The devil is in the details...and in the waiting
Breaking Bad is a bold show filled with bald men. It is a series that isn't afraid of changing things and trying risky stuff. I love it so much for that. A show has to be very confident in both itself and its audience to open its fourth season with an episode with very little action and so few words, as the A-plot is almost told without any dialogues at all.
But as Alan Sepinwall said: "It helps, of course, to be working with a bunch of world-class actors in this scenario - to have Cranston and Paul and Giancarlo Esposito and Jonathan Banks be able to say so much when they're not saying anything at all."
By the way the quotation is from a good article which is a spot-on review: http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/whats-alan-watching/posts/breaking-bad-box-cutter-the-waiting-is-the-hardest-part
It wasn't the best BB episode(but I only say that because seasoon 3 raised the bar so high it's difficult for any very good episode to be the best now) but it was a great opener and it lived up to the reputation of what is the best tv series on television. And while keeping true to its spirit and identity, the show dared to change a few things we were used to...or, to use a chemistry metaphor, to slightly alter its own formula.
For instance the opening scene of "Box Cutter" was nothing like the usual mysterious and surrealistic cold opens that graced the three previous seasons. It was simply a flashback that gave Gale a swan song and allowed us to spend one more time with the nice guy so the aftermaths of his murder would feel even stronger. That flashback explained the reason Gus hired Walt (because Gale talked him into it, same Gale Walt had killed by proxy!)...and intoduced us to Chekhov's gun, in this case the box cutter of the title, and to Gale's notebook!
I was sure that Gus was going to kill Victor because the minute Mike asked Gus' lieutenant if people had seen him on the crime scene, his fate was sealed. But having Victor start to cook in front of Walt and Jesse, since he knew every steps, was still a great twist because to our "heroes" ' eyes it meant that killing Gale, not only was a horrible thing to do but also, and above all, that it might have been done for nothing and that it might be injustified!
But as expected Gus Fring, finally showing up after a while, made the most of his audience. Gus didn't seem to want his hands dirty before but it didn't mean he wasn't capable of killing himself (although Mike did look surprised and even turn his gun on Gus, hummm...)and he proved it...but he wouldn't get his clothes dirty so he changed before and after slicing Victor's throat! Did Chicken Man use to live in a farm in his youth? It was a hell of a moment, given than Gus was silent the whole time.
Gus is a calculating man and his brutal kill was a show he put on, as much as a way to get rid of a liability (and as Gale knew, Gus wants the best, Victor couldn't cook like Walt and Jesse). It was nothing like Tuco beating to death his own smugly lieutenant in front of the same Jesse and Walt at the end of season 1. Gus is just as dangerous as Tuco was, but he is way smarter.
As for the b-plots, I have to say that I like Marie more and more with the passing of seasons and I adore Hank. And now he's into crystal too, collecting minerals!!! Hank's final scene was simply devastating.
And Jesse, oh Jesse. Aaron Paul didn't talk for 40 minutes; first still shocked and crying after taking a life, than almost catatonic in his car, and eventually just silent and blank in the lab. And then Gus butchering Victor seemed to be a wake-up call, and the way Jesse drank the scene in and looked Gus right in the eyes gave me the chill. It was a killer acknowledging another killer. A sort of bonding moment*.
Of course there aren't the same, Jesse killed with a trembling hand and tears in his eyes, out of love and to protect his Mr White, while Gus killed to protect his business and to scare the shit out of Walt and Jesse and send a message to them, with a steady hand and without even blinking! Yet Jesse seems to think otherwise.
Jesse's behaviour at the dinner confirmed that he seemed to have changed and have been enlightened...unlike Walt who's still quite delusional (to the point of blaming Gus for Gale's death!) and unchanged -- the constant shift between the two of them is fascinating -- but it also tells me that Jesse's system of defence is now that he doesn't care which is a step further than his guilt-filled "I'm the bad guy" from season 3. Unless it's even worse and he found his calling. Anyway he lost his innocence indeed, for Walt, and although Walt seems concerned about Jesse in the dinner scene, he just can't see what he has done. Those characters are really destroying themselves while destroying each others. In a way, by making Jesse kill Gale, Walt threw him into the devil's arms. I just hope that Gus won't lure Jesse even more into the darkness, taking Walt's place, and use him against Walt. It could be Gus' strategy and Jesse is damaged enough to play along. Besides I guess it's just a matter of time before he must "kill the father". But I don't want it to happen, I don't want my boys to split; no matter how toxic Walt is to Jesse (and choosing Gus would be going from bad to worse) he loved him enough to screw things up with Gus in "Half-Measures", and I think he has reached the point to which he would die to protect his meth son.
