"Open House" is the third episode of the fourth season of the American television drama series '' Breaking Bad'', and the 36th overall episode of the series. It originally aired on

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

in the United States on July 31, 2011. In the episode,

Walter Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...

and Skyler advance their plans to buy a car wash as a front organization, while

Jesse Jesse may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jesse (biblical figure), father of David in the Bible. * Jesse (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Jesse (surname), a list of people Music * ''Jesse'' ( ...

holds increasingly darker parties to distract from his guilt for having killed

Gale A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface winds moving at a speed of between 34 and 47 knots (, or ).Marie Marie may refer to: People Name * Marie (given name) * Marie (Japanese given name) * Marie (murder victim), girl who was killed in Florida after being pushed in front of a moving vehicle in 1973 * Marie (died 1759), an enslaved Cree person in Tr ...

starts stealing to cope with the difficult recovery of her husband

Hank Hank is a male given name. It may have been inspired by the Dutch name Henk,The Origins of 10 Nicknam ...

, who is asked to offer his advice regarding Gale's murder investigation. The episode was written by

Sam Catlin Sam Catlin is an American television writer, director, and producer. He is the showrunner of AMC's ''Preacher'', and previously worked as a writer/producer on ''Breaking Bad''. He has been nominated for a Writers Guild of America (WGA) Award for ...

and directed by filmmaker

David Slade David Aldrin Slade (born 26 September 1969) is a British film and television director and actor. His works include the films ''Hard Candy'', ''30 Days of Night'' and '' The Twilight Saga: Eclipse''. Slade is also a director for television, dir ...

, marking his first time directing for television. It featured guest appearances by Nigel Gibbs and stand-up comedian

Bill Burr William Frederick Burr (born June 10, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, filmmaker, and podcaster. He has released multiple stand-up comedy specials, most notably ''Why Do I Do This?'' (2008), ''Let It Go'' (2010), '' You People Are ...

, 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 Thomas Golubić sought to select music for Jesse's party sequences appropriate for the dark tone of the scenes, including the song " If I Had a Heart" by Swedish musician

Fever Ray Karin Elisabeth Dreijer (born 7 April 1975) is a Swedish singer-songwriter and record producer. Dreijer was one half of the electronic music duo the Knife, formed with their brother Olof Dreijer. Dreijer released their debut solo album under ...

. "Open House" was viewed by an estimated 1.714 million viewers and received a 0.7

Nielsen rating Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rati ...

among adults between the ages of 18 and 49. The episode received generally positive reviews.

Plot

furiously notices a motion-detecting surveillance camera that has been installed in the lab. Later that day, Skyler convinces Walt in a meeting with

Saul Saul (; he, , ; , ; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first monarch of the United Kingdom of Israel. His reign, traditionally placed in the late 11th century BCE, supposedly marked the transition of Israel and Judah from a scattered t ...

to buy the car wash by mentioning how Bogdan insulted his manhood. She devises a plan to trick Bogdan into selling by having Saul's

con artist A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have ...

acquaintance

Patrick Kuby Patrick may refer to: * Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name * Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People * Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint *Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick ...

pretend to be an

EPA The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...

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.

is still feeling numb from recent events, attempting to clear his head with nostalgic

go-kart A go-kart, also written as go-cart (often referred to as simply a kart), is a type of sports car, close wheeled car, open-wheel car or quadracycle. Go-karts come in all shapes and forms, from non-motorised models to high-performance racing ...

trips. He continues to open his house up for all-night drug-fueled orgies, deliberately throwing piles of money in the midst of the chaos. Angry and frustrated by

Hank Hank is a male given name. It may have been inspired by the Dutch name Henk,The Origins of 10 Nicknam ...

's continuous cold shoulder,

Marie Marie may refer to: People Name * Marie (given name) * Marie (Japanese given name) * Marie (murder victim), girl who was killed in Florida after being pushed in front of a moving vehicle in 1973 * Marie (died 1759), an enslaved Cree person in Tr ...

resumes her streak of kleptomania; she starts stealing objects from real-estate open houses, where she also makes up elaborate stories about who she is, but is eventually caught by a real estate agent. A livid Hank pulls strings with his friend Detective Tim Roberts to get her out of being charged. Roberts drops by the Schrader residence to seek Hank's help by giving him

and directed by

, marking his first time directing for television. Slade was a fan of ''Breaking Bad'' and sought to direct an episode of the show. Filmed in February 2011, the episode was edited by

Skip Macdonald Skip Macdonald is an American film and television editor known for his work on ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013), its spin-off series ''Better Call Saul'' (2015–2022), and the 2019 sequel film '' El Camino''. He also edited several episodes for ...

