The fourth season premiere of Breaking Bad was an hour of tension that culminated in one notable act of violence perpetrated by Gus on Victor. Things progressed from there this week in "Thirty-Eight Snub," and here are some things I felt were worth noting about the action this week.
Decompression
After last week's episode, "Thirty-Eight Snub" felt like a bit of a decompression period, which is necessary to help reassemble the pieces to build up for the stories that will be told this season. Knowing Breaking Bad, there should be plenty of payoff, and we probably won't have to wait until the end of the season to get it. This was a good episode, and it certainly had its moments, but as the characters figured out what to do next we just didn't happen to get the kind of brilliance Breaking Bad is capable of.
Jesse
Jesse meanwhile deals with things through non-stop partying. There were a couple of nicely constructed shots in the party scenes, and it's always fun to see Skinny Pete and Badger. Also, Andrea from last season shows up to ask Jesse about some money he left her. For a moment, it felt kind of jarring to me, but only because while it has been over a year of real time since we last saw Andrea, it's only been a couple of weeks in the show's world. Anyway, Jesse seems likely to completely fall apart this season.
Gus
While his presence looms large, Gus is completely absent from this episode. Mike goes as far as to say Walt will never see Gus again. This is probably not true, but I'm starting to get a bit worried about how much screentime Gus is going to have this season. He's a great character, and his physical presence is always a positive for this show. That being said, it looks like we may be getting more Mike this season, which could fill the void. I'm starting to ponder what his fate will be. He's too smart to let anybody get the drop on him, and he's too good at what he does to slip up. No matter how things shake out, I don't see a plausible situation in which he isn't left standing in the end.
Hank and Marie
Things are brutal with Hank and Marie right now. Their scenes can get downright uncomfortable to watch. Skyler is only doing slightly better than Marie is, having just had her plan to buy the car wash shut down by everybody's favorite bushy eyebrowed-immigrant. What will she and Walter do to launder their money now?
Better Call Saul
We only got a brief Saul Goodman fix this week as he appeared in a commercial that we saw from the vantage point of a television in Mike's watering hole. It reminds up of the airplane crash from Season Three, that Saul is still trying to exploit through his law office.
Thirty-eight snub
The title of this episode refers to the gun Walter buys from a black market arms dealer, but not the same one who dealt with the cousins last season. While that gentleman was a gregarious and lewd fellow, this dealer is much more of Walt's kind of guy; thoughtful, eloquent, and seemingly with Walt's best interests in mind. Walt, of course, is buying the gun to try and kill Gus, even if he claims it is for defense. This is Walt's way of dealing with his situation. He is a problem solver. However, even if he gets good enough at drawing his weapon, this is one situation even he may not be able to resolve.
I agree in that it's impossible to have every episode include the most amazingly intense and dramatic moments and tension of all time. It's to the immense credit of Breaking Bad that they can keep the tension high and the story compelling at such a level and for such an extended period of time. Only The Shield at its very best comes close to this kind of storytelling in my view.