Bryan Cranston was extraordinary in the episode, just sitting in a chair (although I also loved his final scene in the street and the way he held his new pants!) in the lab, waiting for something to happen. He managed to convey all the facets of Walter White's personality during that long wait.
We've got badass Heisenberg at first (and there's something cold and heartless in Walt's speech about Gale), bully teacher (using his chemical knowledge to dismiss Victor's skills) and I loved how Bryan showed the changes in Walt's mind just with facial expressions and the look in his eyes -- when first seeing Jesse and probably thinking they are screwed and then realising that Jesse did get the job done and killed Gale (something that Mike was surpised about too!) so they have leverage after all --, but quickly the false bravura crackles and all we can see is a petty clown (for example when he says that Victor is going to forget the aluminum but is proven wrong) and eventually a panicking and babbling Mr White trying to get himself (and Jesse, to be fair) out of being killed by Gus. And he ends up quite shaken by Gus' slashing Victor's throat.
The show managed to provide striking shots with the most gruesome stuff, the blood running on the floor at Walt's feet (something that his red new shoes seems to echo later) or the two blood flows on the red floor, red on red, were stricking shots. It doesn't forget humour though, hence the neat and gagesque cut from mop swabbing down blood on the floor to a guy running a French fry through ketchup on his plate!
Also, I loved all the callbacks to previous seasons in the episode, like Skyler following Walt's steps and thus finding the teddy bear's eye, or checking Walt's white underwear (the season 1 guest-star!) and of course I loved the wink at the Emilio situation from season 1, when Walt and Jesse disposes of Victor's body using plastic barrel and hydrofluoric ("Trust us"!).
So obviously Skyler has begun to break bad herself, lying through her teeth and using Holly as a prop to convince a locksmith to let her in Walt's condo, but her act was also reminiscent of her pretending to be in labour when she almost got arrested in season 1 because of Marie's shoplifting. Her using her crying baby to get her ways also reminded me of Walt's using Jesse...
Now I'm going to rewatch the episode again!
*ETA: Maybe it wasn't a bonding moment but a challenging one! Walt couldn't look at Gus but Jesse sort stood up and stared back at Gus as if he were taking up. He was full of fury and hatred. hungryhippo said it very well : 'He simply *is* the bad guy now. When Gus tries to stare him down, Jesse was like, "You wanna play, I'm ready to play...bitch."' However I also think now that there might be a mirror kind of thing at play with the two victims, and it's possible that just like Walt won't be replaced by Gale because he is dead, Jesse will take Victor's place now that he has been murdered.
But as Alan Sepinwall said: "It helps, of course, to be working with a bunch of world-class actors in this scenario - to have Cranston and Paul and Giancarlo Esposito and Jonathan Banks be able to say so much when they're not saying anything at all."
By the way the quotation is from a good article which is a spot-on review: http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/whats-alan-watching/posts/breaking-bad-box-cutter-the-waiting-is-the-hardest-part
It wasn't the best BB episode(but I only say that because seasoon 3 raised the bar so high it's difficult for any very good episode to be the best now) but it was a great opener and it lived up to the reputation of what is the best tv series on television. And while keeping true to its spirit and identity, the show dared to change a few things we were used to...or, to use a chemistry metaphor, to slightly alter its own formula.
For instance the opening scene of "Box Cutter" was nothing like the usual mysterious and surrealistic cold opens that graced the three previous seasons. It was simply a flashback that gave Gale a swan song and allowed us to spend one more time with the nice guy so the aftermaths of his murder would feel even stronger. That flashback explained the reason Gus hired Walt (because Gale talked him into it, same Gale Walt had killed by proxy!)...and intoduced us to Chekhov's gun, in this case the box cutter of the title, and to Gale's notebook!
I was sure that Gus was going to kill Victor because the minute Mike asked Gus' lieutenant if people had seen him on the crime scene, his fate was sealed. But having Victor start to cook in front of Walt and Jesse, since he knew every steps, was still a great twist because to our "heroes" ' eyes it meant that killing Gale, not only was a horrible thing to do but also, and above all, that it might have been done for nothing and that it might be injustified!
But as expected Gus Fring, finally showing up after a while, made the most of his audience. Gus didn't seem to want his hands dirty before but it didn't mean he wasn't capable of killing himself (although Mike did look surprised and even turn his gun on Gus, hummm...)and he proved it...but he wouldn't get his clothes dirty so he changed before and after slicing Victor's throat! Did Chicken Man use to live in a farm in his youth? It was a hell of a moment, given than Gus was silent the whole time.
Gus is a calculating man and his brutal kill was a show he put on, as much as a way to get rid of a liability (and as Gale knew, Gus wants the best, Victor couldn't cook like Walt and Jesse). It was nothing like Tuco beating to death his own smugly lieutenant in front of the same Jesse and Walt at the end of season 1. Gus is just as dangerous as Tuco was, but he is way smarter.
