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BREAKING BAD


Jay

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Holy crap. Holy crap!

I don't watch the clock when I'm watching an episode, so I have no idea how soon an episode is going to end or anything. When Hank and Jesse showed up at the money site, and Walt hid behind a rock, and it slowly zoomed in on his face as he realized it was up, and it cut to black.... I thought that was the end of the episode. When it came back I was shocked! That would have been a PERFECT way to end an episode!

But then it came back, and Walt started walking towards Hank, and I suddenly remembered the flashforward. We know Walt survives all this, and gets away from custody! So, that kinda ruined my enjoyment of the scene for a bit. Made me wish we didn't have those flashforwards at all!

So then Hank's in the back seat and I'm thinking the episode is gonna end there, which is still a good ending. But then Hank makes the phone call. That phone call! As soon as he told Marie he loved him, I figured he was done for. But how? Then the trucks showed up. Of course! OF COURSE those guys were still gonna come out there - they want that one cook from Walt so they can make their millions. Oh snap!

.... but then, did anyone else think the final gunfight was VERY awkwardly staged? I mean it was perfect as the tension was mounting...Hank is yelling at them it's off.... they are yelling to show a badge.... Hank and Gomez are yelling to drop their weapons...... but then when they started shooting, how the F did they miss Hank and Gomez? They were right out in the open - and they had automatic weapons? WTF? Seriously - how did they miss them? And why didn't Hank and Gomez just show their badges? I don't get this!!!!

Seriously, take away the last 15-20 seconds of the episode and it's brilliant. Right now I just don't get how Hank and Gomez can be alive at all - and maybe they won't be, but it seems odd to kill them off with three entire episodes to go. Though it should be noted that no one else at the DEA seems to know what they've been up to or know where they are - unless there's GPS in Hank's DEA vehicle, of course :)

Oh, and one other thing - Walt is always shown to be one step ahead of everybody, or at least able to think on his feet expertly when something comes up unexpectedly. So why did it take him SO LONG to figure out what was going on with the money / Jesse call? I mean - the picture was of a barrel face-up in the ground, and Walt buried them sideways, Jesse was clearly talking indoors and not outdoors, Walt should have realized the path the conversation took led him to directly admit into a phone about murders he has made.... just seemed to be like it was fairly easy to dupe the criminal mastermind that is Walt. I dunno.

Anyway, I'm just picking nits into what was seriously a brilliant episode in a brilliant show. One of the best things about Breaking Bad, besides the terriffically written and acted characters that are fully developed is that the writing of the actual plots are just so damn good and well-crafted you never know where the story is going. We had a year to think about what would happen in the final 8 and I doubt in my wildest dreams I would have come up with what they've come up with in the last few weeks, and they've all been so good!

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Agreed. Apart from the Walt's manic undoing part.

Because I thought that part - Hank's plan and the way the fateful phone call was staged - was absolutely brilliant.

The shootout was odd, I agree. But try to think of it as stylistic: this was possibly the fall of a tremendous character and presence in BB. They saw fit to give him a Wild Bunch send off.

I like how BB isn't afraid to be cinematic and slightly OTT at key moments in its arc.

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Hank and Gomez (Gomie). Not Hank and Gus.

I think Walt got too emotionally distraught at the idea of his money being really discovered that all rationality had gone out the window. Panic overcame common sense, and he blabbed. It is reasonable to assume those vans have GPS, and he used it before Saul showed him the GPS detector.

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Plus Walt has no reason to suspect that Jesse is working with Hank, and after the warning he gave after the failed meet-up, he knows Jesse has a plan to get back at him.

Hence, combined with his sheer panic at the prospect of losing all his money, there's no reason for him to suddenly think he's being traced/recorded.

Agreed though that the shoot-out was somewhat unrealistic in terms of Hank and Gomez being uninjured.

My current theory is that the Uncle & co will demand Walt's release (and possibly exoneration - based on the flash forwards?) otherwise they kill Hank/Gomez. They can still take Walt's money, and do whatever happened to his house, and perhaps see that as payback.

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Fixed the Gus/Gomez typo.

I too now think Walt's reaction to the Jesse phone call is in line with everything. Bryan Cranston was on Talking Bad after the episode, and he talked about how Walt has become a more emotional person over the course of the show.... so as you guys have said, when he got the call, he thought about the money being gone.... all ration went out the window and he reacted emotionally - driving as fast as possible to the site without thinking about it.

And yea, Walt truly had no idea and never could have guessed that Jesse was working with Hank. Until he saw them all get out of the van, he probably thought he was going to get away once again. Once he saw them, he turned himself in, knowing the jig was up.

