Any "Breaking Bad" Fans Here?

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Re: Any "Breaking Bad" Fans Here?

Post by AdamA » Fri Sep 20, 2013 6:34 pm

Lone Wolf wrote: What an episode!
The amazon.com description of this episode says simply, "Everyone copes with radically changed circumstances."

Great line from Hank:  You're the smartest guy I know, and yet you're too stupid to see that he made up his mind 10 minutes ago.
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Re: Any "Breaking Bad" Fans Here?

Post by Reub » Fri Sep 20, 2013 6:59 pm

Yes, Hank kept his dignity right up to the end. Walter lost his a long, long time ago. I can't see how this saga can end in any other way except with his comeuppance.
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Re: Any "Breaking Bad" Fans Here?

Post by rhymenocerous » Fri Sep 20, 2013 9:17 pm

AdamA wrote:
Lone Wolf wrote: What an episode!
The amazon.com description of this episode says simply, "Everyone copes with radically changed circumstances."

Great line from Hank:  You're the smartest guy I know, and yet you're too stupid to see that he made up his mind 10 minutes ago.
It's even made sadder by the fact that that's one of the first things we hear Hank say about Walt, so it kind of comes full circle.  In the first episode he said something like, "Walt, you have a brain the size of Wisconsin, but we won't hold that against you."
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Re: Any "Breaking Bad" Fans Here?

Post by MediumTex » Sat Sep 21, 2013 11:01 pm

rhymenocerous wrote:
AdamA wrote:
Lone Wolf wrote: What an episode!
The amazon.com description of this episode says simply, "Everyone copes with radically changed circumstances."

Great line from Hank:  You're the smartest guy I know, and yet you're too stupid to see that he made up his mind 10 minutes ago.
It's even made sadder by the fact that that's one of the first things we hear Hank say about Walt, so it kind of comes full circle.  In the first episode he said something like, "Walt, you have a brain the size of Wisconsin, but we won't hold that against you."
I don't think that Hank every really took Walt seriously, even after he found out who he was.

That was a mistake.

Saul Goodman is the only one in the whole series who really seems to be immune to Walt's "forcefield of Bad."  Maybe lawyers are not affected by that sort of thing.  Saul did, however, have a close call a few seasons back when Walt an Jesse made him dig his own grave and kneel in it as they prepared to murder him.  After they got over that hump, though, the relationship has been pretty solid with Walt, but I think that it sort of fizzled with Jesse with the "Old Yeller situation" comment.
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Re: Any "Breaking Bad" Fans Here?

Post by dualstow » Sun Sep 22, 2013 7:30 am

The writers are doing an amazing job, and this show has really transformed from a darkly funny MacGyver to a classic Greek tragedy.
Ever since Walt broke bad, people have been dropping like flies. But the audience didn't mind at first because most of the victims were bad, too, and not all that likeable. Like Tuco. Then Gale and Mike got hit, and that hurt, but Walt was like a stone.

Hank's death seems to be the first one that really got to Walt, because "he's family", even though Walt referred to Jesse as family in the same breath as Jesse's death sentence. More pain ahead.
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Re: Any "Breaking Bad" Fans Here?

Post by Reub » Mon Sep 23, 2013 8:36 am

So did anyone else feel that the next to last episode fell a little flat?
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Re: Any "Breaking Bad" Fans Here?

Post by Khisanth » Mon Sep 23, 2013 8:40 am

It paced pretty slowly I'll give you that. But I think that's a set up for an explosive finale.

Kind of like witness protection I assume you go off to become a much more mundane person as a cover.
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Re: Any "Breaking Bad" Fans Here?

Post by MediumTex » Mon Sep 23, 2013 9:23 am

Reub wrote: So did anyone else feel that the next to last episode fell a little flat?
It's hard to end something like this.

Whatever they do is probably going to in some ways feel like a bit of a letdown, just because there is nothing to follow it with.

In past seasons, as one set of bad guys got killed, we would meet a new set, but since the show is ending we aren't being introduced to any. 

It was kind of cool seeing the guy from Jackie Brown in a similar role last night as a shady guy who wants to do good, but who can't escape his shadiness ("Would you believe me if I said I would?" when Walt asked him to get the money to Walt's family).
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Re: Any "Breaking Bad" Fans Here?

