Spoilers. My least favourite episode of this second season, but still an episode with a lot of merit and some excellent performances. "Down" is an adequate description of Walt's (Bryan Cranston) emotional state right now, as he struggles to get his marital life back on-track with Skyler (Anna Gunn), who very obviously hasn't swallowed every morsel of his story explain his recent disappearance...What's most notable about "Down" is how Walt continues to sink in disposition as a result of his brush with the criminal underbelly. Now is obviously the opportune moment to break all connections to Jesse (Aaron Paul) and any notions of cooking meth, but Walt's tragically preparing the ground for a return once his fractured marriage has been repaired. He tries desperately to make amends with his family by preparing them breakfast and giving Walt Jr (RJ Mitte) a driving lesson, but these token efforts just aren't going to be enough.
It's revealed that Walt Jr now wants to be referred to as "Flynn" to carve out his own identity (so even Walt's name won't live on after his death), and Skyler is spending an inordinate amount of time out of the house, on her own. The truth might put things right between them, but would Skyler want anything to do with Walt if he admitted his criminals dealings (that does include murder) -- despite the fact it came from good intentions?
Jesse is having a tough time, too. His parents have decided to take away the home that was bequeathed to him by his grandmother he nursed during her cancer, having discovered his meth-lab in the basement. Incidentally, a development that came about because the real-life owners of the house Breaking Bad use as Jesse's abode didn't want to continue their arrangement with the production company.This results in a great scene with Jesse trying to crash at a friend's house, which serves to highlight how far Jesse's life has diverged from his peers during his twenties. His friend lives in a nice house, has a cute baby to look after, and a sexy wife who doesn't want a dropout like Jesse staying over. This forces Jesse to try and steal back his RV to live in, which is being kept in a compound he breaks into -- falling into a chemical toilet in the process. A heartbreaking scene of a stinking Jesse crawling into the RV, to cry on the floor wearing a gas-mask to cover the toilet's stench, is about as far as we've seen Jesse fall.
Walt is also written as a selfish monster here; not listening to Jesse whenever he calls the house with (arguably) bigger and more pressing problems, and refusing to split his own cash with Jesse in light of the fact Jesse's stash was taken by the cops. Having successfully stolen his RV, Jesse gets both barrels of Walt's fury after turning up outside his home, moments after Walt's last-ditch heart-to-heart with Skyler fails because he can't admit the truth to her. Walt flies off the handle inside the RV, but Jesse won't be pushed around any longer, and manages to strangle Walt -- unnerved to see Walt actually encouraging him to end his suffering.Overall, this was a very nice character piece for Walt, Skyler and Jesse, but something of a breather after the Tuco-related sprint start to the season. I just hope the remainder of the season can crank up a similar feeling of tension and excitement, without repeating itself. At times, the concept does feel a bit restrictive, but I have faith in the writers. The opening teaser again hunts at the finale's fallout, with a man in a haz-mat suit plucking the fire-damaged teddy from the White's pool, and placing it next to a row of items in evidence bags. What's going on there?
29 March 2009
AMC, 10pm
Writer: Sam Catlin
Director: John Dahl
Cast: Liam Ruggles (Henry Tyree), Tom Kiesche (Clovis), Shauna McLean (Sara Tyree), Drew Waters (Paul Tyree), Kevin C. Brown (Mover), Michael Bofshever (Mr. Pinkman), Dan Desmond (Mr. Gardiner) & Tess Harper (Mrs. Pinkman)
