Breaking Bad

Season 3 Episode 10

Fly

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8.3
out of 10
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448 votes
15

EPISODE REVIEWS
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Episode Summary

Walt, obsessed with a contaminant, refuses to cook and Jesse tries to get Walt on track.
FAN RECAP

Fan Episode Reviews (15)

SUBMIT REVIEW

  • Nearly killed the show

    2.0
    By ScreaminJay, Feb 20, 2012
    This is a very bad episode. It's meant to be a psychological metaphor or sort, but it fails to convey anything remotely important to the narrative we were previously following. The first 20 minutes should have been cut down to 30 seconds. One too many of these type of non-narrative episodes and the show become irrelevant. Just a reminder, there is a good storyline in this show, you are not making some auteur film for the festival circuit. It's great to be ambitious and all, but that doesn't mean it's interesting in anyway to waste half the episode to show one actor chasing a fly. We get it, we got it in 30 seconds, it didn't need half an hour to drive this through. It's the worst episode so far. If the first episode was something like that, I'd never have watched the second one.moreless

  • Easily the most ridiculous episode of this show, nevermind this season.

    4.0
    By dahui58, Jan 12, 2012
    Not only was this the most uneventful episode ever, but it also managed to contain the most unrealistic and unbelievable moments yet, from both Jesse and Walt.



    Firstly I think Walts overreaction to the fly in general was a tad ridiculous. Yes he is a die-hard chemist and perfectionist, but I don't think he would risk ruining the batch for the sake of a fly (I'm pretty sure they ruined at least one batch, Walt prevented Jesse from adding the alkali and they said they had 2 hours to do it, when the episode seemed to span longer than that). Walt is a clever man, we've seen him get out of many tricky situations, the RV scrapyard showdown with Hank, creating a battery in the middle of the desert, et cetera... so when I see him be outwitted by a fly for a whole night and day (he stays in the lab overnight) I think it's a tad ridiculous. Why didn't it occur to him to get Jesse to add the alkaline, or keep cooking, whilst he kept a look out for the fly at least, rather than suspending the process and risking an entire batch for some insane fly hunt?



    Also both characters show an unusual level of idiocy in this episode, are you seriously telling me Jesse balanced a ladder on two rickety platforms to reach a fly on the vent shaft? Nevermind that, but he also done it and then asked Walt, WHO HE HAD JUST SEDATED, to hold the ladder for him. Even by Jesses standards that is super dumb.

    Similarly, Walt doesn't hesitate to swing as hard as he can at a fly when it is balancing over his precious instruments and vats, the same ones we see him clean meticulously in a past episode. Also he is happy to take off his shoe, and throw it at a light when a fly is balancing on it. Seriously? Are you telling me the same guy who would get worked up about a fly in his lab would throw his shoe about, and run about haphazardly swinging at the machines? And I'm not even going to go into Walt hanging off the upper level to retrieve his shoe. Absolutely ridiculous, and predictable (who'd have thought the hanging scene would lead to a fall, or hurling the shoe would smash the glass?).



    But that's not all, Walt actually steals Jesses keys and locks him out at one point. What was all that about? Bit of an extreme reaction considering all Jesse said was 'let's get some air'. Jesses reaction is even more idiotic, as he decides to start fiddling about with the electrics of the plant, not only is he highly unqualified for this, he doesn't know if he's going to damage anything or ruin the laundry business upstairs. This whole episode is just full of stupid decisions.



    It got slightly interesting towards the end, and I thought it was leading up to Walt admitting to killing Jane. But no, the compulsive liar/murderer hasn't changed and nothing satisfying came from the episode.



    The meaning of the last scene is lost on me, Walt is continued to be harrassed by another fly when he gets home and goes to bed. What is this supposed to mean?? Is it a warning, is the species of fly surveying walt or something? and why did the fly in the first scene show such remarkable evasion and taunting techniques? Absolutely unnessecary, unfunny, unintelligent and boring subject to base an entire episode on.



    Frankly I'm shocked by the high ratings for this episode, and some people even find it to be the best in the series! What drivel, I can't imagine how dissapointing it must have been to watch this show live after you waited a week or whatever. I'm hoping the last episodes of this season get right back on track...moreless

  • Full Review of "Fly"

    8.5
    By BenHL, Dec 04, 2011
    "Fly" is the most distinct Breaking Bad episode so far in the series' run. It's bold and strives to be different. Only Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul feature, and the vast majority of the hour takes place inside the meth lab. Putting it bluntly, virtually nothing happens in the episode. It's also a self-contained episode, if you ignore one spoken exchange at the end. Instead, "Fly" is a character study, giving insights into the mind of Walt and the current relationship between him and Jesse. You could skip it without much consequence, but you'll be missing out on learning more about these layered characters and some terrific acting from Cranston.



    Yes, the pace of the episode is rather slow. Walt is obsessed with catching a mere roaming housefly that he claims is contaminating his lab, and pretty much the entire hour--at its simplest--documents his and Jesse's attempts at killing it. This distraction might not seem particularly exciting, but it becomes more interesting when you consider how this scenario reflects Walt's life at the moment.



