Premieres July 15, next Sunday. Reportedly the final season.

Here's a few promo pics, which to me suggest a tone of denouement, and a deeper focus on the relationship between Walt and Jesse.









K

I wonder if that series of ads suggests a story where Walt's left alone.

There are a few others floating around as well.

I like the first one a lot. It's really nicely understated and ever so slightly evocative of mugshots.

I wonder if there's any chance of either character simply ending up in prison.

K

My prediction is that Walt kills Jesse after he gets Jesse to kill Hank. And his wife learns to accept it all.

That might be pretty good. I think the purpose of the Jesse character ran out some time in Season three and didn't buy the "we've got a shorthand between us" line at all (reminded me of Ayn Rand's "When I see things, I see things" justification of Rearden Metal). The new lab assistant might as well have been named McGuffin.

In fairness, I don't think even Walt bought that rationale. He somehow sees Jesse as a kind of son to him and simply wanted to save him. Since this relationship is very much at the heart of things narratively, it's difficult to envision Walt killing Jesse, although there would certainly be no question re: Walt completing the promised arc of "Breaking Bad." I don't think they'll go quite that dark. I think Jesse will survive and -- to a greater extent than other characters -- escape consequence. If I were a betting man I'd say it's more likely Jesse will kill Walt than the other way around. It's possible that what happened to Jane, and Brock, etc., will all come out this season.

K

Also, while it's a minor detail, in many of the promo pics Jesse's t-shirt is decorated with a grenade made of bones. It could imply Jesse is going to "explode" this season in some way. E.g. murdering Walt. Although I guess it could just as easily imply that he's going to get killed himself.

K

Maybe so, but do we all agree that Hank's a goner?

I'm not a fan of cops in real life, and typically loathe the TV variety, but Hank is the most likeable character on this show (yes, I realize that's not much of a compliment). So, yeah, probably dead. I doubt very seriously they'd have the guts to put the ending of Falling Down on this.

I watched that last year, but can't remember the ending.

In the final meet-up between Michael Douglas and Robert Duvall, anti-hero Douglas essentially forces Duvall to kill him. You could really sense the lack of a desire to do that on Duvall's part (a testimony to his acting skills), whereas most directors and/or actors would have approached it as a "finally nailed 'im" way.

I doubt very seriously the BB formula would resolve like that in the first place, much less with the multiple layers of empathy that Schumacher, Duvall and Douglas gave Falling Down.

The Michael Douglas movie? As I recall, he has a kinda cheesy moment of realization (a tearful "When did I become the bad guy?") and then sort of lets the Good Cop shoot him down, tumbling dramatically off the pier into the water.

I'm not sure I agree that "the Good Cop gets the Bad Guy on his last day on the force" is a "gutsy" ending, but I suppose it's conceivable BB could do a version of it. Some scenario where everything explodes into a potential bloodbath, and Walt realizes he's the one who really needs to be taken out. Gilligan has more often hinted at a Scarface-like trajectory; but then again, Walt is an entirely different animal than Tony Montana, with more nagging remorse, and has already admitted that he's "lived too long."

Personally I don't envision Hank dying either, even though it makes sense. I mean, something bad has to happen, presumably. I suppose this season will be the real test of how far the show is willing to take its premise. It could go all the way: Jesse, Hank, Skylar, Marie, even Jr. all die; and Walt is left standing. On the other hand, it has to stay true to the characters it's created, so I'm not 100% convinced a higher final body count necessarily = better quality storytelling. All depends. But if we're measuring the show's narrative success by the size of its balls, Walt sacrificing himself isn't the path there.

Thinking about Walt's motivations though, we might consider another possibility: there's always been this thread of it being for the family. Even Hank's treatment is paid for with the drug money, and Walt seems to consider Hank family. Instead of taking everyone out, the show could take a different tack, where Walt becomes a more mafia-style mob king, keeping the family *together* though its crime-life. Forcing Hank into knowing or unknowing submission would probably take stronger writing chops than knocking him off.

We'll see starting Sunday night.

K

Mainly I'm referring to Duvall's "let's not do this" performance. Sometimes Hank was written with that flavor, but in the last season he turned into Nancy Drew.

Seems hard to believe the same director gave us both "Falling Down" and "Batman and Robin".

I like that idea, M.

Also St. Elmo's Fire, Lost Boys and D.C. Cab. Schumacher's all over the map. He had an amazing little run with Flawless, Tigerland and Phone Booth. Then he does something like Town Creek where he personally hijacked the script and turned it into an incoherent mess. I guess he figured since he wrote The Wiz, he's infallible.

I do think it'd be a great way to defy expectations while keeping in step with Walt's character. I can envision a story arc wherein Walt decides, "I run this family now," and sort of protecting Hank "from himself." Everyone's been hyped into expecting Scarface; maybe they suddenly go The Godfather route instead. Walt's certainly manipulative enough, and in Season 4 I feel like we actually witnessed his ability to lie improve. The whole story, if you think about it, really kicked off from his frustration with his passive, emasculated role within not only society, but his own family. Maybe Season 5 is about him showing everyone who wears the pants now, twisting them all into complicity, including even bit players like Saul. Jesse possibly being the renegade. Nothing in the previews would seem to hint at this though.

But to go with it as a prediction anyway, however unlikely, let's say this: Walt twists entire family and faux-family (Saul, Jesse, maybe even Mike) into complicity/submission to him, through various manipulations and subtle bullying, but Jesse becomes more and more haunted by the past and more and more wise to Walt's dishonest ways. Jesse tries to jump ship and divorce self from Walt's world; Walt is no longer willing to let that happen though. Confrontation between Walt & Jesse ensues in which Walt confesses -- or maybe brags, rather -- about how he's manipulated Jesse, also "for his own good/to protect him from himself, etc." One of them kills the other or maybe they both die, leaving the crime dynasty they've created behind to face the music on their own.

(As for Batman & Robin, it's hard to believe anybody directed that.)

K

From this point on in the thread there will be SPOILERS.

Anyone needs tips on where/how to view episodes hit me up.

---------------------------------

Episode 1: I was happy to see some signals here that my prediction might actually have some legs. I liked the episode's systematic dribble-down illustration of the new hierarchy/way of things, the scene with Ted being the particular stroke of genius. Not only is the depiction of him harrowing in a way that jolts us out of having too much fun with it all, but the writers' sourcing the effects of the new fear to the subjects of that fear rather than the object of it (mostly, at least) is smart. Ted's submission is voluntarily given; Skylar need only accept it. Same with Skylar's to Walt. The final line of the episode, to me, nods strongly towards the more Godfather-like direction I mused on earlier. Walt, ego entirely on fire now, doesn't demand submission to his will as much as expect it. Once people fear you sufficiently, you can proceed with a light touch and the pretense of tenderness, the pretense of being the Protector. It's all very promising.

As for criticisms ... nothing major, for me. The magnet plan seemed a little out there, but it was certainly interesting, and they sell it sufficiently I think. My feelings are a little mixed on Mike's reaction to it all. His interactions with Walt and Jesse in this episode are maybe just a bit too pat and cute. But Mike not being a very deeply developed character, it only bothered me slightly.

K

PS - No idea what to make of the opening scene, quite, but as usual, it's intriguing and obviously a flash forward of some kind. It seems precursor to some kind of violent showdown, so I'm guessing we catch up to it somewhere in the last five episodes or so.

I appreciate that PS, Madget. I only twigged onto Breaking Bad by the second season and wasn't sure whether that opening scene was a flashback of Walt at or before the beginning of the series.

Actually, I liked the magnet bit. A plan involving some straightforward action that begins, proceeds and finishes in maybe 10 minutes screen time was a good change of pace for the series. As long as Walt doesn't go full on super-villain and I don't think there's much chance of that.

