**SPOILERS HEREIN!**
I’m almost at a loss for words at this one.
Through re-watching this show and writing about it, I’ve tried to really analyze Walt’s (Bryan Cranston) actions and state of mind each episode. Every time, I’ve been able to hypothesize something, even if what came next would kind of prove me wrong.
Not tonight. This time, I had absolutely no idea why Walt was doing what he’s doing. The way Hank’s (Dean Norris) death shocked his system, I’m not even sure he knows why.
Like admitting to Jesse (Aaron Paul) just before the Nazis imprison him that he let Jane die in season two. I can’t tell if this is a sorrowful confession or an angry spite. His face is a serene balance of rage and sadness that could suggest either or both…or neither.
Even harder to decipher was his hateful tirade to Skyler (Anna Gunn) on the phone. Were these his real feelings that he harbored all series finally coming out? Was this just an angry babbling rant from a mind unraveling? Was it all a calculated lie, a ruse to make any other listeners think that Skyler wasn’t in as deep as she was (a stretch, but Walt’s tears and his reconsideration of abducting Holly raise that possibility)? There’s only one thing I saw in it for sure: the venom Walt spews is a finger in the eye of all the Skyler White haters, to make it crystal clear that, no, her refusing to go along with her husband’s dirty deeds does not make her the bad guy.
This scene was preceded by one of the greatest moments in the series: Walt packing frantically, about to take his family into hiding, only for them to not comply, and the resulting scuffle ending with Walt on one side and his wife and son (RJ Mitte, whose Walter Jr. finally learns the truth) on the other. In this moment he loses his family, his whole motivation and the only reason he has to live. This Ozymandian fall (perfect title, by the way) was hard, painful, and harrowing to see. And it was just beautiful. The knife fight that preceded it? A little too soap opera, but I’ll forgive that. Unfortunately, this moment is (almost) too fleeting to be very satisfying because of Walt’s actions afterward.
On the same note, Hank’s death scene allowed him a moment of honor before the fatal bullet. He may not have died standing up because of a shot to the leg sustained in last week’s closing shootout, but his integrity proved more bulletproof than his body. As Hank became a richer character as the show went on, I lamented the idea that he might become compromised just like his in-laws. I’m glad that that never happened, but his death brings me no satisfaction. Even though it’s the catalyst for Walt’s life to come crashing down, still none.
Indeed, this was a painful episode, offering big moments but no good feelings about them, just despair. But it’s written and shot as expertly as the show has ever been, acted perfectly in every role. Best of the season? Well, I said the same last week, only for this one to top it, so I’ll wait to see the last two before I’ll bestow that title. But I don’t need to wait to say that this ranks as one of the best of the entire show.
Oh, and I almost forgot about the pre-credits scene, as everything that came after kind of overshadowed it. But it was a very good one, not just because the flashback—to Walt and Jesse’s earliest cooking days in the RV, with Walt making a loving call to Skyler—contrasts so starkly with the later plot, but also the aesthetic choice to have the past fade out and the present fade in on the same landscape. Cool to see, and very fitting with the “fade away” theme suggested by the title. But the title screen and a commercial break interrupt the flow a little too caustically. I’d imagine it will look perfectly on DVD, though, as one unbroken shot.
Through re-watching this show and writing about it, I’ve tried to really analyze Walt’s (Bryan Cranston) actions and state of mind each episode. Every time, I’ve been able to hypothesize something, even if what came next would kind of prove me wrong.
Not tonight. This time, I had absolutely no idea why Walt was doing what he’s doing. The way Hank’s (Dean Norris) death shocked his system, I’m not even sure he knows why.
Like admitting to Jesse (Aaron Paul) just before the Nazis imprison him that he let Jane die in season two. I can’t tell if this is a sorrowful confession or an angry spite. His face is a serene balance of rage and sadness that could suggest either or both…or neither.
Even harder to decipher was his hateful tirade to Skyler (Anna Gunn) on the phone. Were these his real feelings that he harbored all series finally coming out? Was this just an angry babbling rant from a mind unraveling? Was it all a calculated lie, a ruse to make any other listeners think that Skyler wasn’t in as deep as she was (a stretch, but Walt’s tears and his reconsideration of abducting Holly raise that possibility)? There’s only one thing I saw in it for sure: the venom Walt spews is a finger in the eye of all the Skyler White haters, to make it crystal clear that, no, her refusing to go along with her husband’s dirty deeds does not make her the bad guy.
This scene was preceded by one of the greatest moments in the series: Walt packing frantically, about to take his family into hiding, only for them to not comply, and the resulting scuffle ending with Walt on one side and his wife and son (RJ Mitte, whose Walter Jr. finally learns the truth) on the other. In this moment he loses his family, his whole motivation and the only reason he has to live. This Ozymandian fall (perfect title, by the way) was hard, painful, and harrowing to see. And it was just beautiful. The knife fight that preceded it? A little too soap opera, but I’ll forgive that. Unfortunately, this moment is (almost) too fleeting to be very satisfying because of Walt’s actions afterward.
On the same note, Hank’s death scene allowed him a moment of honor before the fatal bullet. He may not have died standing up because of a shot to the leg sustained in last week’s closing shootout, but his integrity proved more bulletproof than his body. As Hank became a richer character as the show went on, I lamented the idea that he might become compromised just like his in-laws. I’m glad that that never happened, but his death brings me no satisfaction. Even though it’s the catalyst for Walt’s life to come crashing down, still none.
Indeed, this was a painful episode, offering big moments but no good feelings about them, just despair. But it’s written and shot as expertly as the show has ever been, acted perfectly in every role. Best of the season? Well, I said the same last week, only for this one to top it, so I’ll wait to see the last two before I’ll bestow that title. But I don’t need to wait to say that this ranks as one of the best of the entire show.
Oh, and I almost forgot about the pre-credits scene, as everything that came after kind of overshadowed it. But it was a very good one, not just because the flashback—to Walt and Jesse’s earliest cooking days in the RV, with Walt making a loving call to Skyler—contrasts so starkly with the later plot, but also the aesthetic choice to have the past fade out and the present fade in on the same landscape. Cool to see, and very fitting with the “fade away” theme suggested by the title. But the title screen and a commercial break interrupt the flow a little too caustically. I’d imagine it will look perfectly on DVD, though, as one unbroken shot.
No comments:
Post a Comment