Summer (Re)watch: Breaking Bad seasons 1-4

NOTE: If you haven’t watched up to season 4, episode 13 of Breaking Bad, avert your eyes NOW. This post WILL spoil you. And believe me, you don’t want to be spoiled.

Earlier this summer, we ran a tournament for which series I should watch for the first time this summer. Breaking Bad didn’t even make it into the final round. And boy, what a huge mistake that was. After much demanding that I do watch the series and after Heba, NWN editor, even watched the first season, I figured I’d press play on season one, episode one of AMC’s Breaking Bad.

Thank whatever upper power I did because it might quite honestly be television’s best series. It’s actually mind boggling how this show has not received an Emmy for series by now. And I’ve watched two seasons of Mad Men, so believe me when I say, there are at least two shows better than that one on the same network. I don’t mean to make comparisons, but it’s almost inevitable. But whatever, I’ve already discredited myself as a television anything when I said this in a Buffy recap (which, by the way, was the series that won out).

To tell you the truth, when I first saw that Breaking Bad had been added to Netflix, I clicked play almost instantly. I had been hearing about how absolutely amazing the series was. I saw thirty seconds: Walt falling down into a pit within an RV and finally walking out after a thunderous crash in his underwear.

“Too intense right now!” I said to myself while I clicked stop. I figured I just didn’t have the mindset to devote undivided attention like I knew the series deserved back then. But after watching the nth Mad Men episode this summer feeling almost cheated, I said to hell with it and clicked play once more.

If I had just waited 30 more seconds that first time as Walt stretches a gun at arms length to the sound of incoming sirens down the road: I could have known the greatness of Breaking Bad much sooner. No use crying over it now, however.

Bryan Cranston, who was absolutely fantastic in Malcolm in the Middle, is at it once again as a middle class family man — except this role is obviously quite different. He stars as high school science teacher Walter White who is diagnosed with lung cancer and decides to begin cooking meth in order to raise money for his treatment and his family once he passes together with ex-student Jesse Pinkman. Insanity ensues, as well as some of television’s finest moments.

In four seasons, Breaking Bad wrestles with the lengths any person would be willing to go and what they’d be willing to sacrifice for the sake of his or her family. It explores the absolute darkest depths of a person’s being and displays beautifully the consequences to every, single person’s actions — whether it be physical or psychological (Marie’s shoplifting, anyone?). And it does it all while actually being entertaining (maybe even cartoonish at times, which can be a downside) and smart while never once insulting the viewers’ intelligence.

More so, it grips you and pulls you into every which direction. Who are we rooting for? Who is right? Soon enough, it’s apparent that everyone’s got their own set of motives and whether or not they’re legal or morally correct somewhat becomes irrelevant.

Without further adieu, I am going to try to pick out select everything from the entire series. Keep in mind that there are so many things to talk about that I can’t get to them all. So if you’re wondering why I didn’t list something, it’s probably because I love it anyway.

Best ofs and favorites

Best season: Season 3

Since I watched the entire series sort of in one shot, it’s hard to distinguish really which season was which. The storyline is quite heavily serialized, so it never really feels like there is ever a break in between seasons. What I’m trying to say is that all of Breaking Bad is fantastic. (Though, it does take until around the finale of season one to get “I need to watch the next one NOW” kind of hooked.)

But I can say for a fact that season three was perhaps Breaking Bad at its finest. When you begin a season with something so completely unafraid and equally stupid as burning money: it’s going to be a good season.

Season 2 ended with Jesse spiraling down into a junkie wasteland since his girlfriend died from choking on her own vomit after a heroin trip. And, yes, that was insanely dark. But the bigger drive leading into season three was Skyler piecing together that Walt was a lying, dangerous, drug dealer. The tension it gave to the family dynamics coupled with Jesse having lived through a death, gotten clean, and finally having to actually cross paths with darkness yet again by season’s end was heartbreaking and intense.

And that’s not even the half of it. On the other side of things, (also in season 2) we’re introduced to Gustavo Fring, who becomes Walt (and Jesse’s) new boss. But he’s not the main concern in season 3: it’s The Moncada Cousins who are out for Walt’s blood, since they figure he’s at fault for their cousin’s death. “La sangre se paga con sangre,” as they say. The Cousins have probably been name-called as incredibly cheesy and cartoonish, and I can understand that seeing as they’re sort of cookie cutter villains, but they along with Gus are the reason for the series’ best episode. How can you not be okay with them for that at least?

And finally, Hank, Walt’s brother in law, is getting ever so close to piecing together who is running a huge underground meth organization.

