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colorcodedbeanies · 1 year

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S2 E4: "Down"

Listened to the Insider podcast for this episode while travelling. They are so excited about how they got that port-a-potty to work.

TW: Smoking, violence, ableism, homelessness

So we've now shifted from Walt attempting to share the blame about Tuco to just abdicating all responsibility in the matter. Something he insists over and over again in this episode when denying Jesse access to his money is "[why should] I suffer from your carelessness?!" Undoubtedly Walt needs the money. But he refuses to even acknowledge the fact that it was his over-ambitious strategy that got Jesse in this situation to begin with. When Jesse points this out, he instead pivots to personal attacks, asking him if he "smoked the entire 600", calling him a pathetic junkie, and asking him what he even contributes. He's unwilling to ascribe Jesse the degree of personhood to where he can acknowledge he's in equally tough circumstances, and he's also too proud to admit that he feels vulnerable without the money.

BREAKFAST ARC BEGINS. Like most boomer/gen xer dads, Walt's tactic to soothe his wife is to take on the barest degree of "women's work" and act like the novelty will make her forget why she's mad at him in the first place. (Fascinatingly this will also be something he does to Jesse after their wrestling match in the RV). There's something wildly grating about his attempts at conversation. It feels like he's trying to "bring himself down to their level". I love Anna Gunn's facial journey during his long rambly lie about cellphone alarms. The realization isn't just that he's lying, but that he's lying poorly and expecting it to work. He respects her so little that he thinks this half-cocked story will assuage her doubts, and in my opinion that's what ultimately drives her away. We see through their discussion later that Walt still primarily conceives of Skyler's anger as being emotionally centered. She feels neglected, worries that he's cheating, worries that he doesn't love her, and so he attempts to fix it by engaging emotionally. She's the little woman back home, and can't she see all of this is for her? Why on earth would she have questions about WHERE you are and WHEN (and there's such a poetry in her giving him a taste of his own medicine this episode).

That entitlement to Jesse's space reaches its ultimate conclusion with his parents kicking him out onto the street. We never see flashbacks to Ginny's last months, but I do think its notable that his mom doesn't really push back on Jesse's interpretation that she wasn't there for her when she was dying. Jesse's not wrong that he earned this house, even if not legally. More than that, punishment via homelessness isn't exactly an effective way to coax someone OFF of using, or even dealing. The Pinkmans ultimately aren't attempting to put Jesse on a better path, but washing their hands of him completely. So fed up with him they don't even want him on a property associated with their names. And while I don't necessarily fault them for making a decision to cut ties, through wielding the law as a tool between them they are contributing to the classification of Jesse as a Criminal by Class. More that that, it reinforces more than ever his dependency on Walt, as he has to go to him pleading for money just to acquire a spot to sleep at night.

The entire driving lesson is an exercise in Walt's ableism and also a specific expose on where it stems from: insecurity. Flynn's need for mobility aids, for alternative strategies to go about doing tasks, seems to brush right up against all of Walt's medical based triggers. He sincerely seems to expect Junior to bootstraps the cerebral palsy, telling him "there's the easy way and the right way" and more absurdly "your legs are fine, you just have to stick with it". Much like Jesse, Flynn is being set up to fail and then has to deal with the embarrassment and shame surrounding that. He has at least enough self-assurance to say I told you so, but its undoubtedly rough for a teenager to feel like his body is something his dad thinks he has to get over, rather than something to live with.

He's not the only family member with Jesse parallels this episode, as Skyler seeks comfort for her distress in a substance that she feels she has to hide. I'll dig more into this when Walt finds the carton, but for now I want to draw attention to the lady who glares at her. The presumption is irresponsible parent, not struggling parent. Junkie, not addict. Obviously this individual lady has no responsibility to check on the stranger she sees doing something potentially harmful to her future child. But that reaction of judgement before empathy is something that's going to echo hard with Walt, and I'd argue is a microcosm of social attitudes towards addiction as a whole.

After a frustrating argument with his wife, Walt meets his younger associate in an RV and immediately gets in his face to provoke him. Jesse and Walt wrestle, culminating in Jesse straddling him with his hands on his neck and Walt taunting him. He then rolls off him and Walt offers to make breakfast. This is a sex scene by proxy if nothing else.

#breaking bad #brba #analysis tag #long post #walter white #walter white jr #jesse pinkman #skyler white #brba s2 e4

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