[SPOILERS] A scaled-back, slightly more relaxed episode of Breaking Bad, "Over" finds Walter (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse (Aaron Paul) both taking some time-off away from their drug-dealing operation. Walt, having discovered his cancer is in remission, spends some time at home off work, while Jesse gets to spend quality time with girlfriend Jane (Krysten Ritter). But both find domestic bliss difficult to sustain...Walt almost immediately starts going stir crazy, secretly irritated that his cancer has abated because his life now lacks the sharp focus imminent death had brought. Skyler (Anna Gunn) organizes a party to celebrate Walter's good news, but there are signs that Walt's nowhere near as happy as his family – giving a speech to a roomful of friends and family where he reveals he asked himself "why me?" when he was told he had cancer, and again when told his tumour had shrunk by 80%.
The episode's most shocking scene arrives moments later, with Walt, Walt Jr (RJ Mitte) and Hank (Dean Norris) sat beside the pool during the celebration. Walt and Dean are drinking tequila, and Walt slips his son a shot. No harm done, until Walt insists in topping up Jr's drink and ignoring Hank's suggestion he stop, considering Walt Jr's underage and inexperienced with booze. For the first time, we see Walt snap over the clear feeling that Hank's something of a "surrogate father", so that when Hank cheerily walks away with the tequila, he provokes an uncharacteristic response in Walt – who demands he return his bottle, in front of stunned party-goers. To cap it all, when Walt gets his way, his son vomits into their pool and Walt barely reacts.Meanwhile, Jesse and Jane appear to be growing closer (with Jesse showing his new girlfriend some of his artwork from his schooldays), but he begins to suspect she's not quite as into their relationship as he is. The sign comes when Jane's father (Star Trek's John De Lancie) arrives, and Jane vanishes out the back to get changed and greet her father, then acts as if she barely knows Jesse in front of him. Is she embarrassed to admit she's dating the stoner tenant next door?
Later, Walt grows bored at home and decides to fill his time by replacing their leaking boiler – meaning a series of expensive trips to the local hardware store. It becomes something of an addiction for Walt, as he notices dry-rot in the boiler cupboard's floorboards and is soon noisily replacing the majority of the house's woodwork below ground. Skyler and Walt Jr let him get on with it, but both are secretly concerned about his peculiar behaviour.
"Over" was something of a comedown after the recent run of sterling episodes, but it neatly developed a few storylines along the way, and tightened a few things. We see Skyler in her new job, intentionally trying to get closer to her boss Ted (Christopher Cousins), who is very much a shoulder to cry on about her mixed feelings about Walt's behaviour. Ted was introduced as a likeable guy who pushed himself onto Skyler once before, causing her to quit her job, but he actually came across as quite a nice guy here. It was Skyler doing the chasing – maybe it was her the first time, but she told her sister otherwise to spare her blushes?
One of the best scenes came right at the end, when Walt was back in the hardware store for the umpteenth time that week for supplies, and he notices a fellow shopper's trolley was full of gear required to cook drugs. He amusingly imparted some know-how to the stunned teenage shopper, who immediately got scared and bolted, then saw the kid talking to his muscular accomplice outside in the car park. And, where perhaps season 1 Walt would have scurried away, he instead took the opportunity to put on his best badass grimace and warn the competition to get off his territory -– and it worked! Walt stared down his first rival... and you could see the look of deep-seated joy in his face as he claimed Alpha Male status. More than anything, Walt has come to believe that his "Heisenberg" persona is the thing that makes him feel like a man, makes him feel respected, makes him feel... alive. Oh dear.
And then there's the opening teaser; another monochrome flashforward to the burnt one-eyed pink teddybear being taken from Walt's pool, and evidence bags being sealed by men in hazmat suits. Only now, we have a smashed up car parked outside and two dead bodies laid out on the driveway covered in sheets. There can be only two possible explanations: a rival gang (the one Walt scared away) find where he lives and attack his home, killing two people; or all that's a red herring and Walt's DIY boiler just explodes in an unrelated accident.Overall, "Out" started out on a mildly humdrum note, but grew and deepened along the way. There's always something of value in episodes of Breaking Bad and the performances are wonderful. This episode basically confirmed that, despite the fact Walt could easily just sell the last of his meth, pocket the half-million in secret, and live a comfortable life (possibly into old age, if the cancer is truly beaten), he won't. The chance to be a somebody has become its own addiction.
The mouse has roared, and nothing's going to keep it quiet now...
10 May 2009
AMC, 10pm
Writer: Moira Walley-Beckett
Director: Phil Abraham
Cast: Bryan Cranston (Walt), Aaron Paul (Jesse), Anna Gunn (Skyler), Dean Norris (Hank), Betsy Brandt (Marie), John De Lancie (Donald Margolis), Carmen Serano (Carmen), Christopher Cousins (Ted), Steven Michael Quezada (Steven Gomez) & Krysten Ritter (Jane)