Well, it's established as a flash-forward by what he does with the bacon; he shapes it into a 52, indicating that it's his 52nd birthday. The very first episode of the show, Season 1, saw Walt greeted by a breakfast plate on which his wife had formed the bacon into a 50. So two years will have elapsed. I hadn't dwelt on it much, but the sequence does give us a string of pretty intriguing information.

1. Walt has assumed a false identity.
2. Walt has assumed a new appearance.
3. Walt is somewhat subdued, distracted.
4. Walt is coughing again a little and taking pills, suggesting perhaps his cancer is no longer in remission.
5. Walt still has money to throw around. (I am curious how at this point in the story Walt obtains new money, since Skylar and Walt blew most of their existing load last season, what with treating Hank, the Beneke stuff, Walt's excesses, etc.)
6. Walt is purchasing heavy firepower with it, and a mystery item or items in the black bag (I assume some kind of explosives, but who knows).

What to make of all that info I don't know, but it certainly sets up a lot of interesting questions and possibilities about what's coming.

K

This is why I can't watch this show, or others like it (Lost, etc.) as it's coming out. The whole structure is built on stringing viewers along.

I admit the show has a grip on me. Anticipation for how events will unfold is part of the ride. For instance, how will Hank react to the 'new Walt'? Hank is doing better physically than I thought possible and rejuvenated by his big score with Gus even though I don't think the cops, or even we, know Gus' full back story yet. Walt, in his now ascendant status seems to expect agreement in everything. As far as Hank knows, his buddy Walt was the guy who was too chicken to even drive by the dry cleaners/meth factory. Maybe Walt will assume a Clark Kent model when needed? His character is devious, but I don't think is supposed to have that kind of acting ability.

What I really can't predict is Hank's reaction when/if he discovers Walt is, well doing what he's been doing. Cover up because of his own involvement? Turn a blind eye? Go for an immediate arrest? Nothing seems to fit exactly.

So, have you been watching seasons by DVD then, Allen? I'd bet the experience is markedly different, especially as regards plot points.

The first season-and-a-half or so I watched in a rapid, addicted flurry. There have been times since where I'll try to let at least a few episodes elapse and then view them as a bunch, but for the most part I just go episode-by-episode now, as they're released. One reason is I really don't want to run into spoilers on the internet -- I try to avoid even the video previews. If I'm up to date with BB nothing's going to be spoiled ahead of time. The other, probably larger reason is I just can't help myself. It's one of the few shows I get genuinely excited to see new content from.

Anyway, I kind of like letting each new episode stew around in my head for a week or so before the next serving.

As for stringing the audience along, it absolutely does. The difference from LOST, though, is that LOST became about little more than doing just that. The ideas didn't warrant it after a certain point, cohering less and less as things evolved; it was just a gimmick, cliffhangers for the sake of cliffhangers, and sort of insulting to the audience's intelligence. I don't get the same vibe from Breaking Bad. It's telling a finite, defined story, with a clear trajectory. Where it strings the audience along, it does so in a good way, building towards and delivering distinct narrative payoffs. By contrast, LOST left me feeling cheated. They had a lot of interesting ideas in the mix, but it was all very arbitrarily handled and riddled with stupidity.

K

MQ- Yeah, it's tough to foresee Hank's angle in all this. I can't envision the confrontation between him and Walt, or even if such a confrontation is necessarily in the mail. I don't envy the writers' their task with this final season, but they haven't let me down so far, except maybe in little ways here or there.

K

Episode 1 streams for free at amctv.com, here:

http://www.amctv.com/breaking-bad/videos/episode-501-breaking-bad

Cranston, Paul, and Esposito (Gus) are all up for Emmys for Season 4.

K

Episode 2: Wow! I couldn't be more pleased. We'll see how it all progresses, but I think the writers, knowing this season was it, made a very conscious decision to push themselves, and bring their A game. Two episodes in, my feeling is this season is proceeding very smartly. Things I thought they would've brushed under the rug are being dealt with, with considerable intelligence, and without sacrificing tension and pacing. This episode particularly impressed me with the creators' ability to start with surrealism and bring it slowly -- at just the right, "what am I watching here?" pace -- into focus, coherence. Cf. the opening intro scene. It also successfully introduced an intriguing new character, while continuing to develop Walt in a believably dark way. No complaints this week, personally. Being the obvious BB superfan around here, I supposed I'm biased, but I really think Breaking Bad will go down as one of the great TV creations of all time. I'm so pleased to be in the midst of a new season.

K

It was pretty satisfying and I have to say I enjoyed a Mike-centric episode. I don't think that character got the requisite screen time to be in the running for an outstanding supporting actor emmy, but the role is carefully crafted as any other on a show that garnered thirteen nominations. More Mike!

I'd forgotten who Mike was, had to look it up. Yeah, his character would probably make a more compelling show. Like a violent version of Fish.

All I want to know is, how much more weight has Anna Gunn gained?

A few pounds chunkier, not that I'd mind! Her weight gain, starting around Season 3 has been blowing up the internet I see. A quick survey of sites commenting on this, pregnancy rumors, ect. seemed to show a disportionate number of Italian sites, they notice these things more I guess.

Anna Gunn's weight jumped a bit in the early seasons, but it's been pretty consistent since then, to my eyes. I wouldn't exactly call her chunky. She started out pretty skinny.

Oh, and if you like Mike, the first two episodes seem to have set him up as one of the central characters of Season 5.

As a side note, I have yet to see Marie at all.

K

Ah; just found out Episode 2 was directed by Michelle MacLauren, which makes sense. She has consistently directed some of the very best episodes in the show.

K

Inside Ep 1:



Inside Ep 2:



K

Finally had a chance to watch the clips, very interesting, thanks for those, Madget. It's clear that director Mac Lauren or maybe Gilligan, asks for very specific emotional cocktails from the actors at times and gets them too.

Oh and I was just wrong in describing Anna Gunn with the word 'chunky', if anything, she's only curvier and that's a very good thing. Right now, she's repulsed and afraid of Walt in equal parts, so bad times ahead for the self-styled Family Man.

I can normally take or leave little featurettes like that, but sometimes the BB ones clue me into something I missed.

I wasn't clear on who Lydia was at first, for example, but saw her sitting at the table with Madrigal and the DEA when looking back. Still not clear who she is, but understanding she's with Madrigal helps.

I very much like that we're forging into the corporate hierarchy behind Los Pollos Hermanoes and its links to the drug trade, and getting a sense of the surreal threat it represents. The show could've pretty easily dropped all that to keep its focus local to Walt; instead, we're going worldwide with the ripple effect of Walt's trajectory through the business.

K

Right! I'm sure that Mike knows better, but Walt seems to think he's at the top of the food chain now with Gus eliminated. You'd think someone with his intellect would be more concerned with the 'worlds within worlds' nature of his business.

Walt's academic intelligence is high and he's clever and ballsy when in a bind, but in fairness, foresight and broad vision have never, at any point in the series, been his forte. I remember the writers mulling in commentaries as early as Season 2 about Walt's blind spots, so I think at this point, his inability to see very far past himself is an intentional character trait. Even this late in the game, with everything going his way (on the surface at least) Walt is not so much a portrait of a man in control, but more of a satire of that portait, high on self-determinism while comically unaware of what a doomed cog he really is. Come to think of it, that's a small but critical part of why Bryan Cranston is so good in the role: his underlying comic doofiness. The audience is never allowed to take Walt quite as seriously as Walt takes himself.

K

Bryan Cranston's casting was what initially kept me from checking out Breaking Bad. He was a fantastic bumbling Dad in Malcolm in the Middle, but when I heard he had the leading role in a drama, I just thought, right, comic actors always want to do drama, dramatic actors always want to do comedy, show their range, increase employability. My narrow minded paradigm may actually have a little truth as far as actors motives go, but is obviously meaningless relating to their possible success in crossing genres. An opposite example of genre hopping, the actor who plays Hank was in the latest episode of Adult Swim's 'Eagleheart'. He didn't have a lot of lines, it's only a 15 minute show, but he was hilarious!

