Any "Breaking Bad" Fans Here?

[dualstow]

 Combine these pieces together and you've got a guy who will fix things for you... but not necessarily in the way you might like.

He's a walking Monkey's Paw!  :)
Some very good points, indeed. I shouldn't make such a distinction between Todd and Tom Cruise's assassin character in 'Collateral' simply because the latter does what he does with such viciousness and ferocity. The fact that Todd shoots a kid so smoothly, without gritting his teeth is perhaps more chilling than the familiar grimace of a person hardened by gang life or a life of crime.

Still, the fact that he craves approval from the team, and now from Walter, is a tiny sign of light in that otherwise ruined brain.

In any case, the fact that he is the perfect soldier under the command of a maniacal Walter makes these two a very dangerous pair. I don't see much of a future for Declan.

[Lone Wolf]

He's a walking Monkey's Paw! 
Some very good points, indeed. I shouldn't make such a distinction between Todd and Tom Cruise's assassin character in 'Collateral' simply because the latter does what he does with such viciousness and ferocity. The fact that Todd shoots a kid so smoothly, without gritting his teeth is perhaps more chilling than the familiar grimace of a person hardened by gang life or a life of crime.

The Monkey's Paw!  Oh, that's perfect.

It's funny, Cruise's character in "Collateral" was memorable for me as well.  Todd, on the other hand, has got this "Oh here, let me just get that nanny cam and/or innocent child out of the way for you" style of going about his business.  *shudder*

[dualstow]

There's a scene where Hank receives some bad news whispered in his ear while smiling for a photo with some young girls.
Did that scene remind anyone else of something? I can't tell if it's just me.
Or maybe it's as blatantly obvious as the song choice "Crystal Blue Persuasion" was, and it reminded all of you of that something?

The music in this latest episode was perfect, as always.

What is up with Marie Schrader and the color purple?

[Tortoise]

There's a scene where Hank receives some bad news whispered in his ear while smiling for a photo with some young girls.
Did that scene remind anyone else of something? I can't tell if it's just me.
Or maybe it's as blatantly obvious as the song choice "Crystal Blue Persuasion" was, and it reminded all of you of that something?

George Dubya Bush being told about the terrorist attacks on September 11th, definitely. Why do you think Vince Gilligan did that?

What is up with Marie Schrader and the color purple?

No idea.

What was the significance of the scenes where Walt was staring fixedly--practically oblivious to his surroundings--at that fly near the beginning of the episode, and also later at the painting on the wall when he was negotiating the prison hits with Todd's uncle? There seemed to be a lot of dramatic emphasis placed on those scenes, but I just couldn't figure out what that was supposed to say about Walt other than that he was mentally preoccupied/disturbed.

Great 2012 finale, by the way. The final eight episodes are going to be intense.

[dualstow]

I agree. It was quite a satisfying finale-before-the-finale.

There's a scene where Hank receives some bad news whispered in his ear while smiling for a photo with some young girls.
Did that scene remind anyone else of something? I can't tell if it's just me.
Or maybe it's as blatantly obvious as the song choice "Crystal Blue Persuasion" was, and it reminded all of you of that something?
...

George Dubya Bush being told about the terrorist attacks on September 11th, definitely. Why do you think Vince Gilligan did that?

Bingo. Although it wasn't a shot for shot reenactment, it was so similar. And Uncle Jack mentioned Bin Laden earlier in the episode. (oh, those jail scenes were rough).

What was the significance of the scenes where Walt was staring fixedly--practically oblivious to his surroundings--at that fly near the beginning of the episode, and also later at the painting on the wall when he was negotiating the prison hits with Todd's uncle? There seemed to be a lot of dramatic emphasis placed on those scenes, but I just couldn't figure out what that was supposed to say about Walt other than that he was mentally preoccupied/disturbed.

