Breaking Points: Breaking Bad’s Final Season (Episode 10)

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Man it’s nice to have Breaking Bad back.  Not sure what I’ll do once its gone, but while it’s here, I plan to enjoy it.  This week’s episode wasn’t quite as intense as last week, but it still sported some gems that showed why this show might go down as the best show on Television.

 

Skyler’s Redemption:  

Is it too late to start liking Skyler?  Were we too harsh on her all this time.  I mean let’s think about it, she was coping with the fact that she just had a baby with a man that, not only has cancer and could be gone any day, but also is a criminal mastermind and has done things she can’t even wrap her head around.  I had this realization watching this episode, that as viewers, we’re too close to Walter to see his growth.  Like a kid, if you’re around them all the time you don’t really notice how much they’ve changed till you see a side by side comparison.  So we saw the mess ups, the fumbling at times, and the not so perfect plans that in the end were more lucky than good.  But to everyone else in the show without the bird’s eye view, they only know of the end results.  It dawned on me when Saul’s two goons went to get the money and the one played by Bill Burr simply states, “Mexico” and the other’s retort was simple.  He reminds his over zealous friend that he orchestrated a hit on multiple men in prison within a 2 minute window.  So to everyone on the show, Walter White is someone to fear.  So I do think I’ve been a bit hard on Skyler.  The scene with her and Hank at the diner is brilliant on a character level, and also on an acting and directing level.  Most television shows would’ve had Hank play the shoulder to lean on.  He would’ve just talked to her and she would’ve opened up to him, and he would’ve said “don’t worry, we’re going to get him”.  But here, in Breaking Bad land, he pulls out the tape recorder, which of course he would do.  He needs this evidence.  This isn’t CSI Miami.  He needs actual proof. And the ebb and flow of the conversation from friendly support to slightly threatening is real.  To the actress playing Skyler’s credit, she looked like she had a million things running through her head, and rightfully so, she would.  Again I gotta believe on any other show, that conversation goes smoother, either she coyly would’ve played dumb right from the start or she would’ve spilled her guts and shared everything she knew on the spot. Is it too late for Skyler? I don’t think so.

 

All Motives Become Clear:

This episode did a great job of establishing the moral compass of each of the main characters.  We understand Walter since the show has been based around him, we know he wants to leave his family with money, but his Achilles heel is that he also has a very large ego.  But also in this episode we see that Hank’s moral compass isn’t so righteous.  It’s definitely black and white, but it’s predicated on his position in life.  Hank is loyal to the code and conduct of his job, but had Hank not made it as a cop couldn’t you see him much like a Mike character, handling the dirty work for some criminal but still having some sense of code to his people.  Also, his ego comes into play when he admits he can’t go back to work without having iron clad evidence, because of how dumb he’ll look for having this criminal master mind under his nose.  Marie and her moral compass has moved her into my least favorite character on the show spot.  She can lean on being righteous, but in the end, the crux of what she wants is an image issue.  Her biggest concern is that Hank got hurt.  Had Hank not been harmed, had she not been made to be a fool, I’m not quite sure she cares so much.  Switch the wives in your head for a second, and couldn’t you see her being more complicit with Walter after finding out, than Skyler.  Hell she would probably want to rub her new found luxury in everyone’s face.  Marie is still very much out for her own well being, it just so happens that her well being aligns with the letter of the law.  At the end of the day, however gray her compass may read, Skyler might be the least selfish among them.  Sure her concerns waiver from the children, to Walter, to her family as a whole, but at no point has Skyler only looked out for herself.  Man, I was really way too hard on Skyler.

 

Landry Running Shit:

There’s not much to say here except the fact that Breaking Bad is awesome.  There was a joke on the internet running around about how Breaking Bad was a prequel to Malcolm in the Middle where Walter is actually in witness protection.  It’s funny, cause it’s ridiculous, but it’s also funny cause it’s plausible. My friend brought this moment to my attention from this episode; it’s the part with the raid on the underground meth lab, and the guy running the lab is crawling after all his buddies have been killed, and Landry’s uncle says “Fire in hole!” before shooting him.  If you don’t know, that actor was also on Justified, and on that show he worked with another gentleman who’s tagline when shooting a rocket was “Fire in the hole”.  What’s hilariously amazing is, that character could very well be the same guy and it would totally work for Breaking Bad.  And couldn’t Landry just have hit a string of bad luck after high school and ended where he is too.  I mean we witnessed him kill one man on Friday Night Lights.  Is it so far fetched that he’d be a little more unaffected by killing a few more.  I’ll now be waiting for coach Taylor to show up and set Landry straight and for Saracen to come in and help Jesse cope with his issues and for Timothy Olyphant to come in guns blazing and ending the war on meth in New Mexico.

 

That’s it till next time.  The only theory I have running in my head is Jesse is now trapped, and in those flash forwards Walter is clearly coming back for someone.  I’m just wondering if he’s saving Jesse, or ending him.

 

 

Matt Cargile

About Matt Cargile

Matt Cargile is the Editor in Chief of rookerville.com. He also works in finance, but refuses to read any news printed on pink paper. He is a child at heart with adult means. His childhood dream was to either become a magician or the leader of the next great empire and somehow both these things make complete sense. He's contradictory in nature, but is always consistent.

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