Yes, a potentially jarring episode, not in keeping with the usual flow of the series.
The first thing that came to my mind was the not so subtle "fly in the ointment" metaphor that has been perceived by many reviewers.
As an older viewer, this episode also seemed to intentionally reference other pop culture productions, which usually isn't my thing, but for whatever reason I found it done in a fun way here.
Others have mentioned HAL from "2001: A Space Odyssey" and the scene where Jesse was looking for a weapon to break back into the lab, and picked up a hammer, discarded it after noticing a pick axe, and then discarded that in favour of a sledge hammer, before deciding to cut the power. Bruce Willis, Pulp Fiction. Genuine lol for me.
I also felt that the whole episode unashamedly lent a lot from The X-Files episode, s3-e12, centred on cockroaches. A somewhat slapstick episode, wedged into a mostly dramatic series.
This one might be just me, but the movie "Bug", showed I guy that was drifting from reality, freaked out by bugs etc, and filled his hotel room with fly paper as he descended into madness.
I wouldn't be surprised to find that there were others I missed.
Another reason why I liked this episode was the interaction and progression of Jesse and Walt's relationship. They have been at breaking point in their relationship, but just about manage to mend things, by both sharing about 75% of their truth. Delightful for future storyline, and realistic.
Finally, I really empathise with Walt when he talks about believing that there was some time, and some words, that he could have said that would have prevented things getting so out of control.
The first thing that came to my mind was the not so subtle "fly in the ointment" metaphor that has been perceived by many reviewers.
As an older viewer, this episode also seemed to intentionally reference other pop culture productions, which usually isn't my thing, but for whatever reason I found it done in a fun way here.
Others have mentioned HAL from "2001: A Space Odyssey" and the scene where Jesse was looking for a weapon to break back into the lab, and picked up a hammer, discarded it after noticing a pick axe, and then discarded that in favour of a sledge hammer, before deciding to cut the power. Bruce Willis, Pulp Fiction. Genuine lol for me.
I also felt that the whole episode unashamedly lent a lot from The X-Files episode, s3-e12, centred on cockroaches. A somewhat slapstick episode, wedged into a mostly dramatic series.
This one might be just me, but the movie "Bug", showed I guy that was drifting from reality, freaked out by bugs etc, and filled his hotel room with fly paper as he descended into madness.
I wouldn't be surprised to find that there were others I missed.
Another reason why I liked this episode was the interaction and progression of Jesse and Walt's relationship. They have been at breaking point in their relationship, but just about manage to mend things, by both sharing about 75% of their truth. Delightful for future storyline, and realistic.
Finally, I really empathise with Walt when he talks about believing that there was some time, and some words, that he could have said that would have prevented things getting so out of control.