Skyler hatches a plan as Hank's hospital bills stack up. Meanwhile, Walt and Gus come to a better understanding as Jesse, looking for more independence, pursues a new opportunity.Skyler hatches a plan as Hank's hospital bills stack up. Meanwhile, Walt and Gus come to a better understanding as Jesse, looking for more independence, pursues a new opportunity.Skyler hatches a plan as Hank's hospital bills stack up. Meanwhile, Walt and Gus come to a better understanding as Jesse, looking for more independence, pursues a new opportunity.
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- TriviaThis is the first episode where Madrigal Electromotive is mentioned. It is seen on the bottom of the screen of the Los Pollos Hermanos commercial "Los Pollos Hermanos, INC. is a registered trademark of Madrigal Electromotive GmbH."
- GoofsWhen Walter's car is about to crash the truck, the distance between two vehicle is about 5-7 meters, and we know that the cars speed is at least 90 mph, it's obviously impossible to dodge at that point no matter how quick Walter is.
- Quotes
Group Leader: Jesse, last time, you seemed down about your job at the Laundromat. Let me ask something, if you had the chance to do anything you wanted, what would you do?
Jesse Pinkman: Make more green, man. A lot more.
Group Leader: Forget about money. Assume you have all you want.
Jesse Pinkman: I don't know. I guess I would make something.
Group Leader: Like what?
Jesse Pinkman: I don't know if it even matters, but... work with my hands, I guess.
Group Leader: Building things, like carpentry or bricklaying or something?
Jesse Pinkman: I took this vo-tech class in high school, woodworking. I took a lot of vo-tech classes, because it was just big jerk-off, but this one time I had this teacher by the name of... Mr... Mr. Pike. I guess he was like a Marine or something before he got old. He was hard hearing. My project for his class was to make this wooden box. You know, like a small, just like a... like a box, you know, to put stuff in. So I wanted to get the thing done as fast as possible. I figured I could cut classes for the rest of the semester and he couldn't flunk me as long as I, you know, made the thing. So I finished it in a couple days. And it looked pretty lame, but it worked. You know, for putting in or whatnot. So when I showed it to Mr. Pike for my grade, he looked at it and said: "Is that the best you can do?" At first I thought to myself "Hell yeah, bitch. Now give me a D and shut up so I can go blaze one with my boys." I don't know. Maybe it was the way he said it, but... it was like he wasn't exactly saying it sucked. He was just asking me honestly, "Is that all you got?" And for some reason, I thought to myself: "Yeah, man, I can do better." So I started from scratch. I made another, then another. And by the end of the semester, by like box number five, I had built this thing. You should have seen it. It was insane. I mean, I built it out of Peruvian walnut with inlaid zebrawood. It was fitted with pegas, no screws. I sanded it for days, until it was smooth as glass. Then I rubbed all the wood with tung oil so it was rich and dark. It even smelled good. You know, you put nose in it and breathed in, it was... it was perfect.
Group Leader: What happened to the box?
Jesse Pinkman: I... I gave it to my mom.
Group Leader: Nice. You know what I'm gonna say, don't you? It's never too late. They have art co-ops that offer classes, adult extension program at the University.
Jesse Pinkman: You know, I didn't give the box to my mom. I traded it for an ounce of weed.
- ConnectionsReferenced in Jimmy Kimmel Live!: Howard Stern/Aaron Paul (2019)
Very few shows in recent memory had me so hooked from the very start that before the week was over the whole show had been watched, especially when for a lot of shows now airing watching one episode all the way through can be an endeavour. 'Breaking Bad' had that effect on me, and its reputation as one of the best, consistently brilliant and most addictive shows in many years (maybe even ever) is more than deserved in my eyes. Its weakest season is perhaps the first season, understandable as any show's first season is the one where things are still settling.
Actually everything is established remarkably from the very start, but once the writing and characterisation becomes even meatier the show reaches even higher levels.
"Kaftaesque" is not a Season 3, or 'Breaking Bad, high-point, but the slower and less-action-heavy approach to the episode is not really a hindrance. It is not a "taut" episode strictly speaking and other episodes of the season and show have more intensity. All that aside, "Kaftaesque" is still a great episode that in no way disgraces the show at all (far from it).
Visually, "Kaftaesque" is both stylish and beautiful, with photography and editing that are cinematic quality and put a lot of films today to shame, where there are a lot of visually beautiful ones but also some painfully amateurish looking ones. The music always has the appropriate mood, never too intrusive, never too muted.
The writing in "Kafkaesque" is a fine example of how to have a lot of style but also to have a lot of substance. The dialogue throughout is thought-provoking and tense, while also have a darkly wicked sense of humour, nail-biting tension and heart-tugging pathos. The story is texturally rich, intimate, tense and layered, with the pace of it consistently deliberate but taut.
Can't say anything bad about the acting. Bryan Cranston is phenomenal as one of the most fascinating anti-heroes, or even of any kind of character, in either film or television. Aaron Paul has never been better and Anna Gunn is affecting. Dean Norris is once again terrific, he and the character of Hank add a good deal. The characters are compelling in their realism and the episode is strongly directed.
Overall, great as expected. 9/10 Bethany Cox
- TheLittleSongbird
- Jun 8, 2018
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- Runtime47 minutes
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- 16:9 HD