"Thirty-Eight Snub "
Jul. 25th, 2011 03:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chaniNot many tv shows give you food for thoughts in every scene and even almost every shot. Breaking Bad is among the few that provide that kind of quality writing and it's probably the tv show that has the best cinematography EVER. I keep marvelling at all the neat angles and the style it manages to pull off.
It was again a very good episode and the opening scene with Jim Beaver and the lines he spoke had to be a nod at Deadwood !!!!
Oh and Jesse, Jesse, Jesse....Aaron Paul was amazing again.
He had so many different faces and range of emotions (or lack thereof) during one episode. His talking his pals into taking drugs again made me want to slap him but the look on his face when Badger and Skinny Pete told him they were leaving made me want to take him in my arms. He was on the verge of crying. It was heartbreaking, even more than the last shot (a fantastic shot though). Jesse has such a depth. He can be pretty strong in a way (or at least it isn't out of weakness that he keeps slipping in), and rather smart too, but he is too sensitive for his own good.
The show is now like a Greek tragedy, with mortals struggling but being crushed by the gods (cancer plays that role first for Walt, until the remission, now it's Gus Fring).
Walter/Heisenberg thinks he is cunning/tough enough to defeat them (his wit recalls Odysseus' metis or even Odepus' cleverness in front of the Sphinx) while Jesse resignedly sees his condition of mere mortal (hence his speech at the diner).
Jesse has pulled the trigger, has faced Death, the Power that Be, looked into its eyes (Gale's open dead eyes and Gus' eyes!), and now he goes on, but he knows so when he isn't working (and he will be going to work, day after day, like Sisyphus!) he just wants to forget. So his way to avoid thinking of what he did and saw is loud sound, drugs and surrounding himself with lots of partying people. In a way, Nietzsche's quote applies very well here, as Jesse looked into the abyss and the abyss looked back at him; he saw a void and now there's an emptiness in himself that he must fill with everything that looks lively (music, a party) and that his dirty money can buy. The zombie discussions between Skinny Pete and Badger might have been an advertising nod at another of AMC's shows, but it also pointed out that death is now part of Jesse. Jesse has no hope left (hence his sending away his lover and her son), and when the party is over and he isn't high anymore he doesn't have even the illusion of life, just an empty house full of garbage.
Was The controversy about whether Nazi Zombies were "worse" than Regular Zombies a way to say that Gus is still worse than killers like Walt or Jesse?
Walt is still struggling, hoping that he can take Gus down, hence the Thirty-Eight. Of course Walt still relies on his speech too. After all he used to be a teacher...
Heisenberg's hat has its own song!
The scene was great, seeing Walter put the hat on and feeling so powerful just to have the carpet being pulled under his feet (and under the tense viewer's expectations) a few seconds later first the phone call (it was Gus' voice I think) and then the kicking in the bar. Walt thinks he's a god, smarter than anyone -- his hubris will be the end of him -- but the shot from above (just one of the terrific shots and often creative camera angles the episode was filled with!) pointed out what a tiny creature he still is.
On the other hand, Gus has been behaving like a god since the premiere. Last week, they weren't waiting for Godot, but they were waiting for the Power that was to do something, and he eventually showed up (because this isn't Samuel Beckett's vision, and there's a god at work in the Super Meth Lab) and in the way he took a life as well as his being "above them" when he spoke was very god-like. This week, even though Gus was invisible, he was omniscient enough to call Heisenberg off.
The practicing his draw scene was great too and showed that Walter sees himself as a tough guy when he has completed his transformation into Heisenberg (the look in Bryan's eyes says it all!)so I loved the little detail of having his drink without ice, it's part of the Heisenberg persona/character, just like the hat is a prop to get into character. it reminds me of something that Jesse pointed out in season 1 finale about Walter's choosing the place of the meeting with Tuco according to the idea for such meeting from a non criminal. Walt's idea of a tough guy is that he drinks his whiskey without ice. Mike, the real tough guy doesn't need to pretend, he drinks his liquor on the rocks, probably the way he likes it, just like real dealers meet at the mall!
Mike is a badass but he's getting sloppy hence the blood on jacket. No longer the cleaner he used to be! The Saul's ad echoed it (the bit about the body parts!)which was great. Mike saw through Walt's manipulative talk, but at the same time, you can tell that the whole situation is bothering him, or at least he's troubled, so a Mike/Walt alliance might happen some day.
Hank and Marie...as usual it was so real; no matter how much they truly love each other people may end up being isolated in their own despair, and hurt each other in the process. But all the characters in the episode were so alone, whether they had company or not. Hank seems so helpless and bitter right now that he almost reminds me of season 1 Walter! His obsession with minerals must be another way to mirror Walt's crystal making to regain control over his life and overcome his own weakness.
