Rating: A. See, THIS is why I love this show so so so so much. I was all "A! A! A!" about a minute and a half into it. The pre-credit opening was pitch perfect: exposition you don't notice, back story, fanservice etc. You knew what was coming the second the guy sat down next to Tortuga.
This episode also had a lot of those little real-to-life details I've been complaining about the absence of. Gus Fring peeling the cling film off the vegetable tray, the fact that the cousins jack a wheelchair accessible van (which, admittedly, seems kind of unnecessary, but it was a rare moment of general showoff-iness I oddly didn't mind), Jesse setting the cactus down by his door, Walt wiping the pizza off the roof, Texas fucking Toast! Oh, and my absolute favorite--the guy dropping Spanish to say "Heisenberg" and "Walter White" with a perfect American accent. That really killed me. Everybody does that but nobody ever thinks to mention it.
Jesse: quality in this episode. Also I couldn't help myself from saying "Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot" (out loud--and I'm the only person in the room) in that first scene of his when he was talking to Saul. Goddamn. At first I didn't think I liked the clean cut thing, but . . . yeah. Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot. I admit this is not my most nuanced criticism. Also: heartbreaking. Calling a dead person's answering machine is another one of those things people do but don't talk about.
Another point: Sandwiches! I think I may have forgotten to mention this here, and only said it on the AVC boards, but I'm really digging Breaking Bad's sandwich theme.
Walt continues to be inscrutable. I don't really like it--as long as we can't see his perspective, I want more Jesse. On the other hand, I was very interested in Skyler this episode, an extremely welcome change. The mock-iconic image of her smoking by the window was hilarious, very Tennessee Williams. I was envisioning some kind of argument--"You're smoking!" "You're a drug dealer!" Because there's no way Walt and Walter Jr. couldn't smell the smoke, window or no window. "I fucked Ted" was great, and it came at a time when I was like "The episode is almost over, what the hell dramatic thing can happen to conclude it?" Incidentally, my iTunes download bleeped out "fuck." What the fuck? They never did that before.
So yeah. Solid episode. Tons of forward motion--not much terror and suspense, but that's fine--lots of awesome, we finally have some real plot lines. My opinion is that Walt, Jesse and Saul are going to have to take out the cousins. Unless Walt dies of cancer first, there's no way that he can survive while they are still alive. Somehow, I have a hard time imagining that Breaking Bad will end with Walt machete'd by laconic gangsters. I just don't see a stopgap solution to this.
Gripes: I think the scenario with the attorney was implausible. Nevertheless, the episode's transparent attempt to put Skyler in dramatic secret-keeping situations was somewhat mitigated by the fact that she killed the suspense so quickly in the second scenario. Also, I think that Bloomin' Onion jokes are pretty tired by now. But that's pretty much it. My faith in the show has been returned.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I haven't had the same reservations about this season as you have, but I agree that this is the high point so far. With Tortuga showing up in the opening scene, only to have his head unceremoniously lopped off by the cousins (good to have confirmation that they are Tuco's cousins, even if we all speculated to that effect), pretty much started the episode in high gear.
ReplyDeleteThe drug leader summit was my favorite part of the episode. I, too, especially liked Gus removing the plastic film from his vegetable platter. At least I know what to serve when I meet with the cartel.
How uneasy is the truce between Gus Fring and the cartel? He seems "independent," but he still has to answer to the cartel. How long does Gus protect Walter? I imagine he's going to use his protection as a bargaining chip with Walt, but as soon as Walt gives him his 3 months, the cousins will be let loose. Of course, that's if something doesn't happen to the cousins first.
Walt is dead by the end of the series, no doubt. But I don't think it will be cancer, and I don't think it will be the cousins.
Quibble about Breaking Bad's attention to detail: the Bloomin' Onion is from Outback, not Chili's as Gomez (I had to look up his name) claimed. Chili's version was the Awesome Blossom. I EXPECT BETTER FROM YOU, BREAKING BAD.
NAH SON HE SAYS SOMETHING LIKE WE SHOULDVE GONE TO CHILIS OR OUTBACK THEY GOT THE BLOOMIN ONION
ReplyDeleteZMF is right. He mentioned Outback briefly before he mentioned the Blooming Onion.
ReplyDeleteAlso, in terms of minutiae, the original AMC broadcast bleeped "fuck" too. I don't remember them ever using *that* word uncensored before, but I could be wrong.
I think Walt's actions make more sense now than they did last week. He's calling Skyler's bluff. His conversation with Saul made him realize that she doesn't want to turn him in, PLUS he realized that he can use Walt Jr.'s affection for him as a weapon. So the plan when he was breaking in was "I'm coming back, and you can't stop me."
Besides the most obvious moment of Skyler's facade cracking (not telling the police) the other great moment is when she tells her lawyer "Drug manufacturer, actually - they're called cooks." She fell back in to (sorta) defending him by using the same grotesque euphemism that he did.
And then when she realized she couldn't use the meth to hurt him, she found another way to hurt him. Badass. And brilliant.
Also, and I know this has been done to death on the AVC boards, Danny Trejo was killed by a machete. I mean, a … MACHETE.
ReplyDelete