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| 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 4, Episode 3
"Open House"
*Note: This is a special video that the Nerdist did in which they do competitive bowling with cast members from the series.
"To clean cars... and clean money."
-Walter (Bryan Cranston)
Walter (Bryan Cranston) discovers that the super meth lab is being closely watched and is not happy about it. Meanwhile, Jesse (Aaron Paul) continues his breakdown with go-kart racing and a bunch of people partying at his house Skyler (Anna Gunn) convinces Saul (Bob Odenkirk) to go after the car wash, even if Mr. Wolynetz (Marius Stan) doesn't want to sell it. Marie (Betsy Brandt) is caught shoplifting from an open house, which annoys Hank (Dean Norris). Hank is also given evidence from the Heisenberg case with a copy of Gale's notebook. Since he was temporarily laid off, his involvement wouldn't be seen as a D.E.A. case. With help from Saul's friend Kuby (Bill Burr), they are able to convince Mr. Wolynetz that his car wash is causing some problem to the surrounding environment. This causes him to lower the price and Skyler goes in to play hardball. They finally win it and suddenly Walter and Skyler seem to be best friends again. Hank looks into the case and Jesse continues to look for meaning in his life.
Rating: 3 out of 5
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| Anna Gunn |
This is possibly the least interesting Breaking Bad episode in their cannon. Marie's kleptomania nature continues to exist, but serves little purpose otherwise. Jesse unfortunately is reduced to repeating his plot from last week. It all comes down to one of only two things that matter in this episode. First, Hank finally gets Gale's notebook, which is a big breakthrough in the case. The other is that Skyler, proving to be the strong force who pushes Walter further than one would think. In this episode, she gets a chance to play hardball by taking down Mr. Wolynetz and getting the car wash despite Saul's insistence on her getting a nail salon. She is a tough woman who impressively can carry her own against Walter. Without her, the story would be stalled another week. Thank god she came in and knocked out the problematic car wash story so that we can hopefully move on with the Heisenberg narrative.
Best scene: It wasn't a particularly memorable episode, but if there's any proof that Skyler knows how to negotiate, it is the scene in which she gets a phone call from Mr. Wolynetz about the car wash and talks down the price. This is the big breakthrough that has been building for some time now. It may not be a great scene, but in an episode without great moments, it is at least a step forward for the show in general. Also, it makes me believe that Walter is probably not going to survive without Skyler. She is the one who was insistent and stubborn. If she wasn't involved, we'd probably be looking at a nail salon right now.
Come back tomorrow when we recap "Bullet Points"
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