I mentioned before how this season’s episodes are more self-contained than before. Well, this one marks the series at its most movie-of-the-week. But the final moment is a prime example of how one little instant can change everything about a narrative.
After Lydia’s (Laura Fraser) methylamine supply was revealed to be tracked by the DEA last episode, Walt (Bryan Cranston), Jesse (Aaron Paul), and Mike (Jonathan Banks) turn to another very-realistic (sarcasm) option to obtain their product’s main ingredient: robbing a train full of it. From there, the episode becomes a mini-heist film.
I’ll admit that the heist itself is a well-done sequence, managing to be exciting without devolving into mindless kinetic shootouts or explosions. Still, it seems like a run-of-the-mill weekly caper plot from a myriad of crime shows. The series is better than this, taking unpredictable turns and unfolding slowly to build tension and examine the characters, not just providing us with a self-contained action plot that wraps up neatly.
Then, at the very last moment, it throws a sucker punch: the kid from the pre-credits scene that we’ve forgotten about over the course of the episode reappears. And is shot dead by Todd (Jesse Plemons), who was just a nameless lackey until now. What was a modestly entertaining entry turns absolutely devastating.
Just when the show looked like it was settling for average, it throws this at us like a brick, saying no, things won’t get any easier or end cleanly and nicely.
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