I hereby proclaim this a “Spoiler Alert” review for those of you who don’t want to know what happens in Sunday night’s maniacally anticipated “Breaking Bad” season opener.
Read no further, ’cause I’m gonna spill the beans. You’ve been warned.
For everyone else, fasten your seat belts. You’re in for a wild ride.
“Breaking Bad” creator Vince Gilligan and the show’s cast have described these final eight episodes as a “freight train,” and, if Sunday night’s season premiere is any indication, the gloves are off — an apt metaphor for Walt (Bryan Cranston) and his brother-in-law, DEA agent Hank Schrader (Dean Norris), now circling each other like wary boxers after last summer’s stunning, season-ending revelation.
That’s when we last left Hank who — perched atop a toilet in Walt’s house — finally put two-and-two together, realizing, to his horror, that the elusive meth kingpin “Heisenberg” he’s been chasing for five seasons is actually his terminally ill brother-in-law. It was one of the most powerful series moments in recent memory. Bar none.
In the real-time world of “Breaking Bad,” Sunday’s episode opens on that same day — after a brief fast-forward detour — with Hank’s emergence from the bathroom.
He’s barely able to look at Walt (playing with his baby daughter, Holly) and feigns a stomach bug so he can bolt with wife Marie — so dazed, horrified and physically ill from his discovery that he suffers an anxiety attack — echoes of seasons past — crashing his car.
Meanwhile, back at the (White) ranch, Walt — who proclaimed himself “out” of the meth business in last season’s finale — is paid a visit by his most recent business partner, Lydia (Laura Fraser), who’s making every attempt to drag him back into that world.
Jesse (Aaron Pinkman) is still reeling from his suspicions about Mike’s fate — though Walt, who long ago morphed into a pathological liar — assures him Mike is alive and well. Jesse wants to believe Walt, but we know he’s not buying it.
Hank, who’s managed to compose himself (just a bit), is now poring over the “Heisenberg”/Gus Fring files, piecing together the entire jigsaw puzzle — each evil revelation registering on his face like an emotional bomb blast.
But Walt’s sharply honed criminal mind suspects that Hank is onto him — a suspicion turned to fact when he discovers his brother-in-law is tracking his every move.
So Walt decides to pay Hank a visit, and their confrontation in the Schrader garage — each man threatening the other — sets the stage for what promises to be a hyperactive, full-throttle ride over the next seven weeks.
I can’t wait.