A Man. And His Blog.

An officially solid season finale. Nothing was bad or weak, but nothing was really great or suspenseful. It was somehow the outcome of what has happened during the last twelve episodes, and for that the season finale is good enough to depict all the consequences, and not produce one twist after another, which directs the story into a new direction. Except for the ending, I might say.

So, let’s get this out of the way: I don’t like the information dump that Walt (Bryan Cranston) might have poisoned Brock. It seems logical why he would have done that, and it seems natural in the sense of storytelling. But during the past couple of episodes I never saw Walt being the mastermind he obviously was here. During the past couple of episodes he was a paranoid maniac, who saw a conspiracy behind every one of Gus’ (Giancarlo Esposito) actions (even though all of them justified). But now he’s a wannabe killer, who starts killing innocent people, just for his personal ways and gain? I don’t really believe that. And in addition, the final scene, with the lily in the valley right in front of the camera, feels way too forced. This episode would have greatly served as the series finale. Walt out of danger and Gus’ claws. Jesse rescued (Aaron Paul) (after being “kidnapped” in a very ridiculous way), with a slight chance of connecting with his kinda-girlfriend and her son. The lab destroyed. And not even Hank (Dean Norris) had much to do in things regarding the investigation.

I understand why Vince Gilligan chose to have the “cliffhanger” in the episode: It leads to the fifth season and it creates a storyline already, which could serve as the back drop for the first couple of episodes. But like I said, it felt forced and unnecessary to me. But other than that the episode was good in all the other things. Beginning with the plan to kill Gus, ending with Gus killed. And in-between, the “reconciliation” of Walt and Jesse, when former saved latter’s life in killing the guards. Great scene. And it brought in my mind that Walt still cares about Jesse, even after all the shit that has happened.

The execution of Walt’s plan was great though. A total suspense-nightmare, when Walt was standing in front of Hector (Mark Margolis) (I will miss his bell), and giving him a reason for revenge. And it continued until the end, and even I was not knowing what would eventually happen. I knew that Walt’s bomb from the last episode would be involved, but the back-and-forth between Walt and Hector, with Tyrus (Ray Campbell) standing with Hector like a security guard made me unsure of my own thoughts. And it was good that way. In addition, it was good that Gus was killed off. Another season with him as the antagonist would have been too much for the show. So, I loved the little Terminator reference (most likely not even on purpose) and was happy with the scene – except with it being over the top a little.But BREAKING BAD is always over the tip a little, so I’ll take that scene, as long as it’s the only one until the series finale.

Hector in the DEA office was hilarious. I was actually expecting for something more to happen, except “Suck My…”. I really was expecting for Hector to say at least something about Gus, but then I was relieved that it was just a (foul-mouthed) plan to get Gus’ attention. When you think about it, clever. That way, you get the DEA out of your way, because they think it’s a prank, and in the mean while you have all the time in the world to kill Gus.

At the end, I can’t imagine what the fifth season will be about. There’s probably conflict rising between Walt and Jesse (after all, Walt still has a couple of secrets for Jesse, like Jane’s death), and Hank will somehow come from Gus being dead to the fact that somebody else takes over his business. But then again, I wonder how Walt actually comes back to business. He closed it with Gus’ death, and I don’t think that Cartel knows him good enough to force him back. Something big must happen in the next season premiere to bring to story to a new level.

So, here I am, waiting. Like always after a BREAKING BAD finale. Though I have to say “Full Measure” was better than this finale. 7.5.10

Stinky, angry Hector is angry

The Terminator spin-off is hereby greenlit

There were moments in this episode when I believed I just jumped past the penultimate to the season finale and this was in fact the season finale. Vince Gilligan directing, the whole tone being even more fucked up than already, the conflict between Walt (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse (Aaron Paul), and finally Walt thinking he is going to die. I kinda knew this wouldn’t be the season finale, but then again I needed half of the episode to actually figure it out and not think about it anymore. When TV writers can write those kind of episodes with a lot of tension and suspense into a normal episode (and not the season premiere or finale, midseason premiere or finale), I see that they want to be taken seriously, they want to be seen differently. No wonder BREAKING BAD is named the best show on television when they deliver episodes like this, even though it’s not even the season finale.

