I thought Shawn Mahone had died when he didn't send in his review yesterday but apparently he was on some fake Euro "holiday." So here is another review about the guys who knock. As always, I don't proofread his work so if he says something stupid, I am sure I can get his address so you can firebomb his house. --HGF
RIP Mike, RI Fucking P Mike! I knew deep down that Mike's fate was doomed from the season premier...Breaking Bad had to kill someone and they would never kill Jesse or Hank and I knew with every passing episode and the hints that pointed to Mike's eventual demise that he would go sooner or later. It could have been the legacy costs or the pointing of his gun to Walter so many times or just Walt saying in 5.03 that Mike was flying to close to the sun but I just knew it was coming but knowing and seeing are two different things altogether and watching Mike die hurt. It was beautifully shot and executed and his death was quiet and serene and perfect but it still fucking hurt!
Watching the making of the episode on the AMC website you can tell that this hit the cast and crew hard and Jonathan Banks who plays Mike is a big softy and he got emotional too, we are nearing end times story wise and I can only see more and more deaths occurring over the remaining 9 episodes of this show, so there is a lot more pain and heartbreak left and tension and drama and just shit hits the fan awesomeness!
So was Mike's death contrived? yes! I have to believe (although I have not read any comments online) that some fans will accept that Mike would not want to get Jesse caught and could not risk Saul but Walter White! He would accept the help from Walter fucking White? I suppose maybe Mike did get too close to the sun but still Mike was a pro and one who made very few mistakes and I just do not know if this was a fitting end for him. I am not saying that the way the show allowed for him to have a quiet and respectful death (I was waiting for Walt to shoot him again so kudos for Walt for letting him go without plugging him with another bullet) was not beautiful and incredibly poignant I just felt the machinations of it all and the plot logic and character logic seemed faulty. I mean simply put why not just have Jesse not in Saul's office when he calls? Urgh....
Walt, Walter, Heisenberg....what is there left to say for a man who has sunk so low and knows that he is going to hell and gleefully accepts it? The opening of the episode was pure macho bullshit ("Say my name!") but I loved it because that is some serious ass payoff to watching this character devolve. Basically the Phoenix crew is now his bitch and now he is going to up production to 100 lbs every cook and he is going to attempt to take over the drug world in the south. Good luck with that! But will he do it with Jesse or not? Jesse is now fully onto the bullshit that is Walter White, that there is no end, that Walt does not give a shit about the kids that die or the people they hurt or the wife who hates him or the fact that he has lost his kids or that he is just a ticking time bomb who is pure evil at this point. Jesse finally sees it, he finally sees the truth and confronts Walt and actually gives up his money...if it means his way out of Walt's life then so be it but we shall see because I think these two have a few makeup's and breakups before the series end. I have a feeling that they will band together over these 9 guys issue or something I am not sure about. I mean will Jesse stop Walt from having them killed? he has to right? I mean after all his epiphanies lately about Walt would he let him just kill another 9 guys for his own selfish needs? is Jesse finally going to say no we do not do this we take the rap for the bullshit we have pulled...is this the moment where Jesse finally teams up with Skyler and tries to take Walt out? hmmmmm.
Hank got in shit for having a hard on for Mike...I wonder if all that confiscated 5 million dollars will shut his boss up...they talk about funding and cash and budgets and man hours and all that shit well now they have a ton of fat stacks to put away from a big score and Hank was proven right so we shall see how that pans out.
A great episode that had wonderful moments and was wonderfully shot, I do not think Walt turned up to meet Mike to kill him, I think he took his gun to threaten him but not kill him. I think his pride and ego killed Mike and you could tell the look on his face when he shit mike and the looks on his face when Mike died. They were regretful and sad and he knows that he has fucked up and that this is another secret that Jesse and him will have between them. Mike had to go sadly and so does Skyler and I just do not know where this all goes but I am looking forward to the finale where Walt goes to Lydia and tries to off Mike's guys via Todd's uncles prison connections? I think.
Todd learning the process.....yeah that is going to fuck up sooner or later. Saul!!!!! I so needed your comic relief buddy! He was right though about the other lawyer...as Jesse said in season 2, in this business you do not want a criminal lawyer you want a criminal lawyer yo! I hope Saul makes it to the end, I think he will.
Episode rating 98 out of 100
See you guys for the finale I look forward to it and hope they can pull it together even through all these seasonal bumpy plot points that have been rushed or not well executed. I think they have done ok but more time would have helped smoothed stuff out but that is all cool....we are getting 16 more episodes more that the ratings deserve so I hold hope.