"You got one part of that wrong. This is not meth."
'College' is the episode of The Sopranos that truly convinced me (and a lot of other people) that I was watching something special. In Breaking Bad, '...And the Bag's in the River' may, for some, be the equivalent episode, but for me, this episode blows the previous five out of the water and has the viewer hooked from the opening scene to the very end.
The trick of beginning an episode with a flash-forward to future events is one that was first used in the pilot. The opening here is simply iconic, even more so than Walt driving the RV in the very first scene of the show. Walt is shown walking away from what looks like some kind of explosion, with blood running from his nose and a shaved head. What makes it even better is that this scene is interspersed with him telling Jesse that he will only deal with the chemistry side of things - something we can clearly see will not be the case.
The most memorable part of this episode is, of course, Walt's visit to Tuco (Raymond Cruz) at the end, but the whole episode is full of great moments. The introduction of this psychopathic drug dealer is handled brilliantly, as he beats the hell out of Jesse in his first scene. It's made apparent quickly that this man is a different kettle of fish to Krazy-8. Walt and Jesse are in deep now and although Walt is the clear winner at the end of this one, Tuco doesn't seem the type to forgive and forget.
This is the show's first memorable use of the Chekhov's gun principle, as Walt talks to his class about Fulminated Mercury. The principle would go on to be used brilliantly many times throughout the series in a number of different ways.
As I mentioned above, there are plenty of other good things in this episode. Hank's investigation sees a major development as he and Gomez discover that the gas mask belonged to the chemistry department of Walt's school. It has been questioned by a few people why Hank doesn't suspect Walt at all, even when it's seemingly quite obvious. I think the simple answer to this question is that Walt cooking crystal meth is unthinkable to Hank. He clearly sees his brother-in-law as nothing more than a nerdy teacher. That much is made obvious in lines such as "You wouldn't know a criminal if he was close enough to check you for a hernia", the irony of which does not need pointing out. Hank's best line in this episode, however, is his remark about the Principal at Walt's school - "Chick's got an ass like an onion - makes me wanna cry!".
Innocent people get a rough time in this episode, as Hugo, the janitor at Walt's school, takes the fall for the equipment going missing, simply because he had something on his record. Then we have Jesse, who of course is not entirely innocent, but since visiting Tuco was Walt's idea, did not deserve to get beaten up like that. We then have Skyler, who is being fed the lie about Gretchen and Elliot paying for the cancer treatment, which is just not true. It's hard not to think that she'll find out the truth about that eventually, one way or another.
The scene that sees Jesse realise that Walt has cancer and recall his Aunt's experience is a touching one and it's obvious that Jesse is affected by the revelation.
I see this episode as an introduction to not one, but two characters. First, we have Tuco, who comes across as unpredictable and psychotic. Then we have Heisenberg, who is not a high school Chemistry teacher or a family man, but a hardened criminal who is prepared to do anything to make the money he needs.
This is, quite simply, fantastic.
10/10
'College' is the episode of The Sopranos that truly convinced me (and a lot of other people) that I was watching something special. In Breaking Bad, '...And the Bag's in the River' may, for some, be the equivalent episode, but for me, this episode blows the previous five out of the water and has the viewer hooked from the opening scene to the very end.
The trick of beginning an episode with a flash-forward to future events is one that was first used in the pilot. The opening here is simply iconic, even more so than Walt driving the RV in the very first scene of the show. Walt is shown walking away from what looks like some kind of explosion, with blood running from his nose and a shaved head. What makes it even better is that this scene is interspersed with him telling Jesse that he will only deal with the chemistry side of things - something we can clearly see will not be the case.
The most memorable part of this episode is, of course, Walt's visit to Tuco (Raymond Cruz) at the end, but the whole episode is full of great moments. The introduction of this psychopathic drug dealer is handled brilliantly, as he beats the hell out of Jesse in his first scene. It's made apparent quickly that this man is a different kettle of fish to Krazy-8. Walt and Jesse are in deep now and although Walt is the clear winner at the end of this one, Tuco doesn't seem the type to forgive and forget.
This is the show's first memorable use of the Chekhov's gun principle, as Walt talks to his class about Fulminated Mercury. The principle would go on to be used brilliantly many times throughout the series in a number of different ways.
As I mentioned above, there are plenty of other good things in this episode. Hank's investigation sees a major development as he and Gomez discover that the gas mask belonged to the chemistry department of Walt's school. It has been questioned by a few people why Hank doesn't suspect Walt at all, even when it's seemingly quite obvious. I think the simple answer to this question is that Walt cooking crystal meth is unthinkable to Hank. He clearly sees his brother-in-law as nothing more than a nerdy teacher. That much is made obvious in lines such as "You wouldn't know a criminal if he was close enough to check you for a hernia", the irony of which does not need pointing out. Hank's best line in this episode, however, is his remark about the Principal at Walt's school - "Chick's got an ass like an onion - makes me wanna cry!".
Innocent people get a rough time in this episode, as Hugo, the janitor at Walt's school, takes the fall for the equipment going missing, simply because he had something on his record. Then we have Jesse, who of course is not entirely innocent, but since visiting Tuco was Walt's idea, did not deserve to get beaten up like that. We then have Skyler, who is being fed the lie about Gretchen and Elliot paying for the cancer treatment, which is just not true. It's hard not to think that she'll find out the truth about that eventually, one way or another.
The scene that sees Jesse realise that Walt has cancer and recall his Aunt's experience is a touching one and it's obvious that Jesse is affected by the revelation.
I see this episode as an introduction to not one, but two characters. First, we have Tuco, who comes across as unpredictable and psychotic. Then we have Heisenberg, who is not a high school Chemistry teacher or a family man, but a hardened criminal who is prepared to do anything to make the money he needs.
This is, quite simply, fantastic.
10/10
