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Breaking Bad: Season 4, Episode 8 – ‘Hermanos’ Review

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My favorite part of tonight’s episode might’ve been how little Skyler was in it. Hey-OO!  No, but seriously, the Gus flashbacks were badass. Anyhow, this week we started out with Walt talking about never losing control in a scene meant to remind us he has cancer, then demonstrating just how little control he actually has.

The main focus of the episode however was neither Walt or Jessie, or even Hank, but Gus. We get to see the ‘many stages of Gus’, first with a flashback to Season 3 after Hank’s shootout. In the scene Gus visits Hector and lets him know about the demise of his nephews, and the warning he issued to Hank. The whole scene was a big ‘F**k You’ to Hector, and later we find out exactly why.

In the second act of Gus’ story he meets with Hank and the DEA and ABQPD. While in the meeting Gus has a convincing story about the Gale, a scholarship, and a friend who died too young. All the while telling the Law Enforcement officials a giant lie to explain the presence of his fingerprints in Gales apartment. And while much of what he says is lies, it’s grounded in facts.

The friend who died too early was Max. And Max’s story gets told too. This is the best of scene of the episode, the third section of Gus’ story actually takes place years before everything else, in Mexico, dealing with a much younger Hector.

This is where Gus’ troubles with the Cartel seem to stem from, as this meeting doesn’t go exactly as planned, seeing as it ends with a Gun in Hector’s hand and the ‘chicken brothers’ no longer a pair.

Now something big is introduced here. First, earlier Hank brought up an inability to find any history on Gus, and then in the end scene, after Max is murdered, they inform our favorite chicken man that he is still alive only because they ‘know who he is’. That means our mild-mannered drug czar may be even more than we previously thought. Certainly more than meets the eye. Like a transformer.

After Gus’ reaction in this scene, a lot of people seem to think it indicates that Gus is perhaps gay, but personally I don’t think that’s the case. His fondness for Gale, and reaction to the killing of Max are simply examples of his loyalty, not indicators of his sexuality. Not that it matters one way or the other, but I doubt it will be either confirmed or denied either way in the coming episodes. It’s my belief that Max was simply the closest thing to a brother he ever had, and Gale was no more than a friend.

Overall, this episode was GREAT. I’d been hoping for more Gus ever since the premiere and tonight we got it, best episode in a while. And while Hank wasn’t in it a ton, his involvement is proving more than mere obstacle for Gus, and I’d be remiss not to mention the text. At one point Jessie, while out of the room receives a text that plants a seed of mistrust in Walt, and though it happened quick, this could lend to Walt’s unraveling and cause issues over the next few weeks…

5/5 Bears.

TV

Curb Your Enthusiasm: 8.09 – “Mister Softee” Review

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This episode had a lot to live up to with last week’s Car Periscope being so awesome, but it was definitely off to a roaring start with Larry disclosing to his current therapist his childhood traumatizing by the Mister Softee ice cream truck. You see, in his youth Larry was playing strip poker with the ice cream truck driver’s daughter in the Mister Softee truck. When he was down to his birthday suit the dad walks in throwing him out to the sidewalk so the whole neighborhood gets to see little Larry. Now whenever the Mister Softee truck is around, Larry crumbles. Throughout the episode the Mister Softee truck causes Larry trouble whether it be softball or sex and when Larry runs into Bill Buckner at a signing convention the episode just gets better and better. It was great seeing Larry and Leon together again after having no interactions whatsoever during the previous installment.

Between Larry’s “modified car seat”, his softball coach Yari, and Bill Buckner’s ultimate redemption this episode is a definite five out of five bears. I can only hope next week’s finale can top this!

TV

Stephen King’s ‘Under the Dome’ Heading to Showtime

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Stephen King and Steven Spielberg teamed up awhile back to bring King’s Under the Dome story to a TV network for a limited series. Now that story has found a home on Showtime, which is really for the best because now they can do anything they want without being constrained by the rules of network television. The story of Under The Dome may sound a little dumb because the same sort of thing happened in the Simpsons Movie, but I’m sure that King was writing his book before the Simpsons Movie was released… hopefully.

Basically there is a small town in Maine where a force field dome of unknown origin covers the town, sealing them off from the outside world. What happens next is a deterioration of relationships between the townsfolk as they break up into warring factions. I’d classify the story as an extended version of the King short story The Mist where townsfolk slowly begin to turn on one another, stuck inside a supermarket due to the horrible monsters lurking in the unnatural mists outside. The threat is a lot different in this book, but the concept is basically the same, showing how malicious ordinary people can be in dire circumstances when there is no order.

