Breaking Bad on AMC (18 Viewers)

[Major]

I know this is going to sound a little Ferris Bueller-ish, but.....One of my best friends' boy friend works on the show. Builds props and whatnot. Turns out they have two axes they used on the show and she got one of them and is going to give it to her brother as a wedding gift next month. Lucky *******.

That's awesome. I want some fried chicken boxes from Los Pollos Hermanos.

 

[Major]

I'm really tempted to click on that spoiler box, but I am holding out.

Go ahead... click it. It won't ruin anything.

I hope the Spoiler is true

 

[Raider Nation]

I'm really tempted to click on that spoiler box, but I am holding out.

Go ahead... click it. It won't ruin anything.

I hope the Spoiler is true

It was actually just a beautiful dream I had more than a "spoiler"... but we can all pray.

 

[PlasmaDogPlasma]

I just don't get why there's so much hate for Walt Jr.

 

[Sebowski]

I'm really tempted to click on that spoiler box, but I am holding out.

Go ahead... click it. It won't ruin anything.

I hope the Spoiler is true

It was actually just a beautiful dream I had more than a "spoiler"... but we can all pray.

 

[Sebowski]

I know this is going to sound a little Ferris Bueller-ish, but.....One of my best friends' boy friend works on the show. Builds props and whatnot. Turns out they have two axes they used on the show and she got one of them and is going to give it to her brother as a wedding gift next month. Lucky *******.

That's awesome. I want some fried chicken boxes from Los Pollos Hermanos.

That would be cool. I'll see what I can do.

 

[Raider Nation]

I just don't get why there's so much hate for Walt Jr.

"Hate" wouldn't be the correct word in my case, and I can't speak for the others, but I'll tell you why I want him gone.When I have to hit the mute button every time a character speaks, it probably wasn't the greatest casting decision ever.

 

[Sebowski]

I know this is going to sound a little Ferris Bueller-ish, but.....One of my best friends' boy friend works on the show. Builds props and whatnot. Turns out they have two axes they used on the show and she got one of them and is going to give it to her brother as a wedding gift next month. Lucky *******.

That's awesome. I want some fried chicken boxes from Los Pollos Hermanos.

That would be cool. I'll see what I can do.

She said she can get me some schwag in December when they unload stuff on the crew. In the meantime she is sending me some "Better Call Saul" matchbooks. She said last time they got a few hoodies and pollos shirts

 

[Flying V]

I know this is going to sound a little Ferris Bueller-ish, but.....One of my best friends' boy friend works on the show. Builds props and whatnot. Turns out they have two axes they used on the show and she got one of them and is going to give it to her brother as a wedding gift next month. Lucky *******.

Any chance you can get some of that blue meth? I don't need a lot.

 

[datonn]

Darned pesky flies!

 

[regularguy]

 

[Ditkaless Wonders]

First Jessie showed a willingness to consider reading manuals, and now he is watching the Discovery channel. The boy has a thirst for knowledge.

 

[Raider Nation]

Talented television writer Alan Sepinwall weighs in.

His reviews after each Sopranos and NYPD Blue episodes were almost as good as the episodes themselves.

I am going to talk to you for a few paragraphs about how the sausage gets made in television. If you'd rather not think too much about production logistics and budgets and whatnot and just focus on why "Fly" was such an unusual, incredible hour for this series, just skim until I start talking about "The Sopranos."

But I want to start off with sausage-making because it was clear to me that "Fly" was what's known in the industry as "a bottle show" - that is, an episode of the series shot almost entirely on existing sets, with a minimum of guest stars. The idea is to keep the budget as small as possible, so that you can then spend whatever money you saved on another episode down the road. (Or, in some cases, so you can compensate for a previous episode that cost more than anticipated.)

Last year, "Breaking Bad" tried to do a bottle show with "4 Days Out," the episode with Jesse and Walt trapped in the desert after the RV's battery runs down. The idea was that it would only feature Cranston and Paul and take place largely on the standing RV set and therefore be dirt-cheap. Instead, it wound up being one of that season's most expensive episodes, as more and more of the action began creeping outside of the camper and into the desert itself, which meant lots of location filming, often at irregular hours (a lot of that episode, you may recall, took place around dawn and dusk to get a particularly beautiful light quality), and that costs man-hours, it costs crew overtime, and it costs simply to transport all the men and materials back and forth from the studio to the desert.

