12/27/2022 0 Comments Walter white ozymandiasI did cry while watching it the second time, though.īits: (and you all know this is my section on symbolism and metaphor, right?) It sort of hit me in the face and I sat there, stunned. This episode didn't make me cry - at first. The scene was so well done that at first I thought it was a scene cut from the pilot episode. Everything faded out, and the current situation faded in. It began with a boiling beaker, the RV, the pilot episode, and Walt telling Jesse that "the reaction has begun." Then we saw Walt composing his first lies to Skyler before she told him she wanted to name their baby girl Holly (as Jesse cavorted like a child in the background). The writers must have known that they'd done enough to us in this episode already.įinally, a few words about the opener. I was so afraid that either Skyler or Junior would end up getting stabbed. Although he mostly drowned in confusion, he also came to his mother's defense, turned on his father and called the police. Come on, Vince Gilligan, you can at least give us that. Because if Jesse dies too, I don't know if I'll ever be able to rewatch this series. In fact, what I really want now is for Walt to rescue Jesse, and die after succeeding in the attempt. Now that Hank is gone, I want even more for Jesse to make it to the end of the series, to find a real life for himself. When Walt collapsed with grief over Hank, Todd looked at him as if he just didn't understand what was happening - and then he gave Walt the cliche phrase, "I'm sorry for your loss." I really thought that Todd wanted someone to torture, but instead Todd already knew that Walt would never come back and cook for them. Which brings me to Todd, who has become such a fascinating and revolting character. I was so upset about the prospect of Todd torturing Jesse that I almost couldn't handle it, but Dan immediately said, they won't kill Jesse, they'll make him cook for them. Letting Todd take Jesse away to a horrible and lingering death? Choosing that moment to confess to Jesse that he'd let Jane die? It was even worse than just killing Jesse, who seemed ready to die in what he thought were his last moments, Jesse looked up at the two birds in the blue sky as if he was ready to ascend. It was almost a redemptive act on Walt's part, and Skyler had to be aware of it.Īnd yet, the cruelty of what Walt did to Jesse was overwhelmingly awful. He made Skyler sound like a victim, an abused and helpless prisoner of a monster. It was only me, nobody else." Walt had to know that the cops were listening, and he took the blame for everything. But the second time through, I listened to what he was actually saying, and factored in that he was crying so hard that he fogged up his glasses. The first time through, all I heard was the genuine rage and anger Walt was expressing at her "betrayal," things he must have wanted to say to Skyler forever. The telephone conversation with Skyler was amazing, too. And the fact that he rethought what he did and left her safely at a fire station was commendable, the proper action on his part. He may have walked out the door with Holly, but I think that was an emotional spur-of-the-moment decision, since Holly was literally the only family member he had left who didn't hate him. Walt did come home to his family, although it would have been safer and smarter to just leave town without saying goodbye. Walt was not only willing but desperate to trade his entire 80 million dollar fortune for Hank's life. And his death utterly destroyed Walt.Įven though it was the bottom of the barrel (so to speak) for Walt, I still saw glimpses of the good man he used to be. Hank may have failed, but he got the last word and went out like a hero. Over the course of the series, Hank gradually acquired depth and complexity as a character, and as I grew to despise Walt, I became quite fond of Hank and wanted very much for him to take Walt down. Hank started out as comic relief, a blustering caricature of a cop who was too incompetent to see that his biggest nemesis was developing right under his nose. Let's start with the big one, and that's the courageous last moments of Hank Schrader. It's hard to imagine what more damage Walt could possibly do to himself and others. He has caused the death of his brother-in-law and destroyed his own family as well as Jesse, his former partner, a man he once treated like a son. The empire he initially started to provide money for his family has now crumbled. Although there are still two episodes to go, what happened here was rock bottom for Walt. "Ozymandias" was a powerful, intense, moving and upsetting episode, possibly the best in the entire series. Hank: "You're the smartest man I ever met, and you're too stupid to see he made up his mind ten minutes ago."īefore the final episodes began this summer, there was a Breaking Bad promo that consisted entirely of Bryan Cranston reciting the poem "Ozymandias" by Percy Bysshe Shelley.
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