After the fast-paced awesomeness of the pilot episode, I am sure everyone thought they would be in for a disappointment the second time around. I mean, even the simple plot synopsis would call for a big step back. Who would ever think of a simple plot involving a suspicious wife and Walt trying to solve his issues would be better than the pilot episode? Well, guess again folks. The awesome ride continues with this episode for a variety of reasons. The acting remains on point (more of that later), the screenplay is tight and offers some wonderful dialogue, and once again, the show offers educational value. With this episode, you'll learn why it's a good idea to put hydrochloric acid in plastic, and no other material. Once again, the show is dark, but humorous, and is incredibly entertaining to watch.
So in this episode, "The Cat's In the Bag," Walt and Jesse manage to get their RV out of the ditch in the desert, but they have another problem on their hands. The bodies of the distributors in the back of the RV. They find out that one of them, Crazy-8, is still alive. After a coin flip, Walt and Jesse decide on jobs how to take care of this problem. Walt is tasked with killing Crazy-8 and Jesse is supposed to dispose of the other dead body. Meanwhile, Skylar becomes very suspicious of Walt's activities. She decides to snoop around to find out what exactly is Walt is up to.
This episode shows that the show is not a one-episode wonder and it shall stay for another four seasons after this season. A big reason is the acting involved. Bryan Cranston is handling himself to drama quite well. He also manages to be snarky sometimes too. Aaron Paul is excellent and the amount of ignorance he puts in Jesse is just great. He and his hydrochloric acid experiment is one to behold. However, I think Anna Gunn delivers the episode finest moments. My favorite scene is when she encounters Jesse, as he is trying to dispose of the dead body. The way she yelled at Jesse for selling pot to Walt was excellent. For those wondering, pot was an alibi that Walt came up with to explain his disappearances.
Overall, we got ourselves another great episode, on par with the excellent pilot. If you think this will be boring, you are in for a ride. Just watching Walt and Jesse execute their plans is worth watching. Once again, I loved the educational value the show offers. For someone not particularly great at chemistry, I learned some new things. And the key thing is never to dispose of bodies in a bathtub with hydrochloric acid, unless you want to burn a hole through your ceiling, thus spreading body parts and blood all over the house. Yes, that is how fun this episode is to watch.
My Grade: A-