    Try as he may, Walt can't catch one single pest. He's not in control. Now think back to when he first got into drug manufacturing in the first season. All he wanted to do was earn an abundance of cash to support his family before succumbing to his cancer. There wasn't supposed to be any consequences, yet this season especially has seen his actions severely affect the people that he knows. Hank was on the verge of being killed, having taken four bullets. He's now preparing for physiotherapy to regain use of his legs. Marie, his wife, is visibly distraught, while also having to deal with financial worries as a result of the shootout, which Skyler offers to solve. A depressed Donald Margolis was responsible for the collision of two planes in the sky, killing close to 200 passengers, after the preventable death of his daughter, Jane. And Skyler, having found out about Walt's double life, can't stand to live under the same roof as him, filing for a divorce. Walt believes he's responsible for all of these things to some extent, but he's frustrated that he's unable to fix anything, despite having more money than he knows how to spend. The fly could be interpreted as the consequences--or maybe even his guilt--that Walt can't swat away.



    The other fairly obvious symbolic moment comes when Jesse puts a gas mask on top of his head, as he prepares to sneakily start cooking without Walt's knowledge or consent. The pink respirators as well as Jesse's dark clothes make him somewhat resemble a fly. In fact, Walt even swats him when he spots what Jesse is trying to do. This perhaps hints that the one aspect Walt does have a measure of control over is his cooking partner. A few episodes back, Jesse was intending to cook and sell his own blue meth against Walt's wishes, and later on, he was pressing charges against Hank. Now, Walt is able to keep an eye on Jesse; he reined him in by convincing him to be part of this large meth operation. Of course, Jesse is not completely under Walt's control. He's been skimming the batches of meth to sell himself, annoyed at the low cut their boss Gus is giving the pair. Despite Walt warning that he won't be able to protect him if Gus finds out, Jesse appears to ignore him.



    It seems that Walt fears Gus to some extent. In the conversations we've seen between the pair throughout the season, Walt often gives off a confident aura, yet speaking candidly to Jesse in his determination to get rid of the fly, he comments: "We need to destroy it and every trace of it so we can cook. Failing that, we're dead. There is no more room for error, not with these people." It's easier to understand Jesse's perspective that the fly shouldn't matter--the consumers aren't going to be that picky about the meth, so why care so much?--but Walt is meticulous and is at a part of his life where he wants things to go smoothly and right. He won't stop until he emerges victorious. Jesse, realising that the agitated Walt has had very little sleep, attempts to calm him down by slipping a few sleeping pills into his coffee. It is at this point where Walt--in a drug-induced state--starts to freely speak his mind as he slowly drifts into unconsciousness.



    Walt talks about how he expected to be dead by now. If everything had gone according to plan, he would have left Skyler, Walter Jr., and Holly with enough money for them to live comfortably for the foreseeable future. On top of that, he would have been missed; Skyler wouldn't have discovered his illegal activities. If he had departed the world before he left his home on the night when he met Donald at the pub--after the $1.2 million deal with Gus, but before he went to Jesse's place--he would have considered that perfect timing. Not only was he responsible for Jane's death that night, which in turn contributed to the heavy disaster weeks later in the sky, but he also wouldn't have inadvertently slipped about the second cell phone to his wife and kick-started her investigation. Walt looks back with regret. For starters, he struggles to grasp how his marriage fell apart. No matter what he told Skyler, she remained adamant that what he did was completely and morally wrong. Always believing that there is a solution, he says: "There must exist certain words in a specific order that would explain all of this."



    Then, Walt moves onto his next regret: what happened with Jane. He comes perilously close to revealing his involvement in her death to Jesse. In fact, with the way the scene is set up--Jesse is standing on top of an unstable and rocking stepladder trying to swat the fly up high, as Walt tries to hold it steady--I was expecting him to tell the truth. The stepladder could be seen as representing their relationship. Walt telling Jesse what happened with Jane would be the equivalent of him failing to keep the stepladder still. If that were to happen, Jesse would fall off, and their relationship would be no more. Instead of that happening, though, Walt keeps the swatting Jesse safe and only goes as far as apologising profusely, with Jesse responding sincerely: "It's not your fault." Walt follows this up by trying to convince Jesse to "let [the fly] go". He's accepted that he can't control everything, and that he's got to live with the consequences. But just moments later, Jesse finally kills the fly. He's there for Walt, willing to help with his problems. No matter what differences they've had in the past, no matter how different they are as people, to me it symbolises that Walt and Jesse are true partners. They care for each other's wellbeing, and this could be a significant factor as we head towards the third season's finale.



