Breaking Bad

[Reel]

I thought the interesting part is that we see Jesse's (horrified) reaction but not Walt's reaction.

Walt turning a blind eye to killing kids, watch what happens when someone targets his own. THAT's when he'll bring out the firepower.

[©brad]

- What an ending! No show sucker punches you like this one. We go from cheering to gasping for air in the span of seconds. I saw a comment on AVClub that sums it up nicely:

"Me: I love seeing Jesse enjoy his victories.  Magnets, a successful train heist, etc.
Vince Gilligan: Well fuck you."

- It's as testament to how thrilling that train heist was because I totally forgot about the kid until he showed up at the end. I know it was obvious to most of you smarter kids, but I was totally fooled.
- While we're on the heist, it was in my eyes the most beautifully shot sequence this show has ever done. So many classic western shots. It might have been the cheap trader joe's wine but I saw echos of Elswitt/CWBB in those tracking shots, the sunset, that one dissolve (first one in this show if memory serves?). Kudos to writer/first time director George Mastras. I haven't listened to the podcast yet but I love the confidence Vince has in his writing staff, having no issue letting a writer direct one of the biggest episodes production wise they've ever done.
- "It's all about the weight, yo."
- "You guys were about to murder me. I thought you were professionals."

[Jeremy Blackman]

- What an ending! No show sucker punches you like this one. We go from cheering to gasping for air in the span of seconds. I saw a comment on AVClub that sums it up nicely:

"Me: I love seeing Jesse enjoy his victories.  Magnets, a successful train heist, etc.
Vince Gilligan: Well fuck you."

- It's as testament to how thrilling that train heist was because I totally forgot about the kid until he showed up at the end. I know it was obvious to most of you smarter kids, but I was totally fooled.
- While we're on the heist, it was in my eyes the most beautifully shot sequence this show has ever done. So many classic western shots. It might have been the cheap trader joe's wine but I saw echos of Elswitt/CWBB in those tracking shots, the sunset, that one dissolve (first one in this show if memory serves?). Kudos to writer/first time director George Mastras. I haven't listened to the podcast yet but I love the confidence Vince has in his writing staff, having no issue letting a writer direct one of the biggest episodes production wise they've ever done.
- "It's all about the weight, yo."
- "You guys were about to murder me. I thought you were professionals."

That dissolve was actually jarring to me. Which is a funny thing to say, but it's true.

After giving it some thought, I think the train whistle at the end of the teaser was too big a hint. Would have been fine without that whistle. I mean really, they cut to the title sequence immediately after that sound.

Also, I'm probably nitpicking, but I thought the Skyler content was fairly weak and clunky. And I don't understand why Walt agreed to her "deal."

The train heist and the end sort of make up for that, though.

I was going to complain about the "barely made it within one second" aspect of the train heist. Then I realized that's sort of the joke, overturning that action movie cliche with the final scene.

[©brad]

After giving it some thought, I think the train whistle at the end of the teaser was too big a hint. Would have been fine without that whistle. I mean really, they cut to the title sequence immediately after that sound.

I loved that sound on second viewing! Again I forgot about the kid so obviously it affected me differently. I do love the idea of a viewer knowing at that moment the kid is doomed, but still being surprised as to how. I mean the ending still got you right?

Also, I'm probably nitpicking, but I thought the Skyler content was fairly weak and clunky. And I don't understand why Walt agreed to her "deal."

Yeah a lot of other people are making the same comment. I guess my only complaint would be it didn't advance that plotline at all. I did like Walt's "robbing a train" line. Actually I'm deciding that line redeemed the clunkiness.

[Stefen]

Just watched the new episode. When it was over I had no words. I could barely move. I can't believe how great the storytelling is on this show. Genius level. Not since The Wire have I seen a show as good as this one is.

I don't even know where this show is going, but it's going to involve children. Most likely Walt's. I'm waiting for Skyler to find blue meth in Walt Jr's pocket while doing his laundry. The reason Walt started doing this in the first place was for his family, and then simply for his children. Now children are dying and are becoming a main focal point of the show. Lydia's child, Brock and Walt's children are all becoming main aspects of this show right now. I don't even want to think about what happens next because it's impossible to predict with the way this story is told.

Is it pretty obvious Todd planted the camera on the barrels? I knew he wasn't just going to be a bit character. Jesse Pleamons seems to be doing big things right now and I couldn't imagine him taking a bit role in this show. Then in the beginning when they recap him telling Walt about the camera in the house from a few episodes ago and then had his name in the opening credits, I couldn't wait to see what they did with his character. First I thought maybe he was an undercover cop, but that theory has gone out the window. I wonder who he is connected to. Mike? Maybe Saul turns out to be the mastermind. Wasn't he the one who got the moving crew in contact with Walt, Jesse and Mike?