Post by iwealth » Mon Sep 23, 2013 9:47 am

Loved the episode. The final scene was particularly perfect. Great set up for Walt's return to Albuquerque and a very fast paced explosive finale.
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Re: Any "Breaking Bad" Fans Here?

Post by MediumTex » Mon Sep 23, 2013 10:00 am

I guess we've seen the last of Saul (in this show anyway).
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Re: Any "Breaking Bad" Fans Here?

Post by rhymenocerous » Mon Sep 23, 2013 10:20 am

I agree that this episode seemed mostly like exposition, setting up the finale.  I love how they brought back Eliot and Gretchen at the end.  Walt has a deeply damaged sense of self-worth, the roots of which seem to originate with what happened between the three of them.  He had the prospect for greatness in his youth, but it always seemed to remain just out of reach his whole life.  I like that that's what spurred him back to action, although I still have no idea how things will play out. 

If I had to guess, I think he is going to borrow a page from Gus' playbook and poison all the neo-Nazis with the ricin, possibly himself as well.  That would be an eerie finale since you know he is going to die from the poison, just not right away, so he can still talk to his family and say goodbye.  The writer's keep saying that all loose ends will be tied up, that they think the fans will be pleased, and that they think the ending does justice to all that has come before.  We'll have to wait and see!
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Re: Any "Breaking Bad" Fans Here?

Post by iwealth » Mon Sep 23, 2013 10:43 am

rhymenocerous wrote: I agree that this episode seemed mostly like exposition, setting up the finale.  I love how they brought back Eliot and Gretchen at the end.  Walt has a deeply damaged sense of self-worth, the roots of which seem to originate with what happened between the three of them.  He had the prospect for greatness in his youth, but it always seemed to remain just out of reach his whole life.  I like that that's what spurred him back to action, although I still have no idea how things will play out. 

If I had to guess, I think he is going to borrow a page from Gus' playbook and poison all the neo-Nazis with the ricin, possibly himself as well.  That would be an eerie finale since you know he is going to die from the poison, just not right away, so he can still talk to his family and say goodbye.  The writer's keep saying that all loose ends will be tied up, that they think the fans will be pleased, and that they think the ending does justice to all that has come before.  We'll have to wait and see!
Three things seemed to come out of that interview with Gretchen and Elliot:
1) They minimized his contribution to Gray Matter
2) It's discovered that the blue meth is still circulating in the southwest and Europe
3) Gretchen claims that Walter White the man is dead and replaced by Heisenberg

Not sure how this will play out but it's a great setup for Walt to redeem himself by completely wiping out the blue meth trade.
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Re: Any "Breaking Bad" Fans Here?

Post by AdamA » Mon Sep 23, 2013 11:42 am

Reub wrote: So did anyone else feel that the next to last episode fell a little flat?
Not at all!

I loved the addition of Robert Forster as the "vacuum repair" guy ("wanna cut the cards?").

Walt hanging his Heisenberg hat on the deer antlers and wasting away in the cabin was great too.  It makes the Charlie Rose scene at the end perfect.  Walt is proud of himself.  He prefers being the kingpin of a giant meth empire to  some rube who sold his stake in a multibillion dollar company prematurely, struggles to make ends meet, and dies prematurely of lung cancer. 

I love that it took that interview to pull Walt out of his funk.

Todd was even creepier than usual.  The scene where he murders Jesse's old girlfriend was tough to watch.

I think a great final episode would be if Walt takes that giant machine gun, has it out with Todd's uncle and his goons and then goes and turns himself in.  I think it will be cool if Jesse is somehow forced to help Walt out one more time.  At this point, he probably hates Todd and his uncle more than he does Walt.
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Re: Any "Breaking Bad" Fans Here?

Post by MediumTex » Mon Sep 23, 2013 12:45 pm

I am thinking that Jesse walks away from this alive, but then again he knows how to make the blue meth, so maybe not.

Maybe Jesse is the one who kills Walt, "Of Mice and Men"-style.

I want to believe that Walt's family will get some money one way or another.  It would be very sad if they didn't.

Walt's conversation with Walt Jr. on the phone was painful to watch and listen to.

I wish that we had more episodes to get to know Todd, who has turned into a truly creepy psychopath.  In earlier seasons and episodes, it seemed like Todd might just be innocently going along with his uncle's criminal activities, but it now looks to me like Todd may be the most dangerous and psychotic person on the whole show.  He has this polite way about him that is very unsettling when he says "I want you to know that it's nothing personal" before shooting Jesse's girlfriend in the back of the head and leaving her son inside, no doubt to be the one who will find her later.

