The trouble with setting up a season with the pace and skill that the final season of Breaking Bad has been set with is that you can’t let off the throttle without taking some criticism. That’s how I felt about 512 Rabid Dog.
Plenty of stuff happened, don’t get me wrong. Jesse decided not to burn down the White House after Hank convinced him to help burn Walt’s empire to the ground instead, Walt moved his entire family into a swanky hotel in fear of Jesse’s retaliation for the poisoning of Brock, and Jesse declared all out war on Walt and his family (I think).
The problems I have with this episode tend more toward the coincidences and the somewhat circular plot which left us right back where we were at the end of last week’s episode; Jesse on the rampage with the sole focus of taking down Walt.
Though I’m not completely satisfied with the plot progression this episode, I did like many thing about it.
I think the acting was excellent as usual. Hank and Jesse’s standoff in the White house was an incredibly intense and while Dean Norris easily held his own, the scene was absolutely made by Aaron Paul, finally saying what he, and the audience, have been thinking all along; “He can’t keep getting away with this!”
The timeline trickery was also something I enjoyed. It certainly kept up the intensity and the suspense of the scenes where it was used.
I think this was probably the worst episode so far of these last eight but that’s hardly a damning comment when you consider the level that this show has been playing at for the past 3 weeks.
That’s all for now but I’ll have more on Tuesday or you can listen to our instant podcast for even less thought-out reactions.