Needless to say, the tension and dynamic never felt more rigorously entertaining and absolutely exhausting as it did in season 3. Season 4 gets to that place, but mostly is just tiresome until episode ten. Season 3 was a nonstop intense sensation right up to the gunshot. And the performances, coupled with great writing, absolutely excelled in season 3.

Best episode: Season 3, Episode 7 “One Minute”

Without a shadow of a doubt, the absolute best episode of the series is “One Minute,” so much so it breaks my heart that not everyone was written in because then we could have seen every actor at their finest hour.

After Hank tries to nail Jesse and his RV, he gets a call from the “hospital” saying his wife was in an awful car crash. “One Minute” opens with Hank arriving at Jesse’s home and beating him to a pulp for having somehow called him and using his wife as a pawn in that way. What follows is Jesse and Walt, who seemed content with cutting ties with Jesse beforehand, on the outs and the end of Hank’s career very much in reach. To get Hank’s career back on track, Walt must somehow convince Jesse to not press charges. He does so by asking him to be his partner again — “fifty, fifty.”

The very scene demonstrates everything that is wrong and just oh so right with Walt and Jesse’s relationship. It, arguably, is the climactic moment in which their partnership takes a sudden shift — and after “One Minute,” nothing is truly ever the same with them again. It’s the installment in which Jesse sort of finally realizes that his entire world has gone to, well, shit ever since Walt entered the picture, as he’s had enough of Walt putting him down at every chance he gets. “One Minute” is the tipping point.

The boys decide to be total partners, and they interact very much that way for the entire series (as in they always look out for one another) and they were almost comrades several episodes after “One Minute” (at their best), but it’s definitely the foundation of what’s wrong with their partnership. Walt is an overtly proud almost-narcissist and Jesse is eager with potential, never being allowed to experience validation from the one person he seems to crave it the most.

This never changes. And by the season four finale, we find even less reasons to root for Walt.

By the way, that’s not even the best part of the episode — which of course is the events that led to an explosive ending. Suffering from anxiety for always hitting a brick wall, Hank has fixated all of his efforts on finding blue sky but doesn’t know that The Cousins are now out for him…until he gets a one-minute notice call. Just a few moments later, there’s blood spread across an entire parking lot.

Honorable mention: Season 3, episode 10 “Fly” is also another best episode. It’s just Cranston and Paul in one room for about fifty minutes, but they play off each other so well, and there are so many intricacies to their relationship at this point that it’s just fantastic. Plus, the writing for how Walt reasons what went wrong in his life was unparalleled.

Best perofrmances

How can we even list these without mentioning everything!? I’ll try. Seriously.

Bryan Cranston: Okay, seriously, we might have to name the entire series here. Cranston delivers maniacal and desperation and wields them both down to perfection almost every time. At points in the beginning of the season, I almost felt as though I were suffocation during some of his scenes. The first I would probably have to list is when Walt lets Jesse’s girlfriend Jane die in bed in season 2, episode 11 “Mandala.” It was almost like a regrettable evil and downright disturbing, all painted on Cranston’s face. It’s completely different from my other pick which is season 3, episode 2 “Caballo Sin Nombre.” In this episode, Walt is reacting towards the news that Skyler wants a divorce and doesn’t want him near their children. After being a homebody for some time, he gets a voicemail from Skyler saying she’ll put a restraining order against him. “Restrain this!” he blurts out. And of course there are a million and two more — including him pleading for his life in the season three finale, his many talks with his son, having to kill a man in season one, and so on and so on and so on — but these were just a few that stood out to me.

Aaron Paul: The beginning and ending of season four (hell maybe ALL of season 4) seriously allowed Aaron Paul to shine, so much so after having watched it, and Giancarlo Esposito as well, my choice still goes to Paul to win the Emmy. (I’ll talk a bit about Gus in a bit.) However, in season 3, episode 7 “One Minute,” Jesse has a 90 second monologue about ruining Hank’s life after the beating and it’s definitely Paul’s best moment up to then. Of course, Paul’s comedic timing and portrayal of a drug dealer who’s all about the streets are unparalleled, but in this moment, he spoke with such conviction and demanded the entire screen. It still takes my breath away on rewatch.

Anna Gunn: It’s tough — Skyler’s monologue in the season two finale or her reaction towards perhaps having to uproot her entire family in an instant or having “to protect this family from the man who protects this family.” But I’m going with uprooting the family. In season 4, episode 11 “Crawl Space,” Walt figures that Gus is going to kill his entire family and offscreen leaves a voicemail for Skyler, to which she is almost panicked, making me feel like there was just no light at the end of the tunnel. Great job! I also love when she decides to leave with her daughter after Walt tells her “I’m the guy who knocks.”

