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Ozymandias (Breaking Bad)

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"Ozymandias (Breaking Bad)"

"Ozymandias"[1] is the fourteenth episode of the fifth season of the American television drama series Breaking Bad, and the 60th overall episode of the series. Written by Moira Walley-Beckett and directed by Rian Johnson, it aired on AMC in the United States and Canada on September 15, 2013. Upon airing, the episode received universal praise from critics and audiences alike and is generally considered to be among the best episodes of the series.

Plot

A flashback to when Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) first cooked methamphetamine in To'hajiilee shows Walt calling a pregnant Skyler (Anna Gunn) and making up an excuse for why he will come home late. Skyler suggests the name Holly for their baby, which Walt finds agreeable.

At present at To'hajiilee, in the aftermath of the shootout, Hank Schrader (Dean Norris) is wounded with a bullet in his leg, Steven Gomez (Steven Michael Quezada) has been killed and Jack's (Michael Bowen) gang is left unscathed. Jack orders some men to search for Jesse and prepares to kill Hank after cornering him. Walt grovels to Jack to spare his brother-in-law, offering Jack his entire eighty million dollar fortune buried near them and asking Hank to swear that he will not pursue what has just happened for his own safety. Hank refuses to beg for his life and confirms that he is a DEA agent, expressing astonishment at the fact that Walter, whom Hank calls "the smartest guy I've ever known", can't see that Jack made up his mind ten minutes ago. Hank tells Jack to do what he's going to do, and Jack immediately shoots him in the head as Walt collapses to the ground in total despair.

Jack's team uses Walt's coordinates to locate and unearth the seven buried barrels of money, loading six into their trucks but leaving one for Walt. Walt spots Jesse's hiding place and betrays him to the men, reminding Jack that the hit on Jesse was never carried out. Jesse is dragged out screaming and is almost killed, but Todd (Jesse Plemons) suggests they first interrogate him to find out what information he supplied to the DEA. Walt spitefully reveals to Jesse his presence during Jane's death before Jack's gang takes Jesse away. At Todd's headquarters, a beaten and frightened Jesse is detained in a cell. Todd escorts him in chains to a meth lab, where he is tethered. Jesse notices a photograph of Andrea and Brock as Todd instructs him to begin cooking.

Due to a bullet having punctured his fuel tank, Walt quickly runs out of gas while driving home. Abandoning his car, Walt rolls the money barrel through the desert until arriving at a house and buying the owner's truck. Meanwhile, at the car wash, Marie (Betsy Brandt) informs Skyler (Anna Gunn) that Walt was arrested by Hank and is in custody. With Walt now apparently caught, Marie offers to support her sister and their family and asks for the false confessions implicating Hank to be destroyed and Walter Jr. be told the truth. Walter Jr. (RJ Mitte) disbelieves the entire story when told by Skyler and Marie.

Reaching home, Walt hurriedly begins packing as Skyler and Walter Jr. arrive, and he orders them to do the same. Walt promises to explain everything later, but Skyler assumes he has killed Hank when Walt cannot answer to Hank's whereabouts. Skyler grabs a kitchen knife and orders Walt to leave their home, but when he refuses and approaches her, she lunges at him and cuts his hand. In the ensuing fight, Walter Jr. pulls Walt off Skyler and calls the police, claiming that Walt attacked her with a knife and has perhaps already killed somebody. Walt takes Holly and leaves in the truck, while a distressed Skyler runs after him, pleading. Alone with his daughter, Walt is moved when Holly's only utterances are for her mother.

The police soon arrive, as does Marie. They tap into the Whites' home phone and try tracing it when Walt eventually calls. After Skyler tells him she is alone, Walt berates her, accusing her of never supporting his criminal activities and having himself worked alone in building up the wealth for their family. When Skyler says she is sorry and inquires about Hank's whereabouts, Walt, suppressing his weeping, announces that she will never see Hank again, to Marie's horror. He threatens the same fate to Skyler should she divulge his doings to anyone else, and intimates that she had urged him to stop his "immoral" activities, though she did not know the details. When Skyler pleads with him to come home, Walt tells her he still has things left to do, then destroys his phone and leaves Holly at a nearby fire station with their home address written on a note. The next morning he is picked up by Saul's contact in order to leave Albuquerque and be given a new identity.

Production

The episode was written by Moira Walley-Beckett and directed by Rian Johnson. It aired on AMC in the United States and Canada on September 15, 2013. The song used in the episode is "Take My True Love by the Hand" by The Limeliters, which is a version of a popular folk song called "Times Are Gettin' Hard, Boys".[2]

The episode title references the Percy Bysshe Shelley poem "Ozymandias" that recounts the crumbling legacy of a once proud king. At the end of the fifth episode of Talking Bad, Vince Gilligan emphasized the line: "Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" in reference to Walt and his fallen empire. Bryan Cranston recites the entire poem in a 2013 trailer for the series.[3][4]

When Walt holds Holly in a changing room, after kidnapping her from his home, she looks at him and says, "Mama", repeatedly. Producer Moira Walley-Beckett, who wrote the episode, said during an interview with NBC News that it was unscripted, but Cranston went along and the production team decided it was a moment of "movie magic".[5]

