It does always baffle me that a considerable amount of the fans watch Breaking Bad just for the badass speeches and action scenes that happen a handful of times per season. Of course that stuff is beyond amazing, but the character work overflows in every episode and is continuously rewarding to dig into, while not being particularly difficult to grasp. Fly really is the great divider for the audience.

Absolutely, this is a view into Walter White's mind that we never see again, and it reveals so much about his regrets and fears and self-hatred. That alone is why it is essential.

One of my favorites episodes. I think a lot of people don't like this episode because they take it too literally, they're like "just 45 minutes of Walt and Jesse trying to kill a fly, so boring" and blind themselves to what lays behind, and not even that behind, I mean, Walter's monologue is pretty straight forward.

Outside of all the brilliant symbolic contextual depth you dived into here. Just the way the Fly episode ends with Walter in his bed staring up at the fly as if it's haunting him is one of the most weirdly ominous scenes I've ever seen. It always leaves me with chills and left me with the impression when I first watched it that the fly being there somehow was telling me that things weren't gonna get any better for Walter from that point onwards.

The first time I saw "Fly", my initial thoughts were- this episode will lead to something extremely serious by the end of the runtime or follow up on the next ep, and the entire drugged monologue of Walt had me anticipating the admission of Walt having killed Jane to Jesse by the end, willingly and from guilt- leading to a horribly tense standoff or fight between the two (again). But by the end, I realised that the ep actually was a metaphor for Walt's lust for control and the lengths to which he is willing to go while burying all he has done as "collateral damage" in the back of his mind- simple and brilliant!

It's also important to remember what "Breaking Bad" has as its central tenet: You can do bad things but eventually the consequences of those things will spiral out of your control and get you. The consequences of Walt's bad actions have grown out of his control and contaminated his life (they hurt Jesse, they drove his wife away, etc.) and there's nothing he can do about it, just as he cannot control the fly getting in his lab and contaminating it and there's nothing he seems to be able to do about it. Note also that it is not Walt but Jesse who kills the fly in the end.

Thank you so much for this analysis. I always found it baffling, somewhat infuriating, and at the same time saddened by people's opinions about this episode, the dismissal, and mislabelling it as filler, while it is in reality the deepest cut into Walt's psychology and BB's themes of power and obsession we ever got from the show (in a concentrated single episode format). It's personally in my top 5 and while pragmatically I could imagine the show working without it, its existence also elevates the introspection of Breaking Bad so much that it would be incredibly unfortunate if we never got it, or for someone to miss out on it for any reason.

I like to think the fly symbolizes Walt's conscience. It bothers him more and more until he finally breaks and opens up to jesse about how he really feels, immediately after which the fly is killed. He finally got it off his chest. But at the end of the episode he's haunted by another fly sitting on his smoke detector as it flashes. That nagging feeling of guilt is still there to keep him up at night. Edit: oh you said it better than I. Watch the whole video before you comment, kids

This is the episode where it really kinda went arthouse in the best way possible. And it's SO VITAL to the story. Brings Season 2 full circle.

Better Call Saul is filled with episodes like the Fly, which is why I think the series as a whole feels like a better character story

This episode is at the exact half-way point of the series, which I feel was intentional. It also happens right before Walt starts to fully embrace his Heisenberg persona, before things with Jesse get worse and worse, before he starts to have to take out Gus. I always viewed this episode as the last we really see of Walter White's goodness, the part of him that wants to turn back, but he can't help himself as sliding into the much more destructive second half of the series. A quite reflection of a man on a destructive path, seeing in retrospective what would've been the best time to stop all of this, but knowing he'd have never turned away and still won't. Guilty with what he did (or rather, didn't do) with Jane, wanting to confess to Jesse. We're seeing Walter at his most honest and vulnerable, his consciousness eating away at him, and focusing all of that onto a fly he obsesses over in his "perfect lab". It's one of my favorites, I honestly think people who hate this episode are missing out as that tells me they aren't really caring about or looking too deep into the characters, which I'd argue is one of the best things about the show.

Fly is a litmus test for taste. If someone says it's bad, you know not to trust their taste in media. 10/10 episode.

