Breaking Bad Season Three Episode Three Review

The Calm Before the Storm

Well, if you watched Episode Two, then you know that Walt (Bryan Cranston) was spared the ax, literally. A last minute text message from Gus with the simple word of “Pollo”, let the brothers from Juarez know that hey must call off their plans of vengeance, at least for the moment. Walt has worked his way back in this home without Skyler’s (Anna Gunn) permission and Jesse (Aaron Paul) straight out bought back his aunt’s house. Everything has seemed to get back to some sense of normalcy as we wait to see where the rest of the season is heading.

Spoiler Warning for Episode Three “I.F.T.”

So what does I.F.T. stand for? We all know the writer’s of Breaking Bad love to have some hidden tricks in the name and this episode is no different.  for those watching, they will probably miss the significance of these letters even when they are finally revealed at the end of the episode. Walt is now scraping the pizza off the roof in an attempt at domestic bliss while he waits to drop the bomb on Skyler.  Jesse lays on the floor of his aunt’s phone and calls his dead girlfriend’s cell phone number over and over again to listen to her voicemail. We see this image over and over again throughout the episode while we focus on the White family. Hank has been given the word that he is going back to El Paso, but the post traumatic stress from Tortuga’s head blowing up has left him shaking under his macho veneer. In a flashback, we see how Tortuga’s head ended up on the tortoise as the Cousins from Juarez were instrumental in the beheading. A meeting between the Salamanca cartel and Gus has been set up with Uncle Tio showing up with his bell and wheelchair. Everything goes polite, but Gus is warned that Salamanca has very little control over the Cousins and he needs to get business over with Heisenberg soon.

Skyler is not to happy to find Walt in her home and makes good on her threat to call the cops. Well, this doesn’t go as planned, as Walt plays the cards that Saul advised him on, knowing that Skyler won’t spill the beans to the police on his illegal activity. Since he hasn’t beat her, since there is no legal separation, and no restraining order, the police can’t do a damn thing about Walt being home.

Hank still wrestles with the thoughts of going to El Paso and ends up in a biker bar with his partner. He sees a meth deal going down, but his partner tells him to leave it alone. While on the way out, he does a double turn and goes back in and starts a fight with the dope dealers. This action puts him up for investigation.

Skyler, not to happy with her domestic situation, decides to change things between her and her boss and asks him, “Is anybody at his place?”. When she arrives back home, Walt has cooked dinner for Walt Jr. and his friend. Skyler comes into the kitchen and tells Walt that she “I.F.T.”

(Figure it out…. the first part is I, the third the boss’s name, and the second can be done in so many different ways!)

Walt does not look to happy with this news.

Meanwhile, Jesse still calls the cell phone and finally gets a disconnect. His last connection with his dead girlfriend is gone.

The Fate Of Jesse Pinkman and the Rule of the Third Season

Jesse, having mentored under Walt, will now start making the infamous “Blue Meth” that Gus wants and Hank wants to catch. Unlike Walt, Jesse doesn’t have the general instinct to watch his back and he is going to fall under the radar of Hank’s DEA posse. I believe that Walt is going to have no choice but to get back in the game. Also, Skyler is being watched by Saul’s pet detective who will eventually bring the dirt to the surface. Another issue that everyone has seen coming is Walt’s eventual involvement with the sexy principal at his school. How can anyone resist that fine piece of tail, lol.

With shows like Breaking Bad, we have to follow the models of shows before them. The ante has to increase and somebody major has to die. In Sopranos, that seemed to happen every year and Dexter, it happened majorly at the end of Season Four with the shocking death of Rita. Since Breaking bad might only go four seasons according to Vince Gilligan, then this is the season where somebody dies. I have bets that it will either be Walt Jr. (an easy one considering he is almost useless to the storyline) or Jesse (which would be one of those holy crap moments).

Whoever it is, somebody is going to die.

