tv: Fear is an interesting thing. It is said that how we deal with it defines us. But is what often meant by that is that how we deal with it is what separates strong people from weak people. While there may be truth in the latter statement, it is more a combination of the two that is the most accurate. How we deal with our fears is what both defines us and separates us. But this has nothing to do with strength. It is simply to be taken at face value. Individually, our reactions to facing something that frightens us is a defining part of what separates us and defines a part of who we are. And often our fears are different, making our reactions different. If you fear fire, do you run towards the burning building or keep a safe distance? If you fear an alien invasion, do you bust out the tin foil and go to work?
In the third episode of Breaking Bad's final season, Confessions, the fear of all of the characters was brought into focus. The episode began with Todd retelling the story of the train heist in dead freight with both a fear and admiration for Walt, the mastermind behind what he called the biggest heist ever. He also took care to leave Walt a voicemail about the shoot out in Phoenix and the change of management. He just thought Walt would want to know, because well, you know. Or not just, you know, but because Todd is still in firm belief that if his former boss doesn't know all the details there will be hell to pay, despite the fact that Walt is trying to live in a world where the word former still applies. And just before the periodic table comes into view we see the very methlamine from the train heist, no doubt fatefully, heading back to Albuquerque.
Post teaser the episode picks up right where we left off last week. Hank is getting his golden opportunity to swim instead of sink in his investigation of his brother-in law by interviewing Jesse. Hank has totally reversed his feelings about Jesse. Or at least he has gone from hating him to just not caring what happens to him. His focus is on Walt. He tells Jesse he has no interest in him and is just after the man known as Heisenberg. At the sound of that name Jesse can't help but react. And thus the dance begins as they trade knowing glances over the monster they both are dealing with. Hank just wants him to be brought to justice. Jesse just wants out of that cell. He knows that even prison can't keep him safe from Walt's wrath. But before any progress can be made Saul comes to Jesse's rescue and firmly reminds him that because of what Walt has become and what his rage can bring people, this is about as bad a situation can be.
Walt meanwhile is trying to deal with his sister-in-law. After a pulse pounding attempt to take the kids out of his house in last weeks episode, Marie tries a more subtle approach. But Walt is wise to the true meaning of computer problems and decides to keep his son at home. He does so trough the guilt Junior feels over leaving his dad after being told that Walt's cancer has returned. But evil as the Joker himself, Walt fits his story to his new situation. I don't know if we will ever know what the truth is about his cancer. I don't know if I need to. Its use as just another tool in his manipulative box is more effective at this point.
Knowing that these acts to separate his family makes a bold move against Hank. He makes a confession tape. But first the Whites and Schraders meet for dinner. Walt and Skylar look talk there way out of there troubles one least time in a scene tailor made for Breaking Bad. As the tension ratchets to a breaking point it ends up being only broken by comedy relief and an offer of fresh guacamole that few besides these four could resist. Hell, its made at your table! But through it all Marie gets in her mata-commentary when she asks if Walt will kill himself. "All of this will just end if you die," she pleads. And isn't that just the truth.
And then we see The Confession. A jarring retelling of the plot of the entire series in an alternate reality that plays itself as threat to every fiber of Hank's credibility as a good guy, portraying him as the mastermind behind all of Walt's evil doings. The only thing more frightening than the fact that I can actually imagine a show of what Walt confesses is the performance itself. We have seen actors act within acting before, playing a person pretending to be something they are not. And while I don't doubt the difficulty of that type of performance or the imagination it takes, there is always one defining characteristic. You can always tell the character is acting. What made Bryan Cranston's performance during his confession so jarring was that he seemed to decide not play it as if acting. He played it as if this was the story that he had actually been telling for five years and the one his character's foundation was built upon. And while I doubt there is anyone who will doubt Cranston's ability as actor, it was that decision that made the performance so jarring, terrifying, and sociopathic.