The show is so brilliant! I like the observation someone here made that Hank came up with a Heisenberg-esque plan to out-Heisenberg Heisenberg :)

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Also, did anyone else notice how great Norris was when he was ordering Walt to lay down arms, gun aimed with rock solid precision as this unpredictable and potentially extremely dangerous individual finally appeared to surrender to him? The command in his voice and his painstakingly regimented procedure, called upon from years of training, felt really, really authentic.

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Just watched the episode. Thought it was brilliant. I especially loved the moment when Walt got caught. He was helpless, and for once, his calculating mind had no trick up his sleeve. Walt always had something...but this time, he was truly and surely caught and screwed....until the prison gang shows up of course.

As others mentioned, I thought Hanks plan was executed flawlessly and Walt's reaction was quite realistic. After all, this is a man who has now retired from the business, and the thought of losing everything he worked and sacrificed for clearly puts his emotions before his brains...he's in panic mode, naturally he would never think of Jesse to betray him or go as far to think that he would've manipulated as such.

My only gripe is the cut at the end. I can forgive the fact that Gomez and Hank survived the initial shoot out. It's theatrics after all, not reality. And for the sake of drama, adjustments are always made, which I understand. What I didn't like so much was the strange way the episode cut to black, right in the middle of that intense fight....just seemed a bit off.

As for whether Hank will die...well I feel like if they wanted to finish the character so soon, they would have killed him at the end of that episode. That would have made a great cliffhanger. So I have a feeling Hank will live this fight out and Gomez will die, which will consequently infuriate Hank even further. On the other hand, if Hank died, it would probably force Walt's hand against the dudes uncle, which would naturally backfire at him as the payback and damage we've seen in the flash forwards.

But really, you can never tell what will happen with this show. Hopefully they don't screw it up in the remaining 3 episodes!

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I am so happy with AMC. Their "preview" for tonight's episode features NO FOOTAGE AT ALL from it, just a slow-mo reply of the shootout at the end of the last episode with a voice mail message from Skylar playing over it. Bravo, AMC

http://www.amctv.com/breaking-bad/videos/next-on-breaking-bad-episode-514

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I never watch the 'next time on' segments anyway.

I can see that they want to draw you in by giving a teaser of the great stuff next week, but that's exactly the problem - even the smallest glimpse of the next episode gives major indications of how the current scene will resolve, and I want to discover that by watching the episode!

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Holy crap.

Well, I must applaud AMC again, for allowing the first 19 minutes (19 minutes!) of the show to air uninterrupted before the first commercial break. Pretty impressive in and of itself.

And what an absolutely amazing 19 minutes it was! I mean - holy crap! Gomez - dead. Hank - dead. Jesse - about a millisecond away from being dead on Walt's approval. WOW. I thought FOR SURE Jesse was going to be killed as well, I didn't see any way for him out of it. Never thought Meth Damon would be one to vouche for his life. I thought it was out of some loyalty to Walt and Jesse, but it made sense later in the episode when he just wanted him to cook the famous blue meth to make Lydia happy. Damn.

Anyways, by the end of the first 19 minutes I was already thinking best episode of the show ever in what is clearly the best season, and I knew there was no way the rest of the episode could live up to it, and in a way it didn't. But it was brilliant in its own, different way. We got Marie telling Skylar the jig was up and telling her to tell Junior everything - which I was surprised Skylar acquiesced to, honestly. Couldn't she have called some employees in to kick Marie out of there and spared Junior? Also sad was Jesse's current state of living - which I can't imagine will last much longer, Junior's reaction to the news of his father, and of course poor Holly. The only comic relief in the whole episode was Walt rolling the barrel through the dessert and buying a beat up pickup truck for $10,000!

The two major events - beyond the crazy opening 19 minutes - are the house fight and of course the phone call. That phone call! It was really kind of hard to watch! You really felt for Skylar in it. At first I thought the writers had flipped Walt too far too immediately into complete and total Heisenberg, which again was painful to see, especially how it affected Skylar and Junior. And what I also didn't get was that he had to of known the cops were listening in, so why would he admit to things, especially when he KNOWS the only two DEA agents that knew what he was up to was dead, and that Jesse was unable to snitch on him as well.

However, I guess his line of thinking was, the truth was going to come out anyway, so might as well get recorded going on record as taking blame for everything, so Skylar will avoid jail time as an accomplice. Wow.

I'm glad he returned Holly at the end. I guess he's off to New Hampshire now. Something tells me the next episode is going to catch up to the flashforwards pretty quickly.

Random final thoughts:

Is it easy for someone to pay for cancer treatments with cash?

