BREAKING BAD - "Fifty-One" & "Dead Freight"

Welcome to a roundtable discussion of this week's episode of Breaking Bad from your friendly neighborhood LowBrowMedia savants.

This is a spoiler-heavy zone. You have been warned.

Mike:  First off, my thoughts about “Fifty-One”:

- Walt’s trademark Aztek is now history!  Well, as I was just researching it, I see that various internet authorities list the Pontiac Aztek as either one of the 100, 50, or 10 worst cars of all time.  But because we had such a blast in Walt’s increasingly cruddy vehicle, it’s easy at least for me to overlook its hideous shape and brand-destroying reputation.  I mean, remember when Walt got in an auto accident on purpose so that Hank wouldn’t find out about the drug lab?  Good times.  In moving on from his clearly cheesy and uncool vehicle, in his mind he’s putting aside the “old Walt” and living his life -- what's left of it, at least -- to the fullest.  But what happened to being cautious of even having an expensive wine bottle in the trash?  Certainly, the whole leasing angle is one way to deflect suspicion, but Hank the bloodhound is at the height of his powers here.  The car wash may be successful, sure, but all it should take is a stray thought or two.  After all, this is the guy who suspected Lydia, correctly, solely on the basis of her mismatched shoes.  Hank hasn’t made a mistake yet in his investigation of the mysterious Heisenberg, except perhaps being a little too trusting of his curmudgeon of a brother-in-law, but then again, neither has Walt.  (Yet.)

 - To go along with that, Walt Jr.’s Charger is back!  And this one probably won’t get detonated in a parking lot, either.  I’d say that getting the two sports cars is a bold move, and one that more or less shines a huge spotlight on the fact that Walt doesn’t really care what Skyler thinks anymore.  Sure, he’s creepily putting the moves on her every night, and is playing the part of the loving but put-upon husband with their relatives, but at least for now, she is no longer a player in this game.  I’ll get more into this in a bit, but I’ve got to say that this week I was thinking a lot about the vial of poison that Walt has hidden in the walls of his family’s house.  If, God forbid, Holly doesn’t somehow ironically stumble upon it, then I have a feeling a certain person who has recently taken up indoor chain-smoking will soon be the recipient of a very special cigarette indeed.

- Oh, man, Skyler breaking up Walt’s birthday bacon.  I really hope that I am never the focus of the level of spousal disgust that our birthday boy received from his dead-faced, barren-souled wife the morning of his fifty-first birthday.  Though he is painting himself as the victim here to anyone and everyone who notices, with Skyler as the birthday party-ruining future mental patient, the thing is, it’s more or less factual.  Skyler is at the end of her rope here.  As Walt accuses her, and she agrees, there is no plan.  At the end of her and Walt’s little discussion in this episode, she has more or less given herself over to him, to be used as he wishes.  The only stipulation is that their children are no longer in the picture.  If Walt was as shrewd and calculating a businessman as he thinks he is, he would see what a great, pragmatic deal this is.  Not to mention that Skyler is correct about the danger of either of their children being allowed anywhere near their house.  At least, of course, until the timer ticks down and Walt’s cancer finally does him in.  What a brilliant, cold as ice, nightmare-inducing scene this last one was for me.

- With Hank’s new position as head of the ABQ DEA, it remains to be seen if he will still be able to indulge himself with his search for the elusive Heisenberg.  The agent who temporarily replaced Hank’s boss seems to think that it’s case closed, or if not, it should be soon.  Of course, since Hank will essentially be the boss now, I suppose that he could find some justification for a task force to be formed if he looked hard enough.  The return of blue methamphetamine to the streets is one pretty solid clue that Heisenberg wasn’t Gale Boetticher after all, but Hank is risking a lot reputation-wise if he puts himself out on a limb with a huge investigation at this point.  If Hank is good at anything, though, it’s pulling at loose strings and seeing what comes to light, so there will be more to come on this point, I'm sure.

- A personal note: when this episode was over, I went upstairs and gave my wife a hug.  The plan was for me to watch both episodes the same night, but I just needed a break.  I didn’t sleep too well that night.

