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Breaking Bad is back! Breaking Bad is back! Breaking Bad is back! And it has arrived not a moment too soon, because I was really running low on things to worry and be really stressed out about. Walter, Jesse, Gus, and The Baby — all invited back into our living rooms to toy with our emotions, make us feel terrible for an hour, and have us all love it so much because it is absolutely the best. It is well known that Breaking Bad is one of the greatest hours of television on television (it has won each Emmy multiple times and also all of the Oscars), but did you know that it is also one of the worst? Haha, that’s a fun fact. It makes you want to die but also you love it so much because it is smart and “gripping” and dark and intense and knows exactly what it is doing 100% of the time and it looks so good and my goodness can we just get to talking about the episode already I can hardly wait.
Last season’s finale ended — as Walt was about to be murdered by Victor and Mike — with Jesse shooting Gale, Walter’s old lab assistant, in a way that was kind of ambiguous. Basically, to give a quick recap of how season three’s finale ended, Walt was about to be murdered because he had become expendable after Gale learned his meth recipe, so Walt planned to murder Gale to save his own life, but then before he could do that, Victor tricked him into stopping by the lab where Mike was waiting to kill him. So he called Jesse and said “please murder Gale” basically, and Jesse did that — OR DID HE? He showed up to his house and it pretty much seemed like he definitely shot him right in the face, but also you didn’t see the body, so there could have been some wiggle room there with Gale’s death I feel like. Anyway, so:
This episode opens with Gale in the early stages of the Superlab. And it’s a little confusing for a second, at least if you’re me. Maybe everyone else was there right away, but for a moment it seems to me like maybe Gale is still alive? But then no, you realize that this is a flashback. It turns out Gale was originally hired by Gus for the position that would soon be Walt’s, and Gus has given him some of Walt’s meth to replicate. But it is too good! “This is very good meth,” says Gale, (I’m paraphrasing) and then, “But I don’t know how to make it blue? Maybe you should just get the guy who knows how to make it blue.” And we’re all thinking, “Why don’t you throw some blue food dye in there?” But then there’s also the problem of how he can only get it to be 96% pure, while the sample he’s attempting to replicate is 99% pure “or maybe a little more than that.” So he talks himself out of the job. And then we move forward in time, back where we were left in the season three finale.
Jesse did kill Gale, it turns out. Shot him right in the face. Poor Gale! Victor, after Walter reveals that Gale will be killed, rushes to Gale’s house and makes sure EVERYONE sees him. “Hey, I’m Victor, nice to meet you,” he says. “Do you want my phone number and the address of the meth lab where I work?” What I’m trying to say is that he doesn’t hide his face and he also interacts with a guy at the crime scene. What a dummy! Is this your first rodeo, Victor? Please let me know if this is your first rodeo because if so we can go home and do a quick tutorial.
Victor finds Jesse looking freaked in his car outside of Gale’s house and takes him back to the lab, where Mike and Walt are waiting. “Did anyone see you?” Mike asks. “Yes, everyone,” Victor replies. “D’oh!” says Mike. But Victor tells him that no one saw Jesse, which seems kind of crazy to me, since Jesse just shot Gale on his doorstep in the daytime, but whatever. No one saw him, we’ll say, for the sake of this TV show.
Now Walt begins to address how, with Gale gone, they are left with no other cook than he and Jesse. Victor then declares that he can be the cook, since he has been watching Walt and Jesse, and starts making a batch. “Come on, genuis. Watch me. We ain’t missin’ no cook,” he says. Uh-oh! (But, you know, of course not uh-oh.)
Then we see Skyler! Ahh! Hi, Skyler! After a visit from Marie (Hi, Marie!), she is alerted to the fact that Walt’s car is in her driveway and begins to worry about his whereabouts. She calls Saul (Hi, Saul!) and he has no idea where Walt is and he has gone crazier.
So Skyler heads to Walt’s condo to try and get an idea about where he might be. She calls a locksmith because his door is locked. The baby is appropriately worried.
