Shall we anticpate the AMC series "Breaking Bad"? I think I may.

I didn't care for Weeds, though. Hmmm...

http://www.amctv.com/originals/breakingbad/

Got the cold open to the first episode, plus some commercials here.

First episode def. shows promise.

what it about

a high school chemistry teacher who starts making meth on the side, I think. created by Vince Gilligan, of X Files fame.

Yeah, that's the one. Apparently it aired Saturday, but I saw it on On-Demand.

sounds like a darker, twisted version of "weeds". curious to see Cranston as a dramatic lead.

more twisted, I should say

this show is great !!!

I like it a lot, too. Shame about the premature ending, though.

When does the DVD come out? I got addicted to this show right off the bat, but then my stupid tivo managed to miss episode 3, and they haven't aired it since, and I'm not jumping ahead...

renewed!

http://blogs.amctv.com/breaking-bad/2008/05/breaking-bad-season-2-renews.php

Man, and I finally got cleaned up after the last season.

i started watching this on on-demand, really liked the first two eps so far (the language seems to be censored though, wtf amc)

new season starts tonight

I'm finding it harder than ever to not see the brother in law as some kind of tv-jazz riff on Vic Mackey. Esp. when he's sending crime scene photos on his personal cellphone while he cracks jokes.

Nice to have something to view on Sunday nights in between "Mad Men" seasons

Excellent show. Caught up on Season 1 last night and will be loving my Tivo.

eps 2&3 hav leakd - luv this show

hey dudes i read somethin abt this in the nyer and it sounded really really bleak. shld i listen to that? or shld i hear that and then move past it

naw its totally fun and hilarious and bleak - a morbid masculine transgressive fantasy more or less

i mean its an absurd show w/occasional real life details just to fuk w/u

like his moustache?

like his moustache

Does anyone have the leaked files for episodes 2 & 3? I'm trying to download a torrent right now, but it is creeping along veeeeery slowly.

Anyway, I just got turned on to this show & I love it. ..a morbid masculine transgressive fantasy more or less is OTM.

Update: If anyone is interested, I found m3g@upload links here.

o damn i didn't think to look for leaks

naw its totally fun and hilarious and bleak - a morbid masculine transgressive fantasy more or less

― ice cr?m, Tuesday, March 10, 2009 8:30 PM

^ otm

really well-cast too. the palsy son is great

otm all around guys

EP 2 & 3 SPOILERRRRZ >>>>>>>**************

^
^
^
^

luv the emerging plot of the brother in law unknowingly investigating walter

kind of surprised they didn't try to move on getting him to bust Tuco to save their own asses

Update: If anyone is interested, I found m3g@upload links here.

― 2 ears + 1 ❤ (Pillbox), Tuesday, March 10, 2009 10:02 PM

thanks!

oh man tio with the little bell!

wow, a lot happens in the space of one episode.

tuco cracks me up when does that "tight-tight-TIGHT"

n e more leaks yet?

naw its prob the typical case where they sent the 1st 3 out to reviewers and well have to just wait for the rest to air - tho there is a torrent on demoniod of the 1st season ripped from dvd that claims to be [UNRATED.UNCUT.NEW.MATERIAL] - might check it out

Tuco's grandfather is now officially my new favorite television character. That bell = pure genius. And in general, I think that the subtle details and quirks of the characters is the best thing about this show, at once kind of Lynchian and realistic-seeming (which would seem impossible, but they pull it off somehow).

Tio means uncle.

Thank you for the clarification.

Haha, I know right? What a game-changing revelation that must have been for you!

you can see the pitch:

"it's american beauty meets grand theft auto!"

but somehow despite this it is pretty good! and certainly unusual for a tv show

from ep 1 -

"why are you doing this?"

"well - why do you do it?"

"money.. mainly"

"there you go"

"wait wait hold up. this isn't normal. it's weird! if you're crazy, or depressed or something.. i need to know! that affects me!!"

--

this last sentence from "the cap'n" has got me hooked - he's a real character suddenly instead of a stereotype - this show is going to rule

im at the last ep of the first series and am very impressed by this show.

2nd season just gets better and better IMO. This is def my current favorite show.

"i thought we were going to coldstone creamery"

COIN FLIP IS SACRED

the guy who plays the brother in law has his whole thing down cold

season 2 is next level

tuco's burritos looked gross. it was just chopped steak in a tortilla. no pico, no nothin'.

jesus christ this show!

s1e03 is an amazing, amazing episode

i have even started feeling for the overbearing mom!

this show has nothing to do with "falling down" at all btw

even the dickhead brothher-in-law is kind of Good People underneath it all - am i just a huge softie??

Anybody watch the 'minisodes'? Also, what's a minisode as opposed to a webisode?

don't know what those are?

i don't buy it as a masculine transgressive fantasy, at least not through s1e03. all the aggressive types are either idiots or villains or both. so far it seems a lot about families actually.

^^ MTF is applicable to last season, I believe, but yeah, Dr. Phil OTM, we're on to the next level here.

o big tracer 3 episodes in an hes an expert

anyway just watched the most recent ep and this shit has gone from dark to dire - still v good - not as much fun tho - enjoyed walt all full of himself for successfully lying to his wifes face while making his ex look bad - btw that was a nice touch that he left her - totally assumed it was the other way

i am a huge expert on those three episodes and do hereby challenge all comers to an interpretive duel

I cd go a coldstone creamery right about now

i cd go 4 some crank

Didn't get round to watching this for some time, mostly because the whole "cancer" premise put me off, but after two episodes - it's really good! not sure if i prefer it to mad men, but it's interesting since in the latter the characters are all intrinsically bad heroes whereas in breaking bad they're all good villains.

hmmm compelling thesis

dea brother in law was on last nites lost

each of these seasons is actually a miniseries, isn't it.

it's just not called that.

i can't imagine not starting at the beginning.

no one has yet noted that there will be a season three -

Just four episodes into Breaking Bad's second season, burgeoning cable network AMC has greenlit a third cycle of the award-winning drama series, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The show -- which stars Bryan Cranston as a high school chemistry teacher-turned-drug dealer -- nabbed 1.7 million viewers in its season premiere, a 21 percent increase over the first season's debut and a startling 42 percent bump over the first season's viewership average. Bad was awarded the revered Peabody award just yesterday, and star Cranston took home the Emmy for best actor in a drama series last fall.

http://news-briefs.ew.com/2009/04/breaking-bad-am.html

how does this show differ from 'weeds'?

1 - it's an hour

2 - it's not fucking terrible

i dunno, i've never seen weeds. everything about this show is terrific. they take a fairly outrageous premise and work through all of its implications, on an almost minute-by-minute basis. there are some vicarious thrills for sure but man, the lead character is having anything but a good time.

the thing i like most is how differently you come to see many of the characters - how you get to see all these different sides of them that you hadn't suspected at first, and even reevaluate your own initial reactions to them

I've been working on my Jesse voice impression over the last week, mostly in the car. It's coming along pretty well. Basically it's shouting, with some hoarseness, but like you have a mild cold too. The trick is to balance the appropriate proportions of those three key elements.

damn. this episode is violent

Haven't we seen the old boobytrapped tortoise baited with a severed head trick a million times before?

lol?

wtf @ bob odenkirk joining the cast !?!

That was some quasicronenberg shit right there.

uh, the turtle, not odenkirk

i guess the song at the beginning was a narcocorrido?

from the gilmore girls to jessie's girlfriend. this show is awesome.

omg the narcocorrido was an amzing move - best ep yet - loved how everyone kept repeating crushed his head w/an atm as if it made any sense at all - looking forward to odenkirk

brother in law way over his head is a sweet development - as is delving into the mexican madness - v timely

This show just keeps getting better. It is my current favorite & is threatening to edge into my all-time A-list. The dysfunctional tweaker family was waaaaaaaay too well done. I literally felt compelled to (and did) take a shower after last week's episode. Trejo turtle-bomb was def A+++

"he's not on pot any more"

"oh please! pot and chemotherapy go together like.. like apple pie, and.. and chevrolet!!"

that last episode (with the narcocorrido and the turtle-bomb) was the first one I've ever seen. my friend convinced me to watch it and tried to give me a quick overview of the plot so far, but... nothing could have prepared me for that.

(I liked it, tho)

almost caught up..

loose ends:

HUGO

the second cellphone

why hank and marie don't have a kid

DJ Qualls as a hard-up tweeker, the role he was born to play! Probably could have scratched at his face a little bit more though.

loool odenkirk - great ep

Go get a juicebox!

his whole shtick is exceptional - i welcome the return of the absurd to breaking bad

did this air last night? Can't find torrents.

it did, it was a bit of a comedown after the frantic last three episodes.

Fucking Outbreak ad!

O ILx you have sold me a pup with this one. The precise moment it lost me:

"We've analysed the chemical composition of the entire human body, but we're still 2lbs short! What could be missing?"
"The soul...?"

that whole string of flashbacks didn't work for me either; it's confusing and hard to figure its relationship to anything else. i saw it as walt's (cheesy) idealized memory of the kind of life he used to have before he became a dad/chem teacher drone.

that episode is one of the best episodes of tv i've ever seen though, even with the flashbacks.

whats w/these b&w crime scene opens - stuffed animals body bags in walts drivesway

they're obv leading up to something beeg, i hope it's not a season-ending cliff-hanger but argh you kind of figure it has to be

well know were getting close once the stuffed animals start showing up

"DLZ" was just too perfect at the end!

so walter is addicted to the rush - luvs the kingpin status

ya. pretty awesome ending.

"I whipped cancer - what do I have to worry about from some vato gordo?"

"Smoking weed, eating Cheetos and masturbating does not constitute having plans"

walter on his way to make a million dollar deal while is wife goes into labor - how will he fuck this one up

Relapse subplot pretty weak and predictable, esp. the levitating off the bed shot. Esposito is a welcome addition, though!

yeah esposito ownd luv that guy

re relapse: drug addicts tend to be pretty weak and predictable

well, yeah, but what I mean is it seems like they added it in just as a 'drugs are bad mmkay' move.

No one has mentioned that this was renewed for a season 3 have they?

http://news-briefs.ew.com/2009/04/breaking-bad-am.html

Shows GREAT and getting GREATER imho

i dunno between espositos advice jesse irresponsible behavior and the fact that walter doesnt really need jesse anymore looks like the drugg plot could be setting up a schism between our two main guys - i predict walter tries to short him

one thing i dont get tho is the $1.2 esposito offered is the same number walter came up with when he was figuring their profit selling it on the street - but theyre wholesaling now so it should be much less

goddamn that was bleak

o they are really trying to turn us against walter white here

http://savewalterwhite.com/

Father, Husband & Teacher & Murderous Drug Kingpin

o they are really trying to turn us against walter white here

hardly the worst thing he's done tho. perhaps, even, one of the smarter moves.

super Tony and Chrissy, tho.

goddamn that was bleak

SPOILER!

Also I’m not sure how this isn’t the worst thing Walt has done, he could at least try and morally absolve himself of the other deaths in some way but he’s pretty directly responsible for allowing this to happen. Isn’t it his shaking of Jesse that rolls Jane onto her back in the first place?

Anyone notice the pink stuffed animal at the start?

well he did straight up chain a guy up in a basement for a couple of days and then straight up choke the guy to death in like episode 3 or 4.

This is true but dude was gonna try to stab him with the plate shard so there's at least some element of self-defence in there. I suppose there's a similar level of self-preservation going on here but it seems way more sinister.

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

*****************

i don't understand why he didn't try to save her

is his thinking supposed to be - if she lives, they continue to get fucked out of their minds on heroin, generally fuck up and get arrested, get questioned about the money, and they roll on him? if so, how in the world does her current DEATH not simply lead to this scenario even quicker?? and all that aside has he simply lost every shred of decency? how in the world can he not attempt to save her from choking to death???

