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Tuesday, July 17, 2012
5:50 pm
11 Comments
But the more I thought back over s5e1, the more I found something to be missing. It seems to go against the heart of what BrBa is all about. Vince Gilligan has said in interviews that his primary goal with BrBa is to tell a story about how an upstanding citizen transforms into Scarface. He’s explicitly said the show was about character first and plot second, that he never wanted the show to become a “mission of the week” type of series, where every week something disastrous happens to Walt and Jesse and they have to figure a way out of it. And honestly…I felt like this was a more “mission of the week”. For starters, Jesse was barely in it, and he and Walt had no moments together. I’d been waiting all year to see how Walt and Jesse’s relationship would evolve next, and I guess I’ll have to wait another week. On top of that, one of the things I was most looking forward to learning in season five is, what does killing Gus mean for Walt? With his rival out of the way will he retire into safety or will he try to step into the power vacuum. Nothing about that this week, either.
I mean, the fact that they almost called themselves out as doing a Hogan’s Heroes storyline with their Season Five premier to me indicates they know that this episode isn’t what the show is really about. Filler country.
Don’t get me wrong. It was a damn fine filler episode. The magnet stuff was a blast. And there were plenty of nice character moments…I would say this is the first week when Walt has entirely inhabited the Scarface persona. Even going to last season, when Walt heard that Gus was coming to kill him, his first instinct was to run away. I couldn’t imagine Season Five Walt doing that now.
So the good stuff was there, just not prominent enough. Guess we’ll have to wait until next week.
Here are some other scattered thoughts:
-It seems odd to me that Walt finally gave in and showed the waitress his driver’s license. Clearly he’s not hurtingt for money. So, I’m guessing Walt showed the driver’s license not because he wanted the free breakfast, but because he wanted to see if the fake ID was credible. Walt’s not susceptible to pressure to just give in when someone nudges him like that.
-Also, I’m guessing the tip is Walt’s little act of penance. All the mayhem he’s caused the last four seasons has to be eating away at him, so I wonder if we’ll see similar penances going forward.
-Notice how Hank is back on his feet, literally. Last season he was still struggling through his rehab, but now he’s climbing down ladders and moving around the ruins of the superlab with ease. Looks like breaking the Gus case is better for him than any rehab was.
-I loved the “universal symbol for keys” misunderstanding at the end of Act One. To me Mike has always looked and sounded like George Carlin, but now he’s beginning to drop funny, insightful social commentary.
11 Comments
Welcome Back! Your absence was very much noted and I enjoyed your recap a lot (but that was to be expected right?). I had a couple of observations/thoughts: The “because I said so” part made me pee a little myself (you are not alone). Its just awesome to see Walt so… idk, GANGSTA this season. Mike and Gus were the most bad ass on the show, they broke bad years ago I’m sure, but now Walt is finally coming into his own. It was a trip for sure, I dont think anyone but Gus could have made Mike shut up in the past (and Im saying this as a BIG Mike fan). This is going to be an interesting final season for sure. About Walt leaving the large tip and showing the waitress his ID- I think that was some foreshadowing of Walt trying to create an alibi of sorts. I mean he would have to know that if asked later, a waitress would remember a guy who made a birthday candle out of bacon, was from out of state, and left a freaking $100 tip ON A FREE MEAL. Yeah theres no way shes going to forget that, I just cant fathom why he would go to all of the trouble to set up that alibi. Interesting theory I am shooting around. Sorry its so long but this is one of my favorite shows ever. I’m with you on the hoping they don’t end an amazing series in a formulaic “Scooby Gang” solve the mystery by end credits kinda way.
I LOVE it when they have events in the beginning of the episodes that don’t get explained until the end of the season. Like the detritus and HAZMAT guys at the pool in season 3. Hope Future Walt is a recurring theme as well, building toward the finale. I’m so glad this show is back!!!!
Enjoyed the recap. A couple of points, nitpicking maybe, but they bother me a little: First, after meeting in the desert, Mike, Jesse and Walt leave one of the cars out there. HUH? They’re desperate to obliterate anything that might bring police attention and they leave a car out in the desert with a door open no less. Hmm, guys, cars have VIN all over them, registrations and so forth. And even out in the desert, the car will be found sooner or later on that pretty well traveled road. Second, Mike and Walt were openly talking in the junk yard about their plan to destroy evidence with the magnet. Don’t you think that was a little careless? Surely the police will canvass every place with a powerful magnet.
Oh crap! I cannot believe I forgot this was back on and didn’t even DVR it!! ARGH!!!! I’m so disappointed in myself.
Love this show. Was discussing it with Mr.timgunnssister. We agree there was something…..lacking…..in this first episode. And I speculate that ‘Walt’ is still missing (remember his fugue state?). I’m not certain Walt ever came back – but Heisenberg did. In the beginning I think we saw mostly Walt with flashes of Heisenberg but now that’s flipped – we see mostly that bad black hatted dude with occasional flashes of Walt – the scene with the baby, for example.
The opening sequence is definitely one to ponder. Why does he need the big gun? Who is he going to kill next? Just what is Walt/Heisenbergs total body count to date? And does Skye really think Walt will let Ted live? Really?
Great recap! It is very impressive to make a recap of a drama funny and you nailed it!
I loved the baking soda volcano best
Welcome back!
I’m not one usually to nitpick, especially on this show where the do a great job of tieing up loose ends…..but with the Gus Fring murder being such a huge deal wouldn’t the police have immediately gone through his computer and not stashed it in evidence?
St Clare! Awesome recap. And awesome other Gasmi watchers who pick up on all the details. I love it when people “nitpick;” it means they’re as into the show as I am. I look forward to watching this season with you guys.
@ mjhawk — No, the police would most likely have kept everything in evidence until they had gathered all of the things that they felt were relevant to their case, and then would have started actually sifting through it, piece by piece. It’s all about allocation of resources and the whims of the lead investigator. Also, since Gus is dead now, they probably feel like they can take a moment to breathe before taking down his drugs operation, since his underlings are going to be completely at loose ends now that their boss has so suddenly been all blowed up.
OMG, did we know about this?! http://youtu.be/risBO1uupRc
The internet is a magical place.
“Walt gave the cigarette, poisoned with ricin, to Saul. Saul then had his henchman Huell sneak the poisoned cigarettes into Jesse’s pocket where Brock could find them and get a hold of them.” I’m confused by what you say here, as this is not what happened. Walt originally put the poison in the cigarette and gave it to Jesse to use on Gus. Jesse had it until Huell stole it off him. Walt had him do this to make Jesse think Gus knew about it, stole it, and used it to poison Brock.