The Rise and Fall of King Heisenberg
Breaking Bad is now halfway through its penultimate season. I am not ready for the end.
Last season had a somewhat sedate first half (well, relatively speaking) before unleashing a second half so intense it possibly took years off my life. The first half of this season has been as creepy and unnerving as I expected. For the second half, I'm worried and full of dread. I'm full of dread about the inevitable bloodbath, because OMG YOU CAN'T TOUCH MY FAVES THEY ARE MY FAVES. And I'm also worried because the show's gotten so much love and hype and is under so much scrutiny, how will it ever measure up?
But for now I trust Vince Gilligan. I mean, he's like a twitchy-eyed doctor coming at me with a huge gleaming bonesaw and a toothy grin, but he's the best in the business, right? RIGHT? (No, seriously, he is. I could read/watch his interviews about showrunning and writing for hours.)
So who are my faves?
- Skyler. I have been worried about her, and now that she's made it clear to Walt that she's his enemy I'm even more worried about her. She was not always my favorite -- on my first watch of the show I found her passive aggressive tendencies difficult to swallow, and she only became interesting to me when she forced Walt into confessing and then helped him with the money laundering. On my second watch, I empathized with her so much more. She's a smart woman who could tell her husband of 15+ years was not only shutting her out but also lying to her. And when confronting him directly and assertively didn't work, she felt trapped and resorted to desperate self-destructive actions like smoking while pregnant and fucking Ted (both actions I hated the first time around but understood the second time around).
But she's clearly the only one who truly cares about the family -- for all Walt's "I do this for my family" bullshit, he doesn't actually give a fuck about her or Walter Jr (or Holly) as people. They're just chess pieces he thinks he can manipulate. I've been yelling at my TV the past four episodes for Skyler to GET OUT of that house and away from Walt somehow, but what that chilling confrontation in their bedroom revealed is that she doesn't just feel trapped by her fear of him, she also feels trapped by her own guilt and complicity. I hope she gets over this belief that she's powerless against Walt but hearing her admit, in the face of his menacing and nasty superiority and in the middle of all that claustrophobic camera swirling, that she has no escape plan was damn good drama. And her defiance in telling him that she's just waiting for the cancer to come back and kill him (plus chain-smoking in front of him later)? That was DAMN good drama.
(And yet at the end of that bedroom confrontation, with the last shot before commercial of Walt's shocked and hurt face, even after everything Walt's done -- and let's be clear, he was a dick even before he was Heisenberg -- Bryan Cranston is such a master that I still felt sorry for him! Ugh, give this man all the Emmys from now until they stop giving out Emmys.)
- Jesse. What even can I say? I love this kid and his good heart and his guilt and the fact that he's always moving up the learning curve and fulfilling some previously untapped potential: cooking 96% pure meth, managing Badger and Skinny Pete (btw that keyboard scene omg!!!), handling police interrogations like a boss, being one of Mike's guys (and clearly it takes a lot to be one of Mike's guys).
But his entire relationship with Walt is now based almost entirely on lies: Walt's lie of omission about Jane and his flat-out lie about Brock. And Walt is so deluded that he actually tells Skyler that Jesse "changed his mind" about him -- as if it's legit evidence Walt's actually okay in Jesse's book, when he knows full well that change of mind was based on LIES. For so much of the show all I've wanted for Jesse is to have Walt give him that nurturing father figure love which Jesse needs and craves from someone, anyone. Now Jesse thinks he's getting it. Now I just want him to take Walt down.
- Hank. Ugh. Hank is such good police. His manly man posturing is appalling in its desperation and meanness, and he was a beast to Marie last season, but he's so fucking good at his job and such an instinctual survivor that I just want everything for him. And I want him to take Walt down. I don't know how he and Jesse can get over their mutual hatred (or how Hank will get over the gut punch revelation that Walt = Heisenberg) but that just has to be a joint task force.
- Mike. I don't think things are going to end well for Mike. He's taking half measures when he should be taking full measures. But I've been enjoying the more in-depth look at his life and the work he does this season.
(I was bitching to my husband early in the episode about Lydia, and why the new female character has to be so awful and weak and unable to maintain her cool. Ahaha at Vince Mike calling his mercy sexist because actually, she's sucky no matter what her gender. Still, though. Still.)
TL;DR = give them ALL the awards!
*
I also recently got kind of a giggling crush on Teen Wolf, which just gets better and better, and a really big "Please will you take me to the prom???" crush on Avatar: The Last Airbender. I still think Legend of Korra is very pretty but I don't see us going steady until she works on her relationship skills (literally, actually). More detailed posts later maybe.