Short things short: Probably the best episode of the season. A lot of tension, conflict, suspense, drama. That’s what the show is defined by, and that’s what I want to see. Brock (Ian Posada) being in life-threatening danger and Jesse realizing that he might have been poisoned by Walt was great. All of a sudden the back and forth between those two characters is also defined: Walt wants to get out and save his family, completely forgetting Jesse in that moment, and Jesse wants to kill Walt for what he allegedly did. I loved the moment in Walt’s house when Jesse came by, and both were trying to hold on to their lives on their own terms: Jesse is not believing and Walt tries to blame Gus for it. And meanwhile Walt’s paranoia to Gus (Giancarlo Esposito) is raising up sky-high even more. When Walt wants to see Gus dead by any means, why doesn’t he kill him by himself? But it looks like Walt is as clever as Gus is: Gus wants Jesse to take care of the Walt-problem, and Walt wants Jesse to take care of the Gus-problem. See: Jesse is in the middle of all this shit, and we’re in the fourth season…

Only the quiet moments of the episode were not my thing. Mostly the scenes in Hank’s (Dean Norris) house with everybody. Junior (RJ Mitte) discussing about the absence of his father, Skyler (Anna Gunn) smoking in front of the DEA guys with machine guns… The scenes didn’t get to the quality I wanted to have, and which kind of shined through during the laugh/phonecall-cliffhanger in the last episode, when Marie was almost breaking apart because of the hit tip. There wasn’t even much about it here, instead Hank just tried to sell his theories again, while his little DEA friends are finally listening for once. But damn, that they didn’t find anything in the laundry factory was kinda off… I mean, Hank had so many theories over the last couple of episodes, and all of them lead to a dead end, thanks to Walt and the cleverness of Gus and Mike. This would be a point in the show, where Hank is probably thinking that his theories are leading to nowhere. After all, he can’t follow up on Gus for his whole life and for the rest of the show, so there should be some real development real soon. Like, in the season finale. Or I might think that the writers try again to stall the storyline with stopping it completely like they did after the parking lot events in “One Minute”.

After this episode I don’t know what to expect from the season finale though. This was pretty much a season finale. What’s there to come, which rocks my socks off? 9/10

Having a break...

Who is finishing off who?

First thing I was thinking about this episode: Ted (Christopher Cousins) is really stupid. I absolutely cannot understand why he’s just accepting the money and pay the IRS. It would be the logical thing to do to make his problems with the government disappear, but he rather says he’s too proud of himself and is not accepting Skyler’s (Anna Gunn) money because of it. Really, how stupid can one be? Next thing: It brought the story to an unpleasant level. I didn’t like that Skyler chose to bring Saul’s (Bob Odenkirk) “A team” to the mix, and forcing Ted to write the proper check. I didn’t like that Skyler was taking this kind of responsibility and eventually chose to go down that path (even though she didn’t expect that Ted would be hurt). And then… Did Ted actually die? What a stupid accident scene. That looked so surreal, it reminded me of the previous two seasons, which were filled with sometimes over-the-top surrealism, which was the reason why the second season has never been topped by its successors. The “death” scene really looked fugly.

But that isn’t the story to write about. I was rather interested in how Walt (Bryan Cranston) is losing his brain and his mind, and is going nuts with every minute. Even though I can’t understand why he hurried up like that, despite Gus saying he can’t kill Walt yet because of Jesse, I liked where it brought him: in the crawl space and his crazy maniac laughter, which sounded like he just turned bad completely. Is Walt the villain now, after he realized he can’t win? Is Walt ready to kill people for his own sake and the sake of his family, because he realized he can’t even trust Skyler? Is Walt really going nuts now? It would serve well, when the writers actually develop Walt further after that scene down there, and after the pretty much awesome “cliffhanger”. Again, shit is going to happen, people are probably going to die, and even Skyler has to realize that Walt’s job is deadly now. Even more: What is she thinking about the situation, after she is most likely thinking she brought Walt into the situation, after giving the money to Ted?

