Breaking Bad 5x07 - Say My Name

"Now. Say my name." 
"You're Heisenberg." 
"You're god damn right." 

Before the start of this season, I read a really interesting interview with Bryan Cranston in which he was asked when he thought Walt 'broke bad' past the point of being redeemable to the audience.

I don't remember Cranston's response, but I do remember many examples of what that moment has been for fans.

Spoilers for the latest "Breaking Bad" under the cut.

When he killed Crazy Eights, Lily of the Valley, when Walt didn't take the money from his former associates for cancer treatment, or when he let Jane die. There have been plenty of times  when Walt's fucked shit up, and the mileage a person has gotten out of his anit-hero charm varies widely from one viewer to another. Usually though, when talking about whatever their particular 'broken bad' moment may be, people end up sighing and muttering something along the lines of, "Yeah. He's an asshole," before going back to their dart game. (Or whatever it is that people do while talking about "Breaking Bad." I just assume it has to be in a dimly lit bar somewhere with cigar smoke and guys with large mustaches. So they might as well be playing darts too, you know?)

But now, with the senseless death of Mike Ehrmantraut - a murdering hit-man, the Batman of the drug world, fallen former cop and grandpa extraordinaire - people are pissed. It's a testament to how strange this show is that a bad guy getting killed is enough for 99% of viewers to curl into the fetal position and whimper about it. 

I was upset too, but it's not like I wasn't expecting it. From the moment Mike decides to go back into the business with Walt - in spite of the fact that he's being watched by the police, he knows Walt is unstable, and he knows ramshackle insanity that is undoubtedly in store - it's obvious that he wasn't going to survive the season. Jonathan Banks says it best himself - when Mike doesn't kill Lydia, it's over. That's a half-measure. And Mike should know better than anybody what half-measures lead to.

It's all the sadder because his death was so damn unnecessary, and it comes about because Walt doesn't stop to think about what the hell he's doing. Which, while tragic, is actually my favorite aspect of this episode. This forty-five minutes starts with the utter validation of Heisenberg. He's out-witted Mike, forced Jesse to stay 'in the game' (I miss "The Wire"), and has intimidated an honest-to-god drug lord, Declan, into naming Walt as the man who has shaken the very foundations of the drug trade. In that opening sequence, Walt is a legend made flesh - the idealized version of the alter-ego he created to get out of an impossible situation a year ago.

That's his high point. From the moment we break to credits to when we end up watching Mike slumped against a rock by the river, Heisenberg is loosing his hold. Jesse immediately corrects the assumption that he's going to stay indefinitely as Walt's second-in-command, and then walks away even without his money. Skyler - who started the season too terrified to resist her husband in any way - questions his judgement while they're taking care of the lovely druggy drugs at the car wash. Granted, she goes back into the office when he tells her to, but then blatantly ignores him at dinner whilst taking out a bottle of wine in three gulps. He awkwards (yes, it's a verb) Hank into leaving his office to snag the bug he planted, only to find out that the DEA is about to snatch Mike and put his entire operation in jeopardy.

And finally, at the end, when he tries to intimidate Mike into giving him the names of his nine guys, he is easily outmatched by a man who has always known who Walt really is, and as such could never be cowed by him. Just re-watching their confrontation is amazing, and speaks to how brilliant both Cranston and Banks are. Walt, squaring himself up and glaring, exactly the way he does at the start of the episode with the drug lord and expecting the same result. Which, to be fair, he has every reason to. When he confronts Declan about cooking for him, Heisenberg has nothing to bargain with other than his reputation. No money, no power, no support from his two partners. But all he needs is that mythos to fall back on - the terror the idea of him can inspire in the baddest of the bad.

When he meets Mike, Walt has every advantage in the world. The go-bag, a gun. The idiot even has the access to the very information he's trying to scare Mike into telling him. All of the power belongs to Walt, whether or not he realizes it. But for all that, Mike confidently strides forward, yanks his getaway bag out of Walt's hands, and walks back to his car, completely ignoring every one of Walt's demands before calling him out on his pride, foolishness, and how his ego is going to ruin them all.

He shoots Mike, the car speeds off and we zoom back to Cranston's face. In that instant, Heisenberg is gone, so much so it's impossible to think he was ever there in the first place. The shock, horror, and sheer disbelief in that expression is the likes of which we've seen before - in the pilot, with Walt in his underwear, taping a goodbye to his family.

He realizes, almost the instant that it happens, what he's done. He's killed a good man for absolutely no reason other than his damn pride. Trying to protect the image of the legend he so desperately wants to be, but can never completely embody.

