Breaking Bad 5x04 Fifty-One
Aug. 6th, 2012 01:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chaniI could discuss Breaking Bad for hours. Such a well-crafted show, so many stuff and details to seek and ponder.
Oh the symbol of Walter leaving the Aztec for 50 bucks. Old days are gone, and so is the Mr White who turned 50 at he beginning of the show. There's no place for nostalgia (in an episode yet filled with callbacks to previous episodes ) and feelings. No room for a Mr Chips' car.
He can give up on his old car but he'll keep the hat that was first a prop. Now the hat is a signature, so he needs a car to match it. The transformation is complete.
There's no room for Skyler's car when she wants to park either (although when he comes back from "work" for his birthday party, she has taken his spot!).
The bacon ritual scene showed that even though she's terrified, Skyler will just obey if given orders, but without making any effort. She will not try to please the master. BTW is it me or did the 51 with the small 1 sorta looked like an aborted svastika? Maybe I'm seeing things but since Walter has put his home and work under the führerprinzip, I wouldn't surprised if the visual had been done in purpose. He is in Heil Heisenberg! mode after all.
Again Skyler doing the absolute minimum when it comes to the "celebration party" later, with "the chocolate cake as requested" , but no suprise, no real party and only Hank and Marie invited at dinner. I bet she didn't give Walter any gift either.
Skyler in the pool. Wonderful visual, saying two opposite things: how she's found a temporary peaceful escape from Walt's talk, and how she's trapped in Walt's world – with the blue dress and blue pool encapsulating her, recalling the blue meth he manufactures – while reminding the audience of a pink Teddy bear that ended there once.
The White marriage has never been a model, but its deterioration is still a fascinating thing to witness. What a contrast to the Schrader marriage. The car scene between Hank and Marie was lovely, especially how he tells her to look at the road. Those are true partners, in spite of little tricks they use or things they keep from one another. Of course they are also better people than Walter and Skyler, despite their flaws, and even though Marie isn't the embodiement of mental health!
Marie has really grown on me. And Hank? Such an intelligent guy under the red-neck posture and the funny lines. Of course he was right about Skyler's move not being a suicide attempt at all. It's the last thing she would do.
And of course, Hank had to get a promotion that would give him Junior's congratulations on Walter's birthday! And Skyler had to ruin Walt's martyrdom speech with her walking into the pool. I bet that Walter was really angry. Cranston's hardening look during the conversation with Hank and Marie was terrific. I almost expected him to say something really nasty to Marie about "her idea" but he would have never dared to attack her in front of Hank. He just had figured out Skyler's strategy and was mad at her.
The amazing Skyler/Walt confrontation scene that followed was so epic. It was wonderful to see Skyler stand and use a genuine truth to fight back. Walt finally dropped the mask, and went in merciless mode, using with her a condescending talking method he had used with Jesse in the past, which emphasized the parallel between Skyler and Jesse – a parallel that was straighforwardly addressed in the last Walt/Skyler scene.
That was a hell of a showdown in which both Cranston and Gunn were fantastic in the way they moved, read their lines and conveyed feelings in facial expressions. And when Skyler was finally cornered by her predatory husband, running out of weapons, admitting to her inferiority in the fight, she showed her hand, revealing her best ally in that domestic war: cancer...in other word Walt's own body. Cancer was the cavalry she was waiting for. What a desperate and heartbreaking thing to say, what a blow in Walt's face, especially after his speech about how great Skyler was when he was undergoing chemotherapy.
Skyler's eyes are open, she sees through the rationalizing bullshit and the lies; she sees that Walter's core is rotten beneath the surface; she hopes that his cells will betray him eventually. He will defeat himself.
I love how the threats to Walt are now back "inside". They used to be outside threats, coming from a strange world, by strangers (Crazy-8 & Emilio, Tuco, Hector Salamanca, The Cousins, Gus and his crew), but now the most serious danger is lurking inside his everday life, his intimate world, whether it is his company (Mike), his extended-family (Hank), his home (Skyler), or his body (dormant cancerous cells).
