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

fuck - doesn't Guss have *anybody* else that can kill people for him?!

is there a chance walt will work with the cartel to get rid of his gus problem?

loved the jesse/mike bits, jesse in his new unhinged state is a bit of a badass, he's kind of untouchable through being so bereft of any kind of life or feeling.

also loving the return of hank's confidence/integrity. the scene with him and walt was the perfect mix of plot hurtling forward at the same time as characters are deeply explored, the kind of thing bb does so brilliantly and the thing that makes every episode feel so full.

Today I learned that Jonathan Banks (Mike) played the guy who killed Axel's partner in Beverly Hills Cop, mind blown.

well there was victor...

xpost

walt's speech to saul felt a little off. like he was having trouble convincing himself of it? or cranston having an off day. i wasn't sure.

interesting to see that as skyler's relationship with walt becomes somewhat normalized her old icy mother-knows-best routine gets brought out of the prop closet. such a cutting comment though about how in their "fiction" she doesn't come out looking good at all - "at least you gambled, i'm just the uptight wife who won't cut you any slack". she's well aware that that's how walt sees her too. and it's like an acknowledgement of how her character is perceived by a lot of BB's audience.

There were lots of meta touches in this episode I thought - will have to rewatch to come up with more examples though. I always watch each episode twice anyway.

also loving the return of hank's confidence/integrity. the scene with him and walt was the perfect mix of plot hurtling forward at the same time as characters are deeply explored, the kind of thing bb does so brilliantly and the thing that makes every episode feel so full.

otm! full and satisfying, like a good drama should be

i loved how totally unstable the subtext was in the rehearsal scene. the script "closely parallels the truth" so as they read it they're getting to act out their real feelings about each other. and at the same time, the very fact that they're reading it is a consequence of skyler wanting to wrest back some control of this insane situation. and that move, that control move, activates these old resentful circuits in walt, which then get meshed into their "fiction"! no wonder walt was so out of it at hank's, it's enough to make your head spin.

yea it's that plus being blindsided by the gale info

is there a chance walt will work with the cartel to get rid of his gus problem?

oooohhh if the writers haven't thought of this they should have

wonder where mike is taking jesse, back to rehab?

feel like thatd be gus' best play here

get jesse out of the way/back in his head w/o pissing off walt

Clearly there's some sort of big cartel vs. gus throwdown coming, based on the fridge truck showdown. Maybe it happens while Mike and Jesse are in transit?

The iTunes eps come with a behind the scene short that makes a statement about that but it could be spoilery so I'll only post it on request.

The face Mike made when he realized he'd lost an ear tip is the same face I make when, like, our Internet goes out at work.

I think they're going to hold Jesse hostage, tell Walt they'll shoot him if he doesn't keep cooking. I don't think they care about cleaning him up, just keeping him hidden while keeping Walt on the job. I really don't think this is going to end well for Jesse.

I do think Jesse will sober up, but not in a gentle rehab way. Or they might keep him high so as to keep him quiet. Then whoops overdose! Sorry Walt!

Allllso Walt would be a super supreme dumbass if he got involved with a rival cartel in an attempt to get at Gus. Gus has some standards, for now, about keeping Walt's family out of this but hoo boy I don't know if that's a guarantee with another cartel. And you know Walt will bluster in like a chump and fuck something up with them like he did with Gus. So of course all this means that's exactly what Walt will do.

Or they might keep him high so as to keep him quiet.

that doesn't work so well with meth

Ha, yeah, as Mr. Airport Scanners GET IN YOUR BONES aptly demonstrated.

that doesn't work so well with meth

well in fairness this show isn't really super-realistic about what ppl who're actively tweaking are like

I was thinking last night about how disappointing it is that they essentially play the tweak-card for comedy only at this point.

well if they played it realistically there'd kinda be no show

I think in season one there was at least some pathos to it w/r/t Jesse, but yeah, of course.

I meant "quiet" in the sense that by giving him drugs whoever is in charge of holding him captive can avoid the irritation of listening to him whine for drugs all the time. Not keep him quiet as in docile, quiet as in "meeting his needs." Pizza, dipping sticks, meth, you know. What a man needs to survive.

