Guest Review - BREAKING BAD 5.03: 'Hazard Pay'

By perpetual guest reviewer Shawn Mahone.

Last week I talked about how Serialized shows can be at their most effective when drawing on rich source of solid material to move itself forward. I moaned that Mike's decision to move forward with Walt and Jessie felt contrived and bullshitty and that kinda ruined the episode for me, well this week the show did a something similar and it was spectacular! Everything Walter said or did was perfect for him as a character, he said things in a way and tone that makes sense when one looks at his history, he did things physically that makes sense to his history and holy hell was it fucking awesome and kinda creepy at the same time!

Walter White shares a few characteristics with Don Draper apart from being characters on Emmy winning AMC shows they have this huge common flaw...they both believe that they can change their lives at a drop of a hat and move on and people can do the same and if they cannot then they can go and screw themselves, they believe people can do the same and that a better life is always around the corner. Don Draper decided Dick Whitman could die in Korea and he could move on but as we find out his family suffered and it costs his brother his life, Don believed Lane Pryce could start over like him and instead he could not and it cost Lane his life. Walter White felt slighted and so left Elliot and Gretchen and millions of dollars out of Hubris and pettiness and being an asshole and started over. Walter White decided that being small time was no good so he made Jesse and his crew expand and it cost Combo his life when Combo did not have the skills to be beg time. Walter White decided to be Heisenberg and Hank got crippled in the process. Walter White decides to kill Gus the chicken man and replace him but he never thought about Gus current employees, what would happen to them? What do they do now that they have no money? What do they do that they are screwed and it was all because Walter White wants to be the big man in town and wants to feel the emotions of power and control? Watching this whole episode had me smiling ear to ear at the marvel that is Walter White and how brilliantly this show has turned this man in to who he is today . Walter White is an egotistical, self-serving narcissist, arrogant, greedy, murdering, lying (among a million other adjectives!) son of a bitch and how this episode showed that time and time again made me so happy and at times a little sad.

He tells Jesse the Icarus story that if you fly too close to the sun than you are going to pay the price and I think it is obvious that he is talking about Mike and how Mike is taking liberties with their money or he could be talking about Mike's crew as well and how they got caught and should be taken care of like Mike should probably one day be taken care of. But his ego does not see that this line of thinking could make him fly too close to the sun and get burned, I mean Jesse has done a lot of shit over the years for Walt but is he really going to be willing to kill 9 guys plus Mike and whoever else that gets in their way? Will he kill Lydia once he knows she has a little girl? Jesse would never hurt a child. The answer is no, the show has demonstrated that Jesse will not stoop that low and Walt just does not see that he is starting to set himself up for that moment in a year's time where he needs a M-60 gun and Jim Beaver! Don Draper can be Don Draper because the business he is in people like Pete Campbell keeping his secret is no big deal because Pete Campbell will do what serves Pete Campbell best and that is allowing Don to be Don. Walt can do what he wants to do as long as Jesse is by his side, I mean that is the only reason Mike is working with them or probably Saul too. Walt suggesting that they do away with Mike will not wash with Jesse and when he finds out about Jane or Brock than Walt better run farer than Denny's in wherever he was in the season premier.

This is probably why Walter White can never be a kingpin or a boss or a huge success, unlike Mike, Walter does not see that having a huge illegal operation that needs to look legal costs a lot of dough. People need to be paid, things need to be done and employees need to be looked after and respected so that you can gain their trust and loyalty. Walter White never understands this and never has understood this concept and that is where he is butting heads with Mike. When they cooked the Meth in the house Walt and Jesse made a tent within a tent...Walt lives in that little tent and does not understand what they outer tent is for or does...he just believes what he does in his little tent is all that matters and does not understand the bigger tent issues...great metaphor going there Breaking Bad! Top draw! top draw!

Walter White is all about Walter White and the level of Hubris ("Shall we take a vote?" "Why?") he is demonstrating has me worried for the man who knocks and worried in a good way. He is going to die and I cannot say I will be upset too, he sits in front of television with his kids watching Scarface (Yay Scarface! they got the studio and Al Pachino to give permission to use that material! Yay) basically watching his own demise and he does not even see it that magnificent bastard! Hehehe.

Who else will I not be upset about dying...SKYLER, oh please Vince Gilligan let the ricin cigarette people Chekov's ricin cigarette and let Skyler smoke it and die! Serious man that bitch needs to go! Skyler has had her chance to get rid of Walt time and time again she could have signed the divorce papers and did not and now she is paying the price and being a whiny bitch about it, what a cunt.

Walt manipulating Jesse into dumping Andrea and Brock was well done, he put it into a way that made Jesse think it was his choice and then made his mind up for him with the she would love you if she understood but...what a magnificent bastard.

Saul! oh how I love seeing me some Saul and he had some great, great, great lines. Saul continues to do his thing and get paid handsomely for it and does it with a great sense of humor and knowhow, so yay for Saul the man who is only done when Walt/Heisenberg tells him he is done.

The idea for their new business was a fantastic one and I loved how they arrived at the solution the way Breaking Bad arrives at the solution...through a process that takes time and thought! Box company...no, Tortilla factory...no, Lazerbaze!...no err sorry hell no!. So we are left with the exterminators and I got to say the look inside of the house was beautiful when they were cooking...ahh...stunningly beautiful.

