‘Breaking Bad’ Season Five: “Say My Name”

(Read about the previous episode here.) “You actin’ kinda shady Ain’t callin’ me baby Why the sudden change? Say my name, say my name If no one is around you Say baby I love you If you ain’t runnin’ game Say my name, say my name…”

‘Breaking Bad’ Season Five: “Buyout”

(Read about the previous episode here.) One of the established tricks of screenwriting is, when stuck, put two characters who haven’t had any scenes together in a room and see what they say. I’ve never knowingly had to resort to this, because I never run short on material, and I doubt the writers of Breaking […]

‘Breaking Bad’ Season Five: “Dead Freight”

(Read about the previous episode here.) Well, that didn’t go according to plan. Kids are often placed in harm’s way in movies and on TV. How many times have you seen a guy take a child hostage as leverage? But the kid gets away. Almost always. Because seeing children die is unpleasant, especially when it’s […]

‘Breaking Bad’ Season Five: “Fifty-One”

A year? One year? Seriously?

‘Breaking Bad’ Season Five: “Hazard Pay”

Hmm. As I’ve stated before, I grade Breaking Bad on a curve. Even a “bad” episode of Breaking Bad is a million times better than any episode of Two And A Half Men, or 99% of other shows on TV. There is no “bad” episode of Breaking Bad, anyway. There are only episodes ranging from […]

‘Breaking Bad’ Season Five: “Madrigal”

(Catch my write-up of the season premiere here.) Even after last week’s season premiere, it was unclear what path Breaking Bad would take in its fifth and final season. “Live Free Or Die” was all about cleaning up Season Four’s messes, and “Madrigal” does a little of that before heading in an entirely new and […]

‘Breaking Bad’ Season Five Premiere: “Live Free Or Die”

(Catch up on Season Four here.) After a rollicking Season Four in which Breaking Bad became, quite deservedly, one of the buzziest shows on TV, the Season Five premiere had a lot to live up to. While a few threads were left unresolved in “Face Off,” in many ways, things were tied off much more […]

‘Breaking Bad’ Season Four Finale & Favorites: “Face Off”

(Wrapping up my assessment of Breaking Bad‘s fourth season. Find the first installment here.) 13. “FACE OFF” Oh, Breaking Bad. So clever with those episode titles! Let me start this review by repurposing some familiar song lyrics: “Ding dong, the Fring is dead…”

‘Breaking Bad’ Season Four: “Crawl Space” & “End Times”

(Continuing my assessment of Breaking Bad‘s fourth season. Find the first installment here.) 11. “CRAWL SPACE” So this is it. Three episodes to go, and with ominous titles like “Crawl Space” and “End Times” and “Face Off,” you know it won’t be a trio of light-hearted comedies about everyone making nice over a bucket of […]

‘Breaking Bad’ Season Four: “Bug” & “Salud”

(Continuing my assessment of Breaking Bad‘s fourth season. Find the first installment here.) 9. “BUG” After last week’s tense, cinematic Gus-centric flashback episode, “Bug” gets the forward momentum back on track, focusing on the series’ core characters and the central relationship of Breaking Bad — Walt and Jesse’s. For the entirety of Season Four, Walt […]

‘Breaking Bad’ Season Four: “Problem Dog” & “Hermanos”

(Continuing my assessment of Breaking Bad‘s fourth season. Find the first installment here.) 7. “PROBLEM DOG” In my last installment, I bemoaned Walt’s twin stupid choices — letting some Honduran maids into the meth lab, and buying his son a flashy new sports car. In “Problem Dog,” Walt makes a decision that’s ten times stupider […]

‘Breaking Bad’ Season Four: “Shotgun” & “Cornered”

(Continuing my assessment of Breaking Bad‘s fourth season. Find the first installment here.) 5. “SHOTGUN” “Walter!!” That’s me, screaming at my TV set in fury at the end of “Shotgun,” which contains the most jaw-dropping “I can’t believe he just did that!” moment of the season to date. And it’s not a violent life-or-death situation, […]