But the locksmith won’t let her into the condo because she can’t prove that she lives there. [Which, as an aside, I'd like to ask a question about. Is this how it works with locksmiths? I used a locksmith once when I lived in Chicago and I was outside of my apartment in my pajamas with no proof of anything, but they opened the door anyway. Was that locksmith just bad at his job? I feel like most of the time people wouldn't be able to prove that they lived in a place if they've locked themselves out of it. What's the deal with locksmiths?] So she fakes a panic attack and the baby is screaming and crying and jesus christ it is such a jarringly loud moment in such a remarkably quiet show that I just want to jump into the TV and kick down the door for her, but instead the locksmith opens it because SHUT THAT BABY UP PLEASE.
And then we’re in the apartment. And it’s basically empty except for the eyeball from the teddy bear from the plane crash that they found in the pool in season two or whenever:
And then we check in with Hank and Marie. Hi, guys! Hank is still in the early stages of recovery and physical therapy. He is collecting minerals. Marie has to help him go number two. It is very sad.
Meanwhile, back at the lab, Victor continues with his batch. Walter watches and talks to Jesse (who hasn’t said a word yet this episode) about how Victor is going to forget the aluminum. On and on and on about it. “He’s definitely going to forget the aluminum.” And then Victor adds in the aluminum. “D’oh,” again. It was sitting on the table right in front of him in a huge bucket, though. How could he have forgotten that? It was right in front of his face the whole time! Come on, Walter. He’ll probably forget the blue food dye. That’s where I’d place my bet.
And then Gus comes in and is upset:
And Walt and Jesse are upset:
And Victor is totally fine:
Gus silently walks through the lab while Walt talks at him about Gale and about how Gus now needs him and Jesse. Victor debates that idea, as he is still insistent on his cooking abilities because “Everything comes down to following a recipe.” When he says that I think, This makes sense to me. Why do they NEED Walt to make his meth? Isn’t it just a recipe? Can’t anyone make a good batch of meth if they just go to the right meth recipe website and follow the instructions without cutting any corners? But then Walt talks a lot of science at him:
And we’re both like:
So I guess not. I guess there’s a lot more to it and that’s why neither Victor nor I will ever be chefs. We just don’t get it.
While Gus continues to move silently around the lab — getting out of his suit and into an orange lab jumpsuit thing, picking up a box cutter, walking around Jesse and Walt with it — Walt continues to make his case. “You won’t do this. You’re too smart. You can’t afford to do this,” he says. At that point, if I were Gus, I would be like, “DON’T TELL ME WHAT I CAN’T DO AND THAT I’M SMART” and then I would’ve killed him, because I don’t react well to people speaking to me in that manner. But of course the only person in that room who can die in the first episode is Victor. So. Goodbye, Victor!
Gus murders him in one of the most gruesome ways I’ve ever seen on a TV show and I have to cover my eyes for most of it. Jeeeeeeeepers. And I guess he killed him for two reasons, both because he was seen at the scene of Gale’s murder and to set an example. “I will kill you in the grossest way possible, even if you were my assistant for a long time, because money.”
In a lighthearted callback to the first season (lighthearted callback involving dissolving a person who was just brutally murdered in front of you), Walt and Jesse dispose of Victor’s body with that chemical thing in the drum. Mike questions its effectiveness. “Trust us,” Jesse says. Hahah. Because remember in the first season? The thing with the tub? The grossest thing you’ve ever seen? That was the best.
CUT TO: DENNY’S.
Walt and Jesse sit in Denny’s. Jesse is in a much more relaxed mood than he has been in up until this point, which is troubling. It seems that Jesse has now — for now — lost his last shred of innocence and, like Tyler says in our hands-down all time favorite movie Fight Club, “It’s only after we’ve lost everything that we’re free to do anything.” And in this case doing anything is making meth, murdering people, and maybe only “looking out for number one,” as they say. Lots of good quotes here! Jesse explains that now they and Gus are “on the same page,” meaning the page of mutual maybe-going-to-murder. A very calm and relaxing page to be on.
