read it twice. great reviewVader182 wrote:Here's my full write up of my thoughts on Breaking Bad if anyone would care to read:
-VaderWhile predicting Hank figuring out who Walt is at the end of 8.1 is something you know I did long before it started, I can't say most of the episode fell close to being within the boundaries of predicability or lacking in surprises. The episode opens with Walt at his most heinous, mobsterly driven, and kindpin-esque, executing a plan referential to Godfather by way of neo-nazis, then Walt suddenly became an international drug kingpin ...in a montage. That alone is an audacious and unexpected choice given the show often taking its time in building up these sorts of things, especially this season. He accomplishes everything he set out to do, with subtle moments throughout indicating a nagging loneliness and lack of fulfillment, perhaps because so much over the course of the episode reminded Walt, just like it did us, of the crazy and often devastating experiences over the last 5 seasons. The fly (an episode focusing on the first time he let someone die/killed someone), the painting from season 1, the dented hand dryer, Gale. But just like that, three months go by and in another series-defining moment, Walt willingly totally gets out of the drug trade. Out of earnestness and love that we had every reason to think barely was there at all, especially given how one note Walt's been this whole season.
Other scenes crossed subtle lines the show hasn't before- until now everyone within the 'drug' world hasn't viewed Walt with any particular animosity or fear outside of how they would to anyone in those situations. Here, Jesse breaks down after standing in a room with Walter White for just a few minutes, prepared to blast him away if need demands it. We haven't ever seen that before. Things felt deliberate again, artistically driven, perfectly understated and everything could breathe. And finally, the man who, so certain those dead can never harm him, that which is within his grasp is entirely under his control, was his undoing. The dead returned, and no man can control -everything-, and that too is a bold choice. This episode had little in the way of "obvious" moments like most of the season, it was a collage of subtle moments building to a reflection of what was before to now and bringing it full circle with a sympathetic Walt experiencing a happy life with his family.
Nothing but bold choices in nearly every regard, from the understated quality of the episode to the fact this episode featured more powerful, resonant moments than most of the season's episodes combined. Masterful television.
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