As for the b-plots, I have to say that I like Marie more and more with the passing of seasons and I adore Hank. And now he's into crystal too, collecting minerals!!! Hank's final scene was simply devastating.
And Jesse, oh Jesse. Aaron Paul didn't talk for 40 minutes; first still shocked and crying after taking a life, than almost catatonic in his car, and eventually just silent and blank in the lab. And then Gus butchering Victor seemed to be a wake-up call, and the way Jesse drank the scene in and looked Gus right in the eyes gave me the chill. It was a killer acknowledging another killer. A sort of bonding moment*.
Of course there aren't the same, Jesse killed with a trembling hand and tears in his eyes, out of love and to protect his Mr White, while Gus killed to protect his business and to scare the shit out of Walt and Jesse and send a message to them, with a steady hand and without even blinking! Yet Jesse seems to think otherwise.
Jesse's behaviour at the dinner confirmed that he seemed to have changed and have been enlightened...unlike Walt who's still quite delusional (to the point of blaming Gus for Gale's death!) and unchanged -- the constant shift between the two of them is fascinating -- but it also tells me that Jesse's system of defence is now that he doesn't care which is a step further than his guilt-filled "I'm the bad guy" from season 3. Unless it's even worse and he found his calling. Anyway he lost his innocence indeed, for Walt, and although Walt seems concerned about Jesse in the dinner scene, he just can't see what he has done. Those characters are really destroying themselves while destroying each others. In a way, by making Jesse kill Gale, Walt threw him into the devil's arms. I just hope that Gus won't lure Jesse even more into the darkness, taking Walt's place, and use him against Walt. It could be Gus' strategy and Jesse is damaged enough to play along. Besides I guess it's just a matter of time before he must "kill the father". But I don't want it to happen, I don't want my boys to split; no matter how toxic Walt is to Jesse (and choosing Gus would be going from bad to worse) he loved him enough to screw things up with Gus in "Half-Measures", and I think he has reached the point to which he would die to protect his meth son.
Bryan Cranston was extraordinary in the episode, just sitting in a chair (although I also loved his final scene in the street and the way he held his new pants!) in the lab, waiting for something to happen. He managed to convey all the facets of Walter White's personality during that long wait.
We've got badass Heisenberg at first (and there's something cold and heartless in Walt's speech about Gale), bully teacher (using his chemical knowledge to dismiss Victor's skills) and I loved how Bryan showed the changes in Walt's mind just with facial expressions and the look in his eyes -- when first seeing Jesse and probably thinking they are screwed and then realising that Jesse did get the job done and killed Gale (something that Mike was surpised about too!) so they have leverage after all --, but quickly the false bravura crackles and all we can see is a petty clown (for example when he says that Victor is going to forget the aluminum but is proven wrong) and eventually a panicking and babbling Mr White trying to get himself (and Jesse, to be fair) out of being killed by Gus. And he ends up quite shaken by Gus' slashing Victor's throat.
The show managed to provide striking shots with the most gruesome stuff, the blood running on the floor at Walt's feet (something that his red new shoes seems to echo later) or the two blood flows on the red floor, red on red, were stricking shots. It doesn't forget humour though, hence the neat and gagesque cut from mop swabbing down blood on the floor to a guy running a French fry through ketchup on his plate!
Also, I loved all the callbacks to previous seasons in the episode, like Skyler following Walt's steps and thus finding the teddy bear's eye, or checking Walt's white underwear (the season 1 guest-star!) and of course I loved the wink at the Emilio situation from season 1, when Walt and Jesse disposes of Victor's body using plastic barrel and hydrofluoric ("Trust us"!).
So obviously Skyler has begun to break bad herself, lying through her teeth and using Holly as a prop to convince a locksmith to let her in Walt's condo, but her act was also reminiscent of her pretending to be in labour when she almost got arrested in season 1 because of Marie's shoplifting. Her using her crying baby to get her ways also reminded me of Walt's using Jesse...
Now I'm going to rewatch the episode again!
*ETA: Maybe it wasn't a bonding moment but a challenging one! Walt couldn't look at Gus but Jesse sort stood up and stared back at Gus as if he were taking up. He was full of fury and hatred. hungryhippo said it very well : 'He simply *is* the bad guy now. When Gus tries to stare him down, Jesse was like, "You wanna play, I'm ready to play...bitch."' However I also think now that there might be a mirror kind of thing at play with the two victims, and it's possible that just like Walt won't be replaced by Gale because he is dead, Jesse will take Victor's place now that he has been murdered.