, one of a handful of editors who have regularly worked on the series. Nigel Gibbs reprised his role as detective Tim Roberts, whom he portrayed in the second season episode "

Grilled Grilling is a form of cooking that involves dry heat applied to the surface of food, commonly from above, below or from the side. Grilling usually involves a significant amount of direct, radiant heat, and tends to be used for cooking meat a ...

". Stand-up comedian

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 George Vincent Gilligan Jr. (born February 10, 1967) is an American writer, producer, and director. He is known for his television work, specifically as creator, head writer, executive producer, and director of AMC's '' Breaking Bad'' (2008– ...

said, "We just waste so much time here in the writer's room by getting on YouTube and watching some of his routines." Stand-up comedian

Lavell Crawford Lavell Crawford (born November 11, 1968) is an American comedian and actor. He is best known for playing Huell Babineaux in ''Breaking Bad'' (2011–2013) and its spin-off ''Better Call Saul'' (2017–2022). He also played the role of ...

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. 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 third season. Gilligan commented: "What's one way Gus can amp up the story there? How can he mess with Walt's head a little bit?" The footage shown from the first-person perspective of the camera is actual footage from the real camera, including the numbers shown at the top and bottom of the screen. This is why that shot is shown in pillarbox and in lower quality than the rest of the episode, which was shot on

35 mm film 35 mm may refer to: * 135 film, a type of still photography format commonly referred to as 35 mm film * 35 mm movie film 35 mm film is a film gauge used in filmmaking, and the film standard. In motion pictures that record on f ...

. 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. 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."

Betsy Brandt Betsy Brandt (born March 14, 1973) is an American actress. She portrayed Marie Schrader in ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013) and its spinoff show, ''Better Call Saul'' (2022) and played Heather Hughes in the CBS sitcom ''Life in Pieces'' (2015� ...

said "Open House" was her favorite episode of the season to shoot. 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 Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

, New Mexico. 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, and it was

property master The property master, often called the prop(s) master, is an artistic and organizational employee in a film, television or theatrical production who is responsible for purchasing, acquiring, manufacturing, properly placing, and/or overseeing any p ...

Trina Siopy actually throwing the bills off-screen; she got one into the actor's mouth on her second try. 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. The party scenes sought to illustrate Jesse's internal guilt and self-hatred for having murdered

Gale Boetticher ''Breaking Bad'' is a neo-Western crime drama franchise created by American filmmaker Vince Gilligan, primarily based on the television series ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–13), its prequel/sequel series, ''Better Call Saul'' (2015–22), and its s ...

in the third season finale, " Full Measure". Bryan Cranston praised these scenes, saying, "I thought it was a great way to show a person going through a private hell. That everybody suffers, deals with their own personal loss in many different ways." Although the previous episode, " Thirty-Eight Snub", also featured similar party scenes, the party was much darker and more decrepit in "Open House", and ''Breaking Bad'' music supervisor Thomas Golubić tried to select music appropriate for that darker tone. Originally he tried using variations of punk rock, hip hop and

dubstep Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken be ...

, but felt it was inappropriate and wanted something that delved "deeper into Jesse's headspace". He chose the song " If I Had a Heart" by Swedish musician

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. It was chosen by a vote among the writers among four possible songs.

Reception

Ratings

"Open House" aired on Sunday, July 31, 2011 on

. 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. This means that it was seen by 0.7% of all 18- to 49-year-olds watching television at the time of the broadcast. The episode was the 22nd highest-rated program on the day it aired.

Reviews

The episode received positive reviews.

Alan Sepinwall Alan Sepinwall (born October 19, 1973) is an American television reviewer and writer. He spent 14 years as a columnist with ''The Star-Ledger'' in Newark until leaving the newspaper in 2010 to work for the entertainment news website HitFix. He ...

HitFix HitFix, or HitFix.com, was an entertainment news website that launched in December 2008 specializing in breaking entertainment news, insider information, and reviews and critiques of film, music, and television. In mid-2010 HitFix crossed the 1,00 ...

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. Seth Amitin of

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

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 David Raymond Sedaris (; born December 26, 1956) is an American humorist, comedian, author, and radio contributor. He was publicly recognized in 1992 when National Public Radio broadcast his essay " Santaland Diaries.” He published his first c ...

. ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

'' 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?" ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

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

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links

"Open House"
at the official ''Breaking Bad'' site * {{Breaking Bad episodes 2011 American television episodes Breaking Bad (season 4) episodes Television episodes directed by David Slade