Breaking Bad Season 3, Episode 10: Fly

In a show that is widely hailed as being tightly plotted, this episode almost comes off as filler.  Centering a whole episode around having the two leads try to kill a fly that has gotten into the lab seems like the writers were struggling to fill the season's episode count and came up with something on the fly (get it? on the fly...)

It's entertaining, don't get me wrong.  The episode itself seems to realize how ridiculous this idea is and, as such, the first half of the episode is largely comedic.  The Walt/Jesse dynamic really gets to shine, but even scenes where Walt is alone in the lab work.

His Ahab-like obsession does seem to come out of nowhere, but we do see that Walt has bigger issues.  I do wonder how legitimate Walt's point about contamination was.  On one hand, he makes a good point.  Flies are filthy and labs are generally supposed to be fairly sterile.  On the other hand, Jesse's not wrong in pointing out that shutting down production to chase a fly around makes no sense.
Don't worry, though, the episode actually delivers some strong dramatic moments in the latter half.  By all accounts, mood whiplash should have been a problem.  I didn't find that to be the case for some reason.  It wasn't until a few minutes in that I realized that all of the character introspection and musing on mortality was coming on the heels of the two hitting each other with a makeshift fly swatter.

It almost seemed like the fly had been forgotten, but that "plot line" is wrapped up (almost anticlimactically?) as Jesse finally manages to catch the bugger.

Other plot points are touched on, such as Jesse skimming some product for himself off the top.  Walt, being a precise scientist, notices that the numbers don't add up.  To his credit, Jesse comes up with a myriad of possible reasons for the discrepancy, but none really fly (ha, I did it again).   Walt doesn't say anything directly, though he does warn Jesse later that he can't protect Jesse if his alleged activity was discovered.

I'm still not sure why Gus would care.  If they were shorting him on product, that would be one thing, but they are still delivering more than he actually needs.  More than that, they aren't charging him for said surplus, so it seems like a reasonable compromise to let them sell a little on the side.  We'll see, though.  I have a feeling that Gus is going to find out at some point, leading to a dissolution of this rather comfortable arrangement.

The episode puts some emphasis on how much upkeep a lab like this requires.  Jesse even notes that Gus should have other people to clean the equipment, as opposed to them doing it.  This does, once again, raise the question of why Gale had to be booted.  Having three people clean, or hunt a fly, is more effective than two.  It doesn't seem like budget is a concern either, so it leaves me curious.

Jane's death also returns to the forefront in full force.  Walt seems to be teetering on the edge of confessing and it results in more tension than you would think.  Walt does muse on how strange it was that he ran into Jane's father on the night that she died, and he does say he's sorry about Jane, but Jesse sees it as an offering of sympathy as opposed to penance.

This episode was much stronger than I expected it to be.  The humor was welcome, but I think counterbalancing it with some more serious character fodder was the right decision.  It adds to the entertainment factor, I think, when the episode can bring a little bit of everything to the table.  This does that.  Credit too to both Cranston and Paul as they turn in strong performances.  Their comic timing and delivery was spot on and, as usual, they did a great job with the more in depth material.












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