Reply to Topic
I'm about 95% positive Walt was laying psychological groundwork with Jesse so that, when he decides to kill Mike, Jesse will back him.
Breaking Bad
oh, another question, just so i know i'm on the right track: when Marie brought up celebrating Walt's birthday, we're to assume it's his 51st, riiiight? meaning the opening Denny's scene in the first episode of this season takes place roughly a year from now?
__________________
letterboxd
letterboxd
X
Favorite Movies
X
User Lists
Avoiding above posts for spoilers, but I finally finished up season 4! Super solid across the board, rectifying any misgivings I had about the final arc in season 3. Starting season 5 in the next day or two!
__________________
“It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.” ― Thomas Sowell
X
Favorite Movies
X
User Lists
Awesome. Season four was really fantastic, eh? Particularly those last 4-5 episodes. Each one ends with a real punch in the face...
Just one stomach punch episode after another, for basically a third of the entire season. I think it's genuinely the best run the show's had so far.
WARNING: "Breaking Bad Season 4" spoilers below
First, Gus' backstory.
Then, Gus taking down the entire cartel with the poison.
Then, Walt laughing hysterically in the crawl space.
Then, the bomb in Gus' car that he somehow senses.
Then, the big Two-Face finale.
First, Gus' backstory.
Then, Gus taking down the entire cartel with the poison.
Then, Walt laughing hysterically in the crawl space.
Then, the bomb in Gus' car that he somehow senses.
Then, the big Two-Face finale.
Just one stomach punch episode after another, for basically a third of the entire season. I think it's genuinely the best run the show's had so far.
X
Favorite Movies
X
User Lists
As for last night...
WARNING: "Breaking Bad Season 5" spoilers below
...another piece-moving episode, mainly. Still not too much action, and we're at the half way point for this little 8-episode half-season. But if history is any indication, the more piece-moving the show does, the bigger the stuff that happens afterwards.
At this point we've seen the total dissolution of the White marriage. I didn't think it would come so quickly, but I think it's far more realistic than the alternatives. I keep unconsciously expecting certain things to happen at certain paces because, with most shows, that's how it is, but BB keeps ramping it up. It's realistic, in the sense that while a TV character might bide their time and stretch things out, an actual person/mother wouldn't. Once Skyler sees what kind of man Walt is now, damn right she'd get the kids away from him, even if it propels the narrative forward in profound ways.
That's what I like about this show. It--like chemistry--is about change. About chain reactions. It keeps moving forward, like a shark. Except while a shark keeps moving so it won't die, this show's moving forward means a whole lot of people probably will.
At this point we've seen the total dissolution of the White marriage. I didn't think it would come so quickly, but I think it's far more realistic than the alternatives. I keep unconsciously expecting certain things to happen at certain paces because, with most shows, that's how it is, but BB keeps ramping it up. It's realistic, in the sense that while a TV character might bide their time and stretch things out, an actual person/mother wouldn't. Once Skyler sees what kind of man Walt is now, damn right she'd get the kids away from him, even if it propels the narrative forward in profound ways.
That's what I like about this show. It--like chemistry--is about change. About chain reactions. It keeps moving forward, like a shark. Except while a shark keeps moving so it won't die, this show's moving forward means a whole lot of people probably will.
X
Favorite Movies
X
User Lists
Awesome. Season four was really fantastic, eh? Particularly those last 4-5 episodes. Each one ends with a real punch in the face...
Just one stomach punch episode after another, for basically a third of the entire season. I think it's genuinely the best run the show's had so far.
WARNING: "Breaking Bad Season 4" spoilers below
First, Gus' backstory.
Then, Gus taking down the entire cartel with the poison.
Then, Walt laughing hysterically in the crawl space.
Then, the bomb in Gus' car that he somehow senses.
Then, the big Two-Face finale.
First, Gus' backstory.
Then, Gus taking down the entire cartel with the poison.
Then, Walt laughing hysterically in the crawl space.
Then, the bomb in Gus' car that he somehow senses.
Then, the big Two-Face finale.
Just one stomach punch episode after another, for basically a third of the entire season. I think it's genuinely the best run the show's had so far.
X
Favorite Movies
X
User Lists
According to this pretty cool article, Gilligan said that Walt will do something so horrible in season 5 that we will never be able to sympathize with him again.