In this episode Walter was totally out of character. Why would a genius chemist attempt to catch a fly, when he could simply take a dump in a bucket, and wait for the fly to get in the bucket? That would be like a magnet to the fly. Yeah magnets! Science b*tch!!

This is such a breath of fresh air compared to all the revisionism that's been popular for a while, that just paints Walt as some one dimensional villain who just ruins everyone's life for no reason. Instead of a complex character with a lot of depth. I've always held the belief that Walt actually felt guilt and remorse, but was also firm in his commitments. He never stopped caring about his family or those close to him, as the series goes on though he distances himself from them for their own sake over his. A notable example being where Walt tells Skyler he only did what he did, for the money and the control, which is a total lie he tells her so that when he dies she won't feel as much pain. Walt is such a beautiful character in a lot of subtle ways people obviously miss. This is a top tier analysis, something the BB community is lacking.

I liked this episode, at first I thought it was humorous, then it got deep with Walt’s confessions, then it got ominous at the end. Several friends of mine also thought it was ‘filler’, but I pointed out that this show never seems to have ‘filler’, so why now? Moreover, how can one fly, be such a terrible “contaminate” in such a large & fancy lab? Walter’s crazed obsession with killing it, underscored his own secret anxieties, (as you have illustrated), & this show never did anything without a reason….(as you pointed out, this episode was a pivotable moment, in the overall plot)..”

And actually this episode is given a whole new layer of haunting depth after the final Better Call Saul season.

This episode is a genuine masterpiece. Not for everyone and some will consider it boring, but for those who appreciate this, it's gold.

This was the first episode I ever saw of the show when I was a kid, and I even at the age of 14 I was instantly hooked. And still to this day I think it might be my favourite episode. It’s just so unique!

The "hush little baby" clip along with his monologue in the episode is so haunting.

Breaking bad is so much more than what it's presented as. It's not just a thrilling drama. It has humor, sadness, action, fright, basically covers all genres. Also, every character is so in depth. You really get to know who they are, for better or worse.

The flashback in BCS showing Saul and Walter locked up together is another glimpse into Walters obsessiveness and need to control. He focuses on a minor, ignorable issue. He feels like he needs to deal with it, and just won’t stop obsessing. And when he’s in a situation where he has nothing to control, he will hyperfixate on that one thing he feels the need to conquer

The fly episode is actually quite deep, Jesse killing the fly symbolises him overcoming the grief of Jane's death. Walter reveals his true feelings about how he wanted to die providing for his family, that he feels guilt for not saving Jane and it answers why he felt angry about his cancer going into remission.

I feel that waiting a week to see an episode is really a key factor In peoples dislike for this episode especially in a season which had a lot of action and suspense to have a an episode which did not move the plot along and was different in style aswell is a shock, but after watching the full show and coming back to the episode it’s a super interesting episode to watch, quite haunting given what happens by the end of the show

I freaking love your videos, dude. Seriously, the type of content that you create is so very unique, considering todays standards for KZfaq. Every one of your videos is made carefully and masterfully, so please do keep up with the good job, it's one of the only youtube channels that entertain me for real, besides making content about stuff i like and adding different points of view to it.

I remember my little brother saying he hated this episode and after i told him all the reasons i loved it (Mr White's journey into Heisenberg is a subtle 1 but in the fly you can see both sides wrestling with 1 another and the suspense i felt worrying about him confessing to Jesse about Jane ) anyway after we talked and he watched it again he told me he was wrong and now he loved it lol Great video

Bottle episodes may tend to be made to save budget, but they really can work wonders if used well. Like the Dr. Who episode Midnight, which shows The Doctor’s curiosity and excitement for discovery almost lead to his own death due to perfectly reasonably paranoia from those around him

The final episode of BCS shed some light once more into these obsessive aspects of Walter White, as well as his regrets. Props to anyone who understood the clock scene in the final episode.

People miss the point of this episode more than Walt misses hitting the fly.

