Breaking Bad

[©brad]

Can we talk? Tonight's episode is directed by Rian Johnson and Gilligan says it's the best one they've ever done. Someone say something. I'm freaking out.

My stupid predictions:
- Gomez dies, Hank dies
- Walt is taken captive by Nazi's to go cook, and takes Jesse with him
- When Marie finds out about Hank's death, she goes public with Jesse's confession tapes

I can't wait to find out how wrong I am.

Oh, NYMag published an article I don't entirely agree with about how it's impossible to craft satisfying endings to cable dramas. They included one tidbit about season 3 I didn't know about:

"Gilligan's Breaking Bad writers, for example, realized midway through writing season three that they weren't happy with the story's direction, so they killed off their two main antagonists and focused on a new one."

I assume they're talking about the cousins, but in listening to the podcasts and whatnot, I never remember anyone saying they didn't like the season's direction at that point so they decided to kill them off?

[modage]

Yeah, I can't remember if it was on a commentary or podcast or interview or what but I've definitely heard that before. I think they realized after buliding them up as these mythic bad guys that they just weren't very interesting dramatically and went in another direction. If you watch the Season 3 premiere, it's almost like a different show, much more heightened and stylized when those dudes are onscreen.

[03]

yeah, ok. i'm done. thanks. i'll see yall in icu.

[modage]

I think Hank's ***** could've been given a little more attention. It feels that it would have been much more dramatic to end the last episode instead of opening this one. The way it was written was great but the way it was filmed/staged/scored just didn't hit me like it should have. Anyone else feeling this way?

That said, everything else in this episode was amazing.

I totally called Walt's Jane confession.

You can't help but feel like there are certain dangling threads that are just too large not to be addressed before the curtains close. The most glaring examples both involve Walt's deceptions towards Jesse (his inaction during Jane's death and his very deliberate poisoning of young Brock). For this writer it's less important to find out exactly how Walt poisoned Brock and more important simply to see Jesse process this information. But since Walt is the only witness to either incident, the only way for it to come up would literally have to be Walt confessing these sins to Jesse, which we suspect will happen at some point during these final episodes. If we had to guess, we'd say it'll probably be in a moment of cruelty and hubris rather than an absolving admission.

Loved the scene at the house, everything gone to shit. No options, no hope.

The endgame seems much clearer now. The question is: will Walt be going back to get even with the Nazis? Or to free Jesse (though he blames him for Hank's death and the money)? Or to protect his family from the Nazis?

[Frederico Fellini]

Well if we're going full douche and calling dibs on predictions:  I called that Hank was going to die at the beginning of the episode and that Walt was gonna disappear via Saul's guy, Now where's my cookie!?

No, all unfunny jokes aside, Walt's confession about Jane was one of the coldest things I've ever seen on television. I think Jesse is going to live, he's been through so fucking much, killing him would be overkill. I think he and Walt Jr. are the only two characters that gonna make it outta this alive. But for everyone else, like the song in the episode said:  "Say goodbye to everyone you knooow!"

I liked Marie wearing all black. I liked the drawing of Skylar smiling on the wall behind her at the beginning and later on when she picks up the knife. Fuck, this episode was a true masterpiece.



EDIT:  I just thought. I'm pretty sure Walt knew the cops were listening in on the convo and that's why he said all that stuff. He said Skylar didn't know anything about his meth business and never supported him (basically exonerating Skylar from any wrong doing) , he basically said he was the one that killed Hank, he said a bunch of stuff that only incriminated himself. He knew he was going to leave right after that. That's why he was crying so hard, because a- he didn't truly mean what he was saying and b- he knew he had to leave after that and he won't be talking to or seeing his family for a long time. Fuck, a rewatch is a-coming.

[Lottery]

Dear god...

[©brad]

I have never seen a movie or television show that did what those 43 minutes did to me. Holy shit.

[Lottery]

What Walt did at the end was brilliant and absolutely crushing.


