What I’m Watching: Breaking Bad

Breaking Bad: Season 3, Episode 11 “Abiquiu” (B+)

After an entire episode spent trying to kill a fly, it’s good to dive back into everything. Jesse’s character transformation is particularly interesting, as we get a glimpse of when he was really happy and with Jane before she died. It’s nice to see Krysten Ritter again after watching her on “Gravity” for the past six weeks. Jesse clearly isn’t the same man he used to be, however, now yelling at his friends for not selling to recovering drug addicts. His move to seduce a woman in order to sell meth to her was unsurprisingly low, and it was so clear how much his mind changed when he found out that she had a son. Jesse busting out “what kind of mother are you” got her really angry, making for an immensely powerful scene. That final scene with Jesse buying drugs from the kid and walking away scared was also fairly intense. Skyler’s involvement in Walt’s business could have been a problematic thing for the show, but it’s actually fascinating. Saul’s attempt to use jelly beans to demonstrate money laundering failed miserably on both of them, and Skyler’s reaction to the laser tag investment idea was quite negative. Her car wash idea was impressive, and I like the possibility of having her as the person running the front. Walt’s question about divorce prompted a surprising revelation: Skyler never got a divorce because married couples can’t be compelled to testify against one another. Gus inviting Walt over to his home for dinner and asking Walt to cook with hi was a magnificent scene, and I think they have an incredible relationship. Saul wins the prize for the two best lines of the episode: “is that you talking or Yoko Ono?” and “I once convinced a woman that I was Kevin Costner, and it worked because I believed it.”