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

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