‘Breaking Bad’ Retro Recap: ‘Box Cutter’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

In the everyday world, we celebrate power plays in the workplace. Simply because it means that a whip-smart employee figured out how to game the system and take control, showing upper management their business acumen and desire to move up in the world and move up they shall. For corporate America is all about rewarding that kind of initiative since it speaks to the ingenuity and creativity that capitalism was founded upon. But while it is commonplace to see a line level employee fawned over for taking charge in the workplace, thus securing their future with the firm… what’s wild about this long celebrated and almost… expected process… is that it doesn’t really work anywhere else outside of the office.
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Because people see it in the everyday world as nothing short of rude or out of place, leaving one to wonder why it is encouraged in the first place since it has no merit outside of a bigger payday for a job that is undoubtedly soul sucking. But all of that aside, what’s equally as amazing about this process, is that it can in fact… also be dangerous when applied to the wrong kind of workplace, such as say… the criminal underworld. Because that is a career path were power is everything to those in charge and when someone challenges the boss or tries to wrest that power away, well bad consequences can indeed come about and it just so happens that the dark side to a power play in the drug trade, was explored in frightening detail in the season four premiere of Breaking Bad.

For ‘Box Cutter’ saw Jesse Pinkman and Walter White be detained in the Superlab after Gale died and well, in order to gain control of the situation and reclaim the power that Walter tried to take away… Gus went to some extreme measures. Such as making them wait for hours on end, to the point where the cook was in jeopardy, and to make things more uncomfortable, once Gus showed up at the lab… he had nothing to say. He simply and calmly changed into one of the cook suits to prepare to send a powerful message. One that involved slicing open Victor’s throat, all to make it clear… that power plays would no longer be tolerated, and that Walt and Jesse would abide by his rules, or else, and well, that was quite the frightening sequence to sit though, since there was a real chance that Gus was going to blow his top and indulge in wanton carnage, over having his power and standing as the boss, threatened.

But thankfully, peace came to the lab again and Walter and Jesse can make their money and go about their business, and they do have job security since Gale is dead. But that doesn’t mean that trouble won’t find them soon, since the police now have their hands on the ‘Lab Notes’ notebook that Gale left lying around and it will be quite interesting to see what comes of that, and the other little plot threads that this episode introduced. Such as the fact that Skyler still cares about her husband dearly, as evidenced by how she went the extra mile to check on him, and that’s a huge deal. As is Hank’s standing in this tale, since he is clearly at his lowest point now with his injury and pushing Marie in ways that aren’t healthy.

However, while we wait to see what blossoms from those plot threads, we can bask in one stunning premiere. One that ramped the tension up to eleven in the simplest way imaginable… by introducing the unknown to Walter’s world. Because his future was quite uncertain here, and that was terrifying to say the least and it really does go to show, how stupid the power play can be in the real world and criminal underworld as well. But what matters most, is that this stunning premiere sets the stage for what season four is likely going to look like. Which means we are headed into some supremely dark territory here, the kind where safety might not exist. Because if Gus Fring is willing to gut a trusted associate to assert his power over others… then anything can and will happen and it will be fascinating to see who is left standing when we reach the season finale. Until next time.

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