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Breaking Bad: 4 Days Out

"Did your mother drop you on your head when you were a baby?"

And the moral of the story is, never ask Jesse to put your keys in a safe place. Well, and never go into the desert to do something illegal without a second car. No, wait. The real lesson is that when your honey wants you to go have fun during the weekend, you go.

The initial scenes gave us some nice moments. Walt and Jesse were actually enjoying each other's company. Working together, laughing together, peeing in tandem while gazing into the sunset. And then they were suddenly trapped in the middle of nowhere with many pounds of meth, no water, no food and almost immediately, no cell phone coverage as well.

The situation with the two of them trapped in the desert was an obvious parallel to Walt's health. He thought he was about to die, symbolically out of water and with his lights and power going out, no chance of restarting his engine. Jesse's idiotic contributions (putting the key in the ignition, pouring all their water on the generator) represented the vicissitudes of life and the vagaries of luck. Walt's incredible smarts and a great Mister Wizard solution got them out of the desert, but Walt would have died out there if it hadn't been for Jesse. (If it had been me, someone would have found my bleached bones many years later.)

This was the first time that I was sure Walt and Jesse had grown to genuinely care about each other. There was fun and camaraderie, and then they were furious with each other. When Walt gave up, Jesse forced him to keep trying, to think completely outside the box. Walt wouldn't have made it without Jesse, and vice versa. Loved their final scene at the airport where Walt acknowledged that if he did die before he got his cut, he trusted Jesse to get his half of the money to Skyler.

Walt needs more people to trust than just Jesse, though. Skinny Pete is a moron. If they'd called Skyler, she would have shown up in record time with a gallon of water and a three-course meal. Saul was right that Walt should tell her. Interestingly, Walt's doctor also told him outright, in regard to his health, "No more secrets, Walt."

I love the openings for this show, because they always mean something. The opening shot here was of water pouring out into nothing. The closing shot was of Walt cupping water in his trembling hands, before he let it run out and then beat at his own reflection. Walt is in remission and his tumor has shrunk significantly. He might actually beat cancer. Will he change his mind about his secret new career? I don't think so.

Bits:

-- When Walt saw his scan with the giant mass that he mistakenly assumed was a death sentence, it was reflected on a poster entitled "Outer Banks."

-- Jane was smart, telling Jesse that Georgia O'Keeffe did paintings that looked like vaginas in order to get him to agree to go to a museum.

-- There were several lighthearted pieces in the musical score. Very vacation-like.

And pieces:

-- Walt still hasn't told his mother.

-- Urine tastes like really hot, really old soda? Gag.

Quotes:

Saul: "Sixteen thousand, laundered at seventy-five cents on the dollar, minus my fee which is seventeen percent, comes to nine thousand, nine hundred and sixty dollars. Congratulations! You just left your family a second-hand Subaru."

Jesse: "I got plans."
Walt: "Smoking marijuana, eating Cheetos and masturbating do not constitute plans in my book."

Walt: "You brought a meth lab to the airport?"

Walt: (looking at the junk food) "How are you even alive?"

Jesse: "What are we building?"
Walt: "You said it yourself."
Jesse: "A robot?"

An unforgettable episode. Four out of four pieces of galvanized metal,

Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.

4 comments:

  1. Wonderful episode, I wish Jessie and Walt would work together all the time like they did here. They do sometimes fighgt too much.

    The remission is now the worst news for Walter, he'll have to live with what he did while dying. And no there is no way the remission will make him stop. He likes cooking too much now.

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  2. I was on the edge of my seat during this one. This show does a greatnjob of making the viewer really feel the agony of the situation. I agree, Patryk, that this show seems to best when it shows Walt and Jessie working as a team.

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  3. Walt was such a jerk to Jesse (even before the keys in the ignition water on the generator incident). Still, I couldn't help but feel happy for him and his good news at the end.

    I love Jesse even if he is a little...idiotic? I mean, he's smart as has been shown many times but man does he make some bone headed decisions. When he grabbed the water to put out the fire I literally shouted "Jesse, NO!" at the screen. And he thought a) Walt could make a robot and that b) a robot would somehow help them out of their situation.

    Why not call Saul? Walt could easily explain that phone call to his wife (maybe his mom had a question about her will or power of attorney or something). Or even better, why not bring his burner phone, which he has exclusively for drug dealing, with him?

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  4. One of my favourite episodes. Walt & Jesse out in the desert cooking meth in the RV aka The Crystal Ship. It’s what the show was about! We see Walt & Jesse’s relationship in full form. I feel like those two being trapped together out in the desert further strengthened their partnership. With everything that eventually happened between Walt & Jesse it’s nice to go back and see them the way they were originally, perfect CHEMISTRY 😁. This episode, much like ‘Fly’, is one you can watch on its own without having to watch the series again. It’s like the ‘Pine Barrens’ of Breaking Bad

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