The third season kicks off as the town tries to come to terms with what's happened. After all, almost 170 people died in the mid-air collision and that isn't something that is easily shaken off. To the media's credit, they are rather sympathetic to Mr. Margolis' situation. They acknowledge that it was a simple mistake and that the guy was grief stricken over the death of his daughter.
Walt is hit especially hard for obvious reasons. He even goes so far as to attempt to burn his fortune. Honestly, it's a stupid plan. I can understand him not wanting anything to do with the money that he now sees as tainted, but he could have dropped that money off in poor boxes and done something with it. Even he realizes that it was a stupid idea as he tries to salvage it ten seconds later, getting himself lit on fire in the process.
Even some of the students in Walt's school voice concerns, though it doesn't stop one of them from trying to use it to his advantage. Isn't that whole "if a college roommate commits suicide you get straight A's" thing a myth? I suppose it doesn't matter as the kid has the mic snatched away instantly.
Walt himself doesn't fare much better when he tries to "look on the bright side". The fact that no one on the ground died is, in fact, rather fortunate, but citing other crashes that were worse doesn't really help.
Things aren't much better on the home front as Skyler hands Walt divorce papers. This on its own is dramatic enough, but the line that I've been waiting for comes to the forefront as Skyler makes it known that she knows that Walt is involved in drugs.
Walt does specify that he's a manufacturer, not a dealer, but that doesn't seem to help his case. You can't blame her, especially when he reveals that he makes meth (she initially thought pot, then cocaine).
I was underwhelmed by Walt's attempt to explain. Even if Skyler only gave him seconds, he could have done better than making vague reference to angles. How long would it have taken to say "I needed the money to cover the treatment costs and to make sure you and the kids would be taken care of"? You could argue that she wouldn't have listened, but it's something.
Heck, even Walt Jr. doesn't like what's going down. OK, he doesn't know the whole story and most of his frustration comes from not knowing why things went south so quickly. Marie is equally confused, leading to an amusing moment when she tries to get Skyler to open up about her problem. Considering how Marie handles her kleptomania, it is rather funny.
In any event, Walt decides to throw in the towel and tells Gus that he's done. While Gus does make a big offer, the money doesn't hold the same allure that it did. Even if Walt was interested in the money, couldn't he just sell Gus the recipe? That would allow Walt to walk away and Gus can keep raking in money off the product. Everyone would win, right? Strangely enough, the idea never comes up.
On the one hand, it's odd that Walt would sever the connection he struggled so hard to make so quickly, but he really doesn't have any reason to keep doing it. He has more than enough money (something Walt himself notes) and keeping his family together is the more important thing. I'd commend Gus for being so reasonable, but I have a feeling he's not done yet.
Speaking of not done, two menacing people are after Heisenburg. They don't really do anything except look scary for a majority of their screen time, though they do get homicidal in their final scene. It's a stark contrast from earlier scenes, when they generally left people alone.
I know the scene was supposed to show how bad these people were, but it was kind of ridiculous. First off, I'm pretty sure "Mythbusters" showed that bullets can't penetrate gas tanks, but then they followed it up with the pair doing the slow walk away as the truck exploded behind them. It came off more goofy than menacing, which is a detriment as the scene is played straight. Never mind the heat or the force of the explosion, how were the pair not maimed by shards of fiery debris?
Sadly, Jesse doesn't do a whole lot this time around. He finishes his rehab and says he's fine, though he still seems out of it. He apparently missed the point of the motivational speeches about self acceptance as he "accepts" that he's the bad guy.
Again, Walt doesn't seem to put up much of a counter-argument despite there being ample evidence to the contrary. He's concerned about the well being of others and is averse to violence. Besides that, if Jesse is going to accept his status as heel, shouldn't he ham it up a bit? Maybe that will come later.
Click here to join our Patreon campaign
No comments:
Post a Comment