Breaking Half: "Green Light"

Aaron Paul

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 3, Episode 4

"Green Light"

"You know Walter, sometimes it doesn't hurt 

to have someone watching your back."

-Mike (Jonathan Banks)

After Jesse (Aaron Paul) gives a cashier (Jolene Purdy) at a gas station some meth, Hank (Dean Norris) becomes suspicious and decides to investigate. He is also waiting to confirm if he is going to El Paso, as he believes that he is so close to solving the case. Meanwhile, Saul (Bob Odenkirk) talks to Mike (Jonathan Banks) over a recorded conversation that Walter (Bryan Cranston) had with Skyler (Anna Gunn) involving sex with Ted (Christopher Cousins). Walter is losing his mind to the point that he hits on the principal of the school, Carmen (Carmen Serano) and gets expelled. Jesse tries to convince him to come back to work for him, as he is making some good money. Walter refuses, though he is also upset that Jesse is getting rich off of his formula. Walter continues his meltdown by trying to assault Ted at work with little success. Still, Skyler and Ted continue to have an affair that is only being kept from becoming a thing by her children. Mike talks to Gus (Giancarlo Esposito) on the best method to get Walter to cook again. Hank finds a camera at the gas station that connects him to the RV. After a deal with a customer, Jesse gets half of the cash and the customer gives Walter the other half at a stop light. Down on his luck and potentially losing his wife, Walter contemplates life as he sees a green light.


Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Left to right: Cranston and Carmen Serano

MVP: Walter (Bryan Cranston)

This has been quite an emotional roller coaster for the past few episodes. However, this is the point in the show where we contemplate what Walter's next move is. Does he stop the business and take care of his family that seems to be growing apart, or does he go back to cooking? Bryan Cranston turns in a great performance here, especially as he is on the verge of a psychotic breakdown. From hitting on the principal to getting kicked out of Ted's place of business, he is reaching new lows. It is only a matter of time before he is caught if he keeps acting out like this.

Best scene: I have personal speculation that the scene between Mike and Saul involving a taped conversation is going to come back sometime in the final stretch of episodes. It is recorded evidence of Walter admitting that he is Heisenberg. The only question now is how will Saul give up this information?

As for the best scene of this episode, it definitely has to be that in the middle of this breakdown, Walter decides to pay Ted a visit. Acting out in anger, he finds his office and grabs a plant off of the floor. When Ted refuses to leave his office, Walter slams it at the glass for the plant's base to unceremoniously break on the ground. He is then forced to be ushered out. None of it makes sense other than to symbolize Walter's decline into madness. If "Down" saw Jesse reaching a low, "Green Light" is Walter at his lowest. 

Come back tomorrow when we recap "Mas"