I think there is one character that is quite wholesome, and that's Walt Jr. He clearly loves his folks and he's worried about his Dad. He even manages to handle his dad breaking down that one time after the fight with Jesse. If there's anyone without serious character flaws (aside from being a teenager) it's junior. So here's to hoping Walt does something awful to corrupt his son this season, casue that would be really f'ed up!
I think Walt is mainly a very nice and considerate guy, so maybe he didn't want the possible carnage of cops flying into the side of the truck as they came running out? Oh shit, I forgot, the actual best part of the entire series was the ending of this episode when Walt hugs her and says "I forgive you" OH FUCK
The episode's title is "Live Free or Die," which is the New Hampshire state motto as well as a quintessentially all-American sentiment. In a way, not much could be more iconically all-American than what we see in the opening shot: A Denny's platter of hash browns, bacon, and eggs. Two sunny-side up. But the guy who ordered the plate isn't looking so sunny. Walt looks unkempt, yet composed. He exudes a calm darkness over his breakfast. For some reason he's compelled to tell waitress Lucy that it's his birthday, or is it really? ... it's the birth date on his fake New Hampshire ID, that of a disposable alter ego. But if it is Walt's birthday, what sort is it? He's free from the Fring saga ... that's heavily on his mind ... it's a new day so to speak. But what sort of freedom is this? (Lucy: "Free is good, even if I'm rich ... free is always good.") Moreover, it's the "birth" of a new phase of Walt, probably the final one of the series. He comes across immediately as being more confident, more independent, yet with this new calm composure, more menacing than the Heisenberg persona of the past. The very name "Heisenberg" was intended to imply a certain uncertainty. This new lack of uncertainty on Walt's part is what makes him a bit scarier. The way in which he confidently responds to Jesse and Mike "because I say so;" the manner in which he contradicts Saul, "we're through when I say we're through" and finally his declaration of forgiveness to Skylar are all intimidating in a way that past iterations of Walt probably wouldn't have been able to pull off with such authority or menace. Is this the hubris that goes before the final fall? Walt breaks up the bacon strips on his plate and re-arranges them into a blocky symmetrical pattern as if to impose a new order on what he's looking at. Mirror symmetry, the number 52. I'm assuming that's his age. For what it's worth, just before the plate is set down, we see that the paper placemat beneath it reads "Rethinking Refreshment." Walt's so deep in contemplating his lot at this juncture that he doesn't really respond much to the friendly banter of the waitress, with one exception ... when she mentions a memory of an aquarium. "Great science museum" he agrees, possibly reminded of his life before "business" took over, when science was the basis of his legitimate profession as opposed to his messed-up criminal life and moral downfall. Lucy: "You're a long way from home." Indeed, as the scene closes we realize that Walt just made a significant weapons purchase. There were way too many great clever touches, lines and scenes in the episode for me to rant on like this at length but I gotta say, it sure is good having the series back. I thought this was a fine episode that portends really well for the inevitable dramatic tragedies that will close the series.
I love your summation Dean. Thinking along those lines myself but could not have remembered every detail the way you. It is one of the many good ideas this show presents to the viewer on any given episode. How often there is symbolism in everything the characters do or even see, especially Walt. I can't recall a show that does that on such a regular basis. I, like a lot of other viewers, think that the opening scene is almost like season 2 with the plane crash. Every episode foreshadowed a little more towards the end result. Personally I saw a lot of guilt in Walt's face. Transpose that with the confident menacing Walt you see in the rest of the episode. Something happens this season to change him to the guy we see in the beginning. Either he loses his some or all of his family (the leave him forever, or are killed, or a combination), he betrays Jesse in some way, maybe even has to kill him (after Jesse finds out Walt poisoned the kid) or maybe he just has remorse for becoming just like Gus- detached and cold. Stay tuned it will be interesting. So the 2nd half of this season (last 8 episodes) is going to be in 2013? Summer or Spring 2013.
^^ Good points Dean...I think also with regard to his birthday....it's meant to show the audience that 2 years have passed. In season 1, I think he turned 50...so in "walt's time" all of this has occurred in just two years.
Thats what I was thinking. How much his life has changed in just a short period of time. I need t re watch this episode and pull it apart. Like everyone else mentioned, Dean you breakdown is always something I look forward to. It makes me want to go back and re watch to see what you saw. Thank you !
Also..it's interesting that he used the name Mr. Lambert. I found it interesting that he uses Lambert which is actually Skylar's maiden name.
Nice catch, I didn't even know that was her maiden name. It's really seeming that he looses everything and that gun is either his last stand or protection from a bigger threat.