Walt's confession is followed by a meeting in the dessert to to assess the damage of Jesse's being interviewed by Hank. Once Walt has heard everything he decides to advise Jesse. He puts on the fatherly hat and asks Jesse to call Saul's carpet cleaner and leave and start anew. But instead of Jesse just accepting Walt's manipulation quietly he fires back. Jesse asks him to just ask that this favor be done for Walt's own good. And then throws the final dagger by showing that he knows that this meeting is in its chosen location so that if he refuses Walt will kill him "like he killed Mike". And finally Heisenberg is speechless.
The episodes strongest symbol of fear happened in the following scene as Walt returned to his carwash. He finds Skylar in their office clearly grappling with the morality of The Confession. Hidden in shadows, Walt is allowed to embody his wife's fears about whether or not the right decision was made and the monster behind that decision. The entire scene is shot from Skylar's height. From her point of view she is looking up at the shadow and specter of evil looming over her. When the discussion is shown from Walt's point of view he appears as a shadow hovering above her. But always just a shadow. The dark presence he as so totally become.
From there the episodes breath taking final sequence begins as Jesse prepares to get lost for good. Sitting in Saul's office as he is reminded as the call is made for the vacuum cleaner to come and suck away the dirt and wipe clean the slate for Jesse's new life (I know, but those were just too easy.) Saul tells Jesse there are no take backs, revisiting a familiar theme most commonly known through the titles of the third seasons final two episodes. In this world you cannot go half measure. You can only go to the full measure. But as Jesse is getting to go, Saul's careful lifting of his weed lifts the vale off of something from his past. He realizes now who stole the ricen cigarette and poisoned Brock. And if there is one thing we know about Jesse it is that he loves kids. And while Walt has been complicit in some terrible things that have happened to kids, Jesse now knows he actually did something to a kid, and one he cared about on a personal level. And as the episode steamrolled towards its final scene we saw Jesse snap out of it, and when he did the wheels came off the bus as he literally through gasoline on the growing fire that is the journey towards the end of this series. He knows there are no take backs. And with his decision to go after Walt for what he did to Brock it seems he has no interest in them anymore.
Confessions may end up being remembered as the finest episode of this last half season. It seems that Vince Gilligan and the writing staff are bent on confounding our expectations and blowing up every "how's it going to end?" by pushing the pace of these final episodes and allowing the characters act as there own agents of destruction. But more importantly it will be one of, if not this seasons finest episodes because it showed the the best of what it had to offer. Walt acted as a Beacon of terror and fear at the center of everything that unfolded and we got to watch the rest of the characters react around him each in their own turn. And the finest cast on television showed that they were up to the task. And in doing so they showed that there characters strength was not defined by how they dealt with that fear. But in dealing with it differently, their fear was part of what did define a piece of them and was just one more part of the separation between these compelling individuals. Their fear, however, was rooted in the same evil.
Monday, August 26, 2013
Friday, August 16, 2013
breaking bad returns: blood money
tv: As the light bulb turned on in Hank's mind while he did his business in the White household, we the viewer were left with more of a concern for how things were going to for Walter and his newly ended meth business than any sort of epiphany like what we had just watched. In the first part of the fifth and final season of Breaking Bad we had watched Walt descend completely into his evil alter-ego Heisenberg. The hard and fast science that had governed his every decision, much like the show he was a character on, was replaced by a sheer ruthlessness and ego now driven by the little more than the belief that things would work because he said so. Murder was becoming an even more regular part of the business and so was the bold nature of the acts he used to keep it going, be it a train robbery or a mass prison murder or the expansion to sales in the Czech Republic. And despite Skylar finally getting through to her husband after many ill fated attempts by simply asking how much is enough for him to walk away in front of a near mountain of cash, that terror and ego were what we feared would be Walt's undoing now that Hank seemed to finally know his secret. And with Jesse having also quit the business and Mike having "left town" for good, it seemed an almost more doomed fate for televisions most terrifying meth dealer.
