Breaking Bad 5.15
Sep. 25th, 2013 06:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakItunes came through again, and I've now seen the latest Breaking Bad episode. Incidentally: I also hear that BB won the Emmy for best drama, and Anna Gunn won the Emmy for best female supporting actress, which makes me very happy indeed - ever after the episode 51, I thought that if she didn't win this year, there was no justice!!
Someone, I think 12-12-12, wrote recently that Breaking Bad is a dark show but anything but cynical, on the contrary, you get the sense that the narrative very much believes in a moral code. (Whereas often people tend to confuse darkness with cynicism.) It also believes in darkness mixed with comic relief, so after the shattering Ozymandias, we get a teaser in which Saul finally takes his own advice and gets the hell out of Alburquerque. With a brief unplanned stop while his new identity is getting forged, during which he's forced to room with the equally waiting for transport out of town Walter White. It's one of the many reasons why I love this show that it can pull of hilarious interludes without denigrating the enormity of the tragedy that's currently happing to so many people. Plus, you know, Saul brings out the still ongoing denial and hubris in Walt better than most people. Of course he's planning a grand strike to get his money back from Jack & Co. and punish them for Hank's death. And of course it's still all for his family who will gladly benefit from the millions since he made sure Skyler will be out of prison. Saul's face when he gets treated to Walt's inimitable brand of self justification is a wonder to behold. (He's also delivering useful exposition re: the legal consequences for Skyler despite Walt's phonecall.)
Als opposed to Ozymandias, which gave us lots of Marie and Skyler, this episode had only one Marie and two Skyler scenes, and I missed them because soon they'll be gone forever from my tv screen, but at the same time I can see why the focus in this last but one episode was so tightly on Walt and Jesse in their respective hells. Walt's being the somewhat more comfortable one, since he's not a meth producing tormented slave, but still, the narrative continues to strip him relentlessly of everything. When he tries to intimidate Saul again, his own body fails him with a cancer-caused cough in the midst of a threat, and Saul is beyond being scared by Walter White anyway. When he plans to get out of his snowy New Hampshire exile post haste, putting his Heisenberg hat on, he hardly makes it to the end of his ground before realising he's simply not up for wandering through the snow in unknown territory for hours. As the winter continues, he gets so desperate for company that he pays his once a month connection to the living for staying an hour (since even two are too much of an effort for the man). News from Alburquerque reach him that Skyler (and Flynn, and Holly) have even lost the house (which as Saul pointed out was pre-crime property) and Skyler is exactly where she was when he started all this, trying to earn some money via bookkeeping. When he finally braves the snow and makes it to the local bar, having figured out a method to call his son at the high school and to send some money to him, probably the worst thing that ever could happen to Walt does happen, and he hears his son, Walt Jr, Flynn, who even when in a bad mood always used to idolize his father and once called him his hero, express only horror, disgust, accusation and hate. This probably worse for Walt than the memory of Flynn and Skyler cowering on the floor and his son calling the cops because that he could rewrite in his memory as an accident. But now his son has had months to think about everything, and what he says can't explained away as a gaffe.
It's also, in terms of the overall story, the counterpoint to what Walt did to Jesse the previous episode. Both the relationship to his son and the one to Skyler have at different points of the show been contrasted or paralleled to the one between Walt and Jesse. (Two of the most notable scenes being when Walt, full of narcotics and alcohol, directs his apology to Jesse at his son, and a season later Walt telling Skyler that the person who gave him his birthday present wanted to kill him just a few months earlier but now loves him again, and so will she.) When Walt pointed out "Pinkman" to Jack & Co. and then later upon realizing immediate death for Jesse was not in the cards delivered the Jane news, he did the worst to Jesse he could possibly think of, and committed the worst betrayal of their emotional bond. It makes only dramatic sense that his karmic payback arrives via the son who used to bear his own name, and who always took his side in arguments, repeating what Marie said: Just die already.
At which point fate has still another kick in store, but, this being Breaking Bad, that one hits Walt where he also lives, at the very core of his ego and thus at the lowest point of his entire existence revitalizes him: the tv in the bar tells him Elliot and Gretchen are still making millions (enough to set up welfare programm for drug addicts), doing just fine, and to add insult to injury, Elliot says all that Walt ever contributed to Grey Matter was the name and Gretchen declares him dead. And with that, we've finally reached the time frame of the flash forwards, ending, as the episode began, on a note that's both dark and somehow deeply hilarious (because seriously, Walt's expression when watching that Elliot-and-Gretchen interview?).
