor changes,

The acid failed to chew through
every single material,

So it's clear the hydrofluoric

Doesn't have the same bite
as "Breaking Bad."

So, at this point,
it's looking pretty clear

That hydrofluoric acid
is not living up

To the "Breaking Bad"
series of events.

There's no doubt that it is
a very dangerous

And potentially lethal acid,

But when it comes to turning
a body into mulch

In a few minutes,
it's not the acid of choice.

But that begs a real question.

What is the acid of choice?

Well, don't go anywhere,

Because when we come back,
we're gonna find out.

Next, Kari, Tory, and Grant

Are throwing down the gauntlet.

All right, Kari.
What's with the hazmat suit?

We have a classic from
season one of "Breaking Bad."

Okay, so, Walt needs to teach
the bad guy a lesson.

He needs to get away.

He grabs what looks to be
a crystalline structure,

Which is actually
mercury fulminate.

And when the bad guys
don't expect anything,

He throws it down on the ground,
it explodes,

Blasting out the windows,

Knocking the bad guys out,
and allowing him to escape.

Wait, so, this mercury fulminate
is some sort of explosive

That you can detonate
by throwing it on the ground?

Time for some extremely
dangerous chemistry.

This... Is not meth.

Armed with his
crazy handful of something,

Walt blinds the bad guys
with science.

But would his fistful of crystal
really decimate a room,

Or is this
counterfeit chemistry?

Are you nuts?!

Want to find out?

All right, so, mercury fulminate
is not exactly easy to get.

So, what, is that it?
Are we done?

No, luckily, we found a guy

Who is licensed
to make this stuff,

And oddly enough,
his name is Jesse.

Now, he has agreed
to make us some.

However, we have to do it
in a remote location.

Why?

'cause it's so nasty
that, if you're making it,

You want to be
out in the middle of nowhere.

Yeah, and given that we know
so little about this explosive,

I say we go out
to the remote location

And do some explosives tests
just to see what it does.

I like it.

A little mercury fulminate 101.

So, it's off to the quarry

To get to know
Walt's weapon of choice.

What are we gonna
blow up today?

On "Breaking Bad," Walter White
takes some fulminated mercury,

Throws it at the ground,
and creates an explosion.

The question is
is it gonna explode

The way it does in the tv show?

So, we've come out here
to carson hill rock quarry,

Where we've done
lots of explosions

To find out a little bit more

About what it does
and how it's made.

And the person
with that classified know-how

Is the aptly named
explosives expert Jesse.

Mercury fulminate
is extremely dangerous.

And that's why we have
Jesse Taylor.

He is our expert.

Now, he is a consultant
for the military

In homemade explosives.

And we're taking
all of the precautions here.

He is away in a special tent
remotely from all of us

And only making small batches.

Jesse, how dangerous
is mercury fulminate?

Mercury fulminate
is a primary explosive,

And so it is very sensitive
to shock and impact,

Friction, heat,
as well as spark.

So, the good news

Is this mercurial stuff
is very volatile.

The bad news is
it's a lot less photogenic.

The finished product doesn't
look like it does on tv.

Right, mercury fulminate
is normally a powder

In a silver or gray color.

And in the show,
it's crystallized.

And to form those crystals,
it's fairly complex,

Probably beyond the scope
of an improvised setting

Like we're in today.

I'm gonna let you
get back to work

'cause this looks like
dangerous stuff.

Absolutely.

It may look
nothing like its tv twin,

But now the question is,
how much bang do you get

For your
fulminated-mercury buck?

Now, there are
two important differences

Between what they did
on the show

And what we're gonna do here.

The first one is that Walt used
50 grams of fulminated mercury.

We're only gonna use five

Since this is the first time
we're using it on the show.

And the second thing
is that in order to activate it,

He actually threw it
on the floor.

For this, we're going to use
something a bit more controlled.

This is a squib.

And, oh, yeah, one more thing.

We're gonna put it
inside of a pumpkin.

Why a pumpkin?

Well, to find out if this
explosive bears fruit.

All right, here we go.

This is five grams
of mercury fulminate.

All right.
Let the pumpkin fly.

In three, two, one, fire!

Whoo!

That pumpkin is gone!

Well, it blows up real good.

So, I guess we go
back to the shop.

It's time to really find out

If you can throw it
and make an explosion.