Sneak Preview for Breaking Bad Season Three Episode Four “Green Light”

Breaking Bad Season Three Preview

Getting Reacquainted with Breaking Bad: Season Three Returns Sunday, March 21

For those that have been wondering what’s been going on with our favorite drug dealer, Walter White (Bryan Cranston), then the wait will be over this Sunday as AMC brings back the Emmy award-winning series that has broke serious ground for quality television that is not on a Pay TV network. It used to be that you would have to have a subscription to HBO (Sopranos) or Showtime (Dexter) to see some of the best dramas available outside of the movies screen. Normal television, while having some interesting shows like CSI or Bones, tends to stick to formulaic cop dramas that while living on the edge of society’s norms, never really show us inside the human psyche. HBO’s Sopranos was probably the first series to not only break some serious ground with its subject matter, but it also offered us the closest realistic portrayal of the way the mafia works in America. Even though the major networks applauded this great series, nothing was done to bridge the gap between great television and the same old, same old cop procedurals.  Cable networks continued to bring outstanding shows like Sleeper Cell, Queer as Folk, Deadwood, Weeds, Californication, The L Word, and my favorite, Dexter which is probably the best scripted show on television today. So when AMC took a chance and gave us Breaking Bad, a small little show about a middle aged chemistry teacher who is diagnosed with cancer and decides to change his life by becoming a drug dealer, they took the safe formulas and threw them out a mobile meth lab.

The realness of what goes on in Breaking Bad is astounding. what happens to Walt can happen in any home in America, especially now in the economy. That is what makes the AMC original series so ground breaking. If you have not watched Breaking bad, I would suggest going and getting the first two seasons and have a nice marathon while waiting for the new episode to premiere on Sunday.

A Six-Minute Recap of Breaking Bad Seasons One and Two

AMCTV.com has a lot of cool stuff for those who are fans of this series. They have interviews, recaps, and special footage that can help anyone get acquainted with this series. I have included a six-minute recap of Breaking Bad Season One and Two.

If you want a recap of Breaking Bad Season One, follow this link.

If you want a recap of Breaking Bad Season Two, follow this link.

What’s to Come in Season Three of Breaking Bad: A Look at the Cast

Season Two left off with Walter White having to deal with a heroin-addicted Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) and the fact that his wife Skyler (Anna Gunn) wants to leave him if he doesn’t come clean.  I believe Season Three will be the biggest and most dramatic season yet. The great thing about shows like Breaking Bad and Showtime’s Dexter, is, as much as we love the characters, in the end, nothing good can ever come from their actions. The writers know that they can’t cheat us, so we always sit on the edge of our chairs wondering if this is the year that they get caught. I have included sneak peeks of footage of the cast and scenes from Season Three’s first episode “No Mas”. Enjoy!!

Breaking Bad Season Three Sneak Peak Episode 301 “No Mas” from AMCTV.com

Check out this preview of the new season!!!

If you have comments about anything to do with Breaking Bad and the new season, leave them below.

Breaking Bad Closes Its Third Season

Breaking Bad’s Under Use of Their Villains

I have been a fan of  AMC’s hit series Breaking Bad since the first episode and have come to love this series, but I must confess that it has a serious flaw. I suspected this in the first season, developed an opinion during the second season, and have come to a definitive conclusion in the third season. Breaking Bad kills off their villains way too early.

Unlike the Showtime hit series Dexter, which drags out their villains to the season’s end like last year with the wonderful Trinity Killer played by John Lithgow, Breaking Bad tends to off its villains before we have had a real chance to understand them.

Take the first season for example. In that season we were introduced to Krazy 8 ( played by Max Arciniega ) and the demonically high Tuco Salamanca ( Raymond Cruz ). While Krazy 8 met his demise in the first couple of episodes, Tuco came in at the end of the first season and spilled over barely into the second. Krazy 8 did die at the appropriate time, but Tuco’s end came too early. This was a character that could have ran the duration of Season Two and could have been the more natural villain to end Combo’s life, leaving us with a deeper look into the street element of Walt’s business. Breaking Bad jumped too fast from the street hustle of Heisenberg to the big business of Gus and the Chicken Brothers. While Gustavo Fring ( Giancarlo Esposito ) is a competent villain, I believe we saw this character too early in the development of the series and has left Breaking Bad very little room to grow.

As we moved into the third season, we were given the apocalyptic vision of the Cousins from Juarez. These villains seemed over the top and made me feel that Breaking Bad was about to jump the shark into a high octane battle between the Salamanca cartel, the DEA, and Walt’s family caught in the middle. Instead, the Cousins barely lasted until mid season and were taken out by Hank due to the manipulations by Gus. If this had been the end of Season Three, it would have been a great finale, but the show has petered on since then and we have been caught in a hovering mode dealing with the dramas of Walt, Gus, Hank, and Jesse’s personal relationships.

