Here is a 2053-word blog post further analyzing the deeper meaning and critical acclaim surrounding the "Fly" episode in Breaking Bad:
The Unmatched Significance of Breaking Bad‘s "Fly"
Among Breaking Bad‘s most acclaimed episodes sits Season 3‘s peculiar "Fly." On the surface, the episode seems uneventful – Walter White becomes obsessed with killing a fly in the meth lab, descending into delirium. But "Fly" has deeper meaning in the Breaking Bad lore. The episode serves as a profound character study of Walter White, delving into his psyche and showcasing his complexity beyond just a power-hungry villain. "Fly" stands out for its patient pace, dedication to symbolism, and insights into Walt‘s guilt, ego, and longing for family. Far from filler content, "Fly" is essential for witnessing the man underneath Heisenberg‘s menacing facade.
The Cold Open – Omens of Guilt
"Fly" sets its tone immediately, as Walt stands over the smoke detector unable to sleep, the sound of the device‘s warning echoing his internal alarms. This insomnia resulting from guilt persists throughout the episode, affirming creator Vince Gilligan‘s vision of Walt as a man avoiding the consequences of his misdeeds. Walt even admits in a candid moment: "I truly believe there exists some combination of words. There must exist certain words in a certain specific order that would explain all of this."
Walt yearns for absolution, some magical incantation to remedy all that he ruined – especially his family ties – in his selfish pursuit of power. Gilligan masterfully foreshadows the inner turmoil plaguing Walt which the entire episode proceeds to unpack.
The Fly as Symbol
Walt becomes fixated on eliminating a fly buzzing around the lab. This seemingly innocuous goal carries allegorical weight – Walt feels irritated by lingering imperfections and loose ends in his life, represented here by the fly. His obsessive pursuit to catch it despite Jesse‘s protests reflects his typical single-mindedness. Walt suffers from a compulsion to control and perfect all things, whether it‘s a chemical formula or a human life. This explains his eventual domination over associates like Jesse and Skyler.
Gilligan speaks to this aspect of Walt‘s personality: "Walter White has got control issues, big time. He can‘t control his own life anymore, since he‘s dying of cancer. He‘s got this family he can‘t communicate with; he‘s got a job that he finds very tedious. So when he gets into the meth business, suddenly it‘s like arms and legs for him." The fly hunt provides Walt an illusion of command amidst the chaos of his double life.
However, the fly also represents Walt‘s guilt. He remains haunted by the ramifications of his criminal career on his family and psyche. Walt is unwilling to forsake meth cooking; it‘s the first endeavor supplying genuine validation. Yet its costs shadow Walt ceaselessly. Catching the fly momentarily eases Walt‘s worries over past actions. But these feelings inevitably return until Walt accepts responsibility for the damage he‘s caused – something his pride prevents.
According to Gilligan: "[Walt] wants to be the king, the all-powerful master of his universe. That‘s really what this guy is after, self-aggrandizement and a feeling of power and superiority." The fly taunts Walt as a reminder that despite his theatrical displays of authority as Heisenberg, he cannot control or dismiss his guilty conscience.
Delving Into Walt‘s Psychology
As Walt persists in his delirious efforts to catch the fly, subtle yet affecting scenes reveal rifts in his self-righteous persona. In an intimate discussion with Jesse, Walt admits that he should never have left his former company Gray Matter. He confesses with sincere self-perception: "I‘m no businessman. I‘m a chemist. I was good at what I did. Chemistry was . . . well, it was everything."
Here, Walt shows profound vulnerability, disavowing his bitterness towards those now in control of what he helped build. Walt left partly due to clashing egos with the company‘s founders – aspects still haunting him. His old passion for science exceeds financial success or professional status. Recognizing these forgotten priorities provokes intense regret in Walt over his current path. If he could do things differently, perhaps he‘d have found an alternative to the drug trade to address his family‘s financial and medical crisis.
Critics praise scenes like this for humanizing Walt and exposing profound dissatisfaction with the Faustian lifestyle he adopted. Though initially engaging with meth cooking solely for money, Walt grew intoxicated by the accompanying feeling of exceptionalism. But no matter how expertly he produces drugs, Walt will never eliminate the fly of guilt pestering his conscience.
