Today, December 2022 is into my annual re-watch of the greatest TV show of all time, "Breaking Bad," and this episode ranks as among my top five. As some reviewers have pointed out, this episode stands alone and fleshed out a little bit more would make a great movie, although it might be difficult to set up the Walter-Gretchen situation and what makes that restaurant scene so poignant.
Kudos to the makeup and art design department for creating the ultra-realistic Spooge and his lady partner characters with their emaciated bodies and meth sores. Maybe around the time the little red-haired boy was born Spooge worked a legitimate medical-related job, but descent into thievery to support drug habits has made a mess of him, his woman, and the house where the family lives.
When Jesse invades that house to attempt to recover stolen meth and/or money, his features contort with disgust at the filth he finds there. Yet, in the middle of it all the little boy nonchalantly walks into the living room, turns on the TV set to the only channel it can receive, and plops onto the couch beside Jesse. This is what causes the emotional punch because if the writing/direction team had shown the little boy as horriied or desperate it would have been way less effective.
The episode contains one of the most graphic yet ironically appropriate endings for not only a BB episode but for a dramatic TV show in general. Aaron Paul submitted it for consideration of a "Best Supporting Actor" award, and it's easy to see why.
