Breaking Bad: “Live Free or Die”

When Breaking Bad started up, I know I wasn’t alone in seeing it as one of the better second-tier series, but not much more. Somewhere around Season 3, it became clear that it was one of the best series out there, if not ever. And if the season debut is any indication, the fifth season is going to continue on this high note.


“YEAH, BITCH! MAGNETS!”: The return of Breaking Bad
When Breaking Bad started up, I know I wasn’t alone in seeing it as one of the better second-tier series, but not much more. Somewhere around Season 3, it became clear that it was one of the best series out there, if not ever. And if the season debut is any indication, the fifth season is going to continue on this high note.

We start off with Walter (Bryan Cranston) in a diner, sporting a whole new look and, it would seem, a new identity. Meeting a shady dude in a bathroom, he makes a purchase, which turns out to be a machine gun. Roll head credits, and then we’re back into the Season 4 storyline—with typical audacity, creator Vince Gilligan and the gang don’t return to this introductory segment, leaving us in suspense right off the bat as to what will happen in between.

As the aftermath of Season 4’s bloodbath unfolds, we’re reminded of the show’s theme of transformation, and how expertly Gilligan, his writers and his cast have illustrated it. Everyone knows how brilliantly Cranston has segued Walt from a bumbling loser to an evil mastermind, but the other characters have undergone equally significant changes: Jesse (Aaron Paul) went from comic relief to a profoundly tormented and deep character, while supporting roles such as Hank (Dean Norris) and Mike (Jonathan Banks) have also evolved from vaguely dislikable thugs to some of the show’s most fully formed and compelling presences. Even Ted (Christopher Cousins), the incompetent former boss and brief love interest of Skyler (Anna Gunn) who spent last season further complicating the Whites’ financial situation, is transformed in this episode from an irritant to the Whites into a figure of sympathy when he finally realizes what he’s gotten himself into.

But all these thematics aside, I love it when Walt and Jesse pull a caper, and this episode was one of the all-time greats, with the duo (Mike reluctantly in tow) setting out to retrieve a laptop containing Gus’s meth-lab security video footage. When it’s all done (creating further complications, of course, in the process), and Walter concludes a discussion with “Because I say so,” showing a flash of his past life as an uptight high school teacher, the wordless three-way glare between him, Mike and Jesse is just one of the series’ many moments of understated brilliance.

Best lines:

  • Mike, upon seeing Jesse once again defending Walt: “What is it with you guys?”
  • Mike again, on Walt’s caper: “I can foresee a lot of possible outcomes to this thing, and not a single one of them involves Miller Time.”
  • Sleazy lawyer Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk), on Skyler’s ill-conceived scheme to bail out Ted: if things go wrong, “it’s Rio de Caca for the both of them.”
  • I know it’s a bit of a cheap gag to have Jesse yell “bitch!” from time to time, but it’s always satisfying, and this episode’s “Yeah, bitch! Magnets!” was awesome, especially with its ICP evocation.

Random thoughts:

  • I thought the evidence room was supposed to be protected “like Fort Knox,” but it was pretty easy for the crew to get into the parking lot undetected.
  • Anna Gunn looks different again. No judgment on people’s facial reconstruction habits, but it wreaks havoc on continuity and suspension of disbelief.
  • Nonetheless, the look on her face when Walt delivers his last line is classic.

Welcome back, Breaking Bad! It’s been a tough few weeks for quality TV addicts in the post-Game of Thrones/Mad Men/Girls drought, but it looks like this should carry us through the summer. ■

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