Breaking Half: "Cancer Man"

Bryan Cranston

Are you tired of long, tedious accounts of Breaking Bad episode recaps? Then look no further than Breaking Half: a weekly column that takes the good and bad from each week's episode of Breaking Bad and dilutes it down to the core necessities. Each Monday, Breaking Half will attempt to take a few key moments from the episode and boil it down to one juicy paragraph.

Season 1, Episode 4

"Cancer Man"

"Albuquerque might just have a new kingpin."

-Hank (Dean Norris)

With Hank (Dean Norris) on the hunt for a meth dealer that is serving up the purest batch that the D.E.A. has ever seen, Walter (Bryan Cranston) tries to move on with his life. Meanwhile, Jesse (Aaron Paul) invites his friends over, including the premiere of Skinny Pete (Charles Baker) and his pal Combo (Rodney Rush). He splits a bag of meth with them, which only leaves them paranoid and Jesse being requested to make more, as Combo knows someone that can give him a business. During an afternoon lunch at the Whites' house, Walter shares the story of how he met Skyler (Anna Gunn): she worked at a restaurant near where he worked and he would ask her for help on crosswords until something stuck. However, this leads Skyler to cry and Walter to open up to Hank, Marie (Betsy Brandt), and Walt Jr. (R.J. Mitte) that he has cancer. This causes Marie to try and find the best treatment possible for him and Hank to say that he will protect his mother (Tess Harper), father (Michael Boshever), and brother (Benjamin Petry). After Jesse wakes up from a meth-induced haze, he sees his family, who are none too pleased to see him. Meanwhile, Walter has to deal with the money issues and constantly running into headphone loser Ken Wins (Kyle Bornheimer), who stole his parking place. Soon, he realizes that his debt amounts to a lot. After Jesse stops by to give him the share from the meth that they made ($4000), he begins to contemplate everything. The episode ends with Walter, out on a drive, pulling into a gas station and blowing up the car of Ken Wins by simply applying a windshield cleaner onto the car battery.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

MVP: Walter (Bryan Cranston)

While this episode may be a dip from the first three, it isn't by that much. Based on where the show goes, I do not feel like Jesse's family life was really an essential story. Still, the way that Walter feels uncomfortable opening up, facing the dilemma of financial worries, this episode helps up to understand Walter in the early stages of hiding secrets. He was more haphazard, hiding things in his air vents and acting like his trip into meth making didn't happen. It is possible that the early episodes suffer from Walter being a secretive man, but it helps to highlight why Bryan Cranston is a very charismatic actor. 

Left to right: Dean Norris, Betsy Brandt, Cranston, and Anna Gunn

Best scene: It is so easy to call the car explosion finale the best scene in the episode, and one of the first iconic moments in the show's history. However, the conversation in which Walter opens up about his cancer may in fact be more poignant to the overall show. Going back through the episodes, I am impressed by how much was there from the beginning, including Hank's word choice on how he would be there to protect the family. We also get the turn of Walt Jr., who is on the cusp of turning into rebellious Flynn and a revelation of what may happen in the finale. While this is speculation, the idea that there is a restaurant near where Walter works and that one appears in "Live Free or Die" suggests that this is all relative. 

Come back tomorrow for a recap on the episode "Gray Matter"