His thinking is she tried to blackmail him once -- she knows his secret now afterall -- what keeps her from blackmailing him again after they inevitably blow through all the money. So: better off dead. And she's corrupting jessie, his surrogate son, so better off dead. But mostly the first part. Operation's cleaner without loose cannons.

And yes, he's lost every shred of decency. That's his character arc for the season.

ok yeah that makes a bit more sense - when they have the face-off in the doorway he says "how can i be sure i can trust you?" and she says "i guess you can't" - it sorta zipped by though and i didn't quite put two and two together

i wonder if this marks the moment when him and jesse truly become enemies, even if jesse never learns about walt's role in her death. walt has no need for jesse any more. they've alway kind of hated each other.

but yeah pretty difficult to root for this guy now. the unfulfilled wish that has sustained the whole show is for walt to finally be honest w/his family, or at least his wife. it would provide the ultiamte catharsis, for him and for us. but in this episode, saul's like "what about communication?" and walt is like "communication is OUT!" .. when he shows the money to his new daughter, it's like yep - this is as close as walt will ever come to being honest. it's profoundly depressing.

Yeah it's like the tony soprano is so awful but I can't help rooting for the guy phenomenon taken to an even uglier place. But they've done it so organically (i.e. How the morally ambiguous walt that killed a dealer in season one partly from self-preservation instincts is so unrecognizable now, he's a different person, but it's almost concscious -- he likes himself better this way) that it's really admirable as storytelling.

It's weird that for all that, Ted and Skyler still make my skin crawl and I hear myself going "Dont do it Skyler!" as if I'm worried about Walt, and then have to wonder why. But then it's pretty much the same reaction as "Shit Walt, save her... oh", I like that he still has hand over his mouth as if he's slightly aghast at this "accident" he caused, that it's just another thing gone horribly wrong, yet you cant really buy that anymore.

This show really is so relentless in the shit it puts it's characters through (although "you're gonna build a robot?!" was pretty great), I find it quite hard to take. I probably shouldnt have watched 12 episodes over the Bank Holiday then...

oh see i love skyler now. i mean yeah she has her annoying tics but she's been way more patient w/walt than he deserves. the second cellphone thing - i mean he totally lied about it and she got pissed but then she never brought it up again, and has continued to be supportive and thoughtful (even if she is getting some on the side with lame-o ted). at this point i want skyler to take the fuck off with "flynn" and new baby and leave walt to stew in his own fucking juices.

No yeah, this show is relentless. And mostly with the characters we're meant to identify with, even if they're the most corrupt characters on the show.

i feel for jesse so fucking hard.

the thing with him and his girlfriend has flipped so quickly - at first he was the bad influence and she was the ray of light, the possible window into a better, healthier life. within two episodes she became a black hole of bad news.

Jesse always seems to get the worst of it, yeah. See that episode where he loses his place and has to break into the tow yard the van is parked in and just thing after thing goes wrong in increasingly worse ways. They almost use his misery for comic relief but then you're forced to identify with him as a character as real as the rest of them and it's like aw jeez, this guy is just getting the blunt end of every event.

it's kind of killing me that we have to wait a whole week for the finale

and then a whole nine months or whatever for the next (and final) series

i was impressed that they used a real newborn baby in the show.. she couldn't have been more than a few weeks old, anyway; by the way walt's excuse about not finding the size 0 diapers was indeed well-played - it is a v common problem

skyler's sister was hilar - when sky needs to breastfeed during lunch and hank's all "gross - not whil we're eating!" she says "hank, you're so... PROVINCIAL"

they live in an arizona suburb

interesting that hank comes back with los pollos hermanos - it could be a coincidence of course but maybe not - he might have just gone and busted walt's buyer, mr. careful (although he'd probably be crowing about it if so)

i sure hope walt went and picked up his car's spare tire, at least

Oh, I agree with pretty much everything you say RE: Skyler above, Tracer! It's just kind of funny how expectations get played with and how sympathies still lie with the original protagonist before you realise you're not so certain about that anymore. I know that's been brewing for a while, but he does the whole put upon, 'why is all this happening to me' routine so well. Because yeah, rationally, Skyler should get the hell away from him. It's a pity she can't come up with a rationale to do so, because she'd never be able leave him while he has cancer (although that's come close to stretching point, Im sure).

Jesse is a sorry story (I was so pleased for him when 'Apology Girl' was slipped under his door, cos I really thought they were done for) but he has himself to blame for most of it. She didnt need much urging to go and score some heroin, mind you. But mainly that was down to Jesse being depressed about one of his guys getting taken down, I was just thinking the whole time how he had one guy out on the corner all on his own, with just one gun! Srsly, I know they're supposed to be rubbish drug dealers, but if they just watched the Wire or something.

Argh, I can hardly get over how relentless it is though, the whole thing with Jesse getting kicked out, getting stuck in the middle of nowhere in the mobile home. The grinding ineptitude and unnecessary situations that crop up. The episode with Jesse trying to dish out 'justice' with the two old druggies and the little boy where you just keep thinking "Just leave man, leave!"

im thinking walts arc isnt from decency to total deprivation but rather from fear to aggression - the show i think is saying that the appearance of virtue when its based on social fear is not virtue at all - its testing this theory by putting walt under tremendous stress and simultaneously liberating him from his psychological constraints

jesses girl was obv never a nice person - walk was absolutely right that she was v dangerous to him and jesse - still completely unconscionable behavior

its funny her and walt and skylars sister and the lawyer are all these little domestic gangsters and jesse the one guy w/real experience on the street is just totally not cut out for the shit

don't forget tax cheat ted and cuban cigar aficionado hank

It's just kind of funny how expectations get played with and how sympathies still lie with the original protagonist before you realise you're not so certain about that anymore

yeah. but i finally think i reached my limit. it seems impossible for walt to ever come all the way back. this was the episode where it became totally clear that walt has lost sight of his original vision, which was a generous one. he's not now satisfied with taking care of his family. saul suggests they invent an anonymous benefactor or a long-lost uncle. walt says no. it has become about something else - about walt proving something to himself. he's an underachiever and wants to prove to the world - publicly - that he's a real bonafide badass who can take care of his family himself. the only problem is that the bonafide badass part and the taking care of his family part are sort of not playing nicely with each other.

It's a really nasty strain of pride, through and through.

based on all that b&w stuffed animal foreshadowing were headed for the nastiest episode yet

does jesse go after walt and his family - who else could it be

- jane's dad comes by the house, jesse's still asleep
- jane's dad finds her dead. goes absolutely mental. gets jesse to tell him "everything", which includes walt and where walt lives
- jane's dad drives to walt's house and er.. blows up house with a chemical bomb or something? hmmm

i never figured out why the dudes in the flash-forwards are wearing hazmat suits

let's face it, there are quite a few people who wouldn't mind seeing walter white suffer right now

i never figured out why the dudes in the flash-forwards are wearing hazmat suits

― Tracer Hand, Tuesday, May 26, 2009 8:47 AM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yeah thats a good question - maybe the cooking rv is involved somehow and they get spooked by all the chemistry gear

i have to think that whoever comes after walt its them in the body bags

yeah he has been pretty adept at dispatching his rivals. when jane starts fucking with him i was thinking "girl you really do not want to be pissing this guy off."

yeah she was not the most clueful - typical junkie - head full of foolish dreams and terrible plans

Let's go to New Zealand!

(I know that was Jesse, it was just funny)

Also, could the flash forwards be to the *very* end of the show? I mean no matter what I imagine the whole thing ending badly.

I kind of hope that Jesse just thinks it was an accident - he never actually woke up and saw Walt there, did he?

it's the middle of the night, he won't wake up until jane's dad comes by to take her to rehab

Suedey yeah it could be

would be a nifty "gotcha" to have someone give the newborn the pink plush doll as a present

and then like bam, season over

Tracer otm about this being the tipping point with Walt’s lust for power and purpose and there's nothing to really halt the free fall from here except complete destruction. The close up at the end is pretty remarkable for showing all that in a few seconds. And all of it coming after the genuine affection for Jesse that brings him back to his home in the first place.

Surely the flash-forwards have to involve Gus somehow. For a show so concerned with process it’s strange that we didn’t even see the exchange between the two and that pink plushy thing at the start couldn’t have been placed there unintentionally.

Also I totally thought Walt was going to smother Jesse in that last scene a la Tony and Christopher. I am not looking forward to more Jesse misery when the dad shows up in the morning.

i agree with ice cr?m. he's not become a bad person so much as he's just sick of rolling over and taking crap from people.

his very first instinct with jane was to rush over and save her from choking. you see him dart over going "oh no no no" and *then* he pauses - you can practically see the gears in his head turning. i'm pretty sure he had no idea how dangerous it was for her to be on her back in the first place, that was completely unintentional. but why should he save her at that point? thanklessly save her life so she can slowly kill Jess with heroin, blackmail him again when they burn through the cash and possibly destroy his family?

personally i think he was at his worst when he handed Jesse the gun and told him to "take care" of that problem earlier in the season. he did eventually come around - but by that point it was to late.

also - i think haz-mat suits are standard procedure for dealing with any drug lab situation.

also, also - Q!!!

but why should he save her at that point? thanklessly save her life so she can slowly kill Jess with heroin, blackmail him again when they burn through the cash and possibly destroy his family?

well i mean right, but for those to be the thoughts that go through your head when someone is dying in front of your eyes means that you are way gone, daddy-o

it wasn't his *first* thought tho. with the junkie that ripped them off he was immediately telling Jess to go bury the guy!

compelling that this is all basically a freak out abt confronting his own mortality - and he is not dealing well

I don't know about him saying go bury the guy i thought that was just what Jesse takes him to mean. I'm pretty sure Walt is horrified when he thinks Jesse actually went and killed them as opposed to just intimidating or roughing them up

no walt was def all do what u have to - murder was on the table if not specified - he felt somewhat unresponsible for the outcome cause it was jesses job to take care of that end

Yeah i just went back and watched it and i guess it is ambiguously there, but his reaction when he thinks he actually killed them seems pretty genuine and seems to feel responsible in that moment or maybe that's just a way of absolving himself of the responsibility, but then i dont see why he would need to do that with Jesse. If he meant for Jesse to kill them and he went and killed them wouldn't he be all 'alright well done'?

yeah he had a moment of insight there abt how fucked up he was behaving - but then he just totally backslid

hes totally confused abt his worldview and role - basically just a 2/47 freak out - fixing the house manically letting the girl die trying to save jesse etc

it's pretty interesting how different my reactions were between the husband of the scabby skank's death and this cute middle-class heroin addict's death

I suppose there is an equivalence in terms of allowing both to happen to prevent some sort of possible, but not certain, future threat.

ha yeah thats a really good point tracer - this show be fuckin w/us

ya, good point!

pretty sure he had no idea how dangerous it was for her to be on her back in the first place, that was completely unintentional

actually doesn't he turn his OWN newborn daughter onto her side in this same episode, to keep her from spitting up??

i mean to keep her from choking?

i'm not sure - but either way i don't think he's going to be aware of the dangers of someone puking to death in the midst of a heroin coma. it's a far cry from taking care of a newborn.

or, at least on the surface it would seem to be.

hes totally confused abt his worldview and role - basically just a 2/47 freak out - fixing the house manically letting the girl die trying to save jesse etc

yah since the point a few episodes back when walt and jesse were stuck in the middle of nowhere and walt was lying in the rv moaning abt how he deserved this terrible death thinking even if he didnt die of dehydration then he would die of cancer eating his lungs but then hes not dying hes getting better - feel like he feels unmoored and capable of anything now denied the absolution he tht he was getting

like i can see tracer's point abt not being able to ever come all the way back to being a moral human - dont think walt ever tht hed have 2 make the attempt

I think cute heroin addict does it to jesse too earlier on. And Walt knows everything about everything! But yeah it is completely unintentional, i dont think he notices she's on her back until she starts choking but he still causes it inadvertently i guess which doesnt really prove anything except being a convenient way to get her on her back and start choking but he at least causes her death just by being there as much as he does by not doing anything to stop it. (xpost)

And he was only there out of affection for Jesse so yeah i guess that's more confusion about his worldview. The last shot seems to be an end to that confusion though.

the next (and final) series

Gonna need a source on this, as I've read a lot about this show and have never heard such a thing.

