(Before we get started, I've gotta ask: By any chance, did AMC ask Vince Gilligan, "Hey, so we're going to premiere Hell on Wheels during the middle of your season! Could you cook up a Western-ish episode of Breaking Bad for us? kthanxbye!" And not just any kind of episode, but one that includes a train and a railroad. Synergy, right? But, it ultimately doesn't matter, because the train heist featured in tonight's show integrates so perfectly with the overall storylines of the season that it couldn't have been forced. At least, I'd like to think so… please don't prove me wrong!)
Let's talk about the cold open first, where we meet the ultimately doomed dirt-biking boy, zooming around through the New Mexico landscape and scooping up a tarantula. Now, the cold open would seem like a throwaway scene at first… but again, remember that we've only got eight episodes this season, and that every moment in this season has to count as a result (as I've discussed before in this space). And so, I couldn't help but start piecing things together, especially on account of the tail-end sound of the train in the background. Now, I figured pretty early on that the kid would see something about the train heist, and that it would cause a slow unraveling of the situation. But I certainly didn't expect the kid to be standing right next to Walt, Jesse, and Todd under the bridge. And I certainly didn't expect what happened at the very, very end. But again, we'll get to that.
Chronologically, the episode's first scene is a simple one: Walt visits Hank's office, where we get to see Hank's new ASAC digs. Now, from the moment Walt appears at Hank's door, you (and I) immediately start thinking, "What's Walt's angle here?" Perhaps Walt is trying to "hide in plain sight", as Gus did before him. As the scene plays out, though, Walt starts talking about his and Skyler's relationship, certainly trying to feed on the aftermath of Skyler's weird behavior in the pool in last week's episode. The funny thing is, Walt's essentially telling Hank the truth - that Skyler thinks she's a bad influence and a bad father. (The only fib: that Skyler's seeing a therapist in Rio Rancho… Peter something-or-other.) And yet, since Hank is still oblivious to Walt's actual nature, he essentially serves as a shoulder for Walt to fake-cry on. And so, Walt breaks down in tears, and Hank goes off to grab him a coffee...
…and then, only then, do we see Walt's true intentions: he's trying to bug Hank's office, hiding a mike inside a picture frame of Hank and Marie. (Side note: Don't you think that Walt's clutching onto the picture will be some sort of undoing later on, should Hank figure things out?) Even better, there's a very specific purpose for the bug, at least initially: to figure out what the real deal is behind Lydia's discovery last week of the GPS device on the barrel of methylamine. Just as he was last week, Mike has an itchy trigger finger, and he's ready and willing to take Lydia out if necessary… and Lydia's bursting-at-the-seams nervousness doesn't help matters at all. But, Jesse's talking-down of Mike from last week surprisingly pays off, as we learn during a wire-tapped call between Hank and the Houston DEA office that the DEA planted the device, not Lydia… much to her relief. But there's a catch: the DEA tagged every barrel in the warehouse, essentially killing Walt's supply source.
So, what now? Well, leave it to Lydia to devise the solution: to tap into a veritable ocean of methylamine! Well, actually, we're not going to get to the ocean, mind you… but she offers up a train car full of the stuff, which just so happens to swing through New Mexico en route to Houston. Her suggestion: to rob the train. But, Mike isn't too keen on the idea, and if they do decide to do it, they'll need to off the crewmen: "I have done this long enough to know that there are two kinds of heists: Those where the guys get away with it, and those that leave witnesses."
The long unbroken shot of Walt and Mike fighting it out once again, while Jesse devises the plan, is a wonderfully executed moment. Again, Walt and Mike debate on the financials of the operation, with Walt throwing the payoff of Mike's guys right back in his face… but then Jesse comes through, once again asserting his role as the unsung genius of this season: "What if we could rip off that train, and no one ever knows it got robbed?" The next scene, following the commercial break, shows Walt on the train tracks, giving his response: "Maybe. Just maybe." What follows is a sumptuously photographed sequence in the New Mexico landscape, full of the magical, picturesque moments this show delivers.
The plan is ingenious, and I especially appreciated the script's detailed breakdown of the plan: from the explanation of the methylamine/water replacement plan (especially with regards to methylamine's slightly lesser weight than water), and the hope that the dilution of the methylamine will be blamed on China. (Yay!) It's a pretty fool-proof plan… which made me want to think that something will unravel it further down the road. (Cutting to the chase, do we know if the exact amount of water made its way into the train car during the heist?)