Still, the basic idea of that episode went to the core of "Breaking Bad" - that of teacher and pupil stuck together, getting on each other's nerves, and revisting all the damage they've done to themselves, to each other, and to the world at large since they teamed up. So it wasn't surprising that the show would try to revisit the basic conceit - nor that Vince Gilligan and company (here with Sam Catlin and Moira Walley-Beckett on script, and Rian Johnson directing) would find a way to do a bottle show as a bottle show. Having already spent the money to build the huge Walt-cave set, they were able to dwell inside it for 95% of an episode, with no castmembers other than the two leads (which is valuable, since most TV shows these days can only sign a few regulars to appear in every episode), and no other speaking parts.

And it was through that attempt at minimalism and frugality that we got the "Breaking Bad" equivalent of the "Pine Barrens" episode of "The Sopranos." Only this one was, heresy though it may be, better.

Both "Pine Barrens" and "Fly" were black comedies about crooks out of their element (Paulie and Christopher lost in the woods, Walt and Jesse trying to play exterminator), but much as I love "Pine Barrens," it stayed in that minor key. "Fly" started out as slapstick; one critic on Twitter compared it, not inaccurately, to Wile E. Coyote trying to catch the Road Runner, and certainly Walt's fall off the railing was as broad a moment as this show has had. But as Jesse realized the only way to control Walt's obsession with the fly was to play along, it turned into something much darker, and deeper, and tenser, until we got to that riveting scene where Jesse is standing atop the rickety ladder, with his only support coming from a Walt who's barely conscious from sleeping pills, and Walt is talking about Jane, and we wonder...

...will this be the moment Walt finally fesses up about what he did? We've seen Walt make damaging admissions under the influence of anesthesia before, and I think we all assume that the series can't end without that ugly truth coming out. But what would Jesse do in this moment when there are no witnesses and Walt would be defenseless to help himself? Or would the shock of the news be so great that Jesse would lose his balance and break his neck, once again sparing Walt of the consequences of his actions?

What an incredible moment, and what an incredible scene leading up to it, with Jesse telling the story of his aunt's cancer(*), and that story (and the influence of the sleeping pills) in turn inspiring Walt to be reflective and to admit that he's lived too long and hurt too many people. A fatal cancer diagnosis allowed him to justify becoming a meth-lord. But instead of his dream of a quick payday that wouldn't harm anyone except the users, it's become a long blood bath, and one that's driven away his wife and will drive away his surrogate son if Jesse ever finds out the truth of what happened to Jane. Had Walt found a way to die that night before he left the house, things might have gone very differently. Jane wouldn't have died - at least not that night, though Jesse fairly points out that the money from Gus probably would have led to an overdose within weeks - Donald in turn wouldn't have caused the plane crash and Walt wouldn't have been there for his surgery, and to make the damning second cell phone admission to his wife.

(*) Aaron Paul has been given a lot of opportunities to monologue this year, and there's a reason for that: he's great at it. Bryan Cranston's best moments tend to come when Walt is silently reacting to something he's just done, or that's been done to him, but Paul's gifts seem at their greatest when the show just steps back and lets the man talk. Doesn't matter what the subject is - high school wood shop, a trapped opossum, his plan for revenge on Hank - it is always sensational.

Now where is he? He's making more money than his family will be able to spend (even if he's still getting royally hosed by Gus), but he works for a man so smart and ruthless that Walt's death could come at any time without warning. His wife has once again made it clear that she hates and fears him. And every day, he goes to work with a reminder of all the deaths he helped cause because he was so afraid Jane would tell Skyler a truth that she found out anyway.

He is empty and broken, and all he has left is this fancy underground lair, and even that's been contaminated - not just by the fly (who becomes the latest tiny thing to draw Walt's obsessive-compulsiveness, ala the band-aid in the swimming pool or the alleged rot under the house or the uneven table leg at the hospital), but by his knowledge of all the danger that comes with the joint.

Jesse ultimately kills the fly, Walt gets some sleep, and the batch gets made, but the contaminant never goes away, as we see when yet another fly turns up on the smoke detector in Walt's sterile fake apartment.

What's left for this sorry pair? Jesse is still trapped back in time in his relationship with Jane, dwelling on any little memento of her (first the voicemail, and here a cigarette butt with her lipstick stain on it), self-destructively skimming meth from the batch and getting indignant when Walt gently warns him about it. And Walt has nothing but his cash and his lab and his paranoia, and I wouldn't be surprised at all if, sometime before this season ends, he blurts out the truth about Jane without need of pharmaceuticals.

