Breaking Bad: Buyout

 "I said I threw them. I would never come to the headquarters of our illegal meth operation, dragging a bunch of cops, would I?"

This is an extraordinary episode full of twists, turns, character moments and a very real sense that this final season is the last act of a very long theatrical tragedy, as Walt/Heisenberg spurns a golden chance to cash in, walk away from all this, and cash in as a rich man to try and rebuild relations with the family he's lost. But he won't. He's Heisenberg. And, in a pivotal two hander betweewn Walt (well, Heisenberg) and Jesse, he reminisces about the business (as we saw in Season One) that is worth billions today, yet he sold his stake for $5,000.

Walt is cursed by a tragic flaw which, I'm sure, will cause his downfall. He's addicted to the criminal life. He's Heisenberg.

Jesse and Mike are not like him. Admittedly, for Mike, it's the constant DEA harassment, but it's nonetheless clear that he's shaken by the murder of a child. As for Jesse, he's absolutely devastated. Aaron Paul, incidentally, is superlative here, not only in his very human reaction to the murder but in the awkwardness of the meal with Walt and a Skyler who is really downing the wine. This competent, intelligent if uneducated, morally complex man is suddenly reduced again to a child.

The cliffhanger is interesting, though. Both Jesse and Mike want to sell out for $5 million each, and leave the meth business forever. Yet there's a snag; the potential buyers need Walt out of the business, setting up a conflict of interest between Walt and his erstwhile comrades. But Walt, smug despite the gun to his face, has a plan.

I'm loving this.

Breaking Bad: Mas

 "The chemistry must be respected!"

Another fadcinating and superbly crafted episode this time, but it's clear that something ominous is going to happen. This is the calm before the storm, with the parallel obsessivenesses of Heisenberg and Hank seeming about to collide with each other.

We begin, though, with a flashback that shows how far we've come. The early part of this is the only scene to feature Walt as opposed to Heisenberg, and to show us the irresponsible Jesse of the recent past, wasting money on bad alcoholic beverages and awkward sexual stuff with strippers.

The present day is quite the contrast, as Gus pits Walt and Jesse against each other and offers Walt a state-of-the-art lab which persuades him to accept what is essentially a post as a salaried employee, a middle manager in criminal big business as Jesse, unably assisted by Saul, fails to run rings around him. Meanwhile, an increasingly obsessed Hank continues to be in denial about his feelings as he closes in onWalt and Jesse, getting very close by the end.

We also see Skyler having possible second thoughts about leaving Walt until her divorce lawyer gives some home truths; a very cute baby; and the fascinating dynamics between Walt (and Heisenberg) and Gus- two extremely intelliogent men having a verbal chess game in ten dimensions. Gus thinks he's the alpha male here, albeit subtly, and psychologically he knows how to push Walt's buttons. But will this always be the case?

This is superlative telly. Both the writing of these very three dimensional characters and indeed the acting are absolutely of the very first rank.