Breaking Bad (and Getting Worse)

For those of us who masochistically enjoy following the ongoing train wreck that is the lives of Walter White and Jesse Pinkman, season 4 has been particularly compelling. Both characters are developing along the lines established in the first three seasons. Which is to say, they are both becoming very, very bad. Yet, despite the show's moral compass heading decidedly south, both men's decisions are shown as a necessary response to their environment. Yes, Jesse murdered someone at the end of season 3. It's hard to argue, however, that, at that moment, he had any choice. Walt was about to be killed and Jesse was forced to decide where his loyalty lies. For Jesse, Walt still represents, in spite of far he has fallen, a link to a world of middle-class normalcy, a way back up the social ladder towards respectability. He is also the only father figure Jesse has.

Both men are faced with choices about whether to maintain their dangerous course into criminality, or to jump ship and confess to the police. Before the murder, Jesse begs Walter to give up cooking meth and go to the police for protection. It seems an admission of the fact that neither of these guys is really cut out to be a criminal. Walter's ego and Jesse's naivete have pushed them this far, but they are both out of their element. Walter's stone face during this scene says it all. He won't quit, even though he has millions of dollars, his life and his family are in danger, and he is being forced into a life of violent crime. He can't quit, because of his ego, his pride, his machismo -- basically because Walter White has to win, has to be the alpha dog.

In terms of the other characters, the other desperate men and women in this world, we come to understand them a little better too. Even Gustavo, who has been the most opaque character thus far, gets his own episode. Unlike the earlier drug pushers of the cartel, Gus receives a back story. This episode helps to present him as a human being, with painful reasons for what he does. Yes, he is very dangerous, and will do practically anything to succeed, but he has feelings and his own code that he lives by -- just as Walter and Jesse do.

As we head towards the climax of the series, I feel more and more that Walter will get his much deserved comeuppance, yet I still can't help feeling sorry for the guy. He did start cooking drugs in order to set his family up for life. He did this when under the death sentence of lung cancer. In one touching (yet dark) scene, a fellow cancer patient comes to Walter for sympathy. He talks all the self-help wisdom of "accept your fate, let go, don't try to control your destiny." Walter's response, however hubristic, has a certain power. Basically, he says, "Fuck the universe. Until I am told it's over, I'm in charge." It's easier to understand his fatalistic outlook when one keeps in mind his illness and the financial struggles that he has been through.

The writers of Breaking Bad are careful to show us how these character became so desperate in the first place, just how they were driven to such violent extremes. And that is why it's the best show on television.

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[Spoiler Alert]

Season 4 Finale

The perverted sense of humor of Vince Gilligan and his crew are once again at play in the season finale in the form of the title "Face Off." Gus finally gets his, in spite of his sociopathic brilliance. Yes, it could have been Walt and/or Jesse getting their comeuppance, but it seems that Walt was a few steps ahead of the drug kingpin himself. It's a flawless ending to a brilliant season, and sets us up perfectly for the final season, as it will surely pit Walt versus his young prodige.

Gus's Achilles heal is revealed quickly at the beginning of the episode, and I can't believe I hadn't thought of it before. His hatred for the elderly Salamanca is the only thing that causes him to go outside of his safety zone. His trip to the old capo's nursing home puts him at the mercy of Walter, and, this time, our hero doesn't screw it up. The triple murder is a bit of criminal master-mindedness that ties up the more than one loose end for Walt. The man who threatened his family is dead, as is the last remaining member of the Mexican drug cartel.

We even get a shot of Walter gloating as he looks at Gustavo's abandoned car, with a close up of its Pollos Hermanos air freshener. That and the final scene, as Walter utters to Skylar, that he has "won" prove that his ego is intact after all of the lies and murders, the threats to his children, and general horribleness of the last four seasons. The major conflicts remain the same: Walt versus Skylar and her sense of (need for) middle-class respectability, and, of course, Walter versus Jesse, his only true partner and friend, who will have to decide if he really needs Walter.

Walt has played the role of Jesse's figurative father throughout the series, teaching him sometimes, even saving his life, but, on the other hand, limiting and denigrating him. Will Jesse find the strength to strike out on his own now that Gus is out of the picture? The very important clue to this upcoming conflict is the morning glory plant. We end on a close up of that plant, sitting square in Walter's backyard. Did he poison Jesse's figurative son just to save his own hide? Or did Gus really need to go? The wild card here is the only other father figure left for Jesse: Mike. Will Mike let Gus's death go without retaliation? It seems that he would, but, still, I can't see him working for Walter. The tangled web that has been woven throughout the show seems certain to catch its major players.