Since when was Walt's money collection only $80 million? I thought it was supposed to be like $340 million or something? When he offered Jack $80 million, I thought he was just offering one barrel - like he hoped that would be all they found, and he could go back and get the other 6 later. Don't get me wrong, $11 million is still a hell of a lot of money, but I thought Walt had truly built an insane empire for some reason. Maybe $80 is far more realistic, actually.

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I really have to say that this were Breaking Bad's story jumped the shark. The characters and motivations made less sense than normal and the story development was just plain stupid at times. So many things could have been solved much much better...

A very disappointing episode. No amount of acting can save a storyline that implodes into nothingness and main characters that suddenly act completely out of character. The Walt the show has presented so far for five seasons up to last episode would have never walked away from his family or his son.

But of course they have to get to episode 8 and went too fast with their story. So to go on they had to resent back to cliches :(.

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Only when the red minivan pulls up at the end do we understand why Walt is so frantic to get his family out of the house. This is his final chance to escape justice and start over. But since Skyler just spilled the beans to Jr, he won't trust anything his father says. And his wife attacked him with a knife. And Jr was calling in the cops. Nobody would believe that this calculating murderer actually wanted Hank to live, even if it meant his own doom. So at that moment, yes, you have to walk away from family. I would have too.

The question is why Walt gets the gun in the flash forward, which will sadly squeeze too much future time out of the story. He can't honestly expect that Jesse would still be alive by then, to want to kill him personally. Maybe he wants to avenge Hank and save the other barrels, whatever would be left. Or maybe Marie snitches on Skyler's role in the meth empire, and Walt expects to save his wife.

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I really have to say that this were Breaking Bad's story jumped the shark. The characters and motivations made less sense than normal and the story development was just plain stupid at times. So many things could have been solved much much better...

A very disappointing episode. No amount of acting can save a storyline that implodes into nothingness and main characters that suddenly act completely out of character. The Walt the show has presented so far for five seasons up to last episode would have never walked away from his family or his son.

But of course they have to get to episode 8 and went too fast with their story. So to go on they had to resent back to cliches :(.

What are you talking about? How was anyone out of character? What cliches? I thought it was fantastic.

Hanks death was perfectly executed, and yet still shocking. Walt's reaction to it was well done to, his sorrow being followed by his cold menace towards Jesse.

I think my favourite part was the house fight scene, where the whole family turned against him, even his own, father-worshipping son. The knife fight was shot so well (anyone else thought it was a cool sequence?), and for a second, I thought Skyler was going to die herself. And it was really sad to see Holly's own fate, especially after the touching prologue.

The phone call was also great. At this point, you'd question Walt's motives, and wonder how he had become so ruthless, likely too much so. But then you realize that he once again does this for the family, isolating all the blame upon himself. He knew the cops were there, and so he spoke to Skyler the way he did and stole the baby, while being unable to hold back the tears. Walt had to walk away because he now knew he was truly tearing his family apart and destroying it. Everything he had hoped wouldn't happen, happened, and this was all he could do to protect his family. And so he started his new life, from which I think he'll be finding a way to avenge Hank by pursuing Uncle Jack.

Honestly, that episode brilliantly played out like a true tragedy. In an hour's time, we just saw Walt lose EVERYTHING...

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Walt's reaction to Hank's death used the same camera effect that I associate with Brody seeing the shark on the beach. I love it.

I saw the pants but couldn't tell what they were! I even asked and she didn't know either. So the flashback at the beginning is brilliant for two reasons. This is Holly's episode, and we're supposed to remember the very first cook.

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Yes KK the knife fight was shot very well, and I too did not know what was going to happen, I thought there was a good chance someone was going to get stabbed. I loved the use of slo-mo as Skyler cut Walt's hand, and how after showing his face it cut to quick motion for the rest of the fight. Awesome.

I too think that Walt returns to Albuquerque on his 52nd birthday to avenge Hank's death by killing Jack. Though you really have to wonder why his house is emptied and Heisenberg is spray-painted there. I mean, Hank and Gomez were the only 2 people that knew the Heisenberg case was re-opened and that Gail was not actually Heisenberg. Not to mention that fact that with Jesse cooking again, the blue meth will be back out on the streets (well, maybe only the Czech streets, I dunno). So who is it that knows Walt is Heisenberg, and decides to spray paint his house?

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Hank knew and would have told Marie. We can't know how much story Junior got from either sister, which is enough to cast doubt on it being him. But Carol's reaction at Walt's return implies that by 52, Walt's actions become common knowledge.

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Hmmmm, yea I could see Marie desecrating the house in a fit of rage at some point after Skyler and Junior move out. I wonder what Junior will do with his life now. I kinda wish the show had ended without him ever finding out anything, but I guess the writers want to drive home how Walt's choices affected EVERYONE in his life negatively. Only Holly White might possibly come out fine.