The final installment of Breaking Bad began by dealing with one of last summers most talked about mysteries. Our teaser began by picking up with Mr. Lambert after he left the diner with his new car and the arsenal in the trunk. The arrival at what appears to be the former home of the White's affirms the fact that Walt, now as Mr. Lambert, is heading back to his old stomping grounds after some time away to take care of some unfinished business. The terrified nature of poor Carol and the condition of the home, complete with Heisenberg graffiti, gives us a ton of information about what happens between now and then. Walt has been outed as the villain he has become and his family, whether geographically or spiritually, is gone. But it is Walt's purpose for returning to the house that is the real moment. After a years worth of speculation about what the use of the ricen would be, we come to find out that even after things have gotten so bad that Walt had to run, it is still unused. And thus the questions of true endgame have been given to the viewer. Why is Walt back? If getting away wasn't enough, then what is the true end of his story? And of course, who the hell is he going to give the ricen to?
From their the story immediately jumps back to the moment of Hank's epiphany. As Hank stumbles his way to the car for a quick exit, Vince Gilligan and his writers telegraphed the next few moments. Well, mostly. Hank was clearly headed for a stroke or panic attack. But this is Breaking Bad. And so a panic attack immediately becomes a fatal car crash due to a heart attack in the minds of the viewers. Knowing what was to come, the mercy shown to Hank with a quick "oh everything is fine" was much appreciated.
As Hank begins his investigation into his brother in law, Walt spends his time getting faced with two truths. One of which he seems ready to accept and one he seems blind to. While working as a car wash manager for a second time in the show he is greeted by Lydia, our favorite up tight Madrigal employee who has become one of the show's best characters, not to mention being one whom the conspiracy theories swirl around. While Walt's ego allows himself to push through her plea and maintain that walking away from being a drug dealer and manufacturer is as easy all of our favorite just say no slogans, he certainly doesn't seem shocked that his past is in need of a an occasional revisit. And while Lydia is gone for now, the drop in quality of meth is sure to be a source of contention going forward since just saying no isn't always enough to get the temptress of drugs to go away forever. Walt then is forced to once again revisit his past by going to try to talk Jesse out of giving away his five million dollars worth of exit money. In a brilliant as always scene between these two we see Walt working as a master manipulator, trying to win an argument by any means necessary after dismissing a previous evil deed as himself doing just that. But as we see Jesse put the pieces of the past (what we saw in the last two episodes of last summer) we realize that he is on to Walt. And as the camera lingers on him one moment too long at the end of the scene we get the sense that he still isn't buying what Walt is selling.
Walt then heads home for the night. Jesse on the other hand decides to give his blood money away in a different manner. But before that he runs into a a homeless person and offers him some of his money, about a thousand dollars. The suspicion that action is met with seems so base and fundamental and yet is said with just a look that it hit home. This man knows that Jesse didn't get that money for doing nothing and fears the catch that will come with his taking it and the blood that that money will soon leave on his hands. Frustrated by this notion Jesse does the sensible thing and begins the quest of throwing his five million, one thousand dollars at a time, out his car window as if it was the morning paper.
Just as this is all going on Walt decides to go have himself some alone time in the same place that his new adversary did, the master bathroom(by the way, what guest uses the master bathroom, come on Hank.). He even has the same reading taste as he reaches for that old Walt Whitman book that we all know makes for the best bathroom reading. After not being able to find his book, Walt begins to put the pieces together himself. This is where the only crazy theory from me will come into play (really, I promise!). Walt runs outside to check his car and finds a tracking device. I can't help but believe that this is a bit of a mislead for Walt. He believes it is Hank who put it there and thus decides to confront him. But we as viewers saw such a detailed version of Hank's departure from Walt's house that we know it could not have been Hank. Lydia, however, was at the car wash in a much more sparsely shown scene. I refer to this as Walt looking into the Palantir(sorry, no Tolkien history in this piece. If you don't know what I am talking about you will have to look it up). He is shown an actual truth, that someone is watching him and keeping tabs on him, but the specifics he draws from that conclusion are doomed to falsehood and lead to a catastrophic choice of actions.
