Salon has a review of the latest episode of AMC's "Breaking Bad" 4x5, "Shotgun". It culminates with: "Breaking Bad might need to come to grips with the fact that it's not the same show now that it was when it began. It has a different energy and different obsessions. This might call for a more compressed narrative composed mostly of very short scenes, with the occasional spaghetti-strand action sequence being saved for special occasions, plus a willingness to get the cleanups out of the way quickly, the better to indulge in the surprising and forward-looking action that made the show a phenomenon in the first place."
I don't agree. Yes the storytelling has changed a bit and this season is a bit slower, but I think that's fine. I think it helps to define this series as something different and it is still exploring the characters in interesting ways. The opening of the review is spot on, "Tonight's "Breaking Bad," titled "Shotgun," ended with a scene that did what TV drama does best: define characters so completely that you feel as if you know them as well as you know yourself." But what it fails to mention is how the episode (in fact the whole season) contrasted Walt with Gus.
Walt has always been the smart one in the series, most obviously paired against Jesse. But he's also been out of his depth working in the underworld. We've seen him face one complication after another, like how to get supplies, where to cook, how to get product out safely, and how to deal with competitors who were willing to kill. In all of these Walt figured something out, usually by being smarter than others, though usually not before first ending up in a life threatening and desperate situation.
*Spoilers*
Now we see him working for Gus and Gus is as smart or smarter than Walt. He's been in the business longer and is very good at what he does, and he doesn't get rattled, and Walt always has. This episode was filled with Walt taking chances. It opened with a crazy car race to a chicken shack to... sit and wait. That ride miraculously drew no police. Wouldn't one of the cars he almost hit call the police on a cell phone?
Meanwhile Gus was engaged in a long con to make Jesse less of a risk to his operation. Sure someone like Tucco would have just killed or threatened Jesse, but Gus scares him a little and then makes him feel like a hero to give him something to live for. This is why Gus is in the position he's in.
Walt can't keep his ego in check at dinner even though it means the feds will be searching for him again. Gus obviously spent a while figuring out how to deal with the Jesse situation, and here's Walt putting his operation in jeopardy in a whole new way for no good reason. At some point Gus will realize that Walt isn't worth it. He's the definition of problem employee.
I suspect the cameras are in the lab so some other cooker can learn all the details of the recipe so that Gus can replace Walt. Hank will start investigating the chicken shack but I'm sure Gus has made it the perfect front and will be able to control that. I'm guessing that future episodes will contrast how good a front Gus has vs how badly Walt and Skyler setup the car wash as a front.
When the season began the creators said in interviews that they were exploring how bad they could make Walk while still having the audience root for him. I think now I'm rooting for him to get caught. Oddly I'm also rooting against Hank and for Gus. That's all completely upside down and I'm enjoying that.
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