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| Left to right: Bryan Cranston and Giancarlo Esposito |
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 9
"Kafkaesque"
"I'm talking about your future here. Listen to reason."
-Saul (Bob Odenkirk)
Jesse (Aaron Paul) feels like he is being used and underpaid as a meth maker. He decides to confide in Saul (Bob Odenkirk) different ways to make more money, which includes potentially owning a massage parlor to avoid tax evasion suspicions. Walter (Bryan Cranston) is trying to figure out why Gus (Giancarlo Esposito) decided to seek the Cousins after him. The conversation soon gets into family protection and getting paid $15 million annually, provided that he stays and does business with him. Meanwhile, Jesse is in rehab and decides that with the help of Badger (Matt Jones) and Skinny Pete (Charles Baker) to manipulate the recovering addicts into buying the product. Marie (Betsy Brandt) is trying to figure out a good health care program to get Hank (Dean Norris) back into shape. Ted (Christopher Cousins) tries to help Skyler (Anna Gunn), but she doesn't want him to interfere with Hank's life. Instead, when all else seems to be going wrong, Skyler decides to let Walter's money go towards Hank's health care. However, instead of telling the truth, she says that he is a gambler who has made a significantly large amount of money.
Rating: 4 out of 5
MVP: Jesse (Aaron Paul)
After getting a handout from Walter in the past few episodes and getting his life back on track, it seems like Jesse is set on making the most that he can. Whether this will later be seen as a move of backstabbing or financial genius, he has made steps to becoming his own man once again. Whether it is the depressing rehab scenes or him trying to accept his life as being Kafkaesque, this episode is pretty much about him once again trying to escape the Heisenberg shtick and doing his own thing. In the most memorable scene between him and Saul in which economics are discussed in detail, we get a sense of who Jesse is. He doesn't want to have a smooth cover-up. He just wants to sell.
Best scene: Skyler finally takes control. After seasons of her being stuck to keep Walter's secret and money out of the general consciousness, she decides to open up to Marie about everything. Not in the "my husband's a meth dealer" mold, but more in the idea that he is wealthy and a gambler. It is a gesture that tears apart Walter's soul, even though it is what he is saving the money up for. Skyler's lie is so well strung together that it is amazing to hear and while none of it is true, good luck finding a hole in the logic. Still, nothing quite tops the sense that Skyler isn't finished. When confronted with the situation, she says that she learns from the best. Skyler is officially back stabbing her husband in order to finally start using the money he has been earning all of this time.
Rating: 4 out of 5
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| Left to right: Aaron Paul and Bob Odenkirk |
After getting a handout from Walter in the past few episodes and getting his life back on track, it seems like Jesse is set on making the most that he can. Whether this will later be seen as a move of backstabbing or financial genius, he has made steps to becoming his own man once again. Whether it is the depressing rehab scenes or him trying to accept his life as being Kafkaesque, this episode is pretty much about him once again trying to escape the Heisenberg shtick and doing his own thing. In the most memorable scene between him and Saul in which economics are discussed in detail, we get a sense of who Jesse is. He doesn't want to have a smooth cover-up. He just wants to sell.
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| Left to right: Cranston, Betsy Brandt, and Anna Gunn |
Come back tomorrow when we recap the episode "Fly"
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