Dark as Breaking Bad can be, there is a lot of comedy in it, a lot of absurdity. And for all his serious moments, Walt is in many ways a fundamentally comic character. Think about how different the show would be if they had cast a purely dramatic actor in the lead role. There are times when I actually think BB pushes a little too far into cutesy humor, but overall I think the writers and actors very smart to keep one foot in that camp.

K

Episode 3:

I think Breaking Bad does a good job of choosing its moments to leap forward. For two seasons they drew out the dramedy of Walt lying about his activities to Skyler, to the point it dissolved his marriage; we await his big confession to her, but then, boom -- she's already figured it out. We're already past it. It makes sense, and it's done, and the story moves forward. Because the groundwork is so carefully and thoroughly laid, we don't think twice about the transition. It's time, and it happens. I feel that way with the evolution of Walter White this season. We've spent four seasons watching him doubt himself, be tormented, have pangs of conscience and guilt. But with the end of Season 4, and the high of winning his battle against the master opponent and the lows he sank to in order to accomplish that -- poof. There is no more transition needed for Walt: he is the Bad Guy now. And he does Bad Guy things, and he no longer thinks twice about it. And it works. It was time.

I'm also impressed that just 3 episodes into Season 5, they have Walt & Jesse up and cooking again, with an entirely new -- and quite clever -- model/scheme. I think they're doing a better job than in Season 4, writing-wise, of choosing what details and aspects of the story to explore, vs. what details to sort of gloss over. I sense they have a lot they want to get in this season, but the pacing still works.

I love little details like the mascot of the new pest control operation. In Season 3 & 4 we had that smiling yellow Hermanoes Chicken, and a clean, controlled corporate environment. Now, we have the kooky, yellow running vermin mascot, as Walt/Jesse cook hidden inside tents with cockroaches. And at the same time, Walt is cleverly diminished to Robert Ford by Mike ("Just because you shot Jesse James, doesn't make you Jesse James"). Gus's logo vs. Walt's logo reflect their respective status and subtly caricaturizes them.

Skyler's semi-breakdown seemed believable, although I'm not sure exactly where they're going with it; and Walt's manipulations with Marie appropriately creepy and evil -- this scene, along with his talk with Jesse about Andrea, show us very clearly how comfortable Walt now is with unbridled, self-serving manipulation.

I do think the manipulations re: Jesse were maybe a bit too easy, though. I'm not sure I buy Walt planting that one little seed of doubt, and it leading to the resolution of an entire major (if uninteresting) relationship re: Jesse all in the length of an episode. I do buy Walt's vague spell over Jesse, but I'm not sure I buy quite that level of totality.

I probably also could've done without the explicit Scarface inclusion. I get it's meant to be a joke the audience is in on at this point, but it was maybe a tad much.

Still, good stuff as usual.

K

Scarface being on the TV worked well enough though it was a bit facile. Maybe I have a suspicious nature but, I don't think the fact that it plays on AMC this Wednesday is entirely coincidence.

Totally agree with you that the comedic parts of the show are very valuable. Somehow they serve to keep the action grounded in what seems like real life. The same is true for some of the drama. When I heard Mike's Jesse James line to Walt in the preview, I thought it would be delivered with over-the-top menace like something out of, well, Scarface, but seeing and hearing it in the show, it was practically conversational.

The idea of the new lab's site being in {So, we're long ago done with SPOILERS here, right?}

an average house that's being fumigated is just plain clever. Not knowing the real requirements for this kind of chemistry, I'll buy that the logistics wouldn't actually be impossible. Plenty of room for close calls and unexpected jeopardy like the baby monitor that had to be disabled as well. I'm especially getting a kick out of it because I worked on those tent fumigations thirty or so years ago. Part of the process prior to the gas release is to pull open every drawer and cabinet door so the deadly Vikane gets to all nooks and crannies. The result is that when the homeowners return, it looks as if they've been burglarized!

How did you interpret the closing exchange, where Walt brings up Victor? Is it a veiled warning to Jesse, about the dangers of crossing Walt again? Or is it a reference to what might happen to Mike, if Mike displeases Walt too much? Or both? I see Jesse more as Walt's "Victor," than Mike who can barely stand him, but I'm a little surprised Walt would feel any impulse to threaten Jesse at this point. Jesse's so in the bag at the moment, for Walt, that it just seems needless.

K

Have to say, I'm as mystified as you about it. The comment came out of left field and Jesse reacted to it that way, but was his reaction because the comment was directed at him or just surprised him? It --seemed-- directed to Jesse, but as you say, that would've been needless. Possibly a transference? Mike has just exercised his independence, his control of the business, taken a big chunk of Walt's money, legitimately, but Walt doesn't see it that way. Walt can't do anything to Mike, so he kicks the puppy! That's all I got! It really stood out in a strange way though, so I have to think it has some significance.

Ep. 4:

This season is shaping up to be an amazing study in psychological warfare. The current brewing battle between Skyler and Walt over the kids is pretty fantastic. His unhinged megalomania and the ways in which it clouds his view of reality is well-handled and believable, as is Skyler's emotional shut-down. You just cringe and feel for her every second she's onscreen this season. In terms of narrative craftsmanship, I think it was wise to sort of scrap mulling the remnants of Skyler's relationship with Walt too much, and instead shifting maternal instinct to the forefront, for her, motivationally speaking. And that could've been done badly, but is handled sublimely here.

It's like a great chess match. We have Hank shifting professional positions, upwards; but Marie manipulated into manipulating Hank, leaving him at a disadvantage while covering for Walt; Lydia, meanwhile, attempting a retreat right out of the game; Mike seeing through her ploy and tasked with herding her back into the fold; Jesse brokering peace for her out of conscience and sympathy, and Walt backing him up for his own reason, greed; and of course Walt and Skyler attempting to manipulate each other in a variety of intriguing and suspenseful ways, mostly in the confines of their own bedroom. That's an awful lot of pieces in play, and that's just in this episode -- but so far, to my eyes, it's all being juggled pretty flawlessly. Add to this the clever, subversive use of mixed styles: i.e. the slightly zany opening sequence revisiting the obtainment of manly-man cars for Walt and his boy. The celebratory, zig-zagging, havin'-a-good-time atmosphere, with Walt channeling his Malcolm in the Middle dad, is almost nauseating to the audience; more a merry-go-round we want to get off before we throw up, than a roller coaster we want to ride. It also makes me think back to the "KEN WINS" car Walt destroyed in the first season. In his own way, Walt has become a kind of Ken himself.

At first I thought the closing shot of the watch was supposed to imply some kind of explosive device, which made no sense and seemed cheesy. Since it's not alluded to in the Inside Episode 4 video and would make no sense anyway, I assume it's just meant to sort of cap off the atmosphere of doublecrossing, as well as emphasize what Skyler is now counting on -- the simple passage of time. It's actually, again, pretty clever -- Walt had just taunted her and attempted a fresh manipulation with this object that is representative of an abstract element she is counting on to save her, or at least her kids. Walt is focused on the material object and the gratitude with which it was given; Skyler is focused on what the object actually means, and measures. If cancer gets Walt before the DEA, the kids would still never have to know, and even Skyler could have a possibility of getting off without legal repercussion.



K

The funniest scene this season is Walt pointing to his watch, explaining to Skyler how the guy who gave him that had a gun to his head only a few weeks ago, so she'll change her mind, too. Goddamn, that was great.

I went through the same thought process as you regarding the closing shot of the watch, including thinking it was an explosive device initially. I might be mistaken (I don't tape these episodes) but wasn't the clock ticking the last three seconds to midnight? This would mark where Walt stands at the end of the day, the chess pieces are all in position now, a new game begins and, of course, the end of his birthday. Happy Birthday, Walt, you Machiavellian bastard!

