Episode Title: “Granite State”
Writer: Peter Gould
Director: Peter Gould
Previously on “Breaking Bad”:
It seems that “Breaking Bad” isn’t quite done surprising us. On the night that “Breaking Bad” was finally honored with an Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series, a few characters popped up for the first time in years and the death of a minor supporting character tore out our collective hearts as we found a new reason to hate Todd (Jesse Plemons).
And we saw Walter White (Bryan Cranston) give up, after the cancer had ravaged his body and his son rejected him again. Forget about Albuquerque, there’s nothing left for Walt in this life. Except perhaps for vengeance and hatred. On some level, Walt still thinks that he can be Heisenberg. But it’s hard to be intimidating when you’re coughing up a lung.
There are full spoilers ahead for “Granite State,” the penultimate episode of “Breaking Bad.” If you’re not up to date, then you should probably skip this review or else Todd won’t bring any more Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream.
Early on in this episode, there’s a great swerve when the Neo-Nazis are enjoying the heartfelt video confession of Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) until he gets to the truth about Todd killing the kid, Drew Sharp during the train heist. Remember, that was the one part that Todd left out of the story while sharing it with his Uncle Jack (Michael Bowen) and Kenny (Kevin Rankin) a few episodes back. The worried look on Todd’s face suggested that they may not react well to learning that he murdered a young boy.
Jack was angry… that Jesse ratted out Todd. But only for that reason. So, Jack immediately went to kill Jesse. Todd actually had to argue that they need Jesse around to get the purity of the meth cook back to Heisenberg levels. However, Jack correctly guessed that Todd wants to stay in the meth business just to be with Lydia (Laura Fraser). And he gave Todd some good natured hazing about it… well, as “good natured” as you can get when you’re a murdering Nazi scumbag.
For her part, Lydia is keeping her distance from Todd and she doesn’t seem to notice or care that he’s dressing up just to see her. Only Lydia’s greed keeps her from cutting ties with Todd and his crew, once she learns that the purity of the meth is back up. Todd often gets called out for the banality of his evil, but Lydia is just as terrifying in her willingness to exploit violence for her own needs. Even after Todd personally leads his Neo-Nazis inside of the White house to threaten Skyler (Anna Gunn); Lydia appears to be advocating that Skyler should be killed because she once saw her face.
It’s also darkly hilarious that Todd began to treat Jesse like his favorite pet, even to the point of bringing him ice cream and leaving the cover off of his cage so Jesse could see the stars at night. Yet when Jesse defies Todd and nearly escapes, it’s Todd himself who executes Jesse’s ex-girlfriend, Andrea (Emily Rios) while telling her that it’s “not personal.” As if that makes everything better.
I was surprised by how affecting Andrea’s death was, considering her small role on the series. Her addiction issues aside, Andrea was one of the most innocent victims on this show. And indirectly, her death also comes back to Walt. If he hadn’t told the Neo-Nazis about Jesse’s relationship with her, then Andrea would still be alive. And her son, Brock wouldn’t be an orphan.
Despite the fact that his escape was foiled, Jesse once again demonstrated his out-of-the-box thinking; which helped get out of a cage with barely any tools at his disposal. The entire escape sequence was thrilling to watch. On any other show, Jesse would have probably gotten away. This stings even more because not only did Jesse fail, his actions also led to Andrea’s death.
Meanwhile, we finally met The Fixer whom Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) has been referring to since the fourth season. And the reason we didn’t see his face last week was because he’s played by someone that the audience should recognize: Robert Forester. The Fixer (or Ed, as he’s called in the press materials for this episode) has another client this week: Saul Goodman himself!
Now we know why “Better Call Saul” is going to be a prequel series. There is no more “Saul Goodman.” He had to skip town shortly after Walt, because he was perhaps the only name that Skyler could (and would) give to the DEA. It was a clever conceit to bring Walt and Saul together as bunkmates while Ed built new identities for them. It was also very telling that Walt truly believed that he could hire a hit team to take his revenge on Jack, both for the theft of his money and for Hank’s murder.