Dean Norris: Once again, in season 3, episode 7 “One Minute,” Norris’s Hank is left to deal with the consequences of his actions. He has a conversation with his wife Marie about how he’s been “unraveling” and that this was sort of just the last straw. It’s the first moment of when usually-chipper Hank breaks through and opens up, acted in beautiful restraint. (Also, Norris has his portrayal of happy-go-lucky Hank down to a science.) I also love the way it was shot, with him out of focus as if it were even an afterthought. A wonderfully silent scene.

Betsy Brandt: In season 4, episode 3 “Open House,” Marie goes on a series of open houses in order to escape the life she currently leads — taking care of her down in the dumps, bed-ridden husband Hank. Quite frankly, this entire episode is fantastic for Brandt, who portrays the perhaps parallel to Walt’s storyline of a double life in order to get away from reality like a natural. And she did it all this episode, as well, playing comedy and desperate and exhausted all in the span of forty plus minutes.

RJ Mitte: In season 4, episode 10, Walt Jr sits in silence as his father tells him a tale of his decrepit grandfather. “I don’t want you to think of me that way,” Walter says. But Jr thinks differently. After his father has spent a year acting strangely and never once truly opening up about his diagnosis, Jr simply says: “At least last night, you were real.”

Most ofs and favorites

Favorite female character: Skyler White

Okay, I don’t know what the problem is with television viewers and women characters but it needs to stop. I also marathoned Teen Wolf over the summer and at the end of it found out that plenty of people hated Allison. The same goes for Breaking Bad, where apparently a large part of the viewership hates Skyler for…I have no idea, being awesome I guess? The reasons for hating both of these women seems to be: they go against their male counterparts. Gee, that’s great reasoning? Let’s talk about Walt here: he’s sort of an awful person. This guy poisoned a six year old kid. He put his entire family in danger and at risk for the rest of their lives, practically, regardless of intentions. If Walt gets a free pass for wanting to protect his family, what do you guys think Skyler’s motivations were? Come on, guys. (Let’s not talk about her sleeping with Ted because yes it was to hurt Walt, but also she had told him to basically get the hell out.)

Anyway, as the series went on Skyler grew into perhaps my favorite character on the series. It was clear that she had her feet placed firmly on the ground and was also willing to get a little dirty for the sake of her family. In fact, she’s basically Walt in woman form — they’re both meticulous and thinking of details, except Walt acts more out of passion and feeling. Skyler is much more calculative.

Favorite male character: Saul Goodman

Better call Saul!

Okay this may seem ridiculous given the fact that we have Jesse, Walt, Hank, and maybe even Gus before him, but there’s no denying that Saul Goodman is Breaking Bad‘s scene stealer. And you all know how I’m a sucker for some good laughs.

But beyond that, Saul is sort of just the best lawyer you want to have while simultaneously being the worst, which adds to the hilarity. However, he’s got a “guy” for everything. Need a large dealer to cook meth for? Saul’s got ’em! Need to launder some money? Saul! Need to be wiped off the face of the Earth so that drug lords cannot find and murder you? Better. Call. Saul.

Favorite Villain: Gustavo Fring

I was seriously going to list Walter White here, but I figured you guys might think that was a copout or something. If you don’t think that’s a copout, then pretend I wrote Walt here.

Otherwise, everyone’s favorite villain has got to be Gustavo “Gus” Fring. I’m probably going to get a lot of hate for this, but here goes: before Gus entered the series, I kept hearing how fantastic the acting for Gus was and that he so obviously deserved an Emmy, but…to be quite honest, I believe Gus’s appeal comes more from the way the character is written.

Gus is cunning, always ten steps ahead, and knows exactly how to manipulate people. His way of solving puzzles is what makes him an amazing villain. (Oh and that time he sliced someone’s throat.)

Most frustrating character: Ted Beneke

OH MY GOD TED SERIOUSLY. Here’s how the world works: you owe the IRS money, you pay them. If not, YOU GO TO JAIL. How much clearer can that message get? Seriously, I wanted to throw something at him.

Has there been a more frustratingly idiotic person on television? What is your deal, MAN? Who the hell buys a Mercedes when you owe the IRS more than half a million dollars? WHY ARE YOU THE WORST THING EVER?

Look at your life, Ted. Look at your choices.

Most shocking moments

I’ll try to choose one a season. Try.

“The Cat’s in the Bag:” In season 1, episode 2, Jesse decomposes a body in his bathtub with chemicals that eat through the tub and the floor and finally fall through to the first level. It was definitely the first time the show…ahem, floored me. Something about the organs just flailing around there, I don’t know. It was that moment where I went, “Oh, that’s the kind of show this is. Okay, got it.” But it wouldn’t be the last, obviously, because this show likes to gross you out at a moment’s notice.