Then there’s Jesse (Aaron Paul). I don’t really understand his back-and-forth. Understandable his reaction and behavior to Walt, when he showed up in front of his door, but I don’t understand why Jesse would risk Gus (Giancarlo Esposito) killing Walt, even though he (almost) tried everything to keep Walt alive. Sure, it doesn’t lie in his own hands, but it feels unnatural. The question I wanna ask is why Jesse behaves like a dick in front of Walt, but tries everything to keep him alive in front of Mike and Gus. It feels really awkward. But I liked how Jesse and Gus talked with each other. After Jesse found a “friend” in Mike, Jesse found a “friend” in Gus, and even the chance to redeem himself in the dangerous drug business. Like I realized during the season: The writers are working on getting Jesse I front of Walt, which is a pretty interesting story development. Two seasons ago, Jesse was lying comatose in bed besides dying Jane.

And Hank (Dean Norris)? He’s also a bit stupid. Is he still investigating completely on his own? I would have imagined that the DEA has found something irregular in Gus’ life, which would also have meant the government’s investigation is back on track. And with it Hank becoming the antagonist for the (new?) cartel. But hey, now he’s about to be the victim of a hit, and I’m thrilled to see how that will play out. 7.5/10

That's Ted. He seems to be dead

That's the crawl space. In which Walt is laughing

Another good episode. This time stuff happened, and this time it looks like it would change the over all arc of the series a bit. Now that the Cartel most likely stepped away from the window (at least the Don Eladio [Steven Bauer] part of the Cartel), Gus (Giancarlo Esposito) can finally live free and without breathing in his neck. Well, except Walt and Jesse. And maybe Hank, when he’s back on his radar.

The first half was barely important. The only think I liked was Jesse (Aaron Paul) teaching the Mexicans in his own way, and showing them who’s boss. I wanted to see more of it, but unfortunately the Mexico story was cut short, because Skyler and Walt needed a story. First off: Why giving Skyler (Anna Gunn) this shitty storyline? It has nothing to do with the current plot of the season, and very much reminded me of Marie’s off-topic story in the beginning of the season. Why filling this gem with those kind of boring characters, which are not good for anything? It just slows down the storytelling, pushes answers, revelations and twists to a later point, and are just – and I’m repeating myself here – boring. In addition, Ted (Christopher Cousins) is just an idiot: He has had the chance to be an awesome gut and eventually get fucked by Skyler, but he messed up and had to buy another BMW. What a car junkie, lol.

Same goes with Junior’s (RJ Mitte) storyline. I liked his affection to Walt (Bryan Cranston), when he was in his dark time for an episode, but it also was an unnecessary and unimportant story. One I didn’t need, and one which was probably written into the episode to keep RJ Mitte’s screentime per season in the average of 66 minutes. Because otherwise I can’t explain why this whole emotional drama felt forced to me.

So, only Jesse’s story remains and it rocked. I already said I loved him as a teacher, but the scenes with Don Eladio were just crazy cool. I so knew that the bottle of whatever-was-in-there would be poisoned, after I was hoping that the gift would be a bomb or something. When everybody was drinking from it, I was just waiting for the guys to fall like flies. Especially when Gus turned his attention to sticking his finger in his throat and vomit out the poison he took. But that wasn’t the interesting part. I totally loved the last couple of minutes, starting when Mike (Jonathan Banks) killed one of the henchman and Jesse started to freak out. He so did not expect this to happen, but how he got into the situation – helping, having a gun, and eventually killing one of the henchman while saving Gus and Mike, even though it would have been the best opportunity to finally kill Gus and get rid of all the danger and threats coming from him. I am really interested in finding out what Walt has to say about this situation…

Three episodes left and the Cartel is probably gone. Somehow, not a good idea to remove a threat from a big storyline so short before the season finale. But then again, there are still three episodes left and lots of time for a new storyline to crate. New dangers and new threats. 7.5/10

Chloe's ex-husband is a wannabe meth cook now

Who is getting shot? A good or a bad guy?

