What is there to say? Season four's finale topped everything there has been up to that point and combines everything that makes Breaking Bad as outstanding as it is. I won't go into every detail in this review because there are really too many noteworthy things about "Face Off", but I'll at least bring up the cream of the crop.
This episode's first quarter or maybe even more is unexpectedly tame and contains a great amount of laughs (kudos once again to Vince Gilligan's fantastic writing), but with the clock ticking, the intensity is looming until we get to "Casa Tranquila" and have Hector Salamanca's scene at Tuco's desert house seem like flyspeck. Holy shite. But "Face Off" isn't over with that ineffable moment that gives it its title – prepare for something even better to come. As we have scenes showing all the main characters reacting to what has just happened in a fashion as if this is the ending of the whole series (FYI, it is not), it's the most entertaining to watch and all and I definitely would have written an acclaiming review. However, what makes "Face Off" as epic and unforgettable as it is, is the very last shot: if Hank would turn out to be a woman right now, it still wouldn't be a bigger plot twist than that. I personally didn't expect that at all (confession bear: I never really think about possibilities and stuff while watching an episode, but only after and before it) and was blown away by it, as was, in a more literal sense, a character of the series, but that's something completely different.
Altogether, "Face Off" is just perfect – combining comedy, drama, thrill, and action into one sublimely written, beautifully shot, and unsurpassably scored episode is quite a feat – and the thing I would like to do most right now is erase all my memory about this episode and watch it again, not expecting anything about these perfect 50 minutes.
This episode's first quarter or maybe even more is unexpectedly tame and contains a great amount of laughs (kudos once again to Vince Gilligan's fantastic writing), but with the clock ticking, the intensity is looming until we get to "Casa Tranquila" and have Hector Salamanca's scene at Tuco's desert house seem like flyspeck. Holy shite. But "Face Off" isn't over with that ineffable moment that gives it its title – prepare for something even better to come. As we have scenes showing all the main characters reacting to what has just happened in a fashion as if this is the ending of the whole series (FYI, it is not), it's the most entertaining to watch and all and I definitely would have written an acclaiming review. However, what makes "Face Off" as epic and unforgettable as it is, is the very last shot: if Hank would turn out to be a woman right now, it still wouldn't be a bigger plot twist than that. I personally didn't expect that at all (confession bear: I never really think about possibilities and stuff while watching an episode, but only after and before it) and was blown away by it, as was, in a more literal sense, a character of the series, but that's something completely different.
Altogether, "Face Off" is just perfect – combining comedy, drama, thrill, and action into one sublimely written, beautifully shot, and unsurpassably scored episode is quite a feat – and the thing I would like to do most right now is erase all my memory about this episode and watch it again, not expecting anything about these perfect 50 minutes.