Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman (Credit: Ursula Coyote/AMC)
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Before I get into the particulars of the latest episode, I would be remiss if I didn't mention Saturday's
New York Times, where actress Anna Gunn wrote an
op-ed discussing the audience reaction to her character of Skyler White. I've alluded to some of the gender issues that have been raised by that reaction in previous
Breaking Bad diaries, and Gunn's op-ed confronts those issues directly.
Most of the top-tier television dramas of the past two decades are character-driven studies of male antihero protagonists, where we explore the wants, desires, frailties, and consequences of action surrounding that protagonist. Those antiheroes are always paired with a wife character that is meant to represent the home life that contrasts with the duality of their existence at "work." This has led to a lot of media debate over why it is the audience almost always reacts negatively to the wife in these shows, whether it be Gunn's Skyler White, January Jones' Betty Draper in Mad Men, or Edie Falco's Carmela Soprano in The Sopranos. Is it a legitimate reaction to the characterization of these female characters? For example, it is possible to recognize that Tony Soprano is a horrible human being, and still dislike Carmela because of the character's actions within the story. Or does the level of negativity towards these characters go beyond that, and point to the audience reacting to what they perceive as the female characters not complying with their prescribed gender role?
In her op-ed, Gunn argues that some of the hostility directed towards Skyler is based in misogyny, and that some fans of the show have transferred their hate of Skyler to her personally.
Because Walter is the show’s protagonist, there is a natural tendency to empathize with and root for him, despite his moral failings. (That viewers can identify with this antihero is also a testament to how deftly his character is written and acted.) As the one character who consistently opposes Walter and calls him on his lies, Skyler is, in a sense, his antagonist. So from the beginning, I was aware that she might not be the show’s most popular character.
But I was unprepared for the vitriolic response she inspired ... As an actress, I realize that viewers are entitled to have whatever feelings they want about the characters they watch. But as a human being, I’m concerned that so many people react to Skyler with such venom. Could it be that they can’t stand a woman who won’t suffer silently or “stand by her man”? That they despise her because she won’t back down or give up? Or because she is, in fact, Walter’s equal? ... I finally realized that most people’s hatred of Skyler had little to do with me and a lot to do with their own perception of women and wives. Because Skyler didn’t conform to a comfortable ideal of the archetypical female, she had become a kind of Rorschach test for society, a measure of our attitudes toward gender.
In this latest episode, Skyler is not as front and center, but the level of her complicity and corruption were important elements.
This entire episode can be summed up as Walt trying to manipulate the people in his life to make choices that will guarantee his safety. It's an hour of Walter White lying his ass off, and by episode's end it has blown up in his face.
- Aryan Brotherhood Gives Two Thumbs Up To Hooper: One particular theory about Todd (Jesse Plemons) and Lydia (Laura Frasier) is that they're a bizarro, anti-version of Walt and Jesse. Lydia like Walt is someone with skills to excel in legitimate business that has "broken bad," but unlike Walt there was no hardship which propelled her choice. She does it just for greed. And Todd functions as a sort of anti-Jesse. Both characters are young men that are following the lead of the "adults" in their lives (e.g. Jesse and Todd are the only characters that refer to Walt as "Mr. White"). But Jesse is sensitive, caring, questions orders, and experiences guilt for the choices he's made. Todd is sociopathic, robotic, and displays no guilt whatsoever for his actions. Although, when Todd recounts the events of the train heist in "Dead Freight" to his racist uncle, he leaves out the part about shooting a child on a motorcycle. Also, is the fact that Todd tries to get in contact with Walt an indication of his Jesse-like need for approval or relationship? Or might it be a strong indication that Todd's uncle has plans for Walt?
- What They Have In Common: Hank (Dean Norris) is now 0 for 2 in trying to get the people close to Walt to talk. But I thought the way he approaches Jesse was interesting. Hank pleads to Jesse to talk by arguing that they've both been lied to by Walt. And the way Aaron Paul plays it, you can see that some part of Jesse wants to talk, whether out of a realization that Hank is right or guilt over what's been done. But you can also tell that those feelings are being fought by his anger towards Hank for beating the shit out him, not wanting to be a "rat," and some feelings of loyalty to "Mr. White" that comes into play later on in the episode.
