Al Schwartz

BREAKING BAD – “SAY MY NAME”

Schwartzblog archives We open this week, not with a stylized tone poem, but with a BB mainstay:  some gangsters meet in the desert to talk business and why they should/shouldn’t murder Walter White.  The outcome of this meeting is not really in question; not only is it beginning of the episode, but we have half … Continue reading

SCHWARTZBLOG: BREAKING BAD, “BUY OUT”

Schwartzblog archives Our cold open this week is a spin on the “body disposal” sequence we’ve seen in many a crime movie/show over the years, including this one.  But rather than a graphic dismembering of the kid’s body, we get a somber, methodical dismantling of his dirtbike. I’m not sure why exactly the went this … Continue reading

BREAKING BAD: “51”

Schwartzblog archives Adios, Pontiac Aztek.  You were one of television’s great punching bags for the last few years, and you will be missed.  I have to imagine your new owner will treat you kinder than the last one, though.  I’m even starting to suspect he may have been harboring some passive-aggression toward what you represented … Continue reading

BREAKING BAD – “HAZARD PAY”

 Schwartzblog archives   This week’s cold open is very straightforward, with no major temporal or spacial shifts or impressionistic flourishes.  Instead, it shows us more of Mike takin’ care of business (and working overtime).  I liked it more than last week’s episode because he is more purposeful, snazzy in his suit, and clever in his … Continue reading

SCHWARTZBLOG: BREAKING BAD, “MADRIGAL”

Schwartzblog archives One of the strangest cold opens we’ve ever had this week, with a long prelude to an unknown executive, presumably played by Bill Nighy’s non-union German equivalent, committing some form of electric hara-kiri as the police close in on Los Pollos Hermanos international connections.  I don’t know what exactly we’re supposed to take … Continue reading

SCHWARTZBLOG: BREAKING BAD, SEASON 4

Schwartzblog archives Season Four does something new, and actually opens with a clean up episode.  And a great example of how the show builds tension out of long, quiet stretches and stillness.  The scene in that episode?  Nearly ten minutes, uninterrupted, with no dialogue from anyone but Walter.   Most shows would cut to commercial … Continue reading

SCHWARTZBLOG: BREAKING BAD, SEASON 3

Links to all prior blogs I mentioned last time that I don’t think of Breaking Bad as a particularly slow show.  At least not in the sense that we usually mean when we say that, which is that the overall plot moves slowly, that entire episodes go by just spinning the wheels, and there are … Continue reading