Breaking Bad

Started by squints, February 25, 2009, 07:23:38 PM

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Brando

I've posted too much in this thread today but JB's joke reminded me of something. We always wondered how Walt poisoned Brock. Was that scene with Brock eating fruit loops hinting that Walt poisoned his fruit loops? I need to watch the episode again but pretty sure Walt made a reference to the cereal.
If you think this is going to have a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention.

©brad

Quote from: Brando on September 09, 2013, 10:09:54 PM
I've posted too much in this thread today but JB's joke reminded me of something. We always wondered how Walt poisoned Brock. Was that scene with Brock eating fruit loops hinting that Walt poisoned his fruit loops? I need to watch the episode again but pretty sure Walt made a reference to the cereal.

Hmm, seems too evil even for Walt to mock the poor kid like that. Walt justified poisoning Brock as an absolute last resort, and expressed genuine remorse and relief when Jesse revealed Brock would be okay on top of that garage.

You do notice a palpable discomfort Brock has in front of Walt. Could it be possible Brock knows Walt did something bad to him, or am I reaching?

Jeremy Blackman

Quote from: Brando on September 09, 2013, 10:09:54 PM
I've posted too much in this thread today but JB's joke reminded me of something. We always wondered how Walt poisoned Brock. Was that scene with Brock eating fruit loops hinting that Walt poisoned his fruit loops? I need to watch the episode again but pretty sure Walt made a reference to the cereal.

In an episode of Talking Bad, Vince spoiled how the writers believe Walt poisoned Brock. I can spoil it if you want.

Neil

Quote from: ©brad on September 09, 2013, 10:22:58 PM
You do notice a palpable discomfort Brock has in front of Walt. Could it be possible Brock knows Walt did something bad to him, or am I reaching?


It doesn't seem like you're reaching, Brock's actions clearly support that he might even know that Walter is the one who poisoned him. I wouldn't say he acts uncomfortable, but his mom definitely reiterates this point when she tells him to give Walter a more polite response.
it's not the wrench, it's the plumber.

AntiDumbFrogQuestion

Reflection of first episode of the show.

Walt, in the desert, with a gun, ready to defend himself.  Except this time, it's not firetrucks.

And then he gives up.

modage

One thing that occurred to me during this week's episode is that I don't think we're really seen Heisenberg all season (save maybe for his "tread lightly" to Hank). Think of the end of last year, sitting in his chair, coldly waiting for his prison job to be carried out, being a dick to everyone. Total confidence. This season has been a return to Walt, he's still a liar but he's less good at it. In the scene with the Nazis I was actually scared for him, look at the framing with Uncle Jack standing tall over him in the chair, he didn't have the power in the room. If I were him, I'd definitely be scared of Todd's dudes who have definitely seen that he may now be weak enough to overthrow. And all of this said, it took all of the joy out of seeing Walt finally being caught just because he's just so weak and pathetic in that moment you can't help but feel sorry for him.

I also had a little bit of a problem with the racing towards the money scene, not sure if it was the writing/staging/performance but Walt naming all of that incriminating stuff over the phone just seemed too too perfect/convenient for Jesse's plan. Generally whatever plan you think is going to be perfectly executed is always thrown with a hitch. I guess you could say the hitch here was Todd's guys showing up but I really expected Walt to not quite go all the way on the phone and to the money.

I'm also really worried that there's only 3 episodes left. Isn't there so much story left to tell!? Does anyone else feel like they might have to rush to get from where we are now to the flash-forwards and beyond?
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

I am Schmi

Quote from: modage on September 10, 2013, 10:14:29 AM
One thing that occurred to me during this week's episode is that I don't think we're really seen Heisenberg all season (save maybe for his "tread lightly" to Hank). Think of the end of last year, sitting in his chair, coldly waiting for his prison job to be carried out, being a dick to everyone. Total confidence. This season has been a return to Walt, he's still a liar but he's less good at it. In the scene with the Nazis I was actually scared for him, look at the framing with the dude standing tall over him in the chair, he didn't have the power in the room. If I were him, I'd definitely be scared of Todd's dudes who have definitely seen that he may now be weak enough to overthrow. And all of this said, it took all of the joy out of seeing Walt finally being caught just because he's just so weak and pathetic in that moment you can't help but feel sorry for him.