An Unsatisfying Conclusion To Season Three of Breaking Bad

Since all the villains are gone except Gus, Breaking bad had no place to go but inward. We are drawn back into the element’s that led up to Combo’s death and a rehash of elements of Season Two with Jesse’s dead girlfriend. As many noticed in the flashback to the museum trip with Jesse, this event never happened as Jesse was out in the desert with Walter and before his girlfriend died, he agreed to go to the museum with her. Many feel that this is a sign of lazy writing and I have to agree with them. This show started as an edgy show with real consequences and now has the growing pains of a successful series that has grown away from its roots. Unless major characters start dying, unless this show stops killing its villains early, then Breaking Bad has no choice to keep jumping the shark until it gets cancelled.

I hope in this weeks finale of Season Three of Breaking Bad that we see some realistic conclusion to the current storyline. Gus cannot let Jesse live, if only to teach Walt a valuable lesson. Walt can’t keep making deals with Gus for protection, over and over again. Something has to happen for this show to succeed in the next season.

The Direction For Breaking Bad for Season Four

If anyone who watched the end of Dexter’s Season Four, we know when a series knows what it takes to satisfy viewers. Rita’s death was the accumulation of everything that Dexter had done by choosing Trinity over his family. With Walter White, we must see the same sort of situation. Walt must see that his actions have a closer consequence other than planes dropping in his driveway.

With shows like Dexter, Sopranos, and Breaking bad, there is always the eternal dilemma of making your main character a sympathetic criminal. In the end, crime does not pay and you must face the music. With Hank now out of the game, with Walt now a nine-to-five drug manufacturer, and Gus, the best boss to work for, Breaking Bad have no choice to step the story backward in order to succeed, and are viewers ready to go back to square one with this show.

Breaking Bad commited several sins by rushing the growth of the series, by killing off villains, and allowing characters to live beyond their use.

Hank should have died, Walt Jr. should be dead, Skyler should have run off with his money, and Jesse Pinkman has outlived his usefulness, unless Walt chooses Jesse over his family. It seems he must in order for this show to survive.

Season Four has to end the series or take it up a notch. Instead of a villain, we need a new DEA agent to come in and pursue the blue meth, Walt must deal with the death of a loved one, Jesse has too sink deeper into the darkness while Walt must sink into Heisenberg. Season Four needs to keep Gus til the end with the DEA agent drawing in on a showdown at the Chicken Brothers factory, with ending of relations with Saul taking everything, Walt Jr dying, and Walt back at square one, broke, tragic, and his cancer returning.

He must understand the consequences for Breaking Bad.

Review of Breaking Bad Season Three Episode Two

The Fallout Continues in Episode Two “Caballo Sin Nombre”

If Season Three of Breaking Bad is feeling a lot different than the previous two seasons to you, then you probably have a good sense of why this is happening. While in the past, Breaking Bad came on like a derailed freight train, this year its slithers in like the way the cousins from Juarez did on their bellies. Season Three is a season of consequences and these have to be laid out like a ling winding trail on a road map for us to guess where it is going. While the first two episodes lack the overall bang, they do deliver a serious layer of dark overtones for what is to come.

Spoiler Warning for Episode Two

Let’s face it, Walt (Bryan Cranston) is in a lot of trouble. His wife is leaving him, his drug dealing has hit a plateau, and the brothers form Juarez are hot on his heels for vengeance. Also, Walt’s mental health is slipping into a delusions of grandeur and entitlement. This is seen in the opening moment when Walt confronts a police officer who pulls him over. Walt demands respect for the plane disaster that happened over his house and instead gets a nice dose of tear gas in his eyes. Meanwhile, his wife Skyler (Anna Gunn) has become a tough shell, neither bending to her husband’s demands, her boss’s attempts to doctor the books, and her sister’s constant questioning of what is going on with her and Walt.

While things are going bad for Walt, Jesse (Aaron Paul) sees life through a new perspective. Now clean for over 45 days, he goes to visit his family who is selling his aunt’s house. He tries to connect with his father, but his family refuses to have anything to do with him. Over at Saul’s office, the lawyer tries to persuade Jesse to help him convince Walt to start manufacturing crystal meth again, but Jesse has other ideas as he hires Saul to help him get back his aunt’s house.

In the supreme sheisty nature of Saul, he gathers a meeting with Jesse’s parents and offers them about half what they want for the house without exposing it is Jesse who is making the offer. When they refuse, he mentions the fact that they didn’t give full disclosure that the house was used as a meth lab and this fact seals the deal.

Meanwhile, Saul has other plans for dealing with Walt that involve trying to get some dirt on his wife. He sends his private eye, Mike, over to the house to set up some bugs, but while he is there, Walt decides he is entitled to come back into his own house. Walt breaks in and moves all his bags back in. Mike watches from across the street and noticed as the brothers from Juarez pull up to the house with an ax to bear. Literally.

