I don't want to speak out of turn, especially given that there are still seven episodes left in the series, but never have I witnessed a show that has been so consistently fantastic from the word go all the way through the last handful of episodes, and "Blood Money" has certainly done nothing to fight against that thought.
And there were certainly a lot of incredible scenes in tonight's season premiere but the standout performance has to be Dean Norris' Hank Schrader. The emotions that his character were clearly going through immediately following the revelation that Walt may in fact be the Heisenberg he has so painstakingly pursued were heartbreaking. There was heartbreak at the betrayal. Frustration that he didn't see it. And all told, a desire to make sure that this new evidence he stumbled across was in fact conclusive. Lesser men would have just dropped what they were doing and gone after him. But not Hank. From the handwriting comparison to the GPS tracking, he was covering all his bases. So when the confrontation finally went down, there was no question in his mind.
And credit must be given to the continuity of this series because while the phone call at the RV was certainly a huge plot point in an episode three seasons ago, it was three seasons ago. Plenty of shows would not have called back that moment, despite it being an important emotional benchmark in the character's history. It's small moments like that one which truly show the greatness in this series.
But to bring things back to our protagonist, as many expected, the cancer is back. And sometime in the next eight episodes, next door neighbor Carol is going to go from friendly gardener to terrified orange spilling shopper. Because in this not too distant future, Walt's home is boarded up, fenced up, pool emptied (giving local teenagers the opportunity to make their own miniature skate park), and his wall inside is spray painted with the word "HEISENBERG". This almost completely dialog free sequence takes place shortly after he picked up his machine gun in the season five premiere and obviously there are a lot of loose ends that need cleaning up given that his purpose here was to retrieve the ricin that he so conveniently put behind a wall outlet.
Oddly, I found myself rooting for Walt most of the episode. I wanted him to get his life back on track. I knew that wasn't going to happen, but I thought it was possible he turned a new leaf upon the reemergence of his cancer. After his meeting with Jesse, and then his final words to Hank, it's clear that the new leaf isn't quite what I hoped it would be. And he's pretty much the same old Walt, which is unfortunate, but consistent. And I cannot wait to find out how things get to that point. Flash fowards can be really tricky, but knowing that the answers are coming some time in the next two months make it easier to swallow and only seems to up my anticipation. I only hope that Vince Gilligan and company make it worth my while, but I have no reason to believe they won't.
The only real issue I have with the episode is Jesse. While I absolutely loved Badger and Skinny Pete going on about the transporter on Star Trek (a conversation I've had with people as well in regards to teleportation technology, so thank you for taking it mainstream Breaking Bad) as well as Badger's five minute description of his fan fiction awful episode of the original series Trek, Jesse's presence in this episode was frustrating. I get why he feels the way he does, and his desire to make things right, but I feel like we've seen catatonic Jesse before, and I want to see a little more energy out of him. That's not to take away from Aaron Paul's performance in the slightest. He was clearly giving it his all and it was nothing short of award-winning, but the situation he is in right now is just not that compelling to me. This is such a minor complaint though that I almost hesitate to make it because the rest of the episode was so fantastic.
There are only seven hours of the show left. Before October we'll have all the answers we've been waiting for. And while Walt seems destined for death as a result of his cancer returning, there's a whole hell of a lot that is obviously going to happen between now and then. Seeing that Lydia and Todd are now regular cast members, they still have major parts to play. And Lydia doesn't seem like the type of person to go down without a fight. Sure, she'll hire someone else to do the fighting for her, but she's not taking Walt's decision to quit the business lightly. And good on Skyler for helping push Lydia out the door.
Seven episodes left and I can't wait to see what goes down. A great start to this new season.
GRADE: A
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