‘Breaking Bad’ Retro Recap: ‘Green Light’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

One particular element about life that surprises us often, is how the universe appears to be cyclical in nature. Because we are simply never prepared for when an old ex, that we had great feelings for, pops up in our life once again or when an opportunity we thought was long gone drops back into our laps and every time it does happen… we tend to find ourselves pondering on the nature of fate and destiny and if the return of an opportunity is a 'sign' from above. But in reality, there’s no magic or destiny involved in such matters. It is simply unfinished business that parties either continue to gravitate to or never truly walked away from and if the circumstances are right, we’ll dive right back into what’s come our way, as evidenced by the next episode of Breaking Bad.

Because ‘Green Light’ sees Walter White right back where we found him in the series premiere; marginalized and broken and without any direction in life. A feat that is accomplished, by way of the heartbreak he experiences from Skyler’s admission that she’s sleeping with Ted. Because that breaks Walter, and it makes him feel worthless and angry and useless, and it drives him to do some foolish things. Such as visit Ted at Beneke HQ to have a ‘little chat’. And his desire to do that gets him tossed from the facility and in front of Mike and Saul. Who have to remind him to keep a low profile and to not do anything stupid so no suspicion surrounds him. Words that of course, Walter really doesn’t heed all that much… since soon he’s out of a job as well.

Because for a brief moment, Walter firmly believed that making a pass at his boss might get him a measure of revenge against Skyler and a sense of desire once again. But alas, it leaves him destitute and well… that’s when things really come around full circle for Walt. Because he was without hope  and purpose when we first met him, and the only thing that gave him that… was cooking the finest damn meth on the planet and well, when Jesse decides to pick up the mantle, Gus jumps at the opportunity to bring Walt back into the fold. For he knows that if Walt is properly motivated (and manipulated) and given direction again, that he will cook and cook hard, and it turns out that Gus was right. Because when Walt is given a bag of cash for Jesse’s inferior product, it all hits him. In that, once again, he has nothing to lose and that he’s right back where he started and now is his chance to finish that unfinished business, and it won’t be long now before Heisenberg’s top-tier product is back on the market. 

But while that alone would have made for a flawless tale through and through, this story also took the time to dig deeper into Hank's journey and also follow-up on some of the PTSD he’s been dealing with for a while now. And as it turns out, it’s made him a shell of his former self. For he was nothing more than a bravado fueled beast in season one, the kind that couldn’t be stopped by anything. But in this tale, he’s afraid to go to El Paso and he’s determined to re-open the Heisenberg case. Making it inherently clear that he firmly believes the only way he can regain his mojo, is by solving the case that has brought him nothing but strife and well, it would seem he’ll get his chance. But all of that aside, this was a nice side story, one that helped us to understand what makes Hank tick and how vulnerable he truly is. 

In the end however, this was just another engrossing story through and through. One that really took the time to teach us, that the road to a life of crime is long and winding and paved with indecision and worry and understandably so. Because ugly things come out of such choices and one truly must be committed to the darkness that awaits them and well, while Walt committed some time ago, Skyler’s decision to abandon him at a crucial point where he potentially could have pulled back from his decision, has likely sealed his fate. Because now, he will operate with incredible determination, to prove to the world it made a mistake in passing him by and well, that likely means it is all downhill from here and it is going to be quite the powerful experience to watch Heisenberg rise and fall… now that he has nothing to lose and everything to gain. Until next time.

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