"Not on your back, in case you throw up. On your side. Sleep on your side."
The one Breaking Bad moment that I have argued about the most with my friends is the end of this episode, when Walt knocks Jane Margolis onto her back and then chooses not to stop her choking to death. His immediate reaction, when he notices her choking, is indeed to save her, but then he changes his mind - in that moment, the life of a young woman is in his hands and his hands only, and he chooses to let her die. Many of my friends think this action is justified because of two things: Jane's attempts to blackmail Walt and the fact that Jesse will be better off without her. First of all, while her blackmail of Walt is selfish and it makes us start to dislike her, it in no way means she deserves to die. Secondly, Walt is only thinking about himself in the moment - any love he does have for Jesse comes second to his own personal needs.
I'm not quite sure what show my friends are watching, because this is a show where actions have consequences. The show itself does not treat actions like this as justified - so I question why some of the audience do. A possible answer, of course, lies in the fact that shows like Dexter exist. (I did very much enjoy Dexter at its best, which for me was the fourth season, but I found much of what happened to make no sense and was disappointed with the lack of consequences for certain actions.)
All that, of course, is besides the point. What we have here, in 'Phoenix', is a devastating, yet fantastic episode of television. It's the ending that will stick in the mind, but it's consistently excellent the entire way through. Jane telling Jesse to make sure not to lie on his back has a huge impact on a second watch of the episode, as we know what her ultimate fate is.
Is it a coincidence that Walt meets Donald Margolis in the bar? Yes. Do coincidences happen in the real world? Yes they do. It's actually one of my favourite scenes - they talk about Jesse and Jane respectively and they can relate to each other, without ever really knowing who each other are.
Watching through the second season for the third time, I now consider 'Phoenix' to be the high point of the series up until this point.
10/10
The one Breaking Bad moment that I have argued about the most with my friends is the end of this episode, when Walt knocks Jane Margolis onto her back and then chooses not to stop her choking to death. His immediate reaction, when he notices her choking, is indeed to save her, but then he changes his mind - in that moment, the life of a young woman is in his hands and his hands only, and he chooses to let her die. Many of my friends think this action is justified because of two things: Jane's attempts to blackmail Walt and the fact that Jesse will be better off without her. First of all, while her blackmail of Walt is selfish and it makes us start to dislike her, it in no way means she deserves to die. Secondly, Walt is only thinking about himself in the moment - any love he does have for Jesse comes second to his own personal needs.
I'm not quite sure what show my friends are watching, because this is a show where actions have consequences. The show itself does not treat actions like this as justified - so I question why some of the audience do. A possible answer, of course, lies in the fact that shows like Dexter exist. (I did very much enjoy Dexter at its best, which for me was the fourth season, but I found much of what happened to make no sense and was disappointed with the lack of consequences for certain actions.)
All that, of course, is besides the point. What we have here, in 'Phoenix', is a devastating, yet fantastic episode of television. It's the ending that will stick in the mind, but it's consistently excellent the entire way through. Jane telling Jesse to make sure not to lie on his back has a huge impact on a second watch of the episode, as we know what her ultimate fate is.
Is it a coincidence that Walt meets Donald Margolis in the bar? Yes. Do coincidences happen in the real world? Yes they do. It's actually one of my favourite scenes - they talk about Jesse and Jane respectively and they can relate to each other, without ever really knowing who each other are.
Watching through the second season for the third time, I now consider 'Phoenix' to be the high point of the series up until this point.
10/10