And here’s what I thought about “Dead Freight”:

- Anyone else think that Walt’s new watch, though certainly an extremely thoughtful gift from Jesse, could end up being the thing that does him in?  If he brings it up one more time with Skylar, that only brings to the forefront yet again how he’s bragging about people wanting to kill him all the time.  And the eagle-eyed detective Hank definitely took notice in their meeting at the beginning.

 - I didn’t mention this in the first half of my write-up this week, but I’m really intrigued by the position that Jesse keeps finding himself in, between the two powerhouses of Mike and Walt, and often in relation to the unreliable, radioactive Lydia.  When Lydia discovers the GPS unit on the bottom of the precursor barrel, Jesse buys her story, but Mike sees it as the result of a long-running pattern of behavior that he now intends to put an end to.  Walt could go either way, it turns out, but both men are men bending their colder instincts as a result of their association with Jesse.  And even though it turns out that Jesse is right after all, I get the distinct impression that the elder partners in this business relationship would rather that they were done with Lydia once and for all.  And business-wise, that definitely makes more sense.  She’s just a liability right now.  Her usefulness, after any train heist inside info is no longer relevant, is negligible at best.  And I think as time goes on, a lot of things are going to have to be decided solely on the basis of their validity, business-wise.  And that’s the smart, if not humane, way to play it.

- Which is actually a pretty nice segue to what everyone is surely talking about this week: the ending of this episode!  We know that Todd, the young go-getter from the pest squad, has shown dedication and promise.  What we didn’t know was that he has the uncanny ability to assess a situation, and act in the most prudent, efficient manner to take care of that situation.  (Side note: who else was so on the edge of their seat from the big heist setpiece of this episode that they forgot about the enigmatic teaser at the beginning of the episode?  Well, me, for one.)  Now, as a result of Todd acting on his own here (or, as, I’m sure, Walt and Jesse are going to be explaining to Mike) there are going to be some pretty serious consequences.

- All of the sudden, Jesse, the idea man, and Walt, the brilliant strategist who’s always got a plan, are presented for the first time (post-Fring, at least) with a true x-factor, completely outside of their control.  If some homeless vagrant wandering the desert disappears, that’s something that might get some media attention, and then it will blow over, assuming that the body is able to be disposed of with enough care.  But this is an otherwise innocent kid who is, I assume, going to be going missing.  There are going to be search parties, and community vigils, and police involvement.  This is a huge deal.

- In the coming episodes, we are really going to see the stuff that our favorite meth crew antiheroes are made of -- what kind of leader Walt really is, if Jesse is really going to have a conscience, if Mike is going to tolerate this kind of garbage for one more second before wisely hitting the bricks out of town.  And what will happen to Todd?  Again, looking at it from a practical perspective, he made the right call.  There is literally no other way to handle the situation that would make sense and maintain the anonymity and tracelessness of their plan.  You can’t pay a kid off and get him to leave town.  You can’t kidnap him or scare him off.  I mean, it’s possible that the kid might have gone on his way and thought nothing of what he may or may not have just witnessed.  But in the meth game, there is no room for that kind of variable.

 - Jesse isn’t necessarily going to agree with that line of reasoning, though.  I have a crazy feeling that the next episode is going to pick up seconds after the end of this one.  I’ve got a sick feeling in my stomach just thinking about it.  I can’t wait to see it.

Jon: Since Mike's already did a wonderful job of laying out all the key events in "Fifty-One" and "Dead Freight," plus we're super late with this recap (totally my fault!), I'm just going to dive right in and talk about the good stuff, of which there was plenty. Together, these two episodes encompass what I love about this show: nuanced character development excised with stage-worthy performances and intense, well-crafted action that keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Week 4 brought us an hour light on action, but bursting with individual character moments and evolutions. Rian Johnson (Brick, Looper and last year's great Breaking Bad episode "The Fly") returned to the director's chair for"Fifty-One" and his fingerprints are all over it. There are top-notch performances from everyone, but special kudos must go to Anna Gunn for her scenes this time out because this was a Skyler episode. I've never been much of a big fan of her work on the show, but her dead-eyed blankness of late is perfectly rendering Skyler's feelings of dread to the audience. The pool sequence was a highlight for both Gunn and Johnson, and having reached her breaking point, Skyler has at least for the time being given in to much of Walt's demands. But she'll not have the kids near him or the house until things changed and she's declared an open rebellion on him until further notice. And, oh my, has that been fun to watch thus far or what? Gotta love it when she sits in the living room puffing away on cigarette after cigarette and starts ashing in Walt's happy 51st b-day mug.