The title of the episode is "Say My Name." At the end of the first scene of the episode, Declan calls him Heisenberg. Mike, as their meeting in the woods begins, calls him Walter.

Guuuuys. This show is awesome!  

It's not Heisenberg that kills Mike - it's Walter. And if the senseless death of a good man isn't enough to make you think that Walt's broken bad yet, I don't think you're watching the show right.

Some (okay, a lot of) other thoughts...

• JESUS CHRIST TODD. I'm pretty certain he's going to be trouble, which I suspect because I watched "Friday Night Lights," and I know about Lance's madcap murdering spree adventures.  LANDRY STRIKES ONCE MORE! Really though, Jesse Plemons is a great actor, and it's nice to see him in something good again.
• Skyler has always been a divisive character on the show, but since last season I've found myself liking her more and more as she continues to reveal herself as a very flawed but very methodical, smart, and human character. She's gotten herself into a terrible situation, but she's also managed to get her kids away, and she's ready to wait out the rest of this insanity until Walt dies. It's odd, how much I've started to adore her, and how much I know I am virtually alone on this matter. But guys! Her short scene with Jesse - "I wish." Her walking into darkness with Jesse staring at her as she looks back at him. And of course, his next scene is him telling Walt that he's out. So. Good. 
• Speaking of Jesse, Aaron Paul has not had much to do this season. Yes, they've gotten him to cry once or twice, which is essential, but I could do with some more "Yeah! Robots!" or a few epic monologues about the bullshit of self-acceptance. There's not a lot of time for it, I know, but Paul's too good - and Jesse's too important - for him to be sitting on the sidelines so often. I'm hoping that Sunday's episode will feature him prominently so I can reach my Pinkman/bitch! quota for the year. 
• Colors! All my theories from last season are shaky at best, but I will point out that almost everyone is still wearing a shit-ton of black, that the only time Skyler's worn blue that I can recall is during the pool scene, and that the tents for the meth-cooking houses are yellow and green. SUCK IT, COLOR THEORY DOUBTERS. 
• Where the fuck is Flynn, dammit? I want to see more breakfast being eaten, and I want to see it now.
• I know this season is not without it's flaws. (Not the least of which is too little of Flynn/Breakfast. Best ship ever.) I think part of this is insane expectation, and some of it is just the writers realizing that they don't have a lot of time left. Things like the fact that the drug world Batman would never ask Walt to get the bag for him. That he never would have spared Lydia in the first place. That the emotional repercussions of the death of the kid were brushed over insanely quickly in the favor of advancing the plot. The pacing is off, some things are getting done sloppily, and it's annoying. But you know what? I trust Gilligan. I want a pin or something with that on it that I can show to people who are disappointed in how this season has gone. I honestly think he and the writing team know what they're doing, and that the sloppiness will pay-off in an excellent story we're going to be getting next summer. 
• Why do I think that? Thank you for asking so that bullet point didn't get too big! (You're so thoughtful. I knew there was a reason I liked you.) Because that opening scene of the season. Who is it sitting at the Denny's counter? The guy in the unfamiliar clothes, strange glasses, beard, rougher voice, pills and a hacking cough? The guy who will leave a hundred dollar tip to a waitress for talking to him about Boston science museums? What's his name? It's Mr. Lambert, and I want to know how Heisenberg becomes that man. Particularly since he's not a part of the Mr. Chips to Scarface trajectory that Gilligan has promised us from the start.
• "Magnets, bitch!"
• For those I see in real life - I'm sorry. I'm only okay at talking about "Breaking Bad" with people. Almost everybody wants to talk about their predictions for the future of the show. Don't get me wrong, that's awesome, but I suck at it. It's honestly just guess work for me (still think Hank and Walt will be the final showdown though! Lost masculinity narrative, FTW!). Plus, I love picking apart little things about the episodes that make this series so brilliant a lot more than I like being right about Lily of the Valley. (Keep in mind that I say this because I wasn't right about Lily of the Valley - I have a feeling that if I had been I would be singing a different tune.)
• There's a guy whose been in two episodes of the show (most recently as the truck driver in the train heist) as one of Saul's goons - the actor's name is Bill Burr, and he's hilarious. 
• Jokes have been made about a "Better Call Saul" show being created after "Breaking Bad" is over. I think it was Gilligan who said that it could be a prequel or something. Who else is down with camping outside his house until he makes this joke a reality? (My "Breaking Bad" withdrawal symptoms are going to be the worst. I can tell already.) 

What did you all think?