Reception

The episode was watched by 6.37[6] million viewers on its original broadcast, becoming the most watched episode of the show's history.[7] It received widespread critical acclaim and was described by several publications as the series' best episode.[8][9] Critics praised almost every aspect including the acting by the cast, directing by Rian Johnson, and writing by Moira Walley-Beckett.[10][2][11] Tom Mendelson of The Independent speculated that the episode may be the best television episode ever written, also noting the fact that within less than three days, it had received a perfect 10 score from over 12,000 reviewers on IMDb.[9] Seth Amitin of IGN called the episode the "most gut-wrenching, twisted, horrific, and well-planned" episode of the series thus far and described it as "a capitalization on all of the built-up pieces that add up to a puzzle." Amitin additionally lauded the episode's directing and acting, stating that he could "taste" the episode's "cruelty and bitter tears".[12] James Poniewozik of Time magazine noted the significance of both phone conversations between Walt and Skyler, marking the beginning and the end of his journey, respectively.[13] Kevin Yeoman of Screenrant saw the final phone conversation as an act designed to clear Skyler's name and kill off Walt's current identity; the new one is Mr. Lambert (as seen in the flashforwards in "Live Free or Die" and "Blood Money"). Yeoman also noted the fact that most of the harsh violent scenarios occurred off-screen did not deduct from the cinematic intensity.[14] Maureen Ryan of Huffington Post stated that the episode was indescribable and "the hardest episode of TV [she] ever watched", describing it as "mind-bendingly, soul-churningly devastating" and "sickening".[11] Tim Surette of TV.com called the episode "terrific and awful to watch; a powerful piece of television that transcended fiction". He also compared the sight of Walt rolling the money barrel in the desert to a dung beetle.[15] On the Breaking Bad Insider podcast, Vince Gilligan revealed that he considers the episode to be the best of the series.[16] Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter agreed with Gilligan, and noted that several events that the show had been building up to in past episodes finally came to fruition.[17] On his blog, George RR Martin, the creator of the book series, A Song of Fire and Ice (which itself was adapted into a critically-acclaimed television series), commenting on both the series and the episode, calling both "amazing" and noted that "Walter White is a bigger monster than anyone in Westeros", which Martin also said has influenced him to make an even worse character in future books to "fix this".

References

  1. ^ Porter, Rick (July 16, 2013). "'Breaking Bad': New pics, episode titles and everything else we know about Season 5b". Zap2it. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
  2. ^ a b Bowman, Donna (September 15, 2013). "Breaking Bad: Ozymandias". The A.V. Club. Retrieved September 16, 2013.
  3. ^ Moaba, Alex (July 30, 2013). "'Breaking Bad' 'Ozymandias' Teaser Sounds Ominous". The Huffington Post. Retrieved September 16, 2013.
  4. ^ "Why did Breaking Bad use Ozymandias?". BBC News Magazine Monitor. August 1, 2013. Retrieved September 16, 2013.
  5. ^ Fernandez, Maria Elena (September 16, 2013). "'Breaking Bad' producer: 'I didn't script the baby saying mama'". NBC News. Retrieved September 20, 2013.
  6. ^ Bibel, Sara (September 17, 2013). "Sunday Cable Ratings: 'Breaking Bad' Wins Night, 'Real Housewives', 'Dexter, 'Devious Maids', 'Boardwalk Empire', 'The Newsroom' & More". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved September 17, 2013.
  7. ^ Bibel, Sara (September 16, 2013). "Breaking Bad' Delivers a Record 6.4 Million Viewers". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved September 16, 2013.
  8. ^ Dietz, Jason (September 15, 2013). "Episode Review: Breaking Bad, "Ozymandias"". Metacritic. Retrieved September 16, 2013.
  9. ^ a b Mendelsohn, Tom (September 17, 2013). "Is Breaking Bad's Ozymandias the greatest episode of TV ever written?". The Independent. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
  10. ^ Sepinwall, Alan (September 15, 2013). "Review: 'Breaking Bad' - 'Ozymandias': Roll out the barrel". HitFix. Retrieved September 16, 2013.
  11. ^ a b Ryan, Maureen (September 15, 2013). "'Breaking Bad' 'Ozymandias' Recap: Devastation". The Huffington Post. Retrieved September 16, 2013.
  12. ^ Amitin, Seth (September 15, 2013). "NO CALM. ALL STORM". IGN. Retrieved September 16, 2013.
  13. ^ Poniewozik, James (September 15, 2013). "Breaking Bad Watch: Take Good Care of My Baby". Time magazine. Retrieved September 16, 2013.
  14. ^ Yeoman, Kevin (September 17, 2013). "'Ozymandias' recap: The newest 'Breaking Bad' episode finds many main characters in trouble". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
  15. ^ Surette, Tim (September 15, 2013). "Breaking Bad "Ozymandias" Review: Family Feud". TV.com. Retrieved September 17, 2013.
  16. ^ Dixon, Kelly and Gilligan, Vince (2013). Breaking Bad Insider Podcast (podcast). iTunes. Retrieved September 17, 2013.
  17. ^ Goodman, Tim (September 15, 2013). "'Breaking Bad' Deconstruction, Ep. 14: 'Ozymandias'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 17, 2013.

External links

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