Open House (Breaking Bad)

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"Open House"
Fever Ray
Cinematography byMichael Slovis
Editing bySkip Macdonald
Original air dateJuly 31, 2011 (2011-07-31)
Running time46 minutes
Guest appearances
  • Nigel Gibbs as
    Tim Roberts
  • Jennifer Hasty as Stephanie Doswell
  • Patrick Kuby
  • Jeremy Howard as Sketchy
  • Bogdan Wolynetz
  • Huell Babineaux
  • Ray Campbell as
    Tyrus Kitt
Episode chronology
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"Thirty-Eight Snub" 		Next →
"Bullet Points"
Breaking Bad season 4
List of episodes

"Open House" is the third episode of the

Gale. Meanwhile, Marie starts stealing to cope with the difficult recovery of her husband Hank
, who is asked to offer his advice regarding Gale's murder investigation.

The episode was written by Sam Catlin and directed by filmmaker David Slade, marking his first time directing for television. It featured guest appearances by Nigel Gibbs and stand-up comedian Bill Burr, the latter of whom specifically sought to appear on the show. Marie's return to the kleptomania she demonstrated in the first season was conceived early during brainstorming sessions for the third season.

Breaking Bad music supervisor

Nielsen rating
among adults between the ages of 18 and 49.

Plot

Patrick Kuby pretend to be an EPA
representative who is shutting down the business out of concern over contaminants. Bogdan begrudgingly sells to her, even agreeing to a lower price than her original offer.

Jesse is still feeling numb from recent events and attempts to clear his head with nostalgic go-kart trips. He continues to open his house for all-night drug-fueled orgies, and deliberately throws piles of money in the midst of the chaos.

Angry and frustrated by

Gale
's lab notes. Hank initially shoves the notebook away but begins to read it later that night.

Production

Sam Catlin wrote the episode.

"Open House" was written by Sam Catlin and directed by David Slade, marking his first time directing for television.[1] Slade was a fan of Breaking Bad and sought to direct an episode of the show.[2] Filmed in February 2011,[3] the episode was edited by Skip Macdonald, one of a handful of editors who have regularly worked on the series.[4] Nigel Gibbs reprised his role as detective Tim Roberts, whom he portrayed in the second season episode "Grilled".[5] Stand-up comedian Bill Burr made a guest appearance as the man who poses as an environmental inspector for Skyler. Burr was cast after he expressed interest in appearing on the show to Breaking Bad extras casting directors Sharon Bialy and Sherry Thomas. Series creator Vince Gilligan said, "We just waste so much time here in the writer's room by getting on YouTube and watching some of his routines."[6] Stand-up comedian Lavell Crawford reprised his recurring role as Huell, Saul's bodyguard, and Jennifer Hasty also made a guest appearance as Stephanie Doswell, the realtor who exposes Marie's thefts.[7]

The concept of Gus installing a surveillance camera into the meth lab stemmed from the idea of Walter and Gus employing what Gilligan called "brinkmanship and gamesmanship" against each other after their falling out at the end of the

35 mm film.[9] The episode features a subplot with Marie engaging in acts of kleptomania, which had been a major part of her character during the first season. Catlin said it was conceived early on that Marie would act this way while brainstorming the ideas for Marie coping with Hank's difficult recovery.[10] Gilligan described Marie's acts of stealing as a respite for her: "She's looking for another life, but she's not actively ready to leave her husband or anything like that. ... We liked the quirkiness of it."[11] Betsy Brandt said "Open House" was her favorite episode of the season to shoot.[2]

The idea of Jesse riding go-karts by himself to relax was inspired by Aaron Paul and other crew members who often went kart racing between the filming of Breaking Bad episodes in Albuquerque, New Mexico.[12] During one of the party scenes at Jesse's house, Jesse keeps throwing crumpled dollar bills at the mouth of a sleeping man wearing a dress shirt and tie with no pants until he finally gets one inside his mouth. Catlin thought of the idea,[13] and it was property master Trina Siopy actually throwing the bills off-screen; she got one into the actor's mouth on her second try.[14] The scenes in Jesse's house were shot on a set in a sound stage built by production designer Mark Freeborn and construction coordinator William Gilpin. Although scenes in Jesse's house are occasionally filmed in an actual house, these particular scenes could not be shot there because the party was so messy.[15]

Fever Ray
(pictured) was featured in "Open House".

The party scenes sought to illustrate Jesse's internal guilt and self-hatred for having murdered

Fever Ray which was used during a sequence of scenes before and during Jesse's party. Golubić said he liked the "muted loud sort of feel" of the song, which he felt matched Jesse's frame of mind and the "full, heavy darkness" of the party.[18] It was chosen by a vote among the writers among four possible songs.[19]

Reception

Ratings

"Open House" aired on Sunday, July 31, 2011 on AMC.[20] The episode was viewed by an estimated 1.714 million viewers and received a 0.7 Nielsen rating among adults between the ages of 18 and 49.[20] This means that it was seen by 0.7% of all 18- to 49-year-olds watching television at the time of the broadcast.[20] The episode was the 22nd highest-rated program on the day it aired.[20]

