Breaking Bad 5.10
Aug. 19th, 2013 05:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakAka, a tale of two marriages.
Okay, firstly, I had a feeling Hank would talk to Skyler next and also that she would not testify against Walt, so there is that glow of having guessed right, but I still had no idea how exactly it would go down, at which point Marie would get involved etc. Which was awesome to behold.
Now, Hank made several mistakes in his appraoch. One was beyond his control: the timing. If he'd approached Skyler at an earlier point when Walt was busy empire building and she was scared as hell and had as a prospect an abusive marriage with a non-defined time of existence, well, then telling Hank all would have probably looked like the better option here. But unfortunately for Hank, he's coming at a point when Skyler has started to believe they probably can get away with it all, and where the power dynamic between her and Walt is already tentatively readjusting itself to where it had been before Walt turned up the creep factor at the start of the season. Moreover, Hank makes several wrong assumptions - about the length of Skyler's involvement, the depth to which she is guilty of criminal actions herself (obviously he had to have figured out the car wash was for money laundering, but the book keeping fraud part of the Ted tale is unknown to him, and also the way Ted ended up). And then Hank makes the twin crucial mistakes of letting it slip that ) that Walt's cancer is back, which means Skyler knows that not only is the a definite time of death for Walt approaching, but also that Hank is on the clock here, and b) that he has no hard evidence and thus needs her testimony. Incidentally, that doesn't mean I think Skyler went into the conversation as a master, err, mistress of calculation or has the victim Hank labels her at (fandom is so black and white - either Skyler is a heroine or she's a calculating monster, eh). I think she was shocked and scared, but also that her survival instinct and brain were working overtime, and when she realized a) and b), that settled it for her, and that she went for Option Brazening It Out.
Doesn't mean she was in control from that moment onwards, btw. One really smart thing Hank did was to next bring on Marie, and note - I'm sure Hank did - that the first think Skyler asked during her meeting with Hank was "Does Marie know?" Marie did get Skyler to confess far more than Hank did, not least because she knows Skyler far better and because the sisters are closer. (BTW, in the audio commentaries for the first half of the season I remember the scriptwriter and cast saying that Skyler actually would have confessed to Marie in the earlier scene precisely because Marie is actually really good at getting through to her if she tries, but because Marie then was working on wrong information by Walt - that it was all about the Ted affair -, Skyler's confession then was prevented as soon as Skyler realised what Marie assumed.) Again: up to a point, the point being, as Marie realizes, that Skyler still thinks Getting Away With It is an option. The slap (mirroring Hank punching Walt in the previous ep) was partly for that, but also, imo, because there is still one thing Hank doesn't know but Marie and Skyler do, and which Marie realised as soon as Skyler confirmed she'd known the truth about Walt since before Hank was shot: that Hank's therapy has been paid for with drug money. Which means it's not just a question of Hank's career being over as soon as he talks about his Walt = Heisenberg discovery; he actively benefited from that money and will have a terrible time convincing people he had no idea as to where it came from. Since Marie back then told Hank his therapy had been paid for by police insurance, I don't think he figured it out yet, but Marie - as I said, she understands the full implication as soon as Skyler confirms the timing of when she knew about Walt, and that, as much as Skyler still intending to sit it out, is what the slap is for.
And now let's hear it for Marie, who DOESN'T tell Hank to let sleeping dogs lie, so to speak. Which, you know, she could have done. Could have said that the safest thing for everyone, him and her as well as the Whites, was to simply pretend he never realised the truth and let Walt die and the Heisenberg mystery never be solved "for the good of the family", that most favourite of rationalizations. But no. Instead, she encourages him to come forward.
Hank's momentary solution to his terrible dilemma - to postpone disclosure until he has solid proof, so that if he's to be doomed, at least he'll also be the man who caught Heisenberg - is what makes him such a human character, with weaknesses and strengths. He's not a saint - a saint would have immediately come forward, without wanting the consolation of at least being able to say "I caught him". But he is a good man, determined to bring Walt down despite having to pay the cost. (Though Marie hasn't told him about therapy yet. At least I don't think so - surely they'd have shown that part to us?) And now fate has given him Walt's other partner, who as opposed to Skyler has long since abandoned survival instinct and the hope of Getting Away With It. Looks like a Schrader-Pinkman team-up is going to happen, which on on the one hand fills me with excitement but on the other makes me wonder how on earth Hank is going to get Jesse into a shape where he's even able to spill, given he's basically catatonic by now.
