Breaking Bad

[modage]

Also, I am now questioning Hank's good-guyness.

Agree. I think most people assumed this final season would be about setting up Hank as the unexpected hero of this story to bring down Walt but it's clearly not going to be that easy. The show is going out of its way to paint both Hank and Marie as not without faults that may come back around karma-wise. Hank will stop at nothing to bring Walt down even if it means Jesse dies in the process is pretty not cool and Marie fantasizing about poisoning Walt for revenge isn't as bad as actually doing it but it shows that what separates the good from the bad is not so far removed.

I still think Jesse is the only one who can make it out of this okay because he's already paid for his sins in suffering. Unless he starts racking up new ones now, we'll have to see what his plan is...

[ono]

My guess would be his empire. Walt is out but is still connected to the empire he built. Walt's been naive when it's come to being in the drug business. Jesse was always smarter and should know one can't walk away that easy. Jesse could have a plan to fuck up some shit and cause Walt's empire to collapse around him. It'll bring Walt back into it and they'll be able to catch him in the act.

Perhaps Jesse goes back to Todd and Lydia and somehow willingly goes to work with them.  Walt lives very much in his own ego, and maybe to see Jesse cooking and taking over his name will get his gears spinning and cause him to do something stupid.  Either that, or he gets to Jr. somehow.  He's already hit him where he lives physically, so I can't think of anything else too plausible.

Personally, I felt a little bit robbed not being able to watch Jesse re-Gale us with the story of him and Walt.  I'd love to see BB told from his perspective.  It'd be nice if that was an outtake on the DVD or something.  It's ripe for gold.  I realize they probably didn't have enough time to include it, but I think it was worth exploring.  It's important for us to know just how much he told Hank.  For instance, did he cop to killing Gale?  What about the two thugs Walt bowled over?

[Jeremy Blackman]

Personally, I felt a little bit robbed not being able to watch Jesse re-Gale us with the story of him and Walt.  I'd love to see BB told from his perspective.  It'd be nice if that was an outtake on the DVD or something.

Vince promised exactly that in the podcast.

[Jim Steele]

Personally, I felt a little bit robbed not being able to watch Jesse re-Gale us with the story of him and Walt.  I'd love to see BB told from his perspective.  It'd be nice if that was an outtake on the DVD or something.

Vince promised exactly that in the podcast.

what did he promise? That on the DVD we can see that scene?

[Jeremy Blackman]

Yes, Jesse's confession.

[Jeremy Blackman]

I think most people assumed this final season would be about setting up Hank as the unexpected hero of this story to bring down Walt but it's clearly not going to be that easy. The show is going out of its way to paint both Hank and Marie as not without faults that may come back around karma-wise. Hank will stop at nothing to bring Walt down even if it means Jesse dies in the process is pretty not cool and Marie fantasizing about poisoning Walt for revenge isn't as bad as actually doing it but it shows that what separates the good from the bad is not so far removed.

^ This is definitely the most important takeaway right now. This is where we are. Hank and Jesse have teamed up, but the show is far more interested in redeeming Jesse. Hank has already had his heroic moments, and now he makes more sense as an antihero, in that (as the writers have said) the show is (primarily but) not exclusively about Walter White breaking bad. Jesse might be the only character with the opposite trajectory. He has had a massive moral awakening over the course of the show, which only continues.

Things could get interesting if Hank starts to realize he's been underestimating Jesse, which I think is obviously going to happen. It was always going to begin as a flawed partnership, given their history. I don't think it will ever be a buddy cop arrangement, but I think some kind of actual collaboration will happen, now that (1) Hank realizes Jesse is done being used, and (2) Jesse's idea will certainly be brilliant. Their partnership will still probably be contentious and/or dissolve spectacularly, because that would be the most satisfying way to play it out.

As for the idea, I agree that Jesse has to be targeting Walt's legacy, which is the barrels of cash. (Unless Jesse believes the car wash is "where he really lives," what else does Walt have?) They should probably orchestrate something that will force Walt to retrieve some of his money. They follow him or GPS him, etc. That doesn't sound interesting enough, but the interest could be in the instigating event... which has to involve Lydia, Todd, and Jack, right?

[tpfkabi]

I'm trying to think of a scenario where they present Jesse to the public as Heisenberg, which somehow draws Walt out in some way because his pride would not let someone else take credit for what he did.

My other worry is something happens to Jr., as he is the only adult that is 'clean.'
To truly make people say "Oh, no, they didn't," something would have to happen to him.

I don't think either ideas are very likely, it's just what came to mind.

