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

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!