And speaking of echoes, the giant pizza at the Pinkman party was a nice callback to the famous pizza Walt threw onto his house.
I love that show!
It was again a very good episode and the opening scene with Jim Beaver and the lines he spoke had to be a nod at Deadwood !!!!
Oh and Jesse, Jesse, Jesse....Aaron Paul was amazing again.
He had so many different faces and range of emotions (or lack thereof) during one episode. His talking his pals into taking drugs again made me want to slap him but the look on his face when Badger and Skinny Pete told him they were leaving made me want to take him in my arms. He was on the verge of crying. It was heartbreaking, even more than the last shot (a fantastic shot though). Jesse has such a depth. He can be pretty strong in a way (or at least it isn't out of weakness that he keeps slipping in), and rather smart too, but he is too sensitive for his own good.
The show is now like a Greek tragedy, with mortals struggling but being crushed by the gods (cancer plays that role first for Walt, until the remission, now it's Gus Fring).
Walter/Heisenberg thinks he is cunning/tough enough to defeat them (his wit recalls Odysseus' metis or even Odepus' cleverness in front of the Sphinx) while Jesse resignedly sees his condition of mere mortal (hence his speech at the diner).
Jesse has pulled the trigger, has faced Death, the Power that Be, looked into its eyes (Gale's open dead eyes and Gus' eyes!), and now he goes on, but he knows so when he isn't working (and he will be going to work, day after day, like Sisyphus!) he just wants to forget. So his way to avoid thinking of what he did and saw is loud sound, drugs and surrounding himself with lots of partying people. In a way, Nietzsche's quote applies very well here, as Jesse looked into the abyss and the abyss looked back at him; he saw a void and now there's an emptiness in himself that he must fill with everything that looks lively (music, a party) and that his dirty money can buy. The zombie discussions between Skinny Pete and Badger might have been an advertising nod at another of AMC's shows, but it also pointed out that death is now part of Jesse. Jesse has no hope left (hence his sending away his lover and her son), and when the party is over and he isn't high anymore he doesn't have even the illusion of life, just an empty house full of garbage.
Was The controversy about whether Nazi Zombies were "worse" than Regular Zombies a way to say that Gus is still worse than killers like Walt or Jesse?
Walt is still struggling, hoping that he can take Gus down, hence the Thirty-Eight. Of course Walt still relies on his speech too. After all he used to be a teacher...
Heisenberg's hat has its own song!
The scene was great, seeing Walter put the hat on and feeling so powerful just to have the carpet being pulled under his feet (and under the tense viewer's expectations) a few seconds later first the phone call (it was Gus' voice I think) and then the kicking in the bar. Walt thinks he's a god, smarter than anyone -- his hubris will be the end of him -- but the shot from above (just one of the terrific shots and often creative camera angles the episode was filled with!) pointed out what a tiny creature he still is.
On the other hand, Gus has been behaving like a god since the premiere. Last week, they weren't waiting for Godot, but they were waiting for the Power that was to do something, and he eventually showed up (because this isn't Samuel Beckett's vision, and there's a god at work in the Super Meth Lab) and in the way he took a life as well as his being "above them" when he spoke was very god-like. This week, even though Gus was invisible, he was omniscient enough to call Heisenberg off.
The practicing his draw scene was great too and showed that Walter sees himself as a tough guy when he has completed his transformation into Heisenberg (the look in Bryan's eyes says it all!)so I loved the little detail of having his drink without ice, it's part of the Heisenberg persona/character, just like the hat is a prop to get into character. it reminds me of something that Jesse pointed out in season 1 finale about Walter's choosing the place of the meeting with Tuco according to the idea for such meeting from a non criminal. Walt's idea of a tough guy is that he drinks his whiskey without ice. Mike, the real tough guy doesn't need to pretend, he drinks his liquor on the rocks, probably the way he likes it, just like real dealers meet at the mall!
Mike is a badass but he's getting sloppy hence the blood on jacket. No longer the cleaner he used to be! The Saul's ad echoed it (the bit about the body parts!)which was great. Mike saw through Walt's manipulative talk, but at the same time, you can tell that the whole situation is bothering him, or at least he's troubled, so a Mike/Walt alliance might happen some day.
Hank and Marie...as usual it was so real; no matter how much they truly love each other people may end up being isolated in their own despair, and hurt each other in the process. But all the characters in the episode were so alone, whether they had company or not. Hank seems so helpless and bitter right now that he almost reminds me of season 1 Walter! His obsession with minerals must be another way to mirror Walt's crystal making to regain control over his life and overcome his own weakness.
And speaking of echoes, the giant pizza at the Pinkman party was a nice callback to the famous pizza Walt threw onto his house.
I love that show!