And then Jesse is going to wish he hit him a hell of a lot harder with that ridiculous homemade fly swatter.

Simple episode. Cheap episode. Brilliant episode. A series high point. I love the explosions and the shoot-outs and the mind games, but all this show needs to achieve greatness are these two horribly flawed characters, and the two tremendous actors playing them.

http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/whats-alan-wat...ottle-show-ever

 

[Finless]

I thought Jessie was going to fall off the ladder and break his neck.

 

[Major]

I know this is going to sound a little Ferris Bueller-ish, but.....One of my best friends' boy friend works on the show. Builds props and whatnot. Turns out they have two axes they used on the show and she got one of them and is going to give it to her brother as a wedding gift next month. Lucky *******.

That's awesome. I want some fried chicken boxes from Los Pollos Hermanos.

That would be cool. I'll see what I can do.

She said she can get me some schwag in December when they unload stuff on the crew. In the meantime she is sending me some "Better Call Saul" matchbooks. She said last time they got a few hoodies and pollos shirts

I broke up some blue pieces from a lollipop and put it in a little baggie. Threw it down on my girlfriend's table before we turned on the show and asked if she wanted to party.

 

[Major]

First Jessie showed a willingness to consider reading manuals, and now he is watching the Discovery channel. The boy has a thirst for knowledge, yo!.

:fixed:

 

[PlasmaDogPlasma]

I just don't get why there's so much hate for Walt Jr.

"Hate" wouldn't be the correct word in my case, and I can't speak for the others, but I'll tell you why I want him gone.When I have to hit the mute button every time a character speaks, it probably wasn't the greatest casting decision ever.

No matter what word you use to describe it, I don't get it. Kid has an condition and he talks a little funny. It doesn't seem mute button worthy to me. Anyway, you can celebrate a week off this week. Maybe they'll do a Jr-centric episode next week.

 

[regularguy]

Thanks for the Sepinwall post, RN. I'm not ready to say it was a brilliant episode, but it was still high-quality TV. I think I'd just gotten so used to the plot moving so quickly that I didn't know how to react when they threw us an episode such as this that mostly just builds tension for a future event.

 

[Ditkaless Wonders]

What was it Jessie was talking about hotdogs, that he said he loves lips and #######s or some such. Quality line.

 

[mex]

is there a place to watch last nights episode online?

 

[PlasmaDogPlasma]

I've watched it a few times now and I think Cranston must have done that fall himself.

 

[Abraham]

I thought Jessie was going to fall off the ladder and break his neck.

Absolutely. I was sure Hank was going to get clipped, I was sure Jessie was going to fall....I think my favorite part of the show is how they frame the parts that seem so predictable but never are.

Thanks for the Sepinwall post, RN. I'm not ready to say it was a brilliant episode, but it was still high-quality TV. I think I'd just gotten so used to the plot moving so quickly that I didn't know how to react when they threw us an episode such as this that mostly just builds tension for a future event.

I thought it was a little flat til the last 10 minutes, but I hadn't thought about it in deeper terms since I'd been drinking all day. I'll rewatch on the Wed replay and see if my opinion of it improves. I actually thought it was the worst episode of the season so far.

 

[boofatty]

I thought Jessie was going to fall off the ladder and break his neck.

Absolutely. I was sure Hank was going to get clipped, I was sure Jessie was going to fall....I think my favorite part of the show is how they frame the parts that seem so predictable but never are.

Thanks for the Sepinwall post, RN. I'm not ready to say it was a brilliant episode, but it was still high-quality TV. I think I'd just gotten so used to the plot moving so quickly that I didn't know how to react when they threw us an episode such as this that mostly just builds tension for a future event.

I thought it was a little flat til the last 10 minutes, but I hadn't thought about it in deeper terms since I'd been drinking all day. I'll rewatch on the Wed replay and see if my opinion of it improves. I actually thought it was the worst episode of the season so far.

I struggled with this episode, but it did show how Walt is having trouble dealing with the increased pressures and gravity of all the recent events.I was on edge toward the end where it looked like he was going to spill the beans about Jane. Very tense last several minutes, but it left out so many of the other story lines. Clearly there is going to be big drama in future episodes.

 

[Abraham]

Also, I think Aaron Paul may give Cranston a run for his money in the Best ACtor category this year. His character has developed nicely this season..... "yo" is awesome.

 

[Sam Quentin]

A lot of people will not like this one, but I loved it.