Also Walter and Jesse are wearing the same Kenny Rogers t-shirt because I guess they had to change out of their bloody-murder-witness clothes and decided to go to a store with only one kind of t-shirt for sale.
“We’ll take all of them.”
Walter leaves Denny’s and returns to Skyler’s house to pick up his car. And we get to see his full outfit which is EVEN COOLER than just when we could only see the top half.
Skyler takes off Walt’s “LARGE LARGE LARGE LARGE” sticker, thank god. And they leave on a nice enough note. This is a very scary business they are now both in! And then we are taken back to Gale’s crime scene apartment, where his “Lab Notes” notebook is sitting on the table by his couch. Oops! I’m sure that won’t come back ever.
Aaaaaaaand, The End. A great first episode, of course, no duh. It was an incredibly quiet episode, right? The only person who did much talking at all was Walter. Has this show always been so quiet? I forget. In any case, it was wonderful. Wonderfully understated, wonderfully gruesome, wonderfully anxiety-inducing. Great job, Breaking Bad. I’ll see you next week! Byeeee.
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I don’t know anything about Breaking Bad, are they very much like Blink 182?
I don’t know why this is getting downvotes.
Me neither, I just really wanted to use the box cutter gif…
PS, thanks for recapping Breaking Bad Kelly! SO EXCITED ABOUT IT!
People REALLY hate seeing Breaking Bad compared to Blink 182, I guess? Apples and oranges?
P.S. That is a stupid expression, because of course you can compare apples and oranges! Why couldn’t you? I move that we change the expression from “apples and oranges” to “apples and line dancing.”
“Apples to hot air balloons”
“Apples to people who are still quoting lines from Napoleon Dynamite even though it is 2011.”
The worst thing about this is that I don’t know what I’m going to title any of the other episodes. Kind of blew my load here.
I have a few recommendations:
Breaking Bad S04E02: Malcolm In The Middle’s Dad Is A Badass
Breaking Bad S04E03: Tim Whatley Gave Up Dentistry And Started Making Drugs Instead
Breaking Bad S04E04: Like Comparing Apples To Line Dancing
Breaking Bad S04E08: The Gang Sets the Meth Lab and Sweet Dee on Fire
Breaking Bad S04E08: The One Where Ross Becomes Addicted to Methamphetamines and Torches a School Bus
they both look kinda fruity…
Sometimes I worry that the – sign is the kiss of death for comment votes. It’s like having negative Jeopardy money. Which is real money too? Man I should not have started writing this comment, ever
this show is the best and anybody not watching either has no tv or no brain. WATCH WATCH WATCH SO GOOD!!!
I saw my coworker carrying a box cutter this morning and I freaked out and ran the other way.
BREAKING BAD RECAPS!?!
I’ve only seen a few episodes of this show (and love it).
I just wanted to say that Saul = Bob Odenkirk and he is my favorite funny man on the picture screen out of everybody. That picture of him looking around his office brings me peace.
I can also say, as a resident of Albuquerque, that the show is so accurate to the city it freaks me out sometimes.
Last night, for instance, they’re sitting in Denny’s and immediately the entire room full of people watching were like, “Oh, hey! That’s the Denny’s next to UNM isn’t it? Oh it totally is! I was so drunk there once I totally defiled their bathroom with vomit.”
Just. In case anyone was… curious.
Universidad Nacional de México has a campus in Albuquerque?!
That’s really interesting. I kept thinking how unauthentic it seemed (as someone who’s used to Denny’s in Michigan), but that is indeed a real Denny’s. Ok, it’s not THAT interesting. But it does clear up that one detail, which I’ve been grappling with all night and day. Does everyone wear Kenny Rogers shirts in Albuquerque as well? We don’t around here very often.
Only on very, VERY special days. Days where you have to stuff a dead body into a plastic drum and disintegrate it with hydrofluoric acid.
So, you know, Tuesdays, mostly.
The whole sequence from when Gus enters the lab until Gus leaves the lab deserves at least 3 EGOTs. It was where you really see that great writing can only go so far, at which point great directing has to pick up the torch. Like, Gus had such a powerful presence in that scene, but he only says ONE LINE! At the very very end! That is crazy! I Hugh Jackmanned my britches the whole time.