This episode is truly a work of art, one of the greatest episodes of breaking bad for me

One of the best and most unfairly maligned episodes ever

I never knew that this episode was considered controversial, but the fandom around this show attracts is very passionate and opinionated. It also attracts trolls and toxicity, so I suppose any of these reasons could explain the complaints. I think the show needed to take a minute and breathe before VG and co started again on what would be another tear down to what would we eventually be the home stretch of the show. That’s how the show’s bottle episodes worked; they were moments to take stock, catch up, do some character work, and get the audience on the same page with the characters. Most of Fly is exasperating to watch because it’s supposed to be. We’re in Walter’s head for a while, going in circles with him, realizing what it feels like when he turns inward and how torturous it feels to be WW. This is what he’s running away from, and why escaping into Heisenberg is the choice he makes again and again-because the option of facing himself has become so terrible. He won’t let go of his guilt; he can’t tell Jesse that he actually was responsible for Jane’s death, so he’s stuck. The only answer is to keep moving forward and to keep running away from these things that he’s done. There is some suspense in this episode; will Walt slip up? He doesn’t. He comes close. But OTC sleeping pills aren’t pharma grade pre-op meds, and Walt doesn’t make the same mistake he did with Skyler and the phone. Maybe he’s also clamped down tighter on the inside, too. There’s a lot in this episode if you actually want to find it. Now that Better Call Saul is over, I just rewatched BB and El Camino (to I reckon a lot of people are doing this) and I honestly forgot how punishing the pace of BB can be. Episodes like this are necessary; they also feel like precursors to the more nuanced vibe of BCS, which I just love.

To anyone who didn't connect with Fly - if it's been a while since you last saw it, watch it again with this analysis in mind, and with an open mind. If you just recently saw it, wait a year or two and revisit it to see how you feel once your tastes mature and evolve. I hated this episode 5 years ago, now it's one of my favourite pieces of art :)

What I always noticed was Walt always says something more true than what is happening at the moment when ever he gets tired out. The 2 phones thing, getting stuck on desert and this sleeping pills scene. Especially when Jesse is around he can't help himself but to show his remorse and his regrets. Jesse is one human he has a hold on that understands and might have pity on him so he let's go of his guards whenever that happens because he feels safe with him. Jesse listens. Heisenberg schemes. Walt tells.

It's so cool to see you still dropping such high level Videos

It’s a good episode showing how Walt is, and also a funny throwback to the ant episode in Malcom in the middle

Amazing video, I always love to see what you have to say next regarding a story, I’ve also been enjoying the vods you posted on your second channel talking about hxh

It is a wonderful peak behind the mental curtain of Walter and metaphorically a little fly bought us the ticket to this performance.

just watched this episode for the first time it was great, will return to all these breaking videos once I finish my first watch through

I'm a simple man, I see The fly episode video and Aleczandxr talking about it and I'll stop whatever tf I'm doing, even if I'm at work, and I am rn.

Definitely enjoy your breaking bad analysis vids man. I'd like to see you make a video on Skyler or Gustavo, if you had anything interesting to add to the conversation surrounding those two.

Thank you!! I maintain this is my favorite episode of breaking bad and my family thinks I’m crazy, can’t wait to watch the rest of the video!

It's episodes like this one that make the show so much more compelling than it otherwise would've been. The show was fantastic for many reasons, but its deep introspective character work was second to none. (Well arguably second to BCS now I suppose)

Walter's monologue here is sublime. I don't know that I've ever seen better acting outside of The Sopranos.

Your Breaking Bad videos are my favourite vids on KZfaq

Honestly one of the most relatable episodes. We’ve all been driven crazy by a fly that we just couldn’t manage to swat.

Yesss, finally another BrBa/BCS video. This episode is so rich in symbolism I don't understand why people call it the worst episode. The scene where Walter is slowly dozing off and holding Jesse up the best he can is so good.

don't know why but I remember watching this episode live when I was a kid around freshman year of highschool and I straight up loved this episode it quickly became one of my favorites.

When the episode that most people consider bad can still be argue'd to be one of the series's strongest episodes, you know you made a good series.

A fantastic analysis that hopefully the haters will watch and it may help them to look at the episode in a different way. Thank you!

Of course this video was amazing as usual, thank you!

All I know is anytime a housefly gets in here I start telling my family we need to eliminate the contaminant.

