BrBa season 5 "Live Free Or Die"
There so much to say about that first episode! But that's the reason I love Breaking Bad so much(well, one of the reasons): it always provides food for thoughts, matter to analyse and synthesize (chemistry pun intended).
"Live Free Or Die" had a whiff of grand finale but managed to set things for the season while resuming the old BrBa formula.
Apparently, the title was taken from New Hampshire's motto but it also echoed something Walt said in season 4 to a fellow cancer-man, i.e that one had to live on one's terms.
The cold open, pure BrBa style, was terrific, calling back to the beginning of the series, showing lingering traces of old Mr White and yet pointing out how things have changed.
Walt using his bacon to form a 52 was a nice touch. It was a call back to the pilot when Skyler made a 50 in his eggs, and a way to tell us that the scene was a flashforward, one year ahead, since Walt hasn't turned 51 yet. By the way the "previously in Breaking Bad" reminded us that it's only been one year since Walt learnt about having lung cancer.
Also Walt was coughing and taking meds so it's likely that the cancer is back, something that season 4 hinted at. He also has grown his hair back, a return to the pre-Heisenberg era, and he mentioned a good science museum to the waitress, as a way to remind us that once Mr White was a science teacher.
So there was a "back to the beginning" feel in that opening scene. Walter looked depressed and powerless again. A sort of "decay" phase to borrow his own words about the cycle of changes that chemistry study.
But this Walter was not the Mr White we first met in the pilot. First off, he had fake ID and was a much better liar. He didn't flinch when the waitress asked questions about New Hampshire and gave her the right drive time as if he really was from New Hampshire. And this Walter bought a war gun! So he still had enough money to make the deal. It was nice to see Jim Beaver again. This time the gun-dealer didn't question Walt's goal, just wish him "good luck". In other words, future Walt seems to be in dire straits and desperate enough to need a machine gun. The finale will be explosive.
Of course we still don't know what Walter wants to do with the machine gun or whom he is at war with. There are still many possibilities. He lost "his empire" and wants to take it back from a new foe, or he's in vengeful mode, ready to take his enemies down before cancer kills him - and the enemies could be either bad guys or the DEA -, or he is ready take enormous risks to save someone he loves.
The only thing we know is that one year ahead, things don't look very good for Walter, something that Mike prophesied in the episode, saying that he doesn't want to be there when it blows up.
By the way Mike had the best lines in the episode!
The episode's greatness of course is to juxtapose the flashforward with triumphant Walter. Two phases at once. After manipulating Jesse and beating Gus, Walter is simply drunk with power...and overconfident. Even raising his glass to his own reflection in the mirror, self-toasting! This scene is significant. After hearing Junior praise uncle Hank the Hero as usual, and after getting the silent treatment from a wife who says that she's scared of him instead of throwing herself in the arms of the victor/saviour, he is left in the room by himself, alone with that monstruous ego of his.
Long gone the man who punched his own reflection after hearing that he was in remission, long gone the man who was saying he had lived too long and wondering which best moment to die would have been. Now Walt is very pleased with himself, basking in victory, enjoying the power. Walter's hubris is unleashed.
He did win a battle, but the true war is against the DEA, against Hank. The scene with Walter Junior is therefore super meaningful, revealing who the true foe is. Of course the scene is reminiscent of the pilot again, when Junior was in awe in front of bragging Hank which made Walter feel like a loser. But things have changed, now Walter thinks he is a winner. So far Walt has not wanted Hank dead, even though he was willing to hurt him (the phone call saying that Marie had been in a car accident), but Walt has become ruthless since the swimming pool scene when the battle against Hank took place through Junior drinking shots of tequila. Back then a much softer Walter was ready to use the innocent to win his battles, to the point of having his kid be sick and throw up in the pool, which kinda foreshadowed his poisoning Brock and hurting Jesse in the process...
The parallels between Jesse and Junior have been there since day one but they are more and more obvious now. As waltzmatildah wrote in an essay, "Jesse is the son Walt wishes he had. No, that’s not quite right. Jesse exhibits a slew of characteristics that Walt craves; that he covets above almost all else. Adulation, belief, trust, admiration, reliance [I’m sure I’m missing some!]. No matter WHAT Walt does in general/does to Jesse specifically, Jesse repeatedly puts all this faith in Walt. Jesse admires his intellect. Jesse [albeit naively] trusts him to save the day, to save HIM. And the relationship is reciprocated in [**perceived] kind because, without Walt, who else does Jesse have right now? ".