There's really not much to add to what you've ably explicated about the episode, Madget, so I'm going to ask you something fairly unrelated. Have you been watching Small Town Security that follows Breaking Bad? I started watching just to get the additional Breaking Bad preview during the commercial breaks. Now, I usually have very little interest in Reality TV. Most of it, you could not pay me to watch. For some reason, I make exceptions for this, Cajun Justice and the History Channel's Mountain Men. So, is Small Town Security the perfect chaser to Breaking Bad, or is the shift from the sublime BB to the ridiculous just ... ridiculous?

I don't know about funniest scene of the season, but it is a great moment of WaltThink.

As to the watch, it even looks a little like a chess clock. I wonder if that was intentional. Of all the kinds of watch they could've used there, it seemed a fairly unusual choice.

It was about ten minutes to midnight on the watch in the final shot, but the last few seconds of whatever minute the watch was at.

I don't have cable, so no, MQ, haven't seen any of those, I'm afraid. I also try to avoid BB video previews. When I enjoy something as much as BB I don't want the good bits fed to me ahead of time as a teaser, I like to go into each episode fresh.

I hate reality TV but it does have some inherently addictive quality. Often when I go home to visit my parents across the state, I end up getting sucked into some late night reality TV marathon. First it was America's Next Top Model; last time it was Hardcore Pawn. I watch that shit for hours when I'm there. Makes me glad I don't have cable at home.

K

Oh, one other thing I liked in this last episode -- just a tiny, tiny detail. This picture of Mike from Hank's corkboard.



Michael Ehrmantrout, disgraced former cop, PI, murderer, thug. Normally we're in Mike's world, and often amused by him, but this shitty-ass picture -- which we just get a passing glimpse of, it's not really lingered on -- is uniquely effective in putting us on the outside looking in, for a moment. It's not anything brilliant or anything, but it just stuck out to me as another one of those tiny details BB gets just right.

Also, on the other end of the spectrum: although obviously not meant to be the most likable character in the world, I find Lydia quite hot, and am vaguely wondering if that's just me, or if it's pretty much a given.

K

Oh, she's hot. But, that might almost be a kind of litmus test for the other characters. Mike is immune to it and perfectly willing to put the nervous little thing down. Almost too obviously, Jesse could be used by her as a pawn. And Walt? I wouldn't have thought so, but 'New Walt' certainly enjoys finer things like driving an expensive new car.

Bad as things are with Skyler, I don't see Walt taking interest in another woman, let alone Lydia -- that's just not anything that's ever much been on his radar, except briefly as a possible way to punish Skyler for her own cheating. I mean, Jesus, he didn't even really want Carmen, and you don't get much hotter than that. Walt is, in his corrupted way, all about the family. Getting friendly with another woman would not serve his current purposes with his wife (i.e. "he changed his mind about me, you will too.") Besides, Walt's way too clinical about his work to mix business and pleasure.

As for Jesse, well ... Lydia and Jesse couldn't be less alike, and I'm not sure she's savvy enough to use him the way other characters have. But the dynamic between them was pretty funny, and it seemed to me that scene could've been planting the seed for some kind of development between them. He did now already rescue her from death, essentially, and Jesse has an impulse to protect, so who knows where that could lead with her. Maybe nowhere, maybe into her pants, maybe someplace I can't foresee at all. I note they did shed the Andrea character -- at least as far as we know -- one episode before Jesse and Lydia have their first interaction.

K

Oh, another miscellaneous thought re: funny Walt moments. My favorite is that tiny little moment when he's moving back into his house, unboxing things, and he comes across Whitman's Leaves of Grass. His obliviously nostalgic reaction is priceless. "Heh, I remember Gail introducing me to this. Ah, Gail. I wonder whatever happened to the old boy. Didn't I kill him or something? Man, that was a good poem. So many memories."

K

You, my friend, have a dark sense of humor!

EP. 5:

It amazes me this is only Episode 5 of 16, they're packing in a lot of content this season while somehow still maintaining that suspenseful, unrushed pacing typical of the show. Further drawing on Westerns for inspiration, BB adds a Great Train Robbery to its impressive collection of meth misadventures.

Of course mostly I'm pondering the ramifications of the episode's conclusion. This is going to devastate Jesse, who's ability to float along as the relative moral center of the gang, the peacemaker if you will, I must imagine has just been shattered. The fact of it being a kid will of course be a particular sore spot for him.

A part of me foresees a trajectory where Jesse falls apart after this, becoming the weak link, with the surprisingly ruthless new character Todd rising to replace him in Walt's esteem, setting the stage for a Walt/Gus-like face-off between Jesse and Walt. However, Jesse has now been established as very inventive in his own right, and just as Walt outsmarted his Master Opponent in Gus, Jesse may have a chance to outsmart his in Walt. But, I have some problems with this possibility and I think I hope I'm wrong.

For one thing, I don't see why the whole gang shouldn't come down pretty hard on Todd for this; maybe they will. I really don't see what harm there would've been for the crew in just shooing the kid along on his way. I mean, what does he know? That there were a few dudes doing some work out by a train track in the desert? Who would he tell, and why would it matter when no one on the receiving end of the shipment will know anything about the fact the train was robbed anyway? On Todd's part, it seems not only a ruthless act, but an incredibly stupid one -- and in that sense, maybe too forced, a macguffin. Not only did none of his superiors give him the greenlight for this action, but its potential ramifications are far, far more serious for the crew than the kid just having seen them would've been. A theft nobody knows happened with a practically irrelevant eye witness, vs. a dead child. One of those things is going to bring a lot more heat than the other.

Will Walt and Mike defend Todd here, or is Todd now a new problem for the crew? Mike may be willing to knock off a compromised player like Lydia, but an innocent kid that likely posed no danger? He does have a granddaughter,* for whose sake he does much of what he does. And Walt may have poisoned Brock as a manipulation tactic, but he didn't kill him. Ruthless as Walt has become, he seems too smart to not see how bad an idea murder was in this instance.

K

*PS - I'm getting a little tired of "children die" as the go-to plot device for BB ... anytime you start including children in a story like this, sheerly for the emotional value of them being innocent, doe-eyed children, it's a bad move IMO. At this point I'm thinking BB has played that card one too many times. Further, I could do without Mike having the granddaughter at all frankly -- it feels stuck in, and has a little of the stink of Character Development 101. Although I do like when Hank interrogates him about it.

K

Finally got a chance to see the Inside Episode 505 above. Good stuff, although no real insights as to future behavior, only because that has been crystallized so well in the show itself already.

You might add 'foreshadowing' to the list of story elements that are somewhat overused in Breaking Bad. When Todd says, "You've thought of everything", well that just begs for a wrench in the works. Likewise Mike saying something like 'there are only two types of crimes/jobs, ones with no witnesses and ones where you get caught'. They're both a bit too on the nose regarding the kid's murder. Still, a certain shorthand is necessary and I don't begrudge Gilligan's use of it for the most part. Even the newest victim of Walt's spider web of a life being a child has a 'it had to be' aspect to it. I agree with madget that it's overused in the series, but if the motorcyclist were a grown man, woman or even a teen, it wouldn't create the side of the argument that says the killing was largely avoidable and unnecessary. Of course, Walt didn't commit this murder, but if his reactions to it seem to Jesse to be more indifferent than they should be, will it put a seed in Jesse's mind regarding Brock?
Also, will we get a back story on cold-blooded SOB Todd? The other characters are so rich and defined, he will seem out-of-place as the main catalyst for the story until we know something about him by dialogue, action or flashback. Then again, a run of the mill, two dimensional punk would be novel for this show.

"I'm getting a little tired of "children die" as the go-to plot device for BB"

Yep, this was #3, right? There are only 5 seasons. Wouldn't it have been more effective with an adult, who everyone would've been reasonably fearful might've reported something? As it stands, it felt too gimmicky.

Having said that, they did a good job making a heist movie this episode.

