Breaking Bad

If it seems like Season 1 ends a bit abruptly, it should be known that it was because of the Writer's Strike. The first season was originally supposed to be about thirteen episodes long, but the writer's strike cut that in half. However, something about the short season makes the seven episodes as a whole feel a lot tighter than the following seasons. That's not to say that the second and third seasons are bad or worse; it just means that this season feels the most complete in places and somewhat lacking in others.



Either way, this episode was just as intense as any of the ones that came after or before it. Walt screws up and sets his sights too high after promising two pounds a week to Tuco. Jesse realizes how ridiculous this promise is, since it's difficult to get the Pseudo (the cough medication) necessary to cook the meth. As a result, Walt is forced to think quickly and find a new way to cook. We get a series of great scenes showing just how far Walt and Jesse are willing to go in the name of making money. The scene where they use thermite to break into the garage was great, and any scene between them and Tuco was superb as well.



As for the family, not much happens. We get another reference to Marie's shoplifting issues, which has no real importance except for an interesting conversation between Walt and Skyler that brings up what it means to be a true criminal. It's one of those moments that makes us really think: Is Walt a good guy doing bad things or a bad guy doing bad things? There's a huge difference, and I think it's up to Bryan Cranston to make us believe in the character, and he does an amazing job. I think this season pretty much explains whole-heartedly why Cranston has won three consecutive Best Actor Emmy's.



Overall, this episode brings Season 1 to a satisfying enough close, especially considering it was six episodes short. The look on Walt and Jesse's face as they see what they've gotten themselves into with Tuco is priceless, and it shows just how bad Tuco is. Bring on Season 2!

Breaking Bad was initially given a nine-episode order for its first season, but due to the Writers Guild of America strike, only seven were written and produced. The result is that "A No-Rough-Stuff Type Deal" is the season finale, and while it contains some of the show's most compelling drama yet as Walt and Jesse do business with the usually uncompromising drug distributor Tuco, I can't help but feel a tinge of disappointment that payoff was a little lacking to close out the season.



That's not to say that payoff is non-existent, though, because we see plenty of signs that Walt has come to terms with his status as an illegal drug dealer. For instance, he starts pleasuring his wife in the middle of his school's PTA meeting (and a serious one at that, as present parents make clear their concerns of a possibly dangerous meth drug dealer having the freedom to roam around the school) before they have sex in their car. As a man who used to be strictly straight and narrow, Walt admits to now enjoying the thrills of crossing the line. He comfortably lies to Skyler about planning a trip to New Mexico to try alternate medicine for his cancer when he's really intending to spend that time cooking meth with his partner-in-crime Jesse, and later at Skyler's baby shower, he relaxes with an illegal Cuban cigar and casually talks to his brother-in-law Hank about his view that what's legal and illegal is arbitrary and could change in an instant.



This changed man forms the core of the episode, as Walt and Jesse are at first trying to meet Tuco's expectations of producing two pounds of meth before their meeting. When they fall way short of the two pounds due to a sparse supply of pseudoephedrine, Walt boldly requests more money from the clearly dissatisfied distributor without so much as a quiver – another indication that he belongs in the drug trade – so that he and his partner can deliver double the intended amount next time. Jesse starts to freak out about the enormity of the task, but Walt, calm and collected, hands him a shopping list. Walt intends to produce meth a different way, one that bypasses the lack of 'pseudo' available to them, and asks Jesse, who's threatening to bolt, to buy everything on the list. "This is the first day of the rest of your life, but what kind of life will it be? Will it be a life of fear…of never once believing in yourself?"



Putting aside the fact that this quote could've easily applied to Walt himself in last week's episode (he overcame his fear and confronted Tuco with considerable success), it's interesting to see the choice that Jesse has to make. Does he leave town and try to lead some semblance of a normal life, or does he stay and get himself drawn further into the drug trade? Just a few episodes ago, we saw him applying for real jobs, but he was easily sucked back into cooking and dealing. A similar sort of thing happens here. He is easily convinced by Walt to remain his drug partner, and this reaffirms that Jesse won't get out of his current lifestyle in the foreseeable future. The situation with his aunt's house mirrors this. Jesse intends to sell it and find another place to stay, because he wants to distance himself from the time he dissolved Emilio in his bathtub and flushed the watery bloody remains down the toilet. But, he's forced to at least temporarily send prospective buyers out during an open house session and declare the house not for sale to save the meth operation down in his basement. There's always something that stops Jesse from making radical changes in his life. He's stuck where he is.



Aaron Paul has had a superb season as Jesse Pinkman. I'll admit to not being familiar with him before Breaking Bad aside from a couple of guest-star roles, so to see a series of mature and convincing performances was a brilliant surprise. He's been a revelation, and it's not a shock to see that he's been nominated for two Emmy Awards for his following work on the second and third seasons of the show. Likewise, Bryan Cranston as the protagonist Walter White has been excellent, showing that he has real variety in his acting after several years being the hapless Hal on Malcolm in the Middle. His range is easily admired, and he's proven in just one season that he deserves to be named alongside the likes of Michael C. Hall, Kyle Chandler, and Hugh Laurie as the standout television drama actors of recent years. Cranston has made the journey of his character as compelling and believable as it is, as he gradually evolves from a moral man going through a mid-life crisis to one who doesn't hesitate in doing illegal activities for the sake of his family. He had no problem in promising double the amount of meth to Tuco or suggesting to Jesse the idea of robbing a guarded supply base of methylamine. The Emmy that he notched up for the first season was extremely well-deserved.



