What I’m Watching: Breaking Bad

Breaking Bad: Season 5, Episode 3 “Hazard Pay” (B+)

This new business model isn’t proceeding exactly as expected, mainly because there’s not one person in charge, and each of the four players has his own specific concerns in mind. Walt was clear on the division of labor, which is that he’s the cook and Mike is the business, but Saul wasn’t too pleased about that. The tour of possible cook sites was rather demoralizing for an enthusiastic Saul, who saw his ideas rejected continuously by the rest of the group. The idea of following around the tenting company was quite smart, and it’s good that they have Mike on board to outline just how little contact the workers are to have with the unnamed Walt and Jesse, something that Jesse Plemons’ Todd didn’t take long to disregard. The ending conversation about the actual profits revealed greater tensions in this new dynamic, mainly because Mike is working so hard to ensure that those owed hazard pay don’t talk. This was a fantastic episode for a recently slighted Jesse, who both got to show his dedication to the cause by offering up his money to solve a problem and dismissing his inquisitive friends’ requests to be involved in his new business, and also took time to grab a tortilla off an assembly line and eat it for a bit of comic relief. The conversation about relationships and trust was one of the best of the episode, and we really just have to hope that Jesse never finds out about Walt’s involvement with Brock. It’s about time someone went nuts on Marie, and Walt’s quick thinking should solve the problem unless Marie decides to open her mouth again and cause more trouble.