EP. 6:

Great opening this week, with excellent scoring as usual by Dave Porter. The disassembly and dissolution of the bike is amazing; we can watch them do to the machine what we -- and they -- know will have to be done to the body as well, making the whole sequence a deft, emotionally loaded feat of visual substitution. The business-like atmosphere and the look on their faces are pitch perfect. And while it may not seem that striking out of context, the shot above is a wonderful visual moment, as Walt gazes out, waiting, to the dumptruck where Todd is digging out the non-mechanical body. This is what it has come to: dismembering and dissolving the body of a child. The gloves, mask, the filthy garage -- it's a great dialogue-free intro.

As to the subsequent handling of the Todd situation, I guess I'm mostly satisfied. I think they brushed off/played down the utter lack of the murder's necessity, but at least it was sort of debated, with the option of murdering Todd even being raised. While Jesse of course takes the whole thing hardest, it doesn't trip him up to quite the degree I anticipated, at least yet. But this works; it's a reminder that Jesse has changed a lot too, and is more in control of himself than in the past. I'm still wondering where this whole Todd subplot might lead.

As to the rest of the episode, it's probably not one of the most stand-out, but it covers some interesting ground. I didn't anticipate Mike and Jesse simply deciding to pull out (or sell out, rather); it's an interesting problem to throw at Walt, and by the end of the episode he seems to have devised some kind of solution, though we don't yet know what. It can't be some form of coercion, because Jesse wants Mike to hear Walt out and appears amenable to whatever proposition Walt has. But anyway, it's an interesting problem in part because it forces some onscreen confrontation about what Walt is really in this for at this point, because it's clearly not the money itself. "Empire building," Walt claims. I'm on the fence about how compelling "personal revenge against Gray Matter" is as a driving motive, but as Walt points out, he has nothing else left and little chance of getting the things he's lost back. The only direction is forward, deeper, more; in some ways Walt is as addicted to the Blue as his unseen customers. He's begun to remind me a bit of Plainview in There Will Be Blood, actually, and his "I have a competition in me" monologue.

Oh, and while I sometimes find "MacGuyver Walt" a little much, I like the way he gets out of his restraint; like the train robbery last episode, it was a clever twist on an age-old cliche.

K

It was a pretty satisfying episode, as strange as that is to say about a show that begins with a young boy's connections to this world being totally erased.

I have to wonder about 'Gray Matters' as an ultimate motivator as well. It seemed a bit out of the blue as I was hearing Walt's explanation. However, if you were watching one episode after another, previous mentions of Gray Matters would've been more fresh and, after all,less than two years actual time have passed in the entire series timeline. Perhaps in the TPB version of Breaking Bad this would seem perfectly feasible? Walt probably could have begged or guilted his former colleagues into paying for his health care and even providing for his family after his death. That wouldn't have done for Walter White though. Definitely ego was involved in his decision to make the necessary money through his unique meth formula, so possibly envy, revenge and a need to right a past 'injustice' figure in also.

One thing I enjoyed with this episode that has been done before is the portrayal of different worlds coming into contact. We've seen plenty of Mike and plenty of Hank for a few seasons, but only seen them together, I believe, twice. It can't be comfortable for Mike in the police dept.'s hot seat, but you'd never know it. It's a world that he's familiar with, there are no surprises, only factors to be considered and dealt with. On the other hand, when Jesse sits down to dinner with Skylar, they're barely the same species much less on the same wavelength. The distance between them conveyed by the difference in their respective postures as much as anything else. Of course, we know why Skylar is completely removed from the niceties of the family table, but the way she and Jesse do not connect at all was well done.

Damn, what is Walt's new master plan to satisfy all parties? Will it be a science-ey solution that we just have to accept or will he offer to cook for the other meth ring? I guess the latter since we see him confronting them in the preview. Walt's ego won't allow him to adopt any position under full partnership though and this bunch seem to be cut from Mike's cloth, I'm worried about him!

It occurs to me too that if Mike and Jesse are walking, that leaves Walt with one possible alternative assistant -- Todd. Todd clearly wants in, and if he's all Walt has, he may be part of the plan.

K

Here's a little article discussing the cinematography of BB with Michael Slovis.

http://www.wired.com/rawfile/2012/08/the-look-the-feel-of-breaking-bad/

K

Ah, *fuck* -- this is news to me:

--------------
AMC has decided to split the fifth and final season of its award-winning meth drama Breaking Bad into two parts, according to star Bryan Cranston.

In a recent interview Cranston announced the news of how the new 16-episode season 5 will be set up; “We’re splitting it. We’re going to shoot the first eight, then take a four-month production break, then the rest will air next year.”
--------------

In short, only two more episodes, then a long wait until 2013 for the final 8. Mrgh.

K

I concur, mrgh. Makes me wonder if Cranston might have been offered a movie role for those four months that he just didn't want to turn down.

An encounter in the desert:
"Who are you?"
"I am the cook. I am the man who killed Gus Fring. You know who I am. Say my name."

Completely realistic, yet practically biblical, it's going to be a long six months wait following the next episode.

I thought it a little much, personally; I think I just felt like Walt needed something a little stronger than "who wants a world without Coke?" to seal this deal. On the other hand it underscores that Walt is now reduced to a brand name, valuable to others only as a product, as the rest of the episode excoriates the man behind the curtain. It's getting lonely fast, for Walt. That nobody is giving him the respect he now feels he deserves -- Jesse, Skylar, and finally, and most explosively, Mike -- is beginning to eat away at the seams of his megalomania. Despite his "victory," nobody needs or even wants him in their life anymore, except maybe Decklin (for what he can produce).

Not too much else to add I guess. I'm not in the know on police procedure, but it seems somehow improbable to me that the DEA could just show up and arrest the money-dropping lawyer like that. What's the charge? I realize the show isn't meant to be a police procedural and is well-served by skimming over certain things, but the mechanics of that whole thread are a little fuzzy to me.

As usual, I can't foresee where the narrative is headed exactly. Walt's demise obviously -- either legally, or literally, or both -- but I can't predict the arc. Todd seems like trouble, just as Walt seemed like trouble to Gus -- working with him purely out of necessity, as Gus did Walt, maybe Walt will find himself in Gus's shoes by the season's end, with Todd gunning for him. But Todd's just a dopey thug. I wondered if this season might introduce some kind of "the next Walt" or "the Walt who topples Walt" type of character, but I'm not quite seeing it. Which is fine; it's kind of an obvious route to go, the "always someone coming up behind you" cliche.

I wondered if the bug removal would be a problem; I felt like they'd throw a wrench Walt's way for round 2 of noodling with DEA computer equipment. Which I guess they did, in a way, but nothing that interfered with the bug deactivation in and of itself.

I wonder how Walt will spin Mike's disappearance to Jesse. Will he concoct a lie about Mike attacking him first, and if so, will Jesse see through it? I suppose since Mike was on his way to unknown whereabouts anyway, there's no need. Except it'll be up to Walt (and maybe Todd) to dispose of the body and evidence.

I kind of wish they were giving Skylar a little more to do; waiting it out as a silent prisoner seems to be all that's happening there.

K

Yes, Walt is acting out of his megalomania more and more, but still has to rationalize his actions as being reasonable or at least logical. It was almost laughable that he tells Mike who is very close to death, 'I'm sorry, Mike, I could have gotten those names from Lydia. I didn't think of that until now.' Shooting Mike didn't get him those names! In fact, it broke what he thought was his only access to them.

Well, I know you don't care for the biblical allusion in the first scene and it was certainly ... broad. I thought it was nicely continued though in the power of 'the names'. Just as Walt must make Decklin say his name instead of him saying it and giving Decklin power, Walt won't be denied names from Mike and will kill to get them, as ineffectual as that was in actually getting them. I guess I have a weakness for broad drama, I'll blame Stan Lee for it, everybody else does.