Another good episode. Unfortunately less Gus and more Walt and Jesse, figuring that it’s their turn now to reflect on the threatening situation between Gus and the Cartel. Again, a good idea to do so, and again, a good idea to have the conflict between the two developed here. It was great to see how Jesse (Aaron Paul) defended Walt in front of Gus (Giancarlo Esposito), but Walt (Bryan Cranston) lost his trust to Jesse and the two eventually put their fists into each other. The last scene had a somewhat sarcastic tone, but I don’t know if I should consider it a great ending. Thinking about it, it seems a bit over the top and forced.

But at the end it was still a good episode. I don’t even know what to write, since barely nothing happened. Jesse saw someone getting killed, he had dinner with Gus, and he fought with Walt. I better forget the story with Skyler (Anna Gunn) and Ted (Christopher Cousins), because I absolutely don’t know what the meaning of it was. Maybe the writers prepare another storyline here? Maybe the writers want to go back to the little fuck-à-tête between the two, like in the second season? Like in the last episode with Jesse and his secret non-girlfriend, the story is started, looks like it’s gonna be important, but nothing happens. Though it was funny to see Skyler in a dress, which let me think she’s an overpriced hooker, who lives with Ted.

Yeah, that’s basically it. I can’t say much about the conflict between Walt and Jesse, because it was teased over the course of this season already. I can’t say much about Gus’ wishes to bring Jesse more into the business, because I was seeing that exact fact earlier in this season (so, I was right after all). With all of this, the episode didn’t develop much and kinda stood still here. I don’t know whether the writers wanted to hold on to their stories for the remaining episodes of the season, or if they didn’t really know how to lead to the final part of the season, after they actually developed the story strongly during the past couple of episodes. Most notably it’s seen in Hank’s (Dean Norris) development. How fast he came from looking through Gale’s book to the point where he is now: clueless, and unknowingly right in front of Gus’ door.

I have a little bone to pick with Hank though: Didn’t he think about the distribution of Gus’ restaurant empire earlier? I mean, I can understand why he’s getting the idea after looking at Gus’ two-way life, but looking into his past, looking into his restaurant earlier… Seems a bit illogical that Hank wouldn’t look for a distribution warehouse earlier, especially since it also has to be a place with a drug lab. Well, at least he knows now, and he’s going to look. And he’s not going to find anything…

Still a good episode, though in terms of event, not much has happened. It’s like the writers have used their storytelling methods from the first season for this very “quick” episode. 7.5/10

Welcome to the crossfire

... looking at those tits of hers...

Flashback episode! And perfectly timed also, which is awesome to realize because the writers didn’t just put the last act as a flashback act into the script, because they could, but because they had to. What a great idea this was to center the story all around Gus (Giancarlo Esposito), after his conflict with the Cartel is rising, and after he does not seem to be the boss of the whole operation anymore. Gus is basically just a middleman, who has to answer to somebody. And it was a great timing to show it in the season.

The episode was excellent because of it. The writers have balls to second-grade Walt and Jesse again, and make them to minor characters, because there are other storylines as well. It also shows that the writers don’t wanna overload the episodes with gazillions of stories. Okay, they kinda did that, since Jesse’s girlfriend Andrea (Emily Rios) came back on the radar, and Hank (Dean Norris) is in the middle of his self-destructive investigation, and Walt (Bryan Cranston) is somewhat in the middle, not knowing what to do, but this episode was all Gus from start to finish. And I was worried he wouldn’t get much screentime this season, after he barely had any in the beginning. How wrong I was. And how great his character actually is. The little scene in the elevator, where he silently screamed out his anger, and the flashback scene were totally awesome, giving Gus more characteristics than during the last season.

I don’t wanna bore you with all the awesomeness and balls the producers delivered to have the complete last act in Spanish and with that sickening yellow Mexican filter. Though it was obvious that Gus’ friend would be killed in that scene, I was waiting for the bang, and I was especially interested in how Gus came to be a member of the Cartel and a distributor for meth. Though I wonder how he got in the business, after his guy got shot in front of him.

