(Continuing my assessment of Breaking Bad‘s fourth season. Find the first installment here.)
9. “BUG”
After last week’s tense, cinematic Gus-centric flashback episode, “Bug” gets the forward momentum back on track, focusing on the series’ core characters and the central relationship of Breaking Bad — Walt and Jesse’s. For the entirety of Season Four, Walt and Jesse have been operating on completely different wavelengths, both physically and emotionally. Walt is acting out like a reckless rebellious teenager at work, while maintaining his mild-mannered “normal” persona for his family; after a drug-addled flirtation with apathy and self-destruction, Jesse cleaned up his act and became a key player in whatever plan Gus is cooking up (in addition to all that meth).