The thing about that final shot to me is that Walt is aware of what he's becoming in that moment. Literally watching his humanity slip away but the "Heisenberg" part of him won't let him save her. Awesome work by Cranston. The question now is, will he slip away and let Jesse deal with the fallout, or will he use it to tie Jesse to him, somehow?

Yeah I'm wrong - I read something about how the creator wanted "50 episodes" so that would mean 7 + 13 + 13 + 13 = 46. Plus a four-part miniseries! Or something.

he prob just want 13x4 but the writers strike fucked it up

i dunno - he hardly has a use for Jesse anymore. if he really is more Heisenberg than Walt he's gonna be trimming the fat!

> he hardly has a use for Jesse anymore

Absolutely. I figured Walt was just going to freeze Jesse out completely since he cooks the meth and makes the deal and that was going to be the source of new conflict between them. Also that Esposito would insist on ditching Jesse as a condition of doing business with Walt.

Walt makes meth.
Meth is a drug.
Jane died from a drug overdose.
Walt let this happen.
Walt makes drugs that let this happen to Many people, and he's been doing this for a while now.
Focusing on Jane choking on her vomit and not thinking about all the people who are buying and using what Walt made is pretty damn ignorant. This show is not only about the characters onscreen; it's about everyone else in New Mexico that will be negatively affected by Walt's chemistry. It's a choice the dude made in Episode One.
Why are so many of you saying that Walt is "suddenly evil now", and going ballistic like this is the character's first extreme immoral act. He's been doing the best for himself and letting people die ever since he made the decision to make the meth. I just don't understand how the death of Jane would somehow suddenly "open your eyes" on Walt's selfishness, especially when you're threatening to stop watching this great show because of this. The show is called BREAKING BAD. The writers are doing an awesome job. Are you not Enthralled by this epic piece of entertainment? If you're not, then why are you watching it, why are you here...etc... And DON'T say "because Walt killed Jane". The meth he makes is destroying the lives of many. If you loathe Walt because of Jane, and not because of Anything that occurred before this, perhaps you should examine your own definition of morality, because your judgement on Walt is rather delayed.

rumbled

re making jesse useful again, walt will prob be all fucked up after having his lung removed or whatever and he'll have to rely on jesse to cook

Are you not Enthralled by this epic piece of entertainment?

: )

I'm a couple episodes behind but man I love Jesse for some reason. I just saw the dead-battery-in-the-desert episode and think the actor and character are really good. Mostly because I think it's great to see someone on television who isn't really that smart, or talented, and is kind of sketchy and messed up but think they're badasses. I see a lot of guys like this around and knew dudes like this in high school but they never seem to be represented to the degree that they exist.

i am enthralled by this epic piece of entertainment and i will be super sad if jesse is written out - hes a deep character def - everything abt him is so otm - the scene when hes showing his girl his drawings was omg too real

"c'mon when i drew those i was just a kid... that was like four whole years ago"

a friend of mine grew up in a town where a kid his same age had the same name as him - the other kid was a total fuck up causing my friend all sorts of trouble trying to get video store memberships and the like - when he saw jesse on breaking bad he freaked out like omg thats him thats the other g--e h-----s exactly

I just saw the dead-battery-in-the-desert episode and think the actor and character are really good.

yah i really like that episode so many great little moments haha walt gets so pedagogical thinks he really got thru then jesse is like "a wire!" oh man walts face.

fact: i cringe less @ jesse than i do @ walt despite everything

just got AMC yesterday; just added this to tivo list.

only one more episode, yo :(

episodes are on demand tho - how i caught up

ah

So Walt's newborn baby didn't die in meth-related explosion after all. Well played, black and white foreshadowing openers.

scene with Walt & Jessy at the crack house A++
scene of Skyler leaving Walt A-
the conclusion of b&w foreshadowing F

scene of Skyler leaving Walt A-

this scene featured some of the weirdest acting/directing choices i've seen in awhile. Why was skylar like, moving in close, whispering, etc. playing leaving someone that she thinks is possibly dangerous and has betrayed her in a fairly elaborate way as a seduction scene was pretty o_O and frankly pulled me out of the scene altogether.

ya - that was def strange. but i guess she'd been holding all that in for a while by that point.

i guess yeah it's sort of an intimate version of "gotcha", but it still felt pretty far off to me, emotionally.

I give the conclusion a C-. I would give it an A if they hadn't played it as uber-creepy as they have - b&w, atmospheric music, etc etc. I like the whole chain reaction thing of it, though - Walt's actions leading to this plane crash in a roundabout way.

very roundabout.

Well, yeah.

i loved it when skyler moved in close - you're right Clay, it was freaky but also threatening, which i think skyler was playing with - this feeling if finally having some power, of being in control, of refusing to just accept and go along

it also mirrored their level of honesty with each other - this is as close to the truth as they've had between each other for quite some time

yes the ending was a crazy coincidence but it felt to me like a metaphor for all the anonymous druggie victims of walt's cooking; the show can't exactly go around to every drug den and show up close the effects - this was a displacement of that, a substitute for it

no one watches this show!!!!
the young man on it looks hepatitic!

Report

By fidobarks on 06/01/2009 at 7:40pm

the hell is that from?!

sad dad at his air traffic work stations voice barely cracking was super excellent acting - plane crash bait and switch was kinda lame but kinda awesome for its over the topness

sort of disappointed skylar didnt take walt up on his offer of the truth

he'd be fucked if he did that. he'd probably never see his kids again.
i sort of wanted to see what would happen tho if he told her. they've made us think a few times now that he was gonna do it.

it's too late for that - way too late

it wouldve been pretty hilarious just to hear him recount the plot of the show - so we got this rv and went out to the desert... got kidnapped by a seriously tweaking dealer who i had previously tried to blow up w/fake meth... met a kingpin in a chicken place... killed a cute girl w/her own puke... u get the picture

http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2009/05/breaking-bad-vince-gilligan-post.html

a friend of mine says that has s3 spoilers^

but i really want to read it o jeez

i read it, there are no S3 spoilers

the only thing he really mentions is that gus thinks 20 steps ahead, which we already knew

some vague talk of what will happen in s3e01 but it couldnt really spoil anything

this is think is prob what he was talking abt - its not exactly a spoiler but it does point to where they ultimately want to go w/walt
^
^
^
^
^
^
^
^
^
^
SPOLIAH?
^
^
^
^
^
^
^
^
^
^

And is it also a safe assumption that you're not going to kill off your leading man midway through the series by dropping an airplane on him?

We're back in the writers' room now, plotting out season three. I don't think it's too much of a spoiler to say Walt is front and center, as always. The way I see it, if a jet engine fell on his head and crushed him, he'd be getting off too easy. He's not getting off nearly that easy.

well i didn't exactly think walt was going to make it to st croix with his millions and his forgiving family

yah but the writers have it in for him dont u see - f'n jerkfaces

I didn't mind the Walt vs. Skylar confrontation - she'd done her homework and knew he was up to something but obviously wasn't going to hurt her, so she was taunting him a bit. Also cause it reminded me of Oran "Juice" Jones calling out his woman in "The Rain".

Somebody's just pointed out to me the names of the episodes that had the pink teddy intro. "737" "Down" "Over" "ABQ".

ya, he talks about that in the link earlier.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykCFDR5k2fQ

not reading the whole thread but just wanted to say this show is fucking great and i'm abt to start season 2.

I'm not going near this thread yet for spoiler reasons, but the girl and I watched the entire first season in about a week and are now starting season two. This show is so clever and honest and PENSIVE; it's a real treat to see violence and fear given real people responsiveness as opposed to "oh dead body, hm, bummer" there's lasting repercussions.
Total winner; very happy I got into it.

Yeah this show is so damn good.

For all the crazy shit that happens in it, it's not very escapist. I think it will resonate with anyone who has decided, for one reason or another, to keep a part of themselves hidden from their loved ones. Or with anyone who has a loved one who does this. Which can be a pretty discomfiting thing to dwell on.

Just knocked 'Rescue Me' out of the box as my fave current tv drama; Rescue is more of a soap as opposed the the weirdly real flavor of Breaking Bad

I've watched the first three episodes over the last couple of days, and it's great fun, very sharp and enjoyable. Reminds me a bit of Carl Hiaasen.

When's season three start?

spring

LOVE this show.

rulez

On S2 now. Fucking hell this is good.

It's really spectacular.

Carl Hiaasen

Yeah! Or Elmore Leonard.

I tried to pace myself, but have now watched all twenty episodes. In like five days. Have to wait now. Dammit.

It may have darted into my all-time top ten list with alarming speed. Of the decade, at least. Or that could just be the meth talking.

http://images.dailyradar.com/media/uploads/showhype/story_large/2009/06/01/breaking_bad_new_poster.jpg

Can't wait!!!

Me neither. If it's even half as good as S2 I'll be a happy boy.

http://images.dailyradar.com/media/uploads/showhype/story_large/2009/06/01/breaking_bad_new_poster.jpg
*hugglez*

is jesse not one of the most culturally accurately rendered screen characters ever - u know this guy - his ways of are those of a real person right now

http://images.dailyradar.com/media/uploads/showhype/story_large/2009/06/01/breaking_bad_new_poster.jpg
i'm okay with constant anticipatory posts of this picture until march 8

like the dragon on jesses shirt quite a bit

http://www.entertainmentwallpaper.com/images/desktops/movie/tv_breaking_bad02.jpg

http://www.futuregringo.com/2009April/BreakingBad.jpg

Just finished watching seasons one and two in a three-day binge. This show is fucking FANTASTIC - Bryan Cranston is delivering a Gandolfini-level performance here.

Can't wait for 8th March. How come Skyler's still pregnant in those promo images, though...?

pillow

sneaky

it's been a month since I finished season 2, and I still can't decide if the final episode was really great or shark jumping terrible.

I think I liked the plane crash as a metaphor for all the horrible things Walt had been doing literally crashing down on him. I'd have liked it more, though, if it wasn't for all those portentous B&W flash-forwards in the cold opens - the shot of what appeared to be Walt's glasses being put in an evidence bag in one of the earlier episodes really set up the idea of something physically horrible happening to him and having it turn out instead to be deliberate misdirection was a bit of a low blow, tbh.

I can imagine people thinking that about the air crash stuff, though I thought it was fine. Everything else was spot on, surely? Skylar confronting him was absolutely nerve-wracking.

xpost

The whole crash thing literal metaphor thing felt grandiose on a season six Sopranos level. Seemed out of character for a show that has been so gritty and real up until that point. I really did feel conned afterward, too. I think I said out loud, "that's it?" The crash itself was an intense spectacle - the sound of the explosion was amazing and seriously eerie. I think it made the hair on my neck stand up a little. The scene was so well done, it almost made up for what I didn't like about it.

I wonder... do they spend a lot of time on showing the fallout in season 3, or do they go forward with the plot like it never happened? Like, if somehow the crash raining down corpses on their house is a catalyst for getting them back together, does that ruin the whole point of the metaphor?

I have to say, I think I'll be really disappointed if it ends up being some kind of raining frogs Magnolia plot catalyst.

xp - The whole series has been nerve-wracking! I don't think I've ever been so tense watching a TV show. It does an extraordinary job of ratcheting up the stakes with every episode.

There's always a really visceral sense of the walls closing in around Walt - even pulling off the ostensibly life-changing $1.2m deal was a defeat for him. His comment to Saul about always taking one step forward, two steps back was painfully OTM.

