Any "Breaking Bad" Fans Here?

[Reub]

Reub, I thought of you when I saw Jesse Pinkman stop by SNL to make fun of Obamacare. Good stuff.

I knew that I liked Jesse!
I hope he can get a sequel out of this.

[Lone Wolf]

I love that Todd's uncle wasn't able to get very far into his "why you shouldn't kill me" speech before Walt finished him off.

Me too.  I also enjoyed how in spite of being gutshot by an M60, Uncle Jack took the time to stuff a cigarette in his mouth before commencing with his "If you pull that trigger..." speech. 

If anyone was wondering about Jesse's daydream about the wooden box, apparently he mentioned it in an early episode. He made the box for his mother but then sold it for an ounce of weed. I certainly forgot about that, but read it in the Wall Street Journal of all places.

Also, it has been pointed out that Walt didn't just get to Lydia out of revenge or competition, but to take the (Todd) heat off Skyler. That didn't immediately click, but when I read it I thought, oh of course!

Ah, I remember the box now, too!  Thanks, dualstow!  I hadn't considered the origin story of the "happy place" Jesse turned to.  That's perfect.

Yep, I agree about Lydia.  I think that he recognized her over-eagerness to "tie up loose ends" in the bloodiest way possible.  And fortunately for us, Walter White has been reading the Permanent Portfolio forums and came across dualstow's idea for adding a little extra ricin flavoring to Lydia's "stevia crap".

Just loved the finale! Especially enjoyed Walter telling Skylr that what he did he did for himself. That he liked it and was good at it. That was classic. It was nice seeing Walt pick up Todd's phone call from Lydia and seeing her with that humidifier as he told her that she would never use Stevia again. And what about what he did to the Schwartz's? I didn't see that coming. Just great stuff!

Agreed on all points!  I'd thought there was a chance he would do something awful to Elliot and Gretchen but this was a great way to use them for his own ends.  I was very impressed when the "two best hitmen west of the Mississippi" joined him in his car afterward complaining of how that "felt kinda shady, morality-wise". 

What an excellent series, top to bottom.  Thanks, guys, for all the great discussion on this thread over the last couple of years!

[MediumTex]

Lone Wolf,

You saw that the "hit men" were Badger and Skinny Pete, right?

The whole hit men thing was a total bluff that Walt played to perfection.

[Lone Wolf]

Lone Wolf,

You saw that the "hit men" were Badger and Skinny Pete, right?

The whole hit men thing was a total bluff that Walt played to perfection.

Oh absolutely!  What a treat having those guys make it back for the finale.  I had hoped Saul might somehow make an appearance but never expected Badger and Skinny Pete.

And yes, it really was brilliant.  Using nothing but a couple of meth-head Trekkies with laser pointers to frighten Elliot and Gretchen into "laundering" his money so that it gets to Junior... impressive stuff, rivaling the MacGyver-esque, trunk-based, 7.62mm sprinkler he "presented" to the Aryans. 

[dualstow]

Thanks, Wolf. I have to give all credit to iwealth for guessing in the first place that the ricin was for Lydia. I think he might actually be Vince Gilligan toying with us. ;-)

In comments at the WSJ, someone said that real hit men would just shoot all 3 people and take the cash. I didn't reply -- this subforum is enough Breaking Bad for me -- but my answer to that would be that s/he he is thinking like a hit man. However, s/he is not thinking like the Schwartzes. I think it's plausible that they'd be scared into just making the trust happen, even after they hear about Walt's death in the news. Also, they know they're guilty of both ripping Walt off and denying him all credit on Charlie Rose.

I also read something about the wristwatch Walt left on the pay phone in the final episode. Why did he do that?
Answer: apparently it's a continuity error. Whatever the real purpose was supposed to be, people like it because Jesse gave Walt that watch as a gift, and also because for Walt, time didn't have much meaning once he ran his final "errands." (Except of course, getting to that coffee shop well before 10AM).

[Lone Wolf]

In comments at the WSJ, someone said that real hit men would just shoot all 3 people and take the cash. I didn't reply -- this subforum is enough Breaking Bad for me -- but my answer to that would be that s/he he is thinking like a hit man. However, s/he is not thinking like the Schwartzes.

