Breaking Bad Season 2 Episode 5: Breakage
May. 5th, 2019 01:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
libraryseraph this episode opens with the camera breaking the surface of the water. When it does, we're in an unfamiliar setting, with two unfamiliar characters. The men who have just swum across the river find Tuco's grill in plastic that Hank had as a souvenir. Just like we have no context for who these men are, they have no context for the grill.
The actual beginning, after the credits, is similar to the very first scene, but with Walt's chemotherapy bags/tubes instead of with nature. Walt sits there, the sound drowned out by his heartbeat, as everyone else in the clinic moves in fast-forwards around him. It captures Walt's disconnect from everyone else very well.
Walt is deteriorating: we see him sleeping in bed wwith Skyler without talking, pulling the gun out of Holly's room's vent and looking at it, and vomiting in the toliet. When the toilet's clogging, he finds Skyler's cigarette package while plunging. Now he knows Skyler's falling apart too
With Tuco down, Hank is closing in on Heisenberg. It seems like Hank is desperate to find something else to do to distract himself from his trauma related to Tuco, and he's glad to get promoted.
When Hank has his panic attack in the elevator, the hydralics from Jesse's car can be heard in flashback, synced to Hank's heart pounding. Hank is totally normal seeming when he gets off the elevator; he has to be, since his image is constructed around a conception of masculinity that doesn't allow for things like "PTSD" or "panic attacks". Hell, Hank has probably internalized that to the point that he;d see himself as weak if he truly acknowledged what was going on.
Jesse pays the car lot guy immediately after getting his money back, because it's important to him that he keep his word.
Jane is introduced as Jesse's new landlady, which is a position of responsibility and power. This contrasts everything else later.
Hank's home brewery is shot in the same way as the meth labs have been shot before, making Hank's hobby basically a less sinister/more legal version of Walt.
We see Jesse being in control with his friends again, actually able to apply his street skills to something.
Skyler puts her foot down with Marie, demanding an apology, which Marie doesn't even understand at first. Marie does actually apologize, furthering the parallel as Marie and Skyler's interactions as a lesser version of Walt and Skyler's; here, we see what it's like when somebody actually tries.
Walt asks Hank where criminals "like that" come from, and Hank says it doesn't matter. This refusal to think about the larger contact of people like Tuco is another thing that keeps Hank blind.
We get a montage of Jesse's friends showing meth, showing just how deep someone with connections and drive can reach in the drug trade.
Walt is probably right about not allowing breakage, but it also shows how Walt refuses to accept anything less than 100%, even in cases where 100% is dangerous. Earlier, when Jesse said he'd replace Tuco, Walt was like "what, so you'll beat people to death for disagreeing with you", but now that he's personally affected, he;s basically encouraging Jesse to do that.
Skyler confronts Walt about his distance from Flynn, and Walt confronts Skyler about the cigarettes. He honestly has a point about Skyler smoking while pregnant, but he brings it up in such a manipulative way, it sucks.
Hank has a panic/trauma attack, and shoots his brewery thinking there's a home invasion underway. His trauma is affecting all areas of his life, not just his work. He responds by throwing the grill into the river the next day. It's not a souvenir of hs accomplishments anymore, it's a painful reminder, and a signifier that you can't really get glory from violence.
The actual beginning, after the credits, is similar to the very first scene, but with Walt's chemotherapy bags/tubes instead of with nature. Walt sits there, the sound drowned out by his heartbeat, as everyone else in the clinic moves in fast-forwards around him. It captures Walt's disconnect from everyone else very well.
Walt is deteriorating: we see him sleeping in bed wwith Skyler without talking, pulling the gun out of Holly's room's vent and looking at it, and vomiting in the toliet. When the toilet's clogging, he finds Skyler's cigarette package while plunging. Now he knows Skyler's falling apart too
With Tuco down, Hank is closing in on Heisenberg. It seems like Hank is desperate to find something else to do to distract himself from his trauma related to Tuco, and he's glad to get promoted.
When Hank has his panic attack in the elevator, the hydralics from Jesse's car can be heard in flashback, synced to Hank's heart pounding. Hank is totally normal seeming when he gets off the elevator; he has to be, since his image is constructed around a conception of masculinity that doesn't allow for things like "PTSD" or "panic attacks". Hell, Hank has probably internalized that to the point that he;d see himself as weak if he truly acknowledged what was going on.
Jesse pays the car lot guy immediately after getting his money back, because it's important to him that he keep his word.
Jane is introduced as Jesse's new landlady, which is a position of responsibility and power. This contrasts everything else later.
Hank's home brewery is shot in the same way as the meth labs have been shot before, making Hank's hobby basically a less sinister/more legal version of Walt.
We see Jesse being in control with his friends again, actually able to apply his street skills to something.
Skyler puts her foot down with Marie, demanding an apology, which Marie doesn't even understand at first. Marie does actually apologize, furthering the parallel as Marie and Skyler's interactions as a lesser version of Walt and Skyler's; here, we see what it's like when somebody actually tries.
Walt asks Hank where criminals "like that" come from, and Hank says it doesn't matter. This refusal to think about the larger contact of people like Tuco is another thing that keeps Hank blind.
We get a montage of Jesse's friends showing meth, showing just how deep someone with connections and drive can reach in the drug trade.
Walt is probably right about not allowing breakage, but it also shows how Walt refuses to accept anything less than 100%, even in cases where 100% is dangerous. Earlier, when Jesse said he'd replace Tuco, Walt was like "what, so you'll beat people to death for disagreeing with you", but now that he's personally affected, he;s basically encouraging Jesse to do that.
Skyler confronts Walt about his distance from Flynn, and Walt confronts Skyler about the cigarettes. He honestly has a point about Skyler smoking while pregnant, but he brings it up in such a manipulative way, it sucks.
Hank has a panic/trauma attack, and shoots his brewery thinking there's a home invasion underway. His trauma is affecting all areas of his life, not just his work. He responds by throwing the grill into the river the next day. It's not a souvenir of hs accomplishments anymore, it's a painful reminder, and a signifier that you can't really get glory from violence.