Also excellent: the scene with Skyler and Walt in the bathroom. Do I think Walt was sincere with his "I know you did a deal with Hank, but I want you to keep the money anyway for the kids and yourself so I didn't do it in vein" speech, or do I think it was a last gamble to get Skyler on his side? Both, actually. I think he means every word - both that he thinks she already sold him out and that he wants her and the kids to have the money - and I think he thought telling her this would make her side with him. I also think that had Walt come in trying to threaten Skyler, she might have reconsidered her immunity deal options (though, for the record, I don't think she'd actually get one, not once the facts about the extent of her involvement were on the table). But Walt breaking down (confirming the cancer return) and declaring his proverbial last will? That's another thing. Again, I don't think it's an either/or with both Skyler and Walt when it comes to emotion and calculation. I think it's both with them, especially when dealing with each other. That exchange when he confirms the cancer is back:
"Are you happy now?"
"I don't remember the last time I was happy."
Is such a great moment because in the midst of all the survivalism and trying to stay afloat, this is also emotional being completely bare and open to each other, these people who have said (Skyler) and done (Walt) terrible things to each other (not to mention what they did to other people). It's even in a weird way tender, and you remember they were once a couple looking up this house they're now in for the first time full of hope and planning on three children and a great professional future for both of them. And yet it's also utterly unsentimental, because of course next they start thinking again, and thinking means How Do We Get Away With This? Such an awesome scene.
Lastly: Lydia: has Servalan's knack of wearing impossible shoes while daintily stepping over corpses. I'm still betting she won't just settle for Todd as cook, though, but will suggest drafting/kidnapping Jesse, which is where Hank's having flipped Jesse will come in handy. (Because imo the show will give Hank not just the Phyrric victory of outing Heisenberg, but bringing down the current meth operation as a whole. Not that this will save Hank's career, but it might save him from being treated/suspected as a confederate because of the therapy money.)
Bring on next week!
Okay, firstly, I had a feeling Hank would talk to Skyler next and also that she would not testify against Walt, so there is that glow of having guessed right, but I still had no idea how exactly it would go down, at which point Marie would get involved etc. Which was awesome to behold.
Now, Hank made several mistakes in his appraoch. One was beyond his control: the timing. If he'd approached Skyler at an earlier point when Walt was busy empire building and she was scared as hell and had as a prospect an abusive marriage with a non-defined time of existence, well, then telling Hank all would have probably looked like the better option here. But unfortunately for Hank, he's coming at a point when Skyler has started to believe they probably can get away with it all, and where the power dynamic between her and Walt is already tentatively readjusting itself to where it had been before Walt turned up the creep factor at the start of the season. Moreover, Hank makes several wrong assumptions - about the length of Skyler's involvement, the depth to which she is guilty of criminal actions herself (obviously he had to have figured out the car wash was for money laundering, but the book keeping fraud part of the Ted tale is unknown to him, and also the way Ted ended up). And then Hank makes the twin crucial mistakes of letting it slip that ) that Walt's cancer is back, which means Skyler knows that not only is the a definite time of death for Walt approaching, but also that Hank is on the clock here, and b) that he has no hard evidence and thus needs her testimony. Incidentally, that doesn't mean I think Skyler went into the conversation as a master, err, mistress of calculation or has the victim Hank labels her at (fandom is so black and white - either Skyler is a heroine or she's a calculating monster, eh). I think she was shocked and scared, but also that her survival instinct and brain were working overtime, and when she realized a) and b), that settled it for her, and that she went for Option Brazening It Out.
Doesn't mean she was in control from that moment onwards, btw. One really smart thing Hank did was to next bring on Marie, and note - I'm sure Hank did - that the first think Skyler asked during her meeting with Hank was "Does Marie know?" Marie did get Skyler to confess far more than Hank did, not least because she knows Skyler far better and because the sisters are closer. (BTW, in the audio commentaries for the first half of the season I remember the scriptwriter and cast saying that Skyler actually would have confessed to Marie in the earlier scene precisely because Marie is actually really good at getting through to her if she tries, but because Marie then was working on wrong information by Walt - that it was all about the Ted affair -, Skyler's confession then was prevented as soon as Skyler realised what Marie assumed.) Again: up to a point, the point being, as Marie realizes, that Skyler still thinks Getting Away With It is an option. The slap (mirroring Hank punching Walt in the previous ep) was partly for that, but also, imo, because there is still one thing Hank doesn't know but Marie and Skyler do, and which Marie realised as soon as Skyler confirmed she'd known the truth about Walt since before Hank was shot: that Hank's therapy has been paid for with drug money. Which means it's not just a question of Hank's career being over as soon as he talks about his Walt = Heisenberg discovery; he actively benefited from that money and will have a terrible time convincing people he had no idea as to where it came from. Since Marie back then told Hank his therapy had been paid for by police insurance, I don't think he figured it out yet, but Marie - as I said, she understands the full implication as soon as Skyler confirms the timing of when she knew about Walt, and that, as much as Skyler still intending to sit it out, is what the slap is for.