Saul’s counterargument was a more down-to-Earth approach than I’ve come to expect from him. He simply tells Walt that he should stay and face the music to make things easier on Skyler. But Walt won’t hear any of it and he tries to intimidate Saul once again. That lasts all of 30 seconds before Walt’s next coughing attack; which is just the opening Saul needs to leave with one final line: “It’s over.”
If we never see Saul again on this series, that would be an appropriate way to go. But I suspect Saul will pop up at least once during the finale. He’s become part of the show’s DNA at this point. With Saul gone, Walt finds himself smuggled to a remote cabin in New Hampshire where he is completely cut off from the rest of humanity and warned not to leave the property. Walt is also forced to become “Mr. Lambert,” the alias he was using in the flashforward from the first episode of this season.
After everything that Walt’s done, it’s hard to have too much sympathy for him. Yet he’s so sad and broken during his time at the cabin that it’s impossible not to feel some pity. Walt is so desperately lonely that he actually bribes Ed to stick around longer for a game of cards. It’s here that we see Ed’s ulterior motive for being so helpful months after dropping Walt in his hiding spot: at some point, Walt will die and his remaining money will be up for grabs. Even if Ed promised to deliver it to Walt’s family, his word can’t necessarily be trusted.
Walt’s family is barely in this episode, but the maximum impact is felt when they pop up on screen. We see the vacant look on Marie’s (Betsy Brandt) face as she processes Hank’s death hours after Walt’s phone call and we see the world collapsing around Skyler as both the DEA and the Neo-Nazis pressure her.
However, it falls on Walter Jr. (RJ Mitte) to give his father an important message: “Die already!” Even if Walt Jr. didn’t think that his dad killed Hank, drug money was always going to be a bridge too far for him. All Walt wants to do is pass on his millions to his family and hear his son’s voice, but his last hopes for that are dashed by Junior’s reaction.
Thus we find Walter White at his lowest point: calling the DEA and allowing them to trace his phone call to the bar while he awaits their arrival. There was no grand plan. Without his family, Walt’s life has no meaning. And his dreams of revenge are just dreams. He’s never been Rambo and he’s not even Heisenberg anymore. Walt is simply a man who has run out of time.
Out of the blue, Charlie Rose (?!) interviews Walt’s former partner, Elliot Schwartz (Adam Godley) and Elliot’s wife, Gretchen (Jessica Hecht) on TV. Talk about a blast from the past… I think it’s been three seasons since we saw Mr. and Mrs. Schwartz onscreen. If you think back to their very first appearance on this show, Walt could have had a very different journey if he had accepted Elliot’s offer to return to the company he co-founded or allowed them to pay for his cancer treatments.
Walt’s greatest flaw has always been his pride. We still don’t fully know how or why Walt had his falling out with Elliot and Gretchen. We only know that Walt was embittered by the way things ended and by the way they became millionaires while he and his family struggled. That was Walt’s motivation for building a meth empire this season. He even said as much to Jesse.
To hear Elliot and Gretchen downplay Walt’s contributions to their company was the last straw. They were probably only doing that to get some separation from Walt’s negative publicity, but still… Walt has never been one to forgive a slight. Besides, the Charlie Rose interview lets Walt know that his signature Blue Meth is still being made and sold throughout the country and in Europe. Presumably Walt realizes that the Neo-Nazis never killed Jesse. But don’t expect that to mean that Walt is coming to save his former partner. Walt is all about Walt now. Altruism isn’t part of his chemistry any more.
In the pilot episode, Walt said that “Chemistry is the study of matter. But I prefer to see it as the study of change… It is growth, then decay, then transformation.” We’ve reached the end of Walt’s transformation and very nearly the end of his story. This has been a final season for the ages and I highly doubt that the “Breaking Bad” creative team will let us down in next week’s finale.
Because Walter White is coming home. And not everyone is going to make it out alive.