Anyway… Hank staying with the investigation. Nice little back drop that the investigation is still going on, though nobody sees Gus as a person of interest, and there is literally no evidence. I know the writers though and they definitely don’t want to keep Hank out of the loop. So I’m waiting for the think Mike mentioned would eventually happen: With Hank and the Cartel at the same time, Gus is pretty busy, and when the Cartel hits, Hank could be watching. I’m really waiting for that, because I can’t imagine how Hank continues investigating without hard evidence, and without pulling a deus ex machina out of his ass.

Jesse (Aaron Paul) and his girlfriend… I don’t know what to think of it yet. Seems like a story is being prepared here, so I’m gonna wait about the meaning of it all. Maybe it’s supposed to be part of Jesse’s way back up to life, maybe even becoming a bigger part of Gus’ (and/or Mike’s) operation. After all, it is only logical that Jesse would develop more relationships after his meth trip in the beginning of the season, and after he and Mike became somewhat friends. 8.5/10

Asking for a favor is a hard thing to do

Even Gus was a tortured good guy once

Whaaaa? Gus’ fingerprints were in Gail’s apartment? What a fucking neat cliffhanger. I was sitting there with open mouth, when the episode ended. Soo awesome, and all of a sudden the shit is piling up. Because that was not the only thing happening here.

I have the feeling that the situation with Gus (Giancarlo Esposito) and the Cartel worsens. It isn’t even about Walt and Jesse anymore, who were degraded to second-row characters. Now the writers focus on the conflict between Gus and the Cartel, and the episode pretty much teased a bigger conflict in a later episode. Whatever happened during the meeting in the desert, it sure didn’t look like it had a happy ending. And sorry, this story excites me more than anything else in the show currently. Fuck Walt’s (Bryan Cranston) troubles with Skyler (Anna Gunn) or that he becomes more and more paranoid. Fuck Jesse’s (Aaron Paul) emotional drug problems, which are really moving and superb acted. But it doesn’t sit front and center story-wise. And that’s what I love about BREAKING BAD this season. You’d think something would happen with your beloved characters, and before you realize it’s not like that at all, the background story is already up and running and leading the season into the finale. Great storytelling!

What I meant with Walt getting paranoid: His long talk to Jesse during the beginning was really the work of a maniac. Even though he is completely right about everything (which also means that Walt has the sharpest look of everybody, who can see through a situation miles away), it really sounds nuts. I was actually expecting Jesse to blow him of, continuing to create the fault between the two, which leads to more fucked-up-ness in the season finale. But that Jesse says he will kill Gus came to me surprisingly. Even more, I loved the tension in the desert, when Jesse saw the opportunity to kill Gus twice (poisoning the coffee, shooting him outside the house in front of everybody). Please more of those scenes.

Jesse’s NA meeting was also great. I already said emotional and strong acted, but Aaron was playing the shit out of this scene. Emmy material right there. And also Golden Globe. I got goosebumps, when he told them all he just came to the meetings to sell them meth. A simple scene, but so strong in meanings. Where was Aaron before BREAKING BAD, and how fast did he develop to such a strong actor?

And even Hank’s story developed (Dean Norris). From last episode’s cliffhanger to this episode’s cliffhanger – he didn’t even have much screentime, but the writers did awesome with his story. Now he’s on Gus’ tail, and with Gus being targeted by the Cartel, and Walt/Jesse, the quiet man is pretty much fucked. And boy, did I love Hank here. From the tiny WTF moment, where he put the cup in a bag (and I noticed I was forgetting all about the previous episode’s cliffhanger), to the big WTF, when he produced the fingerprints. Damn damn damn.

Not even Skyler’s little story could hold against it. Though it was funny to see her face seeing the money and thinking about needing a bigger safe (my thoughts screamed “We need a bigger safe”), the story was useless and stole time. But hey, the car wash is up and running now… 8.5/10

Trashing a new car: Could be a new hobby for Walt

Hank shows what is going on

Another good episode. Again, some quiet moments, which stopped the storytelling for a minute, and made the moment a bit boring, but then again the episode drops some scenes, which are just WTF.