I'm not any more versed in police procedurals than you are, Madget and don't know the exact chain of events here with the DEA. The money-dropping lawyer was seen on bank surveillance putting large amounts of cash into certain account boxes. That's just suspicious, not illegal, maybe it would provide enough for a Search Warrant, I don't know, but they could cross reference the account holders' names (whoah) for any association to the nine guys behind bars who worked for Fring. That's my latter day assessment anyway. At the time, the lawyer's arrest seemed thrown into place very precipitously to me too.

Right. Is depositing money for the families of those under arrest for some crime or other illegal? And to show up in the middle of a safety deposit box drop like that -- that's supposed to be a sort of sacred/private area. It's not a huge sticking point to me, I just ... have questions, I guess. Does this also mean no more money left for Kaylee? If so, on what basis do they now confiscate it?

Have to admit I hadn't thought about "names" as an actual ongoing theme. And the episode is actually called "Say My Name" if I'm not mistaken. Which I'm not crazy about as a title, but it lends some credence to the idea that the writers were concentrating on that as a motif here.

K

PS - It was sort of a uniquely weird thrill to see Mike in real trouble for once. Sure, he's been shot before and all, but to see actual human fear register on his jaded, unflappable face as the police close in on the park -- and to have to abandon his granddaughter without saying goodbye -- was a subtle tipping point in mood and tone I thought. Although this said I found it a little much that he made his way to the shore for such a picturesque final moment at the end of the episode. Oh, and yeah -- Walt's "I just realized, I could've gotten those names from Lydia" is pretty funny. It seems to me Mike would've been much wiser to let Jesse make the drop. I guess he wanted to protect him, but he should've known Walt coming could mean trouble.

I can't disagree with that. Maybe we'll find out the exact charges the lawyer was picked up on, but likely not. In real life, whatever evidence came to law enforcement would probably have resulted in surveillance of the lawyer and following a paper trail for months. It's not a sticking point to me either, I'll just chalk it up to events in TV time vs real time. I don't know if they could confiscate the money immediately. After a conviction though, RICO would take everything. I have a feeling that events in the series will never reach trials for the main characters anyway, that is, the still-living ones.

Ah, I'd been wishing they'd do this for ages; maybe it's always been there and I just never saw it till now. Often BB features music that interests me; the non-scored music is now listed by season & episode at AMC's website.

http://blogs.amctv.com/breaking-bad/2010/03/season-3-music.php

That's season 3 but links to others are there too.

K

Well, that was-- actually, I think I'd better leave the initial analysis of the half season closer to Madget, this one is for the pro's! I have a question though. You're an observant admirer of the series music soundtrack. Is this the first time they've used 'Crystal Blue Persuasion' in the background? It's such an obvious, but perfect choice, I have to wonder, and in sync with Walter's timeline to be popular when he was a very young kid. Soundtracks often filter right through me effective but unnoticed. I may've heard it several times, and each time thought, "Wow, what a good and unexpected idea!".

I have a feeling they were saving that song for a special moment.

I like that we still see a bandage on Walt's wrist from the restraint escape last week ....

The song, yes, I am almost certain it is the first time they've used that. You're probably right -- they probably had been intending to use it for a while, but hadn't found the right time. Or maybe it was difficult to get the rights. Hard to say ...

I liked the first half of this episode better than the second half. The two minute mega-murder was pretty amazing, quite well done, and the obvious stand-out sequence.

Beyond that: I like the bug imagery -- obvious enough, but well-used -- overlapping with the twitchy, unpredictable Lydia and Todd characters (not to mention Todd's lovely uncle) as they become Walt's new right/left hands. The heavy, conscience-burdened days of Jesse, Mike, and Skyler are past, now. Todd, Todd's Uncle, and Lydia are the new circle, a decidedly shadier bunch better able to keep up with and match Walt's complete moral emptiness. It reminds me a little of No Country for Old Men (the book more than the movie) with its passages about the new breed of criminality in a changing landscape that is leaving an old-timer like the Sheriff outmatched. (Then again it takes very little to get me thinking about McCarthy's work.)

As Todd clearly replaced Jesse, I thought they might actually move to have Lydia begin to replace Skyler. Lydia is a more powerful, well-connected, willing partner; she can offer Walt Madrigal and worldwide distribution. Contrast this to Skyler and her little car wash. Lydia's also reasonably age-appropriate for Walt, gorgeous, and equally morally compromised; not to mention she seems to be single. But much as I thought some kind of new relationship was being brewed there, it doesn't look like the writers see fit to go anywhere with it. Which I can sort of understand; I'm not sure this is the time for a steamy new love affair -- these characters are in it for themselves, it's all business, now. But people will be people, and all the right elements for something to happen between these two are (or were) certainly in place.

Then, surprisingly, Walt reveals that he's out. Is he? Could be he's found a new way to launder his money, and this is just a ploy to reassemble his family for his remaining years. The show plays it pretty straight, though; we have no reason to doubt him at the moment. And with 8 episodes remaining, the show does have to start wrapping things up for whatever ultimate conclusion it has planned. Maybe Walt really is out; the remainder of the show could fall largely into Hank's hands. I guess we'll see.

To that end:

I love that Leaves of Grass is now a bathroom reader for Walt; in and of itself it's a nice touch. How I feel about it as Hank's window into WW as Heisenberg, is a little more conflicted. It's a little too dumb and narratively convenient for Walt to leave that kind of evidence tying himself to a murdered man lying around -- at the season's opening, Walt even got rid of the Lily of the Valley plant, just to be extra safe. If there was a more compelling Walt-esque reason for the oversight, I'd accept it better, but as it is, just seems ... a really stupid oversight. Every season of BB tends to bring a few of these too conveniently convenient moments with it.

My mild dissatisfaction with this plot turn isn't helped by the fact that the corresponding cliffhanger is facilitated by a pretty run-of-the-mill, purely functional flashback, a made-for-TV moment well beneath BB's usual level of quality and craftsmanship. Not to mention that really, anyone up on the show's narrative doesn't need that flashback for the moment to communicate what it needed to. It should've ended with just a steady shot of the interior text, in silence, held long enough for the audience to take it back in, and maybe a cut back to Hank briefly, if needed.

Anyway, this all points to a final showdown between Hank and Walt. While I don't doubt that that will be a highly entertaining thing to see, it's a little more obvious than I might've hoped for, and I think the remainder of the series might prove a bit weak compared to everything up to this point. My original idea about Walt taking ownership of the entire extended family, including Hank, I think could've been a more unique way to go. Instead it looks like it's going to be the Good Cop gets the Bad Guy. Although, I could be wrong. That ricin is probably going to end up in someone's system, at the end of the day (maybe even Walt's own). The show has been incredibly daring at times, and it is possible that Walt will take out Hank. Jesse already knows he has to be very careful lest Walt choose to dispose of him too; Walt's become so dark, I'm not even 100% convinced Skyler couldn't end up in Walt's line of fire. Walt is now believably fully transformed into the "monster" Hank speaks of.

Anyway, in conclusion, I do have a couple nagging annoyances -- much as I love BB, every season tends to throw in a few little aspects that don't quite clear the bar. But hey -- it's been a wonderful eight weeks, and nothing else on TV I've yet encountered gives me as much pleasure as this show.

I'm still pissed, of course, that they broke this season into two halves. We have to wait until NEXT SUMMER for the end. Buhh. I'd rather have had a full Season 5, and a renewal for Season 6 as the finale. Much as I appreciate that they have chosen to opt for a finite narrative with a beginning, middle, and end, I really do think they have more than enough to work with to have gotten a complete 5th and separate 6th season out of it all.

