Granite State: Walt Goes Off to Die, Then Goes Off to Kill People

Granite State was Breaking Bad's line-up behind the eight ball.  Walter White is now on his way back to New Mexico for his final showdown with Jack and Todd, and the lives of Brock, Jesse, and the rest of the White family hang in the balance.

Last night's episode was by far the bleakest and slowest paced of any of the new season.  Walt's cancer appears to be back with a vengeance, and as he wastes away on a cot in a cabin in New Hampshire, he realizes that unless he can get his money to his family, all of his crimes have been for nothing.  But his family wants nothing to do with him, and, for a minute, Walt gives up, calling the police to give away his position.

But everything that appears in Breaking Bad is guaranteed to reappear, even if it takes whole seasons for that to happen (see: ricin, the bear with the missing eye, Ted Benecke, etc), and, true to form, Gretchen and Elliot made a final appearance in tonight's show.  Elliot's underestimation of Walt was the inciting action for the entire story, and, though we haven't seen the Schwartz family for four seasons, was partially the fuel for Walt's hubris and need to prove himself by cooking blue sky meth.  To see Elliot once again dismiss him on television was the motivation Walt needed to return to New Mexico; Walt has always been underestimated, always suspected of being incapable of properly caring for his family, and his pride requires him to upend these assumptions in the final days of his life.

So what is the unfinished business Walt still has in ABQ?  Since Saul has disappeared into hiding for good, Walt's left with no hit men, and will have to take on Jack and Todd himself.  We know from the flash-forwards at the beginning and midpoint of season 5 that Walt goes back to Albuquerque with a gun, a car, and some ricin.  We assume the gun is to kill Jack and Todd, and hopefully to free Jesse.  Brock, now an orphan, deserves some restoration at the hands of the man who nearly killed him.  We'll hope that one of Walt's final acts will be to reunite Brock and Jesse for good.  And of course, Walt has to get his money back and return it to his family, or find some other way of providing for them.  Then, seeing as Walt has no one left to surreptitiously kill, perhaps the vial of ricin is for his own suicide.

Walter, after all, owes his family a complete and final exit from their lives.  Before he does, though, he-- and the audience-- need some assurance that they will get the money Walt has called "their birthright," even if Walt Jr. and Holly have both rejected him as their father.  Gustavo Fring's monologue at the beginning of season three, that a man should provide for his family, regardless of whether he is respected or loved by them, seems apt in the final moments of the show.  This is the driving ethic behind all of Walt's actions thus far, and will be the morality at play in next weeks' season finale.

"Derek" makes Louise too sad to function

I’m not a Ricky Gervais fan.  I find his standup more painful than funny, and while I realize that’s the point, it’s not the sort of comedy I enjoy watching.  Because of this, I wasn’t planning to watch Derek, Gervais’s new series about a middle-aged bachelor who’s possibly autistic and works in a nursing home.

Then I saw the poster.

LOOK AT IT.  LOOK AT IT AND FEEL THINGS.

Oh my goodness.  What is it about this poster?  Derek, the title character of this series, is a kind, hardworking, socially incompetent, loving, and everything you need to know about him can probably be gleaned from this poster.  He is awkward.  He wears Fair Isle sweaters.  His jaw protrudes.  He lives a simple, unrewarded life that is entirely characterized by his loving devotion to the elderly patients residing in his retirement home.  Are you still looking at this poster?  The way you feel right now is the way you’ll feel while watching the show: inexplicably, excruciatingly sad but still weirdly intrigued.

I have a tendency to get sucked into comedy shows I don’t find particularly funny, such as Parks and Recreation, simply because I’m enthralled by the characters.  This is why I watched the first three episodes of Derek.  Derek’s moral code is simple: be kind, because it’s more important to be kind than to be clever or good-looking, and the other lonely, odd people he works with are surprisingly supportive of his worldview.  His coworkers, who are more aware of the “smallness” of their lives and seem to feel the loneliness of their occupation more deeply than Derek, treat him with kindness, and speak with admiration of his character.  In the world of television, where everyone is sexy, and success is defined by style and money, this dynamic of homely people loving and caring for homely people is oddly subversive and unfamiliar, and was enough to hold my attention.

Surprisingly, given the show’s writer and star, Derek does tend toward schmaltz, which grows tiresome and overblown.  The supporting casts’ laudatory speeches about Derek tend toward hagiography.  A lot of characters deliver lines that are variations of “Derek is the best human I have ever met in my life.”  The show’s soundtrack is a loose collection of songs composed for Piano for Elevators (citation needed), and it wafts over montages of old people doing sad, old people things, like playing cards, napping, and having their hair brushed.  Yes, nursing homes can be sad, lonely places, but these scenes of sad music and mundane living excessively highlight the saintliness of the cast.  Derek borders on an updated version of the “noble savage” archetype; his mental handicap gives him an innocence and kindness that is ennobling, but vaguely condescending.

That said, I’m recommending Derek with reservation.  It’s an interesting, well-done character study, though not particularly funny and not particularly subtle.  Basically, if you want to wallow in unspeakable, inarticulable sadness for seven hours, then we have the pick for you.

For more Beth and Louise, follow us on Twitter at @BandLHateMovies or subscribe to the podcast. Give us a rating and leave a comment on iTunes!