The explosion is a bit of a heavy-handed metaphor, but I actually think it works in the context of the show - it's not that much more out-of-the-ordinary than an exploding tortoise, is it?

The problem I had with it was the sneakiness of the previous shot of Walt's glasses in the evidence bag. Just seemed a bit... cheap to have that mean nothing in the end.

I absolutely agree that realism isn't one of the show's primary aims - it's a morality tale.

I think the thing that impressed me most about the storytelling was the way every little incident had some kind of affect on the overall unfolding of the story - the number of small story elements that came together to culminate in Jane's death is an example. I think the only other season of television I've seen that was as tightly plotted is S4 of The Wire.

I loved Jane btw...I would get addicted to heroin for her anytime.

xp - Yeah, it is very well put-together in that sense. The explosion itself is part of that attention to detail, too - you can trace everything that led to it back to Walt's own actions.

Speaking of small details, I'm almost convinced the spare tyre that Walt threw out of the back of his car while rushing to get to the hospital to see his daughter will come back to haunt him in a future episode. The way it was shot - with the wheel bouncing towards the camera - did seem like a setup for something...

meeting jane's dad at the bar was a bit of a stupid forced coincidence imo

I was willing to buy the coincidence because it established a nice bit of insight into Walt's relationship with Jesse - he'd never admitted feeling anything like a sense of familial responsibility for Jesse before, had he? - and set up Walt's return to Jesse's house.

If anything, I thought the one thing in that episode which was a bit awkward was the setup of the VITAL IMPORTANCE of turning both junkies and babies on their sides when they sleep - it telegraphed Jane's demise a bit too much. When it did arrive, though, the scene was fucking horrific - easily the worst thing to have happened on a show filled with unpleasant actions. Cranston's performance in that scene was great - he's so, so good at telling a story without speaking.

I could believe it too, Alberquerque's not huge, is it? It was also a very dark bit of irony that Walt wouldn't have gone back (and Jane wouldn't have died) if not for that meeting.

I'm assuming the bar was close to Jesse's house, too, so I guess it's entirely possible both of them would have gone there at the same time.

yeah it ties things up nicely but like...it was a pretty big narrative tool

Can't wait for 8th March. How come Skyler's still pregnant in those promo images, though...?

― mister_thoth, Tuesday, January 19, 2010 2:19 PM

thats a promo ad from season 2

There's quite a few things like that though... It's like the major characters behave realistically, but the world around them doesn't necessarily, and I'm cool with that.

xpost

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzVia595n-4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dye2XN-MqHQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jc_8cq533TA

Am I the only one who thought Walt's post-op goatee made him look distressingly similar to the latter-day Paul Gadd?

lol

the thing about rolling babies on their side so that they don't choke on their own vomit hendrix style was weird - you don't actually do that! i mean, i dunno. i guess some people do.

Oh man, those teasers tease.

calmly walking away from explosions

I wonder... do they spend a lot of time on showing the fallout in season 3, or do they go forward with the plot like it never happened? Like, if somehow the crash raining down corpses on their house is a catalyst for getting them back together, does that ruin the whole point of the metaphor?

SEMI-SPOILER I read an interview recently with the show creator where he pretty much said the plane crash will be addressed in season 3.

Been rewatching a bit of S2. Crantson's been getting all the plaudits, but Aaron Paul really is just as impressive. He's gonna be big, I reckon.

he's even good in his small role in Big Love

Good to the point where it took me forever to realize that it was the same actor in both roles.

same here

He did get an Emmy nomination, so he isn't going entirely unrecognized. Should've won though, of course.

March 21st

Guys! I got to see the season premiere and it was excellent.

jealous

excited

i don't watch this show (though i may have to start), but i just found out that the guy who played "badger" is my neighbor.

haha that guy is awesome. i get the feeling he didn't have to do a ton of research for his character.

ha ha!

when does it air??

March 21st

― ♖♕♖ (am0n), Sunday, 7 February 2010 00:29 (1 month ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

hey whuddya know.

I would imagine that badger dude has to have some decent money in light of the fact that he was in every single commercial on tv for like 6 months. I hope he saved some of it.

^^^ badger's dad

yeah i saw an ad last night w/ him. can't remember what it was for though

his weird voice will carry him far...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykCFDR5k2fQ

― am0n, Friday, June 12, 2009 11:05 AM (8 months ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn9UiP0D41c

lol i've not seen either of those!

i think he was a delivery guy on community

lol Badger is hilarious.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0awYP21rdY

Also a pizza guy on How I Met Your Mother.

I just watch every episode in like a week. It's pretty darn good despite drug dealers saying fuck a lot less than I would have suspected.

i watched the "director's cut" of the first seaason and it's full of swearing iirc

wait, I am confused... does AMC censor this or something?

yeah, no "shit" or "fuck".
they just leave blank air generally.

I will say though that I thought the long foreshadowed climax was a little unnecessary. Minor complaint though.

Season 2 is on On Demand right now. Love this show.

Slightly gutted I won't be able to torrent this week to week as I'm away on my travels till the end of April. Still, big juicy catch-up when I get home.

Big fan of this show, watched it all over the last few months. Didn't really like the airplane anticlimax either, though, it was built up way too much.

I'm surprised nobody brought this up, and I'm fully prepared to be jumped on for this statement, but a big downer for me is that the women characters in the show seem to be really badly or aggravatingly written. Skyler in particular, while perfectly acted, is this archetypal wifely shrew and foil who I dread seeing every time she comes on screen. As the show kept going into the second season, I only hated her more. It seems like most of the women (Skyler's sister, Jane, random methheads) all just end up being evil bitches. Even Hank got more nuance written into him! Sure you could argue just about everybody (except Walt's son) is kind of a bastard on this show, but the men seem to get a more balanced look.

Granted BB is hardly alone in this problem - its a symptom of the likely demographics of the middle-aged men writing many TV dramas (Dexter has this problem for many of its women, too).

by the end of S2, I was like "you go, girl!" to Skyler.

Skylar isn't an evil bitch at all! Walt is an evil bastard. She gives him the benefit of the doubt plenty of times before she finally snaps.

She is meddling and interfering tho, and always wants to put a public front on everything. That's not evil but it does make her a bit annoying.

Am I the only one who loves the brother in law? I sort of feel the longer the show goes on the more you feel that he's actually a decent dude, even if he is a meathead and even if he is vulgar etc. Sort of feel walt likes him too.

Season 2 is on On Demand right now.

Uhm, where? Online or do you have better cable than me?

skyler starts out horribly but after a couple of three episodes it became clear to me that she really does love walt, and thereafter i was totally on her side about pretty much everything despite her being walt's main "obstacle" to geting what he wants - it's a weird and unsettling dynamic

"It seems like most of the women (Skyler's sister, Jane, random methheads) all just end up being evil bitches."

Really? That's not how I read Skyler or Skyler's sister or for that matter Gretchen at all. The final episode of Season 2, it's hard to see how your sympathy is supposed to be anywhere but with Skyler (annoying or not).

Jane, random methheads sure they are evil bitches, but it's not like the methhead guys are great shakes either.

this show fucks w/you cause walt is the hero even tho objectively hes doin v bad things

thus the v reasonable ordinary reactions of skylar et al are seen as impinging on walts freedom

Season 2 is on On Demand right now. Love this show.

― Darin, Friday, March 12, 2010 3:48 PM

yup gonna do a marathon seeing as its raining buckets all weekend

thus the v reasonable ordinary reactions of skylar et al are seen as impinging on walts freedom

exactly. it's not even because we agree with what Walt's doing. it's because, as viewers, we want the show to keep going into unpredictable, exciting, and bizarre places - where as all Skyler wants is normalcy & stability. if the show was done from Skyler's perspective, with us only knowing what she knows, it would be depressing Lifetime Network stuff.

Uhm, where? Online or do you have better cable than me?

I just have Comcast cable. It's under On Demand here: TV Entertainment > AMC > Breaking Bad

i like the brother in law too and would like s3 to switch to him as a main character hustling after walt on the run

i dunno rockapads - what i want more than anything is for walt to finally come clean and then skyler join him bonnie and clyde style.. but that ain't never gonna happen

I don't necessarily disagree with you guys, especially about how Skyler is supposed to be somewhat unlikeable due to audience expectation and supporting the antihero main characters, akin to what rockapads is saying. But the way the show has been moving, the main characters, Jesse and Walt, and have always have their core negative traits (stupidity/shortsightedness and pride/abusive/vindictive/vicious) while also getting a lot of sympathetic breaks as well. The second season I think really continued to make them deeper, more fleshed out characters, going back and forth constantly on that balance.

But with Skyler, the writers must've thought she was TOO sympathetically written in the first season, since this time around they made her even more "pregnant TV wife" annoying. I will give them points for doing that angle where she figured out the accounting scam (thus setting up her smarts and the great confrontational scene in the last episode), but between her general harpy nature, that bit where she was smoking (WTF) and the revelation that she was flirting with her ex-boss which led to the "sexual harassment" claim in her past, I felt they were trying to escalate how irritating she was. Of course a lot of the character's anger is justified, no doubt, but the way it's directed or written kept bugging me. I hope they do a better job with her this year.

see, I guess I have a different perspective. as much as I have liked Walt, I think he has pretty much gone from anti-hero to villain at this point. he is more despicable and less sympathetic than Tony Soprano was for me - at least in the first few seasons. I agree that Skyler is kind of annoying, and maybe not as deep as she could be, but I think they did a great job toward the end of that last season of tilting my sympathies away from Walt and toward her.

I just have Comcast cable. It's under On Demand here: TV Entertainment > AMC > Breaking Bad

Yeah, I found it... Comcast's menu system is so ridiculous.

on my on-demand there's an episode missing (number 7), wtf

just watching this again...how would jane's blackmail have been any way effective? if she told the papers or police about walt he'd incriminate jessie too surely?

She could tell Walt's wife.

well she did threaten to call the papers specifically...

is the stuck in the desert w/ dead battery episode the "pine barrens" of breaking bad?

does not involve 'universal remote' or even 'docking station' so

so..........

http://www.tvsquad.com/2010/03/17/vince-gilligan-on-breaking-bad-season-three

Interview w/Vince Gilligan, mostly talking about the second season finale. Interesting in that it basically does confirm that overall, Walt already is/will be tipping really far over into the evil category (though he and Cranston don't necessarily agree, lol) though for Jesse, it's not quite so, he hints that it might not be the case by the end of this season...

jane was full of guff but walt doesn't know how to play hardball

I was trying to put that as a poker analogy but I don't know enough about poker

jane was full of guff but walt doesn't know how to play hardball

Yep, no one really knew what they were doing in that situation. They are all amateurs.

All of the cast expressed surprise at Gilligan's assertion during the panel they did earlier that day that Jesse Pinkman was actually the moral center of the show. Paul was also surprised, but he could see where that assessment of his character came from.

What is wrong with you? Why are you BLUE?

I'm a blowfish.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFyB3UZlVDw

off to a good start imo

agreed

All those crawling-through-the-desert folks = even more mysterioso than last season's floating teddy bear

Some explanation on that:
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/11/10/081110fa_fact_guillermoprieto?currentPage=4

On the first day of every month, at the Tepito metro stop in downtown Mexico City, a new breed of pilgrim can be observed inching his way on his knees out of the stop and down a filthy market street, and cradling in his arms, babylike, a plastic figure of Death—or Holy Death, La Santa Muerte, as the pilgrims refer to the robed skeleton, who carries, variously, a scythe, a sceptre, a set of scales, or a globe in her (sometimes his) hands. There were dozens of these effigies, borne by crawling men in their teens or early twenties. Tattooed and gaunt, they were dressed in black T-shirts with the sleeves ripped off and wore chains around their necks and silver skulls, like brass knuckles, on their fingers.
Their goal was some four blocks distant, in the heart of Tepito, a legendary neighborhood that in the centuries since the Spanish Conquest has remained stubbornly insubordinate. Venders were everywhere along the pilgrims’ path, hawking T-shirts and baseball caps and medals decorated with the Santa Muerte.

walt jr said "bullshit"

Yeah, i noticed that too! apparently getting more lax on their censorship of doity woids.