...
I can't tell if it was just a gimmick that doesn't seem to be going anywhere, like Hank's discomfort on elevators, or if there's more significance. The painting thing took me back to when he was first told he had cancer, and he focused on a mustard stain or something on the doctor's tie.

[MediumTex]

Hank is angry at himself for not figuring it out earlier.

Ironically, Walt is out now and could start to put the bad behind him except that he will now have to deal with Hank.

The cancer has also returned, which probably means the doctors told him he has 6-12 months to live (at the most).

[dualstow]

Ironically, Walt is out now and could start to put the bad behind him except that he will now have to deal with Hank.

Yeah, we still have to get to the flash forward at Denny's.
Hank must feel a nearly crippling level of betrayal. He barely knew Gus, but he and the former DEA guy in charge spoke about how friendly Gus was doing all this stuff right under their noses. And, speaking of crippling, look at all the physical injuries he has sustained because of Walt.

Would Walt kill Hank? I don't think he would- not on purpose, anyway. I think he draws the line at family. I hope? 

[Tortoise]

The cancer has also returned, which probably means the doctors told him he has 6-12 months to live (at the most).

Good point. I hadn't quite connected those dots. In the scene where Walt is getting the MRI (or whatever type of scan it is), I just figured it was a routine scan that they do every so often to make sure the cancer hasn't come back. But in retrospect, I suppose the trance-like look on Walt's face during the scan does imply that it probably wasn't just a routine scan.

Would Walt kill Hank? I don't think he would- not on purpose, anyway. I think he draws the line at family. I hope? 

I hope so, too, but the sad thing is that even if Hank hadn't discovered that copy of Leaves of Grass with Gale's note and signature in it in Walt's bathroom, I suspect Walt still might have been in a lot of trouble with his new global drug dealer colleagues, now that he and Lydia have teamed up and gone international in their meth business. It just doesn't seem like "I'm out" is an acceptable choice when you're in that deep on a global scale. Too many vested interests who don't want to flow of money to stop. I'm picturing a bunch of Eastern European mobsters coming after Walt while he's also on the run from the DEA.

One other thing: In that scene where Walt goes over to Jesse's house and drops off the bag of money when he leaves, I was slightly confused about Jesse's reaction afterwards. He pulls out that gun and slides it away from him on the floor while practically shaking. So I figure either (a) he almost decided to shoot Walt before he left, because he was so resentful about Walt not giving him his cut of the money, or (b) he almost decided to shoot himself before Walt came over. Which was it?

[MediumTex]

The cancer has also returned, which probably means the doctors told him he has 6-12 months to live (at the most).

Good point. I hadn't quite connected those dots. In the scene where Walt is getting the MRI (or whatever type of scan it is), I just figured it was a routine scan that they do every so often to make sure the cancer hasn't come back. But in retrospect, I suppose the trance-like look on Walt's face during the scan does imply that it probably wasn't just a routine scan.

What gave it away for me was the mangled paper towel dispenser in the bathroom.  I was assuming he had just gotten through beating on it when we saw him looking dazed in the bathroom.  Maybe not, though.  Did he beat on a paper towel dispenser when he was initially diagnosed?  Perhaps that was the same one, but it seems strange that it wouldn't be fixed over a year later.

The fact that he came home after the scan and told Skyler he was out told me that the scan hadn't contained good news.  Why else would he have had the sudden change of heart?

Would Walt kill Hank? I don't think he would- not on purpose, anyway. I think he draws the line at family. I hope? 

I hope so, too, but the sad thing is that even if Hank hadn't discovered that copy of Leaves of Grass with Gale's note and signature in it in Walt's bathroom, I suspect Walt still might have been in a lot of trouble with his new global drug dealer colleagues, now that he and Lydia have teamed up and gone international in their meth business. It just doesn't seem like "I'm out" is an acceptable choice when you're in that deep on a global scale. Too many vested interests who don't want to flow of money to stop. I'm picturing a bunch of Eastern European mobsters coming after Walt while he's also on the run from the DEA.