They really captured Walt's battle against his own torments

I was anxious to see the plot move too, but in retrospect, this episode will stick with me and provide a lot of subtext for future events. I'm wondering where Walt goes from here to see if and he attempts to make amends with his family, his conscience, and his leagacy and to see if he can reconcile that with his ambition, ego, loyalties to Gus and Jessie and his desire to survive.

 

[Christo]

Wow. Great writing and acting. Together in one place. The movie and television industry should take note.

 

[Dexter Manley]

Probably the worst episode of the series I've seen. I lol'd twice in the beginning, then the whole thing dragged on and on until the last 10 minutes.

It was pretty obvious that this was sort of a "filler" episode. The writers completely mailed it in on this one.

Can't believe Walt was so dumb and anal about a freaking fly. Ridiculous.

 

[Major]

Probably the worst episode of the series I've seen. I lol'd twice in the beginning, then the whole thing dragged on and on until the last 10 minutes.It was pretty obvious that this was sort of a "filler" episode. The writers completely mailed it in on this one.Can't believe Walt was so dumb and anal about a freaking fly. Ridiculous.

I thought the episode was average at best until the last 10 minutes or so. I finally got a few people to watch Breaking Bad for the first time last night. I was preparing them for great tv. Needless to say, BB lost a few potential viewers and my friends will never take another TV recommendation from me again. Oh well, I love this show.

 

[Finless]

Probably the worst episode of the series I've seen. I lol'd twice in the beginning, then the whole thing dragged on and on until the last 10 minutes.It was pretty obvious that this was sort of a "filler" episode. The writers completely mailed it in on this one.Can't believe Walt was so dumb and anal about a freaking fly. Ridiculous.

No one mailed anything in. Great episode.

 

[Cunk]

It seems like they were using the fly as a metaphor for Jesse. Even to the point of making Jesse look like a fly when he had the goggles on his head. Jesse is the fly and Walter needs to get rid of him. Thus with the fly landing on the flashing red button of the smoke detector indicating a warning about the fly (Jesse). Jesse is a stealing wild card and it could get them both killed.

 

[Dexter Manley]

Probably the worst episode of the series I've seen. I lol'd twice in the beginning, then the whole thing dragged on and on until the last 10 minutes.It was pretty obvious that this was sort of a "filler" episode. The writers completely mailed it in on this one.Can't believe Walt was so dumb and anal about a freaking fly. Ridiculous.

No one mailed anything in. Great episode.

The acting was great as usual. The writing was terrible by BB's standards.

 

[Agent 47]

Probably the worst episode of the series I've seen. I lol'd twice in the beginning, then the whole thing dragged on and on until the last 10 minutes.It was pretty obvious that this was sort of a "filler" episode. The writers completely mailed it in on this one.Can't believe Walt was so dumb and anal about a freaking fly. Ridiculous.

No one mailed anything in. Great episode.

Dexter, maybe this show isn't for you. That was a great episode.

 

[Dexter Manley]

Probably the worst episode of the series I've seen. I lol'd twice in the beginning, then the whole thing dragged on and on until the last 10 minutes.It was pretty obvious that this was sort of a "filler" episode. The writers completely mailed it in on this one.Can't believe Walt was so dumb and anal about a freaking fly. Ridiculous.

No one mailed anything in. Great episode.

Dexter, maybe this show isn't for you. That was a great episode.

I love the show, but the writing for this episode was very poor by the show's standards. As the one review noted above you could tell they went "cheap" with this show. (Writers thinking)- Instead of having Walt and Jessie stranded with the RV in the desert, let's just have them in their lab trying to kill a fly for a whole episode!

 

[wildbill]

Can't believe Walt was so dumb and anal about a freaking fly. Ridiculous.

You're reacting the same way Jesse did. What's that say about you, yo?It was completely in character for Walt to respond that way.

 

[Christo]

Probably the worst episode of the series I've seen. I lol'd twice in the beginning, then the whole thing dragged on and on until the last 10 minutes.It was pretty obvious that this was sort of a "filler" episode. The writers completely mailed it in on this one.Can't believe Walt was so dumb and anal about a freaking fly. Ridiculous.

No one mailed anything in. Great episode.

Dexter, maybe this show isn't for you. That was a great episode.

I love the show, but the writing for this episode was very poor by the show's standards. As the one review noted above you could tell they went "cheap" with this show. (Writers thinking)- Instead of having Walt and Jessie stranded with the RV in the desert, let's just have them in their lab trying to kill a fly for a whole episode!

