Breaking Bad Review: Into Dark Territory

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This was mostly a typical episode of Breaking Bad Season 5.

There was the great attention to detail in the team's plan to steal the Methylamine. There was Walt's manipulation of a family member for personal gain, this time Hank. There was moments of dark humor (We're robbing a train!).

And then there was a gun shot. And then a cut to credits. And then... damn. Did that really happen?!?

Worried Jesse

It's been an overriding theme of Breaking Bad since Walt started to go Scarface: consequences have actions.

Sometimes they are as indirect and unplanned as the Season 2 plane crash, and sometimes they really should have been obvious for a team running a statewide drug ring. You can't just cook, distribute and count your money without involving a host of people into your lives, some of whom might just be riding by on a bicycle.

It's also been an overriding theme that Walter White will deny - both to himself and to anyone who will listen; his speech to open Season 3, explaining to the gym full of kids why that plane crash actually wasn't a big deal, was one of the show's more chilling, shocking moments - his responsibility for these consequences.

And I have no doubt that will be the case here again. He didn't fire the shoot that killed that boy. Heck, he didn't even tell Todd to do it. It was merely an accident and let's just move on to selling product again.

But Jesse? We know his attachment to kids. We know this will affect him in the same way that many past incidents have driven him to drugs and drinking and blasting music throughout his house.

Will he go to such personal levels of destruction following the events - event, really - on "Dead Freight?" I doubt it. Only because the show has been there before.

But will he really question this whole drug pin business? I'm sure. And how will that sit with Walt, who two episodes referenced Victor as a clear threat to anyone who gets in the way of his selling? And who last week said nothing - and he means nothing - will slow down the operation? That will be the real question to close out this summer.

There's also the question of Todd and just who the heck this child-killer is. Questions should have been asked awhile ago about the entire pest control crew with whom Walt and company have so willingly gotten into criminal bed. Wasn't that Mike's job? To run background? We're in for another Walt vs. Mike showdown, that's for sure.

Just another person for Walt to blame this on.

Overall, in usual/amazing Breaking Bad fashion, we have an unexpected - albeit, as outlined above, something going wrong with Walt should always be expected - development that naturally arises out of a foiled scheme... and now we have some momentum heading into the final three episodes of this mini season.

Hank is picking up on Walt's shady scent, even if he doesn't realize it yet (nice watch... nice car); Mike often clashes with his colleague; Lydia is around, full of information and instability; Jesse is less concerned with the business and more with being part of a family that is based on nothing but deceit; Todd has now made himself into someone who will need to be dealt with in some way; and there's a kid lying dead in the desert.

It's all falling apart for Walt, as the forces that may (read: WILL) someday bring him down are clearly internal. They're already surrounding him.

The episode also introduced us to Train Cam and Hole Cam, which of course follow in the cinematic tradition on Breaking Bad of Microwave Cam and Crane Cram and everyone's favorite: Rumba Cam.

Okay, Friday Night Lights fans, you've waiting this long to make a Landry-as-a-trained-killer joke. Have at it.

And then everyone else react: What did you think of this episode? What ramifications will one trigger pull have on the crew and the course of this season?

Dead Freight Review

Editor Rating: 4.7 / 5.0
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User Rating:

Rating: 4.8 / 5.0 (109 Votes)

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.

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