So anyway, by posting a picture of Heisenberg at that Death Shrine it's not clear if the twins were praying for aid to find walt or to kill him.

guessing they're tuco-related somehow

assembly scene was next-level. I love this show.

yeah the assembly scene isn't something you'd see on many tv shows.

loved walt's response to the kid's bullshit story about seats with human legs on his neighbors lawn

The assembly scene was way too long. Lots of Curb Your Enthusiasm awkwardness stuff in this episode that I don't remember from earlier seasons.

well the first season was about a pathetic man dealing with his impending death, now it's about an insane person trying to be drug kingpin, schoolteacher and family man.

walt jr said "bullshit"

― iiiijjjj, Sunday, March 21, 2010 11:57 PM

"nobody's tellin me jackshit"

the 2 mexican guys are cheesy so far. too calm and matrix-esque about their violence and explosions

they r COLD BLOODED do u c

oh yeah jackshit my bad

yeah the mexican mercedes twins were embarassingly comic book even before they walked away from the explosion without looking back at it

also noticed that the front of the rehab clinic where walt picked jesse up looked suspiciously similar to the front of the airport where jesse picked walt up

thought it was a brilliant episode...even if the mexicans are a bit clichéd. was trying to suspend disbelief. find it interesting how walt's attempts at being normal now become this sort of deranged parody of who he was at the start, the sort of geeky "1960s technology" stuff that just isn't him anymore.

"i'm the bad guy" is some serious scarface shit. i was expecting it from Hank, not Pinkman.

Loved it. I wonder what mr chickens offer would have been. Maybe putting him up in this sweet meth cooking resort so he could cook for 3 months.

i'm gonna bet we're gonna find out

Also, I wonder how long the stuffed toy eyeball is going to be around. Sitting under Walt's bed right now.

Since they did the thing last season with the black and white teasers and episode titles (Seven Thirty-Seven Down Over ABQ), I'm really looking for clues as to what is going to happen this season.

Might be a waste of time. Vince Gilligan said at the PaleyFest panel the other week that they weren't going to repeat themselves in that manner, one and done.

I have to believe that eyeball is going to witness something very untoward happening at ground-level in Walt's room at the Beachcomber.

I was astonished that Walt let the cat out of the bag to Skyler! His lies to her sustained the entire previous three seasons..!! It's like Sam just finally getting together with Diane, or something... I'm really glad they had the guts to find another source of tension, another plot mechanism, though. And even if it becomes a catastrophe I'm proud of Walt for finally - if grudgingly - coming clean.

The assembly scene - Jesus.. I literally covered my eyes for the entirety of Walt's speech. Just could not look.

Or entire previous two seasons.. I can't keep track - feels like this show's been on longer than it has

And yes the whole "I'm not a criminal" convo with Gus seemed unbelievably naive and stupid... these are the words of someone who will flip and cop a plea, give up all the names to the police if caught... bad move. Gus may put on a friendly face but I don't think he rose to his position by being a nice guy.

agreed. i think Gus could be more trouble even than those two absurd mexican dudes.

esposito is really dope in that role

Q: that composite sketch of Hank that the two mexi-gangsters pinned next to the shrine - where did that come from? I know it stems from an earlier point in the series, but I can't remember under what circumstances it originated.

loving this already, btw.

er.. Walt, not Hank

isn't the composite sketch from badger's description when he gets busted

http://blog.nj.com/entertainment_impact_tv/2009/04/large_breaking-bad-negro-y-azul.jpg

that sounds about right, but still I can't recall. I'm thinking about reviewing the series maybe - only 19 eps b/w ssn 1&2, so not such a huge time commitment.

Possible S3 plot prediction: Skyler knowing Walt's secret will lead, directly or indirectly, to Hank finding out & putting the pieces together to discover that Walt = Heisenberg. Hank will be conflicted about what to do about this, but greed & opportunism will ultimately drive him to pressure Walt into cooking more product & sharing the profits. This will lead to Walt reconsidering Gus's offer, tho Gus will eventually find out Hank's involvement & a shitstorm will ensue. Somehow the mexi-gangsters will be involved in all of this.

WHAT ABOUT HUGO

lol

i'm f'in serious

f'in hugo, man

The assembly scene - Jesus.. I literally covered my eyes for the entirety of Walt's speech. Just could not look.

this whole scene was SO goddam hard to watch. It must have taken me 15 min to do so b/c I kept pausing & looking at something online etc. b/c it was just that uncomfortable. tho brilliantly done, obv.

i dunno - i enjoyed the scene lots, but didn't have nearly half the reaction all you guys are describing.

Admittedly, I am esp susceptible to "uncomfortable moments" in film/TV. I have the same kind of reaction to scenes in The Office, etc.

walt jr. learns to cook

how did skyler actually find out? did she find the money at the end of s2 or something? i didn't think so.

i can totally see gus just blackmailing walt into working for him now.

Jesse popped up in Walt's life an awful lot.. the second cellphone.. I think she did find out about dome of the money too but I can't remember the details

but how did jesse popping up make any diff? i'm just surprised they've seemed to make it like she basically guessed, when did she suddenly become suspicious or smart enough to do that? i'm not sure it works well as a plot, it's too hard to put a finger on what changed to make her think "drug dealer" and also she specifically asked about "that kind of money", how does she know? the whole not taking money from gretchin thing?

ya. basically how he paid for everything himself with no explanation at all.

but how did jesse popping up make any diff?

she knew jesse was involved in drugs in some way, so mysterious money source + 2nd phone + connection to jesse + all-around secrecy

She thought he was dealing pot to make hundreds of thousands of dollars, so though she was able to figure out the basics, she wasn't entirely clear.

dome of the money

SHE FOUND OUT ABOUT THE DOME OF MONEY

Guess I'll need to re-watch the last few eps of S2 when I get the discs, but wasn't one of the two big catalysts for her leaving him finding out that he had lied about taking money for so long? That was hundreds of thousands of dollars of treatment, no?

I liked the episode. The twins are straight up Coen brothers shit, which I'm pretty okay with. They aren't the first characters or humor in this to remind me of Coen-style crime movies. I hope very much that they build them up only to meet a sudden and hilarious end. Highlight of the episode for me was definitely Jesse's "I'm the bad guy" talk. Sent chills up my spine. Really excited to follow his story this season.

recognize the guy playing weird al? looooool (also the bartender)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rl3yX9cWuFo

xp Yeah, I really liked that. I'm glad they didn't overplay it too much with the direction or music, either, since it's just the first inkling of where ever they're going with him this season. Also a great contrast to Walt's path of getting more insanely in denial and self-justification, "I'm just not a criminal", "amphetamine manufacturer", the assembly speech, and so on.

ok that video was pretty funny i have to admit, just for the cameos

I really, really wonder if these twin dudes are going to talk at all. They're sort of the opposite of Tuco, in a way, who was so aggressive and loud that it was almost over the top. Maybe they're mutes?

I can see why skyler found out, sort of, it just seems to be timed a bit awkwardly. Like she suspected drugs v v early on, then she didn't for a while, then she decides it is that quite a few episodes after things like finding out he wasn't taking the handouts or had the second phone. It's a minor quibble, it just does seem a leap to me for her to convince herself he's a drug dealer.

I mean a leap from not thinking that or denying it. It doesn't seem like anything specific was final straw.

i think the separation was the final straw - until then she didn't have the courage to "go there" in her own mind but once she got cold-hearted enough to just shut him out she could think about things a little more clearly

well - she'd obviously made up her mind about leaving him before he was well - but made sure he was going to be ok before she did the deed. there was that scene in the doctors office where she was v. clearly making sure he'd be ok and then next thing she does is pack her shit.
kind of made me respect her character alot more for that one, tbh.

yeah i guess i mean that i can understand not wanting to believe the worst when you're still under the same roof as someone but once you separate, and once you decide you want a divorce, and once your divorce attorney says to leave no stone unturned and that she's seen all manner of crazy shit spouses have hidden from each other.. well i can easily see the ebayin, internet sleuthin part of skyler's brain kick up a gear

It would have been nice if they would have thrown us a bone and given us a hint about where her thoughts were going, I guess. I don't think it's a huge leap to make for a person in real life, but you don't see it a lot in TV shows/movies that depend on the deception being successful to maintain the tension. In my experience, once someone gives you a reason to be suspicious of them, their antenna stays up, and it's not hard to piece together the lies. I loved that she thought he was dealing pot with Jesse - that made a lot of sense. He was crazy to admit the meth thing.

See, this is the season where I'm going to be constantly frustrated with Walt, because his conscience and naivety is going to him and his family in mortal danger.

another Jesse moment I loved was when he first gets in the car after months of rehab, and simply states, "Your windshield is broken."

i think the separation was the final straw -

that plus baby getting born and cancer going into remission leaves more time for her to focus on what his deal is. i mean say what u want about the show but the writers have the plot details tuned pretty tight, moreso than any show i can remember

no overall it's really tight, I agree. I think richie otm above, it's v unusual in a tv show not to have a moment where she finally realises. I mean even if that moment isn't going to be some dumb cheesey eureka instance of her finding the wads of cash etc, you'd think they'd have shown her becoming certain of it. cos she was pretty certain when she called around to walt.

i agree the lack of "moment of realization" is unusual but it also didn't really bother me. i don't think she was certain so much as "what else could it be if its not this, this or this." like she just wanted to throw something at him and see if it sticks, gauge his reaction, and sure enough he was visibly flustered even with his initial denial of it.

was it her sister that planted the seed of doubt early on about drug dealing, and skyler just laughed it off? need to rewatch season 1

"it's v unusual in a tv show not to have a moment where she finally realises"

Isn't the moment where she realizes that he actually does have 2nd cell phone, that moment?

that only confirms he's hiding something, not that he's dealing

But everything else flows from that.

I did like how they set up Skyler to be this shrewd investigator in S2 with the accounting fraud angle, it made her confrontation with Walt in the finale to seem logical and in character. Once she did realize all the medical treatments were paid for somehow + Walt's previous relationship as Jesse's "pot customer" from the first season, it's not a huge leap to figure out he's a drug dealer, if an unlikely one.

I still wonder if they wrote the character with that kind of smarts from the beginning - in the first season she didn't seem to be much more than a stay-at-home mom who sold things on eBay to make scratch. But part of it may be explained by the willful denial mentioned above.

really want a pizza after this episode.

pizza shot was awesome! you knew something was coming with its comically large size... i was laughing well into the commercial break. I wonder if they did multiple takes with that toss...

continue to like where they're going with jesse. also glad they didn't go with a cheap cliffhanger at the end

i watched a stream of it on justin.tv and they kept rewinding the pizza throw during the commercial break XD

saul goodman is such an appropriate character for the show, balances out the morbid tones perfectly. congrats to jesse on his 45 day chip!

didn't have walt jr. pegged as a lucero fan, but the writing's on the wall.

yeah glad to see saul return

I was gonna mention the pizza toss! Instead, I'll just note that I haven't seen so many baldies in one episode since last season's sting operation ep.

yeah, let's talk about the new hired bald guy (who i actually thought was the fake heisenberg/hired fall guy at first). we know that saul hired him, cause we saw him call him up. we know he's also working for gus right, cause he called gus when he saw the twins at walt's house. and now we know the twins are also working for/with gus, cause they got the POLLOS text which was apparently code for gtfo, right?

http://www.towbarrc.com/_borders/Eyeball.gif

i know wtf everyone works for gus

gus is all the all-seeing all-knowing floating eyeball of the fried chicken and methamphetamine universe

when will the twins speak? tio makes a big comeback! 'ouija board would you work for me, i have got to say hello to an old friend'

"new hired bald guy" is the cat who got rid of the junkie girlfriend body last season.
POLLOS means, "we need to talk now"

yeah that dude always plays shifty villains/crooked cops in everything
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0052186/

he's so fucking good in Beverly Hills Cop.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4052/4472620104_469845ae26_o.gif

thanking u

SPOILER ALERT: this season, Walt turns into GG Allin

http://blogs.pitch.com/plog/gg_allin.JPG

how did the old codger with the bell know walt's name? was there a scene when they killed tuko where the missing report for him appeared on the tv or something?