I think that all points to Walt getting news that he doesn't have long to live.  Nothing else makes much sense.

One other thing: In that scene where Walt goes over to Jesse's house and drops off the bag of money when he leaves, I was slightly confused about Jesse's reaction afterwards. He pulls out that gun and slides it away from him on the floor while practically shaking. So I figure either (a) he almost decided to shoot Walt before he left, because he was so resentful about Walt not giving him his cut of the money, or (b) he almost decided to shoot himself before Walt came over. Which was it?

I assume that Jesse thought Walt had come over there to kill him.  Even when Walt left I think that Jesse thought Walt had left some kind of booby trap or bomb in the bags outside.  The fact that Walt had had all of the guys in jail killed meant that Jesse was the only one left outside of the operation who could finger him.

I don't think Jesse was thinking about killing Walt or killing himself.  I think the gun was for self-defense if Walt had tried to kill him.

[dualstow]

Jesse's gun and post-Walt reaction: I had the exact same feeling as M-Tex. He knows Walter just had 9 guys eliminated (oh, 10. Lawyer makes 10) (though he doesn't know about Mike) and he saw Walt whistling not too long after spider boy was killed. He knows Walt's capable of anything at this point. Boy was I happy to see Jesse get paid. Never have I rooted so hard for a meth-head/drug manufacturer.

Paper towel dispenser: Walt punched it early on, in an earlier season. It hasn't been fixed. I think he was merely reflecting on all he's been through on borrowed time. Maybe he really meant it when he told Sky he was out. One thing I'm confused about in the flash forward is that he has hair, but he's taking pills. I wonder what pills he was downing after he bought the Scarface gun.

[Tortoise]

Jesse's gun and post-Walt reaction: I had the exact same feeling as M-Tex. He knows Walter just had 9 guys eliminated (oh, 10. Lawyer makes 10) (though he doesn't know about Mike) and he saw Walt whistling not too long after spider boy was killed. He knows Walt's capable of anything at this point. Boy was I happy to see Jesse get paid. Never have I rooted so hard for a meth-head/drug manufacturer.

Okay, yeah, I think you and MT have the right interpretation. Wow, not sure why that went over my head. Sometimes I miss the obvious.

Paper towel dispenser: Walt punched it early on, in an earlier season. It hasn't been fixed. I think he was merely reflecting on all he's been through on borrowed time. Maybe he really meant it when he told Sky he was out. One thing I'm confused about in the flash forward is that he has hair, but he's taking pills. I wonder what pills he was downing after he bought the Scarface gun.

I thought the same thing when I saw the paper towel dispenser--that it's the same dent he gave it in an earlier season. One interpretation is that the cancer hasn't come back quite yet, but Walt knows it's just a matter of time now. He looks at that dent he made earlier and thinks to himself, "When I did that, I thought I just had a couple of months to live. Yet here I am, still alive... and what am I doing with my life?" In other words, seeing the old dent may have just reminded him of his previous mindset before he was Heisenberg. A super-reflective moment.

Although Walt's "I'm out" does make the most sense if the cancer has indeed come back, there's also the fact that Skyler took him to the self-storage to show him the mountain of cash there and plead with him to stop dealing drugs since they now have more money than they'd ever be able to spend in 10 lifetimes. I think Skyler did that without necessarily knowing Walt's cancer has come back (if it indeed has). She just saw a possible light at the end of the tunnel and wanted to pitch it to Walt. Seems like that really made Walt think, perhaps independently of his cancer.

It also seems like practically everything in this episode made Walt think: ruminating on how he murdered Mike, going to his doctor's appointment, finally being "in the clear" after having all those guys in prison murdered, etc. It's like everything--not just one particular thing--piled up on the side of the scale labeled "I'm out."

[dualstow]

It also seems like practically everything in this episode made Walt think: ruminating on how he murdered Mike, going to his doctor's appointment, finally being "in the clear" after having all those guys in prison murdered, etc. It's like everything--not just one particular thing--piled up on the side of the scale labeled "I'm out."

