Greetings, and welcome to Breaking Bad Week on Earthling Television. I am your host, Garyx
Wormuloid. Today’s artifact is Season Number Four of Breaking Bad, featuring Giancarlo
Stanton, most famous for playing Buggin’ Out in Spike Lee’s award-winning vampire
film "Do the Right One In."
In Season Number Four, Walter and Jesse have finagled some short-term job security, even
in the face of major cutbacks. And Walt thought that fly was a contaminant.
Inundated by the pointless human emotion of remorse, Jesse turns his attention to dancing.
But Gus comes from that town in Footloose that hates dancing, so he takes away Jesse’s
free time and makes him run errands with his enforcer, Mike. Next thing you know, Jess
and Gus are all buddy- buddy, even going on the big company retreat to Mexico together!
Meanwhile, the cops -- who have been doing a real bang-up job, by the way -- find that
dead nerd’s notebook and figure he must be Heisenberg on account of all the science formulas
and shit. These guys are adorable. But wait -- they also find a chicken napkin, and Hank
finally starts to use that great big noodle of his.
Turns out being suspected of meth kingpinship is a total dealbreaker for Gus. Walt tries
to run away, but Skyler gave all their money to her boyfriend, and now they can’t afford
the running away tax.
After some quiet reflection, Walt teams up with Alexander Damn Bell for a presentation
that’ll really blow the boss away. Finally, we get a nice reminder that Walt loves flowers.
Throughout Season Number Four of Breaking Bad, themes of paranoia and powerlessness
are reinforced by the cosmic eye of judgment, which, coincidentally, is a pet name I have
for my wife. In Season Number Two, the pink teddy bear symbolizes the destruction of Walt’s
innocence and the importance of putting a tarp over your pool. In Season Number Four,
the creepy eyeball of that same teddy bear suggests Walt can never truly hide from the
horrible things he’s done. Not that he’s the hiding type.
But Walt may soon be knocking on heaven’s door, because Gustavo Fring also has eyes
everywhere. Well, except the right side of his face. Seems Gus and the pink bear are
two sides of the same coin. Oh yeah, and him too. Small world.
Another recurring element is the human insistence on pride, and I’m not talking about a pride
of lions! Well, now I am.
Pride makes Walt turn down a generous offer from his wealthy friends who weren’t even being dicks about
it or anything. In Season Number Three, pride pulls him back out of retirement, further
prolonging the events of the show.
In Season Number Four, pride is back in a major way -- compelling Walt to drunkenly,
stupidly put Heisenberg right back on Hank’s radar. Silly humans, couldn’t handle their
liquor -- the trick is to pregame with a couple ‘ludes. After Hank’s legs stop working,
pride eats away at his marriage, and also his bowels. Even Old Gus Fring isn’t immune
to pride. When he thinks the bell guy betrayed him, he insists on handling it himself, almost
as if he’s never even heard of a wheelchair bomb.
Pride is also at the center of the war for Jesse’s loyalty, known by historians as
The Great War. When Walt undermines Jesse, Gus feeds his fragile ego by giving him responsibility,
which Spiderman taught us comes with great power. And in the end, it is only by giving
Jesse power over his life that Walt regains his trust. Of course, that whole strategy
is built upon a big fat lie.
Throughout this conflict, Jesse’s psyche -- or “brain ghost” -- is in disarray,
as evidenced by the state of his domicile. And despite his best efforts, neither can
ever truly be clean.
Jesse is trapped, a surrogate son to two dashingly evil men, both of whom happily put him in
harm’s way for their own benefit. So often is Jesse a sacrificial horse, he even takes
to sporting a DJ Jesus t-shirt. Let’s just hope he remembers to resurrect some of his
other shirts after three days.