Episode two of this season’s “Breaking Bad†was missing a spark.
Most of it was devoted to showcasing Walt’s and Mike’s skill at maintaining grace under pressure while ensuring that those around them remain under their control.
Jesse is still haunted by being unable to find the poisonous ricin –laced cigarette created by Walt in an early plot to kill Gus. The cigarette had been used by Walt to convince Jesse to break ties with Gus by accusing their former boss of using it to poison Brock, the son of Jesse’s girlfriend. Despite being well aware of the cigarette’s whereabouts, Walt joins Jesse in a frantic search of his apartment. He eventually calms Jesse’s concerns by “discovering†a decoy cigarette which he created and planted in Jesse’s vacuum cleaner. Though the mystery of the missing ricin cigarette is solved, Jesse is still an emotional wreck and breaks down over the fact that he almost killed Walt, who he initially blamed for Brock’s sudden illness.
Mike faces an unexpected obstacle. Lydia, an executive from German company Madrigal Electromotive, which supplied machinery for Gus’s meth operation, presents him with a list of several men on Gus’s payroll she wanted dead before they were called in and interrogated by the feds and potentially divulged any incriminating evidence. Mike dismisses her request and conveys that he had faith in his men’s loyalty.
Mike keeps his cool when called in for questioning by the DEA despite them revealing that they had seized several of Gus’s offshore bank accounts, one of which was in his granddaughter’s name and contained two million dollars.
While Mike handles the situation with ease, the same can’t be said for one of his men, Chow, who calls sounding uneasy and asks to meet with him. Upon arriving Mike senses that something is afoot and finds a way to covertly enter the house with his weapon drawn much to the dismay of a gunman who happens to be one of his henchmen. With Chow already being shot dead, he learns that Lydia ordered a hit on Chow and lured him there to be killed. After killing his former henchmen, Mike pays a visit to an unsuspecting Lydia. As Mike prepares to end her life he has a change of heart and instead asks her if she would be able to obtain methylamine, the last piece to the puzzle of Walt and Jesse resuming their meth production. She answers maybe and Mike gives Walt a call and tells him that he’s in to rejoin Walt and Jesse’s partnership.
Overall episode two was fair though like the premiere it lacked excitement. The plot rested on a more personal and emotional note. While events unfolded subtlety, writers provided insight into several characters and the complex relationships they share.
Walt has grown into a confident, talented manipulator. He’s constantly able to maintain the upper hand in his relationship with Jesse, consoling him while distraught over an incident he orchestrated. Despite whatever adversity presents itself, Walt is able to remain in control and quickly devise a plan to get himself out of a pinch. Though Walt has had great success getting out of binds in his illegal professional career one can only wonder when his luck will run out.
The episode was filled with many what ifs and maybes about the future of Walt and Jesse’s relationship. An underlining question for viewers is whether Jesse will discover Walt’s deception? And will he be driven to take drastic actions as he did in the season four that almost cost Walt his life?
Hopefully the next episode will up the ante considering Walt, Jesse, and Mike have found their way back to the unpredictable and dangerous business of producing methamphetamine which has seldom gone without incident as something seems to always arise to threaten the success of their illicit operation.
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