I predict he kills Skylar. Her unraveling could lead to mistakes on her part of keeping the secret. Walt will have to kill her or be caught.
I predict he kills Skylar. Her unraveling could lead to mistakes on her part of keeping the secret. Walt will have to kill her or be caught.
__________________
^i just had this exact conversation with someone else recently, and we were thinking either Skylar or Holly. i read this article online talking about the colors of the clothes each character is associated with, and how pink seems to represent death (the pink teddy bear, also there was something about Jane and pink, too... i'll try to find the article). anyway it was pointed out that Holly is always wearing pink. maybe she's just a girly girl baby and Skyler likes to dress her that way. or maybe something more...
also, anyone curious about that last shot in last Sunday's ep? the closeup of the watch ticking?
also: lol @ this
also, anyone curious about that last shot in last Sunday's ep? the closeup of the watch ticking?
also: lol @ this
X
Favorite Movies
X
User Lists
Watch ticking:
1) Time running out on Walt. Waiting for cancer to return.
2) The "tick tick tick" time bomb metaphor that Mike made a couple of episodes okay.
1) Time running out on Walt. Waiting for cancer to return.
2) The "tick tick tick" time bomb metaphor that Mike made a couple of episodes okay.
X
Favorite Movies
X
User Lists
Watch ticking:
1) Time running out on Walt. Waiting for cancer to return.
2) The "tick tick tick" time bomb metaphor that Mike made a couple of episodes okay.
1) Time running out on Walt. Waiting for cancer to return.
2) The "tick tick tick" time bomb metaphor that Mike made a couple of episodes okay.
Given the scene preceding the clock, I'd say Walt is the ticking and Skylar is at the receiving end, but, with this show, it could mean anything. Obviously waiting on the cancer will take a while given that we've flashed forward a year from this point.
Also, the sad way that Walt put his bacon on the plate in episode one's flash forward makes me think that he misses Skylar...because she's dead.
EDIT: Also, I want to throw out the theory that the baby is dressed in pink because she is one of the most direct catalysts (her and Walt Jr. specifically) for Walt to begin his villainous career in the first place. Maybe it's just a way of saying that the new life in their family is indirectly the cause of the loss of life in other families. But, that's just me being optimistic that they wouldn't kill a baby.
Last edited by bouncingbrick; 08-08-12 at 03:42 PM.
Yep, the significance of the bacon probably means that. I think by the end of the 8 episodes, we'll have caught up to that flash-forward, and both Mike and Skyler will be dead.
My confidence interval on all three predictions is lower than I normally have when I bother to predict something, but that lines up really nicely. And, at least in regards to the pace of the show, I think it'd be much sloppier than usual for this writing staff to introduce the flash-forward but not get us caught up to it by the end of these eight episodes. That's a big thing to "carry over" towards next year in an audience's memory.
My confidence interval on all three predictions is lower than I normally have when I bother to predict something, but that lines up really nicely. And, at least in regards to the pace of the show, I think it'd be much sloppier than usual for this writing staff to introduce the flash-forward but not get us caught up to it by the end of these eight episodes. That's a big thing to "carry over" towards next year in an audience's memory.
X
Favorite Movies
X
User Lists
Also, my sister Grace has a really cool theory: maybe the jump forward in time is because he's in jail. He gets caught with drugs, but has no record or anything, so he's only in for maybe a year. Maybe Skyler even puts him there deliberately to get him away from the kids. And maybe his response is to go buy a machine gun.
The more I think about this, the more it fits. It'd be really weird to jump forward in time and still manage to show us all of it. But if he's in jail most of that time, they don't really have to.
The more I think about this, the more it fits. It'd be really weird to jump forward in time and still manage to show us all of it. But if he's in jail most of that time, they don't really have to.
X
Favorite Movies
X
User Lists
Walter, like his creative inspiration Scarface, will never be taken by the law. And, if he was, he would go down for a long time because they would find that man with a crap ton of meth!
At least, that's the way I always figured this show would go. I have never considered the idea that he would land in a cell. It just doesn't fit with the story or Walt's disposition, IMO.
At least, that's the way I always figured this show would go. I have never considered the idea that he would land in a cell. It just doesn't fit with the story or Walt's disposition, IMO.