And Lydia.  She really needs to be dead at the end of this thing as well.  She's a lot like Walt, except she doesn't have a terminal illness, and risking a longer life expectancy seems to make her a lot edgier and nervous.  She also just isn't very likeable, unlike Walt, who you sort of want to do good (even though you know he won't/can't).
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Re: Any "Breaking Bad" Fans Here?

Post by rhymenocerous » Mon Sep 23, 2013 2:05 pm

MediumTex wrote: I wish that we had more episodes to get to know Todd, who has turned into a truly creepy psychopath.  In earlier seasons and episodes, it seemed like Todd might just be innocently going along with his uncle's criminal activities, but it now looks to me like Todd may be the most dangerous and psychotic person on the whole show.  He has this polite way about him that is very unsettling when he says "I want you to know that it's nothing personal" before shooting Jesse's girlfriend in the back of the head and leaving her son inside, no doubt to be the one who will find her later.
I might give away how much of a crazy BB fan I am here, but one thing I love about the show is that they give you so much background info and extras.  On the blu-rays, every episode has a full length commentary.  In addition to that, every episode has an hour long podcast here (that's released the day after the episode airs): http://www.amctv.com/shows/breaking-bad ... on-5.  Vince Gilligan, the creator, was talking about that quality in Todd in the last episode and called him "Opie Hitler."  He said that a bad actor would twirl his mustache and try to look scary, but the actor who plays Todd smiles instead, which is so much more creepy and unsettling.
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Re: Any "Breaking Bad" Fans Here?

Post by AdamA » Mon Sep 23, 2013 2:23 pm

MediumTex wrote: I am thinking that Jesse walks away from this alive, but then again he knows how to make the blue meth, so maybe not.

Maybe Jesse is the one who kills Walt, "Of Mice and Men"-style.
I'm wondering what Walt has in store for the ricin.  I wonder if some of it will wind up in Lydia's camomile tea.
Walt's conversation with Walt Jr. on the phone was painful to watch and listen to.
It was, but I love that the next scene was the Charlie Rose interview that pissed him off.  Putting those two scenes back-to-back
was a great idea.
MediumTex wrote: I wish that we had more episodes to get to know Todd, who has turned into a truly creepy psychopath. 
Todd is an "Opie dead-eyed piece of shit." 

I laughed out loud when Todd's uncle says to Todd, regarding Lydia, "The heart wants what the heart wants."
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Re: Any "Breaking Bad" Fans Here?

Post by iwealth » Mon Sep 23, 2013 2:36 pm

Todd is the best portrayal of a sociopath I've seen on television. Even his infatuation with Lydia is how I'd envision a sociopath "loving" another human.
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Re: Any "Breaking Bad" Fans Here?

Post by MediumTex » Mon Sep 23, 2013 3:02 pm

iwealth wrote: Todd is the best portrayal of a sociopath I've seen on television. Even his infatuation with Lydia is how I'd envision a sociopath "loving" another human.
There is an awkwardness to the way Todd kills people that is really disturbing.  It's not like he enjoys it at all.  He just does it because he believes it is something the needs to be done, like taking out the trash or cleaning your room.

The way Todd killed the kid on the dirt bike and the stark contrast between the way it affected Todd, Walt and Jesse was really interesting.  It meant nothing to Todd, it was another unfortunate science project to Walt, but it seemed to just shatter Jesse emotionally.
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Re: Any "Breaking Bad" Fans Here?

Post by MediumTex » Mon Sep 23, 2013 3:19 pm

I think that Walt sitting in that cabin for a few months made him see that survival isn't all it's cracked up to be.

At some point, a survivor finds himself alone with his thoughts, and maybe Walt is figuring that being dead couldn't be a lot worse than sitting around by yourself with nothing to do but ponder the destruction you have created for so many people, many of whom you really care/cared about.

I think that Walt really cared about Hank, even if he also resented him at times.
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Re: Any "Breaking Bad" Fans Here?

