GundersonRocks

What can I say? "Breaking Bad" has consistently maintained a high level of quality throughout the past three seasons. And "Fly" is, in my humble opinion, the best episode thus far. I won't reveal much plot wise, but you should be warned ahead of time that this is a very introspective and bizarre episode.

Walt engages in his most erratic display of behavior yet, refusing to cook until he and Jesse find a single fly that could "contaminate" their batch. And that's basically what the episode is: forty five minutes of chasing a fly.

Of course, it's much more than that on a deeper level. Cranston and Paul's performances here are the best acting you'll see on television this year; I guarantee it. Old wounds are reopened, bitterness and regret resurface. Somehow in the course of an hour, "Breaking Bad" weaves intensity, hilarity, oddity, and tragedy into a tapestry of subtlety and deep emotion. I can hardly remember two characters I've cared about more than Walter White and Jesse Pinkman. This show teaches us to see past their flaws, to look into their souls and bear in mind the simplest of truths: they are both human beings. And for that, they deserve our love and respect.

"Fly" requires a great deal of attention to detail, both in terms of visual rhythms and emotional undercurrents of conversations, but the end result is one of the finest episodes of the best show currently on TV. Which brings me to my ending cliché: it feels like an insult to call this television.

As usual, I'll be tuning in next week.

Incredible. "House's Head" (the episode prior to this one) was the buildup, establishing a surreal, emotional approach never before seen on "House." THIS is the payoff. Save for some episodes of "The Shield", I have never witnessed a more deeply felt and powerful episode on television EVER. It will take a whole lot of effort for the writers to top themselves on this one. "Wilson's Heart" could have easily become sentimental and clichéd, but it looks too deep and sees too much honest pain. We are finally able to see that House is not a monster, that his misery extends far past his leg injury. We can finally look into his soul and see a resonating sadness and loneliness surrounded by a lifetime of pain. This is a masterpiece.

Nip/tuck's greatest irony lies not within its vast web of lies, deception, cruelty, satire, and tragedy, but within the fact that most of the show's fans have completely missed the point. This show, along with The Shield, is one of the most challenging pieces of art ever crafted. The creators of the show are wise enough to understand that most will interpret the show as a glorification of sex, desire, selfishness, etc. For those reasons, viewers will either love or despise the show. But both parties are wrong. Nip/tuck is a satire of superficiality and a thoughtful portrait of human misbehavior and its damaging results. But unlike the so-called "insightful" attitudes of most satires, this series is subtle in its commentary. So subtle, in fact, that at times it seems to be promoting superficial beauty and selfishness. But underneath all of this, there is a cosmic layer of feeling and emotion that I cannot describe in words. Throughout all of the wickedness and absurdity of the events depicted in Nip/tuck, I realized that I deeply care about the characters. They have become more real to me than some actual people I know. This series could have easily been just another medical show or even trashy pornography, but it cuts too deep and sees far too much honest pain for that to be the case. It is a brilliant series and I recommend to those with the stomach for it.