Oh, man. This is gonna
be so much fun.

Now what we need to do
is test this myth.

So, we're gonna have to
figure out a way

To throw that mercury fulminate
safely onto the ground,

And we're gonna have to
recreate a building

Just like the one in the tv show

So we can see how explosive
this stuff really is.

Coming up
on the "Breaking Bad" special...

Careful about the splashing.

...The acid reigns, but can it
take a bite out of a bath tub?

It's like it's on fire.

And the team cooks up
some crazy, crystal chaos.

All right,
let's blow up this hideout.

Whoa!

Yo, I'm Jesse Pinkman, and it's
time to science this biatch up!

The Mythbusters
are Breaking Bad,

Scrutinizing their science,
and checking their chemistry.

So, could hydrofluoric acid

Really burn a hole
through your bathroom?

Well, the body
of evidence says, "no."

There's been
some activity here.

But it's not soup.

Why? Well here's Adam on acid.

All right, kids.

Time for a little lesson
in acid chemistry.

Editors, please give me
a periodic table right there.

Awesome.

Now, let's highlight
the halogens --

Fluorine, chlorine, bromine,
iodine, and astatine.

What's interesting to us
about these five elements

Is their reactivity.

The lower their atomic number,
the more reactive they are.

That means bromine
is more reactive than iodine,

Chlorine more reactive
than bromine,

And fluorine reacts with nearly
every known substance.

Now, on to acids.

Thank you.

Hydrogen creates an acid
with each of the halogens,

And you would be very reasonable

To expect that the reactivity
of the halogen

Would correspond directly

To how caustic the acid that it
makes with hydrogen would be.

But you'd be wrong in the case
of hydrofluoric acid,

And it's because of the central
bond in hydrofluoric acid,

That bond between
hydrogen and fluorine.

See, these acids work

By releasing hydrogen atoms
in the reaction,

And because that bond
between hydrogen and fluorine

Is so strong,
it doesn't ever want to let go,

Hydrofluoric acid
is a less powerful acid

Than its brethren.

Lesson out.

Hydrofluoric acid
may not have the right bite,

But Jamie has found something
that does.

According to our experts
at berkeley labs,

That would be
almost pure sulfuric acid,

Along with one other ingredient,

Which we will refer to
as our "special sauce"

Because we're not
actually in the business

Of showing people
how to dispose of bodies.

Let's just say it turbocharges
sulfuric acid.

The hydrofluoric acid

Didn't dissolve
the organic matter, the bath,

The floor, or the ceiling.

But Jamie's so confident

That this special-sauce
solution can,

They're going full-scale
for this chemical catastrophe.

In order to work with acid,

You need a location
that's in the middle of nowhere,

And that's where we've come.

One of our favorite locations,
the waste management

Altamont landfill
in livermore, california.

Down there in that bowl
where Jamie's standing?

That's ground zero.

In this rectangle,
there's gonna be a hole.

In that hole,
there's gonna be a tank,

And that tank is
where all the nastiness

Is gonna fall if it burns
through the tub and the floor.

I would have gotten there
eventually.

That way,
it'll be safely contained.

Safely contained

And unable to fall
through the cracks.

And it's fully in place.

The bath that goes
under our bath,

Made of cross-linked,
high-density polyethylene.

And above that goes
their elevated bathroom,

Built, of course, to code.

One tub -- of death!

So, this is our
mocked-up bathroom,

And we've got a floor
built to spec.

We have a cast-iron bathtub.

We even have a faux tile wall
behind it.

But since this special sauce mix

We're gonna be
pouring in the tub

Is about the nastiest stuff
known to man,

If you're talking acids,

We're gonna have to take
some special precautions

To do it safely.

To that end, we've employed
the help of delta tech services.

These guys are a hazardous
materials clean-up company,

And they've brought every toy
in their arsenal to help us out.

Well, that's
the worst-case scenario

Taken care of.

But now to break out the bad.

It's time to meet
the dangerous stuff.

In these two bottles --

Nearly pure solution
of sulfuric acid.

Eh, but we make it even stronger
by adding this --

A 30% solution
of our special sauce.

The two of these together
hopefully will get ugly.

And in here is 35 pounds
of dirty drug-dealer swine,

And he's about to take a bath.

Time to suit up.

Let's do it.

With guys hazmat-ed up,

It's time for the pig
to take a bath.