Last season, Jesse was at stake between Walter and his enemy, Gus Fring. This season we're immediately reminded that Hank is the hero that Walter cannot be for Junior. Walter got rid of Gus for various reasons, mostly personal: Gus was dangerous and plotting to get rid of Walter as meth chief, Gus was stealing Jesse, Gus even forbade him to have any more contacts with Jesse and threatened Walter's family...and Gus had turned into a boss that made Walter feel powerless, taking him back to the place he was when Mr Highbrow was giving him orders and students were mocking him. Gus had to go.
Now the main threat must come from the police. Walter thinks he has everything under control but the viewers know better. The laptop/magnet plot served to build a light episode that resumed the formula of season 1 and 2 when Walt and Jesse had to find a way out of impossible situations, but it also served to prove that Walt is digging his own grave. By using the super magnet to destroy the laptop, our boys unveiled a piece of evidence that the police might have not found without them (suspension of disbelief is necessary here), a bank account that could lead to them. "Follow the money" as they use to say in The Wire!
There's always a respirator forgotten in the desert, and our resident DEA cop is good at following trail.
Be careful Hank!
By the way I loved the visuals of Hank, Steve Gomez and the forensic guys exploring the remains of the superlab. It looks like they were astronauts walking on another planet. It also reminded me of a beautiful shot from my favourite Spike Lee's joint, The 25th Hour, in which we see cleaning guys on ground zero at night.
A word about Jesse who has gone from a long way since his hilarious "a robot?". It was nice to have him come up with the idea of magnets, and even nicer to hear "Yeah magnets BITCH!". Our "Yeah science!" boy is still there. And the way he jumped in front of his Mr White to shield him from Mike's firing fury! Oh Jesse stop breaking my heart.
Even a tough badass like Mike can't help feeling affection for Jesse. The way he said "Oh Jesse" conveyed so much. The boy has grown on him and he's sorry to see him back under Walter's spell. I believe that Mike stayed with them partly because his own ass was on the line, partly because he wants to save Jesse from the sinking ship that he knows Walter White to be. I don't know maybe it's the name "Jesse" that convoke such sweetness from mature men when they pronounce it. Walter voiced very touching "Jesse" in the past too.
Mike is useful to Walter now but might be killed off this season if he comes too much between Walt and HIS boy.
Me I'd rather have the writers kill Mike instead of Hank. Hank is not perfect, he's got flaws and moments of weakness - hence his beating Jesse to a pulp or his behaving like an asshole towards Marie last season - but he's a good guy and man enough to say, in that poignant scene from season 3, "I am not the man I thought I was". Something Walt would never say.
Yes Mike and the chickens was a cute scene, and Mike is a charismatic character with cool lines, but he's a professional enforcer, a man who kills in cold blood, just following the orders, taking life for money, because he is paid to do the dirty job. He loves his granddaughter, likes Jesse and expressed a certain sense of fairness when feeding chickens (Mike obviously has a soft spot when it comes to vulnerable beings!), which humanized him, but when you think of his line of work he is hardly better than the Cousins.
I can see Walter arranging Mike's death in the future, to keep Jesse ofr himself, a bit like Mags Bennet got rid of Loretta's father in Justified...and it would echo the scene when Walt let Jane died.
He is not there yet, though. You can tell everything about Walter White, so far he has never killed anyone - or have anyone be killed - in cold blood. Every time Walter caused a death, he was in panic mode, fearing for either his life or Jesse's or Hank's. He endangered innocent people and let Jane die, but every time he decided to kill it was a desperate move when facing lethal danger.
having said that, empowered Walter White is in Heisenberg mode now, intimidating Saul and embracing a all-knowing and omnipotent persona ("because I say so...), enjoying the power it gives him over the others, so he might become a cold blooded killer pretty soon. His last words in the episode were truly scary; he is turning into Michael Corleone!
"I forgive You" was the most chilling line Walter ever had, and just so Godfather-like. Three words, the perfect counterpoint to Skyler's moment of victory in season 3 at the end of "I.F.T". Well, Ted was fucked for sure, but so is Skyler now.
Now Walter seems to believe that he has the right to forgive or not, that he holds the right of reprieve and the right to punish. Hail the king, indeed!
Speaking of Mrs White, Skyler broke bad when she became Walter's accomplice and she's now in his late season 1 shoes. The scene at the hospital shows it well. When seeing what's left of Ted Beneke she is simply horrified, but when he said that he didn't tell anything to anyone and when she realised that he's scared and begging her, she puts the mask on and plays the part, and her "good" is the equivalent of Heisenberg's hat and sunglasses. Anna Gun was excellet in that scene.
That's all I have for now, but I'm going to re-watch the episode!
