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

Including raiding the clothesline of sn innocent family.

I also want to stand up for old Hank, who I think is the most interesting character on the show.

― deez m'uts (La Lechera), Friday, 29 April 2011 02:44 (2 hours ago)

He's the true protagonist of season 3, for me.

this is all nitpicking btw, this is maybe the best TV drama ever.

(nitpicking on my part)

i like it 90% of the time, less so when there are "clever" conceits like the stupid fly episode
i never liked it when the wire would try to be clever either
i think i basically hate when things are too clever. just let the story be without injecting cleverness into it all the damn time.

the fly episode is not very well loved but I dug it... I did know going in that it was a budget-driven eps so maybe I was more forgiving, but the ending really stuck with me. when walt is staring at the blinking light in his bedroom ceiling you can read the scene a couple of ways - he's either realizing fly = bug = gus is bugging the lab OR fly as symbol of death and that's what's keeping him up at night, driving him nuts and making him break bad. I like the way various possible interpretations were communicated in a subtle way by a simple scene, it raised the profile of the whole episode and made me think again damn this is good stuff.

but maybe that's what you mean by too clever clever and in that case forget I said anything

I also want to stand up for old Hank, who I think is the most interesting character on the show.

― deez m'uts (La Lechera), Friday, 29 April 2011 02:44 (2 hours ago)

He's the true protagonist of season 3, for me.

― Matt Armstrong, Friday, April 29, 2011 1:33 AM (9 hours ago)

i'm glad to hear he gets more interesting in s3 because at this point i feel like the guy is so close to being a Mad TV character (the horrible 'cop talk' sketches on the s2 dvd may have heavily influenced this observation, admittedly).

yes, that is what i mean by clever

and Hank totally gets more interesting -- his relationships with his job/coworkers, Marie, Walter, and with himself are really complex.

hank & his partner is a great relaish

I loved The Fly. It struck such a great balance between funny and ominous. I appreciated them turning a budget episode like that into such a pivotal one. I read the fly itself as kind of a metaphor for Walt's conscience, aka everything preventing him from enjoying any of the fruits of his labor. When he goes on the rant about where it all went wrong was the key for me.

Hank is amazing in S3, I mean he's always great and gets better and better and more sympathetic ALL the time, but I knid of needed to get a blanket to chew on out of worry for him in every second scene he appeared in by early S3

something to be said for the shift between sympathetic and unsympathetic characters from S1 -> S3

but I knid of needed to get a blanket

vermicious

I could never figure out how Walt's new baby added anything to the show that wasn't there already. They already had issues before the baby - financial, emotional, professional. In fact, you barely see the baby for the vast majority of the show. It seems to live exclusively in its car seat carrier when it's not simply MIA.

They used it for the parallel to Jane telling Jesse to sleep on his side. Earlier in the episode they mention the same thing about the baby.

so I guess we can agree it's not bringing a whole lot to the show

can't even remember its name and/or sex tbh

Holly

The baby was also necessary for the cracking scene where Walt has to miss her birth in order to go make his deal with Gus

the baby has been key to what has driven Walt throughout the whole show. I'm grateful that she hasn't played much of a role outside of being the equivalent of the suitcase in Pulp Fiction.

"also he just kinda likes Walt."

You think? I am only at ep six or something, but i don't get that feeling. he's just a way of doing better business.

fucking love this show btw

re: Saul, sure Walt is a big client for him, but Gus is a client (or employer) too. Taking Walt's side vs. Gus was a really ballsy move that I don't understand from someone as self-centered as Saul.

But we got that scene in the Lazertag arcade out of it, so whatever.

Without Bryan Cranston this show is nada mucho.

* would be

the biggest shock the show could deliver at this point is if he dropped dead halfway through a season and they did a bunch of episodes w/o him just to test that theory, though

I assume at some point either him or Jesse will die. Or both of them. Or a member of his family.

maybe. i feel like since Walt's imminent death is a given they're not gonna kill off any of the other next 2 or 3 biggest characters, though, i don't know if even this show is bleak enough to leave no major character around to even mourn another.