Hello, little guy.

Oh, man.

Let's get the acid.

But for our drug-dealing swine,

The toxic trouble
just got deeper.

Now, in the clip,
we only ever see Jesse

Pouring two gallons of acid
onto the body in the bathtub.

But to make triply sure

That we're totally covered
in this experiment,

We're using
three-times that much.

Yep, and once the pig
is sleeping in the sulfuric,

Enter the special sauce.

You ready?
Yeah.

Here we go.
Special sauce going in.

Careful about the splashing.

Smoking coming up.

Okay.

Okay.

Shall we retreat
to our video cave?

Yep.
Okay.

Come with us.

500 feet away,

The tent is set for their
sulfuric surveillance.

So now begins the weirdest wait
in "Mythbusters" history.

This is the worst movie ever.

Six gallons
of special-sauce solution

Slowly starts to react
with the bath...

Oh. Oh.

Bubbles are starting to form.

We've got white foam.

...And it's contents.

It's getting much darker
and gooier over here.

There's all this cloudy crap
coming into the liquid.

But after 40 minutes
of gradual changes...

Oh, there it is.

...Suddenly the chemical
reaction heats up.

There's a ton of smoke
coming off this dude.

It's happening.

Oh.
Oh.

Oh!

Oh!!
The pig is dissolving.

Look at that.
Wow!

Oh, look at the thermal camera.

It's like hell in a bathtub.

It's like it's on fire.
Wow.

As the exothermic reaction
gets even more aggressive,

The bath is cloaked in smoke.

Oh, look at that.
Oh, my gosh.

That's going crazy.

That is going -- we just better
clear out of here.

Yeah.

That acrid cloud of gas

Makes monitoring the bathtub
not just difficult,

But dangerous.

I totally did not expect this
to be so energetic.

But eventually
when the smoke dies down,

It seems the acid
has done it's dirty work --

Well, on the pig at least.

So it looks like a large portion
of it is dissolved,

But there's a little bit left,
and I have to say,

It looks about like
what fell through the floor

In "Breaking Bad."

Yeah, except that the acid's
not doing anything

To the bathtub.
Yeah, not a thing.

It's not making its way
through the tub.

That's what it looks like
safe in video village.

But now that the reaction
has run its course,

The guys go in
for a closer look.

Ugh!

That's just wrong.

It smells terrible.

Ugh!

That's one of the ugliest things
I've ever seen.

It really is one of the ugliest
things he's ever seen.

Think about that for a second.

It's clear the acid
ate through most of the pig,

But what about the bathtub
and the bathroom floor?

Well, the floor
is totally intact.

No tub's coming through there.

Yep.

So as the plug is pulled

And the experts
drain the remains,

It seems this myth is sunk.

What do you think?

Three times the amount of acid
we saw in "Breaking Bad"

Still didn't
burn through the tub.

Well, you know, there's
a lot more room in that tub.

I think we should
talk to Vince about it.

All right.

Still pretty cool.

Kari, Tory, and Grant are
testing this fulminate fling.

Whoo!

Could Walt throw down
mercury fulminate,

Blow up a room,
and get out unharmed?

Well, the show's creator
and star

Have their own initial analysis.

So Kari, Tory, and Grant

Managed to find a real-life
chemist named Jesse...

Yeah.
...Who works in a trailer

And is a genius at making
the best "illegal" chemicals.

Wouldn't you say
that's life imitating art?

Yeah, a little bit, you know.

They got the big boom, right?

But their Jesse said it's
really difficult

To make mercury fulminate
into a crystal-like chunk.

I know. That stuff looked like
dirty play-doh or something.

Yeah, it didn't look
as cool as ours.

So maybe does that mean

That their Jesse isn't
as bad-ass as our Jesse?

Yes, that's exactly
what it means.

Bad-ass or not, it's time to get
this throw on the road.

So the Mythbusters
have cooked up a plan.

Now that we know what
the mercury fulminate can do,

A couple of builds need to
happen so we can test the myth.

First of all, Grant needs
to build a throwing robot,

'cause this stuff is way too
dangerous to throw ourselves.

Secondly,
we need to set the scene,

So Tory and I,
we're gonna build a room.

First things first --

It needs to withstand
a large blast,

So that's gonna mean
a steel frame.

Power's gonna be provided
by an air cylinder.

That pulls down
on a roller chain.