[Jeremy Blackman]

I like that too. It seems less likely, but it feels right for Walter's pride to be his downfall in some way. If only they could combine his legacy and his pride, that would be perfect. Given how long they apparently worked these things out in the writer's room, I'm sure they came up with something good. And I hope it's surprising.

It's funny, this should be easy to predict, because Jesse's options are limited. It can't be an obvious trap (Jesse claiming responsibility probably would be), and it can't violate Jesse's character arc.

"Where he really lives" is just such a strange turn of phrase, they're obviously trying to keep us guessing.

[Tictacbk]

He's talking about Walt's money. Next episode is called ""To'hajiilee"", supposedly that's the area of the desert where Walt hid his money and it's also where Jesse and Walt cooked for the first time.

Was also in the pictures in Walt's hotel room:



Also while I'm posting pictures of stuff I didn't actually observe myself, here's this:

[polkablues]

Nice catch on the Scarface gag.

It's curious to me how many people online seem to have had issues with how some of the plot developments have played out over the last two episodes, and how they somehow speak to some sort of sloppiness or laziness on the writers' part. Specifically, Jesse figuring out that Walt poisoned Brock, Jesse mistaking the guy at the park for an assassin, and Walt pulling up to the house the instant after Hank and Jesse drive away.

The third one, fuck it, that's just a great shot, and there's always been a throughline of coincidence and luck running through the series. Verdict: IT'S FINE.

Bald guy in the park, people are calling it sloppy, too pat or coincidental or whatever. The salient point is that it didn't have to be a bald guy standing off to the side, it could have been almost anything. Jesse was expecting Walt to double-cross him, he was going to see evidence of that in whatever was there. Having it be an intimidating bald guy just made his thought process visually clearer to the audience. Verdict: IT'S FINE.

As for Jesse's revelation in the previous episode, this has taken so much abuse from so many different corners, and I do not get why. I can understand being confused by the scene in the moment, but once you realize what's happened, I don't see the problem at all. It doesn't have to be that Jesse suddenly understands every aspect of what happened, but having made the connection between Kuby pickpocketing his weed and Kuby pickpocketing the Ricin cigarette, it blows a hole right through the middle of Walt's story. VERDICT: BETTER THAN FINE. FINETASTIC.

[Brando]

"Where he really lives" is just such a strange turn of phrase, they're obviously trying to keep us guessing.

Jesse kept telling Hank and Gomez that Walt was out of the business and you'll never catch him in the act. So Jesse's plan has to be something to force Walt back in. Jesse could be referring his drug empire or Jess was intentionally vague cause it was just to get Walt to act. The threat will force Walt to do something he doesn't want to which is to get back into the meth world and at the end of the episode he does that. The first thing Walt does is call Todd. That is huge cause Walt has been so careful this season to keep his distance from anyone or anything from his Heisenberg days. Saul doesn't count

We know Hank's end game is to arrest Walt at all cost. Jesse's goals are still vague but I think Jesse wants to destroy Walt's world. That photo of Walt and Skyler Jesse sees at the house keeps coming back to me. Jesse could have a plan to break up the White family.

My guess would be his empire. Walt is out but is still connected to the empire he built. Walt's been naive when it's come to being in the drug business. Jesse was always smarter and should know one can't walk away that easy. Jesse could have a plan to fuck up some shit and cause Walt's empire to collapse around him. It'll bring Walt back into it and they'll be able to catch him in the act.

Perhaps Jesse goes back to Todd and Lydia and somehow willingly goes to work with them.  Walt lives very much in his own ego, and maybe to see Jesse cooking and taking over his name will get his gears spinning and cause him to do something stupid.

The episode ended with Walt calling Todd to see if his uncles would kill Jesse. Also, Jesse hates Todd and don't see him working with his Nazi uncles. Walt has kept his ego in check this season. He's also way too smart to do something like that with Hank breathing down his neck. I always had some sort of inkling that the flashforwards had to do with Walt's ego. He could die free and in peace but his ego brings him back to Albuquerque.

I'm trying to think of a scenario where they present Jesse to the public as Heisenberg, which somehow draws Walt out in some way because his pride would not let someone else take credit for what he did.

Walt's out. I see a lot more than that to get him back in. He also made a tape making Hank Heisenberg. At this point, I see Walt more than willing to allow someone take credit for what he's done while allowing him to walk away.

My other worry is something happens to Jr., as he is the only adult that is 'clean.'
To truly make people say "Oh, no, they didn't," something would have to happen to him.