And the painting, LOL.

[AdamA]

Anyone else think the Crystal Blue Persuasion montage was sweet?

http://vimeo.com/48739828  4:12

[Lone Wolf]

Hank is angry at himself for not figuring it out earlier.

Ironically, Walt is out now and could start to put the bad behind him except that he will now have to deal with Hank.

And we know how Hank is.  He will never let it go.

It struck me what a terrible consigliere I would have made for Walt.  I predicted that he would use Todd's uncle to murder the "nine guys" but that this would be a terrible mistake.  I was right that he tried it... but this "crazy plan" worked brilliantly!  The assassinations went off like clockwork and Hank's trail went cold.

I also thought that Walt should cash out, try to rebuild his family, and make the most of the time he has left.  This he actually did (although later than I'd have advised).  Unfortunately, this led to Hank taking that fateful dump where he notices the Walt Whitman book from Gale!

Another wrong call I made is thinking that a (in my view) psychopath like Todd would be too dangerous to work with.  On the contrary, he has remained totally pliant and under Walt's control after going off the leash at the train robbery.  His lack of empathy has allowed him to cheerfully and unquestioningly carry out Walt's awful deeds without (so far) the unpleasant consequences that I predicted.

I assume that Jesse thought Walt had come over there to kill him.  Even when Walt left I think that Jesse thought Walt had left some kind of booby trap or bomb in the bags outside.  The fact that Walt had had all of the guys in jail killed meant that Jesse was the only one left outside of the operation who could finger him.

Even I was a little bit worried for Jesse.  I mean, we know that Walt's cancer is back and it makes sense that he'd try to reconnect with one of his few remaining friends.  But still, thinking of how coldly he made the decision to off the nine ten guys... and how he went to the meet with Lydia fully intending to kill her personally... I just couldn't be sure.  I'm glad that he squared up financially with Jesse.

[Tortoise]

Anyone else think the Crystal Blue Persuasion montage was sweet?

http://vimeo.com/48739828  4:12

Yes, great montage. Probably not quite as awesome as Scarface's "Push It To the Limit" money-making montage, but pretty darn good

[dualstow]

It struck me what a terrible consigliere I would have made for Walt.  

Well yeah, because you have values and common sense. Same goes for Skyler.

[Lone Wolf]

Ultimately, there is a lot more abstraction in our world that we would perhaps like to admit.  The money is imaginary, the debt is imaginary, our "ownership" of stocks is mostly imaginary, our "ownership" of our homes is contingent upon timely payment of property taxes, HOA assessments and other recurring claims, we have discussions about the things that are important to us in abstract parlors such as this one and we ruminate on the chances of becoming a pure abstraction upon the expiration of our physical form.

I was watching a movie once and a guy said that the problem with many people is that they have "a preoccupation with abstraction."  That really resonated with me.

This great quote is actually from another thread but it reminded me of the scene where Skyler takes Walt into the public storage facility to stare at the pile of cash he had accumulated.  The line about how she "sprays it for silverfish" like a pile of old rags was just perfect.  After Walt had experienced, witnessed and ultimately caused so much concrete human suffering and misery, that pile of cotton and linen and the abstraction it represented must have seemed pretty barren.

At least Ozymandias had his statue.

[dualstow]

I can't read that thread without thinking that Bankruptsy (sic) is Banksy's little brother.

I agree with it the way I think M-Tex meant it. We really do dwell on abstraction. I blame the folds in our mammalian neocortex.

Government debt is an abstraction, ownership of stocks does not exist in the way we'd like to think, etc., although sometimes people take this idea too far. Earlier this year, I read about that video game programmer who went from five-figure debt to millions in riches, commenting that the money was just "numbers in (his) bank's computer" and that it didn't change anything. Well yes, it did. It kept the repo men from coming to take his sofa away, and it put food on the table where there was none before. This young man can now hire a jet to Paris for the weekend if he so desires, instead of merely daydreaming about it.