[Stefen]

After giving it some thought, I think the train whistle at the end of the teaser was too big a hint. Would have been fine without that whistle. I mean really, they cut to the title sequence immediately after that sound.

Also, I'm probably nitpicking, but I thought the Skyler content was fairly weak and clunky. And I don't understand why Walt agreed to her "deal."

I didn't even connect the train sound when it first happened. I figured it was unrelated and just showing that this kid is out in the middle of nowhere. And by the end of the episode and the heist scene, I had totally forgot about the kid and the opening until he's revealed. IN hindsight I guess it could be too much of a hint, but it was effective for my viewing.

And I think Walt agreed to her deal because it was different than her original deal where she was just going to send the kids away. Now she's letting them stay but making Walt promise that the second he doesn't feel safe anymore, she gets to take them as far away as possible. It's a compromise that will eventually go wrong because Walt always waits too long as is evidenced by the train heist scene, so he probably waits too long in telling Skyler to get the kids out of the house before shit hits the fan. Also Walt promised Lydia that he wouldn't kill her and he did it on his children's lives. If she gets offed, then his childrens lives obviously don't mean much to Walt anymore. Especially if Walt's the one who executes her.

[RegularKarate]

After giving it some thought, I think the train whistle at the end of the teaser was too big a hint. Would have been fine without that whistle. I mean really, they cut to the title sequence immediately after that sound.

I don't think it was too big of a hint. I thought it was pretty obvious he was going to show up (I even knew that once they shut the pump off, we would hear the motorcycle), but I think that's part of it. We're meant to know he's going to show up and we're meant to assume that there will be a long, moral discussion about what to do with the kid and then we get kicked in the face.

Is it pretty obvious Todd planted the camera on the barrels?

Do you mean the tracker? They answered who did it. It was a Houston agent.

[Stefen]

Is it pretty obvious Todd planted the camera on the barrels?

Do you mean the tracker? They answered who did it. It was a Houston agent.

Yup. Forgot about that.

[Fernando]

I had cbrad's viewing experience, starting with 'this fucking show' which is what I thought immediately after it ended, also having no memory of the kid until they turned off the pump and thinking oh shit.

what I wonder now is: will they dissolve the kid's body or what? or maybe they have another option I'm not seeing to not leave some trace of the body but at this point it seems their only option...


and the DEA's boss office is wired, poor Hank.

[theyarelegion]

Also Walt promised Lydia that he wouldn't kill her and he did it on his children's lives. If she gets offed, then his childrens lives obviously don't mean much to Walt anymore. Especially if Walt's the one who executes her.

Walt never promised Lydia her life by swearing on the lives of his children. He told her: You're a smart business woman. You understand the concept of leverage. You have none.

[Tictacbk]

I'm fine with it because of how great the ending was, but we're all willing to admit that everything about that train hiest was fairly ridiculous, right?

[malkovich]

By ridiculous do you mean thrilling?

[Brando]

I didn't catch on to the train whistle in the teaser. When a show is as good at BB, I'm a very passive viewer. I'm usually shocked by every twist and turn cause I'm usually so enthralled by it I miss things like in the teaser. And it's the opposite when something is bad.

Man. This show has no love for children. They've killed one, shot another, put one in the hospital. It's so interesting to see where it goes from here. Jesse is going to be devastated and pissed.  I wouldn't be surprised if he kills Todd right there. Todd is Jesse 2.0 or Jesse for Heisenberg.

I was waiting till Walt and Lydia met each other.  I thought that was just a huge opportunity for humor.  I think the two would clash. I expected to see some of those old walt looks like the ones he gave after Jesse said something stupid when dealing with her.

[polkablues]

The only aspect of the heist that seemed ridiculous was that the train crew didn't hear anything that was going on behind them. Especially when Walt turned on the motor for the water pump. Out in the middle of nowhere, there's no way those guys wouldn't have heard that from where they were. Other than that, the heist seemed solid.

[Tictacbk]

The generator bothered me, because they could've at least taken the time to get a quiet generator.

But on top of that...
-The train car they needed happened to stop right where they needed it.
-Maybe its just an urban legend or something, but I was under the impression that it takes freight trains like a mile to come to a stop.
-They somehow had knowledge of freight train tanks and how they work, including sizes of hose attachments, what levers to pull, what size drillbits to have, etc.
-The train crew didn't seem concerned at all that they had to stop their train, did they know they were in a "train deadzone"?
-Lydia is all of the sudden an expert on all of this because apparently its part of her job.
-Walt apparently didn't care if all sorts of dirt got in the methylamine.
-Their precise water measurement didn't really pan out...they didn't seem to be monitoring how much they were putting in, and a lot spilled out of the hose (the, knowing Breaking Bad, that could easily come back as a plot point).

In a show that usually pays such close attention to details, it just seemed odd...though yes, thrilling.