That rotates the arm.

The mercury fulminate
hopefully will hit the ground

And then explode.

First up
is the explosion-proof

Heavy-metal frame.

And with the axle in place,

The robot gets
its all-important throwing arm.

See, this is the best part.

Once the arm goes on,

This hunk of metal
starts to look like something.

It's like I'm giving it life.

It's alive. Alive!

Hmm.

So my throwing robot,

Which I call "throwbot"
for short, is done.

Now it's time to test it
for the first time right now.

In three, two, one...

Yes!

Ahh!

It's pretty good.

So now it's back to the quarry

For the "Breaking Bad" house...

Gorgeous.
That's great.

...The Mythbusters built.

We're building a house.

The walls and floors go up.

Grant positions the throw bot.

Careful of the paneling.

Don't scratch the paneling.

The roof is raised.

The room is glazed.

All right, these windows
are a little dirty,

But we don't care.

And then the final touch is
to add the "Breaking Bad" guys.

This is gonna be Walter.

He can't just be a robot.

He needs a little humanity.

For this experiment,
we're testing two things --

Both lethality and injury.

Now for that,
we have Oseco burst discs.

We're gonna put both injury
at 13 P.S.I.

And death at 75 P.S.I.

At Tuco, Walter White,
and his henchman.

We'll see who lives, who dies.

And with that,

The "Breaking Bad" tableau
is ready to, uh, break.

Next...

Suddenly, I'm very uneasy.

...Can a fistful of crystal
make a room ka-boom?

Oh, my gosh!

Put your pants back on.
We got work to do.

All right,
welcome to the bad guy hideout.

Now this is how we're gonna
test this myth.

We're gonna take 50 grams
of mercury fulminate,

Stick in Walt's hand,
A.K.A. Grant's throwing machine,

Throw it on the ground,
and see if it explodes.

Now, we've re-created the office
just like in the tv show.

It's built to code,
complete with windows.

Now, Tuco's over here.
He's sitting at his desk.

He's counting his money.

Now, his henchmen,
they have Walt surrounded.

So what we're gonna do
is load up the throwing machine,

Throw the mercury fulminate
on the ground.

Now, if it explodes,
we have burst discs

Around the room to see if these
guys would survive the blast,

And we're gonna be able to see
if the windows blow out

Just like in the tv show.

Hello, gentlemen.

So, is that the real stuff?

Yes, it is.

There you are.

All right.

Suddenly, I'm very uneasy.

With the unpredictable
payload in place,

Grant very carefully
charges the throw bot.

Okay, system's charged.
I'm pulling the pin.

Okay. We're hot.

And remember,
to confirm the myth,

The throw must trigger a blast

Which blows out the windows
and leaves Walt unharmed.

So now it's the countdown
to the throwdown.

This is Walter White

With 50 grams
of mercury fulminate

In three, two, one...

Oh!
Nothing happened.

There was a second where I was
hoping it was gonna work,

But it obviously didn't.

It's not that sensitive.

It seems mercury fulminate
may be volatile,

But Walt's powerful pitch
couldn't detonate it...

...Which means somebody has
some explaining to do.

So, uh, I know you're my boss
and everything,

But it looks like you were
kind of wrong

With this one, huh?

Yeah, but what Kari, Tory,
and Grant don't know...

Mm-hmm.

...Is that up here
in my mind's eye,

You know, in that scene,
what I think happened

Is that Walt mixed in
with his mercury fulminate

A little silver fulminate.

Oh.

What's that?

It's the stuff they put
in these things.

Wow.

Um, I love that you
just have that with you.

But that wasn't in the show,
so,

Well, you know, sometimes you
got to read between the lines.

What is it?

Okay, so if we read
between those lines...

Fulminated mercury...

A little tweak of chemistry.

...What Vince is saying
is that Walt's crystal of chaos

Would definitely detonate.

So back at base camp,

The guys are priming
their payload

Courtesy of a blasting cap.

Now, everything else about our
experiment is exactly the same.

The bad guys
are in the same places.

The burst discs
are in the same positions.

And the mercury fulminate
is being set off

From where it would have hit
on the floor.

We're gonna fire this off
with a blasting cap

And see if we blow out
any windows

And how everybody
in the room fares.

This time they'll
certainly get a ka-boom,

But will 50 grams of fulminate
still blow out the windows

And leave Walt unharmed?