ETA: There might be a Walter White in every teacher...I suddenly realised that I may have said "because I say so" or "we are done when I say we are done" to my students. Actually I'm sure I did. It happened twice or three times in 16 years of teaching but still...
"Live Free Or Die" had a whiff of grand finale but managed to set things for the season while resuming the old BrBa formula.
Apparently, the title was taken from New Hampshire's motto but it also echoed something Walt said in season 4 to a fellow cancer-man, i.e that one had to live on one's terms.
The cold open, pure BrBa style, was terrific, calling back to the beginning of the series, showing lingering traces of old Mr White and yet pointing out how things have changed.
Walt using his bacon to form a 52 was a nice touch. It was a call back to the pilot when Skyler made a 50 in his eggs, and a way to tell us that the scene was a flashforward, one year ahead, since Walt hasn't turned 51 yet. By the way the "previously in Breaking Bad" reminded us that it's only been one year since Walt learnt about having lung cancer.
Also Walt was coughing and taking meds so it's likely that the cancer is back, something that season 4 hinted at. He also has grown his hair back, a return to the pre-Heisenberg era, and he mentioned a good science museum to the waitress, as a way to remind us that once Mr White was a science teacher.
So there was a "back to the beginning" feel in that opening scene. Walter looked depressed and powerless again. A sort of "decay" phase to borrow his own words about the cycle of changes that chemistry study.
But this Walter was not the Mr White we first met in the pilot. First off, he had fake ID and was a much better liar. He didn't flinch when the waitress asked questions about New Hampshire and gave her the right drive time as if he really was from New Hampshire. And this Walter bought a war gun! So he still had enough money to make the deal. It was nice to see Jim Beaver again. This time the gun-dealer didn't question Walt's goal, just wish him "good luck". In other words, future Walt seems to be in dire straits and desperate enough to need a machine gun. The finale will be explosive.
Of course we still don't know what Walter wants to do with the machine gun or whom he is at war with. There are still many possibilities. He lost "his empire" and wants to take it back from a new foe, or he's in vengeful mode, ready to take his enemies down before cancer kills him - and the enemies could be either bad guys or the DEA -, or he is ready take enormous risks to save someone he loves.
The only thing we know is that one year ahead, things don't look very good for Walter, something that Mike prophesied in the episode, saying that he doesn't want to be there when it blows up.
By the way Mike had the best lines in the episode!
The episode's greatness of course is to juxtapose the flashforward with triumphant Walter. Two phases at once. After manipulating Jesse and beating Gus, Walter is simply drunk with power...and overconfident. Even raising his glass to his own reflection in the mirror, self-toasting! This scene is significant. After hearing Junior praise uncle Hank the Hero as usual, and after getting the silent treatment from a wife who says that she's scared of him instead of throwing herself in the arms of the victor/saviour, he is left in the room by himself, alone with that monstruous ego of his.
Long gone the man who punched his own reflection after hearing that he was in remission, long gone the man who was saying he had lived too long and wondering which best moment to die would have been. Now Walt is very pleased with himself, basking in victory, enjoying the power. Walter's hubris is unleashed.
He did win a battle, but the true war is against the DEA, against Hank. The scene with Walter Junior is therefore super meaningful, revealing who the true foe is. Of course the scene is reminiscent of the pilot again, when Junior was in awe in front of bragging Hank which made Walter feel like a loser. But things have changed, now Walter thinks he is a winner. So far Walt has not wanted Hank dead, even though he was willing to hurt him (the phone call saying that Marie had been in a car accident), but Walt has become ruthless since the swimming pool scene when the battle against Hank took place through Junior drinking shots of tequila. Back then a much softer Walter was ready to use the innocent to win his battles, to the point of having his kid be sick and throw up in the pool, which kinda foreshadowed his poisoning Brock and hurting Jesse in the process...
The parallels between Jesse and Junior have been there since day one but they are more and more obvious now. As waltzmatildah wrote in an essay, "Jesse is the son Walt wishes he had. No, that’s not quite right. Jesse exhibits a slew of characteristics that Walt craves; that he covets above almost all else. Adulation, belief, trust, admiration, reliance [I’m sure I’m missing some!]. No matter WHAT Walt does in general/does to Jesse specifically, Jesse repeatedly puts all this faith in Walt. Jesse admires his intellect. Jesse [albeit naively] trusts him to save the day, to save HIM. And the relationship is reciprocated in [**perceived] kind because, without Walt, who else does Jesse have right now? ".
