WRITER: Vince Gilligan[SPOILERS] One of the best dramas on television returned last Sunday, with an episode that dealt with the (literal) fallout of season 2's finale, but found time to introduce fresh elements that will fuel this new season. It opens with a bizarre sequence of Mexican peasants crawling on their hands and knees through their dusty town, to be joined by two identical, well-dressed "Cousins" (Daniel Moncada, Luis Moncada) with silver skulls on their toe-caps, until everyone ends their crawl at a small shrine containing a skeleton, stood next to a pencil sketch of Walter White (Bryan Cranston)...
DIRECTOR: Bryan Cranston
GUEST CAST: Jere Burns, Giancarlo Esposito, Daniel Moncada & Luis Moncada
"No Mas" ("No More" in English, alluding to the skeleton?) had to deal with two major catastrophes in Walt's life: his breakup from wife Skyler (Anna Gunn) and the passenger jets that collided over Albuquerque. Skyler's now living with Walt Jr. (RJ Mitte) and their new baby Holly, although her lawyer suggests she move back into the family home as quickly as possible, as that's a position of strength when contesting custody of their children. Meanwhile, Walt's clearing up debris from his back garden and deliberating over whether or not to burn his drug money in a barbecue. He does, but has seconds thoughts almost immediately once the cash is aflame, forcing him to throw the whole burning barbecue into his pool. This was significant because it proves that Walt can't let go of the past, or get off the path he's travelling down. The financial rewards and sense of self-importance (both underfed by his normal life as a husband, father and teacher), are just too great to resist.In fact, Walt's "addiction" is probably far greater than junkie Jesse's (Aaron Paul), who's at least checked himself into rehab following the death of his girlfriend Jane – after she choked to death on her own vomit while she slept (a death that Walt secretly witnessed, but refused to avert because Jane's death would help his own agenda.) It's very clear that Walt's on a self-destructive path, becoming hollow inside, and given to rationalizing whatever terrible and selfish decisions he makes. This was best exemplified in a brilliant scene set at Walt's high school gymnasium, where the shell-shocked student body had assembled to publicly air their feelings about the recent plane crash. And when Walt was asked to offers his thoughts on their community's disaster, he selfishly seized the chance to essentially demean everyone's grief by comparing the tragedy to far worse catastrophes of the past, and suggesting everyone look on the bright side (both planes weren't full that day, nobody on the ground was killed -- they should be grateful for small mercies, right?) A very uncomfortable social moment, with Cranston again on top form; every nervous twitch and squint speaking volumes above any microphone he was handed.
Perhaps the biggest surprise in this episode was a simple scene between Skyler and Walt, as she arrived to discuss their future and served him divorce papers. In an unexpected development for the show, Skyler made the startling guess that her husband's a drug dealer, which Walt had no choice but to essentially admit. Skyler agreed to never tell their children the truth, or his narcotics cop brother-in-law Hank (Dean Norris), provided he agree to the divorce and turns his back on them forever. This put Walt in a terrible situation, where his only hope is to prove to Skyler that he's finished dealing drugs and try and win back her trust. To do this, he severed ties with his drug distributor Gus (Giancarlo Esposito) during a meeting at his fast-food restaurant cover, despite the fact Gus offered him $3 million for a few months work. Tempted, Walt nevertheless refused that amazing offer, but it seems likely he'll recant.
It also amused me that Jesse was taken in by Walt after finishing his rehab treatment, to live with him at the apartment he's been forced to move into. They really do have a father/son-like relationship, with Jesse possibly the only "son" Walt's going to see anything of if Skyler has her way. And, of course, their roles have essentially reversed since the series began, with Jesse accepting that he's "the bad guy" to Walt, when in fact it's Jesse who has the best chance of a clean break, and it's Walt who's more culpable for the tragedies that have befallen them in recent weeks.
Overall, this was another great episode of Breaking Bad (very nicely directed by Bryan Cranston himself, whose talents appear to know no end), and a fine start to the new season that succinctly continued the events of last year's finale, while laying groundwork for this year's storylines. The mute Cousins were a particularly fascinating duo, as the narrative kept jumping back to follow their progress over the US border (changing their clothes for those hung on a villager's washing line, abandoning their flash car, hitching a ride with other illegal immigrants in the back of a vehicle full of hay bails, before shooting everyone once they'd made it onto American soil, and blowing up the truck in a huge fireball that they calmly walked away from without flinching. Who are they? What do they want? Whose skeleton did they pay their respects to? Are they looking for Walter (aka Heisenberg)? Is Walt the killer of whoever the skeleton was? Or are they just intending to start a turf war with Walt over what used to be Tuco's patch? Whatever their deal, they spell trouble...Asides
-- Walt cutting the crusts off his peanut butter and
-- I'm relieved to see Breaking Bad's building an audience now (it actually helps that season 1's just 7 episodes long, as it's a snap to get your friends to catchup on DVD and demand to see season 2, no?) This premiere won the show its highest ratings yet, with 2 million tuning in.
-- Apparently, that was a real explosion the Cousins walked away from, with actors Daniel Moncada and Luis Moncada having one take to get it right and not flinch.
21 MARCH 2010: AMC (HD), 10/9c
