Oh man. I’m not one to wish a summer away (especially around here, where summer is briefer than I’d like) but I was counting down the days to August 11 ever since the last episode of Breaking Bad Season 5.1 ended.
I got up at 5:10 AM (!) on Sunday, drove two hours to run a 5km race through mud and water, and STILL managed to stay up late enough to watch the season premiere. That’s how much I was anticipating this show. So, let’s talk about it, shall we?
The cold open represented everything I love about Breaking Bad. I love how the show jumps forward in time, explaining nothing. It makes the rest of the episode, and the season, feel like a mystery needing to be solved. It’s so fun to watch it all unravel.
What we know, is that Walt’s identity of Heisenberg is now public. His neighbor is terrified of him, and the name is spray-painted on the wall of his fenced up house, where neighborhood kids now use the empty pool to skateboard. He looked like he’d been on the run, but didn’t mind going back to his house to retrieve the hidden ricin. Wasn’t he worried about being caught? He didn’t seem to care that the neighbor saw him.
Then we jumped back to where we left off, with Hank finding the “W.W.” book in the bathroom. In a daze, he stuffed it into his bag and joined the family – just as Marie jokingly said to Walt “You’re the devil” – and made up an excuse to leave.
I liked how well the writers depicted Hank’s total shock and what he suspected. He couldn’t concentrate on driving, got sick, and started working from his garage. But I was surprised at how quickly we got to witness a confrontation between Hank and Walt.
Walt noticed the book was missing when he was throwing up, because his cancer is back. I’m not sure I bought his plea to Hank to just let a sick man die. He basically said he’s out of the business and dying – so there would never be time to prosecute him. Walt thinks so highly of himself, I don’t think he was asking for Hank’s sympathy. I do think he was trying to manipulate Hank into letting it go – but that felt too naive for Walt. The episode ended with Hank lowering the garage door, and the two men getting into a fight.
What we saw of Jesse made me sad. A kid whose life has been ruined – he’s high, miserable, and doesn’t even want his money. His blood money. He tried giving it away to people who’d been wronged, and ended up just throwing it into front yards in a poor neighborhood. Poor Jesse.
I’ll leave the review at that, though I’m sure there is more to talk about. Instead, just take to the comments and share your thoughts! What stood out to you?