Breaking Bad: 4 Days Out

 “You made poison out of beans, yo!”

This extraordinary episode could be summed up quite easily, I suspect. Walt is expecting bad news from his CT scan and expects he doesn't have long to live, with little to leave for his family. So he and Jesse go to the desert and cook, but end up stranded there (after cooking $672,000 worth of meth- each!) and nearly die of dehydration before Walt pulls some chemistry teacher Macgyver superpowers out of his arse and saves them with science.

But there's a lot more going on than that, and I'm not just thinking of the extended meth cooking scenes which no doubt improved the quality of meth in the USA for years to come. There's Walt's death wish, and deep down shame. There's the fact this is an extended two hander between him and Jesse, giving a bit of depth to their relationship. We see them bond over how much they've cooked: they are potentially very wealthy man if they can keep it up long term. And Jesse may whinge, but he sees "Mr White"  as an authority figure and subconsciously accepts his subordinate position, as well as marvelling at his cleverness. Walt thinks Jesse is a bit of a prat- but a trustworthy prat, and one with necessary connections.

Meawhile Walt and Skyler have made up, but the easy, natural couple stuff has gone and the affection they show each other is much less coded as sexual. It's not the same. And even Saul says exactly what we viewers are thinking: this double life of Walt's is simply not sustainable. I suspect that this season will end with a dramatic demonstration of that.

It is, needless to say, peerlessly good.

Breaking Bad: A No-Rough-Stuff-Type Deal

 "Why was it so damn good?"

"Because it was illegal."

This is a bloody good, bloody clever season finale that ends things at a perfect point:Walt and Jesse are now solidly established and in business- although the last scene with Tujo beating his own henchman to a pulp reminds us (and Walt) that this is a world where violence is not far away.

It's also a scene that establishes Walt, in this context at least, as the apha male he hasn't been for most of his life- it's a sign of Tujo's respect for Walt that he beats his own man for dissing him. But Walt gets off on risk, and feels horny during the opening scene as he hides in the very plainest of plain sight from the narco authorities, leading to what seems to be some rather good car sex.

There are some interesting contrasts with Hank- out of place in the baby shower scene- as he and Walt discuss the arbitrariness of the drug laws, something Hank can't see even as he smokes (illegal) Cuban cigars.

The theme of middle class "respectable" criminality spreads wider than that- is Marie secretly engaging in some fairly major shoplifting? And we also see Skyler using her wiles to wiggle out of admittedly unfounded suspicion. None out of either couple are entirely free of some kind of lawbreaking, and the episode nods at the sexiness of this.

Yet Walt's subtle attempt to see how Skyler would react if she only knew the truth yields no answers. Still, he and Jesse, after an episode of chemical cleverness solving problems and some top heist-themed farce, end up in a good position. This is a magnificent end to a splendid season.

So is Walt now going to move on Tujo...?