This episode took only about 5 minutes before it was already better than last week. This starts out with Mike in the back of a refrigerated truck when some competitors decide to turn the back of said truck to Swiss Cheese. Total dick move, and one that results in the attackers slain and Mike’s ear a little worse for wear. It was a pretty sweet way to start an episode before the credit even begin.
After the sweetass opening and intro are done, we’re hit with some solid levity. Walt and Skyler discuss her quite detailed explanation for Hank where their money came from and how sweet Walt is at gambling. And while Skyler’s script makes Walt out to be some sort of animal, it result in little else than Hank and Walt Jr. being impressed.
After a stellar start to the season, tonight’s episode was a bit of a let down. I understand the need to spread things out and rebuild tension, I just found this to be a somewhat mediocre showing, relative to the exceedingly high bar it has set. That being said, a mediocre episode of Breaking Bad is still better than a good episode of most shows on TV.
If there was one thing tonight’s episode did, it was further distance Walt and Jessie up their respective paths. Jessie seems to have given up on any chance of a future and is simply throwing money away. I loved the scene when he was on the Go Karts, trying to grasp onto some lost youth and find something to make him feel alive. I was sad Walt turned down the invitation to go with him…
Walt on the other hand is buying $300 bottles of champagne and working (slowly) towards some sort of reconciliation with his wife. They are planning for the future big time as they finally make the move to acquire the Car Wash from Captain Eyebrows.
You knew who I was talking about…
The actual focus of the episode however, is the ancillary characters, which is probably why it fell flat for me. Too much Skyler, Hank, and Marie – Not enough Saul, Walt, and Pinkman.
Best Lawyer in the Biz!
Now don’t get me wrong, in prior seasons, particularly leading up to the shoot-out in Season 3, I couldn’t get enough Hank. He was my boy…but now, bed-ridden and feeling sorry for himself, he’s just no fun anymore.
The episode is titled however, for Marie – Open House. This of course refers to her newest escape from reality, coupled with one of her old ones. Throughout the show she would visit various open houses, pretending to be a potential buyer. Each time making up an elaborate back story about a husband retiring from NASA or a sick daughter, or even a pottery hobby. And with each house and each alias, she got to escape her life for just long enough to recharge and return home energized enough to deal with Hank. The feeling wasn’t enough though as she also felt the need to return to her klepto roots and steal trinkets like Puerto Rican spoons and picture frames. Reminders for later that for a little while, her life wasn’t so shitty.
That is until she hits up the same Realtor twice. Than her charade is busted, and this is maybe the most entertaining part of the episode. She calls the Realtor fat, and then a struggle for the car keys ensues…
“You know what Fatty? You are so lucky I am late for an appointment…”
Overall, not a super eventful episode. Walt Jr, Mike, Steve Gomez, and most importantly – Gus, are never even seen. Walt and Skyler get their car wash, and Jessie continues another downward spiral, but the biggest thing to actually happen here involves Hank, and it’s triggered by Marie’s arrest. Hank is visited by a friend on the force, who asks him to look at a case file and see if he can’t help out. The file of course is the murder of Gale Boetticher. Hank ignored it as pity at first, but as the credit get ready to roll, he picks up the file. This will no doubt be the thing that brings him out of his funk, something he can immerse himself in and once again find self-worth…
I’d give this episode 2.5/5 Bears, on a sliding scale. I would still argue that a 2.5 rated episode of Breaking Bad is still better than a 4.5 episode of anything on CBS, because it’s relative to expectations…
After last week’s near perfect premiere, a normal decline can be expected as they now have the task rebuilding the excitement and tension for this season. So while tonight’s episode was by no means as good as last weeks, I wasn’t the least bit disappointed.
As the episode starts, Walt has decided to take matters into his own hands by buying a gun from his friendly local black market weapons dealer, played by my boy Ellsworth from Deadwood. He chooses a 38 special, snub nose – hence the title. Jessie is headed down another path entirely, having apparently already accepted his inevitable . He has chosen to live out his last days among friends and squander the money he believes he won’t be around long enough to spend. Jessie and Walt seem to be heading down the same road, but in total opposite directions.
