Wednesday, October 12, 2011

What I’m Watching: Breaking Bad (Season Finale)


Breaking Bad: Season 4, Episode 13 “Face Off” (A-)

Talk about a breathless finale. There was no way all this was going to end well, but I certainly didn’t see it going so positively for Jesse and Walt, though of course it’s hardly that simple. Jesse getting questioned by the police seemed like a very bad thing, though he did a great job stonewalling, and Saul managed to get everything under control as soon as he got there. Walt’s diplomacy in searching for Saul wasn’t top-notch, but he did manage to get into his house without being capped, so there’s something to be said for that. Going to Hector and offering him the chance to get revenge on Gus was a shocking move, and I didn’t really know what he had planned, especially after Hector spelled out that rather unfriendly message to the DEA. Gus seemed so horrified by Hector’s willingness to talk to the DEA, and in that final moment, he actually looked scared as he realized what was about to happen. And what a way to go out, walking out of the room with his face half burnt off, straightening his tie, and then collapsing. The destruction of the lab was a very gratifying, powerful sequence, definitively changing the game. Everything seemed fine, but it turns out that things are worse than ever now that Gus is gone. Upon learning that Brock wasn’t actually poisoned by Gus, Jesse started to doubt whether Gus deserved to die, and Walt expressed that “he won” after Skyler asked him if this was him. That final shot of the plant confirms that it was in fact Walt that poisoned Brock, and that sends us into the show’s final season with a terrible sense of dread that it’s going to come back to haunt him. This has been a spectacular, furiously intense season, and I can’t wait to see where season five goes.

Season grade: A-
Season MVP: Bryan Cranston

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Breaking Bad is brilliantly written show. Its smartly executed and well directed show. Its mine favorite show and I watch it online.