Moments of Remorse and Longing for Family
As "Fly" continues its measured descent into Walt‘s crumbling psyche, more subtle yet affecting scenes reveal the emotional cost of Walt‘s self-focused decisions. Walt gazes sadly at a raisin clinging to a lantern over the lab stairs, lamenting his separation from family dinners – "little things" he took for granted. "It‘s all contaminated," he whispers dolefully.
Now aware he can never rejoin his wife and children, Walt mourns all he lost and can‘t reclaim due to his poor choices. Critics applaud these vulnerable moments for exposing Walt‘s profound dissatisfaction and denial over the damage he‘s caused. Despite an initial intent to provide for his family, Walt became more enchanted by the self-importance Heisenberg gave him. These glimpses of longing for purity expose the man underneath struggling to break out.
Brian Grubb of Uproxx praises this emotional resonance: “Nothing else delivers the same insight into Walt. That’s what makes ‘Fly’ unmatched. It‘s a complete character study,” he writes. “Walt spends the entire episode trying desperately to find a physical representation of his problems so that he can fix them, not realizing that he can’t because the problem is within himself.”
Similarly, Donna Bowman of the A.V. Club recognizes the power of these quiet revelations: "These moments, so small yet so unafraid of profundity, are why I adore Breaking Bad, why the shorthand of comparing it to a chess game of plot misses what makes it television‘s finest drama. Nothing could thrill me more than watching Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul trade existential barbs deep in the night."
Through painful admissions to Jesse, Walt demonstrates he yearns for redemption from his pride-driven decisions. Yet viewers realize Walt likely passed the point-of-no-return regarding mending family ties. Like focusing on the trivial fly, obsessing over impossible scenarios of reversing time distracts Walt from confronting his guilt. The fly symbolizes the repetitious, pestering thoughts keeping Walt from emotional clarity and self-acceptance.
Directing Techniques Enhancing Walt‘s Disturbed Psychology
On a technical level, director Rian Johnson amplifies the psychological intensity of "Fly" through calculated filmmaking choices. As Walt descends further into a hyper-focused mania, Johnson relies on structural elements portraying his disjointed state of mind. Extreme close-up shots linger on Walt‘s face dripping sweat, bloodshot eyes protruding as red lines fill his corneas. The erratic motion of the fly matches Walt‘s darting eyes. Shallow depths-of-field capture Walt‘s tunnel vision literally and symbolically. Dynamic contrast lighting casts shadows over Walt‘s face as his morally gray persona becomes clearer to audiences. The set itself feels like an abstract void rather than a physical space.
Johnson explains his eyed approach: "My thought was to really dive into the microscopic world of Walter White‘s brain [during] the most intense point of his obsession with killing this fly." By magnifying Walt‘s deranged consciousness through directing choices, Johnson takes viewers inside his disturbing headspace teeming with denial. The episode bottle structure combined with concentrated visual detail make it an unforgettable character showcase.
Critics praise Johnson‘s articulate lens work enhancing Walt‘s emotional decay. Matt Zoller Seitz applauds the purposeful aura formed: “The light has a sickly fluorescent quality, as if we’re seeing the world through the fog of Walt’s madness,” he analyzes. Through cinematic flair, “Fly” creates an almost Lynchian atmosphere where Walt confronts his splintering sanity.
The Inescapable Truth Finally Articulated
As Walt persists in futile efforts to capture the fly came and absolve himself of guilt, the pretenses shatter. Walt finally articulates an elusive truth when Jesse demands to know what trauma happened to Jane, his deceased girlfriend. Sputtering with rare honesty, Walt admits: "I watched her overdose and choke to death. I could have saved her. But I didn‘t." This realization crumbles all justifications Walt clung to about his trespasses being for the greater purpose of providing for his family. As he accepts: "I alone should suffer the consequences of those choices, no one else."
Walt thought letting Jane die would scare Jesse straight, preventing further distractions from their business. But as critic Myles McNutt observes, "[Walt] pretends it‘s about looking out for Jesse, but he can‘t hide from the truth: he didn‘t save Jane because he didn‘t want to lose Jesse, even if losing Jane lost a piece of Jesse anyway." His willful inaction directly contradicts excuses for endangering Skyler and Walter Jr. through his crimes. Walt implicitly acknowledges everything was fundamentally self-serving, despite posturing as a family-first martyr. Right when Walt seemingly catches the fly and could cease his compulsive pursuit of control, he sets it free – aware that absolving himself of sin so simply is impossible.