“I am the danger” – loved this scene. Similar to Jesse realizing that he’s the bad man in the third season premiere, Walt (Bryan Cranston) finally realizes he can cause some trouble. Some nice moments in the episode, with him telling Jesse (Aaron Paul) that Gus can’t kill him because of Walt, and that his family is save, because Gus literally can’t do anything. Mirroring to the scene with Mike, where he said that meth heads are unpredictable, Walt is pretty much the unpredictable guy. He dances around between being a family father, being a meth cook and being the so-called danger for not just his competition, but Gus in general. Walt was basically telling Skyler that he can knock on Gus’ door and kill him – something he wanted to do already this season. That’s poetry in my eyes, and look how far BREAKING BAD has gotten with the story in three and a half seasons…

Other than that, the rest wasn’t really much of a highlight. I liked Jesse’s action in front of the meth house and keeping his cool in front of Jesus with the shotgun, and I wanted to laugh about the other guy digging a hole to China. But I couldn’t really, since the whole situation took itself way too seriously in those moments. You could have had a nice scene, where Jesse takes the initiative, and continues to be a hero, continues to be a good guy for once, but somehow that scene was dipped in to much seriousness for my taste. Still a likable scene, and it brought Jesse to ask the typical “Why” question. Which was necessary though. But do you want to know what I was thinking in that scene? Might it be possible that Jesse is not that soon-to-be-dead guy as I am currently thinking? Might it be possible that Jesse is becoming the boss of the operation and eventually goes past Walt? After all, Walt answered with “I seriously doubt it”, when Skyler (Anna Gunn) asked if Gail’s killer could also kill Walt. That was like a typical foreshadowing for a show like this, and when Jesse got his answer from Gus (Giancarlo Esposito), I was thinking about a scene, where Jesse kills Walt and inherits the whole drug operation. Becoming the drug lord. Becoming the mob boss. Also poetic – being an unimportant drug addict, who becomes the boss of the whole thing. I wonder who is thinking the same.

Skyler’s drama was a little “woot” though, So, she drives to the Four Corners, lets a dime make her decision, and she ultimately ends up cheating? I don’t know the meaning of this scene. It was clear that Skyler wouldn’t vanish and instead return, and it was somewhat obvious that she would decide to continue keeping the “story” straight and alive. What was that scene about then? Just to shoot at the Four Corners site (which I have seen for the first time in a TV show by the way, and I don’t count that SIMPSONS episode, which also visited the Four Corners once)? Kinda lame. Also the outcome of her trip./ Not really interesting that she continues to be the buh man for Junior (RJ Mitte). Though I already found it ridiculous that Walt bought him that car. 7.5/10

The first Dollar, spent on sugar in colored water

After calling shotgun, Jesse has one in his face now

The episode was good. A little bit predictable, but good. Nice how it started to play on a buddy relationship between Jesse (Aaron Paul) and Mike (Jonathan Banks), and how Gus (Giancarlo Esposito) is trying in the background to either find out if Jesse is still trustworthy, or to keep him off the drugs.

Like I mentioned in last episode’s review: I was somewhat expecting an intervention for Jesse, after Mike “kidnapped” him. And what did the episode deliver? Well, basically an intervention, without actually naming it such. The writers could actually do a complete different story out of it, but what I saw here was Gus’ effort to make Jesse look at his life differently, to give it a bigger meaning. If this isn’t a form of an intervention, then I don’t know. And the road trip was quite a nice story. A little bit of mystery during the first pick-up scene, a little bit of hilarity during the next ones (the fast-forward scenes were really cool – Jesse exercising in sword fight with a stick for example), and a little bit of action during the last pick-up scene. Like I said, it was predictable that something would happen during the last pick-up, and since it was such a convenient situation for all involved (Mike “coincidentally” in the building, Jesse almost falling asleep), I expected that the about-to-happen robbery was staged by Gus to find out if Jesse is worth it. So, at the end, during the conversation between Gus and Mike, I wasn’t much surprised.