K

PS - Quick follow up thought on the episode that opens with disposing of the dirt bike, which I watched again. One thing that makes the trick they pull in that sequence work as well as it does struck me more so the 2nd time around -- it's *long.* Not only is the deconstruction of the bike well-done, but there are two or three points you think it's over, and it's not. They need to strip the wheels. They need to saw the body in half. Some things won't fit as well as hoped and must be further broken down. It's a great thing to drag out, inviting gruesome speculation on similar problems that might be encountered with the body itself. Although on 2nd viewing, it also occurred to me that the kid's pretty small; the only real reason to dismantle the body would be to be extra careful. They probably didn't need to do much more than dump the body in the barrel. But the sequence works anyway; we don't really know what exactly occurs after the dirtbike is dealt with.

Someone over on the SHH forums mentioned G.B might be Gretchen Black, not Gail Boetticher. Still an astonishing coincidence, but not quite as sloppy on Walt's part.

Regarding Walt's body count: I was surprised Skyler made it this far. When she started her talk about taking the kids away I was pretty sure that would have pushed Walt over the edge to taking her down. She got lucky, I think.

Hmm.

Well, I have to admit, I do like that idea, connecting it back to Gretchen -- no less coincidental, but it would be a pretty interesting twist, and it would help make this plot turn more forgivable. Sadly, the idea made me curious enough to go back and compare, and while not an exact-exact match, I'd say it is Gail's handwriting.

See below; top is from Gail's notebook in Season 4. Bottom is closing shot of latest episode.



K

Here's Inside Ep. 8:



Seems that Walt truly is "out" from the writers perspective, or intends to be; no ploy.

I also find it interesting that they are "in the process of writing" the final 8 episodes, because the forward-flash at the season's opening is as yet unaccounted for, and nine months (in the show's timeline) away. Though I guess the flash-forward might have been the last thing shot, and constructed after the rest, even after this featurette; who knows.

K

Agreed. It was a great counterpoint to the action. This sweet, kind of sappy song about the hippy Age of Aquarius coming, there used to be a lot of those, overlaying Walter's work. Spreading his product internationally and probably tripling the business might be a 'new age dawning' for him I guess.

All the business partners are prepared to kill one another should it become necessary now. Jesse had his hand on a concealed weapon, Walt was ready to drop a capsule of what I assume was Lily of the Valley powder into Lydia's tea and several 'loose ends' were tied up. All that and everything else is kind of moot depending on Hank. He's got to confront Walter about the book inscription. I confess, I don't know if Walter can be convincing saying it's from Gretchen B., a former colleague with Gail's same initials. Both inscriptions were block printed, so difficult to track to a certain individual. Going only by the expression on Hank's face, he'll confront Walt in a very heated way, Walter realizing the jig is irrevocably up, will smack him with a drinks tray and be on the run. And a mini-storage unit of money will be forever out of his grasp. Then again, Hank's expression could indicate the mother of all deuces. People do die on the toilet, could Walter White be that lucky? In any event,I'm expecting an immediate flurry of action come next summer as in an almost literal fashion, the shit has hit the fan!

hmmm, I was still writing when you posted the Inside Episode 8 clip, Madget. I guess Hank won't immediately confront Walt after all. It's difficult to imagine him being duplicitous enough to play it close to the vest when he rejoins the get-together though. He's not Walter White!

My dad watches that other stringalong, Hell on Wheels. He asked me what the commercials saying "the last episode of 2012" meant. I told him that probably meant new episodes were coming in January. The big three networks usually drop off with new eps around Thanksgiving and pick up again after the New Year, maybe a six week break. You're saying AMC is taking a ten-month break?

I know it doesn't continue until 2013; I thought I saw something about the rest not airing until next summer entirely, but maybe it'll air earlier in 2013. I hope so.

MQ: I disagree about Hank, he can be very duplicitous and knows how to play things close to the vest. Cf. his interrogation of Mike; most of the questions Hank asks he already knows the answers to, he's just testing him, prodding to see if he can catch Mike in a lie. Realizing Walt is his Heisenberg is of course much more personally rattling. But, Hank's smart. He will need time to think this discovery through and consider how to proceed. He will probe Walt with little questions to suss out more. This book isn't exactly the kind of evidence that could put Walt away -- it just signals the truth to Hank. By knowing Walt is Heisenberg, Hank has a tremendous new advantage. He'll know better than to blow that, but will undoubtedly be conflicted about what to do with that advantage. Surely he doesn't want to tear Walt's family apart. I figure covert surveillance of Walt may be Hank's next step, to see if he can find more evidence to support his discovery; but, Walt now being supposedly "out," this may not actually yield much on Walt. But it could lead Hank back to Jesse somehow; and putting any kind of squeeze on Jesse, may lead to heightened confrontation between Jesse and Walt.

Hank is in a pretty fascinating position. The above guessing aside, I really don't feel confident I know exactly what's next, as usual. It'll be interesting.

K

Charles has been pretty mum on this season; you still watching, Reece? Any summary thoughts on S5 Pt. 1?

K

Yeah, it's Hank's personal involvement with Walt, the personal betrayal that I thought would trump reasoned detective investigative methods. The actor himself in the clip you supplied indicates that he'll use this new information to build on though, so that's the way it will play out I guess.

(from nerdapproved.com)

K

Also, sound editor talks about the signature sounds for BB.

http://www.fastcocreate.com/1681539/meth-for-your-ears-behind-the-signature-sounds-of-breaking-bad

And this.



K

I've just been enjoying your analysis. You follow the show a lot more closely than I. I've mostly been enjoying what's been going on, but the whole return to normal life segment left me a bit cold, including Hank's discovery of the dedication. Also, one thing that's really bugged me logistically is the short time line of all of this. Why make it just a year? That doesn't seem plausible in the least. Walt was at the point of selling meth overseas in just over a year!?! Come on.

Quin and Madge,

Have y'all read this takedown of the show?

Rats, my TV Guide cover had Jimmy Kimmel in Game of Thrones drag.

Jimbo was right that Gilligan picked a special moment for Crystal Blue Persuasion, not surprisingly it appears he's hands on in all the series' departments. A comparison to Alan Moore comes to mind.

I don't know what to say about that critic's lambasting of the show, Charles. I can't say that he doesn't have a handle on it, but what he regards as creative failures in the series seem to be some of the shows working elements to me. I've always been of the opinion that Walter White was only considered a nice guy because he didn't do all those evil things previously. He had that potential though and has become more capable of them. See? He's an inspiration, learn by doing!

I hear you, but this doesn’t bother me very much. The narrative trajectory of Walt’s transformation works and is believable to me in itself. That is, I wouldn’t even know we’d only seen a little over a year elapse thus far, or thought about it at all, if the show hadn’t spelled it out with the birthdays. Certainly the brevity of the timeline given occurred to me, and I’ll agree that any realistic scrutiny of it stretches plausibility. But on the other hand, it really doesn’t affect anything. “This whole story takes place in a two year time span? Huh. Seems like it should be more like five.” It’s a valid point, but it just doesn’t matter that much, so I can shrug it off.

The convenient conveniences I’ve previously mentioned, bug me more. They’re more substantial imperfections with an actual effect on the quality of the narrative itself. But, hey: even within the show, Walt’s product is only 90-something percent pure.

As to the critic’s article, I’ll take them point by point:

1. I agree Walt was never really “a nice guy.” From the very first episode, there is an emasculated frustration and nerdy sort of egotistical rage abrew in WW. But this is why his transformation works and is so believable. It’s why no matter how horrible his transgressions become, it works. However, while Walt may never have truly been “a nice guy,” he did have remorse; a conscience; self-doubt; confliction and sorrow over the transgressions he was rapidly being sucked into committing. He functioned well within the bounds of the law and of social norms, and he was (and to date, still is) a very loyal husband and – in his way – a dedicated father. So while I would agree that Walt’s ethics were always more a matter of convenience, inertia, perhaps even some cowardice, rather than of conscious moral conviction, I don’t see it as a problem in any way. On the contrary it is part of why the character’s evolution works. There are many people in our society whose ethics are largely ethics of convenience. This show illustrates the trajectory of a character for whom those threads get tugged a little too hard, and the whole facade begins to unravel, revealing the ugly, wounded, villainous core.

