Breaking Bad ‘Dead Freight’: It’s A Pistol, Not A Gun

What are the most joyous moments of Breaking Bad? It’s not the moments when Walt wins – as the seasons progress, every one of Walt’s victories becomes darker and more horrific. And it’s certainly not when Junior (who appears to be heading back to Flynn this season) is eating breakfast, as much as that’s enjoyable. No, the most enjoyable moments of Breaking Bad like elsewhere, and unfortunately, have numbered fewer and fewer with each growing season: I’m talking about Jesse yelling “Yeah, bitch!!!”

These days, Jesse isn’t the happiest of people. Ever since he woke up next to his dead girlfriend, his moments of happiness have grown further and further apart. The more he lets Walt in, the worse his life gets. And now without a woman, without Brock to take care of, the only joys Jesse can get in life are making his two male parental figures – Mike and Walt – proud of him. It’s the only thing that seems to stop their bickering, and they are the only moments where Jesse doesn’t feel like the scumbag he knows he’s become. 

So hearing that familiar exclamation in ‘Dead Freight’ felt like the culmination of the episode, but in reality, it was only the set-up to the chilling closing moments, where the dirt bike-riding boy from the episode’s pre-intro sequence takes a few bullets to the chest, courtesy of Todd, the new guy on the crew. And in a moment, the perfect plan is ruined, and Jesse’s more fucked up then ever. It was bad enough in season 3 when he only knew about a kid getting killed; this time, he got a front seat to view one.

The closing moments of the episode remind me of the opening scene of Heat (the movie Hank brings home for him and Walt Jr. to watch), where a new crew member commits an out-of-line murder, a decision that sets off the chain of events for the rest of the movie. Like Heat, the plan to stop the train by planting a broken down truck on the ramp is detailed meticulously, but one off-the-reservation decision would prove to be the undoing of a whole lot of people.

I don’t want to spend the whole review talking about the heist and its awesomeness (and importance), but what I liked about the structure of ‘Dead Freight’ echoes my thoughts on the show’s return to greatness this season: Breaking Bad is back to the details, getting its hands dirty with the minutiae of Walt, Jesse and Mike trying to set up a new business with a tumultuous grasp on sanity and trust – and like last week’s gem, ‘Dead Freight’ slows down the big moments of the episode to establish a number of important developments.

First of all, Walt’s emotional manipulations are literally flowing like tears out of his body, masterfully setting up Hank not only to align him within the family, but to bug his office and know what’s going on with the marked barrels in Lydia’s warehouse. He still has no control over Skylar – the one person remaining in ABQ who isn’t susceptible to his charming performances – but he’s sticking to his “Nothing stops this train” statement from last week. Funny thing is, he’s already proved an unstoppable train can be stopped, so what happens when his gets stopped?

All we know is its not going to be pretty. The three of them aren’t rolling in the dough, and now they’ve got a brand-new situation on their hands with Todd, who clearly understood the meaning of “Nobody else knows about this robbery,” and proved such knowledge as the episode closed. Killing a child isn’t something anyone can take lightly – not Jesse, whose connections with Brock obviously make children a raw nerve. It’s certainly not something Mike could be a fan of, having a granddaughter and sparing Lydia mainly because of her daughter having to find her.

The wildcard here is Walt: how does he feel about a kid being killed so his train doesn’t stop? This is our real litmus test for Walt here: children was the one place he drew the line with Gus (which led to the beginning of their many problems), and it still remains an uncrossable line for Jesse and Mike. It’s almost a certainty he’ll just write it off like a tax credit – another step in the ultimate corruption of Walter White that’s clearly going to lead to his downfall. As the end of tonight’s episode proved, it’s the things we can’t control that always seem to fuck us over – and as much as he pretends to be, Walt’s definitely not in control of any of his situations.

Grade: A-

Other thoughts:

– Anna Gunn is finally getting a chance to be awesome on this show, absolutely destroying her lone scene with Walt this week. Oddly enough, she’s accepted her fate with her evil husband, and now, is only interested in saving her children – although if she was, why wouldn’t she just call the police? On some level, Skylar still wants to make money, or she’d be out with the kids and have Walt on his way to prison in an instant. She doesn’t care what happens to him – as long as she can make money up until the moment that inevitable reckoning (I’m talking karmic, not the Catholic kind) arrives.

– with both Hank and Walt rises to positions of power this season, is it only a matter of time before they face off in some form or another? 

– Is Jesse ever not in the middle? Once again, Mike and Walt argue on either sides of Jesse, while he scrambles to come up with an intelligent answer to delay their inevitable feud.

– Walt, Jr….. nobody cares about your character when you don’t have a fork in your hand. Sorry buddy.

– Mumblings of the Mafia in the scenes with Lydia… worth paying attention to? 

– the dark humor in Lydia’s interactions with Walt, Jesse, and Mike as they decide the status of her life was so funny, it was disturbing.

– this show kicks ass with POV shots. The train, the dirt bike… awesome stuff.

what did you think of ‘Dead Freight’? What do you think is next for Walt and crew? Feel free to leave your thoughts/comments below!