Maybe, but don't forget that Walt's name was all over the local news cuz of his son's fundraising website too.

true, I have some vague memory of him seeing something about walt on tv in the tuko scene but maybe brain is malfunctioning.

how did the old codger with the bell know walt's name? was there a scene when they killed tuko where the missing report for him appeared on the tv or something?

― I see what this is (Local Garda), Monday, March 29, 2010 4:26 PM

he's sitting right there when tuco digs through his wallet and comments on the name on his driver's license

from the AMC website:

In his ailing uncle Tio's ramshackle house, Tuco orders Walt and Jesse to empty their pockets. Among Walt's belongings is the ricin-laced meth and his wallet, which reveals to Tuco his true identity. "I like doing business with a family man," Tuco says. "Thereís always a lot of collateral."

didn't tuco speak walt's name out loud during this scene, enabling tio to remember it?

also, forgot about this, which seemingly explains the identity of the twins:

One snort gets Tuco so ripped he wants to shoot Jesse, but Walt intervenes, after which Tuco announces that his cousins are coming to smuggle Tuco and Walt into Mexico, where Walt will be able to cook meth 24/7. As for Jesse, he'd better hope there's room in the trunk for him.

i think tuco laughs at "walter white" and walt says heisenberg is his street name

ah yeah i knew it was something from that scene, just couldn't remember, thanks guys.

also he lols @ condom in jesse's wallet

good catch on the cousins thing, though it might just be a false lead

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Walter-White-Pizza-Tossing/113416312003437?ref=nf

pizza = cgi

d00dz skyler is starting to come unglued. is she TRYING to get herself fired? what was up with her question to ted, about how he would explain his book-fiddling to his kids?

jesse is starting to scare me. has he become the dead-eyed efficiency specialist walt always wanted him to be?

what the hell was gus doing when he answers the phone?? overseeing the construction of the biggest pollos ever??

show's creator says:

Our special effects expert did indeed work up some mechanism for getting the pizza out of the box and onto the roof, using fishline or somesuch. However, to the best of my knowledge, his rig was never used. What you see in the finished episode is take one, in which Bryan basically just did a Hail Mary toss and got it up there in one try!

to which i say: bullshit

"biggest pollos ever" = biggest meth factory ever. I think walt is gonna 360 from being "i am not a bad guy" to "i am THE bad guy"

d00dz skyler is starting to come unglued. is she TRYING to get herself fired? what was up with her question to ted, about how he would explain his book-fiddling to his kids?

wasn't this quite clearly skyler trying to work out what walt would have thought when he decided to deal drugs? i thought it made sense as did ted's answer, first "to provide for them", at which point skyler looked sort of understanding, but then "i never really thought about having to explain it to them" at which point she didn't.

d00dz skyler is starting to come unglued. is she TRYING to get herself fired?

dont think you'd want to fire the one person who knows what dirt you're up to

skyler has got serious control issues, they leak out at work too

have we talked about walt's "restrain this"/crotch-grab yet

I like that he wears tighty whiteys instead of boxers, just like the irl majority

I found that axe scene unnerving because Walt would have come out of the shower and had his head cut off and really never have worked out who these people were or whatever. The twins might be a little corny but they're a really good image of how far gone Walt is that he is completely oblivious that the people trying to cut off his head are sitting right outside his door.

Something is bothering me about this show though, at first we were made to believe that Walt Jr, has cerebral palsy and Skyler can't even write a book and has no abilities whatsoever outside being a homemaker. Walt starts making meth about two minutes after he is diagnosed and we think yes well he badly needs to support his family. However Skyler now is apparently only a few years out of a pretty prominent finance job. If push came to shove Skyler would be unlikely to die from exposure, she'd probably get on, and Walt Jr isn't really that badly off, he doesn't seem to have a lot of expensive medical costs or anything. It seems like the more independent they let their supporting characters get, the more Walt seems like a crazy man for immediately getting involved in organized crime.

well if they lose walt's paycheck that mortgage + childcare costs probably become pretty hard to deal with but yes, i think that a lot of walt's ideas about needing to "provide" at all costs is largely a function of his own psyche rather than anything in reality.

i don't remember what book skyler was supposed to be writing?

yeah garda i got that too, about skyler probing ted to discover something about how people justify it when they break bad.. but it seemed tactless.. but i guess skyler doesn't really care about tact in some situations! she's not a gray area kind of person.

I didn't get the impression that they were in bad financial straits before the cancer, though. I did find the Skyler career change/retcon to be a little weird. It wasn't until the expensive cancer treatments came in that the family was in danger in bankruptcy. Once that was mostly paid off, it should have been fine, but Walter's goalposts kept moving up (now he had to also support his unborn daughter and HER college education as well as Walt Jr.'s) and seeing as how he was making crazy money and not expecting to live longer than a year at that point, it was easy to see how he would give in to that temptation to leave his family a huge nest egg. Then he had that final surgery to pay for as well. This was discussed between Walt and Jesse last year, about when would there would finally be enough money to stop. But when you're gonna die so soon, why not go for some super high risk / high reward stuff?

But still, those are just the immediate justifications - the fact that Walt DOES just immediately start using his PhD skills to make meth speak to those feelings of of underachievement/entitlement that Walt feels and essentially propel his character through the show. His rooted anger and greed seem to take over more as the show goes on.

Popper - wasn't skyler's previous "prominent finance job" essentially being head accountant for happy-hands beneckie?

(btw does anybody remember what beneckie's company actually does/makes?)

Well I didn't mean she was in a hedge fund or anything, but she did go from being seemingly dependent to having a job with its own office in the space of half an episode. I think it changes Walt's motivations, he was never really looking to save his family, and more that his life while working in the car wash and scrubbing his own students cars was a failure on his part.

I'm sure I'm over thinking this but Walt wasn't just caring for his family after he died, he wanted to make sure he would be the only one who did it. Walt basically got into making meth for himself.

"Walt basically got into making meth for himself."

Yeah I think this is pretty clear at this point.

to the extent that he's making meth "for himself" it's for the pride he feels at being able to do something like this for his family - if he loses that justification, however fictional it may be at this point, i don't see how he holds the pieces together. sure, he likes feeling like an independent badass but without the telos of his family walt wouldn't even have an identity left. when saul walks him through the lay of the land (it's pretty sad that saul's his only confidante in this) he can't even conceive of any goal other worth having.

shoot, i totally forgot about the whole car wash thing. yeah, it does make it look like Walt just stubbornly wanted to be the sole breadwinner, since he didn't even know the real reason Skyler left her job

tracer otm about walt's pride and his family

but then again, skyler seemed pretty OK with their setup, so who knows

i do like her more so far this season than in the others, at least

The amount Walt has made from dealing meth (500k-ish after laundering) is probably the amount they needed to pay for his treatment and not be so deep in a financial hole that paying for the baby is going to be rough.

So I'm interested to see why he'll inevitably go back to making meth.

I really was delighted by the "restrain this!" moment. How far Walt has gone from the milquetoast science teacher.

The core of this show is about a man trying to find a way to earn his living and keep his pride and take care of himself and his family and everything else comes out of that. Now: no family. No pride. So I won't find it out of character when he really loses his shit.

finally watched this last night... one of the funniest episodes I've seen in a long time. another scene that cracked me up was Hank's comments about the sushi.

don't forget there's a whole sub-plot of his ex-gf and her husband fucking him over and starting some chemicals company or whatever. another reason he's like fuck tha world, first u make the meth, then u get the money, then u get the power

yeah, the people he was supposed to be okay with mooching off of for his treatment. many layers of resentment there. I'm kind of rooting for Walt to accept his fate, and get ruthless, but it's hard to imagine where the show would go at that point. like, where would the tension come from if that happened?

i think walt and jesse are gonna switch roles, jesse becoming the "bad guy" and having to coerce walt back into cooking, which is ultimately what saul (and gus) wants

kinda surprised walt hasn't hit the pipe yet, just out of curiosity

they've been sort of vague about it - but i'm not sure how much was them fucking him over and him leaving of his own accord - for whatever reason. that reason being, i think, his ex leaving him for the other dude.

he is, to be fair, kind of an asshole.

hey lay off, he has cancer

but yeah he should totally come full circle and pick the pipe up, finally. apartment floor's already dirtbaggy enough what with all the popcorn. he could be like kevin spacey in american beauty, quit his job at the high school and deliver pizzas (and dipping sticks) for venezia's full-time, spend his nights lifting weights while smoking pot crystal

http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs426.snc3/24569_10100193053630850_7905994_60054578_245191_n.jpg

I think I'd quit watching if he got hooked on meth.

yeah, that would be too obvious. besides, they already sort of did this with Jesse's addiction

i don't think that walt is gonna enjoy that pot roast.

haha, a very awkward pot roast indeed. seriously though walt couldn't have asked for that any more than if he had literally asked skyler "would you please fuck beneke?" oh yeah spoiler alert

when the salamanca cousins converged on that nice handicapped lady in the parking lot i was positive it was walt's mom. we weren't supposed to think that, were we?

gus peeling back the cellophane from a nice store-bought veggies & dip tray in anticipation of his business meeting with the drug cartel was just so gus

& walt peeing in the sink was just so nu-walt

the prevent child abuse ribbons were a strange addition, i am surprised that the twins weren't sporting them.

http://somewhatmanlynerd.com/gifs/waltquitscaptionedmore.gif

evolution of walt's crotch-grab

xpost

Prevent child abuse ribbons? If you mean those blue ribbons most characters are wearing, those are for victims of Wayfarer 515, as clarified in the last episode.

Loved this episode a lot.

You are right. The big blue ribbons have just gone up around town here so i was confused.

Hah why didn't they pick a less common ribbon color? Come on people be creative!

that music video opening for that season 2 ep was so great (catching up on season 2 right now)

"I f--d Ted"
i think we're finally past the warmup stage; the table is set and the show can start moving again.

xxpost

I noticed the ribbons have an orange stripe on them watching this last episode. So, that's something.

I'm terrified of everyone on the internet who watched that episode and went Skyler you fuckin slut how could u

She's a repulsive person but that particular episode didn't really change the way I saw her at all

^kind of agree. She's even worse this year, but her actions at least make a little more sense than they used to. But you know I already hate Skyler!

I mean more like, buying all of Walt's cuckoo rationalizations at face value, ignoring his Lifetime tv movie husband antix in the scene with the cops, "he laid his heart out there and she cheated on him." like, go rent falling down instead you weirdos

don't forget that she smoked in front of the baby. HOW COULD SHE DO THAT

I'm terrified of everyone on the internet who watched that episode and went Skyler you fuckin slut how could u

― A B C, Tuesday, 6 April 2010 04:22 (2 hours ago)

my girlfriend said "cheating is way worse than making meth."

So I'll take that under future advisement I guess.

office party blowjob >>>>>killing a couple of guys in mexico

Hah why didn't they pick a less common ribbon color? Come on people be creative!

― Fig On A Plate Cart (Alex in SF), Monday, April 5, 2010 7:19 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

its a blue ribbon w/a pink ribbon underneath, aka a lol abt how all the ribbon colors have been taken

don't forget there's a whole sub-plot of his ex-gf and her husband fucking him over and starting some chemicals company or whatever. another reason he's like fuck tha world, first u make the meth, then u get the money, then u get the power

― ☀ ☃ (am0n), Wednesday, March 31, 2010 5:58 PM (6 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

they've been sort of vague about it - but i'm not sure how much was them fucking him over and him leaving of his own accord - for whatever reason. that reason being, i think, his ex leaving him for the other dude.