I think you're not understanding the difference between producing and writing. The producers decided to be cheap. The writers did an excellent job.

 

[Dexter Manley]

Can't believe Walt was so dumb and anal about a freaking fly. Ridiculous.

You're reacting the same way Jesse did. What's that say about you, yo?It was completely in character for Walt to respond that way.

It says that I was getting nearly as annoyed as Jesse watching Walt obsess over a stupid fly.I don't ever recall Walt acting as irrational as he was this episode. Yes, he has some ODC tendencies, but I don't recall anything like this.

 

[Christo]

Can't believe Walt was so dumb and anal about a freaking fly. Ridiculous.

You're reacting the same way Jesse did. What's that say about you, yo?It was completely in character for Walt to respond that way.

It says that I was getting nearly as annoyed as Jesse watching Walt obsess over a stupid fly.I don't ever recall Walt acting as irrational as he was this episode. Yes, he has some ODC tendencies, but I don't recall anything like this.

The entire premise of the show is Walt being irrational.

 

[wildbill]

Probably the worst episode of the series I've seen. I lol'd twice in the beginning, then the whole thing dragged on and on until the last 10 minutes.It was pretty obvious that this was sort of a "filler" episode. The writers completely mailed it in on this one.Can't believe Walt was so dumb and anal about a freaking fly. Ridiculous.

No one mailed anything in. Great episode.

Dexter, maybe this show isn't for you. That was a great episode.

I love the show, but the writing for this episode was very poor by the show's standards. As the one review noted above you could tell they went "cheap" with this show. (Writers thinking)- Instead of having Walt and Jessie stranded with the RV in the desert, let's just have them in their lab trying to kill a fly for a whole episode!

I think you're not understanding the difference between producing and writing. The producers decided to be cheap. The writers did an excellent job.

It can't be easy to write a one hour episode with only two characters and one room.

 

[Dexter Manley]

Probably the worst episode of the series I've seen. I lol'd twice in the beginning, then the whole thing dragged on and on until the last 10 minutes.It was pretty obvious that this was sort of a "filler" episode. The writers completely mailed it in on this one.Can't believe Walt was so dumb and anal about a freaking fly. Ridiculous.

No one mailed anything in. Great episode.

Dexter, maybe this show isn't for you. That was a great episode.

I love the show, but the writing for this episode was very poor by the show's standards. As the one review noted above you could tell they went "cheap" with this show. (Writers thinking)- Instead of having Walt and Jessie stranded with the RV in the desert, let's just have them in their lab trying to kill a fly for a whole episode!

I think you're not understanding the difference between producing and writing. The producers decided to be cheap. The writers did an excellent job.

Is it possible that the producers told the writers that they wanted an entire episode to take place in the lab with Walt and Jesse? If so, then I guess the writers did the best they could with that limitation.Still was the worst episode of the series I've seen (it should be noted I missed most of season 1).

 

[wildbill]

The entire premise of the show is Walt being irrational.

Can you unpack this?

 

[Dexter Manley]

Can't believe Walt was so dumb and anal about a freaking fly. Ridiculous.

You're reacting the same way Jesse did. What's that say about you, yo?It was completely in character for Walt to respond that way.

It says that I was getting nearly as annoyed as Jesse watching Walt obsess over a stupid fly.I don't ever recall Walt acting as irrational as he was this episode. Yes, he has some ODC tendencies, but I don't recall anything like this.

The entire premise of the show is Walt being irrational.

The huge obsession over the fly seemed too over the top.Maybe I'm the one being irrational expecting Walt to act a little less illogical, lol.

 

[Christo]

Still was the worst episode of the series I've seen (it should be noted I missed most of season 1).

It's easy to understand how that episode was not the right introduction for those who've never seen the show before. But I don't understand how anyone into the show would not have liked it.

 

[ScottyFargo]

The obsession with the fly was intentionally over the top. Walt is losing it. He's already lost so much, and the writers detailed for us in his monologue just how far he has fallen, but more than that, that he knows it. It was in character for a man who is progressing down a path, where again he tries to exert control over situations beyond his control. Just like he did when he decided he would break the law in order to provide for his family in his absence. But it's beyond that now. He's going to keep slipping.

Great episode, imo.

 

[Agent 47]

Still was the worst episode of the series I've seen (it should be noted I missed most of season 1).

It's easy to understand how that episode was not the right introduction for those who've never seen the show before. But I don't understand how anyone into the show would not have liked it.

