Breaking Points: Breaking Bad’s Final Season (Episode 11)

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There’s only five more episodes left and I have one question on my mind about this series.  Has any series ever had more left to do in its 5 remaining episodes?  Furthermore has any series ever done more in the first 3 episodes of a final season than Breaking Bad? The answer to both is unequivocally no.  Not since Fast & Furious 6 have I seen anything jam more into the final act, which by the way, Furious 6 had to create an impossibly long, extremely unbelievable airport runway that was 20 miles long to fit everything, while Breaking Bad is doing it in a very logical and believable fashion.  I have not sourced all of television, I still need to watch The Wire, but of what I have seen on television this show is clearly the best ever.  With only 5 episodes left, this to me, seems like an NBA final where they’re up 3 games to zero with 3 out of the 4 remaining games at home.  I would be more impressed at this point if they somehow fucked this up, as that seems like a harder task now than actually ending the show well.  If there is a show that has done something better, I need to know.  I will be watching The Wire after this, but I find it hard to believe–especially when I hear certain seasons aren’t spectacular–that anything comes has done what Breaking Bad is doing now.  Actually I just figured out the only way they can fuck this up.  If in some insane way they end the show with Walt just shooting Walt Jr. over breakfast before he can get his first bite and the show fades to black, but I’d bet 10 million dollars that isn’t happening.

Lets get to the few points that stood out in episode 11.  Overall this whole episode stood out to me as one of the best in the series, possibly the best.

To New Beginnings:

God it’s good to have Jesse back.  Even better to have him say what everyone else is too scared to say.  The scene in the desert where Jesse calls Walter out on his bullshit is one of the most compelling scenes in the show’s history.  Walter White and even more so,  Bryan Cranston is such a good actor that I even find myself falling in love with the lies he tells to everyone.  During that whole scene I kept thinking, yea Jesse, get out, go be happy and start a new life.  This is really a great idea by Walt and great that he’s still looking out for Jesse. But then Jesse shakes me out of my hypnosis and I see what he sees.  Everything Walt says makes sense, and it does sound great on first listen, but there’s one detail that shows Walt’s true colors that Jesse points out.  The fact that he needs to meet him in the desert to propose the idea.  Had he just met him at Saul’s or at a diner, I could still coerce myself into believing he might still have some loyalties to Jesse.  But the need for the meeting to be in the desert is far too telling of a sign on the reality of his immovable position.  Which is that, sure, he’ll look out for those he’s worked with, but become too much of a liability and you will be cut loose, one way or another.

Not Enough Flare:

Vince Gilligan has a major sense of humor.  The scene with Walter and Skyler meeting up with Hank and Marie at the mexican restaurant is pure gold.  It does a great job of relieving some tension the show has built up, while also adding some more tension in.  The timing of the kid offering “table side guac” was impeccable.  There’s almost a piece of me that thinks the character of Walter White finds a bit of enjoyment in mocking the seriousness of the situations by holding the meeting in such a ridiculous setting.  It’s not beyond his ego to entertain himself with such and ironic venue.

These are my confessions:

I can’t remember an episode of this show surprising me more with things that should’ve been obvious, than this episode.  When he sat down to tape his “confession”, my first thought was that Walt was planning to fake his death and was going to confess to everything to remove any guilt from everyone else involved.  Then I was shocked again when he handed that tape to Hank and Marie.  Was he hoping for Hank to go easy on him.  Was he trying to play on his kindness.  No, No, Walt is smarter than that, and he’s smarter than all of us.  His confession that simultaneously handcuffs Hank to whole thing is brilliant and yet so simply obvious. It makes sense, and Hank had been sniff at it the whole time.  While Hank only thought it would make him look bad when he would bring his brother in-law in, he at least was aware it would reflect on him in general.  My jaw was gaped, and I marveled at the brilliance of the show.

Jesse goes off the reservation:

I binge watched up until the beginning of season 5, so when Jesse realized he had his “dope” lifted off him and looked at his cigarettes it was quite clear what conclusion he had come to.  But I’m not sure if I had watched the show week to week from the beginning, if I would’ve realized it immediately.  But man is this brilliant.  I was all ready to see Jesse go start his new life, and possibly only come back to help Walt, but no, in a strike of pure genius, the show continues to waste nothing.  Oh and can we create a “Fuck Tripods” award, and give it to Breaking Bad for putting cameras in places no one has business putting them and making it work beautifully.  Watching Jesse in his maniacal manner dousing the White residence in gasoline from the angle of the jug made it seem that much more menacing.  To end the episode on that note might be one of the worst (best) cliff hangers in the world.  If I was binge watching this season and had promised myself I would only watch one more episode, and it was 4am with work in the morning, I’m not sure I would be able to not immediately watch the next episode. This is Breaking Bad, I’m just glad I’m along for the ride.

 

Can’t wait till Sunday.  I can’t imagine it can get any better, but it just might.  Also small note on Walter keeping that gun in the vending machine, he really does think of everything, doesn’t he. Well till next time.

 

 

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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