― The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall, Wednesday, March 31, 2010 6:12 PM (6 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

iirc correctly they kinda strung you along thinking walts friend took his girl but when walts bitching to her abt taking up w/the friend and the two of them using his research - shes all you left wtf was i supposed to do - so it seems like at some point walt was in a pretty sweet spot doing important work w/a great gf and he just couldnt deal - he wanted to be a hs chemistry teacher living in a generic subdivision - like hank said last ep 'classic underachiever'

btw this show is hella sweet, lol roof pizza

walt's house on google street view, and 28 more show locations around albuquerque

i am squinting looking for pizza stains on the garage roof

cooool

i like skyler a lot but this is pretty impeachable imo -

montanatorice4/5/2010 4:18:52 PM
I would like to point out that Skyler is cooking the books for her boss, which is BREAKING THE LAW, and sleeping with him. Sure Walt made some dirty money, but let face it Walt made the LOGICAL choice to make sure his family would finicial set if died of cancer. It wasn't easy for him to do. You might say Walt had a mid-life crises, but so what. It never to late to be the MAN YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO BE, or the WOMEN YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO BE. Lets face it Walt had a dead end teaching job, a brother a jerk brother in-law, and wife that punked him around. For the first time in his life Walt took some risks, grew some big brass balls, and won some respect. He had none of the traits when the show began. Skylar should just take the half million dollars Walt risked his neck for and keep her mouth shut. Money talks and BS walks!

Recommend: (8)(16)[Report Abuse]

It is getting increasingly harder to have to wait a week for each episode. Like, near-excruciating. Best show on television, and boy oh boy does it crush the show I WAS following (Big Love). Jesus did season four fucking suck.

er i meant to say UNimpeachable!!

xpost

I'm watching all three seasons of Mad Men ATM so i'm cool with the wait.

one of the brilliant things about this show is how it is so many genres at once

- domestic melodrama (skyler = protagonist)
- noir true crime (walt = protagonist)
- dormant police procedural (hank = protagonist)
- whatever you call jesse's story so far.. kind of an after school special except without the feelgood ending

any time one of these rubs up against any of the others, it produces weird effects

for instance, the rant i pasted from "montanatorice" up there makes perfect sense from the true crime angle but not from the others

one thing that just occurred to me is that fucking ted and then telling walt about it is not exactly clever if you want a divorce

I think by that point divorce is officially off the table, since she admits she can't bring herself to turn him in and having her son find out (also: she's seen the money now - reaction unknown), so she's just going to wait for Walt to die - but of course, to her, he's grabbed too much power in the relationship at that point so she NEEDS to bring it back to her side by screwing Ted and showing she can still mess with Walt.

there was a brief moment where if felt like skyler was fucking ted to have a backup plan man to take care of her/mortgage/kid but maybe i'm watching too much mad men just lately.

i'm pretty sure the bag o' bills will take care of that.

bag o bills (and house) goes when/if walt goes unless she's waiting for his ass to croak which seems more likely.

oh - i was thinking when he croaks. i see what you mean.

although it occurs to me now that she could try and push the divorce through over his objections because "she's in love with another man"! That would be pretty clever really; she just circumvents the issue entirely.

i could be wrong but i think infidelity is a pretty heavy mark against you in any divorce proceeding

i think she'd be willing to do it to get around the drug charges?

It's also not exactly going to endear her son to her.

not sure where you're going with this, forks. to get a good outcome i.e. restraining order + cash or whatever she needs to show that walt's done something wrong, not that she's gone and fucked her boss.

dunno the law angles, but if she has fallen in love with another man and wants to be with him (especially one with a standing business and a complete, only semi-legally challenged life) can't she just move into his house and leave Walt behind entirely? Give Walt the house and walk away from the problem? The only issue i see is her son (who's headed to college in a year or two?)

tho the more obvious plot point is that it's a control/power move on her part combined with a need to drive walt away aggressively.
just spitballing

The only issue i see is her son

haha this is a huuge issue though.

and i don't think skyler has any desire to actually live with ted beneckie.

i don't think she even particularly likes him.

no.

I doubt the Ted thing was anything more complicated than a desire to hurt Walt and a desire to get her rocks off (which she hadn't done in a looong time if you think about it).

for some reason I found the whole twins-rigged-the-Tortuga-head-bomb thing to be kind of annoyingly neat. that was El Paso, this is New Mexico. Is there really only one drug gang in Mexico?

I know what you mean but I wouldn't be surprised if there were only a couple of cartels - or one - who control the major supplies over the AZ-MX border

Oh but yeah, I didn't realize that was El Paso

Duh

actually, I should have looked at a map before making that post. I see that AQ is actually due north of Juarez on I-25, and El Paso is right across the border (which I did know). I thought AQ was way to the west of that for some reason. Still... I hate the kind of screenwriting 101 type mechanisms that make the world actually seem less random. Like, Breaking Bad has always been about cause and effect, which I love, but couldn't it have just been a random horrible event that influences how Hank reacts to things later on? It's a really minor complaint, though.

One of my favorite lines on this last episode was when Hank's partner tells him to "get on some Flomax" when he says he wants to go back inside the bar to piss again. I've been chuckling about that all week. If they did a spin-off cop show with Hank and his partner, I'd watch it. I love every scene with those two.

It amazes me how much Skyler hate there is on the various websites I read. People love walt so much but he is not a sympathetic character in the least. Even after his speech in front of the money bag, it comes no where close to redeeming what he has done. He has killed people, constructed elaborate lies, and put his family in grave danger.

I'm sympathetic to Skyler because she is In a situation where she has absolutly no control. That's why she F'd T. I don't think she necessarily wanted him, but he was the most accessible and she knew he would go for it. This wasn't really about sexual desire, it was about having something, anything, over walt.

it's one of the few things she can assert control over too, i suppose.

It amazes me how much Skyler hate there is on the various websites I read.

Is this a failure of the writers', or is it their intent? Is the show a male wish-fulfillment fantasy for a lot of middle-aged men, who might feel bored with their lives, and/or that they are taking care of their loved ones inadequately? Or is this a dumb-ass internet forum-commenters are being misogynist shockah type of thing? What do people want? For Walt to toss Skylar to the curb, cap Jesse's ass, and turn into Michael Corleone?

"Is this a failure of the writers', or is it their intent?"

I think it's partly intentional (I mean she's clearly intended to come off a bit shrill) but no I don't think they want viewers to hate her.

i don't h8 skyler

this goes back to my original point from s1 that this is basically some transgressive gansta shit w/lol morally ambiguous window dressing for the thinking man

Walt is sympathetic. He has cancer ffs. Not saying that vindicates his every move but he is having a crisis of identity brought on by his illness. Think the reason people hate skyler is she represents his old trapped life and personality. The main diff between them is she wants to be this very public happy family and he doesn't care what people think. Even if the things walt does are horrible I sympathise because he is trying to express himself. In real life that's no defence but there are loads of books/films where this comes up.

i personally express myself by killing hawt junkie bitches, you know

Me too, I started a night class in it.

o word

Sort of related - the show has pretty distinctly (at least compared to every other TV show about the drug trade ever) painted drug users unsympathetically, with the exception of Jesse, of course. You could say this perhaps represents the viewpoint of the protagonists, that they generally ignore the greater devastation they're causing by making meth. I'm not sure whether this reflects the show creators' stance on anything (focusing on the hurt of family members instead), or if they're just doing it to subvert the standard tropes (users are victims, dealers are evil) but it definitely keeps the show from casting Walt and Jesse in a more negative light then they could be, realistically.

Things have been kind of one dimensional for a while now (since, what, the desert cook-off episode?), what with Walt and Jesse's domestic upheavals and all. I am hoping (and predicting) that this show is going to get really fuckin grimy and desperate again - and soon. And frankly, the scariest antagonist in the show, Walt's cancer, needs to make a reappearance right around the same time, in my opinion.

I don't find any of these characters sympathetic. Even Walt Jr. is a dick. Maybe Saul? I like Saul?

strangely, Jesse and Hank might be the most sympathetic characters atm, but as characters change or go through stages, so do my loyalties/sympathies, like they did in the Sopranos or Six Feet Under.

hank is a pretty great person. Just kind of pigheaded.

Hanks character has grown a lot on me.

I think beneath the facade of hardman lies Hank's likable interior and under that likable interior lies a scared dangerous asshole

^ funny and also true.

lol absolutely

I think Hank has real compassion for people. An asshole would have handled the whole poolside confrontation with Walt a lot differently IMO.

Of course it's nuanced, which is what makes this show awesome.

I think beneath the facade of hardman lies Hank's likable interior and under that likable interior lies a scared dangerous asshole

― forksclovetofu, Thursday, April 8, 2010 9:28 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

niice

jesse is on a meta level the most sympathetic character because hes the most irl accurate guy ive seen on a tv show, i know ive said this before but omg that guy i know him, aaand his type has been sorely underrepresented in contempo works of art despite being like the most common type of guy going over the last 15 years of usa

Hank has real respect for people and really cares about them. Genuinely he is a good dude.

If they did a spin-off cop show with Hank and his partner, I'd watch it. I love every scene with those two.

totally. Hank's partner - every reaction is just pitch perfect. i totally, totally buy that these guys are bros.

jesse is on a meta level the most sympathetic character because hes the most irl accurate guy ive seen on a tv show

mb im just giving in to aspirational gangster manque aspect of the show but i cld use way less of this dude right now - dead drug waifs v/m getting cut off felt p good getting sick of hearing it

walt in the apron was lol 2 me dude just bending the world 2 his will making salad & pot roast back on top then damn outmaneuvered again

NB here's the guy who plays gomie - steven michael quezada - the guy's barely been in anything! born in 1963. this should give actors everywhere hope.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2366374/

they vacuumed up a lot of hispanic actors for this show; it occurred to me that it's got more latin cast members than any other program on tv right now.s

yeah, i really like how big of a role border culture plays in this show. it's not exactly in-depth or even maybe that realistic but it's pretty cool anyway.

yeah love how theyre exploring the borderland culture that covers a huge swath of the country but that pop media doesnt really bother to fuck w/that much - i dunno i guess weeds went there but

lolxp

i know we discussed this but opening the one ep w/that narcocorrido was next level

yeah! more music videos in the middle of television dramas please!

yeah, personally i was just WTF at that intro and glad to see it gone forever

BB has consistently good openings. I like the one that had Jesse's car bouncing in the desert.

they vacuumed up a lot of hispanic actors for this show; it occurred to me that it's got more latin cast members than any other program on tv right now.s

Too bad 90% of these roles are criminals

too bad its a show abt criminals :(

ok now u guyz are just c/p'ing from the wire thread

i ain't trollin, just sayin what's up

better than white actors playing hispanic criminals, though, amiright

what if theyre white hispanics ~think abt it~

was this not on last night?

it was; it was dope.

yeah, it's imporoving. and they are hinting skyler might move in with f--k ted.

