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08-13-2012 He wasn't yet in his teens. He didn't think tarantulas were mean. And I wonder who claimed his dirt bike out there. How could he wave to those mothers? And they saw him standing there. -The Beatles... kinda After a couple episodes that were long on character development and slow on action, last night's episode revived the on-screen excitement again. We will see where this episode ultimately plays out in the series, but to me it seemed like this one has the possibility of being pretty self-contained. Exceptions, of course, will be having a bug successfully located in Hank's office, along with what I'm assuming is some sort of device to capture internet/e-mail usage from his computer, and also having enough methylamine for the foreseeable future. Since much of this episode played out in front of us instead of in the characters' psyches and scheming heads, there isn't a ton to break down. Outside of the Great Train Robbery, we have an undercurrent of children showed and mentioned throughout. Bookending this episode is the youngster on the dirt bike having a nice spin through the not-so-lush desert. And oh the dangers he encounters. Not only is he miles from home with the possibility of dying from dehydration if his bike ran out of gas or broke down, but he also gets in touch with some of the dangerous wildlife: big, hairy spiders. But those spiders have nothing on the poisonous men who hang out on the wrong side of the tracks. Just when we think we can exhale at the end of the hour, that the train heist was completed despite a couple close calls, we have a shocking end that left me stuck to the couch for a good couple minutes after the credits rolled. All I can say is that Vince Gilligan does not mind harming a child here or there to grab the attention of the audience. Side note: Our new bug- and child-killer, Todd (Jesse Plemmons) from Vamonos Pest, while being a good look-alike for Matt Damon, also played a role on the TV series Friday Night Lights where he offed a guy. Back to the children, we also have a one-on-one with Lydia and Walt where she mentions parenthood. Not sure if anything from that scene will carry forward. Otherwise, we have quite a bit about Walter Jr (once again using the "I'm pissed at you, dad" Flynn moniker) and Holly. Holly gets much screen time hanging out with Uncle Hank, who we get to see is quite a softie when he's not sniffing out bad guys and making racial jokes at Gomey's expense. Bonus points to me for his mention of the movie Heat to Walt Jr. I referenced a possible end to Breaking Bad where Hank and Walt have an exchange reminiscent of the one at the end of Gone in 60 Seconds, but the restaurant scene in Heat with Pacino and DeNiro is just as good of an analogy. As far as Walt goes, it was tough to read his mind in the scene with Skyler where he agreed to her demands of keeping Junior and Holly at Hank and Marie's indefinitely, but it was a palpable release of control and another step down this darkening path for him. Once a family man focused on providing for the Whites who would eventually have their names be preceeded by "Survived by..." in his cancer-sped obituary, he has taken to getting in Skyler's face last week, and now seemingly giving up his children this week. And for what? What is his motivation to continue? Is he chasing the rush of the game? His pride? Or is he simply in too deep to go back to regular life? (We do have a peek of what he wants in a line from next week's episode, but I won't comment on it here. We don't know the context it's said in anyway.) Regardless, when he made the decision to "give up" his children, that definitely had a "We just lost the Moon" from Apollo 13 feel to it. I'm left with one strong question from this episode. Walt is obsessed with the quality of his product. Yet we have dirt spilling into his methylamine tank in the desert. And we also have them pumping water into the tanker car simultaneously while the methylamine is being pumped out. Walt has already told us that the water is more dense than methylamine, so wouldn't the water go to the bottom and end up being pumped out instead of their precious precursor? Just curious. I don't know the inner workings of tanker train cars enough to know if the contents would remain separated. In any case, I'm looking out for the possibility that their next batch(es) of Blue might not register as high on the purity level. Well-known pioneer of quality in manufacturing Edwards Deming would not be proud! Vamonos muchachos until next week! Tune in to the show... and my blog! -T |
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