This post has
comments at its original location at http://hesychasm.dreamwidth.org/252992.html. Please comment there or here.
Last season had a somewhat sedate first half (well, relatively speaking) before unleashing a second half so intense it possibly took years off my life. The first half of this season has been as creepy and unnerving as I expected. For the second half, I'm worried and full of dread. I'm full of dread about the inevitable bloodbath, because OMG YOU CAN'T TOUCH MY FAVES THEY ARE MY FAVES. And I'm also worried because the show's gotten so much love and hype and is under so much scrutiny, how will it ever measure up?
But for now I trust Vince Gilligan. I mean, he's like a twitchy-eyed doctor coming at me with a huge gleaming bonesaw and a toothy grin, but he's the best in the business, right? RIGHT? (No, seriously, he is. I could read/watch his interviews about showrunning and writing for hours.)
So who are my faves?
- Skyler. I have been worried about her, and now that she's made it clear to Walt that she's his enemy I'm even more worried about her. She was not always my favorite -- on my first watch of the show I found her passive aggressive tendencies difficult to swallow, and she only became interesting to me when she forced Walt into confessing and then helped him with the money laundering. On my second watch, I empathized with her so much more. She's a smart woman who could tell her husband of 15+ years was not only shutting her out but also lying to her. And when confronting him directly and assertively didn't work, she felt trapped and resorted to desperate self-destructive actions like smoking while pregnant and fucking Ted (both actions I hated the first time around but understood the second time around).
But she's clearly the only one who truly cares about the family -- for all Walt's "I do this for my family" bullshit, he doesn't actually give a fuck about her or Walter Jr (or Holly) as people. They're just chess pieces he thinks he can manipulate. I've been yelling at my TV the past four episodes for Skyler to GET OUT of that house and away from Walt somehow, but what that chilling confrontation in their bedroom revealed is that she doesn't just feel trapped by her fear of him, she also feels trapped by her own guilt and complicity. I hope she gets over this belief that she's powerless against Walt but hearing her admit, in the face of his menacing and nasty superiority and in the middle of all that claustrophobic camera swirling, that she has no escape plan was damn good drama. And her defiance in telling him that she's just waiting for the cancer to come back and kill him (plus chain-smoking in front of him later)? That was DAMN good drama.
(And yet at the end of that bedroom confrontation, with the last shot before commercial of Walt's shocked and hurt face, even after everything Walt's done -- and let's be clear, he was a dick even before he was Heisenberg -- Bryan Cranston is such a master that I still felt sorry for him! Ugh, give this man all the Emmys from now until they stop giving out Emmys.)
- Jesse. What even can I say? I love this kid and his good heart and his guilt and the fact that he's always moving up the learning curve and fulfilling some previously untapped potential: cooking 96% pure meth, managing Badger and Skinny Pete (btw that keyboard scene omg!!!), handling police interrogations like a boss, being one of Mike's guys (and clearly it takes a lot to be one of Mike's guys).
But his entire relationship with Walt is now based almost entirely on lies: Walt's lie of omission about Jane and his flat-out lie about Brock. And Walt is so deluded that he actually tells Skyler that Jesse "changed his mind" about him -- as if it's legit evidence Walt's actually okay in Jesse's book, when he knows full well that change of mind was based on LIES. For so much of the show all I've wanted for Jesse is to have Walt give him that nurturing father figure love which Jesse needs and craves from someone, anyone. Now Jesse thinks he's getting it. Now I just want him to take Walt down.
- Hank. Ugh. Hank is such good police. His manly man posturing is appalling in its desperation and meanness, and he was a beast to Marie last season, but he's so fucking good at his job and such an instinctual survivor that I just want everything for him. And I want him to take Walt down. I don't know how he and Jesse can get over their mutual hatred (or how Hank will get over the gut punch revelation that Walt = Heisenberg) but that just has to be a joint task force.
- Mike. I don't think things are going to end well for Mike. He's taking half measures when he should be taking full measures. But I've been enjoying the more in-depth look at his life and the work he does this season.
(I was bitching to my husband early in the episode about Lydia, and why the new female character has to be so awful and weak and unable to maintain her cool. Ahaha at Vince Mike calling his mercy sexist because actually, she's sucky no matter what her gender. Still, though. Still.)
TL;DR = give them ALL the awards!
*
I also recently got kind of a giggling crush on Teen Wolf, which just gets better and better, and a really big "Please will you take me to the prom???" crush on Avatar: The Last Airbender. I still think Legend of Korra is very pretty but I don't see us going steady until she works on her relationship skills (literally, actually). More detailed posts later maybe.
This post has
comments at its original location at http://hesychasm.dreamwidth.org/252992.html. Please comment there or here.