I also had a little bit of a problem with the racing towards the money scene, not sure if it was the writing/staging/performance but Walt naming all of that incriminating stuff over the phone just seemed too too perfect/convenient for Jesse's plan. Generally whatever plan you think is going to be perfectly executed is always thrown with a hitch. I guess you could say the hitch here was Todd's guys showing up but I really expected Walt to not quite go all the way on the phone and to the money.

I'm also really worried that there's only 3 episodes left. Isn't there so much story left to tell!? Does anyone else feel like they might have to rush to get from where we are now to the flash-forwards and beyond?

I'm assuming the next episode will be the last episode of the present day. In the first episode of season 5 part 1 Walt has a big machine gun in the trunk of a car. Could he have been preparing for a battle against the Aryan's? They know where he lives/d, so that would explain why his house was abandoned in episode 1 of season 5 part 2. Ideally Walt could pin the prison murders and crystal meth cooking on the Aryan's, avoiding any and all implication.

Tictacbk

Doesn't need to be said but: what an episode.

Thoughts on the cliffhanger:  I'm definitely in the camp of thinking if they were going to kill Hank or Jesse it would've made more narrative sense to end the episode on it.  It would've made for an amazing ending, how do you pass that up?  UNLESS the next episode doesn't start right where we left the last episode and we're left to wonder how it all panned out for a little while.  Kind of like they did with Jesse and the gasoline in the house (though we knew he wasn't going to burn it down).  I like to think that they do this so that the binge watchers are subjected to the same cliffhangers as those of us who watch it weekly (at least to some degree).  So if that's the case, I suppose I could still see Hank dying out there in the desert.

Things I thought were weird, but don't care:  Walt's admission over the phone seemed a little convenient, and the sound in that scene felt strange but whatever it was awesome.  Also the Nazi's got to a place in the middle of the desert unbelievably fast, and they brought a crazy amount of firepower for the job they thought they were doing.  Also they shot the SUV their precious cook was in quite a bit.  But whatever, it was awesome.

Not really a criticism, but I wish burying the fake barrel was Jesse's idea, not Hank's.

Ridiculous Prediction:  Walt somehow negotiates a cease-fire.  Saves Hank and Gomez under the pretense that they give him the recording from the phone call and never speak of any of this to anyone again.  Then... somehow Jesse ends up with the Nazi's?  Maybe Walt gives him to them.  Then... Ok, I haven't thought this out well enough.  But Walt grabs a barrel of money, calls up Saul's guy, and leaves town.  The point is even though Walt is such a terrible person at this point, I want to be rooting for him against whoever that giant gun is for in the flash forward.  So I hope it's for the Nazi's, and it'd be even better if he was somehow saving Jesse from them.  Then once he's done nazi-killing he tell's Jesse about Jane, and eats some Ricin (edit: actually it makes a lot more sense to go after Lydia with the ricin, since the Nazi's are screwed without her buyers).

Alternate ending: Walt finally does meth.

Fernando



that sounds pretty awesome.

Reel

I'm watching season 2, it's my favorite. Before last weeks episode, I saw the one where Hank discovers  Tucco's two boys in the junkyard, one with the arm ripped off. I thought he was such an idiot for sending that picture to Walt, what bad taste. And then later he says at a meeting "Those pictures are hilarious, there's one of me posing with him on my website." It seemed like something really out of character for Hank and just a plot device to get the information to Walt that Tucco had killed them, but it's interesting to see it tie together in the last episode with Hank using his photography skills to nab Walt. Are there any other examples of Hank's hidden talent? I can only think of the Schraderbrau label on his beer.