The first time I saw the episode “Fly” I thought it was a strange episode. However, after finishing the series and watching the episode again, I found it a brilliant episode. It’s a deep dive into Walter White’s mind and seeing how far he has come (and where he will go) really shows. The part I was always impressed about when talking about death and wanting to live longer. Man this is one of the most brilliant written episodes of the series

You always happen to upload Breaking Bad videos when I'm re watching, and I absolutely love it, keep up the great work man!! Been watching your videos since you started and I won't ever stop

Breaking Bad has no filler. Every shot, every line, every sound is added with a distinct purpose that, if taken out, dampens the meaning and impact of the show.

"it's all contaminated". Walter White was talking about his soul

Took me a while after watching the fly for the first time to realise that the fly represents Walter’s guilt over everything he’s done up to that point

Me like the big funni part where Waltuh falls

Skyler's lullaby to Holly over the fly in the cold open is from Phoenix when Walt is watching the nature show about a elephant and her calf. A reminder of the innocent lives Walt's destroyed to get to where he's at now and the fly represents the guilt and skeletons that are following Walt's conscience. There are references to the fly throughout the whole series in the shots & in the music. One of the writers said he wanted the fly to have a "menacing presence". I believe Vince & Rian Johnson were paying homage to the 1986 Jeff Goldblum remake: 'The Fly'. You can't help but think of this episode while watching it. The fly is the reason for Seth's (the protagonist) downfall hence why Walt treats it as if it's so deadly to them. The fly is representation for the morally wrong decisions Walt's made that he can't shake free from. It wakes him up at night in the closing scene. It's to say he was or still partially is a "good man" at least enough to feel remorse. He came from a place of morals before the criminal lifestyle to a certain degree. The fly is out of it's element like Walter himself. The metal reaction vessels in the lab resemble the Telepods from the movie, the lab itself and it's high ceilings resemble it's industrial warehouse-esque set. Seth is careless about the Telepod machine's safety precautions after awhile, I like to think that's reflected when Walt finally says: "it's all contaminated" aside from accepting his fate. Walt even says the fly is not Particularly dangerous to them. And "This fly is a major problem for us it will ruin our batch and we need to destroy it. Failing that... We're Dead". Jesse on top of the ladder could be an analogy for some kind of moral high ground while Walt holds onto it from down below, propping it up. Walt asks Jesse what are the odds that he runs into Jane's father at the bar, which was part of the catalyst for Jane's tragedy kinda like what are the odds of a fly flying into the Telepod with Seth? It reminds me of 0210 when after Walt gets done installing the new water heater Jr burns his hand from the hot water as if even when Walt tries to do good, bad things happen. Literally the theme. Walt says "You want them to miss you, you want their memories of you to be..." good, is what he was thinking. Seth wasn't proud of his work and didn't necessarily want his lover to see what he had turned into... Jesse's opossum rant is referencing the two-sidedness of the characters and his story about the cancer spreading to his aunt's brain and changing her could also be a nod to the movie. Not to mention BB is all about Change, Metamorphosis and Assimilation.

IMO there are no filler episodes in Breaking Bad. Every episode, and I would honestly argue every scene, either moves the plot forward or illustrates character.

BCS Lalo Salamanca was great but Breaking Bad Lalo knew how to perfectly torment Walter White without even saying a single word, just flying around.

Breaking Bad was a spectacle for me when it was new and every episode was a gift. I didn’t have any expectations or opinions inherited from social media, and I didn’t find any episodes disappointing. Better Call Saul was the same except for the outside noise. There was SO much more made of how things were going because of the social media monster. I’m just glad I can block that stuff out and just enjoy it. Some of the best television media ever created.

Man this took me back, been ages since i’ve seen BrBa. Thank you for such an elaborate and great content as always Alec. You should reaaally give The Sopranos and Mad Men a shot, for me personally they are so much better as a character and psychological study of it’s cast. I think they could render out some awesome content as always from you.

I think its more about fear. One episode before he was caught lying to Gus and he understood that he was outsmarted. After that, he began to be obsessive. Obsession caused by fear.

I will simplify it. "Its the elephant in the room:" that gnaws at his subconcious.

I'm not kidding a fly randomly showed up while I was watching this episode and would not leave me the fuck alone

Your videos are Amazing dude

Have in mind that this episode was directed by Rian Johnson, who also directed "Fifty-One" and "Ozymandias."