I think that deep down he unconsciously knows it, hence his reckless behaviour that seems to be go against Fring's policy. Fring worked at being invisible, while Walter doesn't care about being noticed, wants to be seen even, wearing his back hat, driving his sport car. There's hubris at work for sure – Heisenberg can do whatever he wants, like a mean kid suffering from an omnipotence feeling –, but also a sort of "Carpe Diem" vibe coming from him. I don't buy that he considers himself untouchable and kinda immortal now. "Nothing can stop this train" sounds more suicidal than full of confidence. And Heisenberg's hat has already started to fray.
The ticking watch on the bed side was a bit on the nose, but I enjoyed it because the shot looked like a call-back to "Fly", and we know that "Fly" is more about death than about how good life is.
Speaking of crazy characters or character acting in a crazy way, we've got Lydia whom I still see as a female version of Walter, always scheming and plotting to cover her ass, but her storyline keeps echoing various characters and previous moments of the show.
Even the pillow in which she screamed...and Walt even mentioned Marie's talking pillow during his memory lane speech about everything that happened within a year – btw I loved Marie's meta comment about how much that year felt much longer! It takes a show like BrBa to dare addressing such issue and poking fun at the necessary suspension of disbelief on this one.
I didn't expect Jesse and Lydia to meet up. But she could totally be his type, given that she's got a young kid! Her reference to 21 Jump Street was funny but I wonder if there wasn't also some hidden foreshadowing there.
Yeah I still stick to my theory about Jesse joining team!Hank by the end. Anyway, Aaron Paul could have totally fitted in the show. Now I want a wink at Wiseguy!
Poor Jesse trying to stop Mike from killing her. He just can't take the idea of cold-blood killing anyone, and having met Lydia in person, she is for real now in his eyes. Mr White backed him up, but not for the same reason. Walt couldn't care less about murdering that woman who is nothing to him.
But now I wonder, when he heard Mike say "she's dead", did he think of his own "problem woman"? Will Walter try to get rid of Skyler using the ricin he has saved?
Thespice meth must flow, but Skyler isn't a direct threat to the meth business. However she's become an annoyance who refuses to swallow the lies or even pretend to, and she's working on keeping the children away from Walt. Also, she might draw Hank's attention, or talk to "Dave" (Marie's shrink) about Walt's activities.
Walt can't truly believe that he'll make her change her mind. I think that the scene in which he talked to her about the person who gave him the watch was more about showing how much Walter is convinced that he has Jesse – his ideal partner* – back into eating from his hand, than about his ego voicing a "lure Skyler back" challenge. The wrist watch is a symbol of "tempus fugit" and therefore a reminder of the ticking bomb inside of Walt's cells, but represents also other things: it is a trophy, a testament to Heisenberg's manipulative skills, and a sort of rival wedding band, the reassurance for Walt that, at least, that partnership still holds.
*must rewatch the flashfoward now to see if Walt still wears the watch!* **
When he will lose Jesse, the fall will be devastating.
But asselenak said in her review of "Hazard Pay", Skyler might be the one killing Walter eventually, which would spare her family's ruin and Hank's career. She called herself a coward, but she also said that she already have blood on her hands, and she might follow Walt's step in a way that he had never intended when he kinda tutored her. BTW the idea of Walt teaching his family how to break bad was pointed out when he told Junior he could teach him how to make donuts with a car (not sure I understood that one well, but I thought it was a call-back to season 4 when Walt lost it and played with the car Skyler didn't want, before blowing it).
That said, even if Skyler found the ricin, I don't think she'd know what it is and what to do with it. Unless...Skyler found a new ally, and team up with Saul?
So far all she does is waiting, smoking – it's good for the nerves and cancer needs a little helper!– and using Walt's mug (I assumed it was Walt's, perhaps a birthday present given the 51 on it?) as an ashtray. From now on, Walt will see Skyler's presence as a constant provocation and a reminder that his days are numbered.
It's like the show is teasing us with so many possible paths and endings. I trust Gilligan to sow enough clues so the ending will seem logical and coherent, without telegraphing it.
The return of the cancer seems to be a sure thing but that doesn't mean that the cancer will be what stops Heisenberg, saves the kid from the bad environment and frees Skyler.
* Here I feel the need to point out the difference between Walter White and another " genius/mad scientist" from another tv show, Daniel Graystone, from Caprica, the man who created the Cylons and, therefore, doomed the 12 colonies to be destroyed. Daniel is certainly a grey character, although much more charming and likeable than Walter (when Eric Stoltz turns the charm on it's hard to resist), who crosses several lines and whose morality is rather compromised on the show, but he is a good husband, and having a wife who would call him on his shit is precisely what he wants.