2. I can understand his disappointment with the female characters in the show, but don’t share anywhere near his degree of it. I don’t find them inauthentic or non-believable characters. The writers try to do some interesting things with them, but ultimately they do get short shrift to Walt, Jesse, Hank, and even Gus. The decision to focus on those characters isn’t something I hold against the show. If a show with a set of female protagonists focused on them to the exclusion of better developed secondary male characters, it wouldn’t bother me much either. Focus on what’s interesting and the story that you want to tell. I think people are a little hard on Skyler, and at first I thought they were too hard on Marie too, although I confess the writers seem to have given up trying to do anything of particular interest with her. There’s only so much time. Additionally, quite frankly, some people are simply not that deep or interesting – and there’s nothing wrong with a show reflecting that reality, as long as they aren’t dwelling pointlessly on what isn’t interesting at the expense of what is. And for the record I thought Jane was a pretty good character. Andrea, not so much. Lydia I like a lot, but sadly, with her late introduction, there doesn’t seem to be time to squeeze in a huge role or a lot of backstory for her. And in defense of Lydia’s twitchiness, they introduce her into the story at a point of – for her – extreme crisis and fear of being brought down. The final episode of the season did at least give us some reminder of her considerable value to the previous – and present – operation. And while a bit high-strung, she’s nothing if not careful, so I disagree Gus wouldn’t work with her. Again, we are introduced to her at a time when her world is unraveling and at which she is in the dark about a lot of what has happened or why.

3. Jesse’s “lame drug montages” – I don’t see it. Have there really been so many, outside of Jane introducing him to heroin (which was mostly handled in one shot)? He started out as a drug user and falls back into that in times of stress, sure – personally, I’ve never felt this aspect of the character or show to be overplayed a la Trainspotting, though. If anything, the opposite – the temptation would be to dramatize and dwell on Jesse’s own drug dependence in the face of their operation a good deal more, but the writers seem resistant to that. There was admittedly a point in Season 4 where I’ll confess I was getting a little bored with Jesse’s repetitive bouts of self-loathing, but it was short-lived, and quite frankly, it’s a functionally appropriate counterpoint to Walt’s trajectory. Jesse’s generally a pretty amazing character, if you ask me, one who vastly exceeded my expectations and who’s been full of a lot of (mostly) believable surprises. The caveat to this is I do admit that I think he sometimes magically becomes a little *too* intelligent/competent when the plot demands; but, not to the extent it renders the character inauthentic or less than compelling.

4. How is “Yeah, bitch! Magnets!” machismo Hollywood dialogue? I loved that, just seemed like Jesse being Jesse again, in a moment of brief excitement. “Do you understand?” I don’t recall as a piece of dialogue, nor can I imagine why it would be a particular problem. Walt's machismo in general is admittedly taken a little more at face-value in Season 5 than in the past, where it was undercut and mocked at every turn, but hey; it was probably time to let Walt just be a a pure bad-ass for a few episodes. We all know he's going to fall shortly. And for all his purported bad-assery, he's still being painted meta-narratively as a cowardly insect, slinking about the shadows. It's not a preachy show, but nor does it really glorify very much about Walt. Walt's a dickhead, just a really fascinating one.

5. I agree here – Breaking Bad’s plotting is far from air-tight, and at least once or twice per season, a little too gratingly convenient. However, I still say it stacks up quite favorably to almost anything else on TV. Le Samourai is full of plot-holes, it’s still a great fucking movie.

6. I get what he’s saying, but I like BB’s use of flash-forwards. They’re always handled with such style, and they genuinely, effectively create a great deal of guessing and suspense, at least for me. I wouldn’t be one to heavily defend the climax of Season 2 though, which I felt to be one of the show’s goofiest twists. In retrospect I sort of appreciate the surreality of it all, and Season 3 is so compelling that my disappointment was short-lived. But even if the substance itself was a little much, I’ll give them this much: I never would’ve guessed it was coming. And while the plane crash may not be the show’s strongest twist, it’s fundamental ability to continually surprise me – without going off the deep end completely, or losing its central narrative focus – is part of what keeps me watching.

7. The show is formalist and stylized, by nature. Personally, I like that – it’s part of what makes spaghetti westerns appealing, film noir, the aforementioned Melville. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s a style I enjoy when it’s done well, which I feel it is in BB, at least relative to the landscape of TV entertainment. Your mileage may vary.

8. I haven’t seen The Sopranos, Deadwood, or Mad Men, so I won’t poo-poo them or rule out the possibility – unlikely as I find it – that they are superior to BB. They are three shows I would like to and plan to eventually see. Now, I have seen The Wire; The Wire has just as many flaws and problems as BB is purported to have by this critic, and I enjoyed it less as a whole. It was better than a lot of other shit on TV, easily, but it was preachy, uneven, and self-congratulatingly hyper-topical. And for as broad as the cast of characters was, I only liked or found myself engrossed by a couple of them in any given season, and none of them to the same extent as WW or even Jesse, with the possible exception of Stringer Bell.

9. Addressed this above. The timeline is strangely short; it’s a bit baffling. It also matters very little.

10. Fair enough.

I enjoyed The Onion’s forecast:

"Breaking Bad Creator Thinking Maybe Next Season Should Take Dark Turn"



Incidentally, now that BB is on hiatus for some ungodly amount of time, the next show in my queue is Game of Thrones, which friends have been pressing me to watch. I got sucked into Showtime's cheesy-ass THE TUDORS, so I'm guessing Game of Thrones should pass the time pleasantly enough. We'll see. It may be time to give Mad Men a go as well.

K

I think we all feel some extra justification with BB after Madget's examination of the show's merits and, for that matter, its shortcomings and compromises. Very focused and meaningful analysis there!

But, I have a minor question, minor because it wouldn't affect the series characters in any major way. I have mentioned that I've only seen a handful of the episodes of season 1, 2, 2.5 So, am I right in thinking that Walter never personally sampled his product in early days, or ever, for quality control or even out of intellectual curiosity?

I seem to recall a scene when he and Jesse were working in the Bounder that he asked Jesse what snorting his formula felt like. Jesse said something to the effect that it felt like the whole back of your head lifted off and Walt opines that it didn't really sound pleasant at all. This would indicate that Walt had never tried it himself, but my recollection here might be totally paramnesiac, concocted in my own brain. I don't think he would have tried it as that wasn't where his interests lay and he just thought he was 'better than that'. It also reinforces his perspective which is to look at his customers as merely cyphers in his plan rather than human beings. So, does he or doesn't he? Only his hairdresser knows for sure, wait Walt doesn't have one!

I can say unequivocally that Walt has never sampled his own product, nor ever been shown to have any interest in doing so. On the contrary, from the start his stance was and remained a hardline "we're pushers, not users," which in the early days of the show, Jesse was not fully on board with. As such Jesse has used their product at times, and vouched for its quality, as did the drug lord Tuco from Season 1-2, as well as some of Jesse's druggie friends.

Walt did smoke a little of Jesse's pot, at one point, and seemed to enjoy it at the time. But that's about the extent of Walt's own drug use.

If there are episodes you missed, FTR they're all on Netflix streaming now, all of the first four Seasons anyway. At 7.99 a month, it's a vastly better deal than cable.

K

Thanks! Right now DirecTV encompasses my entire budget for entertainment and I like the array of channels in their basic package, but I'll look into Netflix.

I read "Jen Girdish is a writer and editor in DC" as "Jen Girdish is a writer and editor *FOR* DC" and got depressed for a second that I might agree about anything with an editor for DC Comics.


Vince Gilligan was on Colbert tonight. He insinuated that the ending is still in flux. Prepare to get suckered again, kids.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hdo5BwQn2yM

This Breaking Bad spoof was on the Emmy Awards show, it's a bit thin on real content, but cute nonetheless.