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Breaking Bad: One Minute (2010)
THE BEST Breaking Bad Episode
The title says it. Maybe even better than Ozymandias. Why? Because: in terms of dialogue, plotting, pacing, filming, editing, all the different aspects of filmmaking, this is crisp perfection. Ozymandias, like most of the show, has the same awkward rudimentary qualities of a lot of the show's writing (of course, the show is a definitive classic, but it is a flawed series). Not to mention: this episode is what the show is all about. That cold open defines the theme of the whole series, whether it is someone as good as Hank, as bad as the cartels (especially a certain Chicken Restaurant Owner 😂😂), or as gray (no pun intended) as Heisenberg. The theme is: family is all. Those (dark) magic words coming out of Hector Salamanca's mouth. When he could talk, of course. And terrorize his sons 😂😂 (who grow up to terrorize a great many 👍👍)
It is also a transitional moment in the show, for everyone. Hank, being pushed to the limits, revealing to Marie, in one of the best written, heartfelt speeches in the series, how far he has sunk. In a similarly heartfelt (and well written) speech, Jessie tells Walt he doesn't want anything to do with him, regardless of the money Walt is willing to split to spare Hank (after, ya know, Hank beats the crap outta Jesse). Obviously, Walt is doing it for his own selfish intentions. He may not even be doing it for Hank; he may be simply doing it because he doesn't want to get caught. His bitterer attitude towards Gale, manipulating this brilliant chemist into believing he is incompetent, just furthers that angle. And honestly, he couldn't give less of a s*** about Gale either. Despite the fact that the two are obviously better fit for each other, and Gale is what Walt would have preferred in a partner all along. An educated, cultured chemist. But, ultimately, a man just like him: even MORE out of place in the criminal underworld, yet choosing to be there because...he doesn't want to do the work of the big wigs, the work he should be doing. So maybe, Gale's fate, in a sense, is deserved. And maybe, if Walt wants to spiral down this path, if the partnership was something Walt himself initiated, maybe Jesse does deserve to be Walt's partner, and maybe that IS what Walt deserves, and maybe even what he WANTS.
And, of course, after that broken-hearted speech Jesse pours out, he ultimately concedes. Because, in his own pathetic sense, how can he not take the money?
The showdown is the best acton sequence in the show, alongside the one BEFORE Ozymandias, and the final one in Felina. Hank coulda gotten outta there, but he didn't, his own miserably cocky arrogance getting the better of him. It is brutal, but it is a triumph for him. And the whole shabang swings us back around to the beginning with Tuco's cousins as children. They are cold hearted killers, but the cold open causes us to feel sympathy for them.
And the final aerial shot: a suspenseful, perfect ending to one of the most perfect episodes of TV ever made.
Ray Donovan: Exsuscito (2015)
Alongside "Bag and the Bat" and "Walk This Way", this is the best episode of the series!
Hell, I still think Walk this Way is better. Or, at least more definitive; the first episode introduces the whole series, Walk This Way is a centerpiece, and this brings that centerpiece to a conclusion. In a sense, these three episodes form an unofficial trilogy. This episode merges several different things all at once, and the fundamental conflicts come to a head, albeit in an A Story/B story kinda way. Ray Donovan goes/helps his father with a shootout, and the brilliant ambiguity of the series begs the question: "How did Ray acquire these skills"...I gotta tell ya, in that moment, Ray Donovan becomes Raylan Givens! And unlike that series, where its protagonist became a lawman to avoid his father's legacy (but still had that anger in him, which made him very morally questionable), Ray Donovan follows in his father's footsteps. We are constantly on his side, even when he beats the crap outta that teacher in the motel, but what his daughter tells him afterwards is the real reason she went with him; the need for a father figure. And the most incredible thing is, during Ray's confession, EASILY Liev Schreiber's greatest acting moment, a rare emotional break (this time, in tears/confessional, unlike his explosion in Walk This Way), he confesses that he got close with the priest who molested him because HE needed a father figure.
So the deeper reason he beat up the teacher: because Bridget was going through the same cycle Ray went through as a kid: an un-attentive soulless father driving her into the arms of an older man...revelatory, yet heartbreaking...but, ya gotta admit, Ray's still a badass and that teacher's actions were awful and I was glad he got beaten up. As any audience member reacts to his character: we're with him ANYWAY. Even though he's got a hole in his haht (heart 😁😁).
At this point, I wonder where Bridget is gonna go. A nice cliffhanger.
Ray follows in his father's footsteps...drifting his family away in the same way his own father did to him...with Terry in the hospital, Benji traumatized...and in that first season, Mickey is so clueless he took for granted the molestation of the priest..."it was what they did all the time"...unbelievable...And in that way, Ray is different. A vicious, tragic cycle, but a vicious, TRUE cycle.
There is the stuff with Benji & his Mexican fiancee, the one who makes him man up, which I won't get into here...But overall, a fantastic season finale & one of the series' best episodes.
Ray Donovan: Walk This Way (2014)
Currently Binge Watching for its 10th anniversary. Best Episode So Far!
The title says it! I'm still watching the series but this may be one of the definitive TV episodes of all time. A confrontational centerpiece which brings together all the conflicts in the series, while still retaining a sense of black comedy...especially when the tension is broken in one particular scene, where it is both uncomfortable & funny, then just plain uncomfortable. This is a series that maturely builds up to a showdown like this, unlike most shows which hit soap opera from episode 1.
And the ending is perfect. Affectionate, wild, and fun. A wide variety of tones (as the series demonstrates consistently) culminating in a masterpiece of a TV episode. Goes to show it was written by Ann Biderman & filmed by Liev Schreiber, which especially makes it definitive.