And now let's hear it for Marie, who DOESN'T tell Hank to let sleeping dogs lie, so to speak. Which, you know, she could have done. Could have said that the safest thing for everyone, him and her as well as the Whites, was to simply pretend he never realised the truth and let Walt die and the Heisenberg mystery never be solved "for the good of the family", that most favourite of rationalizations. But no. Instead, she encourages him to come forward.
Hank's momentary solution to his terrible dilemma - to postpone disclosure until he has solid proof, so that if he's to be doomed, at least he'll also be the man who caught Heisenberg - is what makes him such a human character, with weaknesses and strengths. He's not a saint - a saint would have immediately come forward, without wanting the consolation of at least being able to say "I caught him". But he is a good man, determined to bring Walt down despite having to pay the cost. (Though Marie hasn't told him about therapy yet. At least I don't think so - surely they'd have shown that part to us?) And now fate has given him Walt's other partner, who as opposed to Skyler has long since abandoned survival instinct and the hope of Getting Away With It. Looks like a Schrader-Pinkman team-up is going to happen, which on on the one hand fills me with excitement but on the other makes me wonder how on earth Hank is going to get Jesse into a shape where he's even able to spill, given he's basically catatonic by now.
Also excellent: the scene with Skyler and Walt in the bathroom. Do I think Walt was sincere with his "I know you did a deal with Hank, but I want you to keep the money anyway for the kids and yourself so I didn't do it in vein" speech, or do I think it was a last gamble to get Skyler on his side? Both, actually. I think he means every word - both that he thinks she already sold him out and that he wants her and the kids to have the money - and I think he thought telling her this would make her side with him. I also think that had Walt come in trying to threaten Skyler, she might have reconsidered her immunity deal options (though, for the record, I don't think she'd actually get one, not once the facts about the extent of her involvement were on the table). But Walt breaking down (confirming the cancer return) and declaring his proverbial last will? That's another thing. Again, I don't think it's an either/or with both Skyler and Walt when it comes to emotion and calculation. I think it's both with them, especially when dealing with each other. That exchange when he confirms the cancer is back:
"Are you happy now?"
"I don't remember the last time I was happy."
Is such a great moment because in the midst of all the survivalism and trying to stay afloat, this is also emotional being completely bare and open to each other, these people who have said (Skyler) and done (Walt) terrible things to each other (not to mention what they did to other people). It's even in a weird way tender, and you remember they were once a couple looking up this house they're now in for the first time full of hope and planning on three children and a great professional future for both of them. And yet it's also utterly unsentimental, because of course next they start thinking again, and thinking means How Do We Get Away With This? Such an awesome scene.
Lastly: Lydia: has Servalan's knack of wearing impossible shoes while daintily stepping over corpses. I'm still betting she won't just settle for Todd as cook, though, but will suggest drafting/kidnapping Jesse, which is where Hank's having flipped Jesse will come in handy. (Because imo the show will give Hank not just the Phyrric victory of outing Heisenberg, but bringing down the current meth operation as a whole. Not that this will save Hank's career, but it might save him from being treated/suspected as a confederate because of the therapy money.)
Bring on next week!
no subject
Date: 2013-08-19 10:01 pm (UTC)I forgot about the therapy money. Hrmm.
And will Walt Jr. ever have some sort of agency? He is the only character treated with less depth and care than the others. Is it because he's a child? But he's also not so much younger than Jesse. I'm sure people can and have devoted much discussion about the father/son relationships that Walt Sr. has with both his son and Jesse.
no subject
Date: 2013-08-20 12:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-08-20 04:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-08-20 09:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-08-20 05:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-08-20 02:35 pm (UTC)Jesse and Walt Jr. age difference -- I think I see it as smaller because Jesse, at the beginning in particular, acted like a teenager, very self-centered and supporting his 'please myself' lifestyle. He is the one who changes so much over the course of the series. Shit got real for him, big time, and he isn't dealing well. I'll check out that post!
no subject
Date: 2013-08-20 04:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-08-20 09:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-08-20 12:30 am (UTC)