Hazard Pay

Although the crystal cooking is on again, "Hazard Pay" is actually a lot more about the reactions of the characters to a new situation: Skyler is at this moment entirely unable to cope with the fact that her husband is a ruthless drug kingpin and murder, Marie gets the most confused after experiencing a sudden WTF "breakdown" by her sister, and Jesse's personal life is rearranged after a conversation with Walt. Therefore, this episode is a slower one again and is, at least partly, below the quality of the rest of season five.

There are, however, some scenes that deserve to be singled out and really improve the final good and almost all of them involve the series' main subject: fabricating drugs. As the four amigos (copyright – you guessed it – is from Saul) are back in business again, their first official act is to inspect possible workshops and provide the episode's funniest dialogue through that. After Walt has another ingenious idea, the actual cooking starts and it's time for one of Breaking Bad's drug montages I love so much. With The Peddlers' "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever" on the soundtrack as well as inventive camera angles, wonderful use of colours, and perfect editing, this one is certainly one of the series' best. Filling up the rest of the time are a heated discussion about the eponymous hazard pay to Mike's former colleagues in lock-up, unbelievably uncomfortable Walt and Brock time, and a delightful reunion with Skinny Pete and Badger (I've never thought I'd ever say that).

All of this is nice to watch, but remains a lukewarm appetiser for the episodes still to come and is too uncomfortable to enjoy at times.

This episode modtly deals with Walt, Jesse and Mike, setting up their business and continueing to Cook! Its exciting too see how they are gonna make it work! Finding a place to Cook, labor division, etc! The episode also dels with Skylers deterioating mental health!

This episode shows us where Walts and Jesse's characters are now! We see Walt trying to step into the leading role, but faces frictions with Mike! All we wants is for Walt to succeed so obviously we are rooting for him!

There were also a great scene between Walt and Jesse! Nice to see them bond and just have a honest heart to heart conversation!

I would also like to say that Anna Gun is doing great as Skyler this season! Her breakdown was great and she deserves some praise!

Walt, Jesse, and Mike move along with their plans for the new Business but find that moving from an employee to an employer involves more than just changing the name on the door.

After wondering were the writers were going to take this series i am drooling in anticipation of what will come next. After hitting the dizzy heights they are back, not exactly at the bottom but definitely with a lot still left to learn and plenty of room for mistakes.

On the personal side, all the main relationships continue to be in turmoil; although Walt always seems to be in turmoil in one sense or another.

This is the third episode of the fifth episode of Breaking Bad. Compared to the first two episodes, this episode is a little on the slow side. But the characterization is the key focus of the episode and in that regard, it truly works. There were some funny moments with some involving Saul (of course), and one surprisingly involving Skinny Pete and Badger.

In this episode, "Hazard Pay," Walt, Jesse, and Mike begin to start cooking their first batch of meth. Mike visits Gus's former workers in prison to tell them to remain silent. Jesse makes an important personal decision on the insistence of Walt. Hank goes back to work. Skylar has a breakdown which prompts Marie to ask Walt for the truth.

Overall, this is a very good episode even if it is on the slower side of things. But this episode shows us how each of our characters are changing, and we see Skylar on the way to her breaking point. It will be interesting to see what happens next. I rate this episode 9/10.

It's apt that Scarface is sampled in this episode as Walt seems most of the way down the path from where he started as Mr Chips. The writers have brought the central character here plausibly, considering the outrageousness of the concept.

I particularly like how they portrayed him as incompetent in certain situations previously, but also learning whilst overcoming certain obstacles. This makes the scenes where he now appears to be a ruthless, effective manipulator quite believable. It also helps how the cinematography and art direction captures Bryan Cranston in darker and more sinister aesthetics.

This episode lays strong foundations for what is to come later on in the season by developing good tension between Walt other characters like Jesse, Mike, Skyler and Marie. Mike described Walt as time-bomb ticking away, and this is exactly what the storyline feels like currently.

I also appreciate the creativeness the writers show again with meth cooking. They did an RV and a super-lab, so how could they keep it fresh? Well they did and you have to admire it. You do though have to wonder how many ideas they are giving the illicit drug industry and how much they glamourise certain moments. Especially as cook scenes are filmed, edited and presented so slickly they make it look like a cool thing to be doing.

All actors are on top form, especially Bryan Cranston, Anna Gunn, Jonathan Banks and Betsy Brandt.