I thought it was more to show how Walt is trying to exert some control over his situation, and is still clinging to the belief that he has a professional/ "real" chemistry job, but at the end he concedes it's not a big deal, it's just meth.

 

[Dexter Manley]

Still was the worst episode of the series I've seen (it should be noted I missed most of season 1).

It's easy to understand how that episode was not the right introduction for those who've never seen the show before. But I don't understand how anyone into the show would not have liked it.

I thought the first and last 10 minutes of the show was good. The rest was defnitely meh.It was still better than any other show that was on at the time though.Maybe it will be better when I watch it sober.

 

[PlasmaDogPlasma]

Can't believe Walt was so dumb and anal about a freaking fly. Ridiculous.

You're reacting the same way Jesse did. What's that say about you, yo?It was completely in character for Walt to respond that way.

It says that I was getting nearly as annoyed as Jesse watching Walt obsess over a stupid fly.I don't ever recall Walt acting as irrational as he was this episode. Yes, he has some ODC tendencies, but I don't recall anything like this.

Not when he got arrested? Not when he made Walt Jr keep pounding liquor? Not when he refused free money from a couple that he felt really owed him money? I thought last night's episode was fantastic. Five on a scale of five.

 

[Dexter Manley]

Can't believe Walt was so dumb and anal about a freaking fly. Ridiculous.

You're reacting the same way Jesse did. What's that say about you, yo?It was completely in character for Walt to respond that way.

It says that I was getting nearly as annoyed as Jesse watching Walt obsess over a stupid fly.I don't ever recall Walt acting as irrational as he was this episode. Yes, he has some ODC tendencies, but I don't recall anything like this.

Not when he got arrested? Not when he made Walt Jr keep pounding liquor? Not when he refused free money from a couple that he felt really owed him money? I thought last night's episode was fantastic. Five on a scale of five.

Ok forgot about him getting arrested. But that wasn't as bat#### crazy as acting like this fly was a teradactyl that was a threat. I assume Walt Jr. pounding liquor was a season 1 episode I missed.

 

[Agent 47]

Can't believe Walt was so dumb and anal about a freaking fly. Ridiculous.

You're reacting the same way Jesse did. What's that say about you, yo?It was completely in character for Walt to respond that way.

It says that I was getting nearly as annoyed as Jesse watching Walt obsess over a stupid fly.I don't ever recall Walt acting as irrational as he was this episode. Yes, he has some ODC tendencies, but I don't recall anything like this.

Not when he got arrested? Not when he made Walt Jr keep pounding liquor? Not when he refused free money from a couple that he felt really owed him money? I thought last night's episode was fantastic. Five on a scale of five.

Ok forgot about him getting arrested. But that wasn't as bat#### crazy as acting like this fly was a teradactyl that was a threat. I assume Walt Jr. pounding liquor was a season 1 episode I missed.

You gotta realize that Walt doesn't see himself as a cooker of meth, but rather as an established chemist.Now that he is in a real lab, he wants to keep up the good lab practices, and he's taking this very seriously. This is been shown through his morning routine, through his change in mood and behavior since getting this 'job'.

He's treating this job as if he were a chemist working for Pfizer or Johnson and Johnson, trying to exert some professional control over an otherwise unprofessional type of job.

 

[Major]

Can't believe Walt was so dumb and anal about a freaking fly. Ridiculous.

You're reacting the same way Jesse did. What's that say about you, yo?It was completely in character for Walt to respond that way.

It says that I was getting nearly as annoyed as Jesse watching Walt obsess over a stupid fly.I don't ever recall Walt acting as irrational as he was this episode. Yes, he has some ODC tendencies, but I don't recall anything like this.

Not when he got arrested? Not when he made Walt Jr keep pounding liquor? Not when he refused free money from a couple that he felt really owed him money? .

Or by throwing a heavy flower pot against a shatter proof window

 

[PlasmaDogPlasma]

Ok forgot about him getting arrested. But that wasn't as bat#### crazy as acting like this fly was a teradactyl that was a threat. I assume Walt Jr. pounding liquor was a season 1 episode I missed.

You gotta realize that Walt doesn't see himself as a cooker of meth, but rather as an established chemist.Now that he is in a real lab, he wants to keep up the good lab practices, and he's taking this very seriously. This is been shown through his morning routine, through his change in mood and behavior since getting this 'job'. He's treating this job as if he were a chemist working for Pfizer or Johnson and Johnson, trying to exert some professional control over an otherwise unprofessional type of job.

I thought it was more about him being a control freak and the fly representing something out of his control.