It's because of these two talented actors and the superb writing that make the Walt and Jesse scenes consistently the best throughout the season. They have always been polar opposites, but notably in different ways as the season has progressed. In the premiere, Walt was uptight and tense, characteristics now associated with Jesse. The season finale shows Walt as a more determined and driven man, liking to take control, while his partner provides a realistic perspective on things given his past experience dealing with drugs. The differences also lend themselves to funny moments of understated comedy, from Walt choosing a junkyard as the meeting place with Tuco to him handing an appalled Jesse a decorative balaclava.



Everything leads to the final scene, where Walt and Jesse succeed in delivering their target of four pounds of meth. A partnership between them and Tuco is struck, but before they get too comfortable, they witness Tuco severely beating up one of his minions when he speaks out of turn. For the first time in the episode, Walt is visibly shaken. For the first time in the episode, we see that maybe Walt isn't cut out for this line of business. Jesse also looks like he regrets getting this much involved, but it's too late for them to back out, lest they face Tuco's wrath. On one hand, it cleverly brings the audience back down to earth. The drug trade is an extremely unforgiving place to be in. This was clearly evident in the first three episodes with Emilio and 'Krazy-8', and it's reinforced here with Tuco's psychotic behaviour before we get too complacent from the easy money Walt and Jesse look set to be raking in. On the other, the ending was a little anti-climactic for a season finale. The arc is incomplete, with not much consequence or payoff.



The B-plot also suffers from the same problem. Skyler receives a tiara from her sister Marie at her baby shower, but upon trying to return it, finds out that it was shoplifted. A confrontation between the two sisters in which Marie denies all knowledge of the theft is pretty much the last thing about the storyline before the episode ends. Again, we have to endure a wait to find out the consequences, and it feels like we're left hanging. It's such a shame that two episodes were forcibly cut due to the writers' strike. But, if you treat "A No-Rough-Stuff Type Deal" as an ordinary episode, it's undoubtedly one of the strongest outings of the series so far. In particular, the character development of Walt and Jesse is handled excellently, and that should be more than enough reason to continue watching Breaking Bad.

Breaking Bad has easily become one of the best dramas of all time, after a brilliantly well done season, we get a blissful finale, that brings us intriguing character interactions, development, suspense, intense drama and just brilliant acting from all the actors. Sadly the first season is over, but it sure ended with a bang. This goes to show that season finales still have the potential to be amazing without having a huge cliffhanger which is how usual TV shows end things, with a cliffhanger. But this episode hardly had a cliffhanger, and it was still absolutely outstanding.



Was anyone else completely enticed the whole time? I know I was, from Walt & Jesse breaking in somewhere to get a certain chemical for meth to the open house going on while Walt & Jesse are making meth. Even Skyler & Marie's storyline was intriguing, we all knew Marie stole, I'm just so happy that they brought the issue up again in the finale.



The very end left us with a sense of relief since they managed to get the 4 pounds of crystal meth, and also left us in utter shock after Tuco beat one of his employees almost to death. This drama is perfection, just like the finale. If you haven't watched this show yet, go watch it!



As perfect as when it started, Breaking Bad brings us a wonderful season, and keeps us ready to watch the next season. Can't wait, perfect episode.

I loved the conversation between Walt and Hank, talking about what's legal and what's not, and how arbitrary it is.



Kevin Costner had a line at the end of "The Untouchables," where a reporter asked his character, Eliot Ness, about the end of Prohibition, and how he'd celebrate, and it was something like "I'd raise a toast." My reaction is that it may be incredibly arbitrary -- for example, cocaine used to be available as soda pop, pot is legal in the Netherlands and now even in some states with a prescription, and Cuban cigars are only illegal because of economic sanctions -- but substances are controlled for a reason. Tobacco is age-restricted, and even alcohol isn't carte blanche for 21 and older, because drunk driving is illegal.



Meth is controlled for perfectly good reasons, and if it were to come back to its OTC status, I still don't think I'd necessarily want to use crack caffeine.



All that being said, I loved the blue meth, and Tuco's reaction: "Blue, pink, yellow, you keep bringin' it!" :D



And the guy insisting that he get a look at the basement. Jesse: "It's occupied!" :lol:



Loved the sex in the car, and the shoplifting thing. Really, this whole episode kicked major booty, and I look forward to seeing where they take it next. Good work, everyone! :)

I can't imagine this show has the proper audience that it deserves. I was hooked from the pilot episode. The series contains a wide range of emotions that take you on a roller coaster. This finale episode will leave you wanting more. One of my favorite parts of this episode is when they break into the chemical facility to steal the chemicals they need and they end up having to haul off a barrel of it instead of gallon jugs, hahaha that was classic.



