Last week's episode of Breaking Bad was the halfway point to the halfway point of this final season. It did not disappoint. Bryan Cranston was off making one of his Emmy winning monologues while Skylar was sitting at the bottom of the pool. That scene escalated into of the most anxiety-inducing, intense conversations I've ever sat through (real or on tv). It's obvious Walt has absolutely lost all sense of reality ("there's probably a party waiting for me") and care for those around him. I LOVED when he showed Skylar the money and casually dropped that they had to replace the $600,000 that was gone - you know, the one money she gave her lover Ted [I like saying lover]. Aaron Paul hasn't had as much to do this season but man has he been just as great as ever. I'm still on he fence about Lydia, but enjoy that they have a character who is acting as scared as they really all should be. Not everyone can be a Mike.
So, on to Dead Freight. This episode has been hyped as the biggest one Breaking Bad has ever done. Betsy Brandt and Aaron Paul both tweeted their excitement leading up to the episode which of course made me nervous. Would it be a death? Or would it just be another crazy caper to get the methylamine they need?
We start out with a kid, in the desert, finding a tarantula. Crazy. Why would anyone want to play with a taranula? But in the distance we hear the train horn - "Nothing stops this train" unless robbing the train is gonna be tough. You know the first five minutes of the show always come back around.
My thoughts:
- Walt's the best actor. Not Bryan Cranston, but Walt. His crying in Hank's office was so great. He knew Hank would get extremely uncomfortable and leave giving him he opportunity to bug his office and computer.
- Lydia is like a chihuahua, except I like chihuahuas.
- They are gonna rob a train! It's like the Great Muppet Caper except with meth, criminals and no muppets.
- "It's about the weight, yo." I love smart Jesse.
- Walt's still a teacher - as he explains the replacement of the methylamine with water, it's like he's teaching a students. I just am soooo uncomfortable with his candidness. Why give Todd all this information?
- "I'm your hostage." - Skylar. She isn't wrong.
- Why is Walt Jr. back to going by Flynn? I heard Sklyar call him that last week but I was pretending I imagined it. Poor kid. I hope he doesn't get sooo depressed that he offs himself. I loved Hank calling him Emo McGee. Jokes!
- I did NOT like Walt's facial reaction to Skylar stating once her kids were safe she's be any kind of partner Walt wanted. It looked like he got turned on. Ew.
- There's been a lot of Jesse James references this season and a lot of movie references. It's like LOST!
Everything in this episode paled compared to the last 10 minutes. Train robbery. Good Samaritan that ruins everything (damn you nice people!). Walt being too brash and selfish. Jesse has to lay under the train to get out safely. There's a witness. Its that kid from he beginning of the episode with he weird spider fetish. I really thought this was going to be the last shot of the episode:
You know, it would've left stuff up in the air, unanswered, unsure. But then they had to do this:
Oh shit.
Notice only Jesse reacted. Walt didn't. Remember how Andrea's kid brother got shot awhile back and that just killed Jesse? I'm sure this is gonna hurt more. Probably won't help that this kid looked a little bit like Jesse's younger brother - maybe that's a stretch, but either way this is going to shake Jesse.
Why did Todd even have a gun? I know based on the character description released of Jesse Plemmons's character, a lot of people speculated that maybe he's an undercover agent/cop. I think murdering a kid erased that thought from everyone's mind.
Best exchange of the night, after Skylar sees Walt's dirty pants:
"Out burying bodies?"
"Robbing a train."
Hey at least he isn't lying. That should get him some points.
What did you think? I know this isn't a cohesive recap, I'm still stressed from the last 10 minutes and Olympic withdrawal is beginning to set in. Where do you think this is going?