By the way, I would never want to live in Maine if all of King’s books were real, there is some jacked up $hit that happens in that state, especially in the small towns. To me, the ending reveal of exactly what is causing the dome was awesome. Some may find it foolish, but it all depends on what you like from a King book, whether it be supernatural, extra terrestrial or governmental. Either way I think the series will be excellent on Showtime and can’t wait to hear about casting when it starts.

TV

Breaking Bad: Season 4, Episode 7 – ‘Problem Dog’ Review

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This week was all about Jessie trying to cope with Gale’s death, and Hank once again, about to inadvertently save our meth cooks. Walt, despite his massive amount of screen time is actually for the most part filler here. We start out with Pinkman playing video games, in what almost seems like training for the job. In his head he keeps seeing Gale’s face and it obvious that our beloved meth head isn’t quite right…

As the episode progresses Jessie is being pulled in 2 directions. First by Walt, who wants him to kill Gus, and secondly by Gus, who wants to control Walt. Gus’s influence seems to be taking hold too as we see the hesitation to poison Gus’ coffee. Walt treating Jessie like an idiot vs Gus making him feel important, he is torn.

In the middle with Pinkman is Mike, who seems to see what is happening, and to no real surprise is vocal about it in their talk about ‘loyalty’. Walt’s focus in this episode, other than being a catalyst for Jessie’s problems, is acting rather childish as he and Skyler get the car wash operation up and running. His actions with Junior’s car show just how careless he is becoming. No longer the constant source of worry, Walt seems headed down a path of self-destruction that undoubtedly be thwarted  by…Hank.

As foreshadowed in past episodes, Hank has determined that Gus is Hisenberg, which, while not accurate, is close enough to true and should ultimately prove useful for Walt and Jessie…assuming they both live that long.

Maybe the best scene of the episode is where the title comes into play – the ‘problem dog’. Jessie goes to his old support group as a result of his mixed feeling about Gus. He talks about a dog he killed, obviously referring to Gale, and seems to totally break down about it. He can’t vocalize a reason for the dog to be killed, because the ‘dog’ didn’t actually do anything, but was a problem none the less.  Jere Burns (Justified) returns as Jessie’s group leader and he becomes the focus of Pinkman’s outcry, giving us yet another excellent performance from an under-rated actor.

Overall, very good episode. This is without a doubt, one of the best shows on Television, and it continues to deliver week after week. 4/5 Bears.

TV

Entourage: Season 8, Episode 7 – “Second to Last”

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So let’s get to the part of the show that’s most interesting to me at the moment. Eric and Sloan. I was just thinking that in the last episode Eric may have been jumping the gun thinking that Galecki and Sloan were an item, but after Turtle spots them at lunch together I can’t help but think they are. Eric does too as he storms off angrily…. from the bed where just slept with Sloan’s ex-mother-in-law… again. Sparks fly at the farmer’s market and later a huge bombshell is dropped. I can only imagine where it goes from here.

Things are looking bad for Turtle. The only way for him to get Don Pepe’s off the ground is to find more money from his investors. Amare Stoudamire and Michael Strahan both tell him to screw himself and Derek Jeter says so much in a nicer way. To top things off, the tequila line that Turtle decided to invest in went public, making Mark Cuban and many other investors a ton of money. Sorry you lost out on that one Turtle. It will take a miracle for Turtle to pull the restaurant gig off at this point without asking Vince for help, which he vowed to not do. Will Vince bail him our or is Don Pepe’s done?

Things are only looking up for Drama after he and Dice successfully won in their work strike to get higher paydays and Johnny Bananas to stay on the air. Now he is going to star in his own movie, involving the miners and a rescue dog, on the Hallmark channel. Not much but it’s a starring gig. Hats off to Drama, even the bad ones he wears.

Vince still continues his pursuit of Sophia in this episode, this time with a bit of a different result thanks a lot to Drama and Turtle. And just when I thought Ari was over his wife, Dana urges him to try winning her back because he tells her how he is still in love with her. It seems like everything is starting to go good for everyone except E. Will Ari get his wife back before season’s end? We’ll have to wait and see in the next episode.

I give this one a 4 out 5 grizzlies. The show is definitely living up to the expectations I had at the beginning of the season even though I had begun to lose hope. Keep up the good work fellas!


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