Tuesday, September 4, 2012

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


Breaking Bad: Season 5, Episode 8 “Gliding Over All” (A-)

This is what I thought was going to happen, though I didn’t expect it to play out in such a subtle and fantastic fashion. After a resounding quote to Walt earlier in the episode about the awfulness of chasing monsters, Hank sat down on the toilet in the middle of a happy family barbecue and happened upon a book given to Walt that connected him directly with the deceased Gale, something that Walt had jokingly referenced last season when Hank deduced that his initials were in fact W.W. This is a great way for the season to end and for Hank to find out that Walt is somehow involved, and I wish we didn’t have to wait a whole year to figure out how he’s going to go about investigating Walt’s role in everything. This episode executed not one but two spectacularly well-done time lapses, one of which showed Walt and Todd cooking repeatedly and moving money around, and the other which saw all nine associates of Gus’ being brutally killed in a time span of two minutes in prison. Hiring Todd’s uncle was a brilliant idea, and, as usual, Walt was cold and calculating both in how he demanded the hits be carried out and how he insisted upon his specifics. Skyler taking Walt to see that huge pile of money was astounding, and I do hope that he really did give a big portion of it to Jesse and then decide to get out. The last remaining links, Lydia and Todd, are unlikely to be happy about Walt’s apparent exit, but something tells me that he’s not going to be able to resist cooking up more cash. I can’t wait for this show’s final eight episodes, and this season has once again proven to be excellent thus far.

Season grade so far: A-
Season MVP: Bryan Cranston

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