Meanwhile, the highlights the following week were all action and suspense, and some of the very best Breaking Bad has ever delivered. The homefront scenes with Walt Jr... er, Flynn were a little on the weak side, but when your antiheroes decide to rob a train in the most fantastic locomotive heist scene in television history later in the episode, you can let that slide a bit.

I love that Jesse once again is the impetus for another crazy, science-based caper (liquid, bitch!). And Walt's continuous ability to push the envelop into the danger zone was maddening. Really, every moment of that long heist was amazing; total edge-of-your-seat work by all involved. And then that last scene. Man. There's just no way not to be totally devastated by that, is there? But that too was great on many levels. Just another example of why this show is such a must-watch each week.

And, Mike, here's where you and I differ a little bit. Yes, Todd may have arrived at the same conclusion the group would've ultimately come to in his split-second decision in the episode's closing moments, but shit, bro -- that's cold! Jesse may have a mild reaction compared to what I was going through after watching that. I can't go as far as you and chalk that little guy up to a mere casualty of the meth biz. I was completely floored when it happened; blood boiling and all. It was the most shocked I'm been by this show since Jane's sudden demise back in season 2. Now, a lot of that had to do with my perception of Jesse Plemmons from FNL (here was my initial reaction), but it was still shocking nonetheless. How the group deals with Todd's actions is going to be fascinating because I have no clue how it will all shake out. Does Todd meet a quick end? Will Jesse turn him in to the authorities? Does Walt protect him, keeping him as his new little henchman? So many possibilities.

Speaking of possibilities, I don't think I've made any wild predictions for things to come later this season thus far in our recaps, but I'm in the mood to do so in another area this time around. I was especially intrigued by Walt and Lydia's exchange as Jesse and Mike waited up above. I'm probably grasping at straws here, but with his marriage souring by the hour, Walt seems poised to make for a romantic push at some point soon. He got into cooking in order to provide for his family, but that's falling apart and he's clearly more interested in obtaining more power than he is merely profiting from his criminal activities these days. If Skyler is able to keep brushing his advances aside, I could totally see him making a move on Lydia. She'll obviously only have any interest in him in terms of saving her own skin, but if she continues to play the "brilliant chemist" card she flashed in "Dead Freight," I can see Walt taking the next step toward her. Sexual conquest is one of the few power trips Walt hasn't realized as he's descended further into his Heisenberg persona. Like I said, I'm grasping at straws; but a boy can dream, can't he?

Anyway, we'll be back soon and plan to return to the old schedule for the last handful of eps for the first half of this final season. Til next time...

Previous Breaking Bad season 5 roundtables: 
Week 1 - "Live Free Or Die"
Week 2 - "Madrigal"
Week 3 - "Hazard Pay"

BREAKING BAD - "Madrigal"

Welcome to a roundtable discussion of this week's episode of Breaking Bad from your friendly neighborhood LowBrowMedia savants.

This is a spoiler-heavy zone. You have been warned.

Jon: The second week of season 5 is still dealing with the fallout from last season's finale. We're discovering that Gus spun an incredibly intricate web of an operation and his absence is causing catastrophes for just about everyone in his world aside from Walt and Jesse. But this is one of those episodes of a series that pushes its main characters off to the stage and gives the limelight to a sideline player. This time, the honor finally goes to Mike, Gus's blunt, methodically efficient hitman who I've always found impossible not to love.

His hatred from Walt continues to be unwavering, this despite an appeal from Walt and Jesse to become an equal partner in their future dealings. As far as our two main characters are concerned, they need him as much as he needs them. But Mike disagrees. Every time he looks at Walt, the scowl we see is the result of  hearing tick, tick, tick. To Mike, he is a walking timebomb, and it's only a matter of time until he explodes. Aside from Skyler, Mike's the only one who realizes just how dangerous Walt has become.

