I noted that the last season finale seemed like a solid wrap up as Walt was in a position to walk away. However, just as Walt may have thought he was out, fate pulls him back in. Not only is Mike more than a little miffed that his boss just got killed, but it turns out that Gus' surveillance footage could land them all in prison. It leads to a rather uneasy alliance and a scheme that involves a giant magnet.
The change in Walt is noticeable here. He's much more forceful and confident than he ever was. There are times where even Mike and Jesse seem taken aback by the change. Even in the domestic scenes, where Walt would usually revert to his old self, his mannerisms are off. He sounds just as menacing trying to reassure Skyler that she has nothing to be afraid of as he does when he pressures Saul into continuing to work for him despite the quasi-ethical lawyer's protests. At face value, it seems counter-productive, but if you needed more proof that "Heisenburg" was in control now, that's a pretty good indicator.
While some might mourn the loss of Walt, I've been waiting for this for some time now. Now we're really seeing Walt as the cold, calculating figure that his reputation presents him as. I enjoyed it immensely. It's helped by the fact that Cranston does a great job with it. It was already kind of weird seeing him in 'Seinfeld' reruns after watching him here, but I think it's going to be to an even greater extent now. In any event, it's a shame that he wasn't cast as Lex Luthor because he would have been a great fit.
The magnet scheme (which comes courtesy of Jesse) is initially played off as goofy and unfeasible, but it works and on several levels. Not only does it wipe the hard drive, but it smashes the laptop that houses the aforementioned footage. On top of that, it destroys a lot of other evidence to other cases so that it isn't clear who was behind it and it even hinders the cops when they become aware that something is wrong as their security cards no longer worked.
True, Walt goes a bit overboard, causing the truck to tilt in such a fashion that they had to abandon it, but he made sure to cover his tracks well enough that it won't become a problem later. What will likely become a problem later, is that information that was written down on the back of one of Gus' photos. In true, "hoisted by your own petard" fashion, they only come across this after seeing the smashed frame.
Then again, they probably would have opened the frame eventually anyway. Yeah, a family photo is easy to dismiss, but at the same time, rudimentary investigation generally involves searching through things, so it could easily be a moot point.
On other fronts, Skyler learns of Ted's fate. He didn't die, but he's not in good shape. To his credit though, he tells the cops that it was just an accident and keeps Skyler out of it.
While Walt's new demeanor took center stage, the episode also allowed some of the supporting cast to shine. We got to see Mike's grandfatherly side come out as he fed chickens (and admonished them when they started fighting over the food) in an early scene. The junkyard owner made another appearance and he's just as entertaining as he was before. One of the show's unsung successes is fleshing out even the smaller roles to such a great extent. Both the junkyard owner, as well as Badger and Skinny Pete are surprisingly layered considering how they don't play a very big part in the grand scheme of things and are often major highlights of the episodes that they do appear in.
Jesse also gets a few moments, coming up with the scheme to cover their tracks, jumping to Walt's defense when Mike is on a rampage, and even letting Walt borrow money without hesitation when Walt asks because he's strapped due to covering Ted's IRS costs. Mike isn't sure why the two go to such great lengths for each other, but after the brutal falling out last season, it was rather nice to see.
The fifth season is off to a rather strong start. Heisenburg is in action and things are certainly more dire. Thankfully, the show has still managed to keep its sense of humor. I wasn't expecting that, in all honesty, but it does add to the enjoyment of the show. No Nazis yet, but there are still 15 episodes to go. It should be an interesting ride.
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