This
is an episode where taking a retrospective look at the series really comes in
handy. We now know with certainty that the murder of Krazy 8 is now the
crossing of a moral event horizon for Walt. Before this, Walt is very much
restricted by the ideas of right and wrong he had grown up with in his more
sheltered lifestyle, but after this he becomes much more pragmatic about his
actions. Instead of valuing all human life as equal, he values only the life of
the humans he cares about; those within his sphere of influence. That really
only includes his extended familly and Jesse. Outside of those people, human
life means nothing.
How
does a switch like that flip so quickly? Is this common to all humans, that
once they break a certain barrier human life no longer has the same meaning to
them? Breaking Bad itself says no. Jesse goes into a downward spiral because of
the death of strangers twice. Once, when he had to murder Gale,
and once after Todd murders Drew Sharp by following the instructions of Walt
and Jesse. There's something special about
Walt, something that allows him to take that sociopathic attitude required to
be the monster he becomes.
The
conversations between Walt and Krazy 8 offer some of the best dialogue Breaking
Bad has to offer. The acting is top notch, and it makes me sad we don't get to
see more of Krazy 8 after this, as the way Max
Arceniega was able to sell the story of him working in his Dad's shop is
extremely compelling stuff. That scene doesn't work unless the audience is
being sucked into the story as Walt is, and it adds so much more power to the
scene where Walt has to kill Krazy 8.
It
is tempting to take that conversation, and the desperation of Walt to trust
Krazy 8, as evidence that it was circumstance that drove Walt into the man he
became. I don't believe that is the
case, because I believe the reaction after the event is more important
than the hesistance to perform. I think many of us would have made the same
decision Walt did here. I don't think many of us are capable of what Walt does
over the next couple of seasons. Walt wrote on his pros/cons list that he
wouldn't be able to live with himself if he killed Krazy 8, but that was a lie
he told himself. Walt has no trouble living with himself after this event.
Normal people would struggle greatly with killing a man after the fact,
breaking hard and fast rules they live their life by. Walt barely struggles at
all.
It
comes down to this: Walt is a great rationalizer. That's all it takes. It seems
crazy that you can be driven from fairly decent family man to mass murderer
simply by being able to rationalize, but that is completely true in this case.
Walt goes up to reflect on his action, and ultimately decides that mankind is
made up of nothing more than matter. He decides there's no intrinsic value to
human life, it's just another lifeform on the planet. As he states to Gretchen
in the flashback, "There's just chemistry here." Walt is not able to
accept that he has done something awful, he is not able to accept anything
other than the absolute highest opinion of himself. This is his ultimate
downfall in every way. He simply refuses to accept that it was his decision to
cook crystal meth that got two men killed, he instead resorts to the nihilistic
view of life and death being
meaningless.
And
so, a monster is born. Or rather, a monster is revealed. As I've said before,
the traits that made Walt into Heisenberg always existed within him, the series
simply reveals them in an ugly way. Over-rationalization can be a terrible
thing, arrogance can be a terrible thing, and stubbornness can be a terrible
thing if they are given the proper channels to reveal themselves. Krazy 8 says
twice that his line of work does not suit Walt. He has no idea how wrong about
that he is.
From
the perspective of the viewer, we are still given every reason to be on Walt's
side. The show has done a bit of a clever job to this point glossing over what
a terrible decision it is to cook meth as a solution for dealing with your own
mortality. From our perspective, Walt has had very few choices to this point.
He had to kill Krazy 8 because Krazy 8 was ready to attack him with the plate
shard. He's had to lie to Skylar because Skylar just wouldn't understand the
burden he is putting on the family with his cancer and he needs to take
advantage of his considerable chemistry skills to offset that. He needs to yell
at Jesse and demean him because Jesse is a drug addict and an idiot who tells a
murderous drug dealer both Walt's name and details about his life.
Related
to this, if there's one part of the show I'm not on board with, it's the
sabotaging of its secondary characters to make Walt look good. The B-plot in
this episode, the misinterpretation of the Schraeder family that Walter Jr. is
smoking pot is cringeworthy on quite a few levels. First of all, from a
personal standpoint I can't stand to watch plotlines like this. To me scenes
like the one in the seedy motel parking lot where Hank is trying to curb Walter
Jr. off weed is unbearable. The only way that scene works if it is funny. Maybe
my sense of humour is a little out of calibration, but that just wasn't funny.
Secondly, this plotline makes both Marie and Skylar look terrible. Marie is nosy,
loudmouthed, and a kleptomaniac, where Skylar is controlling. Skylar doesn't
even let Walter Jr say "Yo!" Maybe it's trying to connect to Skylar's
disdain for Jesse Pinkman types, but
come on! Further, Skylar is easily perceived by the viewer as inconsiderate to
Walt. At this point, very early in its run, the show is purposely tearing down
it's support characters in the eyes of the viewer to build Walt up. It needs
the viewer to stay sympathetic to Walt's plight as long as possible or it loses
the viewer's interest. I understand this, I just wish it could have done so in
a way that doesn't cause us to dislike all its support characters in the early
going.
In
my mind, if a show is to be a success it needs solid male and female
characters. At this point of the show, it seems incapable of making a good
female character. Fortunately, the show goes on to prove that it's problematic
treatment of its females was mostly a mirage, and Skylar and Marie get to
become way more sympathetic by the end.
This
episode presents both the best and worst of season 1. The scenes between Walt
and Krazy 8 as well as its aftermath shows some of the best stuff Breaking Bad has to offer. The B plot
with Skylar and Marie shows that Breaking
Bad still has some distance to go before it can really break barriers and
be one of the best shows to ever air on television.
Notes
- Camera work in the opening scene where Walt and Jesse are cleaning the remains of the dissolved body is really cool
- Walt handing the second beer to Krazy 8 rather than rolling it to him is a nice indication that Walt is intentionally deluding himself
- The plate puzzle with the missing piece is one of Breaking Bad's most memorable images
- Why does Krazy 8 reach for his plate shard before he's untied? If you want to make Walt suspicious, that seems like an excellent way to do it.
- No Walt Jr. eating breakfast this time. What a disappointment
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