Open House

Two characters fans hate have a chance to shine here while the male leads ride shotgun: As pathetically guilty Jesse begins squandering his money, Hank begins a case that will grow and Walt is Mr Mom, Skylar has her best episode conning the eyebrows guy from the car wash business, and her scenes with Saul right from when they first met, are wonderful... I think she compliments his sleazy nature better than anyone (mind you, in Better Call Saul he becomes a leading man, so perfect girl Kim doesn't count because he's NOT the same character on that series)...

And best yet Marie and her stealing has always been fun; especially when she calls the realtor lady "Fatty" that was hilarious...

Kudos to the lady's of Breaking Bad despite the fact they get no respect otherwise.

I think how much you take from this one depends how much you either care about or are interested in the portrayed suffering of certain characters.

Personally I find the "open house" related scenes involving Marie and Jesse to be pretty powerful and quite harrowing. Marie's behaviour is depicted as deteriorating, but I think you lack a certain degree of compassion not to sympathise with the character's situation. When you compare what she does wrong to other characters in Breaking Bad it is negligible and an understandable escape from Hank's abuse. The writers and filmmakers do a great job of conveying her suffering through behaviour and not obvious explanation. Betsy Brandt is outstanding.

Jesse's scenes are a spiral from the previous episode and include some very dark moments. However, the most effective moment for me was the scene of dialogue with Walt at the lab. The acting is so convincing I was willing Walt to answer his plea regarding the go-karting or at least do something with him.

The writers lay foundations well for what is to come in certain moments involving Skyler, Hank, and Saul.

Bob Odenkirk is on top humorous form as always and his presence helps to relieve the general bleakness.

For me it's an 8.5/10, but I round upwards.

This is the third episode of the fourth season of Breaking Bad. Like the previous episode, this episode is a slow-burner and takes it time telling the story. It's more or less the same plot, but there are more interesting moments here. Aaron Paul as Jesse shows some surprising depth as he has these bleak parties and shows a passion for go-karts in one memorable scene. It's nice to see Anna Gunn becoming more open in Walter's criminal life. Finally, Bob Odenkirk as Saul is able to inject some lighter moments in the episode.

In this episode, "Open House," Skylar is becoming more passively active in Walt's life as she still attempts to buy the car wash for money laundering duties and this time may have some luck with the help of Saul. Walter is angry that a camera was installed in the meth lab. Meanwhile, Jesse continues throwing parties to make his mind dwell elsewhere and Marie begins her kleptomaniac activities at open houses to help her ease the problems she has been having with Hank.

Overall, I thought this was a solid episode. It's not the greatest episode in the Breaking Bad's repertoire, but it is more interesting than the previous episode and it is nice to see a big problem of Marie during Season One make a return in this episode. I rate this episode 9/10.

Significant events. Marie is picked up for stealing from real estate open houses. This takes her back to her shoplifting days. Only Hank's connections keep her out of jail. Meanwhile, Skyler uses shady means to get the carwash guy to sell to them. She goes practical on Walter. They now are richer than rich but have to watch themselves constantly. At the end, one of Hank's former colleagues brings him something that is certainly going to bring about trouble.

This is for sure the worst breaking bad episode. It is full of character development in it, but there is nothing really remarkable about it. And what makes this worse than Fly is that Open House follows kind of the same format as every other BB episode. Even though it is the worst, doesn't mean it is bad, for sure.