Walt prepares for a stand off in Breaking Bad
Beware of big spoilers below for the entire episode!!
“Shut the F**k up and let me
die in peace”
Breaking
Bad season 5 has explored many different aspects of Walter White’s ever growing
power serge and constant goes at being top dog. “Say My Name” one of the best
episodes this season focused on loneliness. Walt is practically the lone wolf
in his story now with his wife Skyler scared for her life, Jessie seeing
through his lies and abandoning ship, and the fact that Walt killed Mike. Walt
is pretty much alone now and on his slow and steady decline, as the series
continues to go into more and more interesting places.
Let’s
start with Mike. First off I’m sad to see Jonathan Banks, yet another fantastic
supporting figure on this show, being eliminated from the show. His work will
be missed, a lot. Second of all what a way to go; Mike’s death was an
absolutely beautiful sequence that highlighted the best aspects of the show.
The exchange between Banks and Cranston was fantastically acted, gorgeously shot
and gut wrenchingly tense. It was an interesting sequence indeed, and one of
the shows best emotional death sequences. Mike is constantly calm to the grave and
it’s Walt who truly cracks in the end, as he apologizes for his mistake and
goes more into shaky old Walt mode rather than cocky Heisenberg mode. It’s truly
a fantastic sequence that is one of those sequences that outlines in great
detail why Breaking Bad is currently the best show on television.
Gushing
aside, let’s head to the third part of the sequence that I would like to talk
about and that is the big potential leap in logic that lead up to the scene.
Out of all the possibilities in the world (including Jessie who could have gone
in and out the same way Walter did) why the heck would Mike let Walt go and get
the bag? Saul wasn’t budging which seems fine to me (this is where the A team
needed to make another magic appearance), but Mike was so protective of Jessie
in that sequence it seemed silly. Why get the guy who doesn’t like you and has
reason to kill you to get the bad that will lead you to potential safety. It
all depends if one interoperates the scene as a viable character move or a plot
skip step that was used to get from point A to point B. The situation is much
like the Joan sequence from this season’s Mad Men episode “The Other Woman” where Joan gives herself to the Jaguar boss
for a night in order to potentially get the account; you either by it or you
don’t, plain and simple. I bought the Mad Men jump because it felt like it fit
the situation, I’m not so sure on this one as I think it was a quick writer’s
loophole to try to make the step of killing Mike, but it was well disguised enough
and was executed well enough that I didn’t care. Things may be different later
on but for now it was executed well enough that I bought it just enough to be
satisfied.
Back
to the greatness of the rest of this fine episode… The show again nailed the
opening sequence with a great stand off for the ages. No guns, no force, just
two guys and a lot of great dialogue. Greatness as usual from the almighty
Brian Cranston who’s Walt oozed total confidence and control. This ladies and gentlemen
is how a standoff should go down. Two guys, a lot of money on the line, and a
lot of threats made for one fantastic standoff that’s for sure. Best of all it
climaxed with the fine line of,
“Say
my name”
“Heisenberg”
“You’re
Goddamn right.”
So
great, so very, very, great.
Let’s
finish with Walt and Jessie’s great fight midway through the episodes. Jessie,
after all this time, has finally caught up to Walt’s ways of lying and
manipulating and won’t get sucked back in by it. Jessie is out, done and done,
and there probably may potentially never be a way that he may come back to it
(but probably, before the season is done, he might). It was another great scene
of just two characters having a verbal battle to the max, and it was fantastic.
So
where does this lead us? Walt is now alone with next to no one on his side
anymore (save maybe Todd); his kids are out of the house, his wife wants completely
out of his life emotionally and his meth partner (and surrogate son of sorts)
is fed up with the lies he’s been spewing. Oh and Mike’s dead because of his
confusion, recklessness and overall incompetence. All that’s left is the new
operation and knowing the show it’s all downhill from here.
Other
things:
- Hank’s interesting hunch to follow the wired lawyer was a great hunch (completely coincidental or not) and finally worked something out for the now in a little bit of deep water Hank (to attached to the case of course)
- Fool me once shame on you fool me twice shame on you, Hank should feel ashamed for letting Walt use the same trick on him again, this time to get the bugs away this time. Fake crying always works I guess.
- A world without Coca Cola would be a lot more Pepsi dominated I guess
That’s
just me though. What did everyone else think?
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