I'm 100% with you on this one.  He's not trying to fool Mike Ehrmantraut here.  The act just had to work on a pair of frightened, naive wimps with little understanding of criminal activity and a whole lot to lose.

I also read something about the wristwatch Walt left on the pay phone in the final episode. Why did he do that?
Answer: apparently it's a continuity error. Whatever the real purpose was supposed to be, people like it because Jesse gave Walt that watch as a gift, and also because for Walt, time didn't have much meaning once he ran his final "errands." (Except of course, getting to that coffee shop well before 10AM).

What was the continuity error?  I'm not usually observant enough to catch these.  Did it show up in some scene it shouldn't have?

[MediumTex]

Not to mention that Badger and Skinny Pete knew what Walt was capable of.

I'm sure they just wanted to do what he said, get paid and move on.

[dualstow]

What was the continuity error? 

It wasn't specified on the page I was reading. But, I was glad to know that the watch was from Jesse. It's unimportant, and still I guess people can draw their own meaning out of it.

[Reub]

They mentioned it on the follow-up show, Talking Bad. I didn't understand it fully. Gilligan explained something about them shooting a scene that looked ahead where Walter wasn't wearing a watch. So to make that scene legit (continuity) they had to have Walter remove the watch.

[MediumTex]

I liked it when Todd said to Walt: "You really shouldn't have come back Mr. White."

He was, of course, right, but for the wrong reasons.

It was true that he came there to die, but only after the rest of them were dead, including Todd.

Lydia was a real piece of garbage.  She dressed and acted sophisticated, but I think that the reason Todd was attracted to her was that she was almost as cold blooded as him.  There is probably some kind of weird parallel between Brock being left without a mother and Lydia's daughter being left without a mother as well as a result of coming into Walt's orbit.

[Lone Wolf]

Interesting, thanks for the info on the watch continuity thing, guys.

Lydia was a real piece of garbage.  She dressed and acted sophisticated, but I think that the reason Todd was attracted to her was that she was almost as cold blooded as him.  There is probably some kind of weird parallel between Brock being left without a mother and Lydia's daughter being left without a mother as well as a result of coming into Walt's orbit.

Heh, I think you're right.  Thus far, aryanpsychomatch.com had failed to find him a girl that was as cold and dead inside as him.  Lydia was quite the catch!

Another funny thing about Lydia was how incredibly squeamish she was.  After arranging for Declan and his entire crew to be killed, she had to cover her eyes to make sure she didn't see anything icky.

Moreso than her being killed, I think that I enjoyed all the little ways that Walt made her miserable during the finale, such as the restaurant coughing fit that made her recoil in horror.  And of course mocking her stevia just as she's realizing that her death is imminent.  (I like my stevia, but not as much as I like seeing Lydia experience unhappiness.)

By the way, I've had "Baby Blue" stuck in my head off and on throughout the morning. 

[dualstow]

By the way, I've had "Baby Blue" stuck in my head off and on throughout the morning. 

Same here! I suspect this is a widespread, perhaps nationwide affliction.

[l82start]

WOW!!!
i have been avoiding this thread so i could watch the final season/episodes in one go, w/o spoilers
took me awhile to read all the posts, lots of accurate predictions,

personally i thought they did a good job of going out on a high note and maintained the quality well

[Reub]

An obituary for Walter White was placed in today's Albuquerque Journal:

"White, Walter, aka "Heisenberg," 52, of Albuquerque, died Sunday after a long battle with lung cancer, and a gunshot wound. A co-founder of Gray Matter, White was a research chemist who taught high school chemistry, and later founded a meth manufacturing empire."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/0 ... 44193.html

RIP

[dualstow]

Love it!

[AdamA]

Here's a very cool alternate interpretation of the final episode.

http://www.grantland.com/blog/hollywood ... eam-theory

[MediumTex]

Here's a very cool alternate interpretation of the final episode.

http://www.grantland.com/blog/hollywood ... eam-theory

I've been thinking about this all morning.