Walt’s (Bryan Cranston) storyline was okay. Since he didn’t have his partner, and since the rest of the episode couldn’t play out how Walt is annoyed and alone in the lab, the writers were giving him three more plots here. First: the car wash is finally bought. Now I really wanna know where this story is leading. After all, the Whites have a business now, which could actually serve as a backdrop for the family’s safety, if Walt should “accidentally” die or something. Second: His flaming and returning relationship with Skyler (Anna Gunn). I knew it would come eventually, and I was prepared to be annoyed by it, but I actually enjoyed it. Because during the sex scene I realized that the relationship between Walt and Skyler was never shown this way before (where both of them shared the same affection for each other). Four seasons into the show, and this episode delivered the first love scene between the married and now divorced couple. A record? And third: Walt “helping” Hank (Dean Norris) get back on the Heisenberg case. It was pretty much a WTF moment. When Walt suggested that Gale wasn’t the genius Hank was seeing in him. I wondered already what would happen, after Walt took one glass of wine after another. And then this. Nice cliffhanger. And Walt really screwed my mind with this scene: Eventually leading Hank back to the case and to the revelation that Heisenberg is still alive, though Hank already accepted that the case was over and he was done with it. Very interesting development.

Like I said, good episode. But now that Jesse was intervened, has two jobs, Hank is back on the case, the car wash is up and running (well, it should be in the next episode), and Walt is getting crazier with every week, the season should finally unpack the big guns. How about some fucked-up awesomeness? 7.5/10

Jesse is hardly working

Walt is working hard

First half: not so interesting, and kinda hilarious too. Second half: thrilling, since it was Jesse-centric. Again I say that the series would serve even better, when the episodes focus on a character. But at least the writers know what they are doing: They don’t cut from one story to another, and back to the first one. Instead, one story played out and another one began. I don’t know if we’ve had that in BREAKING BAD before. Or if I just really noticed that here for the first time.

Meaning: First we’ve had Walt (Bryan Cranston) and Skyler (Anna Gunn) dry-practicing their lie in a completely long (and tiring) scene, which was somewhat between hilarious (Walt’s face during some of the moments, when Skyler annoyed him with her thoroughness), followed by the actual practice in front of Marie (Betsy Brandt) and Hank (Dean Norris), followed by Hank telling Walt about the Heisenberg case, followed by Walt trying to find out if Jesse (Aaron Paul) is in trouble, followed by Jesse in trouble. In terms of storytelling, this episode was awesome. It went from point A to point B to point C to point X, and never wasted time with in-betweeners. Okay, some scenes cut have been shortened for the greater good of the second half, but this episode clearly showed why it can be fortunate to tell the stories straight and without any breaks. There weren’t even B or C plots in this episode – it all was a major plot, resulting out of the previous one. Excellent writing!

Only: The first half of it didn’t have the excellent stories I’m used from this show. Though the dry-practice was entertaining, it took a damn while to get to the point. And when the episode finally got to the point of Hank telling Walt about the Heisenberg case, I was a bit disappointed that it only resulted in Walt asking Jesse about the casing. Walt could have done more to question Jesse about the murder, starting with dragging him out of the house, after he saw it for the first time. Seriously, when I see that my drug-cooking and drug-addicted partner lives in a shit house like this, I would throw him out of the upper window and call this “stage 1 of intervention”.

And that what I was thinking, when Mike (Jonathan Banks) stood there, and later talked to Gus (Giancarlo Esposito). I really thought there would be an intervention for Jesse, instead of going for the story with the fear of Jesse getting killed. Gus, Mike, and even Walt kinda trying to talk sense to Jesse, to not throw his life away just yet, because there’s still a chance he would see another year of life. I really hope that’s coming in the next episode, since I’m so not believing Mike is going to kill him.

Other than that: Nice that the episode played with the conventions of storytelling. When I saw that random dude in Jesse’s house, I was instantly thinking he would steal the money. Done deal. But I never thought that one scene later, Mike would show up with that random dude blindfolded and gagged, the money returned. The most obvious thing in this show (Jesse and Walt being watched…) comes totally in an unpredictable way. Cool scene. Likewise to the videogame-playing scene. You’d think they would go up to fuck for some hours. But no, they are playing a video game. Kinda cute. 7.5/10

RIP Gale. Again

Private party without drugs, alcohol or sex