An explosion occurs in this episode. I'm not talking about
the piece of fulminated mercury that Walt threw to the ground causing Tuco's
the windows of Tuco's office to shatter. I'm talking about the sudden change we
get from Walt. Walt's decision to go from mild-mannered chemistry teacher to
crystal meth cook is so abrupt a left turn it definitely doesn't fall into the
car rusting category of chemical change. This is the equivalent of fulminated
mercury hitting the ground.
Nothing changed in the composition of the fulminated mercury
in Walt's hand that caused it to explode. It had the same molecular structure
when it hit the ground as it did when it was in Walt's hand. It needed a
catalyst, in this case hitting the ground hard, to detonate. This is true of
Walt. Nothing changed about Walt to cause him to become Heisenberg. He simply
needed to hit rock bottom with enough force to bring that internal energy he
had within him out. Walt changes rapidly throughout the series, and
particularly in this episode. But it's the change he always had within him, the
monster he always had inside of him that shows itself. There's nothing new
about the Walt that appears, it's the same atoms. They've just changed
arrangement. As Walt likes to say, it's just basic chemistry.
The pre-credits sequence for this episode is unbelievably
good. It shows how naive Walt is about what it takes to make money in an
illegal business. He doesn't yet understand that when you are dealing with
people who are willing to break the law via trafficking drugs, they are also
willing to break the law via homicide. To survive with people who play that
game, you need to be able to play that game as well. That is always the
difference between Walt and Jesse. Jesse can't run with the big guns because he
has enough of a conscience that he can't commit the offenses you need to be
willing to commit. He doesn't have the same chemical composition that Walt
does, there's no catalyst that is going to make Jesse explode into the same
type of criminal Walt can be. Jesse gets beaten near the point of death this
episode because he tries to play by the rules with people who do not play by
the rules. Walt is the one who's willing to go the extra distance, be willing
to kill if required. That is why Walt comes out on top time and time again
throughout the series.
There's a reason explosions are feared, though. The amount
of collateral damage that occurs from a big enough explosion can be devastating.
That is what this episode shows, and what Breaking Bad's message is as a whole.
It doesn't just show the change that Walt undergoes, it also shows the amount
of damage that is done by that change.
Hugo is the first to take a fall for Walt's actions. The
kindly janitor who was willing to clean up Walt's mess and offer a stick of gum
is undone by the discovery of stolen equipment in the science lab at Walt's
school. I don't need to spell out the consequences for Hugo. Not only does he
lose his job, not only does he have to spend more time in prison, he is going
to find it very difficult to get a job when he gets out. Worse, he's a disgrace
to those in the school who hired him, as parents such as Skylar don't look
beyond "previous criminal record" and "joint smoking" when
they evaluate him. The judgment passed down on Hugo by Hank and Skylar at the
poker scene is terrible, but not unrealistic conclusions for any person to
arrive at given the information they had.
The other piece of damage is Jesse. This is the second time
Jesse's been beaten badly in the series, and he has at least two more beatings
still to come, in "One Minute" and "Ozymandias," not to
mention the psychological impacts of his time with Walter. In this case, he's
pushed into a situation he's not at all adept by Walt's greed and sense of
entitlement. $2600 dollars a day (or week, it's not very clear) is apparently
not enough for Walt, despite the fact it sometimes can take time to grow a new
business. There's no patience here, and Walt shows unnecessary desperation in
trying to make deals with dangerous criminal enterprises. Despite Walt's
ultimatum at the beginning, he just cannot stand by and let Jesse do his job.
He has to interfere.
The dynamic between Walt and Jesse is absolutely toxic. Walt
keeps Jesse around through his combination of confidence and disappointment.
There's two scenes in this episode really close together. In the first, Walt
comes out of the RV coughing up a storm and convinces Jesse that he's a good
enough cook to finish the batch. This is huge for the new approval seeking
version of Jesse, as it shows him he is good for something and entangles him in
Walt's web even more. The next time they're together, Walt is tearing into
Jesse for not selling enough of the meth, which is frankly something Walt knows
pretty much nothing about. This causes Jesse to feel like he needs to do better
to be successful, and ultimately results him falling flat on his face. This
cycle continues over and over again. The biggest examples are Walt calling
Jesse's meth as good as his in "One Minute" to keying off the fight
in "Bug" where he tears into Jesse for not slipping Gus the ricin and
assuring him he's going to screw up and end up dead in Mexico without Walt.
It's really sad that Jesse doesn't realize how little he needs Walt sooner and
escapes before he becomes permanently damaged by the relationship.
As terrible as the Walt explosion (Waltsplosion? No?) is, it
sure is satisfying to see. Even on rewatch, even after having the majority of
your sympathy towards Walt sapped, it's hard not to stand up and cheer when he
says, "this isn't meth" and blows up the piece of mercury right in
front of them. Choosing between cheering for Tuco to clean Walt's clock and
cheering for Walt to get the better of Tuco, you take Walt every time. The
series is so good at generating tension and adrenaline, and the mercury scene
is a really good example of that. It is both great and terrible to see Walt
coming into his own and using his knowledge of chemistry to get the one up on
all the experienced drug dealers.
Walt turning into a drug dealer is so sudden a turn and so
momentous, it becomes impossible to keep others from getting caught up in the
blast. From Hugo to Jesse to Gale to eventually Hank, Walt's building of a drug
empire will leave many casualties in its wake. A Crazy Handful of Nothin' is
our first glimpse of that, and while we felt sorry for Jesse and Hugo in this
episode, well, we ain't seen nothin' yet.
Notes
· As noted in previous reviews, anything causing
Jesse to look less like an idiot is appreciated in this point in the show. Him
figuring out Walt has cancer by connecting him to his aunt falls nicely into
that category.
· Breaking Bad sure likes its montages, and the
Jesse dealing montage in this episode in this episode is a good one . We even
get a Combo sighting!
· "Yo man, I'm Skinny Pete!" I have no
idea why, but this line always cracks me up in combination with the pose he
gives the camera.
· Food for
thought: Was Walt bluffing with the bag of fulminated mercury? It doesn't seem
like it, and this isn't really the show that plays with its viewers in that
way, but it would connect nicely with Walt bluffing out Hank and the title of
this episode.
· Walter Jr breakfast update: He likes pineapples.
· Tuco is a
little too much of a cartoon. I understand why the show felt he would be an
appropriate villain at this point, but he's not one of Breaking Bad's better
characters by a long shot.
· As much
as I love the pre-credits sequence, it's the third in media res opening in 6 episodes. Breaking Bad eventually will
get more creative with its opening sequences, particularly with the Mexican
music video.
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