Breaking Bad: “No Mas”
Written by Vince Gilligan, Directed by Bryan Cranston
One of the things that continues to amaze me about Breaking Bad is the willingness of the writers to actually use the visual medium that is television. What I mean is that oftentimes too many shows become convoluted with dialogue and as a result have no room to breathe. The opening teaser to the season three premiere entitled “No Mas” is dialogue free and conveys more of a setting, pace and tone for the season than any brilliant dialogue ever could.
***SPOILER ALERT***
Season two was one of the most unique seasons of television I have ever seen. How many times have we seen an episode of a show that shows the end in the teaser, then spends the rest of the hour explaining how we arrived at that end moment? Granted, many shows do this well but frankly, I’ve grown tired of it. I have always remarked that the writers on Breaking Bad try and show (remember show, not tell) the audience something they have never seen before or, if they have seen it, show it in a new and fascinating way. Season two did just that. The opening teaser for the season showed us a cryptic black and white pool with a pink teddy bear that looked burned floating in it. It was the ending images of the season. In other words the first episode showed us the end of the season, not the end of the episode, and as the season progressed we understood more and more events or story beats that would lead to the plane crash that took place over Walter’s home. Not only did the writers devise a circular season, but they made it work beautifully. By the way, the episodes that feature the black and white opening have titles with dual meanings that form a sentence revealing what happens in the season finale. The sentence says: “Seven Thirty-Seven Down Over ABQ”.
“No Mas” begins a week after the plane crash, with Walt finding out that he is the man responsible (indirectly) for it and Jesse accepting his role as “the bad guy”. Meanwhile Skyler finally finds out that Walt is indeed a drug dealer (or as he says it, “manufacturer”) and demands his signature on their divorce papers in exchange for her silence. The teaser of the episode introduces The Cousins, two men sent by the Mexican Cartel to kill Walt. They arrive at the shrine of Santa Muerte, based of a religion that seems to worship death. Throughout the episode we get glimpses of the horrors that The Cousins are capable of as well as seeing that they are getting closer to Albuquerque.
What I love about the episode and the show in general is that it just gets better. It never betrays the characters with regard to who they are and what they’re willing to do. It does not change them for the sake of progressing the plot. Instead, story points are introduced and never forgotten and virtually every decision that Walt makes on the show has some sort of consequence. The use of visual images to convey what Walt in particular is feeling is nothing short of genius and Vince Gilligan’s writing has never been better. Bryan Cranston continues to show that he is easily the best actor on television and also manages to do one hell of a job directing. The rest of the actors, particularly Anna Gunn as Skyler, really show that they can match Cranston’s work and assure us that the show will continue to impress us.
From a credit standpoint I am very happy to see that most of the writers (aside from Vince, obviously) are still with the show. The writers include George Mastras, Peter Gould, Moira Walley-Beckett, Sam Catlin and John Shiban. New additions include yet another X-Files writer, Thomas Schnauz, Diane Mercer and perhaps my biggest joy, Michelle MacLaren, who directed my favorite episode last year entitled “4 Days Out” and got her start on of course, The X-Files. This may seem arbitrary to most people but to me, and hopefully anyone actually in the television business is signifies that these people actually want to work on this show. I have now met Vince Gilligan and can substantiate what has been said about him being one of the nicest guys one could ever meet. He runs his show in a similar fashion, most likely earning the respect and appreciation by anyone who works under him. What I’m getting at is the show works because of the people involved and because the man in charge knows what he is doing. Gilligan, the writers and the cast have already openly stated that this season will be the best yet and from the quality of just one episode already, I have to say that I agree.