Meanwhile, life for Jesse is hellish even by Jesse standards. It was good to see there is still some fight and wit in him, but even while he managed to free himself for a little while, I had no hope it would last. I had hoped we'd seen the last of Andrea and Brock, but no, Andrea gets killed to demonstrate to Jesse what will happen (and note that Todd actually does it the way Walt had comissioned Jesse's own death not that long ago) if he tries anything other than being a good meth slave, making for a far more efficient torture than being Jesse up. Since Todd would never have known Andrea and Brock had even existed if Walt hadn't tried to use them to lure Jesse to his death, this is indirectly another death caused by Walter White, but mostly it furthers Todd as one of the most chilling late characters on the show, especially since he keeps being polite while executing people. (And didn't even get upset when hearing Jesse's description of him on Hank's tape.) Still - did you have to, show?
Jack makes a good point about the lack of necessity to make more meth when one has already 80 million dollars, but then, as he himself remarked one episode earlier, there is greed, and greed is unattractive. It's greed that makes Todd and Jack continue with the meth producing (that and in Todd's case his crush on Lydia). It's greed that makes Lydia continue with the distribution instead of doing the smart thing (which she knows it would be) and cutting her ties with the meth business now that Walt's been outed. The lure of money was of course also part of both Walt's and Skyler's corruptions (though in both cases just one of several factors), and methinks it's save to say that it will be the doom of Jack, Todd and associates in the finale, one way or the other.
Minor matters: I knew that the fact Lydia and Skyler met face to face would become relevant, but I hadn't expected it to be relevant this way. Though in retrospect it's obvious, because given how insistent Lydia was about Mike's nine guys getting killed so they couldn't incriminate her, she would want Skyler dead once Walt was outed as well, and I suppose Skyler was lucky Todd went for intimidation instead. If you can call being frightened by thugs in your house threatening you and your children lucky.
Walt's marriage ring falling of his finger after cancer caused weight loss and him wearing it on a string around his neck instead; this, the scene where he pays Mr. Vacuum Cleaner for his company and his phonecall with Flynn were the scenes where I was especially in awe of Bryan Cranston's acting, and the show's writing, managing to make me feel for Walt while also seeing it as relentless nemesis at work for all the things Walt has done.
Like I said, I understand why this episode was focused on Walt and Jesse, but the finale better have more Marie, Skyler and Flynn - I need to know how things are between Marie and Skyler, most of all, and then also a look, not just a report, on their post-Walt state.
"It was all about science" as the sentence that grabs Walt's attention at his lowest point is perfect.
Someone, I think 12-12-12, wrote recently that Breaking Bad is a dark show but anything but cynical, on the contrary, you get the sense that the narrative very much believes in a moral code. (Whereas often people tend to confuse darkness with cynicism.) It also believes in darkness mixed with comic relief, so after the shattering Ozymandias, we get a teaser in which Saul finally takes his own advice and gets the hell out of Alburquerque. With a brief unplanned stop while his new identity is getting forged, during which he's forced to room with the equally waiting for transport out of town Walter White. It's one of the many reasons why I love this show that it can pull of hilarious interludes without denigrating the enormity of the tragedy that's currently happing to so many people. Plus, you know, Saul brings out the still ongoing denial and hubris in Walt better than most people. Of course he's planning a grand strike to get his money back from Jack & Co. and punish them for Hank's death. And of course it's still all for his family who will gladly benefit from the millions since he made sure Skyler will be out of prison. Saul's face when he gets treated to Walt's inimitable brand of self justification is a wonder to behold. (He's also delivering useful exposition re: the legal consequences for Skyler despite Walt's phonecall.)
Als opposed to Ozymandias, which gave us lots of Marie and Skyler, this episode had only one Marie and two Skyler scenes, and I missed them because soon they'll be gone forever from my tv screen, but at the same time I can see why the focus in this last but one episode was so tightly on Walt and Jesse in their respective hells. Walt's being the somewhat more comfortable one, since he's not a meth producing tormented slave, but still, the narrative continues to strip him relentlessly of everything. When he tries to intimidate Saul again, his own body fails him with a cancer-caused cough in the midst of a threat, and Saul is beyond being scared by Walter White anyway. When he plans to get out of his snowy New Hampshire exile post haste, putting his Heisenberg hat on, he hardly makes it to the end of his ground before realising he's simply not up for wandering through the snow in unknown territory for hours. As the winter continues, he gets so desperate for company that he pays his once a month connection to the living for staying an hour (since even two are too much of an effort for the man). News from Alburquerque reach him that Skyler (and Flynn, and Holly) have even lost the house (which as Saul pointed out was pre-crime property) and Skyler is exactly where she was when he started all this, trying to earn some money via bookkeeping. When he finally braves the snow and makes it to the local bar, having figured out a method to call his son at the high school and to send some money to him, probably the worst thing that ever could happen to Walt does happen, and he hears his son, Walt Jr, Flynn, who even when in a bad mood always used to idolize his father and once called him his hero, express only horror, disgust, accusation and hate. This probably worse for Walt than the memory of Flynn and Skyler cowering on the floor and his son calling the cops because that he could rewrite in his memory as an accident. But now his son has had months to think about everything, and what he says can't explained away as a gaffe.