Last season, Jesse was at stake between Walter and his enemy, Gus Fring. This season we're immediately reminded that Hank is the hero that Walter cannot be for Junior. Walter got rid of Gus for various reasons, mostly personal: Gus was dangerous and plotting to get rid of Walter as meth chief, Gus was stealing Jesse, Gus even forbade him to have any more contacts with Jesse and threatened Walter's family...and Gus had turned into a boss that made Walter feel powerless, taking him back to the place he was when Mr Highbrow was giving him orders and students were mocking him. Gus had to go.
Now the main threat must come from the police. Walter thinks he has everything under control but the viewers know better. The laptop/magnet plot served to build a light episode that resumed the formula of season 1 and 2 when Walt and Jesse had to find a way out of impossible situations, but it also served to prove that Walt is digging his own grave. By using the super magnet to destroy the laptop, our boys unveiled a piece of evidence that the police might have not found without them (suspension of disbelief is necessary here), a bank account that could lead to them. "Follow the money" as they use to say in The Wire!
There's always a respirator forgotten in the desert, and our resident DEA cop is good at following trail.
Be careful Hank!
By the way I loved the visuals of Hank, Steve Gomez and the forensic guys exploring the remains of the superlab. It looks like they were astronauts walking on another planet. It also reminded me of a beautiful shot from my favourite Spike Lee's joint, The 25th Hour, in which we see cleaning guys on ground zero at night.
A word about Jesse who has gone from a long way since his hilarious "a robot?". It was nice to have him come up with the idea of magnets, and even nicer to hear "Yeah magnets BITCH!". Our "Yeah science!" boy is still there. And the way he jumped in front of his Mr White to shield him from Mike's firing fury! Oh Jesse stop breaking my heart.
Even a tough badass like Mike can't help feeling affection for Jesse. The way he said "Oh Jesse" conveyed so much. The boy has grown on him and he's sorry to see him back under Walter's spell. I believe that Mike stayed with them partly because his own ass was on the line, partly because he wants to save Jesse from the sinking ship that he knows Walter White to be. I don't know maybe it's the name "Jesse" that convoke such sweetness from mature men when they pronounce it. Walter voiced very touching "Jesse" in the past too.
Mike is useful to Walter now but might be killed off this season if he comes too much between Walt and HIS boy.
Me I'd rather have the writers kill Mike instead of Hank. Hank is not perfect, he's got flaws and moments of weakness - hence his beating Jesse to a pulp or his behaving like an asshole towards Marie last season - but he's a good guy and man enough to say, in that poignant scene from season 3, "I am not the man I thought I was". Something Walt would never say.
Yes Mike and the chickens was a cute scene, and Mike is a charismatic character with cool lines, but he's a professional enforcer, a man who kills in cold blood, just following the orders, taking life for money, because he is paid to do the dirty job. He loves his granddaughter, likes Jesse and expressed a certain sense of fairness when feeding chickens (Mike obviously has a soft spot when it comes to vulnerable beings!), which humanized him, but when you think of his line of work he is hardly better than the Cousins.
I can see Walter arranging Mike's death in the future, to keep Jesse ofr himself, a bit like Mags Bennet got rid of Loretta's father in Justified...and it would echo the scene when Walt let Jane died.
He is not there yet, though. You can tell everything about Walter White, so far he has never killed anyone - or have anyone be killed - in cold blood. Every time Walter caused a death, he was in panic mode, fearing for either his life or Jesse's or Hank's. He endangered innocent people and let Jane die, but every time he decided to kill it was a desperate move when facing lethal danger.
having said that, empowered Walter White is in Heisenberg mode now, intimidating Saul and embracing a all-knowing and omnipotent persona ("because I say so...), enjoying the power it gives him over the others, so he might become a cold blooded killer pretty soon. His last words in the episode were truly scary; he is turning into Michael Corleone!
"I forgive You" was the most chilling line Walter ever had, and just so Godfather-like. Three words, the perfect counterpoint to Skyler's moment of victory in season 3 at the end of "I.F.T". Well, Ted was fucked for sure, but so is Skyler now.
Now Walter seems to believe that he has the right to forgive or not, that he holds the right of reprieve and the right to punish. Hail the king, indeed!
Speaking of Mrs White, Skyler broke bad when she became Walter's accomplice and she's now in his late season 1 shoes. The scene at the hospital shows it well. When seeing what's left of Ted Beneke she is simply horrified, but when he said that he didn't tell anything to anyone and when she realised that he's scared and begging her, she puts the mask on and plays the part, and her "good" is the equivalent of Heisenberg's hat and sunglasses. Anna Gun was excellet in that scene.
That's all I have for now, but I'm going to re-watch the episode!
ETA: There might be a Walter White in every teacher...I suddenly realised that I may have said "because I say so" or "we are done when I say we are done" to my students. Actually I'm sure I did. It happened twice or three times in 16 years of teaching but still...