It seems Breaking Bad season three has got a serious case of the odd numbers, because just episodes 1 and 3, contained the stuff this show has done so well, 2 and now 4 have a slightly chaotic, rambling feel that doesn't quite feel in sync with the overall tone of the show. I'm not concerned, and am certain that this will be a great season of television. Still.
- Perhaps because this episode went after laughs thick and fast, particularly in the first half, and Walt, whose rage is something that is usually played for darkness and at he very least dark comedy. But by having Walt have not one, not two but three freakouts in the opening twenty minutes was perhaps overkill. ( Its four if you count the phone conversation)
-Ted, Saul then Jesse all felt the effects of Walt's increasingly cartoonish, increasingly pathetic wrath. There were some funny moments, but they seemed to come at the expense of the dramatic intensity the show has built up painstakingly.
- Still worth it for " Ill suit myself...TO HIS FACE."
- Still, if it wasn't a great episode for Walt's character, it was a stellar one for Hank. Dean Norris, has done some quietly strong character work on the show, especially as is his character started as a one-note joke. Regardless, his dedication to the Heisenberg case as a means to avoid going back to El Paso, AKA cartel territory was great stuff
- In particular, the scene with his superior, played excellently by the guy who told Edward Norton he was Tyler Durden in Fight Club, in which his covering bluster is temporarily removed and he is forced to admit he is afraid to go back to El Paso. Great acting from Norris.
- Loved the cold open, yet again. Increasingly the best thing about Breaking Bad. This time, we saw Jesse in full pusher mode. Not the arrogant idiot from season one, but a cold, intelligent, heartless dealer who is a fully fledged badass. Aaron Paul continues to be awesome and that may be the best two minutes of acting he's ever done on this show.
- On the gangster side of things, Gus Frings sets about manipulating the spiralling Walt back into the trade. By paying him for half of Jesse's self made stash. But I think Walt, whose life is increasingly like the lead protagonist from a Serious Man, having just been fired, lost his wife to Ted Beneke, having cancer and consistently exploding at the slightest provocation, is ready to go back. And i think next week, we'll see the return of Mas Walt, because what else has he got?
- No Cousins this week, but their presence is still felt by the sith they drew on Walt's driveway.
- Not a bad episode, and it certainly had its moments, both good and bad, but a little bit chaotic and lacking in the guided hand feel the show does so excellently.
Rating: 7/10
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