||SPOILERS|| Or "Black And Blue", if, like Hank (Dean Norris), you're a gringo who doesn't speak the lingo. This episode starts off with a ballsy four-minute music video, where a narcocorrido band sing about Heisenberg, a drug lord who's been disrespecting the Mexican cartel with his blue crystal meth. "But that homie's dead / he just don't know it yet..."I assume the band's song can be taken as an accurate glimpse at how successful Walt (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse (Aaron Paul) will become, as Walt plans to expand their operation into rival territories of Albuquerque. Jesse isn't sold on the idea, but Walt's sure it'll work because Jesse now has a reputation as the killer of Spooge. The truth that Spooge's head was crushed by a ATM machine toppled by his girlfriend has been twisted into a cautionary tale for anyone else thinking of ripping off Jesse Pinkman. He's already a minor celebrity in certain circles, as evidenced when a biker recognizes him on the street.
And Walter's able to convince Jesse into following his plan by comparing him to a "blowfish" (a small marine creature that increases its size to scare away bigger predators), in another father/son-style pep talk that feels incredibly uncomfortable because we know Walt's manipulating Jesse to his own end. Indeed, Walter's becoming less likeable as time marches on, given the fact he's had ample opportunity to cut his losses and meet death with dignity, reputation intact.Meanwhile, Hank is having trouble fitting in at the El Paso DEA office. He was a big fish in a small pond in his hometown, but now the reverse is true. He doesn't understand Spanish, doesn't get their customs (like keeping idols of the junkie's patron saint Jesus Malverde, to "know your enemy"), and is generally considered a brash American in over his head. And they're kind of right...
While helping to interview drug informant Tortuga/Turtle (Danny Trejo1), Hank's impatience is all too evident, and things literally come to a head in the ensuing stakeout -- when the DEA agents find the decapitated head of Tortuga stuck to a turtle's shell, crawling through the desert. The sick and twisted sight is too much for Hank, who retreats to vomit amidst laughter from his hardened co-workers. But that proves a lucky move, as Hank's a safe distance away when his colleagues touch the turtle and trigger a bomb -– the explosion causing a scene of ear-ringing bloodshed and severed limbs. Echoing Walt's place in the show, Hank appears to have similar luck in his chosen profession (he may even be considered a hero again for helping in the aftermath), but he's likewise ill-equipped to deal with his job's darker underbelly.
Elsewhere, Skyler (Anna Gunn) decides to get a job at her old company, Beneke, because they need cash to pay for Walt's cancer treatment. Her old boss Ted (Christopher Cousins) is pleased to see her and agrees to take her back, and we get the impression that Skyler originally left because of Ted's inappropriate sexual advances. Her sister Marie (Betty Brandt) isn't happy that "Mr. Grabby-Hands" is still there, and even Skyler looks wary after noting Ted's split from his wife and is already asking her out to lunch. Will the show avoid the cliché of Ted giving Skyler cash for sexual favours, that she'll use to pat Walt's medical bills?
Jesse has become a recluse in the wake of Spooge's death, but the purchase a giant flatscreen television that can't receive a satellite signal proves the unlikely catalyst for some progression with tattoo artist Jane (Krysten Ritter), who comes round to watch some TV and ends up clutching Jesse's fingers in the final scene. Now that Jesse has a new home and a girlfriend, it feels like his life's on the up –- but I doubt he'll give up the drug-dealing and settle for normality, despite being given a wake-up call with Spooge's death. No, the lure of quick and relatively easy money is too much, and I can't see Jesse getting a normal nine-to-five job, can you?Overall, "Negro Y Azul" was another excellent episode from a great series that takes it sweet time, but always delivers. I'm still loving Hank's storyline just as much as Walt's, and it feels like this episode really pointed us in the direction of the finale. Will the Mexican drug cartel find and target Walt in the finale? Will "Heisenberg" enter the big leagues that quickly? Will Hank find his feet at El Paso? How will Skyler's job work out for her? And are Jesse's deadbeat friends really the kind of guys you want as "lieutenants" in charge of their own underlings? Jesse's reputation as a bad-ass to protect them isn't likely to last, is it?
19 April 2009
AMC, 10pm
Writer: John Shiban
Director: Felix Alcala
Cast: Bryan Cranston (Walt), Aaron Paul (Jesse), Anna Gunn (Skyler), RJ Mitte (Walt Jr), Dean Norris (Hank), Betsy Brandt (Marie), Christopher Cousins (Ted), Danny Trejo (Tortuga), Krysten Ritter (Jane)
1. It's character actor Danny Trejo, so I think it's in his contract to die in everything he appears in.