I hope they decide to continue this series, I want to know if his brother ever finds out about him being a drug dealer, and how long he continues to produce 4 pounds of his `product` every week. Making it have a blue tint with the alternative chemicals was very interesting, maybe he will get a nickname because of it.

Wow! I didn't think that they could beat the last episode but I am amazed. Now they're dealing with Tuco, the DEA is hot on Walt and Jesse's trail. And the best part is that they cook meth and since Jesse is selling the house he mistakenly forgot about the open house that he planned to have with his Realtor. Honestly if I I acidified a dead body and had to clean up blood and guts in my house I wouldn't much want to live there either. This is probably one of the best episode cut offs or season finales I have season cut off by the writer's strike or for that matter in a long time.

As if this show couldn't get any more intense or exciting. Last night's ending is priceless as we see Walt and Jesse getting deep into the business of Tuco's meth department, and we see just how small Tuco's hair trigger is when you get him mad. The ending was one that I will remember for the rest of the show. You just have to wonder what kind of stunning things will happen next.



The endings of all of the episodes have always been different, yet exciting. The series premiere ending with Walt surprising Skyler with some late night sex. The explosion at Tuco's office. And now we have this ending with Tuco beating one of his lieutenant's, No Doze, to death for making a comment about remembering who was in charge.



This show is awesome. I am glad that I got into it because my first impression of it was that it was a pretty good show. I was wrong...it's awesome! It is probably one of the best shows on television that is on now and ever will be on. The writing is superb, and the actors really get deep into the parts. I always saw Bryan Cranston on Malcolm in the Middle, but didn't really like his character. I don't know why, but he just didn't make me laugh. But here as Walter White, he really showed me the true talent he has as an actor and even as a director as he has directed some of the episodes.



I saw Bryan Cranston winning the Emmy Award for Best Actor for his role. That was before I watched the show. But after watching it, I know he deserved that award. He really is a complex character trying to balance two separate lives: one of the loving husband, father, and school teacher, and the other a meth distributor. It's a classic story of a man that's trying to do good by his family.



We have seen bizarre methods of parents helping their families. The movie John Q is a perfect example. Taking a hospital hostage to get his son a heart transplant. Definitely had good intentions, but also showed the evil that John had inside him that was built up. Here, on Breaking Bad, we have Walter White. Obviously, he's doing this for his family, but also there's a side of him that wants to do this. Maybe for the thrill of being intense all the time. Whatever the case, he has broken bad, and I can't wait to see the future of the show.



I have ordered the second season and I am waiting for it to get here. When it does, I am going to watch it as soon as possible to its fullest extent. This show has true talent behind it, and I hope it has a good run. With a show like this, it's hard to say how long that run can be. Maybe 4 seasons, 5? It depends on the direction of the show. And I truly can't wait to see which direction the show decides to take.

After the last episode I could see where they were going and I'm glad to see they are continuing in this direction. Walt is not just becoming more comfortable with his new criminal persona, but also becoming more comfortable as a person. This shows with his newfound sexuality, doing skylar in the car outside the pta meeting. This episode really showed that theme of the thin line between criminal and average citizen is not confined to Walt. Skylar catches Marie at having stolen her baby shower gift, which is obviously a habit of hers since she's shown stealing shoes in an early episode and was probably about to steal those ear rings before skylar walked in. ( btw I loved skylar's hilarious act of going into labour to get them to let her go)



Also hank is shown asking for "harder drink" and smoking cuban cigars. Walt remarks how it's illegal and hank basically brushes the comment aside, being too much of an idiot to see his obvious hypocrisy. Alcohol and especially hard liquor are a drug just like meth or pot or what have you. Hank is a drug user just like all the junkies he catches. Last episode we also saw the nice guy janitor who gets busted just for having a joint... a nice guy who breaks the law, who'd have thought?



The scene where they bust into the factory and steal the chemical was tense and hilarious. Lucky for them the guard went to the john and they locked him in there, otherwise he would have come running when the alarm sounded, which it seems they didn't anticipate. When they showed the guard talking on the cell phone in the toilet right before they shut him in, I was sure that was foreshadowing a major problem where he calls the cops without their knowing, but it didn't play out like that when the alarm went off anyways. I love how Walt continues to use his mad chemistry skills to assist in his criminal plans. Started with the red phosphorous to kill crazy eight and his cousin, then the acid to dissolve the corpses, then the mercury to get the drop on tuco, and now he's burning through locks to commit robbery. Tuco is obviously crazy and I'm finding it a little hard to believe he hasn't killed Walt yet, but I guess money's money and he must be a little scared of him after the mercury explosion incident... Still, beating his homie like that was a not so subtle warning to Walt. Far as I see, there's two routes the next season could take (if there is one)...either Walt realizes he's in way over his head (probably too late) and runs into major trouble with the dea or tuco, or he becomes some huge drug kingpin. Either way I think there is going to be violence between those two and probably end up with tuco dead.



Hahaha.. "This is a non-criminals idea of a drug meet" so true... The glasses and the hat, man walt watches too many movies.