- That Concealer Doesn't Fit Your Skin Tone Walt: This episode is centered around three attempts by Walt to manipulate people to his will. The first of those attempts is Walt manipulating Walt Jr. by using the truth... well, mostly the truth (i.e. Walt lies about why he has his black eye). Marie (Betsy Brandt) is still trying to find a way to pull the children away from Walt and Skyler's home, and Walt's solution to keep Walt Jr. away from Hank and Marie is to reveal that his cancer has returned. It's an incredibly emotional scene between a father and son, with Walt manipulating his son for the most self-serving reasons imaginable.
"My name is Walter Hartwell White. I live at 308 Negra Arroyo Lane, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 87104. This is my confession. If you're watching this tape, I'm probably dead. Murdered by my brother-in-law, Hank Schrader. Hank has been building a meth empire for over a year now, and using me as his chemist."
- Table-Side Guacamole: The second attempt at manipulation in the episode is the fulfilment of Walt's "tread lightly" threat to Hank. Walt and Skyler meet Hank and Marie at a bad Mexican restaurant and attempt to reason with Hank to back off. But neither Hank or Marie will hear any of it, since they have no idea where the lies begin or end. In fact, Marie suggests Walt commit suicide, which causes Skyler to interject, with it being a reference to her own wish at one point that Walt would die. Hank will not even accept Walt's death as being enough, and tells both Walt and Skyler they can't just walk away. This leads Walt to unveil his trump card; a videotaped "confession." Walt admits to being Heisenberg, but implicates Hank as the mastermind. Watching Walt recount the entire history of the show is fascinating on a bunch of different levels. It's both an incredibly intelligent move and sickening choice for Walt to make. But it's also interesting how believably well Hank fits into the narrative of events as Walt's patsy, with the drug money being used for Hank's medical bills being a nail in the coffin that will make Walt's story have credence.
- Skyler's Choice: The fact that she helped make the confession video, and assented to it, speaks to Skyler's involvement, in that she goes along with a plan of mutually assured destruction that would wreck her sister's life. While she is complicit, there are aspects of her guilt present. Skyler is quiet, cold, distracted, and almost catatonic like she was in the first half of season 5 at various points in this episode.
- What Walt Doesn't Say: One interesting note about Walt's confession. At no point does Walt implicate Jesse in the conspiracy. Is that out of some loyalty to Jesse? Does Walt assume the DEA will make assumptions based on Hank's beating of Jesse? Or does Walt not mention Jesse because he knows Jesse is the only one who can contradict the confession?
Bryan Cranston as Walter White and Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman (Credit: Ursula Coyote/AMC)
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"Alright just drop the whole concerned dad thing, and tell me the truth. I mean you're acting like me leaving town is all about me, and turning over a new leaf. But it's really about you! I mean you need me gone, because your dickhead brother-in-law is never going to let up. Just say so! Just ask me for a favor! (starts crying) Just tell me you don't give a shit about me, and it's either this ... it's either this or you'll kill me the same way you killed Mike! I mean isn't that what this is all about? Us meeting way the hell out here! In case I say no! Come on! Just tell me you need this!" -Jesse
- Time For A Change: Walt's third and final attempt at manipulation is of Jesse. Walt tries to sell Jesse on leaving town and starting a new life via Saul's source. But Jesse sees right through Walt's manipulation for what it is. The Walt-Jesse relationship functions as a dark father-son relationship. Jesse longs for a family throughout the series. Jesse is rejected by his own parents, he finds love with Jane only to have it taken away, and the relationship with Andrea and Brock became incompatible with his life cooking meth. His only constants during this time have been Walt and Mike (both taking on a mentor/father role), and now Mike is gone. So when Jesse is screaming at Walt in the middle of the desert, it's akin to a disappointed son begging his father to be honest and care in a meaningful way. Jesse is in a situation where, other than Badger and Skinny Pete, Walt is the only meaningful relationship he has, and it's a relationship built on betrayal. Whether Walt cares about Jesse beyond how useful he can be is open to debate, and the emotion in the "hug" in this episode is something that can be read either way. Is Walt comforting Jesse out of guilt for what he's put this guy through? Or is Walt doing what he need to do to get Jesse to the place he wants him? Walt's facial expressions during the hug, which Jesse can't see, suggest genuine emotions. But everything else in the episode suggests it's just another manipulation. When re-watching the scene, it's interesting to note Saul (Bob Odenkirk) in the background, staring in the opposite direction from the action, trying to be invisible.