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I guess if Junior could drive, he could be steady enough to spray paint such a big word. I would generalize the question to whether the word is painted from within the family or outside, because at some point the house is ransacked and cordoned off as a crime scene. It doesn't make much sense for the family to ruin their own home, but who knows at this point.

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What are you talking about? How was anyone out of character? What cliches? I thought it was fantastic.

Hank and Gomez die (predictable)

Jessie survives and miraculously Lydia and the gang have their new cook (cheap twist)

Walt rolls a barrel through the desert without any water and of course he immediately finds the house with a car to arrive home the same day just hours later (!) Serious timing issues

Funny that the cars of the nazi gang don't have fuel leakage although Hank and Gomez fired dozens of shots each on them

Walt acting completely out of character. As i said before the character would never abandon his family (especially Flynn). He would have surrendered and explained everything before or at least after the kitchen fight. Walt did everything for them. He was so concerned about Flynn finding out the truth some episodes before. And now we are supposed to accept that he would just abandon the three persons he does this for, without an explanation for anything? I don't buy it at all...

The telephone call was acted fantastically but to say that he protects his family a last time makes no sense in context. He destroyed his family, traumatized his son and didn't even have the decency to explain the dead of Hank or anything else. The telephone call made it even worse for Flynn who was listening too.

This is not the character we have followed five seasons long, the transformation is just not believable at all in this episode. I mean in episode 13 he surrendered to Hank, some episodes before that he said to skyler he wants it all to stop and to basically give up.

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Holy crap what an episode. Really gut-wrenching. But amazing, simply amazing.

Now we're even closer to the end. Just catched on TV a re-run of one of the episodes where Hank is recovering and becomes obsessed with his rock collection. And Gus was still alive... We had no idea what was coming.

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On of the seminal episodes of the series. Terrific television. I even hesitate to call it that, because it's so much more than what you come to expect from TV.

For those questioning the spray painting of desecration of the house, I think you're overthinking it. Walt's secret is out. The police were involved, and all of this information, plus testimony from Skylar, Marie and Walt Jr. will all be forwarded to the DEA and other government agencies. People on the street already know the name Heisenberg, as well as the DEA. Once they formally connect this to Walt, and that leakes out, anyone could have done that to the house. Including those punks skateboarding in the emptied pool.

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Dang, you're right :P

Did you guys like the cold open with the flashback to pilot-era cooking? I thought it was extremely well done - in terms of writing, as we get to see Walt's first lie and how he had to psych himself up to it, etc. Obviously in terms of filming it was a bit obvious that Jesse was older now, and Walt was older and Cranston clearly had a wig on (At first I thought they must have filmed this after they filmed the flash-forward before he shaved his heard for the rest of season filming, but later on it was more apparent it was a wig)

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The reason this show works on several levels is the success of its allusions, comparisons and metaphors, etc. The beginning perfectly shows how almost innocent these first cooking sessions were juxtoposed with what Walt has become. As viewers, we're so accustomed to seeing these changes played linear. It's jarring just how much has changed in two years when you see the two Walts side by side.

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I don't even think it's been two years - Walt turned 50 in the pilot, and turned 51 in episode 4 of season 5. I think less than a year and a half has passed since the pilot episode

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I was generalizing since he turns 52 in the flash forward diner scene.

Oh, right. Compare pilot Walt to flash-forward Walt. They both have hair and seem to be cancer free, yet have drastically different family and friend situations.

It's a bit more than a year and a half considering Holly is 18 months old and was born at the end of season 2.

How many months was Skyler already pregnant for when she told Walt she was pregnant in the pilot?

Cause if she was only barely pregnant, then 9 months + 18 months = 25 months, which would be past his 52nd birthday

In fact, unless Skyler was already at least 4 months pregnant on Walt's 50th birthday, I'd say the writers messed up. I think Holly should be less than a year old in the current timeline of the show.

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Skylar was visibly pregnant from the first episode, so she was probably about 6 months pregnant in the pilot.

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Well, the transformation is complete. Mr. Chips has indeed become Scarface. I'm thrilled that this season is going all out. No more pulling punches. I'm very excited to see what the final two episodes will bring us.

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The only major thing I didn't like was the last minute saving of Jessie. I wouldn't mind if if the guy had spoken up sooner, but a last-second-before-trigger thing is pushing it into cliched territory.

We (brother and I) think the OTT nature of Walt's call was attempting to put the blame for everything on himself, given that he knew the police were probably listening. He knows there's nothing for him with his family and just wants them to be able to live without fear of incrimination should any of Walt's crimes be discovered.

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