The title says it. Maybe even better than Ozymandias. Why? Because: in terms of dialogue, plotting, pacing, filming, editing, all the different aspects of filmmaking, this is crisp perfection. Ozymandias, like most of the show, has the same awkward rudimentary qualities of a lot of the show's writing (of course, the show is a definitive classic, but it is a flawed series). Not to mention: this episode is what the show is all about. That cold open defines the theme of the whole series, whether it is someone as good as Hank, as bad as the cartels (especially a certain Chicken Restaurant Owner 😂😂), or as gray (no pun intended) as Heisenberg. The theme is: family is all. Those (dark) magic words coming out of Hector Salamanca's mouth. When he could talk, of course. And terrorize his sons 😂😂 (who grow up to terrorize a great many 👍👍)
It is also a transitional moment in the show, for everyone. Hank, being pushed to the limits, revealing to Marie, in one of the best written, heartfelt speeches in the series, how far he has sunk. In a similarly heartfelt (and well written) speech, Jessie tells Walt he doesn't want anything to do with him, regardless of the money Walt is willing to split to spare Hank (after, ya know, Hank beats the crap outta Jesse). Obviously, Walt is doing it for his own selfish intentions. He may not even be doing it for Hank; he may be simply doing it because he doesn't want to get caught. His bitterer attitude towards Gale, manipulating this brilliant chemist into believing he is incompetent, just furthers that angle. And honestly, he couldn't give less of a s*** about Gale either. Despite the fact that the two are obviously better fit for each other, and Gale is what Walt would have preferred in a partner all along. An educated, cultured chemist. But, ultimately, a man just like him: even MORE out of place in the criminal underworld, yet choosing to be there because...he doesn't want to do the work of the big wigs, the work he should be doing. So maybe, Gale's fate, in a sense, is deserved. And maybe, if Walt wants to spiral down this path, if the partnership was something Walt himself initiated, maybe Jesse does deserve to be Walt's partner, and maybe that IS what Walt deserves, and maybe even what he WANTS.
And, of course, after that broken-hearted speech Jesse pours out, he ultimately concedes. Because, in his own pathetic sense, how can he not take the money?
The showdown is the best acton sequence in the show, alongside the one BEFORE Ozymandias, and the final one in Felina. Hank coulda gotten outta there, but he didn't, his own miserably cocky arrogance getting the better of him. It is brutal, but it is a triumph for him. And the whole shabang swings us back around to the beginning with Tuco's cousins as children. They are cold hearted killers, but the cold open causes us to feel sympathy for them.
And the final aerial shot: a suspenseful, perfect ending to one of the most perfect episodes of TV ever made.
It is also a transitional moment in the show, for everyone. Hank, being pushed to the limits, revealing to Marie, in one of the best written, heartfelt speeches in the series, how far he has sunk. In a similarly heartfelt (and well written) speech, Jessie tells Walt he doesn't want anything to do with him, regardless of the money Walt is willing to split to spare Hank (after, ya know, Hank beats the crap outta Jesse). Obviously, Walt is doing it for his own selfish intentions. He may not even be doing it for Hank; he may be simply doing it because he doesn't want to get caught. His bitterer attitude towards Gale, manipulating this brilliant chemist into believing he is incompetent, just furthers that angle. And honestly, he couldn't give less of a s*** about Gale either. Despite the fact that the two are obviously better fit for each other, and Gale is what Walt would have preferred in a partner all along. An educated, cultured chemist. But, ultimately, a man just like him: even MORE out of place in the criminal underworld, yet choosing to be there because...he doesn't want to do the work of the big wigs, the work he should be doing. So maybe, Gale's fate, in a sense, is deserved. And maybe, if Walt wants to spiral down this path, if the partnership was something Walt himself initiated, maybe Jesse does deserve to be Walt's partner, and maybe that IS what Walt deserves, and maybe even what he WANTS.
And, of course, after that broken-hearted speech Jesse pours out, he ultimately concedes. Because, in his own pathetic sense, how can he not take the money?
The showdown is the best acton sequence in the show, alongside the one BEFORE Ozymandias, and the final one in Felina. Hank coulda gotten outta there, but he didn't, his own miserably cocky arrogance getting the better of him. It is brutal, but it is a triumph for him. And the whole shabang swings us back around to the beginning with Tuco's cousins as children. They are cold hearted killers, but the cold open causes us to feel sympathy for them.
And the final aerial shot: a suspenseful, perfect ending to one of the most perfect episodes of TV ever made.