After the shocking events of the opening episode Walt, Jesse and even Mike deal with what they witnessed in different ways. Walt buys himself an unmarked .38" special even though the seller told him he could by an identical weapon legally for a fraction of the price if he wanted it for self defence as Walt insisted. Meanwhile Jesse is having difficulty being alone so gets Badger, Skinny Pete and a large number of friends round for a party; when time comes for them to go he begs them to keep the party going. Things are different at work too; Victor has been replaced and Mike informs Walt that he won't be seeing Gus again. Hank is finally starting to make progress with his physiotherapy but his relationship with Marie is going through a rough patch as the only thing he seems to care about is his growing mineral collection.
This episode was definitely a calm after the storm we saw in the opening episode; that doesn't mean there was no tension though; Walt clearly wanted the pistol for a reason so it will only be a matter of time before he uses it. As always the acting was top notch; I was particularly impressed by Dean Norris and Betsy Brandt who played Hank and Marie and Jonathan Banks who plays Mike. It wasn't all serious; there were some great laughs to be had when Skinny Pete and Badger get high and start arguing about zombies in various video games. Overall the episode didn't advance the plot greatly but to took the necessary time to show us where all the main characters are now and nicely set things up for the rest of the season.
This episode was definitely a calm after the storm we saw in the opening episode; that doesn't mean there was no tension though; Walt clearly wanted the pistol for a reason so it will only be a matter of time before he uses it. As always the acting was top notch; I was particularly impressed by Dean Norris and Betsy Brandt who played Hank and Marie and Jonathan Banks who plays Mike. It wasn't all serious; there were some great laughs to be had when Skinny Pete and Badger get high and start arguing about zombies in various video games. Overall the episode didn't advance the plot greatly but to took the necessary time to show us where all the main characters are now and nicely set things up for the rest of the season.