The third season of Breaking Bad got off to a great start this week, with an episode titled “No Mas” directed by series star Bryan Cranston. The opening moments were like watching a Sergio Leone spaghetti-Western made fresh, as two villainous-looking cousins wearing cowboy boots with little rattlesnake skulls in the toe-tips walked through harsh sun and dusty air to make clear their ultimate goal: to kill Cranston’s Walter White.
Meanwhile, we were treated to some fine scenes of Aaron Paul’s Jesse in rehab. Fragile from the accidental drug-related death of his girlfriend, Jesse was a soft target for the clever combination of hard-headed 12-step tenets and soft-headed New Age philosophy being swirled into his noggin. “Self-hatred, guilt accomplishes nothing,” said the group leader played with excellent oiliness by Jerre Burns.
The show was filled with striking images, such as Walt burning a huge amount of money, suggesting a break with his meth-cooking criminal past.
But nothing is simple or clean-cut on Breaking Bad, and as much as Walt wanted to set things straight in his marriage, Skyler (and what a great performance by Anna Gunn, taking the wronged-wife role and doing fresh things with it all the time) wasn’t letting him off the hook. Having discovered the tip of her husband’s criminal iceberg (“You’re a drug dealer”; “I’m a manufacturer, not a dealer”), Skyler wants a divorce, which kind of screws up Walt’s ideal, which is to return family life to the way it once was.
The wonderful thing about Breaking Bad is that no character remains the same over the course of a season, or even just a few episodes. Think how timid and scared Walt was when Breaking Bad first debuted; now look as his shaved head and goatee, his hard eyes and guttural speaking voice, and realize how much Walt, almost without realizing it, has slipped into the skin of a man who has nothing and everything to lose. But unlike the old Walt, who quailed at that prospect, the current Walt takes action.
Next week: The return of Bob Odenkirk’s oleaginous lawyer, Saul Goodman. Trust me, he’s still a great weasel!
What did you think about this week’s premiere? Did you sing along with Walt to America’s “Horse With No name”? What will the rattlesnake-boot boys do next, do you think?
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god, how amazing was the premiere. so glad i watched. bryan cranston and anna gunn are fantastic!!
Awesome…This show is too good for TV
I definitely agree, Bryan Cranston is a monster, he is so good at what he does, he’s in a league of his own.
Such a great episode! I think the cousins we saw are cousins of Tuco who are now coming after Walt after discovering Tuco murdered in the desert. This show just has so many twists, I learned not to try to predict what happens next because I’m usually wrong! Can’t wait to watch next week!
Tuco’s body was likely recovered by the DEA. Remember the golden teeth?
Walt’s speech in the gymnasium had me cracking up. This show has such a warped sense of humor that really appeals to me. Breaking Bad is one of those shows I recommend to anyone who will listen.
This episode was excellent. The best scene was without a doubt the School Assembly. Watching Walt being forced to confront the ramifications of his actions was sublime.
I can’t tell you how happy I am that Skyler has woken up to everything that’s been going on with Walt. It’s still heartbreaking, though. If she didn’t still love him, there’s no way she’d make him the offer of a clean divorce in exchange for her silence.
It was also great of the writers to emphasize the fact that Jesse and Walt have effectively alienated themselves from everyone but each other. With Jesse’s new sense of self-acceptance and Walter’s pervasive self-denial, I don’t see this turning out to be quite as harmonious as Bert and Ernie.
If anyone is interested, more of my thoughts on this episode are available on my blog where I go into detail about what I believe Walter’s season three character arc will entail: http://wordbribery.com/breaking-bad-no-mas/
sorry i know i am in the minority but a waste of an eopisode. i don’t need anymore shows that give you 5 minutes of actual info per episode a la Lost and its season 3 i don’t need a series of episodes to set up whats going to be going on, which is what this looks like
A minority of one, perhaps?
I thought tonight’s episode was great and am excited about the rest of season three.
I agree as well, I thought it was a weak episode.
Good then don’t watch it again
I agree. I hate this long dragged out crap. And to Whome’s comment Shut your piehole
Good then don’t watch it again, this isn’t some standard 22-24 episode season show, sure it is “long dragged out” to people like you with short attention spans…watch your reality tv and quit complaining
Jesse doesn’t know it, but Walt killed his girlfriend. Remember?
I’ve been expecting the cartel to send in the heavy-hitters since the “turtle” episode last season. I thought the twin vibe was a tad cheesy, but I’m eager to see how dark things will get.
Exactly. You can’t really call it an “accidental death” when Walt is the one who rolled her on her back and then did nothing to save her. He is rationalizing the causes of the crash because he knows that, too, was his fault.
Maybe I don’t recall from the episode, but how would Walt know he inadvertently caused the crash? When he met Jane’s father in the bar, how would he link the two? And did that chitchat over drinks come before Walt went storming to Jesse’s place and found them both stoned and out?
He would’ve watched the same news programs as everyone else and seen the picture of Jane linked to the AT controller, and the crash… and would’ve put everything together.
I didn’t even put it together until tonight that the plane crash was why we got all of those openings last season with the stuff floating in Walt’s pool.
Then you’re kinda dumb and maybe should go find a new show to watch, or watch it with someone smarter than you to clue you in.
You don’t have to be nasty, ekh.
When I saw the cartel creeps exit their Mercedes and join the crawly people on their way to visit the Angel of Death shack, I had a kind of WTF moment akin to the introduction of the back-in-time Dharma group on Lost.The believability factor was a little strained for me.I hope Breaking Bad doesn’t veer off too far from what has made it such a compelling series.
The crawling is very realistic — a hybrid Catholic-Native Mexican tradition. And it nicely echoed the man crawling for his life at the end of the episode. Fantastic writing.
I agree. I once visited a shrine in Mexico where people crawl on their knees for distances in direct relation to how big a miracle they want. Some arrive at the shrine with bloody hands and knees they crawl so far.
Perhaps I should clarify.I know this was a bit of dramatic license,but I find it hard to imagine a pair of druglords traveling in their ultra-conspicuous brand-spankin’ new Benz to an obscure border town, taking the trouble to steal clothes from and dump their $150k car and Armani suits with some local villagers only to keep wearing their conversation-starting footwear and cross the border in an old coyote truck.If death comes to those who ask about the boots,the carnage will be huge until some sensible shoes are found. It just seems like there’s a more economical and less far-fetched way to enter the USA
It was a little too weird for me, almost self-indulgently so. It was challenging the viewer — how uncomfortable CAN we make you. That only goes so far.
The scene in the Taco joint was the best, and it sums up the entire situation. He is out, a new leaf turned….what…did you say 3 million dollars? I’ll bet Walt will cook again, or his family will be harmed. That seems to be what is coming.
I’m fearful of that as well (that his motivation this season will still be for the welfare of his family but because they’re in jeapordy, not because he’s dying)
Every time the cartel guys were on screen I got a great demo of my subwoofer. Can’t wait to hear more from them.
LOL, My dogs jumped like my house was falling down. Great effect!
I think the only scene that held any weight was Walt finally coming clean with Skylar. I hope the creators follow Lost’s lead and set an end date. I love the show, but there has to be a payoff eventually. Last season’s grand climax was a major letdown after such a buildup. It left a bad taste with me.
and then these cartel guys.. talk about filler. I don’t care at all about them.. uh oh.. generic bad guys
are on the way.. not interested.
but I’ll keep watching anyway.