EDIT: ** I can't see the watch but the long-sleeved jacket may hide it.
Oh the symbol of Walter leaving the Aztec for 50 bucks. Old days are gone, and so is the Mr White who turned 50 at he beginning of the show. There's no place for nostalgia (in an episode yet filled with callbacks to previous episodes ) and feelings. No room for a Mr Chips' car.
He can give up on his old car but he'll keep the hat that was first a prop. Now the hat is a signature, so he needs a car to match it. The transformation is complete.
There's no room for Skyler's car when she wants to park either (although when he comes back from "work" for his birthday party, she has taken his spot!).
The bacon ritual scene showed that even though she's terrified, Skyler will just obey if given orders, but without making any effort. She will not try to please the master. BTW is it me or did the 51 with the small 1 sorta looked like an aborted svastika? Maybe I'm seeing things but since Walter has put his home and work under the führerprinzip, I wouldn't surprised if the visual had been done in purpose. He is in Heil Heisenberg! mode after all.
Again Skyler doing the absolute minimum when it comes to the "celebration party" later, with "the chocolate cake as requested" , but no suprise, no real party and only Hank and Marie invited at dinner. I bet she didn't give Walter any gift either.
Skyler in the pool. Wonderful visual, saying two opposite things: how she's found a temporary peaceful escape from Walt's talk, and how she's trapped in Walt's world – with the blue dress and blue pool encapsulating her, recalling the blue meth he manufactures – while reminding the audience of a pink Teddy bear that ended there once.
The White marriage has never been a model, but its deterioration is still a fascinating thing to witness. What a contrast to the Schrader marriage. The car scene between Hank and Marie was lovely, especially how he tells her to look at the road. Those are true partners, in spite of little tricks they use or things they keep from one another. Of course they are also better people than Walter and Skyler, despite their flaws, and even though Marie isn't the embodiement of mental health!
Marie has really grown on me. And Hank? Such an intelligent guy under the red-neck posture and the funny lines. Of course he was right about Skyler's move not being a suicide attempt at all. It's the last thing she would do.
And of course, Hank had to get a promotion that would give him Junior's congratulations on Walter's birthday! And Skyler had to ruin Walt's martyrdom speech with her walking into the pool. I bet that Walter was really angry. Cranston's hardening look during the conversation with Hank and Marie was terrific. I almost expected him to say something really nasty to Marie about "her idea" but he would have never dared to attack her in front of Hank. He just had figured out Skyler's strategy and was mad at her.
The amazing Skyler/Walt confrontation scene that followed was so epic. It was wonderful to see Skyler stand and use a genuine truth to fight back. Walt finally dropped the mask, and went in merciless mode, using with her a condescending talking method he had used with Jesse in the past, which emphasized the parallel between Skyler and Jesse – a parallel that was straighforwardly addressed in the last Walt/Skyler scene.
That was a hell of a showdown in which both Cranston and Gunn were fantastic in the way they moved, read their lines and conveyed feelings in facial expressions. And when Skyler was finally cornered by her predatory husband, running out of weapons, admitting to her inferiority in the fight, she showed her hand, revealing her best ally in that domestic war: cancer...in other word Walt's own body. Cancer was the cavalry she was waiting for. What a desperate and heartbreaking thing to say, what a blow in Walt's face, especially after his speech about how great Skyler was when he was undergoing chemotherapy.
Skyler's eyes are open, she sees through the rationalizing bullshit and the lies; she sees that Walter's core is rotten beneath the surface; she hopes that his cells will betray him eventually. He will defeat himself.
I love how the threats to Walt are now back "inside". They used to be outside threats, coming from a strange world, by strangers (Crazy-8 & Emilio, Tuco, Hector Salamanca, The Cousins, Gus and his crew), but now the most serious danger is lurking inside his everday life, his intimate world, whether it is his company (Mike), his extended-family (Hank), his home (Skyler), or his body (dormant cancerous cells).
