Breaking Bad re-watch: Season 5, Episode 1: "Live Free or Die"

This season opener isn’t as strong a standalone narrative as some previous ones, like "Seven Thirty-Seven" or “Box Cutter.” But as far as wrapping up plot points and bringing in some new ones, this is an opener done right.

First off, there’s the pre-credits flash-forward to about a year in the future, showing a Walt (Bryan Cranston) unlike the victorious one we just saw. This is a smart move by the show, taking advantage of knowing the end is near to present a scene full of mystery. Like the burnt teddy bear in season two, this vision of the future ensures that we’ll stay with the show for the duration (an incentive that this season kind of needs toward the middle).

Back in the present, Walt, Jesse (Aaron Paul), and Mike (Jonathan Banks) seek to tie up a loose end after Gus’ death. Here, the show reverts to the form we recognize. One thing back in spades is the goofy and dark humor that breaks the dramatic ice, which is welcome after such an intense preceding season. The whole caper involving the magnet in the truck even seems to be more humorous than thrilling, and Mike’s cynical deadpan (call it Grumpy Old Hitman) keeps the even the tensest scenes funny (his pessimistic line about Miller Time is just gold).

But the episode also delves into the characters. Mainly Skyler (Anna Gunn), who’s shellshocked from Walt’s actions last season. In this one, she sees the results of her extortion of Ted Beneke (Christopher Cousins). Gunn is so good here, giving Skyler a convincing traumatic shock that her husband—and she, too—are in further than she thought, and a real sense of remorse at what her actions brought about.

And then there’s Walt. Now fully bad beyond any doubt, he conducts himself throughout the episode like a cold, calculating criminal (almost like Gus). It’s not only revealed that he did, in fact, poison a kid, but that he used Saul (Bob Odenkirk) in the plan, a fact that troubles even the shady lawyer. The scene between the two where this is revealed starts off like it’s going to be a typical humorous Saul scene, but ends like anything but, with Walt seething and scary (notice how Saul tones down his usual shtick around Walt this season).

But the most powerful moment of the episode (one of the most chilling of the series, too) is when he confronts Skyler about the Beneke affair, hugging her and saying “I forgive you.” with a smile. Sounds about as convincing as Michael Corleone telling his brother in-law he won’t kill him. Walt’s smile is am empty mask; underneath there’s not a shred of the good-intentioned chemistry teacher left, just evil. You can feel the dread on Skyler’s face.