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Another one-minute actorless opening sequence in this week’s Breaking Bad. Good stuff. Eerie like last week. What is that car doing? I don’t know so far, but it’s awesome.

(An opening credit still says “Director of Photography MiChael Slovis.”)

Extended first scene with Hank, the only series regular we see for several minutes. It’s an episode written for Dean Norris, it seems.

Excellent non-speaking work by Mark Margolis (pictured). And every time you think it’s going to turn into MacGyver with chemistry, they mix it up on you. Oh, that’s what’s going on with the car. Okay … brutal … but good episode!

A brief opening in B&W featuring a swimming pool … is this Sunset Boulevard? Nope. This is even more messed up than that. Season Two of Breaking Bad begins.

After this visual, “Seven Thirty-Seven” starts in earnest with a bloody scene in a junkyard that I know I’ve seen before. Why was that first part so familiar, where Tuco lays into the other guy and gets off on it? Did I see a sneak preview, or was that simply taken from the first season? Not sure, but wondering….

Now I gotta say something about the opening credits that take place during the part I’m writing about. Bryan Cranston plays a chemistry teacher, so the show’s titles are designed with element symbols. Breaking Bad Created by Vince Gilligan, for instance, uses bromine, barium and chromium. I used to love the periodic table, so it’s fun to see sodium, hydrogen and especially stuff like molybdenum and yttrium go by, squeezed into the names of actors and producers. Some elements get used more than once, with bromine showing up at least three times, but I think they should have used vanadium, too:

Q: We see a credit that says “Director of Photography MiChael Slovis.” What’s wrong with this?

A: There is no element with the symbol Ch. Vanadium — or sulfur, or iodine; any others? — would have worked for our DP, who surely deserves better! He’s not even an itinerant DP, but works on BB regularly. I’m keeping an eye on your future credits, Mr. Slovis.

I’m also keeping my eye out for Co-Producer Sam Catlin (calcium), Producer Melissa Bernstein (beryllium) and Consulting Producer John ShiBan (barium). These are three people in the biz that I hope to get to know.

The titles are not the thing, though. The thing is the story and its presentation. Thanks to Bialy / Thomas this is a well-cast show, and I liked this episode. Strong beginning to Season Two!

I have been commenting every week on this blog about episodes of Battlestar Galactica. Since it’s about to end, I’ve been thinking in the back of my mind that I should blog about some other show. Tonight it suddenly hit me: Breaking Bad is my next blog-worthy show. It stars Brian Cranston — who likes working with his pants off, according to behind-the-scenes commentary from last season. I admired Season One immensely and it’s about to start its second season on AMC tonight. (AMC is also home to Mad Men. Of course.)

If you need to, go catch up (via DVD or iTunes) on its strike-abbreviated first season, wherein a desperate high-school chemistry teacher makes high-quality crystal meth as a reaction to all the problems in his life. Immense problems ensue, of course, but I can’t wait to see what happens to these kooky characters from New Mexico. Stay tune for some Bad television. It’s sick and it rocks.