[Edit: I realized I've been spelling Skyler's name all along--I was rewatching "Mandala" last night and it shows up as "Skyler" on Walt's phone. Oops.]
My grade for the season three premiere of Breaking Bad: B. I was disappointed. Admittedly, I had exceptionally high expectations--but it's Breaking Bad, and I don't think exceptionally high expectations are unwarranted. But I have to give this disclaimer: I have a tendency to psych myself up about things to a ridiculous level and then get kind of blase immediately before they start (I do this with my birthday every year), which I kind of felt like about this too, so you might have to take my psychological profile into account on this one.
Here's what I didn't like about the episode: Its scenes were too discrete, even thrown together. It lacked the sense of relentless forward motion which so characterized the first two seasons. (I may have underestimated the value of Walt's cancer as a "ticking time bomb" device). Too much exposition, not enough tying-together. Exposition is par for the course for a season premiere, but the season two premiere didn't bother with it and that rocked. Plus, this episode seemed surprisingly unrealistic, from the stilted (and not in a good way) assembly to the rehab scenes.
Breaking Bad does tension and suspense better than any other show; I'm reliably on the edge of my seat. Yet this episode only had two compellingly tense moments--Walt's confession to Skyler and the final scene (I said "Something horrible is about to happen"). Maybe I'm jaded because I just rewatched season two, but I expected to be more shocked and more horrified.
On Walt's confession: One problem I have with Breaking Bad is the (to me) completely unsympathetic portrayal of Skyler. I can't stand her, and I consistently have trouble seeing why Walt wants to stay with her. When El Pollo Hermanos guy makes the offer, I couldn't help but say "Why would you want three million dollars?" then "Why would you want your family?" It's obvious that Walt loves his kids, but it's hard to see why he sees Skyler as anything more than a liability and a hindrance, even though he professes to love her. Hell, her first scene in the entire series (I hope I'm right) she's on her laptop when they're in bed together. Think about what that says. Meth has been the center of Walt's life, and I'm interested to see how he attempts to replace it with family values. This episode's "moral" could be interpreted thus: Walt embarked on a life of crime to keep his family together, only to end up losing his family! I think that O. Henry-ish reading is too simplistic. Rather, Walt has replaced his commitment to his family with his commitment to the meth world. Despite "setbacks," Walt has made inestimably more of an impact in this career than in his day job. That's legitimately rewarding, even if Walt can't admit it to himself. And note: Walt sounded like he was talking to Skyler in hyper-excuse mode when he was trying to convince Jesse that he wasn't a bad guy. It seems that Walt/Jesse is going to be the estranged partnership in this season: Walt kept talking Skyler into maintaining the family, now he'll have to talk Jesse into keeping up the partnership.
Finally, I found the opening spectacularly weird in the best way imaginable. The inevitable questions: Is this a flash-forward? How far forward? And what the hell is it all about? I thought it was contemporaneous, but I like how the two previous seasons have messed with our expectations of time. I also loved Walt's slightly manic yet uncomfortably sensible speech about the plane crash, plus his interaction with Hank in the driveway. But I thought the final final scene (once the dudes got out of the haystack) was lame and pandering. Breaking Bad doesn't need to look like an action movie to be fucking awesome.
Stray observations:
- Is it just me or did the colors seem extremely over-saturated? Granted, I just re-watched season 2 in which most of the episodes open in black and white, so it's a sharp contrast. I particularly noticed that there seemed to be an emphasis on blue and yellow (Skyler's blue dress, everyone's blue remembrance ribbons, the yellow police tape, Jesse's yellow flowers, possibly more stuff)
-Skyler is fatter. What's up with that?
- The voicemail machine now says "Flynn."
- The Mexico scenes were very Cormac McCarthy.
-Walt's hotel room is sort of reminiscent of the trailer, with the Venetian blinds and all.
- I thought the "Better Call Saul" matchbooks were too "on the nose." ::cue groans::
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I haven't seen this show yet, but your review is going has me very interested, there's a character named "gong" in the show right?
ReplyDeleteI hope we don't get sued by The AV Club for stealing "stray observations" AND "on the nose." Also, the concept of reviewing TV episodes.
ReplyDeleteJust be glad I didn't use Slate as a model. Then there'd REALLY be groans.
ReplyDeleteSkylar's fatter since she just had the baby, I would assume.
ReplyDeleteGood review, though. Keep this up for the whole season, guys.
(and return to whatever social network you may have left, please)
My wife and I both totally hate Skylar too. What is up with those two, and thanks for reminding me about her and the laptop in bed (where she then goes to jerk him off).
ReplyDeleteHate hate hate Skylar.
Skirk- Thanks! I hope we are keeping it up. It seemed to me that Skyler's face was noticeably fatter than before (as in, at the end of last season, and in comparison w/the shots of Anna Gunn at the premiere) but as I speculated to Joe last night "Maybe she just had her wisdom teeth out the day they filmed it or something."
ReplyDeleteTwitter account restoration is currently disabled, they said it was coming back but they weren't sure when, so I'll come back when it is--until then I am kind of enjoying being slightly more untethered.
Great write-up. I also loathe Skyler. I felt the same way about this episode lacking the forward momentum that has become Breaking Bad's M.O. With any other series I'd say, "Eh, it's the first episode of the season. Give them time to build up steam." Remember the very first episode of Breaking Bad, though? This is not a show that has wasted time building up steam in the past.
ReplyDeleteI really hope that with those two badasses from the Mexican drug cartel on the way, the show doesn't devolve into more action then plot. I'm still optimistic for this season, but cautiously so (uh oh, something else stolen from the AV Club).