Brando

Quote from: Reelist on September 11, 2013, 07:49:54 PM
I'm watching season 2, it's my favorite. Before last weeks episode, I saw the one where Hank discovers  Tucco's two boys in the junkyard, one with the arm ripped off. I thought he was such an idiot for sending that picture to Walt, what bad taste. And then later he says at a meeting "Those pictures are hilarious, there's one of me posing with him on my website." It seemed like something really out of character for Hank and just a plot device to get the information to Walt that Tucco had killed them

I went through the entire series earlier this year. There were some things in the earlier seasons that stood out to me too. It was things you could never see the characters doing like Hank sending Walt the pic. Also, A pregnant Skyler threatening a drug dealer.  As I continued the series it made more sense.

The Gilligan quote of turning Mr. Chips into Scarface is known to anyone familiar with the show. On my rewatching of the show, I realized it went well beyond just evolving the character of Walt. It was transforming a tv family and the tv family genre. It turned the Cosby Show into Scarface. The Sopranos remade tv by changing the type of family we're used to seeing portrayed. Breaking Bad took a stereotypical tv family and placed them into another genre thus making them change.

When the pilot begins, some of the character's that fill up the Breaking Bad universe were very generic, stereotypical characters. We've seen these characters multiple times in the world of TV and they do stupid things like send their Brother in law a pic of a dead body. It's Walt's first decision to cook meth or his original sin that not only puts him on his path to transforming into Scarface but transforming everyone and everything around him. It's like a drop of ink slowly taking over a glass of water. As Walt's first sin spreads, it begins to transform the people around him. They go from being cliches to being fully formed unique individuals with a lot of depth. We see it with Skyler first because she is the first affected by Walt's decision.  When Hank discovers Heisenberg, he evolves and is no longer just the big mouthed brother in law. Marie's issues began as a conventional way to bring about drama. When Walt's decision causes Hank to get shot, Marie is now affected and her issues resurface but in way that expands her character.

Walt Jr.'s naivete has kept him from being directly affected like the others leaving him almost the same character from the pilot. In season 1 before Walt's decision totally transformed everyone and everything in it, Walt Jr had his own plotline which now seems out of place. He was caught buying beer and went on a ride along with Hank. Since then, Walt Jr.'s role has shrunk because his innocence leaves little room for him in this new world. Everyone makes jokes because you only see him at breakfast but at a family breakfast is one of the few places where he is able to exist.

If you think this is going to have a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention.

ono

Good post.  I wonder if keeping Walt Jr.'s innocence is essential, or will he be dirtied in these last few episodes -- dirtied to the point, perhaps, where he has to kill to protect his family?  Maybe he's in a situation where if he doesn't, his dad will be hurt.  It would bring the evolution full circle.

I think the two minor sore thumbs from this series are that Walt Jr. hasn't been more incorporated, and Marie's kleptomania has seem rather tacked on and swept under the rug.  Sure, the latter was used to illustrate a point, but I think it could have been more fleshed out if the writers had wanted to more fully paint the juxtaposition of the two families (*especially* in light of Skylar's brushes with embezzlement).

Reel

While we're on the subject of Walter Jr, a question I've had is do we ever once meet Louis? Is he one of the kids he tried to buy beer with? I just don't remember him, yet Walt is hanging out with him all the time. I wouldn't suspect them to be up to no good besides maybe smoking a lil weed, but I do like Ono's idea of him being 'dirtied' at the end. It's hard to anticipate how he'd react to finding out his Dad is in danger, but maybe Louis has an uncle who can help?   

Tictacbk

Walt Jr kills Hank to save Walt.  That'd be awesome.  I don't know how you get to that point, but thats for the Br Ba writers to figure out.

03

Louis is the kid that first refers to him as flynn in the first season. he asks walt for him at the door. Maybe second..I can't remember the episode.