But before we get to the heist, we should discuss the current housing situation, as Hank and Marie are talking care of Walt Jr. and Holly. (Hank's attempt to get Holly to say "ASAC Schrader" and "boss man" as her first words was adorable, wasn't it?) But Walt Jr. isn't responding well to the move, and is upset at his parents for not giving him a reasonable explanation for all of this. After Walt kicks Walt Jr. out of his house to go back to Hank's, Skyler holds her own and states that the kids can't be part of this environment… and that Skyler will do whatever is necessary to assist Walt's operation as long as the kids aren't in the house.
The entire final act of the episode is dedicated to the train heist, beginning with Lydia receiving the train manifest and passing the info along to Mike. From there, we cut to the train tracks, with Mike working surveillance, Walt, Jesse and Todd (a.k.a. Landry) hiding under the bridge, and special guest Bill Burr - once again helping out in Walt's wacky plans - posing as a dump truck driver whose ride has managed to break down right on the train tracks! Convenient, eh? And so, Burr manages to get the train to stop… and that's where the magic starts happening. From the moment that Walt says, "Go!", I was appropriately on the edge of my seat, watching this heist play out. From Bill Burr's clearly blatant stalling, to the convenient Meth Meter gallon ticker, all the pieces are in place to maximize the tension… and boy, do they!
And then we get a complication: a visit from a Good Samaritan with a huge honkin' pick-up, willing to push Bill Burr's truck out of the way. It's an unwelcome visit, yes, and it screws up the plan… but what further complicates the situation is Walt. Again, he's not one who's willing to compromise, and he's darn well going to make sure that he gets his full 1,000 gallons of methylamine. Since we know Walt's attitude, it helps justify the intensity of the situation… and I, for one, am glad of it. The hair-raising nature of how close our crew comes to unraveling the heist - with Jesse unscrewing the methylamine hose right before the train takes off, and Todd hopping off the train just in the nick of time - is absolutely insane, and it certainly made for an incredible moment of relief when our guys shout in celebration, basking in a successful heist. I was cheering along with them, and I would've hoped that you were, too… that's how well-done this scene is, in that you're invested with these characters, even when they're pulling off such ridiculous criminal activities. (Now that I think about it, this is a far cry from Walt and Jesse wheeling off with a barrel of methylamine at the end of Season 1, eh?)
But, in the midst of all this celebration is one unexpected surprise: the kid from the cold opening. It's a credit to the excitement of the scene that preceded it that his appearance, as much as we should've seen it coming, should've come as a surprise. And for a moment there, we're not sure how this situation is going to play off, as the kid waves "Hi", and Todd gently waves back. But notice, if you will, how Todd's instant transformation from warm, waving stranger to cold-blooded murderer occurs within a single camera shot… within mere seconds! It's a disarming moment, yes, but it's made even more disarming by the way that it was filmed and acted. As brutal as that scene is, Todd was simply following Mike's advice about how heists turn out… and he's darn well going to make sure that this is successful job.
Now, certainly, this is a jaw-dropping moment, and one that viewers may not respond well to. Remember how uneasy you felt about Walt poisoning Brock last year? I'm sure you were very uncomfortable with that season-ending revelation… and this particular situation only makes things worse. You'll notice that we only saw Jesse's reaction to the kid's death at the end of this episode… but we didn't see Walt's, and that will be interesting to gauge as we head into next week. Tonight, Todd just did what Walt was very, very careful to avoid last season… but could Walt succumb to those depths, or even plummet below them? With three episodes to go this year, I think there's a very good chance that Walt will do just that, and become virtually irredeemable. If anything, tonight's episode demonstrates that Breaking Bad still has the power to amaze and shock in grand fashion, and that it's willing to go to some very dark places in order to wrap up its story.
Random notes:
- As soon as Todd shot the child, one of my very first thoughts was, "LANDRY KILLS AGAIN!!!" A little nod for all of your Friday Night Lights season 2 fans. ;-)
- I guess Walt's going with a "treat yourself" cover story for the watch he received from Jesse as a birthday gift. Way to flaunt that gambling money! *wink,wink*
- Mike's conversation with Lydia about the phone-call script was awesome: If she screws up, "I am going to pull out my pistol and shoot you in the head." Even better was Mike's follow-up to Lydia's recitation of his rules: "It's a pistol, not a gun. I'm expecting precision here."
- "Everyone sounds like Meryl Streep with a gun to her head."
- Walt and Lydia managed to connect during this episode, as they both diss Mike for his need to pay off his guys from the old operation.
- "This better be something from a boob!"
- Hey, Hank picked up Heat on Blu-ray! But, in Walt Jr.'s mind, I guess it's no Scarface!
- Quote of the night, from Jesse: "It's all about the weight, yo!"
- Next week: The aftermath. See you then!
No comments:
Post a Comment