Shall we anticpate the AMC series "Breaking Bad"? I think I may.

re Rubicon: nothing that ridiculous should take itself so seriously.

gale singing along to the song is one of my favourite scenes from this series; that was brilliant

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROf8KnDW4j8&feature=player_embedded

oo, i forgot that walking dead was coming to TV!
Thanks for the song link; I was just hunting for ;it!

That was simply incredible. In terms of pure storytelling chops, I'm hard pressed to think of a better TV show, like ever.

I think S2 will remain my favourite for its ruthless precision, but this one topped it in terms of character depth and assurance.

i forgot that walking dead was coming to TV!

Only just found out! I found what I read of the comic quite underwhelming, gotta say, but will certainly give the show a shot.

The comic is great in long runs and should translate amazingly to tv; it reads like a storyboard. My only regret is that there are numerous major plot twists I already know about.

xp Felt similarly about the comic, tried the first three or four volumes and was pretty underwhelmed. OTOH, though, there's a good chance they can adjust it well to the TV format, if they condense arcs further than the book did.

Good AV Club review:

http://www.avclub.com/articles/full-measure,42061/

I really liked that review, especially the intro enthusing about what a great TV age we're in right now - i think they posted a Community review recently espousing the same topic

yea i dig that review. the take on mike is otm for me. i kinda groaned when gale showed up again, but they managed to flesh out his character so much more in just a couple scenes, and then... man, jesse really should've run and never come back.

we're sure Jesse shot him in the face? with the way the camera pans to the right it's hard to tell if Jesse is moving his arm at all to maybe just wound him or miss him completely and get the neighbours to call the cops.

xpost - but if Jesse did run (which really would have been the smart thing to do from his standpoint) he wouldn't have been able to save Walt!

Seen two interviews with Gilligan today in which he categorically states that Jesse killed Gale and any ambiguity is unintentional.

xp - that's true and of course as tv watcher i am happy jesse stuck around. guess he might have to run now anyway. i was kinda getting into the idea of seeing his misadventures on the road. maybe loses everything, has to come back to walt, etc...

yeah I thought it was a bit ambiguous but then just discounted that theory as reading too much into it; glad gilligan has come out and categorically said jesse killed gale

thought it was kinda funny how at the desert meeting when gus expressed his displeasure at walt, his voice changed from typical even-tempered cool-headed gus into super fiery latino voz de la pasión!!!

i hope hank enjoyed his hj vacation cause i'm expecting him to return to the forefront of the story very early on next season. he's been out of commission for what seems like way too long now for a character that's every bit as central to the overarching story of walter white than, say, gus and the cartel. especially now that skyler (and therefore 100% more of his extended family) is in on it.

unlikely to happen but i also want to see walter jr. meet his new cooler older brother jesse, in fact i want to see the whole family cooking together and plotting against the cartel next season, except of course for what's her face, the baby. babies shouldn't plot or cook meth imo

^ lol

xps - Just re-watched the end & although it isn't immediately obvious by any means, it isn't that Jesse moves his arm, but that the camera angle tilts around so that u are looking directly down the barrel of the gun when the screen goes black & "bang!"

also - what do you guys think he was trying to illustrate with that opening scene?

i took it mainly as showing this ambitious side of walt's personality was there before his meth and boring teacher days. i felt bad for walt jr when he was talking about wanting 3 kids... fingers crossed "giant space lazers" was more of that classic BB foreshadowing

i took it as meaning that albuquerque real estate agents are the most considerate, most low-pressure real estate agents in all the land

oh man what a programme...have to say I like Mike more each episode. just to clarify, the scene with Mike getting those passports etc, what are we meant to conclude from that? who were those guys?