I think that deep down he unconsciously knows it, hence his reckless behaviour that seems to be go against Fring's policy. Fring worked at being invisible, while Walter doesn't care about being noticed, wants to be seen even, wearing his back hat, driving his sport car. There's hubris at work for sure – Heisenberg can do whatever he wants, like a mean kid suffering from an omnipotence feeling –, but also a sort of "Carpe Diem" vibe coming from him. I don't buy that he considers himself untouchable and kinda immortal now. "Nothing can stop this train" sounds more suicidal than full of confidence. And Heisenberg's hat has already started to fray.
The ticking watch on the bed side was a bit on the nose, but I enjoyed it because the shot looked like a call-back to "Fly", and we know that "Fly" is more about death than about how good life is.
Speaking of crazy characters or character acting in a crazy way, we've got Lydia whom I still see as a female version of Walter, always scheming and plotting to cover her ass, but her storyline keeps echoing various characters and previous moments of the show.
Even the pillow in which she screamed...and Walt even mentioned Marie's talking pillow during his memory lane speech about everything that happened within a year – btw I loved Marie's meta comment about how much that year felt much longer! It takes a show like BrBa to dare addressing such issue and poking fun at the necessary suspension of disbelief on this one.
I didn't expect Jesse and Lydia to meet up. But she could totally be his type, given that she's got a young kid! Her reference to 21 Jump Street was funny but I wonder if there wasn't also some hidden foreshadowing there.
Yeah I still stick to my theory about Jesse joining team!Hank by the end. Anyway, Aaron Paul could have totally fitted in the show. Now I want a wink at Wiseguy!
Poor Jesse trying to stop Mike from killing her. He just can't take the idea of cold-blood killing anyone, and having met Lydia in person, she is for real now in his eyes. Mr White backed him up, but not for the same reason. Walt couldn't care less about murdering that woman who is nothing to him.
But now I wonder, when he heard Mike say "she's dead", did he think of his own "problem woman"? Will Walter try to get rid of Skyler using the ricin he has saved?
The
Walt can't truly believe that he'll make her change her mind. I think that the scene in which he talked to her about the person who gave him the watch was more about showing how much Walter is convinced that he has Jesse – his ideal partner* – back into eating from his hand, than about his ego voicing a "lure Skyler back" challenge. The wrist watch is a symbol of "tempus fugit" and therefore a reminder of the ticking bomb inside of Walt's cells, but represents also other things: it is a trophy, a testament to Heisenberg's manipulative skills, and a sort of rival wedding band, the reassurance for Walt that, at least, that partnership still holds.
*must rewatch the flashfoward now to see if Walt still wears the watch!* **
When he will lose Jesse, the fall will be devastating.
But as
selenak said in her review of "Hazard Pay", Skyler might be the one killing Walter eventually, which would spare her family's ruin and Hank's career. She called herself a coward, but she also said that she already have blood on her hands, and she might follow Walt's step in a way that he had never intended when he kinda tutored her. BTW the idea of Walt teaching his family how to break bad was pointed out when he told Junior he could teach him how to make donuts with a car (not sure I understood that one well, but I thought it was a call-back to season 4 when Walt lost it and played with the car Skyler didn't want, before blowing it).That said, even if Skyler found the ricin, I don't think she'd know what it is and what to do with it. Unless...Skyler found a new ally, and team up with Saul?
So far all she does is waiting, smoking – it's good for the nerves and cancer needs a little helper!– and using Walt's mug (I assumed it was Walt's, perhaps a birthday present given the 51 on it?) as an ashtray. From now on, Walt will see Skyler's presence as a constant provocation and a reminder that his days are numbered.
It's like the show is teasing us with so many possible paths and endings. I trust Gilligan to sow enough clues so the ending will seem logical and coherent, without telegraphing it.
The return of the cancer seems to be a sure thing but that doesn't mean that the cancer will be what stops Heisenberg, saves the kid from the bad environment and frees Skyler.
* Here I feel the need to point out the difference between Walter White and another " genius/mad scientist" from another tv show, Daniel Graystone, from Caprica, the man who created the Cylons and, therefore, doomed the 12 colonies to be destroyed. Daniel is certainly a grey character, although much more charming and likeable than Walter (when Eric Stoltz turns the charm on it's hard to resist), who crosses several lines and whose morality is rather compromised on the show, but he is a good husband, and having a wife who would call him on his shit is precisely what he wants.
EDIT: ** I can't see the watch but the long-sleeved jacket may hide it.