We've never been given much of a backstory for Mike, and we don't yet get a complete one here, but it's becoming clear he was the closest thing Gus had to a right-hand man. When heat starts raining down on Gus's associates in the wake of Hank's investigation, one top executive at a company called Madrigal commits suicide in imaginative fashion at the company's headquarters in Germany instead of speaking with authorities. Turns out Madrigal is the parent company of Los Pollos Hermanos. Clearly this Mr. Shuler had, at minimum, a deep financial connection with Fring's narcotic ring, and judging by the demands of a very freaked-out Lydia later on in the episode, he wasn't the only one at Madrigal with a finger in the blue-meth pie. Speaking of Lydia, she's a stateside Madrigal exec of some importance and attempts to enlist Mike to clean up the loose ends of Los Pollos Hermanos before those threads are traced back to the two of them. He refuses and hands back her list of 11 names to her.

But this is before Hank and Gomez ask him to come in for a little talk. Overconfident that the DEA duo has nothing substantial on him, he taunts them and appears to have won the battle of one-liners before heading to the interrogation room door. Just then, Hank pulls out his trump card -- a pile of cash to the tune of $2 million in the name of Mike's granddaughter hidden away in one of those Cayman Island bank accounts listed discovered in the picture frame from Gus' office last week. Mike had mentioned a fondness for a granddaughter in a previous season, and we get to meet her in all her Hungry Hippo domination this time around. So it's not completely out of nowhere that he did this and, frankly, it's hard to blame him for allowing little Kaylee to be his lone weak spot. But with Hank and Gomez keying in on it, it tosses him back into the Madrigal shitstorm he was trying to lay low from.

Turns out Lydia didn't shake the idea of offing the 11 people on her list and lured one of the others in the group to take care of them and adding Mike to the list. But somehow this lady isn't aware that good 'ol Mikey is THE MAN and snuffs out the would-be assassin's plan first. Mike pays a visit to Lydia's home next, and I was completely convinced that that was going to be the last we saw of her. But between her pleading, her being a single mom and the realization that she could help him obtain methylamine, a suddenly scare chemical Walt and Jesse are in need of to cook again. So now Mike is reluctantly back in the fold with Walt against his better judgement.

Meanwhile, on the sideline, we learn what Walt did with the ricin shot he concocted -- he still has it, and stashed it behind an electric socket faceplate. Only a matter of time until he has a need for it at this point. Concurrently, he makes a placebo vile of salt so a panicked Jesse will calm down once he knows the poison has been disposed of and can't hurt another innocent like he believed had happened with Brock. The two tear apart Jesse's house looking for it in a very intriguingly shot montage, before Walt plants it in the path of the Roomba roaming the floors.

Jesse had little to do again this week aside from opine for the Crystal Ship's return, although Aaron Paul gave a marvelous performance in the moments after discovering the misplaced "toxic" cigarette as Jesse breaks down and apologizes to Walt for nearly killing him (which obviously he was spot on about) and solidifying his position as the conscious of Breaking Bad. The very existence of this intense friendship is completely due to Walt's manipulations at this point, but it's still hard not to enjoy just how great of a bond the two of them have right now. It won't last since I'm sure Walt will slip up at some point about Brock's poisoning, but that doesn't mean a part of me doesn't like their closeness while it lasts.

Not fooled by Walt's duplicitous sweet-talk, however, is Skyler. She's completely frozen by her fear of Walt and the monster he has become, not even able to muster the energy to get out of bed for days. And, my god, Walt even out-creeped himself past last week as he consoled her with unwanted kisses to her shoulder. It's almost impossible to root for him on any level after watching him engage in this behavior. But that also happens to be the most fascinating aspect of this show -- the steady devolution from mild mannered high school chemistry teacher to master crimelord.

The other moment from "Madrigal" that stuck out was Hank's soon-to-be ex-boss, recalling how Gus had joined his family at his home for meals and wonderful conversations, yet lamented "the whole time he was somebody else completely, right in front of me, right under my nose." Those words are likely going to mirror how Hank feels when he discovers Walt's crimes before the series comes to a close. I have no doubt about that happening, and I expect how he deals with that revelation to be especially riveting when it comes to pass.

Man. This show just doesn't stop even when it slows down, does it, fellas? Hit me up with your reactions.

