Breaking Bad Review: Madrigal

It’s only episode two, but I already feel like I’m fully immersed in the world of Breaking Bad. I’m going to switch up the format from last week and just talk about some key points of awesomeness about this weeks episode:

• No one does intros to episodes like Breaking Bad, and this week was no exception. One word says it all: Franch. After my initial thoughts of, “What the hell is going on here? Why is this guy trying out all of these dipping sauces? Why is he not more excited that part of his job includes testing out new dipping sauces? Where can I get a job trying out dipping sauces,”  my next thought was, “Why has no one, including myself, ever thought of the word Franch.” Combining both ranch and french dressings and calling it Franch is one of those simple genius ideas that I’m shocked no one has ever marketed. I don’t know what those guys over at Kraft foods are doing, but someone needs to get fired for not inventing this. I’m going to try it out for myself in the next couple of days and get back to you next week with my findings.

• I would love to know what’s in the “Cajun Kick-Ass” sauce. Anyone else?

• I loved the symbolism of the Pollos Hermanos sign being taken down in Madrigal Electromotive and having Herr Shuler look at it like, “Im totally screwed.”

• The whole ricin cigarette thing was confusing when I was watching it, but here’s how I broke it down: Walt took the ricin out of the cigarette, filled the cigarette with salt, and put the ricin behind the outlet cover in his room (which is a genius hiding spot by the way). Then sneakily planted the cigarette in Jesse’s roomba for Jesse to find. What followed was one of the most ridiculous montages I’ve ever seen in a serious show. It really reminded me of the classic cleaning montage from “Revenge of the Nerds.”  If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you really missed out on a lot in life. Check out the clip here.

• When Jesse started crying when he found the ricin cigarette, it showed once again how emotional of a character Jesse is. Unlike Walt who is cold as ice, Jesse really feels bad when he does things to hurt people he cares about. I felt really bad for him that he felt so terrible about accusing Walt of trying to kill Brock, when that is exactly what he did. Jesse has high highs and low lows. I wouldn’t say he’s bipolar, he just experiences his feelings more intensely. He is an overall good dude. I wish we were friends.

• I think there’s no argument that the best line of the episode was, “You are a timebomb, tick-tick-ticking, and I have no intention of being around for the boom.” And I loved how Mike was giving Jesse looks saying, “Your smarter than this, why are you with this guy?”

• When Mike met with Lydia my first thought was, “This bitch is cray.” Turns out I was right. How did we never hear of any of these other people involved with Gus’ operation before – especially Mike’s crew? When Walt killed everybody where were these guys? I guess there was a lot more going on behind the scenes then we were made aware of.

• We learn Mike’s last name is Ehrmantraut. When Hank first said it I thought he said Herman Trout, which sounds like some sort of mascot for a fish stick company. What followed was one of the best scene’s in the whole series. Two of the toughest people in the show, who have never met before, going head to head in an intimidation match. They would probably be friends if one wasn’t muscle for a drug king pin and the other a DEA agent. I would love to see a buddy comedy with them, kind of like Step Brothers, but way more bad ass. I think they came out even when it was all over. Mike found out they seized all his secret money, and Hank realized that this guy was not going to give him anything even though he knows everything.

• I can’t believe Lydia had the balls to try to hire someone else to kill Mike. She obviously has no idea who she’s dealing with. I really wanted Mike to kill her, but he realized since the DEA took all his money, he needed her to make some of it back. He should’ve at least done something to repay her for trying to have him killed. I would have been beyond happy if he upper decked her toilet.

• What a chilling ending to the episode. Maybe this is a bit of foreshadowing. The first two episodes have ended with Walt trying to reconcile with his wife while acting like everything is normal, and Schuyler being absolutely terrified of him. I can’t believe he thought he had even the smallest chance of getting freaky with her. Come on man, that boat has sailed. Maybe Schuyler will fight back or be the one that finally takes Walt down in the end. Will she kill him? Tell Hank who he really is? We’ll just have to wait and see.