Problem Dog

'Breaking Bad' is one of the most popular rated shows on IMDb, is one of those rarities where every season has either been very positively received or near-universally acclaimed critically and where all of my friends have said nothing but great things about.

Very few shows in recent memory had me so hooked from the very start that before the week was over the whole show had been watched, especially when for a lot of shows now airing watching one episode all the way through can be an endeavour. 'Breaking Bad' had that effect on me, and its reputation as one of the best, consistently brilliant and most addictive shows in many years (maybe even ever) is more than deserved in my eyes. Its weakest season is perhaps the first season, understandable as any show's first season is the one where things are still settling.

Actually everything is established remarkably from the very start, but once the writing and characterisation becomes even meatier the show reaches even higher levels.

"Problem Dog" to me was an incredible episode. One of Season 4's better episodes and the best since the season opener "Box Cutter". It boasts some of Jesse's meatiest material up to this point and some of Aaron Paul's best acting in an episode where he achieves a difficult feat in out-shining Bryan Cranston.

Visually, "Problem Dog" is both stylish and beautiful, with photography and editing that are cinematic quality and put a lot of films today to shame, where there are a lot of visually beautiful ones but also some painfully amateurish looking ones. The music always has the appropriate mood, never too intrusive, never too muted.

The writing in "Problem Dog" is a fine example of how to have a lot of style but also to have a lot of substance. The dialogue throughout is thought-provoking and tense, while also have a darkly wicked sense of humour, nail-biting tension and heart-tugging pathos. The story is texturally rich, intimate, tense and layered, with the pace of it consistently deliberate but taut.

Can't say anything bad about the acting. Bryan Cranston is phenomenal as one of the most fascinating anti-heroes, or even of any kind of character, in either film or television. Aaron Paul has never been better, and delivers some of his best acting of the show with Jesse's meatiest material up to this point, and Anna Gunn is affecting. The characters are compelling in their realism, likewise with their chemistry, and the episode is strongly directed.

In conclusion, incredible. Everything works brilliantly, but essentially this is Paul's episode. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Problem Dog has some of the best character developments of any Breaking Bad episode to date.

Absolutely incredible acting from Aaron Paul playing Jesse

Most of the time, when I comment that an episode of a series or a film felt way longer than it really is, I do not mean it as a compliment. However, in the case of Breaking Bad's "Problem Dog", this serves as a tremendous asset as the series has just got great again and this episode gives you tons of scenes to relish.

Commencing with a wonderful scene of Jesse aggressively playing first- person shooters intercut with visions of dead Gale, "Problem Dog" gives you the first hint that this will be Aaron Paul's episode. Paul, who has been in the background of either Bryan Cranston or Giancarlo Esposito for most of the series, gets various opportunities to shine this time around and got to a new apex in terms of acting quality. With that, I don't necessarily mean his admittedly impressive monologue while visiting (not attending) his former twelve-step program, but more the paramountly portrayed inner fluctuation as he stands between Gus and Walt.

Cue Walt, who uses his screen time to burn a brand-new car most people would have to work all their life to pay for and then charges his lawyer Saul with disguising that this happened, for which he receives a bill most people would have to work a whole year to pay for. While Bryan Cranston did well in the scenes he was in, he was far from being this episode's center due to Giancarlo Esposito and Dean Norris showing off their prowess as well. The latter of these two is currently becoming essential to the plot again and created a great cliffhanger with his revelations just the way he did two episodes before "Problem Dog".

There'd be so much more to list on why this episode is one of Breaking Bad's best thus far, but frankly, I'd enjoy it much more to watch it again than writing an overly long review about it.

Another good episode... they're all good, except Fly... but the premise of Hank being suspicious of Gus because Gale had a chicken restaurant cup and is a vegetarian is downright ludicrous.

There should have at least have been initials on it or something, anything to make that stretch thin out. Maybe even one initial or some kind of indication that it could be Gus other than a bag; as one fan pointed out, it's like finding a McDonald's cup and blaming Ronald McDonald...

This is a show about taking long shots, but this one's too long. For that I give one star, but, again... another good episode of a great show.