Episode: ”Granite State” (5.15)

Original Air Date: 9/22/13

Written by: Peter Gould

Directed by: Peter Gould

Line Synopsis: Walt is escorted out of the state is and must live in isolation. Jesse is forced to cook meth again as he’s held prisoner by Todd and his family.

Character Breakdown

Walt is almost like a phoenix in this episode. Heisenberg dies at the beginning and rises from the ashes by the end. In a conversation with Saul, Walt attempts to go Heisenberg on him and begins to threaten him. But his threats are interrupted by a coughing fit, and Saul walks away from the pathetic, fallen man. He’s broken down to the point he begs the man who helped him disappear to just sit and talk with him for an hour. Things worsen for him when he tries to make contact with Walt Jr., who disowns him completely, making everything he’s worked for pointless. He has nothing left. And when he sees the news segment where his old friends denounce him and his hand in building up the Gray Matter company, Walt finally snaps completely. Heisenberg has been reborn, and he’s out for blood.

Jesse is beyond broken, mentally, physically, and emotionally. He tries to escape, but is caught, which leaves Todd and company no choice but to make good on their threat on Andrea… leading to one of the most shocking and upsetting moments of the entire season. And it’s amplified even more by Jesse’s reaction and Aaron Paul’s amazing performance.

Episode Thoughts

There’s not much for me to say in this episode that I didn’t just say. So here are some basic thoughts:

-All performances, as usual, were fantastic. Aaron Paul in particular gives a chilling performance, especially at Andrea’s death.

-It’s sad that Walt’s phone performance was really all for naught, as the police/FBI are basically going to stay on Skyler anyway.

-Robert Forster is awesome.

-Todd is freaky.

-I honestly have no idea where they’re going with the finale. I’ve hear so many different theories at this point. The only thing they all agree on is Todd and family are gonna die. Everything else is up in the air. Who is the ricin for? I’ve heard suggestions it will be Lydia due to the series’ focus on her tea. But that doesn’t make sense. Walt has no real reason to go after her at this point. It would serve no real purpose. Another theory is he might use it on himself–one I actually kind of like. He’ll do it after rescuing Jesse and giving him all the money. There’s no way Jesse will kill Walt. It wouldn’t work dramatically. Sure there will be a confrontation of some sort, but that’s about as far as it will go. They really have a handful of things they have to wrap up in another 50-ish minutes, so I’m really hoping they can pull it off! If they can, this will be a damn near perfect show. So here’s looking out for that finale!

-(Oh, and I’ve heard the Star Trek ending theory, too. That would be awesome if it turns out to be true… except for potential deaths that would come from it.)

Tags: Breaking Bad, breaking bad breakdown, TV