As other people have said this really is a love it or loathe it episode; set almost entirely inside the lab it follows Walt's obsession with a fly! Walt hasn't been sleeping and has started obsessing over small thing; firstly he is worried that their last batch was about one percent lighter than he expected then after Jesse has gone home for the night he hears a fly in the lab; so begins an obsession that nearly kills him. When Jesse returns in the morning he starts to get worried as Walt has clearly been there all night trying to kill this one fly! Jesse wants to get cooking but Walt refuses to let him; they can't do anything before the 'contaminant' is dealt with. Jesse goes and gets various fly killing products along with some sleeping pills which he slips into Walt's coffee. While they are trying to catch the fly they just talk; sometimes arguing about the need to kill the fly other times talking about deeper things.
I really enjoyed this episode; it was almost theatrical; like a strange existential play. Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul were both in top form as they just talked to one another while trying to catch the wretched fly. The triviality of Walt's obsession was funny at first but quickly became dangerous; at times it looked as though each of the characters might do something potentially fatal... I winced as Walt fell from the walkway and hit a vat before crashing to the floor; it looked really painful! The conversation threatened to go dangerous places too; I was sure that Walt was about to let slip about his role in Jane's death but the writers skilfully brought him back from that revelation. I don't think I'd want too many episodes like this but as a one off I found it most enjoyable.
I really enjoyed this episode; it was almost theatrical; like a strange existential play. Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul were both in top form as they just talked to one another while trying to catch the wretched fly. The triviality of Walt's obsession was funny at first but quickly became dangerous; at times it looked as though each of the characters might do something potentially fatal... I winced as Walt fell from the walkway and hit a vat before crashing to the floor; it looked really painful! The conversation threatened to go dangerous places too; I was sure that Walt was about to let slip about his role in Jane's death but the writers skilfully brought him back from that revelation. I don't think I'd want too many episodes like this but as a one off I found it most enjoyable.