This is a series of change for Breaking Bad, Skyler knows Walt's secret, The R.V. is gone, replaced by an underground meth superlab, Walt and Jesse work for Gus, a serious player with cartel connections, and must answer to him and Mike, his right hand man. In the start of the series Walt is, unbeknownst to him, being pursued by Tuco's cousins, who say very little and still steal damn near every scene they're in with just how badass and scary they are, this culminates in a hugely traumatic event. Then the rest of the series sees Walt and Jesse adapt to their new job, with Jesse gaining something of a family of his own along the way, leading to a discovery that leads to him and Walt getting on the wrong side of Gus setting in motion the events of the next series.
The writing and episodes are stronger than ever, with each one having something fantastic going for it, from the scary tense opening half of the series with the cousins to the calculated strikes by Gus in the latter half making this one of the best and most unpredictable shows on TV. My favourite episode this series is episode 10 "Fly" where Walt and Jesse try and kill a fly that has found its way into the meth lab, this leads to a lot of emotional development for the two, with Walt nearly revealing what he knows about Jane's death.
Walt: As the series begins Walt has lost his family, Skyler knows what he is and what he does and wants a divorce, as such he has no more reason to cook meth, not even an offer of $3 million can convince him, until Gus convinces him by telling him that a man provides for his family no matter what. From there he starts to get cocky, not realising that to Gus he is nothing, and overestimating how much he can get away with, leading to the truly tense cliffhanger at the series end.
Jesse: Jesse falls further than previous series here, as much as he has gotten clean, in his new clearer mind, and with the loss of Jane he goes to dark places, trying to sell meth to recovering addicts at his NA meetings and seriously contemplating the murder of the two responsible for the death of Combo in series 2. Ultimately ending in his carrying out the titular Full Measure in the final episode.
Skyler: Skyler has changed a lot this series, she knows about Walt's criminal activities and becomes involved against her will, making sure he doesn't mess everything up and ruin all their lives. She also wants Walt out of their lives, and will do anything to hurt him, including sleeping with Ted Beneke then visciously telling Walt.
Hank: This is a big series for Hank, the trauma from Tuco and El Passo still inside he starts to go off the deep end and following an incident with Jesse he is suspended from the DEA, then is attacked by the cousins and becomes temporarily paralysed as a result. However before this he starts to get leads in his search for the elusive Heisenberg, leading to the loss of the R.V. in a weirdly devastating scene.
Gus (Giancarlo Esposito): Gus is calm and in control at all times, he knows how to manipulate people and you can always sense a menace beneath his cool exterior. He has children, and though we don't see them, this makes him a lot like Walt in many ways, which is no doubt a deliberate thing to highlight the differences by making them more noticeable against the similarities.
Saul: Saul plays further comic relief whilst also being the voice of reason on many occasions, helping Walt and Jesse to launder their money, he also overestimates how much danger he is personally in, which adds to his comedy.
Mike (Jonathan Banks): Mike is a badass, he is Gus' most trusted confidant and knows the criminal world like the back of his hand. He is often a voice of reason, and always knows how to handle any situation. He also has a young granddaughter who we see him with a few times, which gives him a far more human edge.
Walter Jr.: In this series Walter Jr. starts to lash out against his mother for how unreasonable he feels she is about Walt due to his ignorance of Walt's actions. He still provides several good emotional scenes.
Marie: Marie gets a bit of a step up this series, her comic relief is toned down somewhat following Hank's shooting and she gets some really good emotion out of it all.
To sum up, Breaking Bad's third series just shows how it keeps improving all the time.
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