Breaking Bad: "Shotgun"

Season 4, Episode 5

When winds blow, people’s sails change direction

“You are not the guy. You are not capable of being the guy.

I had a guy, and now I don’t. You’re not the guy!”

-Mike

Breaking Bad seems dead set on making me eat my words. After discussing at some length last week about the show’s recent retreat from some of their tenser moments, the show opens up like a gangbuster with a POV shoot of Walt’s car weaving in and out of traffic, while he frantically tries to transfer all his accounts to Skyler’s name. It’s seems like an out of character move for Walt, given how much antagonism exists between him and his ex-wife, but these are trying times, and trying times seem to engender change for a lot of New Mexico’s residents.

Back in the premiere episode, entering the drug trade seemed to awaken something in Walter White, as all of that anger and misanthropy finally exploded out of him, resulting in a changed man – and a reawakened sex drive. Now that Skyler’s also into the meth trade action – albeit in a second hand, money laundering capacity – she too seems to be undergoing similar changes, as the closing of the carwash buyout gets her excited enough to sleep with Walt. Sure she throws up all kinds of justification for why she did it – before the act it was because of hearing Walt’s heartfelt message, and post-coitus is was out of a need to keep up appearances – but no doubt Skyler’s excited to be doing something dangerous, especially when that something is the thing that tore her marriage apart. She’s intrigued by this alien criminal world, and she wants to know more. The problem is, she may not be up to the task; we’ve already seen her botch a few deals due to her inability to be discrete, her meticulousness probably isn’t suited to Walt’s face-paced lifestyle, and there’s very little reason to believe that she has to moral constitution to learn about everything her ex-husband has to do.

Yet despite the troubles coming down the pipe for Skyler, that’s nothing compared to what’s going on in Walt’s head. Still reeling from his loss of control, and now the loss of his cooking partner, Walt has been worn down to the point where he’s just acting on impulse, specifically those impulses that were awoken when he first starting manufacturing meth. For as much as that awakening of those impulses has been a boon to Walt – he finally able to assert himself, he became more satisfied with his life, etc. – they were ultimately destructive emotions on his life. And while the show has been slowly showing his life crumbling down around him – his divorce, the loss of a normal social life, the death and destruction he inadvertently (and then later purposefully) caused – it’s only in the past few episodes that we’ve really started to see these emotions erode him at his core.

While the first few episodes of this season have focused on how pitiful, petty, and pathetic Walt has become due to his circumstances, last week’s episodes and this one have changed the focus, instead looking at how reckless he’s still become. He takes his 38 snub-nose – which was hiding under the driver’s seat!  - into Los Pollos Hermanos in an attempt to confront Gus, only to discover he’s not there. Even when he learns of Jesse’s fate, he still rages and rambles on about how much these actions have screwed him over, apparently oblivious to how much he must be pissing off his employer. (Note how Walt seems more concerned about the loss of a cooking partner than the loss of Jesse specifically.)

Even in the confines of his family Walt has grown careless. Still trying to make his decision to manufacture drugs mean something, he taken up bragging – to the extent that he can brag about himself openly. After becoming very bored – and by extension, very drunk – while at Hank and Maries for dinner, Walt’s ears perk up when he hears Hank talk about how smart Gale must have been. Not content to let an underling take credit for his work, even when it comes to a law enforcement officer, Walt goes off about how Gale couldn’t have been that smart, at least not based on his notes, a statement that draws look of horror from Skyler and suspicion from Hank.

Though Walt may have screwed himself with that comment, he certainly seemed to help out Hank. Even though Officer Schrader had been content just a few hours earlier to pack it in on the case, something about what Walt said seemed to have sparked his interest once again, and as he pours over a new box of evidence (much to Marie’s delight), he can’t help but notice a strange clue, a napkin from Los Pollos Hermanos…..

Though apart from the White-Schrader family tree, Jesse too seems to be undergoing a bit of a change in identity, thanks in large part to the machinations of Gus. After be roped into doing a tour of pickups for dead drops (I think that how one should describe, but then again, I’ve never dealt drugs) with Mike, he gets the chance to be a hero when their car gets ‘attacked’ at the last pickup. Not only does this help Gus to make sure that Jesse falls back in line, but it also has the perhaps unwanted side effect of giving Jesse, who’s already plenty pompous enough, an ego boost. Now filled with a new, perhaps better sense of purpose, Jesse become even more dismissive toward Walt, and their working relationship deteriorates just a little bit more. Great, just what Walt needed.

Quotes, Etc.:

We can all officially breathe a sigh of relief: Breaking Bad has been renewed for a 16 episode order to close out the series. No word yet on how those 3 extra episodes will affect the air date/order.

“Breakfast chicken chalupa combo meal” sounds like either the most delicious or most disgusting item to ever come off of a fast food menu. I can’t decide which.

Mike’s proof of honesty: “I’m crossing my heart, Walt.”

Hank, on Gale: He’s like Scarface crossed with Mr. Rogers.”

“I’m finally getting what the plan is here: it’s to bore me to death. Well, it’s working, so good job.”

“Right, right, non-fancy liquor it is then. As long as it gets the job done.”

One of the most priceless moments that the series has given us in a long time was the look on Walt, Jr.’s face when he realized that Walt and Skyler just had sex.

“Yeah, I also started tying my own shoelaces too, all by myself.”

“I’m not talking about you, I’m talking about your baby sister. I’m not letting you anywhere near my car.”

“‘Case of the crazy singing guy’? Sounds like an Encyclopedia Brown book.”