- Tarantulas In The Desert: Jesse is staring at a tarantula crawling across the desert at the beginning of his meeting with Walt. This is likely a callback to the same episode with the train robbery that Todd references, since Drew Sharp (i.e. the murdered child on the motorbike) catches a tarantula at the beginning of that episode.
- The Shit Hits The Fan: Arguably, Walt's hug is a tacit admission of killing Mike. However, it's the revelation of Walt's involvement in the poisoning of Brock that blows up in Saul and Walt's face by episode's end (and on a side note, I kind of doubt Jesse will ever find out about Jane now). Saul couldn't leave good enough alone, and had to have Huell (Lavell Crawford) lift Jesse's weed, instead of taking the chance and letting Jesse go off to Alaska. Jesse puts 2 and 2 together when he notices the weed missing, and realizes it was Saul that took the ricin cigarette back in the fourth season, it was done on Walt's orders, and that Walt was responsible for Brock's poisoning. This leads Jesse into a seething rage, and kicking the shit out of Saul to force him to admit the truth, before stealing Saul's Caddy, and heading over to the White home with a container of gasoline.
From Alan Sepinwall at
Hitfix.com:
Note that even after Jesse has realized Walt's betrayal, he still refers to him as Mr. White, albeit while inserting "that asshole" as a modifier. Like Hank says, Walt really did a number on this kid; even now, he has to include a term of respect along with his utter contempt.
The moment where Jesse figures it out relies on the viewers having a good amount of recall, especially since the writers haven't explained all the steps of the poisoning plan within the show itself. (At Comic-Con, Gilligan outlined the broadest strokes of it, including Walt using his knowledge as a teacher to slip into Brock's school and give him a tainted juice box.) We found out after the fact that the poison came from a plant in Walt's backyard, but Huell's role in lifting the ricin cigarette has only been discussed briefly in the time since. Fortunately, when you have Aaron Paul playing the scene, his distress is so clear that it overrides any need for exposition (especially since Jesse explains it when he confronts Saul). Jesse Pinkman doesn't often get angry, but when he does — when he first believed (correctly, it turned out) that Walt poisoned Brock, or when he fought Walt in "Bug" — it's terrifying, because he's such an open wound. Walt is usually calculated in his actions, and even when he acts on impulse, there's a level of performance to it — "I am The One Who Knocks!" is designed to put Skyler in what he believes is her place — where Jesse doesn't have a filter, or any real degree of guile. He says what he feels, without thinking of the consequences. He could take this discovery as an excuse to plot some elaborate revenge on Walt — whether going to Hank to make a confession of his own or finding a way to poison Walt — but Jesse can't contain his rage that long. He has to take out his anger on Saul for his role in the kabuki theater of the ricin cigarette, and then he has to drive straight to 308 Negra Arroyo Lane to try to light that sucker on fire.
- Why Hide A Gun In A Coke Machine?: After Saul gets up off the floor from being pummeled, he calls Walt and that leads to a mad scramble. Walt shows up at the car wash to get a handgun he's hidden inside a vending machine. At first I thought it was Walt's .38 snub nose that he purchased back at the beginning of season 4. But Walt dropped that gun in the superlab after killing Gus' henchmen at the end of season 4, and one would assume it was destroyed along with the lab. The other possibility is that it was the gun he used to kill Mike, but why would he keep it? Wouldn't he have destroyed it along with everything else connected to Mike's murder? However, since Walt likes to keep "souvenirs" (like Gale's copy of Leaves of Grass), it's possible it is the gun. Why else would you hide a handgun in a coke machine, instead of a place where you can get to it quickly in an emergency?