Say My Name was very much an episode about big-noting and bravado, about the many men of Breaking Bad measuring themselves to see who’s biggest. Whereas the Walt of season one would have wimped away from any such show of power we are shown almost instantly in this episode just how cocksure the character has become. I expected Walt’s big plan to deal with the gang to be something scientific, some sort of secret chemistry trick that only he could think of, but instead of using his intelligence to solve the problem he instead went with instinct; his smug staring down of a mad Mike at the end of last week’s episode was simply a warm-up for what was yet to come at the beginning of this one.

In the first of many reversals this week Walt walks out of the car without a hint of fear and instead of whimpering at the gang members, instead of begging for his life he simply tells them that he is in control here, that they now work for him and his confidence is so great that they believe every word. That same hubris that has caused so many major missteps throughout the series not only saves his life but nets him a new potential ally (though chances are t won’t actually work out this way). To add insult to injury he doesn’t simply stop at declaring himself the Alpha dog of this pack but instantly starts ordering them to do tricks: to sit, to speak and to, as the title suggests, “Say My Name!” and when they do what is the answer they give (the right answer)? Not Walter White, but Heisenberg.

Read the rest of this entry »