By shedding light on Walt‘s buried admission about Jane, "Fly" coaxes forth a profound revelation from his subconscious. His destructive pride prevented taking responsibility. But cornered by guilt in a delirious state, Walt‘s evasive inner monologue becomes outer dialogue. The episode provides audiences priceless understanding of Walt‘s tangled rationalizations.
Final Scene Denouement- Longing for Purity
In the final scene quietly resonating, Jesse extended an olive branch to Walt after their intense exchange over Jane‘s death. Walt is surprised by Jesse’s forgiveness but also knows each shares blame in the other’s suffering. The two willful personalities forged an unlikely bond through trauma. Jesse falls asleep watching a movie, at peace due to showing grace. Walt yearns to join Jesse experiencing that purity of the moment but chooses to finish his work. This painful image crystallizes Walt‘s Icarus predicament – he flew too close to the sun by tasting power. Now Walt accepts the burn of isolation as penance, separated from those granting him love out of continued loyalty. Critics highlight this conclusion as a gutting exemplar of Breaking Bad‘s emotional storytelling.
Overall, "Fly" stunned audiences by daring to pause the bullet train momentum of Breaking Bad and magnify the anguish of one man‘s corridors of the mind. The episode draws acclaim by manifesting abstract concepts like guilt into palpable drama. Cinematically gazing into Walt‘s instability exposes his denial, hubris, and self-imposed alienation. Via an ostensibly simple premise involving the stubborn buzz of an insect, Gilligan and Johnson probe the humanity and complexity of a seemingly inhuman monster. The sheer ambition of "Fly‘‘ in aesthetically capturing mental dissolution pays deep dividends in understanding Breaking Bad’s brooding antihero. Through innovative television, Vince Gilligan exposes that the capacity for horrific acts lives inside anyone, given the right chemistry.
Critical Reception and Acclaim
Beyond captivating audiences, "Fly" dazzled critics as a visually poetic, thematically rich hour of television. Breaking Bad historically drew praise for its tension-filled plotting. But "Fly" broke the mold by explicitly confronting Walt‘s repressed emotions. Many critics highlight "Fly" as a masterclass in moving character-based drama.
Emily VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club applauds the daring deviation from expectation: "‘Fly‘ is not what most Breaking Bad episodes are like. It‘s also BRILLIANT. Vince Gilligan is letting us know just what he can do on this show…Television needs more bottle episodes as good as this one." She praises the laser focus on psyche over narrative momentum or action.
Likewise, Alan Sepinwall of Hitfix lauds the experiment as a new trick in Gilligan‘s creative arsenal: “When you take chances, the results may vary wildly, but they‘re usually going to be more interesting than when you just toe the line. ‘Fly‘ was so palpably interested in experimentation, in seeing what the show and its characters could do.” For Sepinwall, the risk paid off beautifully in exposing new dimensions.
Critically, “Fly” holds an all-time 96 rating on Metacritic, certifying it as “universal acclaim” alongside Breaking Bad’s most iconic episodes. On Rotten Tomatoes, “Fly” boasts a perfect 100 rating. Critics champion “Fly” not for advancing the plot, but for unearthing the roots of Walt’s twisted psyche.
By quoting esteemed perspectives on “Fly” elevating Walt’s emotional complexity, we recognize why the episode inscription remains indeleble in television history. More than a digressional fluke, “Fly” shows that sometimes character enrichment carries equal importance to plot – a lesson creative minds should never forget.
The Legacy of "Fly"
Over a decade later, "Fly" endures as a cultural landmark for television risk-taking, visually poetic directing, and revealing the fractured soul of an iconic yet destructive character. While Walt‘s body eventually died in the Breaking Bad finale, "Fly" killed any delusions in Walt about his absolute power and control. Each time fans revisit the delirious episode, the buzzing reminds us of Walt‘s inability to confront the darkness poisoning his spirit. Through experimental storytelling, "Fly" ultimately extracted the human center from a monstrous shell.