On Breaking Bad.
Skyler White, played by the excellent Anna Gunn, has been officially roped in to Hank’s ploy to take down Walt. Now that she knows he knows, she’s starting to sweat. But she deals with it like a pro. When Hank talks about Skyler being a victim, you can almost see her internal scoff. She is not a victim. She made a choice that ultimately was maybe not the right one, but it was her choice. And now she has to deal with the consequences. The scene between Skyler and Hank in the dinner is a tension-filled one (but then again this is Breaking Bad- when isn’t there tension?). Skyler plays the wide-eyed, oblivious wife to perfection.
“Am I under arrest?” She repeats over and over, her voice continually rising in pitch. Anna conveys not only how afraid Skyler is of being found out herself but of how Walter would react to finding out she even talked to Hank. She may know how to play it, but she is still under Walt’s number. She is in too deep.
When Marie confronts Skyler about the whole reveal- Skyler folds quite easily. Marie is unsurprisingly outraged as well as confused- it’s like she doesn’t understand her own sister. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t love Marie. Liking her would be pushing it. I will say however that though grabbing Skyler’s baby was not justified, I understand in her own way Marie was doing it from a place of love and protection. It just didn’t pan out like she’d hoped. She is trying to protect her sister who simply doesn’t want her help.
Contrasted with Skyler and Marie, we have Lydia. She is a no-nonsense gal but there is an ignorance to her as well. She is vulnerable; perhaps embodied in her out of place Louboutin pumps in the desert at a meth lab. Walking into the lab though, she puts her foot down. She is trying to take charge, though it is clear up until this point she has not had quite this much power. She seems to waver in her confidence. And after the massacre, she wants to not see the slaughtered men littering the ground. While I can personally understand that (who wants to see bloodied dead bodies?), I feel like maybe Lydia needs to get used to that kind of thing if she wants to stay in control.
You’re not above anything in the meth business. It’s not surprise Walt has spiraled downward so quickly.
Point is, ladies were on fire last night. I loved the sister/sister scenes and I’ll admit that as much as I love Breaking Bad, I don’t think we get quite enough of that (It’s a pretty testosterone-filled show in case you didn’t notice). But this week was an excellent episode, and as the show comes to a close I only expect the best out of these last few action and tension-filled hours. Bring it on.
Same chair, same perfume, same anklet 