Breaking Bad No Mas

After an incredible second season, I was very excited for the return of Breaking Bad and last Sunday's premiere No Mas did not disappoint. Season premieres often layout the groundwork for the rest of the season and No Mas managed to answer a lot of lingering questions from season 2 without feeling like a checklist and firmly entrenched the major conflicts in the upcoming season. From the first episode of the series the audience is forced to wonder when will Walt's two worlds collide and what will be the fallout when that occurs. This type of big reveal is usually saved for the climax of an episode or a season, but the premiere lets the other shoe drop very unexpectedly and we end up as surprised as Walt when Skyler finally guesses that Walt is a drug dealer (though Walt prefers to think of himself as a manufacturer). I think this was a great choice by Vince Gilligan as it really catches the audience off guard, but it still makes perfect sense within the story. We are only surprised because we know that we are watching a TV show where big reveals and arcs tend to converge at the same time.

When Walter admits to his drug dealing he assumes everything will go back to normal, Skyler will empathize with his method of paying for his cancer treatment and providing for the family and they can go back to having a happy life. While he is wrong I think Walt's delusion and rationalizations is what makes him such a compelling character. Cable dramas have created several complex anti-heroes, but I don't think any are as endearing as Walter White. For his entire adult life Tony Soprano has been a sociopath his motivations appear to be a combination of sadism and rational self interest, we occasionally find ourself rooting for him because he is so charismatic, but he is not a good guy. Walter White is not a good guy anymore, but he was. His actions seem somewhat justified given his history. A good friend created an empire off his ideas, he is working a lowpaying job that he is grossly overqualified for, yet he is a tough, but fair teacher, a good father and an all around stand up member of the community. He hasn't been rewarded for any of these traits and finally snaps. He is going to start to take what is his, things spiral out of control and at some level he realizes what he is doing is wrong. However like Tony Soprano he realizes on some level he enjoys being bad, but he cannot fully grasp this realization so he needs to rationalization his actions. The first shot of Walter in the premiere is him burning all his ill gotten money, before having a change of heart and saving it. He feels some remorse over what he has done, but at his core he is still rational, burning the money doesn't absolve him of his sins, so why waste it? This callous logic appears again when he speaks at the school assembly. It could have been worse, but a tragedy still occurred and he is downplaying it to rationalize his own actions. While he is saying offensive cold things we don't feel like we are watching a sociopath justify his terrible actions, we feel pathos for someone getting ostracized in front of a huge crowd. Cranston's performance is so good that we do not judge Walter we pity him

One of the most important exchanges in the episodes occurs when Jesse says "I am the bad guy". Last season Jesse was on the fence; was he a bumbling high school dropout who lucked into making the best meth in town or was he evil. Throughout the season we saw him feel legitimate guilt and compassion for his actions, something that Walt was incapable of and I expected Jesse would leave the drug trade (or Walt would kill him); obviously the premiere ruined that speculation. Jesse has accepted that he is the bad guy and I suspect he will start acting like the bad guy. This is in strict contrast to Walt who's delusion prevents him from seeing himself as a bad guy. However as an audience member I don't see Walt as the bad guy either. I excuse Walters behaviour just as he does, because he is still vulnerable. He is still trying to act like a drug dealer instead of being one. He cannot successfully lie when confronted with his transgressions and while he shows flashes of ruthlessness and anger it has yet to become all consuming. For all the awful things he has done Walt still has virtuous traits and while i expect his virtuosity to wane as the series progresses we still want everything to work out for him.

Stray Thoughts

- I am usually unmoved by depressing stories from characters I have no affiliation with, but I literally gasped and covered my mouth while listening to the drug counselor's story about killing his daughter.

- After hearing he would be a regular in this season I was disappointed that Bob Odenkirk was absent.