I have been re-watching Breaking Bad in anticipation of Season 4 debuting in just a few short months (yaye!) and was reminded of the show’s excellent use of this TVOR song in the closing minutes of “Over” toward the end of the second season when Walt ditches whatever guise of domesticity he was entertaining to indulge his true calling as ruthless druglord. It’s a thrilling scene and probably the exact moment Walt morphs from a heroic dad and cancer-surviving protagonist to a selfish and unredeemable antagonist. “DLZ” captures this sea change perfectly and serves as a nice coda for the series up to this point. 

TV On The Radio lost a lot of their bite between Return To Cookie Mountain and Dear Science, but damn if “DLZ” isn’t one of the most effortlessly badass things in their entire catalog. It works eerily perfect with Walt exiting the hardware store, too, as he abandons his DIY home project to step to a potential meth-slinger infringing on his territory.

Both Walt and “DLZ” are quietly and deceptively a lot rougher around the edges than they initially show, but their true colors reveal themselves soon enough… 

“Stay out of my territory” - Walt

You force your fire then you falsify your deeds
Your methods dot the disconnect from all your creeds 
And fortune strives to fill the vacuum that it feeds 
But this is beginning to feel like the dog’s lost her lead