Monsters of Television

“Nobody even noticed.”

This show is forever being compared to Weeds by people who don’t know any better and, as I approach the middle of season 2, I’m starting to see that the show is slowly drifting toward trying to be the antipode of the goofy, almost slapstick nature of the Showtime series in every way. Like Walt keeping an actual job in conjunction with his drug trade (no matter how impossible it seems that he can maintain both) vs Nancy’s flighty and short-lived attempts at legitimacy. Or Walt having to contend with struggles inflicted upon him while Nancy usually deals with problems she gets herself into. Or Walt having no need for a comedy troupe to back him up, instead partnering with a character that could easily be a cheap stereotype but is nothing of the sort.

As Breaking Bad develops, it’s almost like the show is purposefully wrecking the comparison. As we sink deeper with Walt and Jesse, another comparison comes to mind: Spring in Requiem for a Dream. Just as Tyrone and Harry come up with the idea to distribute their own product, so do our hapless heroes here. And just with that movie, as things start to go well, we can only assume disaster and doom are sure to follow. I’m not saying that Badger is going to end up in a hotel room with an old man demanding “ass to ass.” But I’m also not saying that’s out of the question.

During lunch last week, Noel and I discussed how the build up to the mid-season was where the show finally recovered from the writers’ strike and started to really build where it wanted to go. Fittingly, this is where Jesse uses the phrase “the ground floor,” and it means so many things for this show at this point of the series. It’s a new beginning for them, a new direction. And, really, it’s all downhill from here. In a good way. Well, good for us. Bad for Spooge.

The Ground Floor is all about two things: Jesse getting the distribution business off the ground and the line between Walt and Heisenberg blurring more indistinguishable.

Since Walt’s first foray into criminal violence (the explosion at Tuco’s), there’s totally been a descent but the lies are starting to catch up with him, his domestic life further falls into shambles, and it’s getting harder to tell what his “real” life is. The aggressiveness he fetishizes in his meth-cooking life pours into relationship with his wife and he begins to implicate loved ones into a network of lies in order to maintain his identities. It’s quickly becoming apparent, however, that Walt is not going to survive Heisenberg. The pushover is fading fast, the id is a nurtured infection, and, really, how is he going to keep grading papers now that he’s back to cooking? He’s going to have to choose a lifestyle and the he’s outgrown being meek.

While Walt’s crazy descent into madness (or sanity depending on your perspective) is interesting, it’s Jesse stepping up into his role that’s more important to me here. Not only is it the beginning of an empire (I would assume) but you can see him escalate his personality to match the Heisenberg mastermind. He’s just as tired of being pushed around and disrespected. An entire episode is dedicated to Jesse suffering obstacle after obstacle, just a pathetic human being disrespected, spurned, and literally dipped in crap. He’s determined to climb up from rock bottom and they almost feed each other with their indignation.

But this is the ground floor, so there are problems, issues. Walt’s right in saying that Jesse is not Tuco and, when he has to deal with a methhead couple jacking one of his dealers (surprisingly, not Badger), you see that side of him, the one that’s not quire ready for the big time. Jesse isn’t a ruthless person despite his bravado and it takes someone that’s tapped into an irrational violence to maintain an empire. Walt is well on his way. Jesse still has a soft spot for children and is willing to give even the crackiest of people chances. I’m a guy that’s never thrown a punch at anyone and I wanted to pistol whip Spooge and his nasty wife about a dozen times.

The biggest crime, though, is that the red-headed kid didn’t get an Emmy nod for that performance. Of every character on the show, including the son with cerebral palsy, he may be the only one that’s completely sympathetic. At the very least, the one that’s not a jackass.

I may be able to include Hank on that list, too. Sure, he’s a total d-bag. But he’s good people and honestly wants to do right by everyone. He’s really good at his job and the only thing that’s keeping him from busting Walt right now is something similar to rose-tinted glasses, the fog created by assuming he knows everything about his brother-in-law. I don’t know if ignorance is the word I want to use but I would imagine, even for a skilled detective, suspecting your own family is pumping the streets full of smurf has to be something difficult and it’s at least slightly compelling to see Hank get closer as he deals with his crappy home life and the high-pressure rising star in his career.

The sisters continue to be the least interesting characters on the show. I’m hoping that changes soon. Or at least add a third woman to finish the Harpies allusion.

Other things:

• Throwing out the HOPE button might have been a litle too on the nose.
• Jesse practicing his lines for when he sees the crackiest couple alive: priceless.
• Does Skylar know that Gretchen and Walt used to have a thing? Is lying just something Walt has always done?
• Seriously, when does Walt have time to make lesson plans?
• The show does a really good job of establishing Walt’s bitterness about being pushed out of his company. Up until the last conversation with Gretchen that makes everything too obvious. But it establishes Walt’s growing aggression so we’ll let it slide.
• As important as it is, don’t you think the kid is a little too old for peek-a-boo?
• Awesome that Gretchen still maintains a semblance of Walt’s secrecy while excusing herself from the system of subterfuge. Well done, Susan.
• How did Chris Elliot not get the role of Spooge?
• Is Carmen hitting on Walt? Hit it and quit it, sir.