Okay, this is 50 grams
of mercury fulminate

And a blasting cap,
just to see what it does,

In three, two, one...

That was a good blast,

But it definitely didn't
blow out the windows.

Yeah, you know what?
It's busted.

We couldn't throw it down

And set off
the mercury fulminate,

And with the same amount
as in the show,

It didn't blow out any windows.

It didn't blow out anything.

It's "no" to the throw,

And "no" to blowing out
the windows.

But did Walt
and the bad guys survive?

Okay, now that the room's been
properly ventilated,

There's no danger of fumes,

But everything's covered
in a fine mercury dust,

So I'm not gonna touch anything
as I investigate the room.

I can see right here --
first henchman,

The injury disc is burst.

Also, injury disc is burst
right here at Walter.

That means that everybody
in the room is injured,

Probably asphyxiating
from mercury fumes

Because the windows
did not break.

It may be busted,
but the throw's not over yet.

The next chemistry question is,
what will it take

To re-create
the small-screen scene?

Please, don't try what you're
about to see at home.

The substance
that we are working with

Is extremely dangerous.

And we have experts
to keep us safe.

So far in
the "Breaking Bad" special,

We've seen a pig disappear,

But we haven't seen a bathtub
go bye-bye.

That's one of the ugliest things
I've ever seen.

And it's time to break
some bad... News.

Hey.
Good to see you boys.

Well, while we've been out,
uh, shooting --

Oh, you know what?

We actually just shot
this crazy scene

Where, uh, Walt
finally realizes that

Hey, hey. Ixnay.

Oh. Right.

Anyway, so,
what have you guys found out?

Well, I hate to break it to you,
but the myth is busted.

No.

Yeah.
It's totally busted.

And we made two changes
to make sure this could work.

One, we used
a special-sauce acid

That's a lot more powerful
than the h.F.,

And second,
we used more than double

The amount that Jesse uses
in the clip.

What do you mean,
"more than double?"

Well, in the clip,
you only see Jesse

Pour two one-gallon jugs
of acid into the tub.

We used almost six,
and it still didn't work.

Well, maybe you saw him
pour two gallons,

But in my mind's eye,
we always used more.

We -- I'm thinking, you know,
we covered that body

At least, I don't know,
30 gallons.

Something like that.

Yeah.

In the trade, we refer to this
as artistic license.

Yeah, well, you know,
I don't even think 30 gallons

Would make it all the way
through a cast-iron tub.

Oh, well, who said
it was cast-iron?

Maybe it was made of some other
kind of material --

Say, like a kind of a...
Mild cheese?

That's it.
That's your artistic license.

I get it. Okay.
Here's how we should do this.

We should go back out
to the site

With 30 gallons
of our special-sauce acid

And a bathtub
made of something --

Maybe not a cheese,

But of something that can be
acted upon by our acid.

Based on what we find out
back at the lab.

Exactly.

All right. Sounds, uh --
sounds like a plan.

We'll keep you posted.

So, we got caught
making some assumptions.

We assumed
it was a cast-iron tub.

Everyone knows what happens
when you make an assumption.

You make an ass
out of you and "umption."

Anyway,
we've done some research,

And we have settled upon

Three of the most common
bath materials --

Cast iron with ceramic coating,

Steel with enamel coating,

And perhaps the most common
of all bathtub materials,

Simple fiberglass.

Now it's time to subject
each of these materials

To our sulfuric acid
with its special sauce

And see which one becomes
our bathtub of choice.

Yep, and back
at the lab for their acid quest,

It's time to turn the tables
on the tub samples.

So, what do we have first?

Cast-iron bathtub.

All right.

Well, there goes the cast
iron into the sulfuric acid.

Now we go
for the special sauce.

Wow. That is
really vigorous.

Six gallons of acid

Couldn't burn through
the cast-iron tub at altamont.

It's not making its way
through the tub.

But more acid per inch
of surface area

Could get
a more caustic result.

Now, this is exactly
what I was expecting to see

With acid and our materials.

However, after a 40-minute soak,

That stubborn cast iron
ain't giving up its ions.

So, next up is...

Enamel-coated steel.

Wow.

That's bubbling up
right away, too.

Bubbling away, but there's
a pattern repeating.

Well, the enamel-coated steel
went into the sulfuric acid,

And again, not much was going on

Until the special sauce
was poured in,

And it started to bubble.