My guess would be that skyler is going to die before walt/Jesse. Then they'll deal with walt trying to justify that.

Gus is only a removed and occasional referrer of business to Saul, right? If he is Walt's sole representation, then that is regular and lucrative business.

...as long as he can convince Walt to do business sensibly and not destroy everything he touches. Which, oops.

yank walt and i likely don't give a shit about the show, it's tru

Saul and Pinkman become flatmates in a half-hour sitcom

Would you have watched The Sopranos without Tony? Kind of an odd argument.

I was just trying to underscore how great Cranston is. Vulnerable yet strong and willful.

I think Jeff is right about Skyler - maybe that's what we'll see at the end of this season.

not destroy everything he touches.

I don't think that is in fact true. When Jesse said that then I thought: "is that some fucked up way to shove the blame of your gf's od on someone else?" Of course if it wasn't for him, he wouldn't have started deeling hard drugs and not have met that girl. I do like how the show really underlines that cause and effect thing.

Of course he ain't gonna die (from cancer). Not soon anyway.

Of course Cranston is great but so are Aaron Paul, Bod Odenkirk, Giancarlo Esposito and the dude who plays Mike, Jonathan Banks.

not really feeling Aaron Paul, a lot of his dialogue readings feel really stilted to me, like he has to think really hard to remember to add "yo" at the end of every sentence

He's my favourite character at this stage. His big hospital bed monologue was a bit cringeworthy though

Yeah, very true. I really like him. The bed scene was cringeworthy and the whole aftermath (him going back) seemed a bit off. It didn't make sense how they got back together to cook. But still, I like his character.

His girlfriend seemed familiar.

She's been in a lot of stuff, I recognized her most from the second season of Veronica Mars.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1269983/

Of course if it wasn't for him, he wouldn't have started deeling hard drugs

Yes, Jesse's previous job as a mere manufacturer of hard drugs was shown to be entirely stable and secure in the first episode, when his operation got busted by the DEA

not really feeling Aaron Paul, a lot of his dialogue readings feel really stilted to me, like he has to think really hard to remember to add "yo" at the end of every sentence

he did that one time, and it was supposed to be funny. dude is a good actor. he had a small role in Big Love where he played a totally normal guy that gave me new respect for his work as Jesse.

i kindof love krysten ritter & am deeply anticipating audrey hepberns neck

Yes, Jesse's previous job as a mere manufacturer of hard drugs was shown to be entirely stable and secure in the first episode, when his operation got busted by the DEA

Oh yeah, of course. He added pili (?) or something to the drugs as his trademark. I think I'm conveniently forgetting this to defend my opinion. ;-)

I don't like Cranston (the character, I mean).

He added Chili Powder

Unless they totally puss out, a la The Sopranos, the story being told in Breaking Bad can pretty much end only one way (hint: Goodfellas). Alternatively, Walt and Jesse buy it and the wife takes over, with Saul seamlessly switching his allegiances to her.

Or maybe it's just all a dream.

Walt basically has to kill Gus and take over his empire now, doesn't he?

maybe. i feel like since Walt's imminent death is a given they're not gonna kill off any of the other next 2 or 3 biggest characters, though, i don't know if even this show is bleak enough to leave no major character around to even mourn another.

Why would they continue the series without Walt?

this show could go any number of ways, I don't think anything is "imminent" or "given"

yeah...why waste your trump card...they've had plenty of opportunity to kill him

so you think there's a possibility of him surviving the cancer and living to be an old man? (xpost)

sure! a bitter, bitter old man. he could end up like tuco's uncle!

we all die one day, but i wouldn't say his death is anytime soon, more likely the end of the show.

any sign of the mooted mini-episodes that were meant to happen between seasons?