“Mandala:” In season 2, episode 11, Combo is shot by a kid. Several times. And that stuff really messes you up, man. Goodness gracious!

Being completely honest about this here, the cold open of “Mandala” was another one of those “Oh, wow, seriously this is the kind of show this is” moment. I held my breath from the first shot to the end of the opening titles. Which isn’t long, but STILL.

“Phoenix:” Because obviously. In season 2, episode 12, Jane dies in her sleep as Walt just watches and it might be one of the most disturbing things on television.

I quite literally yelled at my television for Walt to turn her over. “Oh, MY goodness, TURN HER OVER! Just…he’s not gonna turn her over. TURN HER… oh, wow, he wants her to die. He thinks Jesse will be better off with her dead. Wow. WOW.” So, y’know.

“One Minute:” Yes, AGAIN. Because “One Minute” might be one of the most flawless hours on television, that’s why! And because its final scene is one of the most heart-racing moments, to boot.

Hank tries to battle The Cousins who have shot him and others, but gets brought down to the floor with two more blows to the thigh and chest. When one of the cousins are about to axe him, he frantically gets a bullet in his gun and blows the guy’s brains out. Literally. And the blood floods the parking lot.

“Full Measure:” In season 3, episode 13, Jesse is forced to put a bullet through Gale’s head in order to secure that he and Walt stay alive.

Sure, the twosome have killed people before, but always when that person was an immediate threat. Gale was just someone doing his job, leading an eccentric but harmless life. Plus, he was GALE. Oh, poor Gale! And of course, this moment truly catapulted into one of Jesse’s best storyline. Screw that, HIS BEST STORYLINE.

“Box Cutter:” Because ew.

I also would have listed Gus’ face off, but that was spoiled for me in an ad by AMC. Thanks, AMC.

Most under-appreciated: Hector Salamanca / Marc Magolis

Okay seriously zero people told me about Marc Magolis’ amazing, flawless, perfect portrayal of Tio Hector. What is wrong with you people!?

Margolis plays his character with such ease and fluidity and transitioned so AMAZINGLY between able-bodied and his current form that I was basically in awe. Where’s HIS Emmy?

Good thing he was nominated this year because oh my goodness.

Cinematography

So, obviously, Breaking Bad ain’t no Mad Men in this department, but I’m sometimes amazed at just how beautifully the show is shot. The first two seasons are less than ideal in this arena, but once the show hit the third season, there were some beautifully framed scenes. Take for example the following screengrab form — yes — “One Minute:”

Just how beautiful is that? Or what about this in season 3, episode 5 “Mas?”

I’m just saying that there were some greatly framed scenes I loved.

Etcetera

Time for all of the stupid, little things I notice.

Title Card: If I had one gripe about this show, it’s seriously the opening credits. I love the tone/song, but oh goodness, the graphics. What is this? And they’re all pixelated and everything. The font. OH THE FONT! This is something I could have made in high school.

The Color Purple: Something that’s definitely not a secret is Marie’s obsession with purple. Everything in her home is purple. She almost always wears purple, and if you think she’s not wearing purple: check her purse! check her earings! check her makeup! there’s purple somewhere. And she’s usually complementing it with some yellow. But that’s not all, have you noticed that sometimes the people she talks to (random extras and whatnot) are wearing purple or yellow too!?

What even?

Better in Bald: This may very well be one of the best and baldest shows in history. Everyone is bald.

Transparency: Often times, the characters are doing something on a surface and the screen acts like that surface so we can see through it. But only Jesse actually has transparent objects: a see through frying pan, a see through calculator, etc.

Riding in Cars With Feelings: This show has a serious issue with cars and feelings. Everyone at some point in this show has sat in car with a sad face. Please tell me you noticed this. Seriously. They do it so much they even made a promotional photo out of it:

See?

All right, that concludes this post of nothingness. Thank you to everyone who told me to watch Breaking Bad. I don’t exactly know if it’s a true favorite of mine or will ever be — I mean, I’m never going to buy the DVDs or anything, but it’s definitely trumping awful The Newsroom from my live viewing schedule. And I could see myself buying paraphernalia. Sorry, this is how I measure “favorites.” However, I did like and favorite it on GetGlue. That’s huge for me. I haven’t even liked Buffy yet.

And if you have yet to watch Breaking Bad and for some inexplicable reason read this entire post, do yourself a favor and watch it right now. It’s on Netflix. For $8 you can watch it all. You’re welcome.

Well, I’m off to begin season five!