Mike quickly gets on the phone with Saul and lets him know there is a problem. Walt, while taking a shower, is unaware that the cousins sit on his bed and wait for him to come out. As they sit there, their phone rings and it is a single text message, “Pollo”.

When Walt exits the shower, the boys from Juarez are gone, but he notices his “eyeball” has been moved.

Meanwhile, Jesse’s parents await for the new owners at his aunt’s house and are not happy when Jesse shows up. Telling him to stay away from the house because the new owners are coming, he produces the keys and lets himself in the house.

Who Saw The Cousins from Juarez Coming?

When we were introduced to the cousins in the first episode, I was really worried about their impact on the show. They seemed “too over the top” for the overall feel for Breaking Bad. I thought they were going to be a slow roll until the end of the season. But when i saw them show up at Walt’s door at the end of episode two, I was in shock. Are these super villains just a one shot storyline? Is Mike gonna come in all gangbusters and save Walt?

When they received the one word text message, it was a powerful moment, and it also let us know just how much trouble Walt is really in. Gus, the Chicken King, seems to be more powerful than anyone realized. To have the pull to stop a vengeance kill from the maniacs from Juarez is an impressive feat. It also rings as another blade that Gus can swing over Walt’s neck to get what he wants from him. However Walt feels about being a drug dealer, there will be no escape from Gus without a little bloodshed being spilled. Even if Walt redeems himself this season, it will probably at the cost of some family members (I believe Walt Jr. is gonna get it.)

Sneak Peek of Breaking Bad Season Three Episode Three “I.F.T”

For comments about this season of Breaking Bad, place them below.

Breaking Bad Season Three Premiere Episode Review

Breaking Bad Season Opener “No Mas”

Season Three of AMC’s hit series Breaking Bad offers no clever hints that foreshadow where the season is heading like the teddy bear from Season Two. Instead, we are left dealing with the aftermath, not only of the deadly plane crash but of Walter White’s (Bryan Cranston) life and the fallout of the decisions he has made as Skyler (Anna Gunn) has now left him and is filling for divorce and Jesse (Aaron Paul) is in rehab dealing with the death of his girlfriend.

Walt now lives in a run down apartment and spends time with a little introspection. When Skyler shows up with the divorce papers, he confesses to her that he manufactures crystal meth and she makes an ultimatum: if he signs the divorce, she will keep his secret. She leaves him in his new lonely life where Jesse is now a roommate on his couch. Walt tries to console Jesse about the responsibility of Jane’s death and her father’s actions in the airline crash. Jesse tells walt that he needs to stop running from who he is and just accept himself.

“I know who I am, ” Jesse says. “I’m the bad guy.”

Walt decides that he is out of the game and turns down a 3 million dollar deal from Gus.

Meanwhile, the cousins of Tuco come up from Mexico to seeking vengeance and leave a trail of dead bodies behind.

What Season Three of Breaking Bad Has To Offer

This Season might be the most rewarding and the hardest to pull off for the cast and crew of Breaking Bad. It is feeling like a series finale and the writers have to tread carefully because where Walter White is no mentally, there is no going back once he makes the decision to continue down the same path. Walt has no more excuses to hide behind to rationalize that he is a criminal and a killer. If he chooses to continue to make meth, there can be no redemption for this character.

Walt admits and knows he is at the crossroads, and he still believes he can control the people and things around him. But, I feel Walt is soon going to learn that you can swim with sharks and get away so easy. Saul and Gus are not going to just let Walt stop. Jesse will be used as a pawn in the same way Walt used Jesse in Season Two. Plus, let’s not forget about the boys from Jaurez.

These skull-tipped boot wearing bad asses are the first real villains of Breaking Bad. Whereas Krazy-8 and Tuco has some semblance of humanity, the cousins from Jaurez are mythic boogeymen and they are coming for Walt.

While I like these villains, they might be the infamous “jumping of the shark” that affects a lot of shows. Breaking bad worked on a lot of levels because it was a cast of characters that could be found in any neighborhood in America. The cousins from Jaurez bring a darker, more sinister approach to the season and might be an element that can derail what makes Breaking Bad so different from other shows.

I got to admit that I can’t wait to see what happens though and I still think Breaking Bad is the best show on television today.

Sneak Peek at Breaking Bad Season 3 Episode 2 “Caballo Sin Nombre”

Any Comments About The New Season, place them below.