Breaking Bad: Peekaboo
By fred | April 13, 2009
(S02E06) It’s been noticed in previous episodes before, and maybe not even only this season but already during the first one, how the characters are evolving on the show, and there seem to be a reversal of roles in the partnership. At first, it was relatively easy to see Walter as a good guy. He was a good guy, working his job teaching chemistry in high-school, working two jobs to support his family and pregnant wife, but he got bad luck.
He had cancer, and might very well not have long to live. It was hard, and we could easily feel sorry and empathize for him. He was a good guy, whereas Jesse might be seen as the bad guy from the duo, the one living off his parents and dealing drugs, and not just dealing. We didn’t really know where he came from, but he was a high-school drop out who fall into drugs, it was nothing like Walter, trying to do good but not helped by life.
Of course over time we got to find out more, and Walt isn’t such a nice guy. He’s been lying to about everyone and putting them though Hell, voluntary or not, as a result. He’s hurt everyone around him, and that never stopped him for a second. Recently he’s pushed Jesse into violence and a direction which overall can only lead to trouble, while he continues to lie to his wife and kid and pretend not to understand why they’re frustrated.
As Gretchen visited back, Walter was facing one of his lie. While they offered to pay for his treatment, no strings attached, Walter declined. He couldn’t accept it — pride. But he told his family he did, to hide his side job as a meth cook/dealer. And when Gretchen showed up and went along with his lie, even offered again to help financially if he needed, when she asked why he lied to and put her into such an uncomfortable position to see Skyler thanking her, tearing up, for something she didn’t even do, Walter told her to fuck off.
And given what we know, when he told Skyler how they were prideful people, he was really describing himself. At this point I have no doubt he just walked out on Gretchen and everything back in the day, walked away with a word, no explanation or anything, and when they survived without him and made a fortune, he just got bitter. Walt continues to lie and hurt people around him, and even though his recent lies have allowed him and Skyler to get closer for a change, that probably won’t last long.
When he found a note on his car, making fun of his recent naked trip to the store, and started to think about what to do to the kid who left that note, I’m not sure he was joking. Wouldn’t surprise me if he was serious at first, and had Walter Junior just said yes, he would seriously have considered it — it not more. Walt isn’t a good guy anymore, far from it.
Jesse on the other hand, is. He’s not really the smartest kid around, because he shouldn’t have had to take care of this shit himself (or by himself alone), and his friend might be on probation, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Jesse being watched by the DEA these days. But he went there, tried to talk himself into being a bad guy, but between his chit chat with the mail lady and his taking care of the kid, it just is obvious he’s not a bad kid.
And seeing how he almost got played by a couple of wasted tweakers, I’d say he’s not really a killer either. He’s got a knowledge and understanding of the street, but he’s no Tuco. And if recently he started to become the thinking part of the team, while Walt was reacting on instinct or gut (or greed), now Jesse is letting himself be pushed by Walt into such situation.
Walt used to be the brain of the operation, but if it eventually all goes down and explodes in their faces, my guess is it will be because of him. He’ll be the end of this little drug operation, and his family, and maybe more. Still, another excellent episode, love the show, can’t wait to find out what happens next!
What did everybody else think?
Posted in Reviews
Shows: Breaking Bad
There was some nice symbolism in the opening scene of the episode with Jesse seeing a bug walking by and playing with it before letting it run along, unlike his illiterate friend Skinny Pete (”Jesus, how the hell do you spell ’street’ wrong??”) who stomps on the bug as soon as he sees it. This of course alludes to the previous episode, where Hank talks about how he killed Tuco and describes a ‘killer instinct’ of sorts.
Jesse obviously didn’t have that killer instinct in this episode, and When you think about it, Jesse hasn’t killed anyone yet on the show whereas Walt has: once in a panic in the RV by using the fumes, and once in what I would call pre-meditated.
The way they showed the person killed (by Spooge I assumed) in the ATM theft leads me to think that future episodes will feature cops closing in on Jesse, possibly through the money he took from the ATM?