What I’m Watching: Breaking Bad

Breaking Bad: Season 3, Episode 8 “I See You” (B+)

The beginning of this episode started out with a character we know, even though he’s so beaten and broken down that it’s hard to recognize him. His aggressive “so roll me further, bitch” in response to the nurse telling him he couldn’t smoke so close to the hospital was cold, but nowhere near as brutal and harsh as his saying “actually, I’m great” after seeing that Hank had been shot. It’s very sad to see Gale try to understand why Walt is letting him go, and Walt’s comparison of himself to classical and Gale to jazz is extremely regrettable once Jesse saunters in and completely destroys his point. While he’s certainly not doing anything productive, it’s at least a bit of a relief to see Jesse de-stressing and entertaining himself all day while Walt is out of the lab. Walt’s declaration of “my family comes before your schedule” is a particularly lasting and powerful line, and having Gus show up at the hospital further intensified the situation. Marie’s anger about the DEA’s role in Hank getting was intriguing, and her fury about the bacteria-infested silverware was a welcome brief humorous distraction. Walt trying to help the situation by talking about his experiences quickly went downhill but he brought it all back by saying that he survived this place and he isn’t half the man Hank is. “Why today are all the lights green – I never wanted to be stuck in traffic so bad in my life” was a particularly memorable line. Skyler shaking her head when Walt is paged to a phone at the hospital and then not even pretending to acknowledge that he was talking to anyone else when he begins to make up a lie about who was on the phone was terrific. The twin crawling out of bed without his legs to try and kill Walt was one last terrifying act of violence on the part of the now-departed twins. Gus taking power and breaking his cell phone in half was a major move, but nothing could be more significant and powerful in terms of ending the episode than merely hearing and not seeing Hank as his family finally gets the chance to be with him.