Breaking Bad utilizes the first minute of each episode better than any show on TV right now. The flashbacks and little vignettes that air before the opening credits do an amazing job at showing (not telling) the audience details about the world in which these character's operate. This season alone we have been treated to nuggets like the origin of the infamous RV, the Cousins as kids in Mexico, and of course this week's awesome Pollos Hermanos commercial (more on this later). The second great success of the week is the show's uncanny ability to provide game-changing plot development and extreme power-shifts through simple conversations between people. The two conversations I am referring to this week (between Walt and Gus and between Skylar, Marie and Walt) were every bit as intense as any shoot out or car chase could hope to be.
I, like most television viewers, cannot stand commercials. That said, how sweet was the Pollos commercial the show opened with? Not only did the opening sequence give us a (most likely bullshit) story about the humble beginnings of the restaurant, but also a detailed look into the logistics of Gus Fring's less legitimate business operation. In a tight, concise pseudo-montage we get a look how the meth is cooked (Walt and Jesse toiling in the lab), processed (using a system so sophisticated it makes Nino Brown's crack factory look like Namond's bedroom-bagging-operation), packaged (in Pollos fry batter buckets which are stamped with black light ink to make them identifiable) and shipped (using Pollos delivery trucks) to the various Pollos Hermanos franchise locations that make up Fring's territory.
Sometimes, with all of the idiotic and naive things that he does and says, it is easy to forget just how smart Walt really is. He reminds us this week when he calls a sit down with Gus to clear the air. Walt has put together the pieces of Gus' master plan to separate himself and his operation from the Cartel. During this scene Walt is extremely calm, speaking softly and slowly, while Gus quietly listens, which makes the whole thing feel even more tense. In one of the most jarring pieces of dialog, Walt says to Fring, "I know I owe you my life, and more than that, I respect the strategy. In your position, I would have done the same." The respect seems to be mutual, as Fring appears impressed that Walt has figured everything out. Then, in a moment that secures this episode's place in the pantheon of great hours of television, Walt asks the question that everyone on the blogs and message boards have been debating all season; What happens once the three month contract is up? The consensus was that Fring would use Walt for his formula and then get rid of him once the three months had passed. Not so fast, internet TV geeks. Gus does the unthinkable; he offers Walt an open ended contract worth $15,000,000 per year. Isn't it amazing how Walt vacillates between totally clueless and completely razor sharp?
I think we are witnessing the beginning of the end for my boy Jesse. I don't know if he is extremely greed, just plain dumb, or some combination of both. He has done some figuring of his own and calculated that the value of the product he and Walt are cooking is in the neighborhood of $96,000,000. He is unsatisfied with his $1.5 million cut and claims that he and Walt are getting "fisted". Walt responds with, "You are now a millionaire, and you're complaining? What world are you living in?" Sick of being everyone's bitch, Jesse decided to skim some of the blue meth from the lab and sell it on the side with Badger and Skinny Pete. Evil Jesse (the guy that convinced an innocent teen to accept a bag of meth in exchange for a tank of gas) returns as he starts to advertise his product in his NA meetings. This can only end badly for Jesse. It is only a matter of time until Gus finds out what he is up to and puts a quick, violent end to it.
The episode ends with yet another classic scene. With Hank's medical bills piling up and insurance balking, Skylar offers a solution. She explains to Marie, with Walt sitting idly by, that Walt has made a small fortune playing black jack and that they would be glad to finance Hank's recovery. She seems to have genuinely come to grips with the motivation behind Walt's criminality, which would make sense given the warmer treatment she has been giving him since last week. All of that is shattered in the final moments, when Walt tries to congratulate her on the great display of bullshitting he had just witnessed. Skylar calmly, and coldly tells Walt that she suspects that he is the reason that Hank is in the hospital and she will never forget that.
Leftovers:
I got a strong Bubs vibe when Jesse was telling the story in NA about when he traded a box he built for an ounce of weed. By the way, who wouldn't trade a lame-ass box for a fat sack?
How funny was it when Jesse referred to his job as "totally corporate"?
Hank was pumping that morphine button pretty hard. I smell an opiate addiction in someone's future.
Saul's money-laundering lesson with q-tips and cotton balls was very informative. Does anyone on TV do more with less screen time than Bob Odenkirk on this show?
The final thing I have written down in my notes about this episode is "Best episode of the season". I still feel that way
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