With Walt and Jesse back in business, things really start cooking. Get it? Cooking..because they're making meth..and that's what they call it....it's a pun.
In all seriousness, this episode does kick things into a higher gear. Walt begins his rise to power, donning his trademark shaved head and taking on the name "Heisenburg" as he starts to deal with the drug running crowd.
As Jesse can't move the goods fast enough, Walt decides that they need a distributor to fill the role that Krazy-8 once served. As it happens, another kingpin named Tuco (played by Sanchez from The Closer) has taken it upon himself to claim the territory.
Tuco is a fun character. He's intimidating and savvy, but he puts on an amicable front. It seems like he's open to doing business, but things go south quick. It's a little weird seeing someone get beaten so severely with a bag of money, but I suppose at that point, it's like getting hit with a bag of books.
Suffice it to say, Walt isn't pleased and his payback is rather glorious. Kids often wonder when the things they learn in school will ever come up. While I don't think that this is what teachers have in mind, it shows that knowledge of chemistry can be rather versatile when applied correctly.
I have no idea how they survived that explosion. Characters are banged up, but given what we saw from the exterior shot, the repercussions should have been more severe. In any event, Walt does earn some grudging respect from Tuco and even gets his money.
When Walt took the wad out and it was 5 and 10 dollar bills, I figured that he got ripped off and that's why Walt was doing...whatever it was that he did. I think they were going for an adrenaline rush and not rage at being screwed over again. That would have been an interesting twist to really cement the adversarial relationship between the two, but I don't think that's the case.
On the character front, Jesse learns about Walt's condition. The fact that he's insulted shows that, while the two butt heads, they have formed a bond. Jesse even empathizes as his aunt suffered a similar condition and offers some advice to make the treatment go a bit easier.
I think that the real highlight is the brewing conflict between Walt and Hank. As Hank was a DEA agent, you knew it was coming, but this episode did such a good job of putting them at odds that you still find yourself engrossed.
Hank's entertaining as a crude jokester, but he's a shrewd cop. He picks up on the trail quick and it seems like Walt isn't equipped for this match up. His lies to Skyler and Gretchen about how the bills are being paid seems flimsy (seriously, how would this not come up if the two converse?) and we see that he hasn't covered his tracks as well as he thought, but he shows that he's made of sterner stuff in a friendly poker game where he bluffs his brother in law. It was a great scene and it seems like the start of what could be a series long battle of wits.
Still have no beef with Skyler. Even Walt Jr. didn't bother me as he even goes so far as to compliment his dad's new look, badass indeed.
It's hard to believe we're already at the end of the first season. If this episode is any indicator, things are only going to escalate from here.
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