Non-spoilery space filling Breakling Bad Fact o’ the Week!!! As the opening credits roll every week, I like to scream out the name of the elements noted in each credited name. I often scare my cat. I live alone folks, I’m not proud. But I am, however, considerate enough to fill this preview space with ludicrous and vaguely related info, thereby keeping my article preview completely spoiler free.
It’s official. Even a mediocre episode of “Breaking Bad” is 4000 times better than the next best show airing these days. Though I was left without an upset tummy this week, it was an apt midpoint to the final season.
Last week we were left to believe that Jesse was about to burn the White home to the ground. In an overlapping not-quite-Rashomon narrative, we learn why this didn’t happen and see the consequences of Jesse’s decision. In Walt’s version, he flies home to an empty car and house, a gas soaked rug the only clue of Jesse’s intentions. Walter tries to hide the threat, poorly, and sweeps his family to a fancy hotel under pretense of escaping the fumes left behind. Both Skylar and Junior see the flaws in the story, but while Junior is still clueless – Skylar realizes the full scope of the situation and tells Walter it’s time to take care of Old Yeller.
We’re then shown why Jesse copped out. Hank, eager as a virgin on prom night, arrives with his white hat and his badge, gives Jesse the ol’ “it’s not worth it let’s do this the right way,” and sweeps him to the Schrader home to film his story.
Some of the characters on this show have had a slow decline over five seasons, and some are just taking a nose dive. Marie, who was always clad in violet and carefree, has taken to black outfits and researching untraceable poisons. Hank, while I never liked him, was a “good guy.” He wanted to uphold the law and contain a growing plague. But tonight, when stating he gave zero bothers about Pinkman’s safety, revealed his descent as well.
I feel like tonight’s episode is going to compound the Skylar hate but it only increased my sympathy. This is a woman who is broken. This is a woman who tells her husband to commit murder. Her reason? “Why not.” At this point she knows her husband has nowhere left to sink. They can either go down as husband and wife, or make one final move to remain a safe family. She chooses safety, and I’m not sure were I in her shoes I would make a different call. Which, as I have stated ad nauseum, is the beauty of this show.
The episode had only a portion of the suspense given earlier in the season, which left me to ponder just how much this show has raised the bar. And then it hit me. And yes, here comes another “man she’s reading way too much into this show,” but this time I’m raising it as a point of discussion as opposed to a theory.
I’ve often lamented the death of the American Western. It’s done so little lately, and done well even less. Is “Breaking Bad” a revivial of the Western? Let’s think about it. The following excerpts are from Encyclopaedia Brittanica’s “western” entry:
The western has as its setting the immense plains, rugged tablelands, and mountain ranges of the portion of the United States lying west of the Mississippi River, in particular the Great Plains and theSouthwest. The cattle and mining industries spurred the growth of towns, and the gradual imposition of law and order that such settled communities needed was accomplished by another class of men who became staple figures in the western, the town sheriff and the U.S. marshal.
We’ve certainly got the location. I would argue that the desert is just as important a character as any human in the show. And substitute “drugs and weapons” for “cattle and mining,” and “crime syndicates” for “towns” – you’ve got a modern recipe for western drama. But beyond that:
The historical western setting lacked the subtly confining web of social conventions and mundane safeties that typify more settled societies. The West’s tenuous hold on the rule of law and its fluid social fabric necessitated the settling of individual and group conflicts by the use of violence and the exercise of physical courage, and the moral dramas and dilemmas arising within this elemental, even primeval, framework lent themselves remarkably well to motion-picture treatment.
Ayup. Walter shucked his mundane safety in episode one. Hank and the DEA’s constant pursuit of the wrong lead exemplifies the tenuous hold of the law which has resulted in one metric butt-ton of violence, courage (albeit questionable motivated), and moral dilemmas. The causation is different and modern but the actions and effects are true to form.Vince Gilligan has given us, in his untamed frontier of drug culture, the New American Western.
And while the mipoint of the season was a bit slow moving, it’s led me to believe that we have hit the peak of the coaster and are about to crash, screaming, to the end of the ride. A wired Jesse was supposed to get the final piece in Hank’s case, but believing a hit was waiting at the meet point – he walked. He called Walter and left a warning of “I’m going to get you where it hurts the most,” rejoined Hank, and told him that he had a “better way.” At this point do we even know what will hurt Walter? Skylar? The kids? The money? The reputation? I’m at a loss.
And then Walter made that fateful call to Todd and requested his uncle’s services, presumably to deal with the rabid dog.
Sidebar: Vince Gilligan’s teaser for next week’s episode revealed, and I quote, that “Lydia will learn an important lesson about farm raised catfish.” Huh.
Thought’s on the tease? How do you think Jesse’s plan will play out? We should probably talk about the water symbolism at some point but I wore my brain out. Sound off in the comments, and please keep voting in the poll! The results are delightfully divided right now!