When I wrote my previous comment, I hadn't considered something ... the opening bacon sequence is a flash forward in time. That would explain Walt's different appearance and the fact that he appears to be somewhere other than his home state. It might also be a clue as to why he's goin' a-gunnin', if that's what the firearm purchase was about (as opposed to protection.) After that, after the opening title sequence, we're back in the "now" of the series, with Skyler having just learned that Gus Fring is dead. Did I get that right? Not sure how I could have missed it the first time around. Gotta watch the whole episode again. One more cool touch: The scene where Hank and his DEA associates are inspecting the now-destroyed superlab closes with Hank noting one of the cameras that Gus had set up. Then there's a jump-cut to Mike feeding chickens (another allusion to Gus) while telling them to "be nice" Although I didn't think it really meant anything in particular, I also really liked the shot of the kid's tricycle in the evidence room moving by itself when the magnet was turned on. Nice.
Very intricate episode. It's nice to see background on Fring's corporate sponsors. Mike is completely calm cool and collected in the coming storm...
The first episode felt a bit "off" to me, but with the second it feels totally back on track. I love Mikes character and having him be the focus here was fantastic. And the interigation scene was fantastic esp. his grimace as he left the room. O yes , Walt has truly become a huge piece of shit. Knowing what we know I felt so bad for Jessie. I hope when all is said and done the Jessie character comes out on top and moves on.
^^^ Laura Fraser. From Scotland. I didn't recognize her during the episode but in looking her up I've seen her before - she was great in this Russel T. Davies serial called Casanova. David Tennant and Peter O'Toole were in it; worth a watch. I didn't read the article yet but here's some BB press on her: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-f ... ser-352699 ---- This one is a new concept, and it intrigues us -- half-French dressing, half-Ranch. We refer to it simply as... "Franch."
Man, are they really making Walt an intense creep. The ending of Episode 2, just like the first one, damn, it gives me chills! I freaking love this show!
Anyone notice the two symbolic things that were happening when Mike received his two phone calls? Walt calls him, he's watching 'The Caine Mutiny' a movie from 1954 where Humphrey Bogart plays a US Naval officer who is mentally unstable and threatens the safety of the ship. His first officer relives him and faces charges of mutiny. Symbolism for Walt being the new captain I'm sure. Later when Walt is giving a speech about the streets being paved with gold waiting to be scooped up, they cut to Mike playing Hungry Hippo game with his grand daughter.
Yeah, I'm totally got on to the purple shirt thing too. Purple is always signs of a badguy. Evil Walt. Love me some hitman Mike on this episode. Guy is such a badass.
Nice coda to the Hungry Hippos game when the shell casing drips and rolls with the same sound as the marbles after Mike shoots Chris.
Great catch re: "The Caine Mutiny," Lixx. I wouldn't have gotten that, never having seen the film. You're right about Walt ... despite his new calmly arrogant confidence, he's not exactly trustworthy, as both Mike and Skylar are clearly thinking. For the time being it's sort of tragic that Jesse does seem to trust him so much. Little does he know... After the opening sequence at the Madrigal corporation, this was the most stylishly noir episode of the series yet. Increasingly as the episode progressed, people spoke in a hushed tones and a halting manner, so much that I found myself turning up the volume several times (and I still think I missed some dialogue.) Actors were shot in near-darkness in several scenes, their faces mostly obscured as side and back lighting created extreme chiarscuro effects, faces becoming sinister crescent moons. Even during the scene when Jesse breaks down and cries apologetically, he's relatively subdued about it (really great acting on Aaron Paul's part, there.) From there things just keep getting literally darker, to the point where in the final scene with Skylar lying silently in bed while Walt unconvincingly states "what we do, we do for good reasons" is shot in what looks like barely-moonlit darkness. That sort of justification on Walt's part is a clear indication that he's fully over the edge, long since having broken bad and past the point of no return: "There's gold out there just waiting to be scooped up." Sure, but what about what meth does to peoples' lives? Far be it from Walt at this point to weigh such things in the balance. Perhaps this is why Mike recognizes him as a time bomb. I wouldn't have given the name "Madrigal" much consideration except for the fact that it's the episode's title, and the titles are always significant in one way or another, so if it indicates anything, what? I rolled that around in my head for awhile without coming up with much, except maybe it's this: A madrigal is a Renaissance song form composed of various vocal parts. By the transitional time of masters like Claudio Monteverdi, madrigals had become ingeniously complex, often illustrating their poetic lyrics in a brilliantly evocative manner, creating vivid "sound paintings." A madrigal isn't a plain and simple song, it's an artful balancing act that requires input from several players. Perhaps the title is just an indication that there were always more players in the Fring enterprise than we'd been aware of. We're now seeing for the first time who some of them are, and that just because Gus is gone doesn't necessarily mean that all the parts and players are gone. Walt and Jesse are going to have to contend with this, but only Mike seems truly prepared to. "Tick, tick, tick..." EDIT: I didn't remember any of the prior references, but there are some interesting background facts about Madrigal Electromotive GmbH HERE.