Those actions are shown in the final scene. A scene that was easily one of the shows finest ever. Walt goes to see Hank. Walt asks how he is doing after the panic attack and decides to just leave. Here is where Breaking Bad shows its true merit. Having gotten Hank's temperature in terms of his suspicion, the show could easily have ended on Walt walking down the driveway with that devilish smirk. And in those four extra minutes, the ultimate epiphany, much like Hank's at reading the inscription in the Whitman book, happens for the viewer. How could they possibly jam as much story as we all thought they had to cover into just eight episodes? The answer became simple. Have Walt turn on a dime and ask a question his continuingly uncontrollable ego couldn't resist and force us into a moment that should have taken three episodes to get to. I am not going to relive the gory details of this years most memorable television moment. But suffice to say there was nothing as intense as seeing not only two of televisions best (I know I keep saying that but this whole cast goes in that category. Its just true.) thunder away at each other in a moment that we had all spent five years waiting for. And yet when it came upon us we all had to tread carefully for fear of a spell that would drive us off the road like we had just read the words of Whitman.
And here we are. After an episode told with the speed of a methlamine carrying train (there damn fast right?), we now know how everything can be done in a short eight hours. Jesse is out, Walt is outed, and Lydia is trying to drag them all back in. And somewhere in all of that is the reason Mr. Lambert must make his triumphant return to ABQ. I am imagining some sort of combination of the two movies watched by their respective characters last season. Walt going in a blaze of glory after we say hello to the little friends in his trunk. Hank finally getting a criminal worthy of his skill as a detective and out of brotherly love getting that hand hold at the airport. But of course I am probably wrong. Vince Gilligan is smarter than me. And he maybe has not shown it more than in Blood Money.
The final installment of Breaking Bad began by dealing with one of last summers most talked about mysteries. Our teaser began by picking up with Mr. Lambert after he left the diner with his new car and the arsenal in the trunk. The arrival at what appears to be the former home of the White's affirms the fact that Walt, now as Mr. Lambert, is heading back to his old stomping grounds after some time away to take care of some unfinished business. The terrified nature of poor Carol and the condition of the home, complete with Heisenberg graffiti, gives us a ton of information about what happens between now and then. Walt has been outed as the villain he has become and his family, whether geographically or spiritually, is gone. But it is Walt's purpose for returning to the house that is the real moment. After a years worth of speculation about what the use of the ricen would be, we come to find out that even after things have gotten so bad that Walt had to run, it is still unused. And thus the questions of true endgame have been given to the viewer. Why is Walt back? If getting away wasn't enough, then what is the true end of his story? And of course, who the hell is he going to give the ricen to?
From their the story immediately jumps back to the moment of Hank's epiphany. As Hank stumbles his way to the car for a quick exit, Vince Gilligan and his writers telegraphed the next few moments. Well, mostly. Hank was clearly headed for a stroke or panic attack. But this is Breaking Bad. And so a panic attack immediately becomes a fatal car crash due to a heart attack in the minds of the viewers. Knowing what was to come, the mercy shown to Hank with a quick "oh everything is fine" was much appreciated.