It's also, in terms of the overall story, the counterpoint to what Walt did to Jesse the previous episode. Both the relationship to his son and the one to Skyler have at different points of the show been contrasted or paralleled to the one between Walt and Jesse. (Two of the most notable scenes being when Walt, full of narcotics and alcohol, directs his apology to Jesse at his son, and a season later Walt telling Skyler that the person who gave him his birthday present wanted to kill him just a few months earlier but now loves him again, and so will she.) When Walt pointed out "Pinkman" to Jack & Co. and then later upon realizing immediate death for Jesse was not in the cards delivered the Jane news, he did the worst to Jesse he could possibly think of, and committed the worst betrayal of their emotional bond. It makes only dramatic sense that his karmic payback arrives via the son who used to bear his own name, and who always took his side in arguments, repeating what Marie said: Just die already.
At which point fate has still another kick in store, but, this being Breaking Bad, that one hits Walt where he also lives, at the very core of his ego and thus at the lowest point of his entire existence revitalizes him: the tv in the bar tells him Elliot and Gretchen are still making millions (enough to set up welfare programm for drug addicts), doing just fine, and to add insult to injury, Elliot says all that Walt ever contributed to Grey Matter was the name and Gretchen declares him dead. And with that, we've finally reached the time frame of the flash forwards, ending, as the episode began, on a note that's both dark and somehow deeply hilarious (because seriously, Walt's expression when watching that Elliot-and-Gretchen interview?).
Meanwhile, life for Jesse is hellish even by Jesse standards. It was good to see there is still some fight and wit in him, but even while he managed to free himself for a little while, I had no hope it would last. I had hoped we'd seen the last of Andrea and Brock, but no, Andrea gets killed to demonstrate to Jesse what will happen (and note that Todd actually does it the way Walt had comissioned Jesse's own death not that long ago) if he tries anything other than being a good meth slave, making for a far more efficient torture than being Jesse up. Since Todd would never have known Andrea and Brock had even existed if Walt hadn't tried to use them to lure Jesse to his death, this is indirectly another death caused by Walter White, but mostly it furthers Todd as one of the most chilling late characters on the show, especially since he keeps being polite while executing people. (And didn't even get upset when hearing Jesse's description of him on Hank's tape.) Still - did you have to, show?
Jack makes a good point about the lack of necessity to make more meth when one has already 80 million dollars, but then, as he himself remarked one episode earlier, there is greed, and greed is unattractive. It's greed that makes Todd and Jack continue with the meth producing (that and in Todd's case his crush on Lydia). It's greed that makes Lydia continue with the distribution instead of doing the smart thing (which she knows it would be) and cutting her ties with the meth business now that Walt's been outed. The lure of money was of course also part of both Walt's and Skyler's corruptions (though in both cases just one of several factors), and methinks it's save to say that it will be the doom of Jack, Todd and associates in the finale, one way or the other.
Minor matters: I knew that the fact Lydia and Skyler met face to face would become relevant, but I hadn't expected it to be relevant this way. Though in retrospect it's obvious, because given how insistent Lydia was about Mike's nine guys getting killed so they couldn't incriminate her, she would want Skyler dead once Walt was outed as well, and I suppose Skyler was lucky Todd went for intimidation instead. If you can call being frightened by thugs in your house threatening you and your children lucky.
Walt's marriage ring falling of his finger after cancer caused weight loss and him wearing it on a string around his neck instead; this, the scene where he pays Mr. Vacuum Cleaner for his company and his phonecall with Flynn were the scenes where I was especially in awe of Bryan Cranston's acting, and the show's writing, managing to make me feel for Walt while also seeing it as relentless nemesis at work for all the things Walt has done.
Like I said, I understand why this episode was focused on Walt and Jesse, but the finale better have more Marie, Skyler and Flynn - I need to know how things are between Marie and Skyler, most of all, and then also a look, not just a report, on their post-Walt state.
"It was all about science" as the sentence that grabs Walt's attention at his lowest point is perfect.
