Spoilers. Opening with another eerie tableaux -- coloured this time, showing spent bullets on desert sand, rhythmic creaking, and a bizarre rocking shadow -- we jump back in time to spend the first movement of "Grilled" with Skyler (Anna Gunn), Marie (Betsy Brandt), Hank (Dean Norris) and Walter Jr (RJ Mitte), who are all worried sick by the mystifying disappearance of Walter (Bryan Cranston)...Unbeknownst to his family, Walter and Jesse (Aaron Paul) were taken at gunpoint the previous night by local druglord Tuco (Raymond Cruz), who drives them to his Uncle Tio's (Mark Margolis) shack in the middle of the desert. It seems the DEA are hot on Tuco's tail after a tip-off, so he's planning to cross the border into Mexico with "Heisenberg" as his appointed meth-cooker, and make a fortune from Walter's secret formula.
As the volatile Tuco bullies Walter and Jesse into cooperating, they secretly plot to kill their captor by getting him to consume a sachet of meth poisoned with Ricin. However, Tuco's wheelchair-bound Uncle Tio's could be a problem, as the apparently mute, motionless cripple has his beady eye on them...
This was a fantastic episode, thanks to its simplicity. Breaking Bad is at its best when it puts everyman Walter into a pressure-cooker situation, then allow it to explode. The camerawork also does a great job planting the audience in its reality; lurking behind people, gently wobbling as if we're seeing through the eyes of an invisible avatar. The creep-factor of Uncle Tio was a delight, particularly when we learned he could communicate with her psychotic nephew with "yes" or "no" dings of a bell stuck to his wheelchair arm. The tension was palpable whenever he tried to alert Tuco to the conniving snakes he'd brought home.Raymond Cruz's performance shouldn't go unmentioned, either -- one of the most gripping, insane, frightening, unreasonable villains of recent memory. A marvelous guest-star whose high-octane performance left me just as nervous and petrified as Walter and Jesse, even from the comfort of my own home. Tuco could very easily have slipped into gross caricature, but Cruz kept the character raw and riveting.
Obviously, the scenes spent with Walter's worried family were less enthralling, but Dean Norris took the weight and ensured it remained interesting Рif only to see how far his investigation would take him (surprisingly far, as it happens), and to wonder just how Walter could possibly explain his disappearance if he survives Tuco's kidnapping. Norris is particularly good at balancing out his character: gruff, uncouth and loud at work, but ultimately a big softie whose desire to find Walter and save Skyler her pain comes from the heart. It could have been very easy to write Hank as someone who detests his brother-in-law (the brains to his brawn, etc), but I'm so glad they didn't give in to clich̩. I only wish someone would give Walter Jr something interesting stuff to play, as he's once again wasted here.
Overall, "Grilled" was a tense and satisfying hour of entertainment with a superb ending that tightened the screws on Walter even tighter. Perhaps the best thing about Breaking Bad is how there isn't an obvious formula for what it's doing –- it's such a mix of different things that I find it nigh impossible to predict what the next episode will bring, or even what the goal is for season 2 (particularly now Tuco and his Mexican get-away plan has been dealt a killer blow.)
14 March 2009
AMC, 10/9c
Writer: George Mastras
Director: Charles Haid
Cast: Betsy Brandt (Marie), Dean Norris (Hank), RJ Mitte (Walter Jr.), Aaron Paul (Jesse), Anna Gunn (Skyler), Bryan Cranston (Walter), Steven Michael Quezada (Steven Gomez), Raymond Cruz (Tuco), Dana Cortez (TV Reporter), Nigel Gibbs (Sgt. Tim Roberts), Tess Harper (Mrs. Pinkman) & Mark Margolis (Uncle Tio)
