TV Recap: Breaking Bad, “Ozymandias” (5.14)

15/09, 9:00PM, AMC

Last week, Breaking Bad presented itself as a master of genre fiction – skillfully adopting and employing elements of the western, thriller, and cop genres. That riffing is one mode that fans should find familiar and, though certainly suspenseful, almost comfortable. As I discussed last week, the “twists” were almost dependent on our expectations. Our blood pumps much faster when we realize that there’s no way Jack obeyed Walt’s call-off.

This week, in an episode written by Moira Walley-Beckett and directed by Rian Johnson (Looper, Brick), we see Breaking Bad claim mastery of an original narrative mode. “Ozymandias” is another one for the hall of fame.

This week, in an episode written by Moira Walley-Beckett and directed by Rian Johnson (Looper, Brick), we see Breaking Bad claim mastery of an original narrative mode. “Ozymandias” is another one for the hall of fame. Beats of propulsive, vicious drama come freely and relentlessly. Narratively, “Ozymandias” works in a way that is distinctly Breaking-Bad-ian. The script doesn’t rotate between fast and slow tempi or stop to memorialize the death of a major character. It sinks deep into Walter White’s mind and, inspired by his egotistical fury and moral decrepitude, follows his consequences as they come. To our great pleasure, “Ozymandias” is the episode Season 5 has always wanted to be – it’s what we’ve wanted since the moment Hank walked out of that bathroom.

The cold-open was a welcome respite from the carnage that should still be dangling in front of our eyes from last week. It was my favorite kind of cold-open this show is capable of – an oblique, low-key prologue that sets up an emotional anchor for something that will happen later in the episode. In this case, there are a couple things going on. First, we are taunted with the (dare I say?) innocence of Walt and Jesse’s relationship. It’s heartbreaking to see Jesse simply annoyed with Walt. This scene is from their very first cook together – before Jane or Brock or Gale. Second, we hear Skyler pitch the name “Holly.” Though a child of our protagonist, Holly has been the focus of virtually nothing interesting until this week.

Not only did the cold-open give us an emotional reference point for Holly’s abduction, it introduced us to the episode’s primary thematic riff – “Ozymandias” is the end of the road for Walt’s secrets. In that opening, we hear Walt carefully practicing the lie he was planning to feed to Skyler. It forces us to remember how long she would buy into it. It forces us to remember how unforgivable it would be come. Then, in an expressive and tasteful series of fades, it shows us exactly where it all led. The shootout ends and Gomez is toast, Jesse is missing, and Hank is wounded. Walt tries to beg for Hank’s life – trying desperately to extend his lie one last time for the sake of his family. Hank, being an actual hero and true badass, decides not to beg, tells the Nazi douchebag to fuck himself, and faces death like a real mensch. This season, I’ve been far more interested in Hank than in Walt, but it feels like the writers did as well – in the moment of his death, we’re treated to a Grade A Hitchcock Dolly-Zoom on Walt, passing the protagonist torch back to his crazy ass. Walt quickly passes out and the Nazi’s steal most of his money. After he wakes up, he spots Jesse hiding under a car and turns him over to Todd, who essentially makes him his cooking slave. One of my favorite moments in the episode comes when Jesse first walks into Todd’s lab. It’s the end of the world – hollow and ruined and empty. It’s worse than nothing. Is this what it’s all about? Meth? I thought the first 15 minutes of the episode had too many “Wait! Don’t kill this guy yet!” beats, but keeping Jesse alive was worth it solely for that moment. And it’s obviously not the last we will hear from him.

Breaking Bad has certainly dipped into exaggeration and spectacle, but it is fundamentally a show about how lies will poison a family – how love is corrupted by secrets.

But the main focus of “Ozymandias” is the White family. The sonnet from which the episode derives its title is about a “traveller from an antique land” who describes seeing a huge statue inscribed with the immortal words, “My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!” yet “Round the decay/Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare/ The lone and level sands stretch far away.” Breaking Bad has shown us Walt’s collateral damage for a few years now. Several people have died. The streets are flooded with drugs, an issue the show hardly even considers. But tonight’s episode proves that the White family is the greatest loss of all. Breaking Bad has certainly dipped into exaggeration and spectacle, but it is fundamentally a show about how lies will poison a family – how love is corrupted by secrets.

Is there a moment more agonizing than Flynn’s desperate attempt to rescue his mother? Than Walt snatching Holly and tearing out of his neighborhood? Than Marie realizing that her husband is gone?  These are the consequences of lying. And the characters are behaving in a way that is consistent with the seismic force of a grand-scale long con. In turning the attention to Flynn and Holly, we feel the impact of Walt’s destruction begin to direct itself inward.

But, at this point, Walt still hasn’t faced himself. He’s on his way to New Hampshire without his family – his personal Hell. And before he leaves, he pushes the lie just a bit further in a moment that is incredibly powerful and strangely meta. In a performance that rivals his “Confession” DVD (when do we get that on blu?!!?), he calls Skyler one last time in an attempt to move the blame solely onto himself. The most remarkable point in the scene comes when he calls Skyler a “stupid bitch.” It was a profound moment, clearly engineered by the writers as a warning to the segment of the audience that still finds Walt a badass and calls Skyler a nag. If “Ozymandias” proves anything, it’s that Walt will not be granted any kind of cosmic forgiveness. He’s about to be haunted. And it’ll hurt enough for him to go back.

The Roundup:

• * After the intense fight in the White residence and Skyler drops to her knees in the road, the AMC announcer came on and just said “Brought to you by Cadillac” and I just about shit my pants.
• * Walt’s morals have gone haywire by this point. Hank’s murder is enough to make him pass out, yet he has no problem turning Jesse over to probably the most savage motherfucker in the history of Breaking Bad. And that’s saying something.
• * I wonder if that’s the last time we’ll get to see Skyler pull up to her house and be totally confused about a car in the driveway or some other obvious problem she’ll have to cover up.
• * Loved the schmaltzy cowboy song over Walt’s barrel rolling excursion.
• * I need to stop writing, but my favorite line this week was Walt’s “I need both of you to trust me.” Spoken like a man who has lied his way through life, deserves nothing, but still expects it.
• * What’d you think? The purpose of that enormous gun is starting to seem pretty clear.

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Matthew Zurcher

Staff Television Critic

Matt Zurcher is a writer, musician, and filmmaker based in Pittsburgh, PA. His criticism has appeared in the Pittsburgh City Paper, Indiewire, The Film Experience, and his personal blog, www.thefamilyberzurcher.com.

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