But we're told that that's
just a reaction

Between the special sauce
and the sulfuric acid,

Because now,
a couple minutes later,

is no bubbling.

Which means it's time
for the final contender --

The fiberglass.

Oh, man.
That's so cool.

Fiberglass has been
the most reactive substance

Thus far tested of anything.

We put it in here,

And once the special sauce
went in,

The bubbling was
incredibly powerful,

And now it's
like four minutes later,

And it looks like there's
a brown stain

Floating on top of the sulfuric
acid and special sauce.

I'm very encouraged about this.

Are we done?

I think that's it.

You know what that means.

Time to go full-scale.
Yep.

Fire!

So far, we have not seen
anything even remotely close

To the tv show.

No throwing down
the mercury fulminate,

No explosion,
no glass going everywhere,

But now it's my favorite part
of the show,

Where we replicate the results.

So, it's out with the throwbot.

And into the r.V.,

Where Jesse has been
carefully formulating

A huge batch of fulminate.

So, this is the moment of truth

For our myth
and mercury fulminate.

We're making the biggest batch
that we can safely

In the amount of time
that we have.

Our chemist, Jesse,
has been at this

For a little over eight hours,

And the size of the batch
is 250 grams.

That's five times
what Walt used on the show.

Now, since at this point,

It's considered a
shock-sensitive high-explosive,

It's way too dangerous to simply
walk this over and place it,

So they're putting it inside
an explosion-proof box

And carefully driving it
over to the site.

We're gonna set this off,
and see if this is enough

To blow out the windows
in our building.

Yep, inside that box

Is more than a fistful
of crystal.

And once our
mild-mannered chemist

Has painstakingly positioned
Walt's weapon of choice,

It's wired for detonation.

But can five times the amount
of mercury fulminate

Finally get
the "Breaking Bad" room boom?

All right.
Let's blow up this hideout.

250 grams of mercury fulminate.

This is "Breaking Bad" boom
in three...

Two... One... Go.

Whoa!

I think we got the windows.

Oh, my god!

We completely destroyed
the hideout.

Yeah. Science!

250 grams of mercury fulminate
certainly broke that room bad.

Wow.

Oh, my gosh.

The entire structure is gone.

That was awesome!

Shall we go see
if anybody survived?

Why not?

And at the scene of the blast,

Kari's instincts were right.

So, all the windows are
busted out, and everyone's dead.

Now, to be fair,
a reinforced-concrete building

Like the one in the show
might have fared better

Than our wooden house,
but you know what?

That doesn't change the fact
that this is still busted.

It's busted for the Mythbusters,

But for those of you
reading between the lines...

All right, so, um,
they're calling it busted,

But... What about you?

I say confirmed.

Confirmed? Hmm.

Explain. How so?

Well, Walt used that bag
of mercury fulminate

To threaten everybody
in the room, and he was right.

That bag would have caused
total devastation.

In fact, if we use that much,

It would be the Jesse Pinkman
show now, right?

Yes.
Yes, it would have been.

Yeah?
Damn it.

Damn it.

Okay, so, but what about
it not going off

When it was thrown

Or how you need a lot of it

To make a, you know,
big -- a big boom?

Those are just details,
my friend.

Details.
Details, details.

Man, you sound more like Walt
every day.

I'm glad you're noticing.

After the break...
Uh-oh.

...There's no more
half measures...

It's going over the side.

Dude!

...As the guys
go the whole hog

For a chemistry catastrophe.

Oh.

Vince, I wanted to tell you
I'm a huge fan of the show,

And I've been wanting
to ask this question.

See, I think of Walt
as a flawed genius --

Clearly brilliant,

But also with serious
anger-management issues.

Yeah, you know,
and not just anger management.

I mean, this guy --

He's intolerant,
he's bad-tempered,

But he's also
really, really cunning

And, um...
Kind of super methodical.

Right. Exactly.

So, my question is,

Where did you find inspiration
for the character of Walt?

Honestly,
couldn't really tell you.

It's a mystery.

Yo.

It's "Breaking Bad"
in the house.

According to "Breaking Bad,"

Acid plus bathtub
plus organic matter...

...Is a recipe for disaster.

But so far, not so good.

God, that's nasty.

The floor is totally intact.

No tub's coming through there.

