Breaking Bad: Gray Matter
By fred | February 25, 2008
(S01E05) I’m sure all eyes were on ABC last night, as the 80th Academy Awards took place. But as far as I’m concerned the excitement came from AMC’s latest show, Breaking Bad. After starting with an impressive rhythm and a constant tension, last week we had a “transitional” episode, an episode during things slowed down a little, both Walt and Pinkman retreated to their family and tried to deal with things as they were now.
They had gone through a lot of things, cooked some meth, and didn’t even get a chance to sell some or make any money out of it before it all went downhill. Instead, they had to run, hide, kill two people and make their bodies disappear. Needless to say, taking some time to breathe for a while wasn’t a bad idea.
With that said, I was hoping that this week things would go back to a wonderful mess where things keep happening and are quickly going over Walt & Pinkman’s head. Oh yeah, I was hoping for those two to find their way back to one another, of course.
And it did happen, eventually, though it took quite longer than I was hoping for. Doesn’t mean I got bored or whished this episode could have been any different, because in the end I liked this episode, during which what had to happen for those two to go back cooking together did indeed happen.
Walt had be pressed by his family, he had to go through that “intervention”, and be able to explain to his family - and his wife - why he acted like that, what his thought process was and that it wasn’t so much that he didn’t want to fight, that he was giving up on life, but quite the contrary : he did not want to not be able to live the last moments of his life.
And, maybe even more importantly, he did not want to become a burden, a pain to his family. And while he may not have mentioned the financial aspect of things, it’s clear, as we all know, that he does not want to left them with an incredible amount of debts. But he doesn’t want pity either, not in the way people talk to him or even simply look at him, and he does not want their money either.
But after finally giving in and accepting to do chemotherapy, Walt knew that money was soon to become an issue. And he did not want to accept money from anyone, he wanted to take care of his family on his own, and that could only happen one way.
Speaking of which, meanwhile Pinkman dressed up all nice and tried to apply for a real job, but it didn’t work out as he would have hoped and he eventually found his way back into the van, cooking meth on his own. But apparently after teaming up with Walt, he raised his standards way above what they used to be and now he probably wishes that he had paid a little more attention to his chemical classes back in the days.
I’m sure he could have sold what he cooked and make some money out of it, but Pinkman wanted to be know for the high quality of his product, which led to maybe turning an old friend into an enemy, which is definitely not something good. But it took him to realize that, if he wanted to go by this new standard of quality, he would need a new partner, one that really knows his stuff “in the kitchen”.
So by the end of this episode, Pinkman was ready to let Walt come back so that they would team up again, because he knew he could never find better partner that him. And Walt, he needs the money, and he doesn’t really know anyone else on the business. Quite naturally, they’re now back working together. And even though I’m sure they hope that this time things will work better, because their first try wasn’t the most successful one.
But this time, they have the DEA starting to get on their tracks, and Pinkman may have to keep an eye on a few friends he pissed of on the way. But I can’t wait to find out how their arrangement will work this time, and yes, I hope it goes bad, because it’s never as fun as when things don’t do down as expected but turn into a real mess people have to find their way out of.
For two weeks now things have slowed down a little, and I hope that next week will resemble more the first episodes…
Posted in Reviews
Shows: Breaking Bad