I actually roared "YEEEAH" at my TV when Walt pulled that stunt at the laundry.

also lol @ white family cartel and baby plottings, but seriously isn't it kind of amazing that the show's gone three seasons without jesse and sklyer having a scene together?? or am i forgetting something? no ongoing interaction anyway. i think part of what i missed at times in s3 was the tension from walt hiding his secret from skyler, but there's still plenty only walt knows.

what are we meant to conclude from that? - I believe this was mainly to showcase the dead cold professionalism & efficiency with which Mike conducts his duties (two dudes w/ one bullet!) & also to demonstrate that Gus & co. are, for the time being at least, successfully keeping the cartels at bay.

they had one or two scenes in s1 i think...

x-post yeah i figured it was something like that.

also long hair skyler > current cut

mike has an enormous gun

mostly silencer.

I think Skyler shows up at Jesse's house in season 1 under the suspicion that Jesse is selling weed to Walt.

You are correct. I believe that is their sole interaction.

I admit when we got little peeks into the secret non-work-a-day lives of Mike and Gale, I thought for sure they'd both be goners, as is the custom for these kinds of dramas. Especially Mike, since he kissed his granddaughter goodbye (she called him Pop Pop lol) before walking into Metal Gear Solid. Almost expecting him to hide in a cardboard box. Balloon thing was hilarious; by coincidence, Burn Notice had a similar bit this week, except with a stolen bike chain thrown onto power lines instead of foil balloons.

A flashback I'd love to see is Walt teaching Jesse is high school.

'in high school'

"teaching"

Echoing upthread about the lack of quality TV for a while now that this show and Justified have wrapped up their seasons. I thought the finale was going to be and hour and 47 minutes and then realized when Jesse shot (?) Gale that the last 47 minutes were going to be the sneak preview for Rubicon.

Oh, and I had to laugh when Gale used the temperature gun to check the temperature on the whistling kettle. Hmmm...lemme guess...I think the temp might be about 212 degrees! I asked out loud why he would do that and my wife said "It's because he's a nerd!" True that.

A flashback I'd love to see is Walt teaching Jesse is high school.

― rhythm fixated member (chap), Monday, June 14, 2010 6:46 PM

lol yes

Presumably Jesse spent much of his time cutting that class and smoking weed

^
yes, but I could see Walt having been the sort to motivate/embarrass slackers by forcing them to complete work on the blackboard, in front of the class.

Something's been bugging me: where did Gus get his product from before Walt showed up? Was Gale the head cook, making inferior stuff? You'd think a guy as organised as him would have a handful of good chemists knocking around.

By the way, redone HOLY SHIT poll:

Breaking Bad HOLY SHIT moment poll take 2 (again, SPOILERS)

I think he just dealt with ppl like Tuco/Crazy 8. He was cozy with the cartel until the whole Walt thing, so I assume they had the same network.

So he essentially built the uber-expensive secret meth lab on spec? Doesn't quite add up. Oh well, didn't bother me when I was actually watching it.

He did already have his Los Pollos Hermanos empire.

I appreciated that interview with Vince G. After Lost and even Battlestar Galactica, it's refreshing for a showrunner to straight up say he's making it up as he goes along. It gives me confidence that this is going to wrap up nicely. (I swear, the soft-focus, pseudo-spiritual bullshit end of Lost created some serious TV trust issues for me, even though I had no faith it was going to be any good.)

Oh also, when Walt started begging for his life and then offered Jesse's whereabouts to Mike, I had to hide my eyes again because that was just terrible after they basically pledged their undying love to each other in the Lazer Tag arcade. I was so happy to find out Walt had a plan! Then I felt terrible because poor Jesse!

Yeah, when it appeared that Walt was selling out Jesse it was the first time I thought "My god, you are a CUNT," believe it or not.

So did I! Really it was a very convincing bit of acting on Cranston's part - totally effective, since you as the audience, as well as Mike and Victor, could buy this craven begging and betrayal coming from Walt, so when he turns the tables on them it's even more shocking and satisifying.

xps - yea i figured gus used to get his meth from the cartel, and recruiting walt was part of the reason he's been able to strike out on his own. maybe someone like gale would be able to set up the lab, even if he didn't quite have the skills to perfect the cook procedure. probly aren't too many trained chemists around in the drug world (though who knows how sophisticated you'd really have to be to make good meth).

<3 renegade scientists

"they basically pledged their undying love to each other in the Lazer Tag arcade"
^tempting screenname

jesus fucking christ