Dead Freight
"Dead Freight" | |
---|---|
Breaking Bad episode | |
Episode no. | Season 5 Episode 5 |
Directed by | George Mastras |
Written by | George Mastras |
Cinematography by | Michael Slovis |
Editing by | Skip Macdonald |
Original air date | August 12, 2012 |
Running time | 48 minutes |
Guest appearances | |
| |
"Dead Freight" is the fifth episode of the fifth season of the American television drama series Breaking Bad, and the 51st overall episode of the series. Written and directed by George Mastras, it originally aired on AMC in the United States on August 12, 2012.
Plot
A young boy, Drew Sharp, is seen riding on his
Although exonerated, Lydia is now useless to the trio, as all of the barrels in her warehouse are compromised. Desperate to avoid being killed, Lydia tries to prove her worth by asserting that she can access an "ocean" of methylamine, suggesting that the trio could heist a tremendous amount of methylamine from a transiting train. At first, the trio is skeptical, but with Jesse's motivation, they come up with a plan to stall the train in a
Meanwhile, Walter White Jr. returns to the White home, insisting that he will not leave until Walt and Skyler tell him what is happening between them. Walt orders Walt Jr. to return to Hank and Marie Schrader's home. Skyler informs Walt that she has decided to keep his secrets and continue laundering his money so long as their children remain away from them. Walt assures that there is no danger to them, though Skyler has made up her mind, believing that one day, someone will arrive at their home with the intent of harming them. Walt agrees to keep the children away from their home.
On the day of the heist, Walt's crew manages to stop the train by blocking a
Production
"Dead Freight" was written and directed by George Mastras, making his directorial debut on the series. Mastras revealed that the episode was logistically complicated to film because many cameras were needed to capture the lengthy train heist sequence. On the first day of filming the sequence, the train broke down. According to Vince Gilligan, the sequence took four days to shoot.
The episode was originally titled "Dark Territory," but was changed to avoid confusion with the film Under Siege 2: Dark Territory. Coincidentally, that film also features actor Jonathan Banks. Mastras explains that "dead freight" refers to wasted space on a vessel that has been paid for in full.[1]
Reception
Ratings
"Dead Freight" was watched by 2.48 million viewers and received a 1.3
Critical reception
Donna Bowman of The A.V. Club rated it as an A−. Though she criticized the material with Skyler and Walt Jr., calling it "clumsily functional", she stated that "this weak patch is more than made up for by the tremendous extended heist sequence and its tragic culmination, which is both well-conceived and perfectly shot."[3] Seth Amitin of IGN rated the episode with a 10 out of 10, calling it "beautifully crafted" and "excellently executed".[4] Alan Sepinwall of HitFix called "Dead Freight" a "great episode", stating: "So much fun, and then such a devastating but not unfair gut punch at the end."[5] Sean T. Collins of Rolling Stone called the episode "harrowing, heartbreaking, magnificent television".[6]
This episode was nominated for four
TV Guide's 65 Best Episodes of the 21st Century listed "Dead Freight" as just outside the top 10, but was mentioned as three alternate choices for that distinction.[8]
In 2019, The Ringer ranked "Dead Freight" as the 18th best out of the 62 total Breaking Bad episodes.[9]
References
- ^ Dixon, Kelley (30 September 2013). "Breaking Bad Insider Podcast" (Podcast). iTunes. Archived from the original on 25 December 2013. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
- ^ Kondolojy, Amanda (August 14, 2012). "Sunday Cable Ratings: 'The Walking Dead,' 'Hell On Wheels' Lead AMC + 'Boardwalk Empire,' 'Homeland,' 'Dexter' & More". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on August 16, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
- ^ Bowman, Donna (August 12, 2012). "Dead Freight". The A.V. Club. The Onion, Inc. Archived from the original on August 15, 2012. Retrieved August 13, 2012.
- ^ Amitin, Seth (August 12, 2012). "Breaking Bad: "Dead Freight" Review". IGN. Archived from the original on August 15, 2012. Retrieved August 13, 2012.
- ^ Sepinwall, Alan (August 12, 2012). "Review: 'Breaking Bad' – 'Dead Freight': The train job". HitFix. Archived from the original on August 14, 2012. Retrieved August 13, 2012.
- ^ Collins, Sean, T. (August 12, 2012). "'Breaking Bad' Recap: Trainwreck". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on August 17, 2012. Retrieved August 19, 2012.
{{cite magazine}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Breaking Bad". emmys.com. Archived from the original on March 28, 2016. Retrieved September 17, 2013.
- ^ Roush, Matt; Holbrook, Damian; D'Arminio, Aubry; Hahn, Kate (April 2–15, 2018). "The 65 Best Episodes of the 21st Century". TV Guide. No. #3429–3440. pp. 17–30.
- ^ Ben Lindbergh (September 30, 2019). "The Ringer's Definitive 'Breaking Bad' Episodes Ranking". The Ringer. Archived from the original on October 30, 2020. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
External links
- "Dead Freight" at the official Breaking Bad site
- "Dead Freight" at IMDb