Just because we have a convenient medium of exchange and a credit system, we shouldn't think of wealth, even unrealized gains, as imaginary. I like to think of it as potential energy.

In Walt's case, he lost sight of the concept of enough. At what point does someone stop sacrificing family life, and in Walter's case, the lives of others, for those dollars? Because after you reach the "enough point", the critical mass, then I suppose it does become a pile of cotton and linen.

[Lone Wolf]

Earlier this year, I read about that video game programmer who went from five-figure debt to millions in riches, commenting that the money was just "numbers in (his) bank's computer" and that it didn't change anything. Well yes, it did. It kept the repo men from coming to take his sofa away, and it put food on the table where there was none before. This young man can now hire a jet to Paris for the weekend if he so desires, instead of merely daydreaming about it.

Just because we have a convenient medium of exchange and a credit system, we shouldn't think of wealth, even unrealized gains, as imaginary. I like to think of it as potential energy.

In Walt's case, he lost sight of the concept of enough. At what point does someone stop sacrificing family life, and in Walter's case, the lives of others, for those dollars? Because after you reach the "enough point", the critical mass, then I suppose it does become a pile of cotton and linen.

Well said.  It's easy to confuse "abstraction" with meaninglessness, which is IMO the mistake people often make when whistling past the graveyard on the issue of the national debt.  (But that's not for this thread.) 

Which video game programmer was this, by the way?

[dualstow]

Which video game programmer was this, by the way?

Full disclosure: I have not played many videogames since Dragon's Lair in arcades and King's Quest at home (on floppy disk), but I can find out with a little googling... Will report back.

[dualstow]

Found it right away, but was unable to load this page.

Jonathan Blow. He's mentioned as a "developer". I don't remember if he does the coding or not.
Here's the article: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc ... er/308928/
Search for the word 'windfall' to get to the relevant part, and note in the next paragraph that he now drives a Tesla. ;-)

[Lone Wolf]

Jonathan Blow. He's mentioned as a "developer". I don't remember if he does the coding or not.

Ah, I should have known it would be him.    Jonathan Blow is an artiste known for taking himself very, very seriously indeed.  Talented guy, though.  I enjoyed "Blow".

Full disclosure: I have not played many videogames since Dragon's Lair in arcades and King's Quest at home (on floppy disk), but I can find out with a little googling... Will report back.

Oh man, this nostalgia-bait is too good to pass up!  I finished the first three KQ games as a little kid.  I still remember getting out of my chair and jumping up and down after I rescued the princess from the quartz tower in KQ2.  I felt like the baddest 9-year-old on the planet.  Talk about your "abstract" accomplishments! 

Dragon's Lair I couldn't really tackle until much later on PC.  Timing those button pushes just so was too frustrating and expensive at 50 cents a pop.  Props to them for giving laser disc-based gaming a go though.    The Don Bluth art in that one was very nice.

[rhymenocerous]

A few thoughts on the mini-season finale:

People have mentioned Todd keeping the tarantula and some kind of sick trophy, but I saw it as more sympathetic, like a kind of penance.  It was more like "I'm sorry I had to kill you, but I will take care of your orphaned pet now that you are gone to make up for it."

The prison scene where they intercut between Walt and the deaths of all those prisoners is reminiscent of the final scene in the Godfather, when the heads of the four other families are being murdered, and the scene in Goodfellas, where all those people die to Layla.

We never find out the results of Walt's scan, but I suspect that the cancer might return in the final part of the season (although we know he is still alive one year later for his 53rd birthday).

The ricin still hasn't been used yet.  It's somewhat of a Chekhov's gun, meaning that since the idea of poisoning someone with it has been floating around since the first season, someone actually needs to die from it.  The most depressing prediction I've heard is that Walt's daughter somehow gets a hold of it and swallows it.