Gus is my constant.
Totally agree! Throughout that scene I was like, “And Gus hasn’t said a single thing yet. I am freaking out. He hasn’t said a word. OH MY GOD that was gruesome! Oh my god. Ok. He’s getting dressed again, ok. He’ll definitely say something now. What? He’s leaving? He’s leaving. He’s just leaving. He hasn’t said anything at all and he’s leaving. He’ll probably just leave, never having said anyting.”
But then, at the last second, I knew he was going to say something because he was walking on the catwalk towards the door, and he was about to be framed perfectly between like, two big pipes or whatever they were in the center of frame, and I thought, “If he’s going to say anything, he’s going to say it once he’s framed between those two pipes.” And that’s exactly what happened.
I haven’t seen any of this show before, but someone told me season 4 is the best starting place?
WRONG and WHO TOLD YOU THAT and WHAT IS WRONG WITH THEM and WHY WOULD YOU STARTING ANYTHING (MALCOLM) IN THE MIDDLE
Watch season 3 of LOST first, then watch Memento backwards, then yes, start with this season of Breaking Bad.
*punches a baby* NO!
Haha.
But seriously, start w S1. S3 is slightly better, but because of the writers’ strike S1 is very short and thus very fast paced. So start there.
No, now I have to know: Who are these people going around suggesting to, or actually starting serial dramas in the middle?
“Yeah, Treasure Island is a great book – start on page 151.”
Agreed!! How could you start Breaking Bad in the middle??? START FROM THE BEGINNING DUH
Just a little joke at the expense of werttrew (who nearly gave a few posters aneurysms by suggesting people start with S4 of The Wire a while back). I’m a compulsive completionist; I couldn’t skip ahead even if you guys all told me to.
you’re treading on very thin internet ice by reminding people of that werttrew comment.
Well sometimes it works. Like for example a good starting point for LOST is about 10 minutes after they all meet in the church.
Now I have to dig up this insane-sounding comment thread, though.
“since Jesse just shot Gale on his doorstep in the daytime, but whatever. No one saw him, we’ll say, for the sake of this TV show.”
But he totally shot him at night, no? Or maybe it was just an unusually cloudy day, or the result of a recent volcanic explosion, as well as Gale’s neighbours all having mono which would explain why they were at his door in their bathrobes looking all “we were awoken to the sound of Gale totally getting capped fuck I need a drink but I shouldn’t because of my mono medicine which explains why were were sleeping during the day” Anyways…Gale was shot at night, making Jesse’s anonymity more plausible.
And finally, “It makes you want to die but also you love it so much because it is smart and “gripping” and dark and intense and knows exactly what it is doing 100% of the time and it looks so good”
I’m all like,” I could have swore this was about Breaking Bad, not my grandmother!” *Fart Noise*
I thought it was mostly bright outside? MY B. But still! Still I think someone would have seen him, or at least looked around and seen him there afterwards. Since Victor found him the car right away. You know?
Simple plot hole glue: all trucks always backfire all the time in New Mexico, and all guys usually sit in their cars wearing a distressed facial expression, so nothing out of the ordinary there. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go accept the Hollywood writing job that should be coming my way any time now.
Hi, thanks for accepting the job! We’ll need you to start flushing out some characters and key plot points for this “Snorks” reload.
When Victor finds Jesse in the car, it is night, so everyone must have been in their apartments when he shot Gale and then came out to see what happened after Jesse already went to his car. I think Victor found him easily because he knew who he was looking for. (Also, it was Victor who started making the meth, not Mike…)
Love the recap and review, just wanted to give one correction. It’s actually Victor who starts making a batch and says they don’t need a cook, not Mike.
Oops!! Typo. Thank you both!
And I love your review!!! Can’t wait to read the others!
I already said this over on mobfd but I feel it needs to be said again:
The Walking Dead promo that played during Breaking Bad really left me with mixed emotions. I mean I really want to see Season 2 of The Walking Dead but since it only starts when Breaking Bad ends, I never want The Walking Dead Season 2 to start because then we no longer get new Breaking Bad episodes.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v17/noirnerd/rick_smash.gif?t=1310999056
Grimes!!!!!
wow messed that one up!
