Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Breadking Bad Season 2 Disk 2

Episode 5: Breakage
I love that Jesse really is smart, no matter how stupid he sounds or looks trying to be street. Of course, someone who is moving more than a pound crystal meth a week is street, most likely. For all of Walter's concerns about the new business arrangement, Jesse has his stuff together and knows what he's doing. He's even right about acceptable losses, though of course Walter will never admit it, because, well quite frankly, he has no street cred, nor does he desire any. Walter's world is cut and dry - all about the numbers, whether they be the formulas for cooking the meth, the money collected, or figuring out the bills and planning for his family.
Hank's bravado is finally shown for that, even if to no one but the audience. We now know that for all of his big talk, that he's just as disturbed by killing Tuco as anyone would be at taking a life, and that he is just as afraid of the repercussions as you or I would be. I suspect we will see this played front-and-center this season. Maybe even more than once.

Episode 6: Peakaboo
Jesse has himself a fine crew of dealers. These guys are not good guys who made mistakes, these are the dregs of society, but they're nothing compared to the whore and her pimp, or whatever 'Spooge' is to her. These people are the lowest of the low, me thinks. It is so rare to see dirty people on television. I don't mean the fake-looking dirty used for comic effect on sitcoms, I mean the scabby, rashy, ain't-washed-in-a-month-or-more kind of dirty. You also rarely get to see junkies except as corpses or the crazies that the CSI has to deal with. Spooge and his, um, baby-mama, they're rare on television, they're genuine looking.
I was just commenting today how I would like to see more of the principal and Walter at school. Then, boom, Walter is teaching again and Carmen is having a little chat with him, saying that she is inspired by him and is there for him, in a discreet way if needed. I'm not expert, but that seemed to me like she was throwing out hints.
I am even more curious as to how Walter and Skylar met after seeing Walter and Gretchen interact. Last season, it was implied that she had dumped Walter to be with Elliot, and not able to deal with it, Walter left Grey Matters, and his shot at being uber-rich. But, now we have Gretchen saying that for no reason she has ever been able to discern, Walter walked out on her in the middle of a visit to her family. I am very intrigued.

Episode 7: Negro y Azul
We got a show-themed music video to start the episode. I think it's pretty cool that the producers don't feel tied down to a formula and I think that provides the freshness that makes this show so appealing, well that and the good acting.
I love that Walter gets off on being a bad-ass. And after a fashion, so does Jesse. Together they have the shared delusion that there bad-assness will get them the city and a corner on the meth market.
We also get to see Hank off in El Paso making himself look like a total idiot, even though when his machismo finally caves at the sight of an informant's severed head on the back of a turtle and he has to go to the car to keep from throwing up, he proves heroic when the bomb goes off and he gets right in putting a tourniquet on the guys leg to keep him from bleeding out. You would think that someone in the DEA in the Southwest would at least know basic Spanish.

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