Walt buys a gun while Jesse parties himself into oblivion.
8.5
"Great"
For the second week in a row, "Breaking Bad" elected to use a weapon as their episode title. And for the second week in a row, we spend a majority of the episode wondering in anticipation of how exactly the weapon mentioned in the title will come into play. Last week, the box cutter was used as a means to make a point, and here, the thirty eight snub that Walter buys sort of hangs in the background like the box cutter did as we wonder, "Will Walt get to use it here or will we get a Chekov's gun type situation where it'll come into play later?" "Thirty Eight Snub" is a slow episode, for sure, but a slow episode doesn't necessarily mean boring or bad, like certain reviewers on the website and certain friends of mine seem to think. With characters this good, slow means spending more time throwing layer after layer on top of already complex characters. You won't find me complaining about that.
I'll get my reservations with the episode out of the way right off the bat: no offense to Dean Norris and Betty Brandt, because I do like the work they do on the show. However, in a show that revolves around meth-cooking, Mexican assassins coming in from the cartel to kill the main character, insane moments and deaths and other things equally exciting, it's hard to appreciate the minor plot details of the show such as theirs. Obviously, these characters are vital to the show, mostly because, as I've mentioned before, Walt's work is justified by him claiming he's doing this for his family, and with Hank injured, he has more of a reason than ever to continue working. But does that mean we have to drop in with Hank and Marie every episode and hear the same crap every time? I thought last season, the show did a perfect job of tying Hank's obsession with the blue meth, his post traumatic stress and Walt's own plot together. This season, I'm not so sure we'll be as lucky to have everything tied together in a nice neat little bow. But we can always hope. With next week's preview showing the cops visiting Hank to inform him about Gale's involvement with the blue meth, things should get interesting real fast. I still like the work Norris does on the show, but the writers need to figure out these anchors of a plot quick. They're the one detriment to an otherwise great show. And when I say detriment, I don't necessarily mean "horrible." Maybe "buzz kill" is a better word.
For all of the slow movement on this show, when the writers want to milk a scene for all the tension it possibly can, they know how to do it and then some. Walter is clearly a paranoid man following the situation in the basement with Gus and Victor. Jesse, on the other hand, feels like partying all night and not caring about anything. That final scene with Jesse sitting in front of the blaring speakers in the midst of his trashed house, barely holding it together, followed by the abrupt ending, was superb and acts as a reminder that the murder of Gale still hangs heavy on his head. Meanwhile, for someone who ran over two gangbangers and shot somebody in the head, Walt is proving to be inept at pulling the trigger of his own weapon following Gus' "message." The scene where Walt drives over to Gus' house, dons the Heisenberg hat and begins walking towards the door, his hand on the gun, was incredibly tense, and although Mike eventually calls him off, I'm sure there was a large portion of the audience who thought, "Yep, this is going to happen." It's an incredibly ballsy move for Walt to do and shows how far he's come from the first season. He's willing to shoot down a man, even though according to Mike, Walt has won. He has his job, he's no longer dead. But Walt is paranoid, and his attempt to get Mike on his side ends with him getting punched in the face and kicked in the ribs. Ouch.
Meanwhile, we get Skyler proving herself to be a pretty sleazy saleswoman, one who now has to suffer the consequences of Walter's relationship with the car wash owner. I thought the family buying the car wash would be interesting, but I found my interest waning here. I liked Skyler being assertive, and it's fun to note how far her character has come since Season 1 as well, but the car wash owner was a pretty flat character and it's hard to believe he'd be so upset at Walter after all this time. The guy holds a grudge, and I wonder whether or not Skyler will continue going after the car wash or if they'll go with Saul's laser tag plan.
I'm sure there will be a couple of reviewers who will rate the episode low. Sure, it's a slow episode. The most exciting moments of the episode are moments that don't really result in any sort of action or anything… the music playing in the background as Walt walks towards Gus' door, Jesse sitting in front of the speaker, Walt trying to explain himself to a tired looking Mike… all great moments in a pretty good episode. Who cares if the episode is slow? Last season and the season before proved that the show is all about taking each individual episode and using them all to build up to a great ending. I admit, I'm looking for that next boost of adrenaline that the show is so good at delivering.