Kelly, the SAME thing happened to me in Chicago regarding locksmiths. I had let my puppy out in the middle of the night (puppies need to pee y’all) and the door closed behind me and I was in my pajamas and had no way to get back inside. I lived down the street from a police station so I asked them if they’d help me break into my place. They couldn’t so they called for the locksmith. Maybe because the police called… Maybe because we’re girls… Maybe because Chicago is comically corrupt? I don’t know but wow, locksmiths. Am I right?
Also, what a damn good show. Though I got into it via the DVDs and now I’m sad I can’t watch next weeks right now.
I also had to cover my face and eyeballs when Gus killed Victor. And I didn’t even notice Walt and Jesse were wearing the same clothes (Captain Observant over here). “Give me all of the Kenny Rogers T-shirts and white pants that you have.” — Walt Swanson
Anyone else think that their outfits were from the local Albuquerque Hot Topic? The “Large” sticker on the ironic Kenny Rogers tee looked like classic Hot Topic, and then the white jeans, and the red Chucks? So Hot Topic-y!
In other news, I am so sorry I just brought up Hot Topic.
On one of the Season 3 commentaries, Vince Gilligan comments on a Jack o Lantern shirt Jesse is wearing, and talks about when he bought it. At the same store, he says he also bought out their inventory of Kenny Rogers shirts in hopes of using it one day on the show. When I saw them wearing the shirts last night, I couldn’t stop giggling even though the scene was immediately preceded by HOLY SHIT murder.
“Holy shit!” to “holy shirt!”, am i right? I’m pretty sure I’m right.
The combo of Kelly’s sweetness mixed with Breaking Bad’s saltiness is a nice combo. Good work, Kelly. Good work, Breaking Bad. Sunday nights and Monday afternoons are gonna be awesome for the next couple of months.
Do you guys remember that time Walt threw the pizza on the roof? Classic Walt.
Gif of this anyone?
Oh! found it. That was so easy!
DENNY’S IS FOR WINNERS.
And MURDERS. (Same thing.)
THANK YOU SO MUCH KELLY! I was really hoping breaking bad would be covered but I was worried it wouldn’t be because Gabe is already doing a true blood recap. But it is being covered and I really hope it continues to be covered.
Breaking Bad! YAY!
Also three things:
1. The reason why he “needs” Walt is because he is the best. Even Gale, a professional biochemist, can’t reach the 99% purity on his own. At the same time you’d think that they could have just killed Walter in the first place and just say “screw it” and go back to the 96% as you’d think methheads wouldn’t be able to tell the difference and at that point the “best” would be taken care of anyways. At the same time, probably someone like Victor wouldn’t do that great a job at it and the quality would be significantly reduced.
2. I also think Victor was a bit in charge of Gales safety. Not so much that it was his prime, but letting him be killed was kind of a major screw up (also being seen). It’s kind of like darth vader killing all his admirals. They arn’t entirely to blame, in fact they probably have just a tiny bit of blame in comparison to the other factors, but still it is partly their fault and somebody has to answer for it.
3. WHAT IS UP WITH ANNA GUNNS FACE. I guess she got plastic surgery and seems to have gotten fatter. I normally don’t care about peoples looks, but it’s kind of hard when an episode is supposed to be the day of the last season finale, to look quite a bit different and it’s a bit jarring. I guess that’s the cost of waiting so long to renew and get going on this shit. Hopefully AMC will go the HBO method and renew that show now.
I too felt Sklyer looked… off.
Wow. I have to start watching this show again.
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Was I the only one who almost straight-up barfed when it cut from Walt mopping up the blood to some guy in Denny’s mopping up ketchup with a fry? I don’t think I can ever look at ketchup again.
This episode was amazing. The “just moppin’ up sum blood with ma’ mop / just moppin’ up sum ketchup with ma’ fries” match-cut was the best! Blood is gross.