Breaking Bad: Bit By A Dead Bee
By fred | March 23, 2009
(S02E03) The show continues to demonstrate how brilliant it is, and how it is unlike anything else on TV. Last week Walter & Jesse managed to get away from Tuco, but that doesn’t mean they were fine. They each had a lot of explaining to do, and as has become the trademark of the show, what would usually take 30 seconds in a movie with the same situation, here we spend a lot more time on it, because things aren’t as simple as they look.
They’ve had their time to think about how they would play this one, and they are, both, quite smart. They know what situation they’re in, what people are gonna be asking them, and they were prepared. But, of course, they all have to deal with this one their own, because nobody knows – nor should know ever find out – how they relate to one another.
Walter knew his family and friends, including one DEA agent, would be asking lots of questions about the last few days, and he decided to answer in a very simple manner : “I don’t remember.” Walter showed up entirely naked, claiming to have no memories of what happened to him in the last few days, not even coming back home and talking to his wife.
He even had it figured out: he was doing chemo, taking lots & lots of different pills, and maybe that somehow messed him up. (And yes, he does look fine now that he’s been off… I mean he used to cough all the time, and seems better now. Maybe the adrenaline constantly flooding in his brain might help, too.) But for the doctors, it’s not as simple, they need to know what actually happened, and they need to be sure it won’t happen again.
And now Walter is facing a therapist, who’s trying to understand what happened to him. Realizing there’s a patient-doctor confidentiality clause, Walter decides to come clean. Not entirely of course, but for a second there I have to admit I wondered how much Walter was going to spit out, how much of the truth he was going to reveal, and I’m pretty sure he wondered about the same thing. In the end, he only admitted to the need of going away, leaving that house and taking a walk, breathing some fresh air and thinking back, taking things into perspective.
That got him out of the hospital, but not before he rushed home to hide the gun & money he had left there, and while sneaking inside his own house, Walter got to see his wife and kid, on their own and adapting to things, learning to deal without him already.
One other thing Walt hadn’t count on, was the discovery they made while looking for him. His wife knows he had a second cellphone, and he might claim not to remember what happened that night all he wants, she knows he’s obviously lying, and you can expect more troubles coming in as she’ll demand to know what’s going on.
For Jesse on the other hand, it wasn’t family or friends that were the concern, but the police. His car had been found with Tuco, and he would have to explain things. Also, in his basement was still the lab they had set up the last time they cooked meth, and that’s not something the police should found. Jesse did a very good job playing Hank, not only sticking to his story but also reacting to the info he was fed, like how they found his car. (Alas, his money was in there, too.)
Things looked bad when Tio showed up and started to ring his infamous bell again. Seems like that was something they hadn’t thin of, even though it only seems logical that they would brought him in. But the old man isn’t one to help the cops, doesn’t matter what for, and it worked out okay for Jesse — even though I gotta say, it’s the second time that this guy is freaking me out just by moving one finger! Great stuff!
But if they let him go, Jesse is now completely broke, and he still needs to play his cousin’s friends. It just seems like something’s gonna happen with all that stuff, like the barrel Jesse still doesn’t realize he could roll instead of having to carry it, and not something good.
The show has clearly evolved, because where it used to be all about Walt, him and Jesse, the focus seems to be switching to Hank for me. Of course this is still about Walt dealing with everything, and as he told Jesse, as far as he’s concerned nothing’s changed and they still need to cook, but the fact and the matter is, what’s really driving me nuts now is to see Hank.
Because his investigation has progressed a lot, and he knows about Crazy 8 and Tuco, he links them with that pure meth the found, he’s got that tape when the mysterious duo stole the barrel, and he knows something’s fishy with Jesse. I just don’t know how he is going to react, when he realizes that there’s an easy connection between everyone, and that is his over-qualified chemistry teacher of a brother-in-law.
What did everybody else think?
Posted in Reviews
Shows: Breaking Bad
