WRITER: Thomas Schnauz[SPOILERS] And you thought last week's episode was great. "One Minute" was a frankly remarkable hour packed full of incredible performances, capped with a stunning climax that elicited so much tension I'm still picking fingernails out of my sofa arm. I haven't felt so gripped by something on TV for a long, long time.
DIRECTOR: Michelle MacLaren
GUEST CAST: David Costabile, Mark Margolis, Daniel Moncada, Luis Moncada, Nate Mooney, Ruben Munoz-Soto, Victor Munoz-Soto & Michael Shamus Wiles
We began with a fun flashback to the '80s, to see the Mexican cousins (Louis and Daniel Moncada) as little boys playing in the garden of a sprightlier Tio (Mark Margolis), fully communicative and ambulant as he took a phone call about a "dirty South American" he's nicknamed "Chicken Man" who's just starting up in the drug's business. A man we of course know in the present as Gus, whose narcotics career went north as Tio's health went south. Earlier this season I suggested they flashback to Tio when he was in full health, so this was like a prayer being answered. I wonder if there will be more to come, perhaps explaining Tio's relationship with Gus and showing how he came to be stuck in a wheelchair.There's wasn't much point to this flashback, other than to give us the names of the Cousins (Leonel and Marco) and to see the moment that perhaps formed their entire lives; when Marco broke Leonel's toy and Tio, hearing Leonel say he wants his brother dead as punishment, proceeded to dunk Marco's head in a water cooler and almost drown him. "Family is all" sneered Tio, after had Leonel successfully broken his grip with a punch to the nose. It's a lesson the boys clearly took to heart.
Back in the present-day, the focus of this episode was Hank (Dean Norris), who's become a truly fascinating and compelling character in his own right. I've always thought Norris is excellent in this role, and the writers have clearly decided to give him better and more complex material to work with this year. Here, Hank risked flushing his life down the toilet, after racing to Jesse's (Aaron Paul) house straight from hospital, incensed over how Jesse apparently evaded capture in the RV by hoax-calling him about his wife's safety. In a moment he immediately regretted, Hank savagely beat Jesse to a pulp on his floor, hospitalizing him with ugly facial bruises.
And from there Hank had a terrible day, to put it mildly. If Jesse pressed charges over the "unprovoked" attack, which he's very likely to do, Hank's career would be dead and his life ruined financially. Saul (Bob Odenkirk) is overjoyed that Hank acted so carelessly, because the photo evidence of Jesse's injuries will keep the DEA off their backs about the RV now, but Walt's (Bryan Cranston) unnerved by Jesse's scary determination to teach Hank a lesson by "ruining his life until the day he sticks a gun up his mouth and pulls the trigger just to get me out of his head." Even worse, Jesse plans to keep cooking meth when he's discharged -- believing he's now untouchable because of recent events and, if caught, he'll tell the cops all about "Heisenberg" so it's in everybody's interest to see that he's protected.
As Hank stared into an abyss, he at least made something of an emotional breakthrough with Marie (Betsy Brandt). The scene of them both quietly entering an elevator together, cutting to Hank weeping uncontrollably on Marie's shoulder inside, before exiting fully composed as if nothing had happened, was beautifully done. It may have been a brief, private unburdening of the stress Hank's been under for months, but it was a valuable release valve for their marriage. I also found it interesting that Hank was prepared to save himself and his marriage by telling the truth at an inquest, and accept the consequences of his actions. That's the difference between Hank and Walt, who would probably be scheming to save his own skin in Hank's shoes, rationalizing whatever self-serving decision he makes.
Skyler (Anna Gunn) was eager for Walt to help his brother-in-law out by talking to Jesse, but Walt underplayed his relationship with "Pinkman" (having heard Jesse's bitter thoughts on the matter already) and even reminded Skyler that Hank's "not currently" family. Of course, for all his standoffish attitude, Walt does have a heart and knows Hank doesn't deserve what might become of him, so he had to find a way to make Jesse drop his legal action. And what better than to give Jesse the opportunity to partner him at the "super lab", for a 50/50 split of the $3 million he's going to earn in a few months?