Mike: Okay, then -- here is what I thought of this week’s “Breaking Bad” in quick, bite-sized format:

- Hilariously bleak cold open.  I’m actually really glad that it wasn’t another flash-forward to whatever Walt is up to in the future, what with the hair, and the guns, and the 52^nd birthday.  That will keep.  I’ll just say this, then -- “Breaking Bad” seems to have an endless vocabulary in the way of visiting indignities upon characters, and I love every minute of it.  I could really use some chicken nuggets right now, but I’ll pass on the Franch sauce.

- This was definitely Mike’s episode.  Being that pretty much any scene with Walt churns my stomach these days, it was a welcome focus.  Now, Mike's a paragon of prudence, he’s just as careful as his old boss Gus was, business-wise, and only works with people that he’s “vetted” and who can be trusted.  Not to mention that they have been well-compensated in case of any trouble.  But since Walt’s little magnetic mishap last episode simultaneously ruined a bunch of evidence (that was probably going to be inaccessible anyways) while introducing valuable, game-changing data to the tune of a dozen or so secret Caymans bank accounts, now that compensation is gone.  And the noose slips a little bit tighter.

- Well, every man has his soft spot, even one so guarded as Mike Ehrmantraut.  His is a little girl named Kaylee.  I think we first saw Mike’s granddaughter when he bought the balloons that he used to short-circuit the warehouse way back in the season three finale.  And when Hank “Columbos” Mike in the interrogation room -- you know, the whole, “one more thing…” thing -- thus threatening the monetary insurance policy for his beloved granddaughter, that’s when Mike starts to go against his own rules.  (No half measures, remember, Mike?  Damn it!)  All of the sudden, he’s getting in back in bed with Walt, and not killing Lydia when, let’s face it, it’s pretty much a given that she is going to be trouble.  I hope Mike wises up to his own wisdom sooner or later, or we’re not going to be seeing him in the back half of this season.

- Speaking of the mysterious Lydia, I hope I’m not the only dumbass watching this show who immediately thought that we’re looking at some sort of ex-trophy wife of Gus’.  I mean, I know we’re also supposed to have drawn a few conclusions from the flashback to Don Eladio and Gus’ tenderness towards the missing Pollos Hermano.  But that doesn’t mean he couldn’t have started a family after that.  Anyway, there were some mysterious children’s toys spotted in his house a while back that have always stuck in my mind.  Now, whether or not Lydia has a personal connection with Gus, she definitely has a business one.  The Internet consensus seems to be that some have spotted her in the room with the U.S. drug agents and Madrigal executives during this episode.  I’m not so sure.  One thing I am sure of, though, is that she is bad news, and is only going to add to Walt, Jesse and Mike’s woes before she ends up with that promised bullet in her head.  Or worse.

 

- And so on to Walt’s continued calculated manipulation of Jesse.  This week, here’s a classic routine for you: the old “plant the ricin cigarette in the Roomba” gambit.  Works every time.  As a result, and completely on purpose, Walt breaks Jesse’s heart yet again.  And maybe mine, too, a little bit.  At first, I thought that Jesse’s emotional outburst was just explosive relief venting, but in actuality Jesse’s reaction is proof positive that even with everything that’s happened over the past year or so, “Breaking Bad” time, Jesse still has a good heart.  And that Walt has a black one.

- When Jesse called Walt “Mr. White” yet again during his pathetic (in the best possible way) monologue, we’re reminded again, but for perhaps the first time this season, exactly where Jesse sees himself in relation to Walt.  Sure, Jesse might respect Mike, and even regard him as a friend, but it pales in comparison to the nigh paternal regard he holds for Walt.  Until something changes.  And dramatically, it makes sense for that to happen.  Knowing Vince Gilligan and staff, it’s probably just going to happen at the worst possible time.

- Man, so gross!  Speaking of Walt’s psychopathy, is every episode in this half of the season going to end with Walt uncomfortably forcing himself on Skylar, to varying degrees of intimacy?  Nah, probably just the first two.  It’s only a matter of time until she starts coming out of her stupor and facing up to the very few choices that she has: either wise up and get the hell out of there, because Walt is radioactive, or take a page from the Carmella Soprano book of selective cognition and make the best of an awful situation that is only going to continue to spiral downwards.

See you next week, a little further down the spiral!

Previous Breaking Bad season 5 roundtables: 
Week 1 - "Live Free Or Die"