Brock and Andrea were in this episode and I think they only did that to show Walt not giving a shit about poisoning a innocent child...die Walter!

The best episode of the season so far and I hear they are going to crank it up majorly in the next few weeks so hold onto your seats people!

So Walt just because you killed Jesse James does not make you Jesse James and because you do not understand that...good luck with the very little life you have left buddy.

Episode Rating 98 out of 100

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Guest Review of BREAKING BAD 5.02: 'Madrigal'

Shawn returns to guest write a review and this time his will be the only one because I am dying from the black plague. So enjoy his opinion! Note, his thoughts do not necessarily represent those of the crazed staff of writers at whateverthisis. Nor is he held to any standard in writing. ENJOY!

Serialized shows like Chuck or Breaking Bad focus on one character and create a journey that allows the character to evolve from one person to another. Along the way different people enter their orbit and are affected by the decisions they make over the journey. Everything is from their point of view and so every decision they make and every choice they choose has an effect on the story going forward. It is an incredibly intimate storytelling method and it creates the biggest problem for a show..... what happens when the main character reaches the end of the journey set in the beginning? What happens when everything was about that protagonist/antagonist and outside characters and story was not developed as well? What happens when the main character is at the top and master of all he survey's? What happens when an NBC or AMC decide that they will renew your show even though the odds of that happening was the same odds as world peace?

I think there are 2 very major reasons (and a few minor ones too) why this season of Breaking Bad has not been up to its usual greatness, the first being that Vince Gilligan created in the first 4 seasons a story of Walter White becoming Scarface and at the end of season 4 that journey was complete. He has said in various interviews that the end of season 4 could have been a great series finale and that Walt's journey had been complete. Now this is the same thing that happened to CHUCK, Season 1 flowed well into 2 and season 2 flowed well into its best season 3....at the end of 3.13 or 3.19 that was a potential end of the series, Chuck went from boy to man to spy to hero and along the way got the girl. Chris Fedak and Josh Schwartz like Vince Gilligan thought this was the end and created endings to the journey's of their leader with the thought that the end was nigh. Vince Gilligan had every right to make the same call, if anyone witnessed the AMC - Mad Men contract negotiation war....they would know that there was a chance that if AMC would fuck with Mad Men than what would they do to Breaking Bad? and so the question arises, what does a show like Chuck or Breaking Bad do when they get renewed and were not expecting it? you get weak seasons 4 and 5 of Chuck and you get a weak season 5 of Breaking Bad thus far. That brings me to my second point, with everything being about Walt or Chuck...how do you move a show forward when the characters were at their highest point? I mean are we now going to see character regression, progression, contrivances, bullshit?

After the jump we shall delve into what I liked and what I found problematic about this episode and season thus far.

"Madrigal" continues the domino effect of Walt killing Gus, Gus' Office is checked and bank numbers are found and employees are rooted out by the DEA and certain employees get nervous and take hits on on the other employees and a German executive commits suicide on a toilet! None of that would have been a problem on any other show but this is Breaking Bad. Would Gus have really left his Bank account numbers and passwords on a picture frame? or would he have left the laptop full of evidence in his legal business? would Gus have done any number of these stupid things when we have come to know him as such a perfectionist? Vince Gilligan has said that getting an unexpected renewal means they have to start the story from scratch and they have done that but they have taken a lot of shortcuts to ramp up the tension and that is not Breaking Bad, Breaking Bad is methodical and takes its time and plays the long game....this is unsettling to say the least. This makes Mikes decision to join Walt and Jesse feel contrived and bullshitty...Gus exposes Mike and all his fortune doing something Gus would never do and so Mike is forced to do something Mike would never do because of something Gus would never have done and now we can continue the story of Walt, Jesse, Mike and Saul owning the South's Drug trade! Awesome!

That rant aside there are some very good moments in this episode. Jonathan Banks was brilliant as Mike in this episode, just fucking fantastic. His minimalistic approach to acting allows us to slow down and see a man who is weary and tired and frustrated with all this bullshit that is happening all around him. He has Walt being an unpredictable piece of dynamite waiting to go off at any time, he has the winging bitch whose name I have forgotten taking out on him and all his guys and he has Hank grilling him and cracking wise with him and calling him by his first name even though he did not give Hank permission to do so. His humanity of not killing Lydia because she has a daughter and he has a granddaughter was a nice moment for our wise guy and I look forward to where this goes next.

Walt and Jesse had few scenes in this episode but they were good ones. Aaron Paul just keeps breaking my heart with his phenomenal performance as Jesse, when he broke down and started crying about how he was sorry for being stupid...I got to say Walt's death cannot come soon enough. Walt continues to manipulate and connive and keep Jesse under his thumb and as Mike keeps saying...Jesse should just run as fast as he can from the man who knocks.

So a weak second episode that is for sure, and a very shaky start to the final season. I am a sucker though for shows like these that swing for the fences and try their best even though they are under constant threat of cancellation. Chuck withered off and limped into the sunset due to having to create 50 different series finales, Breaking Bad has had to create at least 3 series finales and I do feel for the show runners when they are caught between a rock and a hard place...a studio and network who are trying to nickel and dime everything. I have hope that Breaking Bad will get better and look forward to it doing so....until then adios.

Episode Rating 75 out of 100

--Shawn Mahone

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