I considered it awhile back. I think it could work under very narrow circumstances (specifically having to do with him clearly liking when people know he's a badass and maybe part of him wanting to be exposed for that reason). Wouldn't bet on it, but it could be narratively consistent if done a certain way.
But anyway, the theory in this case isn't that he gets taken down, it's that he gets stuck with some smaller charge (and that they can't prove more) that puts him in jail long enough to explain the time jump. This would leave the second half of the season next year, presumably with Hank all-but-knowing he's up to more, but not yet able to prove it.
But anyway, the theory in this case isn't that he gets taken down, it's that he gets stuck with some smaller charge (and that they can't prove more) that puts him in jail long enough to explain the time jump. This would leave the second half of the season next year, presumably with Hank all-but-knowing he's up to more, but not yet able to prove it.
X
Favorite Movies
X
User Lists
It really was. It's just like this show to smack you back into reality. It lets you get into the heist, and start rooting for them, and taking joy in their theft of chemicals so they can provide addictive drugs to desperate people, and reminds you that you shouldn't be cheering for it. It's ugly and it's awful, and only death comes from it.
I love the moral universe in this show. It keeps dragging you back to reality. It keeps showing you the bodies. It doesn't let you sit back and root for the evil fictional characters just because they happen to be the focus of the show. It always makes sure to force you to look at the actual consequences of what they're doing.
This is even true in the show's pacing and editing. Most shows, when someone's killed, just sort of jump forward, because the person's dead and the plot must move on. But not Breaking Bad. Most episodes pick up exactly where the last one left off. The first episode ends with Walt killing those two (well, one of them's not dead) guys in the RV. So the very next episode is about what to do next, including the horrific method of getting rid of the body by dissolving it. Then another episode or so about how to deal with the guy who survived. And then the fallout from that.
SPOILERS FOR SEASON 4...
...when Gus kills Victor, what happens? We have to watch people clean up all the blood and get rid of the body. The show always makes us look at the results of people's actions, even doing to giving us a nice clear look at Gale in season 4, after he's been shot. He even pops up on Hank's TV singing karaoke, forcing Walt to see him. Then (SPOILERS FOR SEASON 5) Walt ends up sitting next to the child he poisoned.
Every time, this show makes both us and its characters have to actually clean up their messes. It's not just a blaze and glory, and then next week everything's clean and good again. The horrors are always faced, and they accumulate.
Awesome.
I love the moral universe in this show. It keeps dragging you back to reality. It keeps showing you the bodies. It doesn't let you sit back and root for the evil fictional characters just because they happen to be the focus of the show. It always makes sure to force you to look at the actual consequences of what they're doing.
This is even true in the show's pacing and editing. Most shows, when someone's killed, just sort of jump forward, because the person's dead and the plot must move on. But not Breaking Bad. Most episodes pick up exactly where the last one left off. The first episode ends with Walt killing those two (well, one of them's not dead) guys in the RV. So the very next episode is about what to do next, including the horrific method of getting rid of the body by dissolving it. Then another episode or so about how to deal with the guy who survived. And then the fallout from that.
SPOILERS FOR SEASON 4...
...when Gus kills Victor, what happens? We have to watch people clean up all the blood and get rid of the body. The show always makes us look at the results of people's actions, even doing to giving us a nice clear look at Gale in season 4, after he's been shot. He even pops up on Hank's TV singing karaoke, forcing Walt to see him. Then (SPOILERS FOR SEASON 5) Walt ends up sitting next to the child he poisoned.
Every time, this show makes both us and its characters have to actually clean up their messes. It's not just a blaze and glory, and then next week everything's clean and good again. The horrors are always faced, and they accumulate.
Awesome.
X
Favorite Movies
X
User Lists
Yep. I said to Lisa at the start of the episode last night, "Man, this Todd guy, he is just sort of blanked. There is just NO telling what this guy is capable of. How well do they know this guy? This guy could be anyone from an FBI plant to a serial killer. I mean, these guys are all criminals, right? He has this down-home, kid next door look - that has to be a set-up. He is either going to pull a sting on these guys, or he is a hard core killer."
And here we are.... I guess I saw it coming, too.
And here we are.... I guess I saw it coming, too.
X
Favorite Movies
X