Hank on the other hand is wallowing in a pool of self-pity and resentment – directed at Marie. The more she helps him the further apart they grow, and the weaker Hank feels. His manhood once again challenged. And as Hank feels weaker, Skyler gets bolder. She attempts to buy out the car wash and gets denied as a result of Walt’s Season 1 crotch grab. Continue reading Breaking Bad: Season 4, Epidsode 2 – “38 Snub” Review→
After the roller coaster ride that was the end of Season 3 tonight’s much-anticipated premiere has been a long time coming. And it was worth the wait. In Sunday night’s episode we put to rest all the questions left by the finale, or at least the big one – Did Jessie really kill Gale? The answer – Yes. Of course he did. There was a lot of speculation about if Jessie really killed Gale or if it was a ruse. Well, Gale’s dead. Like – super dead. Pinkman put a bullet through his eye socket and that was that. It was the only way that he could save Walt, and it worked. At least for now.
This was one of the best premieres I’ve seen in quite a while. Here is a perfect example of the writers taking established characters, and evolving them to a whole other level. For example – Gus. This is about as much as you can get out of a character with so little dialogue. The example he makes is a loud one, and it goes a long way. This, despite his statuesque demeanor, is the most human emotion Gus has shown to date. His frustration is truly personified with one quick swipe of the box cutter.
But Gus isn’t the only character who evolved tonight…
Jessie Pinkman seems now a changed man, and seemingly forever intertwined with Hank. As Jessie learns to cope and adapt, Hank regresses. The once weak junkie is learning to accept his fate, while the once impervious DEA Superman must come to terms with the effects of getting shot 4 times. Jessie’s murder of Gale, while resulting in Walt’s survival, has filled him with contempt for the man who made it necessary. You can see it on his face at the lab when confronted with Gus. Hank however is now reduced to a bed-pan and a reliance on his wife. This is something new to him, his power is gone. This leads the audience to garner a new-found respect for Marie, who early in the show was portrayed as a childish brat, she has now grown up very quickly.
Skyler on the other hand, rather than getting stronger like her little sister, seems to be weakening, and moving towards the dark side. For as much shit as she gives Walt all the time, she’s not complaining about the money that’s paying for Hank’s therapy, and now she’s even conning poor lock smiths into breaking the law for her. Shame.
As for Walt, he seems only slightly more scattered than Mike. Gus’ reaction clearly caught Mike and Walt more off guard than they did Jessie. And it’s a move that may save them later. This unexpected execution could very well drive a wedge between Gus and Mike.
Anywho – Walter seemed rattled, but it’s clear from his speech to Gus that he’s getting harder. A man can only be pushed so far…
Alright, let’s talk about Gale Boetticher. He was a good man, and a good chemist. And I cared about him. He didn’t deserve what happened to him, he didn’t deserve it at all. But I’d shoot him again tomorrow. And the next day, and the day after that. When you make it Gale vs Me, or Gale vs Jessie, Gale loses. Simple as that.
This has set up what should prove to be an excellent 4th season of a show that has done nothing but get better as it’s gone. I loved the disposal of the body, which called back to troubles they had season 1, and feed into the advice Walt was given by both Gus and Mike in season 3 – “Never make the same mistake twice.” Between Gale’s notebook, Walt’s new found spine (Saul’s lack one), and what we can expect from Jessie, I have to say – I don’t have to be disappointed Sunday All and all, a very good episode. I give it a 4.5/5 Bears.
As promised on the 9th, we’re gonna try to keep you up to date. In the last post, we had the first trailer for the upcoming 4th season of Breaking Bad, but it was just old footage re-cut. Well now we’ve got something real…
In this new trailer it would appear that Walt is done getting kicked around, and he’s ready to lay down some ass-whoppings.
Despite an average viewer ship that is about half (2.2 million) of what the series premier pulled in (4.7 million), AMC has decided to order a 2nd season of The Killing, and I’m thrilled about it. While the viewer ship has dropped since the beginning of the season, it still averages more viewers than Breaking Bad, which is one of the best shows on TV.
The Killing is of course based on the Danish show Forbrydelsen. And Forbrydelsen also had a 2nd season. The way they did it there was that the show jumped forward 2 years and involved the complex murder of a lawyer.
I know a lot of people complained that the pacing on the show has been too slow, but I’ve really enjoyed it so far, and I look forward not only to Sunday’s finale, but to a follow-up season as well.
After the sweetass opening and intro are done, we’re hit with some solid levity. Walt and Skyler discuss her quite detailed explanation for Hank where their money came from and how sweet Walt is at gambling. And while Skyler’s script makes Walt out to be some sort of animal, it result in little else than Hank and Walt Jr. being impressed.
Continue reading Breaking Bad: Season 4, Epidsode 4 – “Bullet Points” Review 
Grizzly Bomb 