However, for the final science
of the hams...

Our last tub
required this to move it.

For moving this one,

I've decided to reveal
to the world my super strength.

Rah!

...They're switching
tubs and upping the acid ante.

This is where we try to show
what it would actually take

To replicate what we saw
in "Breaking Bad."

And that involves pouring
24 gallons

Of almost pure sulfuric acid

Over a pig
in this fiberglass tub.

To that, I will add 12 gallons
of our special sauce,

Which will come out
of this container right here,

Which I'll deliver
with the gradall

Up and over our barrier.

And I'll open the valve,
and we'll see what happens

When our special sauce
gets to work on that pig.

It's a souped-up protocol,

Because with six times the acid,
there's six times the risk.

It's not only fully protective,
but I look good in it.

Damned good.

So, while Adam
loads the special sauce...

I've done my part.

...Jamie gives the pig
its sulfuric soaking.

Okay, Adam.
That's the last two.

I'm ready
for the special sauce.

Copy that.

Then, Adam carefully lowers
his corrosive catalyst.

All right.
Here we go.

And Jamie unleashes
a torrent of trouble.

It's really bubbling.

The question now
is will this combo

Get them the "breaking
bad"-chemistry destiny?

Oh, wow. I can see
the smoke from here.

Well, it's off
to a very volatile start.

Uh-oh.

It's starting to go off.
We better get out of here.

In fact, the guys don't even
make it up the hill

Before the entire corral
goes up in smoke.

Ooh!
Whoa!

It's going over the side.

Dude!

I don't know
if looking at remote cameras

Is gonna help at this point.

No.
Adam's right.

The reaction is so fast
and so furious

That even the cameras
are in the dark.

Well, I'll you one thing.

I'm glad we decided to pour in
the special sauce remotely.

You and I both.

Oh, my goodness.
That is crazy.

That happened so much faster
than I thought it would.

I'm glad the wind's
blowing that way.

Yep, and once the smoke clears,

They have a very grisly angle
on what remains to be seen.

Wow.

There's no pig.

There's a couple of chunks,
it looks like, floating around.

I'm surprised.

It thought that the bathtub
may have filled,

But it just looks like
everything boiled over,

And now it's
about half-full.

Yeah.

Half-full
of black satanic sludge.

In five minutes flat,

The acid almost completely
dissolved the pig,

But did they finally get
the bathroom blow out?

Ahh. Oh, man.

How does the floor look?

The plywood's been affected,
but it's not been eaten through.

It's just sort of like
it's been charred.

And the bathtub?

The bathtub looks like it's
been burned some,

But, uh...
It's completely intact,

And it's holding 20,
25 gallons of stuff in there.

That's amazing.

I've never seen
anything like that.

The -- the pig is just like
it was never there.

It's turned
into some kind of black goop.

What pig?

I don't know
anything about no pig.

There's no pig
because the chemical reaction

Literally broke it down
into its elements.

Inside the tub was
sulfuric acid

And our special sauce

Which, let's just say,
is lots of hydrogen and oxygen.

And then, of course,
there's the pig,

Which is made up
of mostly hydrocarbons.

And the chemical reaction
produced

When the acid was exposed
to the pig was so energetic

That it released massive amounts
of hydrogen and oxygen,

Making that huge cloud
of water vapor

Along with carbon dioxide
and hydrogen gas.

And then, all that was left

When the reaction
had run its course

Was carbon and sulfur,

Leaving that black pool of
sludge in the bottom of the tub.

That was spectacular.

The reaction happened
much faster than we expected,

But our protocol
accommodated for that, and --

And at the peak, this entire
30-foot-diameter corral

Was just shooting a plume
of smoke to the sky.

Any experiment that has a plume
of smoke shooting to the sky

Is, by definition, awesome.

"by definition, awesome."

But this bathtub breach
is all washed-up.

Well, that was really cool.

Very cool.

Busted, but totally cool.

Let's go tell Vince and Aaron.

Cool.

All right, guys,
the results are in,

And I'm sorry to say,

Even though our special acid
with the fiberglass tub

Was an improvement,

It still failed to replicate
what we see in the clip.

Oh, man.

And, because it didn't work
with h.F.,

This myth is totally
and doubly busted.

Yep. It's busted.

Wait, so, Jesse -- one,
Walt -- nil.

Sure.

Should have used a cheese.