Tonight the biggest question I had on my mind coming into the second episode of the back half of Season Five of Breaking Bad was, “will Vince Gilligan maintain the stakes he set with the premier? Or, having thrown down the gauntlet, will he pump the brakes a little, let us catch our breath, and really setup the pieces on the chessboard before hurtling us forward again?”
Yeah, not so much on the brakes. It’s incredible that the Hank accusation tour we were looking forward to from last week wasn’t even the biggest deal about this episode. We had Skyler finally, possibly irrecoverably Breaking Bad, a kidnapping thwarted by Hank, a murderous hostile take over of Declan’s crew by Todd’s Uncles of Anarchy, Lydia revealing herself as The One Who Covers Her Eyes, and Marie delivering the Slap Heard ‘Round America, if not the world.
And that’s to say nothing of Jesse’s plot which ends the episode at another major cliffhanger. The confidence in which the Villigan is telling his story is incredible to behold. We’re worrying about what Declan is going to do to Walt, and Villigan straight up murders them. It makes a lot of sense, because there’s only six episodes left to go (sobs!) and we need to continue to whittle away characters until we reveal what this show is about. Which more and more, I think is going to be about Walt and Jesse. Which is bad news for Skyler and everyone else around Walt.
Everyone is absolutely acting their asses off for these final eight. Hank vs. Skyler (good cop), Skyler vs. Marie (bad cop), Skyler and Walt on the floor of the master bath, their performance really deliver the ugliness of this particular human drama. My guts were twisted up from the jump.
A few other things on my mind:
* About the only horseshit I can call on this episode is Lydia’s master plan. I don’t get it. It makes Declan out to be pretty sloppy, which maybe he is? He was obviously an also-ran to Gus’s empire. But how did Lydia keep her cell phone? Can you get cell phone reception in the middle of nowhere in New Mexico when you’re sixteen feet underground surrounded by a metal container and heavy industrial equipment? I feel like VG and company owes it to us to be a bit more transparent on plots like this, lest they be seen as a contrivance. We more or less let Brock’s poisoning slide, but I don’t want the final season to start sagging under the weight of a bunch of “just so” nonsense. That’s certainly not what made this show great.
* Director Michelle MacLaren is incredible. She pulled off Breaking Bad’s showy shot de jour with the “Merry-go-round” cam of Jesse in the park, and she nailed the obligatory “Walt doing criminal shit” montage that gave the episode it’s name. Nice implied off screen action, and kudos to whoever keeps finding these great New Mexican locations (not-so-superlab 2.0, Walt’s cash burial), they’re just terrific.
* Huell and Faux-EPA guy’s Scrooge McDuck routine was hilarious, and a much needed break from the insanity of this episode. I’d like to know what that feels like, myself.
* I wondered on Facebook what’s with everyone going to Belize? It was the source of a minor Justified plot in season one, and I thought maybe the country was a no-extradition haven for criminals around the world. I did some research and it turns out, not really.
* Speaking of which, Saul didn’t like the talk of him being sent to Belize, not one bit. Didn’t he say last week that when people start talking about axing the lawyers that’s when he draws the line?
* Standard Bald Move PSA: never, ever, ever talk to the police. Even if and especially if you’re innocent of the crime you’re being asked about. Just don’t do it.
* I’m in an interesting position of liking Skyler less after this episode. She had a way to save her family by just cooperating with Hank (after getting a lawyer, of course. Hank’s high pressure tactic is straight out of the cop playbook). That would have made the anti-Skyler crowd go berserk. Then Walt gave her an out; he’d turn himself in if she didn’t give up the money. This was probably the best outcome at this point for all involved, given Walt’s diagnosis, but now… we’ll have to see what happens with Pinkman. But man, things aren’t looking good for Skyler with what we know about Vince’s take on justice and karma. To me, this single episode did a lot of invalidating a lot of the stuff she did in previous seasons and actually makes her look more like a hypocrite. But she’s an interesting hypocrite, I’ll give her that.
* As I mentioned in our instant take podcast, this is the death of “Walt’s faking his cancer” theory, right? Under what circumstance would he maintain that facade?
* Loved Hank’s sober analysis of the end of his career he dropped on Marie. And then Jesse through him a lifeline. Honestly, this is a little bit of Hank breaking bad, am I right? I am officially worried for how things will turn out with him now that he’s not really doing the right thing.
Don’t forget to check back Tuesday night for our complete coverage of “Buried!”