I thought the same thing. After the scene by the pool, I thought something might happen to him cause with Hank and Marie both going off the rails leaves only Walt Jr. and Holly to be a sacrifice for the sins of everyone.

[ono]

The episode ended with Walt calling Todd to see if his uncles would kill Jesse.

No it didn't.  All Walt said is he has a job for them.  That's meant to imply he wants them to kill Jesse.  But, as Jesse said, whatever you expect to happen, the exact opposite is going to happen.

Clearly, this means Jesse is going to kill Todd and his uncle.  (Tongue firmly in cheek, but you get my drift.)

[Jeremy Blackman]

Junior's ignorance of his dad's secrets is one of the most precious things Walter has left. Why shouldn't that be one of Jesse's targets?

Jesse will not team up with Todd or the Nazi gang, and he will not physically harm Walt's kids, so we can stop talking about that now.

We can't ignore the "where" of "where he really lives," as well as the aforementioned title of the next episode. The money must be involved. It may be the most obvious thing, but it could transpire in a surprising way.

There are countless plots in the show that are completely obvious moves but are executed at a surprising time or with a crazy twist. Gus's death ("ding boom") is a good example; we saw it coming but never guessed how it would be accomplished.

Nice catch on the Scarface gag.

It's curious to me how many people online seem to have had issues with how some of the plot developments have played out over the last two episodes, and how they somehow speak to some sort of sloppiness or laziness on the writers' part. Specifically, Jesse figuring out that Walt poisoned Brock, Jesse mistaking the guy at the park for an assassin, and Walt pulling up to the house the instant after Hank and Jesse drive away.

The third one, fuck it, that's just a great shot, and there's always been a throughline of coincidence and luck running through the series. Verdict: IT'S FINE.

Bald guy in the park, people are calling it sloppy, too pat or coincidental or whatever. The salient point is that it didn't have to be a bald guy standing off to the side, it could have been almost anything. Jesse was expecting Walt to double-cross him, he was going to see evidence of that in whatever was there. Having it be an intimidating bald guy just made his thought process visually clearer to the audience. Verdict: IT'S FINE.

As for Jesse's revelation in the previous episode, this has taken so much abuse from so many different corners, and I do not get why. I can understand being confused by the scene in the moment, but once you realize what's happened, I don't see the problem at all. It doesn't have to be that Jesse suddenly understands every aspect of what happened, but having made the connection between Kuby pickpocketing his weed and Kuby pickpocketing the Ricin cigarette, it blows a hole right through the middle of Walt's story. VERDICT: BETTER THAN FINE. FINETASTIC.

Totally agree.

Walt arriving just after Jesse & Hank leave did bother me a bit, but things like that do happen in real life, and as Jesse acknowledged in that very episode, Walt is supernaturally lucky.

For all the show's realism, crazy things have always been happening. I don't remember an uproar about Season 2's plane crash. Grand entanglements of fate have always been part of the show.

Complaints about the ricin discovery make absolutely no sense to me. That was extraordinarily subtle, and the sheer amount of information conveyed through Jesse's face was kind of mindblowing.

More troubling to me is the current "Jesse is a rat and needs to go" strain of thought, which follows from the "Skyler is a drag and needs to go" strain, which follows from the "Walt must win" strain. (These people are watching too much Dexter.)

[Neil]

[jerome]

Regarding the "where he really lives" thing, here's an interesting prediction I found in the comments of the AV Club review:

Baseless prediction time!

Jesse's plan is to flip Skyler, and it's going to work beautifully.  Jesse knows that she's a mother and that the poisoning of one child and killing of another is enough to get her to turn by itself.  Her cold willingness to kill Jesse comes from the fact that she sees him as a threat to all of them.  When he makes it clear that Walt is the only one that he wants to hurt, she's going to be a lot more likely to see him as an ally, especially since he's not interested in taking away her money.

Mostly, I think this is all going to have been foreshadowed by the "Vamonos" comment from Jesse, to which Skyler replies "I wish."  They're the two people that Walt has manipulated and hurt the most in his rampage, at least emotionally (I'm sure Mike's lawyer would argue the point!)

Jesse looks at the picture of Walt and Skyler and realizes that's where Walt "Lives."  Walt's self-identity, whether it's valid or not, is that of a family man who is doing what he has to do in order to make sure that his family is safe.  And he's told Jesse how much Skyler hates him, but Jesse knows that she's still there beside him in their facade of a life and that that's enough for Walt.  He has to steal that from Walt and pry away Walt's connections to the world, just like Walt did to him.