getting clean, but still feel a strong pull to use their remaining heroin. Walt goes to a bar to unwind, where he unknowingly sits next to Donald. The two start talking about the Phoenix probe's discovery of water on Mars and about Donald's daughter and Walt's "nephew" (Jesse), voicing their frustrations over trying to help people who will not do what is good for them. Donald opines that one can never give up on one's family. Motivated by Donald's words, Walt goes back to Jesse's house to talk to him but finds Jesse and Jane passed out from heroin use. While Walt is trying to wake Jesse, he inadvertently and unknowingly knocks Jane onto her back; she starts to choke on her own vomit. Walt rushes to help, but after hesitating for a moment he changes his mind and lets her die. He begins to cry before looking on resolutely. Production The episode was written by John Shiban, and directed by Colin Bucksey. It aired on AMC in the United States and Canada on May 24, 2009. Critical reception The episode was widely acclaimed by critics and is generally considered to be an important entry in the series given its plot developments. Emily St. James, recapping the episode for Slant, noted that it was "a beautifully rich and layered work about the various ways parents and children disappoint each other." Donna Bowman, writing for The A.V. Club, gave the episode an A rating, commenting: "it is perhaps the single best episode to date in one of the best shows television has ever produced." Alan Sepinwall praised Bryan Cranston's performance in the episode's climactic scene and drew comparisons to "Kennedy and Heidi," an episode of The Sopranos. Seth Amitin at IGN gave the episode an 8.9/10 and opined that the episode was effective at increasing the dramatic stakes leading into the season's finale, stating that "everything about this episode was used to push tension one step further for the finale." For his performance, Cranston won his second of three consecutive Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards. Shiban was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for episodic drama for the episode "Phoenix" in 2010. In Cranston's own 2016 memoir A Life in Parts, he begins the book by recounting the process of filming the final scene in the episode. He recalls how he