I love the way the final scene ended with the flashback to Walt holding up his hands and saying "You got me."  The more I think about it though, Hank has very little in the way of actual evidence to arrest and convict Walt.  If he wants to arrest him, then he can't say anything to anyone and has to investigate him on his own, which could be a source of great tension now that Walt is "out" of the business.  Maybe Hank will confront Walt, but be tempted by the prospect of sharing Walt's millions.  We never jumped ahead in time to that first scene of the season again (that's probably where the opening of the 9th episode will begin), but it seems to me like Walt might be on the run from the DEA and is preparing for an armed assault.

[dualstow]

Interesting thoughts.

Yeah, something has to happen with the ricin, and I can't imagine it'll be pleasant.

I love the way the final scene ended with the flashback to Walt holding up his hands and saying "You got me."  The more I think about it though, Hank has very little in the way of actual evidence to arrest and convict Walt.  If he wants to arrest him, then he can't say anything to anyone and has to investigate him on his own, which could be a source of great tension now that Walt is "out" of the business.  Maybe Hank will confront Walt, but be tempted by the prospect of sharing Walt's millions.  We never jumped ahead in time to that first scene of the season again (that's probably where the opening of the 9th episode will begin), but it seems to me like Walt might be on the run from the DEA and is preparing for an armed assault.

I don't think Hank would ever be tempted by the money. He certainly wasn't before Walter came along. Plus, he must overcome an overwhelming force of disbelief that his brother-in-law would do these things that caused him great physical harm and pain, nearly killing him on more than one occasion.
He may not have much in the way of evidence beyond the book and the trail looks pretty cold, but the advantage is certainly Hank's now if he wants to gather new clues. If I were Hank, I think I'd have to turn it over to Gomie while I take a little R&R, but not before convincing myself that my bro-in-law is guilty.

This is why the most recent episode is so good. It kept things moving forward in a way that 'Lost' consistently failed to do, but it left us tantalized with all the possibilities now that the cat's out of the bag.

----

Oh man, this nostalgia-bait is too good to pass up!  I finished the first three KQ games as a little kid.  I still remember getting out of my chair and jumping up and down after I rescued the princess from the quartz tower in KQ2.  I felt like the baddest 9-year-old on the planet.  Talk about your "abstract" accomplishments! 

Dragon's Lair I couldn't really tackle until much later on PC.  Timing those button pushes just so was too frustrating and expensive at 50 cents a pop.  Props to them for giving laser disc-based gaming a go though.    The Don Bluth art in that one was very nice.

Dragon's Lair was one of the most wonderful things a young kid could discover in the pre-Internet Age. Most of what I learned was from watching other people play, and God knows how they figured it out.

[Tortoise]

The ricin still hasn't been used yet.  It's somewhat of a Chekhov's gun, meaning that since the idea of poisoning someone with it has been floating around since the first season, someone actually needs to die from it.  The most depressing prediction I've heard is that Walt's daughter somehow gets a hold of it and swallows it.

That's certainly a possibility, seeing as how Walt's toddler daughter is now walking and could potentially get into some trouble. However, she'd have to be able to use a screwdriver to remove the electrical outlet cover, remove the ricin that's taped to the back of it, open the capsule, and get some of the ricin in her mouth. That seems like a very big stretch.

I love the way the final scene ended with the flashback to Walt holding up his hands and saying "You got me."  The more I think about it though, Hank has very little in the way of actual evidence to arrest and convict Walt.

But the authorities have the lab notebook that was found in Gale's apartment when he was murdered. That's where Hank read Gale's original "W.W." note, right? Otherwise he wouldn't have made the mental connection with Gale's note in the book in Walt's bathroom. I'm not a lawyer, but it seems to me like the related content of those two notes, combined with a handwriting analysis to show that both notes were likely written by the same person, would be pretty damning evidence that Walt is connected in some way with Gale. Granted, it doesn't necessarily prove anything, but maybe it would be enough to get some search warrants served?