Here's why it can't be a dream:

Todd's ringer.  Think about it.  How could Walt possibly know about the depth and complexity of Todd's feelings for Lydia?  If Walt didn't know about it, how could it be part of a dream he was experiencing?

[dualstow]

Here's why it can't be a dream:

Todd's ringer.

I like both the Thomas Dolby tune and the ringtone in the final episode: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4zRe_wvJw8

[AdamA]

I've been thinking about this all morning.

Here's why it can't be a dream:

Todd's ringer.  Think about it.  How could Walt possibly know about the depth and complexity of Todd's feelings for Lydia?  If Walt didn't know about it, how could it be part of a dream he was experiencing?

But Walt worked with both of them for quite a while (Crystal Blue Persuasion montage).  He could have picked up on it then.

For the record, I prefer to take the episode at face value, b/c I really liked how things wrapped up. 

For some reason, though, the idea that just maybe things didn't go so perfectly, and Walt actually died in the Volvo in NH appeals to me. 

I'd like to think there's a 95% chance that everything was real, and a 5% chance that it Walt's dying dream. 

Either way, I loved the final 2 episodes of the show. 

[AdamA]

La saga continuar?

http://mashable.com/2013/10/05/colombia ... d-trailer/

[iwealth]

Off the dream topic, but imagine if we never saw the flash-forwards to begin seasons 5A and 5B. What a difference that would have made. Positive or negative, hard to say.

[Lone Wolf]

Here's why it can't be a dream:

Todd's ringer.  Think about it.  How could Walt possibly know about the depth and complexity of Todd's feelings for Lydia?  If Walt didn't know about it, how could it be part of a dream he was experiencing?

I agree.  Also, how would Walt have known that Jesse was the Aryans' meth-cooking slave?  I thought he didn't know that his blue was even on the streets until he talked with Badger and Skinny Pete.

How would he have known about Jesse's rage at Todd for killing Andrea?

And did he know about the wooden box that Jesse made as a kid?  (The one he was daydreaming about.)

I think there are too many holes in the dream theory.  It's not really needed to explain Walt's plans coming together so well.  Remember that "he's luckier than you". 

[MediumTex]

What I want to know is how you drive a stolen car from New Hampshire to Albuquerque.

The police surely knew that it was him who stole the car.  How many car thefts are going to occur in New Hampshire in the winter when a drug lord is on the run?  Armed with this knowledge, every cop in the country would be looking for that car.  His story was on Charlie Rose!!!

But Walt worked with both of them for quite a while (Crystal Blue Persuasion montage).  He could have picked up on it then.

I don't know, the ring tone conveys such a childlike infatuation.  After Walt saw what Todd was capable of and how utterly un-lovable Lydia was, it's hard to imagine that a dream of his would have such an odd detail in it, but it's possible.

If anything, I would think that a dream with Todd in it would have Todd's ringtone be Helter Skelter, or maybe I Used to Love Her by Guns n Roses.

[dualstow]

Dallas has ruined everything for all time, but I suppose dream theories have been inevitable ever since the Chinese philosopher and the butterfly.

My theory is that most superfans have been exposed to The Matrix as well as films in which the camera is an unreliable narrator. The show is done, so there's nothing left to do but mash, rehash, reinterpret. It's fun, but sometimes a cigar is just a cigar and car keys behind a visor are just that. Yes, Walt's luck was improbable but ... it's a tv show. He would have been killed early on, probably by Tuco before he ever had a chance to whip out that fulminated mercury.

Posted by: MediumTex
« on: Today at 09:03:12 AM »
What I want to know is how you drive a stolen car from New Hampshire to Albuquerque.

My guess is that the car was semi-abandoned and not reported as stolen. That actually happened to my ex's car one winter when I kept asking her if she wanted to check on it and she just wanted to leave it in the snow, not far from home, until it was thawed in the spring. It wasn't triven to ABQ, but someone took it for a joyride and then it was eventually towed and crushed according to the report we got. I think my favorite Hendrix CD was in there.

[dualstow]

Anthony Hopkins Writes Fanboy Letter to Bryan Cranston About ‘Breaking Bad’
abcnews.go.com \ http://is.gd/whBEWH