Spoilers for better call Saul The fact that we now know the bodies of Howard and Lalo were buried underneath the lab the whole time is really freaky and makes any time spent in that location way more eerie all of the sudden

Currently watching this show and recently watched this episode like 2 days ago and I loved it

Its kinda like the episodes in code geass that take place in the school, people say its “filler” when its not as it explores characters, cast, relationships, themes, world building/setting of the story. These sort of episodes are really crucial and good.

Bravissimo Vince!

To me, the fly is kinda like The Raven from Edgar Allan Poe's poem. It's haunting Walt from the inside, bringing out his guilt, regrets and pain. Yet the fly only exists for itself.

This is easily the best episode in the whole show since it’s the only one where Walt says “We need to cook”

This was my favorite episode when I first watched BB. So beautiful.

I interpreted the fly the same as I interpreted the wood rot in Walt’s house, a needless conflict inspired by Walt’s idea of perfection that Walt uses exclusively to avoid others, both obsessed over to avoid Jesse/family

Can't see the lab now without thinking about what's under it.

He was so obsessed with the fly but didn't mind cooking in infested homes later 😁

you also forgot that this episode is the funniest one in the series

I just realized that Walt looking at the Fly at the end of the episode is reminiscent of the exit sign in Better Call Saul. Brilliant stuff from both shows.

You really like your atmospheric Final Fantasy soundtracks. Me too, by the by. They apply themselves to a lot.

Using the sun shot at the end, very smart

Fly Killer Protip: Don't waste time chasing a fly around like a doofus, wait for it to land, spray it with Windex & squish while it's disoriented. Easy peezy

I agree with everything, but the cherry on top of this episode is its humorous moments: when Jesse kills the power to the lab right as Walt is about to kill the fly; Jesse complaining about the pronunciation of opossum sounding too Irish; Jesse not waiting until the count of three to smack Walt with the flyswatter; and of course, all the hijinks of the two of them trying to catch the fly. Breaking Bad really did have it all.

We also learn a lot about the philosophical outlooks of both men. Walt questioning the randomness of the universe, even scientific rationality, and Jesse basically denying the concept of free will.

This fly .. So insightful

that perfect moment

My favorite part was when the fly said "its flying time" and flew all over those guys, trully a moment in the episode.

It's only replaceable if you replace it with peak. It's an awesome episode and the mundane doesn't necessarily have to be boring (and isn't here). It definitely isn't for anyone - some people can't handle creative or quiet storytelling - but that's part of what makes it great.

to be fair this episode was made because of budget cuts. technically its filler with canon elements

Thanks for not being annoying and explaining what breaking bad is in the beginning

Love your content man, been keeping up with you for a good minute now. Question, have you ever thought of watching and doing an analysis/opinion video on the show Peaky Blinders? I think the characters Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy) and Alfie Solomons (Tom Hardy) might be right up your alley. The show just concluded with season 6 and a movie is in the works for it.

Interesting how this approach is (rightfully) praised and lauded in Better Call Saul, which is much more full of this sort of thing. But when Breaking Bad does it, it's suddenly filler because it doesn't have violence, gunfights, explosions, death, etc. Hmmm. Interesting.

Love the use of "Wandering" here, brilliant track.

@Aleczandxr....thank you so much for this. I relate to Walt so very much, tho I have never broken bad to his level of success....but I watched him, I understood him, I envied him. "The Fly" episode was nonetheless, tough for me....perhaps just too painful, too close to getting in touch with the pain of taking such actions. IDK, I'm rambling. But I appreciate anyone who gets Walter White as not all bad, I guess. He initially did things for the right reasons, but it got out of hand....and he found ultimate fulfillment in being a take charge, in control, bad ass. But he suffered, nonetheless. He was not without heart, pain and suffering.

I like watching it after I finish the series it’s weird but it bizarrely feels complete to me idk

"...trapped himself into a path that *terrifies and saddens* him as much as it *thrills* him." BRILLIANT!!

This is the moment when the fly becomes fliesenberg

I was surprised how fast this episode feels when watching it but I never knew it was so controversial but on hindsight it make sense

Does Better Call Saul have a Fly equivalent? I can't think of one quite like this, it's so unique.

My favorite theory is that the fly is in the lab because of the ending of Point and Shoot (not going to spoil it)