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I watched the 10th episode of Breaking Bad's season 3 and it put a smile on my face.
"Fly" is one of my favourite episodes so far. It focuses on the core of the show, that is the odd pair that Walt and Jess make, is deep and multi-layered, with metaphors en veux-tu en voilà; has funny moments and great lines (almost everything that Jesse said), touching, painful even, dialogues; the tension towards the end as Walt is succombing to the tranquilizers and actually talking about what happened in season 2 (will he spill the beans?) and as Jesse climbs on the ladder, is unbearable; the acting is fantastic and the shooting, as usual, flawless.
This is the episode in which BB goes Greek or existentialist, embracing its high-brow nature, risking to lose part of its audience, just like BtVS with "Restless"once apon a time. I can see how some viewers wouldn't enjoy it as very little happen during 47 minutes and I'm sure that there are BB fans that mostly dig the action, gun shots and drug kingpin plot. They probably thought WTF? They might have found the episode boring, maybe pretentious.
Because after a few expository scenes showing Walt having insomnia and the two partners cleaning up the shiny equipment of their super meth lab, the episode mostly consists of Walt and Jesse trying to kill a fly. It's Walt, first chasing alone the fly in the lab (a scene heavy on gags and symbols), in vain, and after another sleepless night spent in the lab, postponing the meth cooking because of the unbearable "contamination" (Jesse fears Ebola or something but that is just a fly!) and enlisting Jesse to chase the fly with him during the whole following day! Don Quixote y Sancho Panza anyone?
But let's forget Cervantes for a moment. Jean-Paul Sartre would have loved that one too!
"Fly" is basically a huis-clos with two characters with "heavy baggages" and an intruder, a haunting little flying Erinýe, they have to deal with. But the structure and themes aren't artifical, they fit in the show, putting Walt and Jesse in a situation that recalls season 1 and 2 when they were isolated from the rest of the world in their R.V; they help to study both characters, to explore what is going on in their heads given what happened before, and to add depth to the relationship between our anti-heroes. The beautifully shot "Fly" provides superb and symbolical visuals but is not just empty style. Apart from Greek mythology and reference to Sartre, the fly's irrational path, elusiveness, and connection with dirt and death is a great metaphor of the point at which Walter finds himself.
"Fly" is so great that it requires, no it demands!, my writing some analysis, even if it's only for myself.
( Spoilers under the cut for those who haven't seen BB but should watch it... )
"Fly" is one of my favourite episodes so far. It focuses on the core of the show, that is the odd pair that Walt and Jess make, is deep and multi-layered, with metaphors en veux-tu en voilà; has funny moments and great lines (almost everything that Jesse said), touching, painful even, dialogues; the tension towards the end as Walt is succombing to the tranquilizers and actually talking about what happened in season 2 (will he spill the beans?) and as Jesse climbs on the ladder, is unbearable; the acting is fantastic and the shooting, as usual, flawless.
This is the episode in which BB goes Greek or existentialist, embracing its high-brow nature, risking to lose part of its audience, just like BtVS with "Restless"once apon a time. I can see how some viewers wouldn't enjoy it as very little happen during 47 minutes and I'm sure that there are BB fans that mostly dig the action, gun shots and drug kingpin plot. They probably thought WTF? They might have found the episode boring, maybe pretentious.
Because after a few expository scenes showing Walt having insomnia and the two partners cleaning up the shiny equipment of their super meth lab, the episode mostly consists of Walt and Jesse trying to kill a fly. It's Walt, first chasing alone the fly in the lab (a scene heavy on gags and symbols), in vain, and after another sleepless night spent in the lab, postponing the meth cooking because of the unbearable "contamination" (Jesse fears Ebola or something but that is just a fly!) and enlisting Jesse to chase the fly with him during the whole following day! Don Quixote y Sancho Panza anyone?
But let's forget Cervantes for a moment. Jean-Paul Sartre would have loved that one too!
"Fly" is basically a huis-clos with two characters with "heavy baggages" and an intruder, a haunting little flying Erinýe, they have to deal with. But the structure and themes aren't artifical, they fit in the show, putting Walt and Jesse in a situation that recalls season 1 and 2 when they were isolated from the rest of the world in their R.V; they help to study both characters, to explore what is going on in their heads given what happened before, and to add depth to the relationship between our anti-heroes. The beautifully shot "Fly" provides superb and symbolical visuals but is not just empty style. Apart from Greek mythology and reference to Sartre, the fly's irrational path, elusiveness, and connection with dirt and death is a great metaphor of the point at which Walter finds himself.
"Fly" is so great that it requires, no it demands!, my writing some analysis, even if it's only for myself.
( Spoilers under the cut for those who haven't seen BB but should watch it... )