Walter White is a chemistry teacher no more.
At the start of the final fifth season of “Breaking Bad,” Walter (three-time Emmy Award winner Bryan Cranston) has fully embraced his alter ego, Heisenberg. He’s become the terrifying drug kingpin who isn’t afraid of showing his true colors.
The final season begins with a teaser, one very reminiscent of Season 2. A bearded and lonely Walt is on a diner in New Hampshire. He’s now 52 and he goes by the alias “Mr. Lambert” and apparently he is waiting for someone. After Walt and Lawson (Season Four’s gun dealer) exchange packages, Walt receives a pair of keys and Lawson an envelope.
The keys open the trunk to a car containing a machine gun and ammunition. Fade to black, cue credits. It sets the mystery as to what is to come during the final season, presumably the beginning of the end for the series. One can’t help but wonder: what is Walt doing in New Hampshire by himself and what will he do with that machine gun?
The episode, written by executive producer/creator Vince Gilligan and directed with beautiful cinematic flourish by original cinematographer Michael Slovis, is not only an outstanding season premiere, it also functions as an hour-long short film—a heist film essentially.
The plot of the premiere: After the destruction of the Casa Tranquila nursing home and the meth lab, Walt and Jesse (Aaron Paul), along with Mike (Jonathan Banks), try to get back Gus’s laptop (which contained security footage of the entire operation) from the police headquarters since Hank (Dean Norris) and his DEA team got to it first.
The episode was all about trying to pick up after the destruction, trying to get things back in order. It also provided many great comedic moments (dark humor in “Breaking Bad” is humor after all). Mike and Jesse got to show some of the best lines in the entire hour (a moment involving magnets is particularly hilarious and Jesse’s line is a nice nod to one of the most iconic lines of the series). It was also a great return to the dynamic relationship between Jesse and Walt that has been characterized since the very beginning. Just the fact that Jesse still calls Walter, “Mr. White” is a small yet incredible detail that works so great.
But of course, this is “Breaking Bad” and there is plenty of drama involved. A scene towards the end with Walt and Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) is simply masterful and will undoubtedly become a classic within the series. It was intense, and just dazzling to watch. The way that Slovis directed the scene, with hints of light and shades of darkness was beautiful. It also doesn’t hurt that both Cranston and Odenkirk are at the top of their game here, as is the rest of the cast.
From a terrifying and effectively disturbing scene involving Skyler (a wonderfully subtle Anna Gunn) to Aaron Paul’s chemistry with Cranston and Banks, to a moody and fantastic conversation at the end involving Walt, “Breaking Bad” shows why it is one of the best acted shows on television.
The premiere also serves to answer some of Season 4’s loose ends. We finally got to see what happened to Ted Beneke, Mike and the meth lab explosion, among others.
All in all, the season premiere was a welcome return for the series and effectively lays the groundwork for what’s to come. It continues its trend of great writing and great character work, technical cinematic craftsmanship and phenomenal acting that has made “Breaking Bad” such a critical darling and one of the most acclaimed shows of the decade. It’s cliché to say at this point that “Breaking Bad” is one of the best shows on TV, but I think we can all agree that this is going to be a hell of a season. “Breaking Bad” is back and summer TV cannot get any better than this.
Oscar Garza may be reached at prospector@utep.edu.