And the Jane line was sooo cold.

[Frederico Fellini]

"My name is ASAC Schrader, you can fuck yourself. Do what you gonna- BANG!"  - Hank Schrader


That was some badass shit. That last line kinda reminded me of (SPOOOOOILERS FOR THE WIRE AHEAD)      Stringer Bell's last line.   

Both gone away like badass motherfuckers, no begging.

[Jeremy Blackman]

I literally got everything I wanted out of this episode. Especially this:

As for what happens immediately next, my gut says that Walt will have to win and lose in some combination that really eats away at his soul. I mean look where we are in the final season; it's certainly time for that next step.

And, of course, this:

So what's the endgame? Are they really going to turn Walter White fully into the antagonist, as promised? This is honestly an open question. Before he ordered the hit on Jesse, they had been pulling back a bit. And now he would rather protect Hank than save himself. So are they going to go all the way or not? This question will probably be answered in the next episode.

That question certainly was answered. This was an entire alarms-blazing, punch-in-the-face episode of only that. This is exactly I was hoping for; I was ready to be abused and terrorized. I have possibly never been more satisfied after a Breaking Bad episode.

You can watch the transformation happening. When Hank is shot and Walt falls to the sand, that is Walter White's death. The remainders of his humanity are expelled in that mournful wail. He collapses, drained, then rises as Heisenberg. Now he is a predator. He finds his prey, Jesse Pinkman, and just watches it for a while.

The next push happened when he snatched Hollie. I had a total basic instinct reaction to that, as I suspect everyone did. That's just not something we can accept, no matter what kind of "antihero" is doing it. Brilliant move by the writers; that's one of those things that simply violates the basic rules of civilization.

Finally, of course, that phone call. Walt's tears were so perfect — you could just see him pushing himself further into that darkness. Amazing.

[samsong]

good call on the phone call to skylar being an act of self immolation rather than genuine threats, paralleled beautifully by the cold open.  i had my doubts, thinking that vince gilligan had done himself and the show a disservice by playing favorites and proclaiming this to be the best thing they've ever done but jesus christ, never happier to be wrong.  this was basically perfect.  i was totally okay with how anticlimactic the continuation of the shootout was, mostly because i thought the last episode ending the way it did was bullshit.  walt had to lose everything at some point, and i'm glad it was this episode and blown away by how they did it.

[Lottery]

Actually, I think now that he's truly lost everything he's going to somehow- to some extent redeem himself by shooting up nazis. He tricked the phone-tapping cops into thinking that it was him along and Skyler played along well. He does what he could never do, separates himself from his family and only now they are safe. I mean he's entirely shed the identity of Walter White at this stage but he'll try to 'restore' some sort of balance by taking out the nazis. I think I wrote previously that he was going to kill the nazis and liberate Jessie. But this episode he didn't give a flying fuck and he probably thinks Jessie is dead (or will be soon). We're flashing forward next episode so we'll see.
But basically, his family is safe now without him. He no longer can be Walter White. But he is certainly going fuck up a few people soon enough.

[Frederico Fellini]

What are you guy's thoughts on the dog that crosses the street at the very end of the episode right after the car drives off?

I'm thinking it either represents what Heisenberg is now: A homeless little doggy, roaming around alone, with more darkness than light (notice the dog has more black than white) or it represents Jesse "the rabid dog", being the only one left to come at Walter', and even though Jesse is essentially on a leash right now (chained to cook meth), he won't be for too long and once he's free, knowing about Jane and Brock and everything else. He's gonna come at Walt.

I still think when the two face off at the very end, Jesse will live and Walt will just use the ricin on himself. We'll see.

[Frederico Fellini]

Watching the episode again... Anyone else catch this:






Callback to the first cook. Hah. Love it.

[cine]

I feel like the remaining 90 mins are going to feel like a revenge flick. Walt destroys the nazis to save his family. Then falls on his own sword.