"i fffffd ted"

i haven't seen this yet but a week's time has been long enough for it to sink in for me how rock-bottom skyler must be now, despite her "victory" at the pot roast. i mean she was at the end of her rope already, the only thing keeping her going was the moral high ground. i can't even imagine how hollowed-out and gross she must feel.

wonder when they're going to get around to doing something with Walt Junior. That kid is like a place setting with attitude.

interesting ep...i thought a walt/jessie war was on the way but now it seems like gus is trying to bring them back together by showing them how much money they can make. really like the house bugging guy. also walt's boss is still HOT.

good example of strong non-drug dealing latina character on the show too
though apparently not on the show anymore?

good stuff this week, though i feel like the chess pieces are still being moved to their opening positions

yea, i thought after ep3 this season was set to explode, but they seem to be taking more time to draw out the story lines (with this ep at least - green light ending, duh).

walt's attempt to hit on the principle was so pathetic and creepy.

hard to watch jessie pitching the meth to the gas station cashier. loved her tho - "i mean i smoke pot a lot sometimes". his "only thing i'm good at" talk with walt was depressing also. only thing walt's good at now too? from that same scene: "i'm not gonna lend my name to an inferior product!!" - says a lot about how far he's fallen.

hank just wants to be a badass too. thought he was just looking for a fight back at the bar, but maybe he was hoping to run into a heisenberg bag?

still unsure if skyler's tedlust is purely vindictive or if she's getting more out of it.

*principal

there was an interesting little window when ted says "i just don't want to make whatever mistake walt made!" and skyler looks over at him, pauses, and says "i'd be amazed." there's almost a note of respect for walt in her voice?

i love all this stuff but can't wait for events to start unfolding with the kind of ruthless logic that they did in earlier seasons

respect? it's questionable if she ever respected walt

walt's attempt to hit on the principle was so pathetic and creepy.

― jerk orbison (another al3x), Monday, April 12, 2010 8:01 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

charmingly delusional imo

loving the pacing of this season so far

yeah im feelin it - the gasstation seen was excellent

walt's attempt to hit on the principle was so pathetic and creepy.

― jerk orbison (another al3x), Monday, April 12, 2010 8:01 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

charmingly delusional imo

― ice cr?m, Tuesday, 13 April 2010 01:55 (1 hour ago)

I thought he just did it to get fired.

o ur prob right, good call

btw always jarring to see jesse in big love wtf

I'm gonna go with Walt being such a dumbass buffoon he totally misjudged her legitimate kindness to him, since it's been so long since he knew what that was like. Why would Walt want to get fired? Unless subconsciously he wanted an excuse to go back to cooking meth.

Been thinking... I wonder if this season's going to end with Walt getting off the hook for Tuco's death by selling out Hank (bring back the trophy grill for proof!) leading to his execution.

also, another Badger sighting tonight on HIMYM as the pizza guy

Been thinking... I wonder if this season's going to end with Walt getting off the hook for Tuco's death by selling out Hank (bring back the trophy grill for proof!) leading to his execution.

― Nhex, Tuesday, April 13, 2010 3:35 AM (51 minutes ago) Bookmark

They probably don't need proof (Hank got promoted for it, after all). But Uncle Tio heard Walt and Jessie talking about poisoning Tuco.

I think it would be more of a deal like "yeah ok, but if you let me live I'll give you the guy who ACTUALLY killed Tuco."

I just kinda want to see the grill again, it was so 0_0. I suspect that is how it's gonna go down, though, we're only four episodes in, lotta directions this season can yet go.

I thought he just did it to get fired.

― Matt Armstrong, Monday, April 12, 2010 11:24 PM

maybe, but he was acting out crazily the whole episode. the plant through the plate glass, shutting down jesse on the deal, etc. i think he felt so burned by skyler's infidelity that he pathetically tried his own hand at it.

I dunno I thought his face just after he hit on her looked kind of smug, and he was acting completely ott mental in those scenes at school.

he was acting completely ott mental at the breakfast table too but what would have been the ruse in that case? i think he actually is adrift in a way we haven't seen before. when mrs superintendent hotness was like "come sit next to me, walt" i think he actually interpreted that as an invitation.. eek. that was the second time this season that i literally watched a scene through my fingers.

"i smoke pot a lot sometimes"

"but what would have been the ruse in that case?"

Get sympathy? Beats me.

Loved Gus' buying the meth to wound Walt's ego. That guy is awesome.

loving the pacing of this season so far

yeah im feelin it - the gasstation seen was excellent

omg the way jesse sd awwwwwwesssommmmeeee its magic <3

what was it he said you get with a meth high? "cold action stabs?"

almost feel bad for walt jr. not being able to put two and two together, i mean c'mon buddy after going strong for months at what i can only assume was a fairly static rate, website donations just abruptly cease? at the same time your dad inexplicably gets kicked out of the house? got a hunch this dude might have to settle for new mexico state next year

lol. good party school I bet.

dude's gotta start acting out soon i think

you know... break bad and all

i'm not surprised walt jr isn't putting 2 and 2 together. he already seems to be in denial to some degree; acting like his old man is some sort of saint when just a few months earlier he didn't even want to share a name with the man. i don't think he's so dense that he can't fathom what might possibly go on between a man and a woman that they might not want to share with their kid (he obviously wouldn't guess "drugs" but he must be able to think of *something*) - there has to be some willful ignorance going on here.

even if 2 and 2 were plunked on the living room floor in front of him, say, in the form of a bag of money, a half-melted corpse and a pile of crystal meth - he still might not be capable/willing to put it all together.

anyways, that was a great ep. the more i think about it the more i love it. walt choking Sal was classic.
really starting to dig "house bugging guy" too.

the biggest thing to happen in that ep, to me, was Hank officially chickening out of his assignment. the scene where he meekly declines to go was almost shocking, given his character.
and now he basically has no choice but to bring in his phantom blue meth guy Heisenberg. it's his whole reason for not going and i can see him driving himself to the brink to justify it.

it = his decision.

so obviously there's only a few ways this can resolve itself, if he's going to be on a collision course with Walt.
he's already half way to Jess. i'm just not sure if he makes the connection between Jess and Walt this time. W.Jr might not be able to connect 2 and 2 - but Hank certainly could.
there's the possibility that Walt might take a break from his personal-life-train-wreck just long enough to ask Hank what he's up to. maybe it'll have to wait until the next time he gets maced. if not tho Hank could be a big problem.

Good stuff tonight - Gus' perfectly targeted final appeal to Walt's manly pride (lol at "respecting the chemistry") and the humanizing turns for both Skyler and her sister. Loved the secret lab underneath the giant laundry angle, magnifying the old money in the dryer bit.

amazing ep...this show is just the best.

so maybe Jess will take the fall for Walt and all the blue meth he's going to be mass producing?!

interesting to see Skyler's evolving view on Walt's career change - and then he goes ahead and leaves. gives her what she wanted just when she starts to (seemingly) change her mind. loved it.

couldn't help but think how much misery that massive fucking meth lab is going to produce! quite weird tho, for walt it's basically like he sees it as a great setup with a good boss who respects him and excellent working conditions, i guess he might argue loads of people work for completely unethical companies...

also love the current hank storyline, it's like he definitely is losing it a bit but at the same time he is completely on the right track, the fact we know that and he has to hope for it and tell himself he believes it makes it great to watch.

Yeah rly - I had my doubts about the post-traumatic stress disorder (and kleptomania) subplots last season but it looks as though the PSTD angle is gonna dovetail nicely

great ep, return of gangsta walt black jacket and all

this show is amazing btw

tryin a think how this could play out, maybe jesse takes the fall for walt like thermo says, but then does he rat him out, if so theres no way jesse will be allowed to live right, i mean hes fucking w/some real people - howre the loco twins going to play into this, is the pollos empire goin down in a blaze of glory, hank seems destined to figure the whole thing out

reckon jesse dead by end of s3

No way, this show's almost as much about Jesse as it is about Walt. I'm guessing he's gonna come back in a big way by the end of the season, considering how much he's been in the background so far.

POLLOS

yeah jesse is so central to the show that would suck if they killed him off

i've watched the entirety of this show in a matter of weeks and it feels horrible now having to wait a week for an episode. what i find bizarre about this show is sometimes i find it almost impossible to keep watching. like sometimes i have to flick over to something else because i dunno its too dark or i feel too nervous watching it. keep coming back for more though. last ep was so so great. loved how gus clearly has walt's motivations for cooking completely nailed.

the discussino abt skyler hate is interesting. i was definitely at points was thinking 'oh fuck off' and rooting for walt to turn all-out gangster. but its prob a reflection of my own lame transgressive fantasies tbh more than anything actually wrong with her. whenever the show makes you start rooting for walt like that you end up doing a u-turn because of some awful consequence of what he's doing (not the plane crash tho sorry that was too much). i mean that makes it sound lame and preachy but it isn't is it?

the contrast between the self-esteem boost the meth brings to walt and the destruction it brings to jesse is def. the crux on the show imho

moving to the point where I think I might be better off waiting for a few episodes to pile up and then watch a run rather than one a week, xp!

like walt has done some awful awful things but i think sometimes i'm just so trapped in the frame of mind where i must sympathise with the main character. reminds me of when i started watching the sopranos for the 2nd time with my ex-girlfriend (i'd already seen the whole thing once already) and she actually couldn't watch it because she despised the character of tony so much and couldn't deal with it. i think we gave up after a few episodes because she was actually screaming at the tv haha

Y'all ain't got the stomach for this, WEEK-TO-WEEK is the way! I mean if for nothing else, because the show is written for this format, including the commercial breaks.

Don't feel bad about hating on Skyler though, I really think they often did a bad job writing her. But this season they've been a lot better about explaining her emotional state and her decisions. It's OK if the secondary characters on this show aren't as fleshed out as Walt and Jesse, but for her it's pretty important since she is a primary foil and her scenes with Walt both take up a lot of the show's time and are often important for the plot and character development.

what i find bizarre about this show is sometimes i find it almost impossible to keep watching. like sometimes i have to flick over to something else because i dunno its too dark or i feel too nervous watching it.

2x

i also struggle with week-to-week for shows like this. just watched the wire front to back for the second time, and having to sit through 7 commercials every 12 mins or whatever is excruciating. makes it much harder for me to really get engrossed in a show now. otoh, i love BB so much i lack the self-control to wait for the torrent the next day or whatever...

figuring hank will catch jesse, dunno how that will play out though. feel like s3 has been mostly about characters interacting in pairs so far, and that hank's investigation is the piece that will force him, walt, jesse, and skyler to reckon with each other. agree that they did a good job giving skyler a boost this week. part of that for me was also filling in ted and her lawyer a bit more.

and yes omg so excited when gus revealed the new lab!!

i was worried at first Gus was marching him off to the twins.

^^didn't think of that! but i can see it. walt would have ended up cooking again either way, right?

how about a new character as his "excellent help"?? it isn't jesse obviously...

a man provides

so good

Who else had a bioshock flash there?
"A man DECIDES!"

Great choice of music when the lab was revealed - anyone know what it was?

Peder, "Timetakesthetimetimetakes"

this episode had it all! badger, the fourth amendment, and carl from billy madison aka larry hankin the world's greatest character actor of all time. hank is going to fuck some shit up next week, and it is going to be awesome.

man walt is such a lo-qual criminal mastermind

whitman-reciting libertarian soi-disant "nerd" lab assistant, classic or dud

they were cute, jus a couple a guys who cant deal w/all the 'bullshit'

bullshit = pb&j crusts

i love that actor who's the lab assistant. he pops up everywhere - the fifth season of the Wire, Damages, terrible Foxwoods and Sprint commercials...

amazing episode. would love to see Hank take out one of the twins next week.

worried abt hank

ya this was awesome. riverdance was lol

Badger feels like his brain has been boiled in anthrax!

Woah, amazing ep. The light from the bulletholes shining on Walt and Jesse!

Was there a deal with the opening sequence? Or was it just another sequence demonstrating that dudes are psychos? Otherwise a fucking perfect episode.

Woah, nice to see a bit of the ole tension.

xp The woman they killed was the wheelchair lady they stole the van from last episode, I believe.

Was the van there and did I miss it?

Probably a different lady. It was implied that the dead lady behind the shed was a native american that the Cousins (that's what they're called, right) killed so that they could squat her house.

woman

could be a man wearing women's shoes

what an amazing episode...this show is just so in its stride right now.

hank is like he is physically and mentally rotting due to this investigation. his face in that hospital scene, god, i thought he might have a heart attack.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2w7z0aB3l0