Post by dualstow » Mon Sep 23, 2013 4:43 pm

I agree on all points quoted below.
Missus and I giggled about how Todd dressed up for his "date" with Lydia.
- Andrea's death was heartbreaking, and the fact that Todd was giving Jesse his favorite ice cream as a reward before his escape attempt--- it's a roller coaster ride with my nerves. Well done.
- Great to see Forster and without his native Great Lakes accent. Some of the fun is just exploring how disappearance *might* work, whether or not this approximates reality.
- The phone call with Flynn was...necessary.
- And it was so great that Walt's ego, his reaction to the Rose interview, got the Heisenberg engine stoked and running again. Perfect.
- He's got hair, MT!
- The motto of New Hampshire is Live Free or Die!



AdamA wrote:
Reub wrote: So did anyone else feel that the next to last episode fell a little flat?
Not at all!

I loved the addition of Robert Forster as the "vacuum repair" guy ("wanna cut the cards?").

Walt hanging his Heisenberg hat on the deer antlers and wasting away in the cabin was great too.  It makes the Charlie Rose scene at the end perfect.  Walt is proud of himself.  He prefers being the kingpin of a giant meth empire to  some rube who sold his stake in a multibillion dollar company prematurely, struggles to make ends meet, and dies prematurely of lung cancer. 

I love that it took that interview to pull Walt out of his funk.

Todd was even creepier than usual.  The scene where he murders Jesse's old girlfriend was tough to watch.

I think a great final episode would be if Walt takes that giant machine gun, has it out with Todd's uncle and his goons and then goes and turns himself in.  I think it will be cool if Jesse is somehow forced to help Walt out one more time.  At this point, he probably hates Todd and his uncle more than he does Walt.
RIP Marcello Gandini
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Re: Any "Breaking Bad" Fans Here?

Post by edsanville » Mon Sep 23, 2013 9:02 pm

Reub wrote: So did anyone else feel that the next to last episode fell a little flat?
Loved the fact that New Hampshire played prominently in this episode.  We hardly ever get a mention up here.
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Re: Any "Breaking Bad" Fans Here?

Post by rhymenocerous » Mon Sep 23, 2013 9:35 pm

edsanville wrote:
Reub wrote: So did anyone else feel that the next to last episode fell a little flat?
Loved the fact that New Hampshire played prominently in this episode.  We hardly ever get a mention up here.
They shot it high in the mountains in California!
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Re: Any "Breaking Bad" Fans Here?

Post by edsanville » Mon Sep 23, 2013 10:14 pm

rhymenocerous wrote:
edsanville wrote:
Reub wrote: So did anyone else feel that the next to last episode fell a little flat?
Loved the fact that New Hampshire played prominently in this episode.  We hardly ever get a mention up here.
They shot it high in the mountains in California!
I was wondering about that.  They picked a good spot, then.  It certainly looked like authentic New Hampshire.

I love this show.  It creeps me out to watch it though, because I lived in New Mexico, worked at Los Alamos National Lab (like Walt has), I have a couple degrees in Chemistry, and I moved back here to New Hampshire recently after quitting and making huge changes to my life.  I swear, Officer, I didn't cook no meth, though!
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Re: Any "Breaking Bad" Fans Here?

Post by dualstow » Tue Sep 24, 2013 7:44 am

Pleasant news in my inbox this morning:
iTunes wrote:Dear Customer,

We apologize for any confusion the naming of "Season 5" and "The Final Season" of Breaking Bad might have caused you. While the names of the seasons and episodes associated with them were not chosen by iTunes, we'd like to offer you "The Final Season" on us by providing you with the iTunes code below in the amount of $22.99.  This credit can also be used for any other content on the iTunes Store. Thank you for your purchase.

Detailed instructions for redeeming the code can be found at ...

Code ...

Regards,

iTunes Customer Support
I hadn't complained about this, but unbeknownst to me, there must have been an uproar.
RIP Marcello Gandini
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Re: Any "Breaking Bad" Fans Here?

Post by AdamA » Tue Sep 24, 2013 8:23 am

dualstow wrote: Pleasant news in my inbox this morning:
iTunes wrote:Dear Customer,

We apologize for any confusion the naming of "Season 5" and "The Final Season" of Breaking Bad might have caused you. While the names of the seasons and episodes associated with them were not chosen by iTunes, we'd like to offer you "The Final Season" on us by providing you with the iTunes code below in the amount of $22.99.  This credit can also be used for any other content on the iTunes Store. Thank you for your purchase.

Detailed instructions for redeeming the code can be found at ...

Code ...

Regards,

iTunes Customer Support
I hadn't complained about this, but unbeknownst to me, there must have been an uproar.
Amazon did the same thing (with the labeling of the seasons, not the refund).
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