Walt shaves his head (scene analysis from Ep 106)
Ep 106 (38:37) – Walt sees the effects of chemo (over Dave Porter’s Follicles)
The scene from 37:46-39:48 in Episode 106: “Crazy Handful of Nothin’” starts with the shot of the toilet bowl and ends at the point when Walt turns the clippers on and looks in the mirror. A dialogue-free scene, it’s overflowing with movement, sounds, and expressions. Camera angles help direct the viewer’s response. The viewer feels simultaneously distant and close to Walt. This is the moment when the reality of Walt’s cancer becomes inescapable for both Walt and the viewer.
The loud sound of splashing liquid and the rush of abnormal orange color into translucent water is disturbing. Everyone knows what their own urine looks like, or at least should look like. The sound is not unfamiliar to every human being. But pairing it with the view of this thick, gelatinous, bright-orange liquid is disturbing. It’s clear something is amiss. The camera angle is direct at the toilet. There is nothing else to see, so the viewer is forced to see the color absorb the translucent water until the result looks toxic. From this vantage point, the viewer feels what it would be like to be the person whose body just ejected toxins. The reality of Walt’s disease is setting in, for both him and the viewer. It is one thing to be told, it’s another to see for yourself. The moment ends with a pause, as the rippling movement and sound stops, allowing the weight to sink in.
In the next shot, direct light streams in and illuminates the floor in between the viewer and the door to the bathroom. As Walt moves into view, the viewer’s perspective is somewhat secretive, as if they’re watching Walt, but trying not to be seen (a mirrored action to Walt’s own secretive actions). There’s no direct confrontation about the urine being his, but the series of shots makes that clear to the viewer. The audience takes more of a distant role from this vantage point, not able to see the whole setting, expressions or clues as to Walt’s thoughts or feelings; and therefore, is not able to connect as directly as perhaps the first shot allowed.
The following scene is a series of close ups, with very shallow depth of focus that direct the viewer to the many pill bottles on the counter. At this point, the slow, methodical, and repetitious music begins. It mirrors the repetition of Walt’s hand hovering over the bottle, picking it up, tapping out a pill or two, swallowing and replacing the bottle. The music gains speed and adds more dimension as Walt takes more and more of the pills. Again, the close ups allow Walt’s hand and the pills to become the focal point. The hand could be any hand–the viewer’s, the viewer’s friend or family member. The sheer number of pills should remind the viewer of the fact that during the previous episode, Walt mentioned he didn’t want “to choke down thirty or forty pills a day.” The viewer would logically feel pity for him.
After this point, the rest of scene’s camera angles reflect a more distant interaction with Walt’s actions from the perspective of the viewer.
The close up shot of the bottle with the clear, glass stopper is brilliant. It shows Walt, putting down the last pill bottle, but his image is upside down. It’s a subtle, but intriguing metaphor for Walt’s life being flipped topsy-turvy. It has officially happened (even if the official part concerns more the mental awareness that physical reality going on inside Walt’s body). The clarity of the shot not only makes for an intriguing new way of looking at the event, but also metaphorically states the shift in reality of the series. Everything that will happen concerning Walt’s life and actions will now have the added element of this illness. He will not be able to avoid it.
As Walt looks up (into what the viewer assumes is the mirror) there is harsh side lighting on his face from the left side. It not only re-emphasizes the afternoon lighting from the initial part of the scene, but also serves as a potential metaphor for the dueling nature of Walt’s state of mind (as cliched as this sounds–a dark, obscured side and a lighted and bright side. It would not be too far of a stretch to think that these two lives that he is leading are only going to become more and more distinct as the show progresses. His facial expression is blank, perhaps of exhaustion or mere passivity.
The next moment shows Walt running is hands through his patchy hair. The camera angles change to show sometimes just the back of his head (a place he can’t really see), his hands and his hair, or most of his face and hair. Touching his hair reinforces the reality of its existence or soon-to-be nonexistence. Again, this physical action helps convince both the character and the viewer of the reality of the situation. The hair loss is a physical manifestation of the internal struggle within him. Now the question stands–Is it his physical body at war with itself or his conscience?
The music patterns change as he begins to run his hands through his hair. It picks up and then a high pitched reverberation strikes as he looks straight ahead. The music almost acts as a signal or a sign that something has changed or perhaps an idea has come into his mind. He looks down, as if pondering.
With the final moment, the camera changes angles once again, this time to a low position behind Walt. The viewer can’t see his face or expression, but what can be seen is Walt’s hand reaching for the clippers on the counter. It’s a calm, steady movement that reflects how Walt is resolved to make this change, but the calmness (of both the action and the music) is disturbed by the harsh buzzing of the clippers. The moment pauses like the calm before the storm with just the buzzing to tell the audience what to expect next. — Lindsey H.
Studying Breaking Bad 