Breaking Bad - 2013 Premiere - Recap: Tread Lightly

Credit: AMC

"Blood Money" not only displays how much harder Walt has to work to keep his life from falling to pieces, as well as just how black his soul has become, but it also goes a long way in illustrating Jesse's (Aaron Paul) continued war for his own soul. It might seem a bit histrionic to couch the narrative in these overly epic terms, but hey, Walt himself brings God into the equation himself. Walt works as hard to convince Hank (Dean Norris) of his innocence as Jesse does to purge himself of his ill-gotten finances. Jesse is working towards the liberation of his conscience, the reclamation of his very soul. But Walt's battle is far more earthly. Like many have expected for five seasons now, Walt's cancer has come back and he fears he might not have much more than six months left. While we see that Walt takes medication and undergoes chemotherapy, in addition to suffering from bouts of nausea and vomiting, it's hard to be certain whether he's lying about how much time he has left. For all we know, it could be another lie Walt tells Hank, in furtherance of downplaying his brother-in-law's suspicions about his true identity as Heisenberg. One would assume it's a lie, since Walt is still alive a year later, but the fact that it's even debatable whether Walt actually knows how much time he has left tells us all we need to know about the sort of man we're dealing with in these final eight episodes. Walt has no trouble putting his hand to God if it means Hank will believe he's simply the owner of a car wash and nothing more. Jesse, meanwhile, doesn't have any problem giving away all his "blood money" to Mike's granddaughter and to the parents of Drew Sharp, the boy killed following the train heist earlier in season five; nor does he have a problem giving away the money to strangers when that fails, or tossing out wads of cash around the neighborhood like he's a boy on his early morning paper route. Both men are plagued by what they've done in the past, but only Jesse seeks atonement. They both have blood on their hands and on their money, but only one man actually kept the dirty money.

Credit: AMC

So let's get down to brass tacks. The episode opens with a flashforward in which Walt, with a full head of hair and a bushy beard to rival George Clooney's Oscar look, breaks into his own house, which has been condemned. Skater kids use the empty swimming pool as their own private skate park while gangs have apparently been using the house as their own canvas for graffiti. Meanwhile, some unknown person has spray-painted the word "Heisenberg" on the living room wall, a haunting reminder of the path that has led Walt to this apparent ruin. He then returns to the bedroom he and Skyler (Anna Gunn) once shared, removes the electrical outlet, and recovers the ricin cigarette he planted there. As he walks back to his car, he encounters his former neighbor, who s***s an entire brickhouse for the three little pigs to live in. "Hello, Carol." And with that exceptional opening, we're set right back into the context of last season's finale, in which Hank discovers Walt's copy of Leaves of Grass and then takes it as evidence. This sets into motion the domino rally that brings us to one of the best show-closers this series has ever done.

Credit: AMC

After nearly crashing his SUV due to the overwhelming effect of what he's learned, Hank spends the rest of the episode working on the Heisenberg case from home, gradually connecting all the dots that have been staring him plain in the face since Day One. Meanwhile, Walt is going through a similar sort of investigation. Not only is he trying to piece together what happened to his damn Walt Whitman book, he's also trying to convince Jesse that Mike Ehrmantraut is still out there somewhere, alive and well. Aaron Paul doesn't do a whole lot of talking in this episode, but he's that rare kind of actor who doesn't need to say a word in order to communicate the depth of the war brewing inside. He goes through the episode in a bit of a fugue state, numb to the Star Trek-fueled ramblings of Badger (Matt Jones) and Skinny Pete (Charles Baker), and immediately suspicious of Walt's pleas of innocence. But because Jesse wants to believe that Mike is alive and that Walt isn't really the monster he appears to be, Jesse accepts Walt's explanation about having last seen Mike alive. Yet it's not as if Walt's lie absolves Jesse of the guilt he feels for the death of Drew Sharp, the near-death of Brock, or any number of the horrible things with which he's been associated. He gives a wad of cash to a homeless man, and then drives around the neighborhood, tearfully chucking wads of cash out the window. He's doing what he can to make amends with the universe, but even as one of the few generally goodhearted characters in the cast, Jesse seems to recognize that this is all hollow penance.

Credit: AMC

Not so for Walt. Sure, he's no longer directly involved in the meth operation, instead handing over the reins to Lydia, who has proceeded to bungle everything and come crawling back to Walt to ask for his help -- and receiving a stern threat from Skyler, who is apparently 100% serious about tearing Lydia limb-from-limb if she ever shows her face again. Yet Walt isn't really atoning for anything. His cancer is back, but that doesn't necessarily compel any regret for his actions on his part. Walt doesn't want to die. As he tells Hank, "I'm fighting like hell." He's clinging to his mortality, yet I'm not sure Jesse gives a damn about his own. Again, it's a tale of contrasting morality, and whether health of one's body is worth privileging over the health of one's soul. Either way, it's a fascinating character study that not a lot of shows on TV carry off as well as Breaking Bad.

Credit: AMC

And so we come to the confrontation, as Walt discovers a GPS tracking device on the bottom of his car and confronts Hank. This is a scene that's been building for five seasons, and it's every bit as remarkable as one might expect. Hank pretty much hits the ground running once Walt questions him about the GPS, punching his brother-in-law square in the jaw and holding him up by the scruff of his neck. "It was you all along." Cue Walt speaking in hypotheticals, particularly after Hank suggests bringing the family in for a little sit-down: assuming Walt actually had been Heisenberg all along, Hank would have no way of proving it. And even if he could, Walt assures Hank he'd never see the inside of a jail cell. He then reveals to Hank that his cancer is back, which does some good in satisfying Hank's desire to see justice done, but he still wants Walt behind bars. "In six months," Walt says, "You're not going to have anyone to prosecute." Again, it's all hypothetical on Walt's end, though Hank knows it's all bull, even after Walt launches into a string of denials, swearing to God that he's nothing more than a car wash owner. Hank tells Walt that he feels he doesn't even know him. "If you don't know who I am, maybe your best course would be to tread lightly." And with that chilling delivery, Walt confirms his identity to Hank with a warning to watch his back. The scene is a masterpiece between its pacing, its layout and the performances of Bryan Cranston and Dean Norris. From the moment the garage door comes down to the last line of the episode, Breaking Bad is operating at its highest possible level. Even though the demons of his past are being brought to bear on him, in the form of cancer and the distrust of family and friends, Walter White still has a little more hubris left to spare.

Credit: AMC

"Blood Money" is a remarkable hour of television that exemplifies why Breaking Bad is a series to be reckoned with in this final season. It remains to be seen whether the show will stick the landing, but they're off to as strong a start as I've ever seen for a show's last season. Maybe this final season will be one for the ages, or maybe it will fall just short of greatness. Or maybe it'll achieve a level somewhere in-between. But the fact of the matter is that there are few shows on television that, for me, inspire this level of confidence, not only in the skill of the people in front of the camera, but in the artists behind it.