Monsters of Television

“Well? Get back to work.“

I did season one of Breaking Bad a while back, and then did seasons two and three over the course of June and just a bit of July so I would be all caught up in time for premiere.

How did you all wait an entire year for this show to come back? (“Meth” was a common answer. Oddly, no one took up chemistry or dressing entirely in purple.) I mean, I only had to wait two weeks for this episode, and while I kept my now very bad addiction to suspense fed by watching the Women’s World Cup, I still found myself jonesing (seeing Walt and Jesse on every other Web site I visited this month certainly didn’t help maters). I can only imagine what people who have been watching the show for longer than I have have been going through.

But it’s here now, so we can all exhale slowly. If only so we can suck all the air back in and hold our breath again.

“Box Cutter” would be a good enough introductory episode to Breaking Bad if I hadn’t just finished watching the series up to his point. Yes, the finer elements of the episode would have largely been lost in the shuffle, but the essence of the show is distilled here. It is, like Walt’s meth that Gale discusses in the cold open, very, very pure.

But maybe a little too pure. You can feel Vincent Gilligan pecking away at his keyboard at times, especially with two big and flashy speeches for Cranston and Skyler here. This isn’t that much of an issue for me as I’m someone who doesn’t mind feeling the writer in the show every now and then, but it was noticeable nonetheless.

But it is a minor quibble, really, in an episode as relatively strong as this one. While both speeches flashy little bits of acting, they’re both key bits for their respective characters (as is everyone else’s silence throughout the episode). Walter and Skyler, after all, don’t belong in this world, and so words, attempts at spoken discourse (even if shouted), are their first instinct to communicate with people with their words. So while Skyler continues to break bad by lying to a locksmith and using her own child as a pawn in that game, Walter delivers a now patented “I’m smarter than you, you need me, please don’t kill me” speech that rambles and wanders, trying to hit on something, anything to convince Gus not to kill him and Jesse.

And Cranston, at this point, knows what he’s doing with this kind of a speech, so it’s a pleasure to watch him monologue and occasionally respond to Victor without really missing a beat. I relish any time Walter is given the opportunity to become a very angry Mr. Chips (“Remind me, professor…”). His pride is threatened, his one last bit of self-worth is under siege as Victor not only shows he understands Walter’s method, but that he dismisses it as just a recipe.

But then there’s Gus. Deliberate, patient, methodical Gus. Giancarlo Esposito’s performance here is as much his ability to show absolute stoicism as it is editing and is juxtaposed against Cranston’s manic delivery. We linger on him undressing, sometimes out of focus, slowly, carefully, folding and hanging garments so that they don’t wrinkle. And the slow pace around the lab, search for a weapon. It’s tension building. What, you must wonder, is the man doing?

And then he slices Victor’s throat.

It solves a number of problems, mainly that Victor stepped into Gale’s apartment at the crime scene, and the neighbors all got a pretty good look at him. But it does, as Jesse makes clear to Walter, make sure that everyone is on the same page (“The one that says, if I can’t kill you, you’ll sure as shit wish you were dead.”) With the tension relieved, he’s allowed to dress and move quicker, and orders everyone back to work.

While the scene is great (it really is), it feels a smidge contrived in order to keep Walter and Jesse alive. Something had to happen due to Gale’s death, and you can’t kill either of the characters, and something had to be done from a narrative standpoint to move the plot along. But like being able to feel Gilligan’s touch a little more, it’s a minor quibble.

As a head’s up, Nick and I will be splitting the responsibilities for reviewing Breaking Bad. Given just how intensely intense the show can get, reviewing it on a week-in, week-out basis might drive one of us to doing meth just to keep calm. So you’ll get me one week and then Nick the next week. So I will see you all for episode three.

FINAL THOUGHTS

• The show continues its excellent use of the cold opens to shine light on previous events. And poor Gale, in a way responsible for his own death by prodding Gus to hire Walter, despite Gus’ misgivings.
• Mike’s bemused watching of Walter and Jesse struggle with Victor’s body was fun enough, but to top it off with his doubts about the acid bath followed by Jesse’s “Trust us.”? Great stuff.
• Oh, Saul. I really hope you don’t get out of the country. The show needs you. …I need you.
• Gus heading over to clean up at the lab safety station amused me to no end.
• Some Hank and Marie stuff happened. Marie was still dressed in purple. It made me sad to see Hank still depressed and bidding for minerals off of ebay. But the scene is needed to help keep the show from becoming to fantastic. This is a real couple, with a real problem, that’s only going to get worse.
• Intrigued about where Gale’s (awesomely cool) lab folder is going to take us.
• The Walking Dead preview thought: Reminded me a lot of Batman: The Animated Series, when Killer Croc is describing how he almost managed to kill Batman: “There I was, holed up in this quarry, when Batman came nosing around. He was getting closer.” “And?” “I threw a rock at him!” […] “It was a big rock.”