Reviews

Alan Sepinwall of HitFix said he was particularly interested in the Marie and Jesse characters this episode, and called it a credit to the show's evolution that the supporting cast subplots can be so interesting without Walt. He also praised David Slade's direction, particularly during the jumpshots in Jesse's scenes.[21] Seth Amitin of IGN called it a "great episode" and an improvement over the previous two, "Box Cutter" and "Thirty-Eight Snub". He praised the way Skyler's character proved herself to both Walter and Saul, and praised Betsy Brandt's performance, claiming her subplot provided much-needed comic relief and reminded him of the works of David Sedaris.[22] Entertainment Weekly writer Melissa Maerz praised the development of Skyler's character and said the episode touched upon a common theme in Breaking Bad about masculinity. With Skyler asserting herself in Walter's work, and Hank taking out his insecurities about being disabled on Marie, Maerz said the script raises the question, "What does it mean to be a strong man?"[23] Los Angeles Times writer Emily St. James called it "one of the best episodes this show has ever done", despite diverting the attention from Walter to the support cast members. St. James said the episode well demonstrated how Walter's actions affected others around him and said Marie's character was more interesting than in the past.[24]

Matt Richenthal of TV Fanatic complimented the performances by Betsy Brandt and Aaron Paul, and said of the latter, "Seriously, does any actor on TV convey more by saying less than Aaron Paul?" He also compared Skyler's increasingly calculated approach to Walter's drug dealing to Gus' personality.[25] New York magazine writer Logan Hill praised Brandt's performance and said it was interesting to see an episode so focused on Skyler and Marie on a show usually dominated by the male characters. However, he said Skyler's transformation from concerned wife to competent criminal partner felt too sudden.[26] Not all reviews were positive. Slate writers June Thomas and Jessica Grose both enjoyed Marie in "Open House", but both felt the scenes at Jesse's house were too over-the-top and that Skyler's concerns about Walter's safety seemed out of character.[27]

In 2019 The Ringer ranked "Open House" 50th out of the 62 total Breaking Bad episodes.[28]

References

Notes

  1. ^ Cranston, Bryan, 3:13–3:17
  2. ^ a b Cheever, Emily (August 2, 2011). "Interview: Betsy Brandt ('Breaking Bad')". Ology. Archived from the original on November 23, 2011. Retrieved October 10, 2011.
  3. ^ Cranston, Bryan, 2:35–2:39
  4. ^ Dixon, Kelley, 6:00–6:15
  5. ^ Gilligan, Vince, 32:30–33:33
  6. ^ Gilligan, Vince, 16:24–16:59
  7. ^ Maurer, Mark (July 31, 2011). "'Breaking Bad' season 4, episode 3 recap, 'Open House': Marie steals again". The Star-Ledger. Archived from the original on December 30, 2011. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
  8. ^ Gilligan, Vince, 5:20–5:35
  9. ^ Gilligan, Vince, 7:17–7:50
  10. ^ Catlin, Sam, 9:01–9:28
  11. ^ VanDerWerff, Emily (October 10, 2011). "Vince Gilligan walks us through season four of Breaking Bad (part 1 of 4)". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on October 12, 2011. Retrieved October 10, 2011.
  12. ^ Catlin, Sam, 18:57–19:08
  13. ^ Gilligan, Vince, 27:33–27:58
  14. ^ Catlin, Sam, 28:13–28:53
  15. ^ Gilligan, Vince, 31:04–31:52
  16. ^ Cranston, Bryan, 21:47–22:00
  17. ^ Golubic, Thomas, 23:32–24:45
  18. ^ Golubic, Thomas, 25:37–26:10
  19. ^ Gilligan, Vince, 24:55–25:19
  20. ^ a b c d Seidman, Robert. "Sunday Cable Ratings: 'True Blood,' Shark Week , 'Falling Skies,' 'In Plain Sight,' 'Breaking Bad,' 'Leverage,' & Much More". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on September 10, 2011. Retrieved February 29, 2012.
  21. ^ Sepinwall, Alan (July 31, 2011). "Review: 'Breaking Bad' – 'Open House': Makin' it rain". HitFix. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
  22. ^ Amitin, Seth (July 31, 2011). "Breaking Bad: 'Open House' Review". IGN. Archived from the original on November 11, 2011. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
  23. ^ Maerz, Marie (August 1, 2011). "'Breaking Bad' recap: The Good Wife". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on October 12, 2011. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
  24. ^ VanDerWerff, Emily (August 1, 2011). "'Breaking Bad' recap: Trapped by the eye". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 13, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2011.
  25. ^ Richenthal, Matt (July 31, 2011). "Breaking Bad Review: Welcome to Waltergate". TV Fanatic. Archived from the original on November 5, 2011. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
  26. ^ Hill, Logan (August 1, 2011). "Breaking Bad Recap: Ladies' Night". New York. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
  27. ^ Grose, Jessica; Thomas, June (July 31, 2011). "Breaking Bad, Season 4, Episode 3: "Open House"". Slate. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
  28. ^ Katie Baker (September 30, 2019). "The Ringer's Definitive 'Breaking Bad' Episodes Ranking". The Ringer.

Bibliography

  • Cranston, Bryan (August 2, 2011). Breaking Bad Insider 403 (Podcast). Breaking Bad Insider Podcast.
  • Catlin, Sam (August 2, 2011). Breaking Bad Insider 403 (Podcast). Breaking Bad Insider Podcast.
  • Dixon, Kelley (August 2, 2011). Breaking Bad Insider 403 (Podcast). Breaking Bad Insider Podcast.
  • Gilligan, Vince (August 2, 2011). Breaking Bad Insider 403 (Podcast). Breaking Bad Insider Podcast.
  • Golubic, Thomas (August 2, 2011). Breaking Bad Insider 403 (Podcast). Breaking Bad Insider Podcast.

External links

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