    A lot of people probably won't have the patience for this episode, and it's understandable why. After all, it does take a long time for the real meat to get going. Before Walt's monologues, though, "Fly" relies on humour to remain engaging. From Jesse mistaking a dead fly for a raisin to him shouting "el axe-o!", there are a few laughs to be had before the serious tone really kicks in. In addition, Cranston and Paul are excellent, successfully carrying a whole episode about one fly. Cranston deserves more of the plaudits; his meandering confessions while drugged up were both touching and attention-grabbing. Rian Johnson, who was responsible for Brick (a low-budget film that I'm rather partial to), directed the episode and similarly does a great job; in particular, he conveys Walt's dour mood extremely well. "Fly" may not have much consequential value in terms of the entire season, and it could be perceived as filler, but the added layers that it gives to the characters, particularly Walt, are extremely worthwhile and fascinating. I don't consider it to be a throwaway episode at all.moreless

  • Walt tries to catch a fly. Yep, that's it.

    9.0
    By JaCkKbAuEr2424, Aug 28, 2011
    I can see this episode falling into two different catagories: amazing television and an example of how incredible Vince Gilligan and co. can be or a self-indulgent piece of crap. I can see the merits in both and I happen to fall somewhere near the former, although not completely. It was problematic in some areas, but for the most part, when you cut down the episode to its essentials: acting and writing, you get some great television.



    For the most part, the episode is Walt chasing after a fly and Jesse trying to stop him. Walt refuses to cook meth until the fly is dead and Jesse sees him as insane. From here, we get some philosophical discussions and some character development and a great direction by Liam Johnson, who made the great movie "Brick."



    There were a few moments where I fully expected Walt to admit to Jesse what he did, the fact he watched Jane die and did nothing to save her, and I feel like that's the only missed opportunity of the episode. The show could've gone so many ways from here and I'm disappointed they're holding it off. But that doesn't mean the acting wasn't great. Everyone did a good job here and the show should be great once we get back to normal.moreless

  • perfect

    10
    By futuramarama, Aug 28, 2011
    This episode is simply one of the best episodes of the show I have seen, and a fine 47 minutes of television. From the opening scene, where you see a fly, and Skyler singing to Holly, this episode is pure perfection. It's a really brave episode- it's one where the only characters are Walt and Jesse, and the plot is something that is small- them trying to catch a fly. But it works so well. One of the things I liked about this episode was the humor. Maybe it wasn't supposed to be funny, but when Walt falls and hits himself, and when Jesse hits him because the fly was on him, I laughed pretty hard. I don't know if that was supposed to be funny, but it got me.



    Then the episode got pretty serious, with Walt talking about the 'perfect' time to die, when he was watching TV and Skyler was with Holly. It got pretty grim in this area of the episode, but it was handled well because, well, this show IS a drama. It might have some comedic moments scattered around but it is first and foremost a drama, so the sad scenes in the show, and more importantly, this episode, do not bother me at all. This episode is pretty much a time-filler, of Walt and Jesse trying to get a fly, but it works well. I was on the edge of my seat for a lot of the episode. The plot is pretty simplistic but the execution of it is really good. A+ episode, no doubt in my mind.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

Bryan Cranston

Bryan Cranston

Walter White
Aaron Paul

Aaron Paul

Jesse Pinkman
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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • TRIVIA (4)

    • Symbolism: At one point Jesse is standing on top of an unstable and rocking stepladder trying to swat the fly up high while Walt is trying to hold it steady. The stepladder can be construed as representing Jesse and Walt's current relations -- strained. Then Walt almost confesses about the fate of Jane: this could have been envisioned as a toppling of the ladder, but this doesn't happen.

    • Symbolism: When Jesse grabs a gas mask and plans to defy Walt's orders not to start cooking, the mask is clearly spray painted in certain areas with red paint, resembling the anatomy of a fly. Jesse's clothing also adds to the charade, as he's wearing a dark brown-greenish shade. Then Walt swats him with his lab-made swatter, further pushing this analogy.

    • Symbolism: The smoke detector light blinks red in the distance while Walt wakes up. Jesse often wears clothing with red in it. At the end of the episode, the same red light is super-imposed with an image of a fly.

    • This episode features the fewest cast members of any episode produced. Only Jesse and Walt appear. Only a few other laundry workers are featured.

  • QUOTES (3)

    • Walt: I should never have left home – never gone to your house. Maybe things would have... Oh, god I was, I was at home watching TV. It was some, some nature program about elephants. Skylar and Holly were in the other room. I could hear them on the baby monitor. She was singing a lullaby. Ah, if I had just lived right up to that moment, and not one second more, that would have been perfect.

    • (Jesse is trying to swat the fly on top of an unstable ladder, Walt is trying to hold it steady.)
      Walt: Jesse…I'm sorry.
      Jesse: Sorry for what? Being a lunatic?
      Walt: Sorry about Jane.
      Jesse: Yeah. Me too.
      Walt: No, I mean I…I was very sorry.
      Jesse: It's not your fault. It's…not mine either. It's no one's fault. Not even hers.

    • Walt: I feel like I'm running out of ways to explain this to you, but once more I shall try. This fly is a major problem for us, it will ruin our batch and we need to destroy every trace of it so we can cook. Failing that, we're dead. There is no more room for error. Not with these people.

  • NOTES (4)

  • ALLUSIONS (1)

    • When Jesse puts on the gas mask for the first time in the episode he says to Walt "It's the government, Jack". An allusion to Jack Bauer from 24.

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