Interesting to see poor Gale (David Costabile) given short shrift at the super-lab, too -- just so Walt felt better about getting him replaced by Jesse. I sensed that Gale's just a stooge planted there by Gus, anyway. It feels like he's been told to be the "perfect" lab assistant, and is changing himself accordingly every working day -- here, Gale had stopped wearing sandals in the lab, as he's picked up on Walt's professional nature. Gale thinks, or hopes, that "this might be the beginning of a beautiful friendship", but he's very wrong. Walt's quick to wrongly accuse Gale of a silly mistake that cost them gallons of wasted product, and soon persuades Gus to let Jesse come aboard as a replacement. I was expecting this move to happen at some point, as the Jesse/Walt relationship has been divided for so long this season, but it's still a shame that Costabile's role isn't going to amount to much.
In an episode of great performances, Aaron Paul possibly edges it as Jesse with two scenes at the hospital: the earlier rant about destroying Hank's life, and the moment he refuses Walt's offer of a partnership ("I want nothing to do with you... ever since I met you, everything I've ever cared about is gone.") It's been said that this episode will be Paul's submission for an Emmy, and it's not hard to see why. He doesn't have a major role in the episode, but he chews on Thomas Schnauz's dialogue like it's pieces of gristle stuck between his teeth. Absolutely mesmerizing. And, in typical Breaking Bad style, despite Jesse flatly and wisely turning down Walt's once-in-a-lifetime offer, he reneges on his decision almost immediately by phone call. Perhaps Jesse was being pragmatic and knows a share of $3 million is preferable to ruining Hank's life for relative pennies, or maybe it's as simple as the fact Walt admitted that "your meth is good... as good as mine." Jesse's just a kid who craves fatherly approval, right?Throughout it all, the Cousins were preparing to kill their new target: the previously off-limits Hank. Primarily this involved retooling with weapons (including a free sample of a hollow-tipped "Black Death" bullet) from a loquacious trucker's vehicle, and suiting up with two bullet-proof vests.
And finally, the intense five-minute climax, with Hank having been suspended for admitting he assaulted Jesse, but thrown a lifeline when his boss tells him there's a rumour Jesse's decided to let the matter drop. Buoyed somewhat, we catch Hank getting inside his SUV in a supermarket car park, whereby he's called by an anonymous tipster with an electronically-altered voice, warning him that "two men are coming to kill you... you have one minute" -- a call he tries to convince himself is a prank, but his gut says otherwise...
And what can you say about what follows? A pure masterclass in tension from director Michelle MacLaren that gave me palpitations. Hank scanning the shoppers nearby for signs of danger, knowing his gun's been confiscated, before finally spotting Leonel in his rear-view mirror as he shoots out his back window and gets a bullet in the arm, triggering Hank's survival instinct as he reverses his SUV into Leonel and pins his body to another parked car. Then Marco firing shots at Hank from the side side, approaching to help his squirming brother, shooting an innocent passer-by, then unloading at Hank just as Hank grabbed Leonel's fallen gun and empties its chamber into Marco's chest. But of course, it has no effect because of the vest he's wearing, affording Marco the chance to shoot Hank twice in the chest and stand over him for the kill shot... before deciding that would be "too easy", and leaving to retrieve his silver axe for bloodier, more personal vengeance. This giving Hank time to reload Leonel's gun with the "Black Death" bullet Marco had dropped, and firing it into Marco's head before he could raise his axe for the fatal blow.
We leave the blood-soaked scene with a mixture of relief, excitement and numbness. This really was a terrific action sequence, one of the best I've seen executed on television, made all the sweeter because the threat of the Cousins has been so expertly built up and you didn't really believe they'd fail against an unarmed man. And despite the fact Hank's a core character, it wasn't beyond the realm of possibility that he'd be killed as a mid-season shocker, so everything about this sequence felt utterly unpredictable. Even the fact the Cousins were wearing bullet-proof vests slipped my mind in the heat of the moment, meaning it was doubly excruciating when Hank's first gunshots had no effect on Marco.
Overall, there are no superlatives to do justice to those final moments, and everything prior to that was rock solid character building. This was the kind of episode that reminds me why I love the long-form storytelling of television, where spending so much time with characters results in pay-off that can strikes a hammer to your heart. You're feeling every sting of pain and anguish these characters are going through now, and it's simply stunning to watch. If you're not watching Breaking Bad, you're missing the best thing on television.
2 MAY 2010: AMC, 10|9C