As Hank begins his investigation into his brother in law, Walt spends his time getting faced with two truths. One of which he seems ready to accept and one he seems blind to. While working as a car wash manager for a second time in the show he is greeted by Lydia, our favorite up tight Madrigal employee who has become one of the show's best characters, not to mention being one whom the conspiracy theories swirl around. While Walt's ego allows himself to push through her plea and maintain that walking away from being a drug dealer and manufacturer is as easy all of our favorite just say no slogans, he certainly doesn't seem shocked that his past is in need of a an occasional revisit. And while Lydia is gone for now, the drop in quality of meth is sure to be a source of contention going forward since just saying no isn't always enough to get the temptress of drugs to go away forever. Walt then is forced to once again revisit his past by going to try to talk Jesse out of giving away his five million dollars worth of exit money. In a brilliant as always scene between these two we see Walt working as a master manipulator, trying to win an argument by any means necessary after dismissing a previous evil deed as himself doing just that. But as we see Jesse put the pieces of the past (what we saw in the last two episodes of last summer) we realize that he is on to Walt. And as the camera lingers on him one moment too long at the end of the scene we get the sense that he still isn't buying what Walt is selling.
Walt then heads home for the night. Jesse on the other hand decides to give his blood money away in a different manner. But before that he runs into a a homeless person and offers him some of his money, about a thousand dollars. The suspicion that action is met with seems so base and fundamental and yet is said with just a look that it hit home. This man knows that Jesse didn't get that money for doing nothing and fears the catch that will come with his taking it and the blood that that money will soon leave on his hands. Frustrated by this notion Jesse does the sensible thing and begins the quest of throwing his five million, one thousand dollars at a time, out his car window as if it was the morning paper.
Just as this is all going on Walt decides to go have himself some alone time in the same place that his new adversary did, the master bathroom(by the way, what guest uses the master bathroom, come on Hank.). He even has the same reading taste as he reaches for that old Walt Whitman book that we all know makes for the best bathroom reading. After not being able to find his book, Walt begins to put the pieces together himself. This is where the only crazy theory from me will come into play (really, I promise!). Walt runs outside to check his car and finds a tracking device. I can't help but believe that this is a bit of a mislead for Walt. He believes it is Hank who put it there and thus decides to confront him. But we as viewers saw such a detailed version of Hank's departure from Walt's house that we know it could not have been Hank. Lydia, however, was at the car wash in a much more sparsely shown scene. I refer to this as Walt looking into the Palantir(sorry, no Tolkien history in this piece. If you don't know what I am talking about you will have to look it up). He is shown an actual truth, that someone is watching him and keeping tabs on him, but the specifics he draws from that conclusion are doomed to falsehood and lead to a catastrophic choice of actions.
Those actions are shown in the final scene. A scene that was easily one of the shows finest ever. Walt goes to see Hank. Walt asks how he is doing after the panic attack and decides to just leave. Here is where Breaking Bad shows its true merit. Having gotten Hank's temperature in terms of his suspicion, the show could easily have ended on Walt walking down the driveway with that devilish smirk. And in those four extra minutes, the ultimate epiphany, much like Hank's at reading the inscription in the Whitman book, happens for the viewer. How could they possibly jam as much story as we all thought they had to cover into just eight episodes? The answer became simple. Have Walt turn on a dime and ask a question his continuingly uncontrollable ego couldn't resist and force us into a moment that should have taken three episodes to get to. I am not going to relive the gory details of this years most memorable television moment. But suffice to say there was nothing as intense as seeing not only two of televisions best (I know I keep saying that but this whole cast goes in that category. Its just true.) thunder away at each other in a moment that we had all spent five years waiting for. And yet when it came upon us we all had to tread carefully for fear of a spell that would drive us off the road like we had just read the words of Whitman.
And here we are. After an episode told with the speed of a methlamine carrying train (there damn fast right?), we now know how everything can be done in a short eight hours. Jesse is out, Walt is outed, and Lydia is trying to drag them all back in. And somewhere in all of that is the reason Mr. Lambert must make his triumphant return to ABQ. I am imagining some sort of combination of the two movies watched by their respective characters last season. Walt going in a blaze of glory after we say hello to the little friends in his trunk. Hank finally getting a criminal worthy of his skill as a detective and out of brotherly love getting that hand hold at the airport. But of course I am probably wrong. Vince Gilligan is smarter than me. And he maybe has not shown it more than in Blood Money.
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