Video games

oh no, I know, it was just a funny juxtaposition to me if read literally.

I looked into my crystal ball and saw that Walt gets kidnapped by the cartel. But I still think there needs to be some funny business with the carwash first. Then again, it'd be hilarious if they introduced the carwash as another irrelevant character, like the baby (does it have a name?) and Walt, Jr. They'll just toss in a line here and there. "Oh, I stopped by the carwash today and everything seems to be OK."

I've never liked Hank, as such, but I do think he's a deceptively well-written character. He's an ass with issues, but he's a great cop.

Best moment of the show was at the start, when Walt tells Skylar how sorry he is, and she drops down her guard, then realizes he was just practicing his act. That actress, by the way, totally Botoxed the anxiety out of her face. If I were a show runner/producer, and my show hinged on stress and anxiety, I would have it in writing that actors will not get their face frozen mid-show.

OMG, just realized Anna Gunn was Bullock's schoolteacher wife on Deadwood!!! What a difference a bonnet makes.

i was really hoping for rehab but somehow i think that's not gonna be it.

yeah - rehab was sepinwall's first conclusion too, which makes me think that ain't it

I suspect majorly big shit will go down next couple of eps. Every one since the premier has been a major screw-turner.

Best moment of the show was at the start, when Walt tells Skylar how sorry he is, and she drops down her guard, then realizes he was just practicing his act.

That bit was amazing. I actually said "oh, shit." Fucking Walt.

yeah that was my favorite moment as well

this was an excellent episode

such a cutting comment though about how in their "fiction" she doesn't come out looking good at all - "at least you gambled, i'm just the uptight wife who won't cut you any slack". she's well aware that that's how walt sees her too. and it's like an acknowledgement of how her character is perceived by a lot of BB's audience.

― Dark Noises from the Eurozone (Tracer Hand), Monday, August 8, 2011 8:07 PM (Yesterday)

also thought her comment implied how walt jr sees her

That actress, by the way, totally Botoxed the anxiety out of her face. If I were a show runner/producer, and my show hinged on stress and anxiety, I would have it in writing that actors will not get their face frozen mid-show.

noticed this too. looked like she did season too, but it's pretty severe this time. she also looks like she's put on some significant weight since last season, which isn't a big deal or anything, but kind of weird since this season picked up hours after last season's finale.

such a cutting comment though about how in their "fiction" she doesn't come out looking good at all - "at least you gambled, i'm just the uptight wife who won't cut you any slack". she's well aware that that's how walt sees her too. and it's like an acknowledgement of how her character is perceived by a lot of BB's audience.

yeah this bit was so clever, such a brilliant set up to have them discussing how they "would feel" when they have no kind of honesty or real relationship with each other. again i just love the sense of the money as a force or character in itself, kind of altering every dynamic in the show, and people trying to ignore all the evil that comes with it, the lying that's required to keep making it, the need to ignore the murders and the horrible effects of all that meth. and the way jesse is being ripped apart because lately he's been first-hand witnessing all this ugliness.

i agree that walt joining up with a cartel would be incredibly risky and dumb and yeah, that is why i think it might happen. it seems a natural step for him to debase himself even further and to make things even more crazy.

i love the way the show makes you want walt to just get worse and worse. i mean, i see him a little cowed in the last episode or two and i'm waiting for him to get back to his crazy badass ways.

Best moment of the show was at the start, when Walt tells Skylar how sorry he is, and she drops down her guard, then realizes he was just practicing his act.

Gotta jump in and say that this moment was indeed amazing. Even and maybe especially on second viewing.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I put you through all this."

(one beat)

(two beats)

"How's that sound?"

Flawless.

and the way jesse is being ripped apart because lately he's been first-hand witnessing all this ugliness.

What's ripping him apart is that he's causing it. He's witnessed it plenty before. The fact that he shot a very weird, brilliant, sweet man in the face was only the catalyst for what he's now realizing that he's really doing. Not just what he can see, but everything.

yeah that's what i mean...i really like what they've done with his character.

And he doesn't even care when he finds $70,000 missing. The only reason he shows up to work at all is because he feels a sense of loyalty to Walter. And he doesn't know why.

which ties in really nicely with why he's not cut out for all this, he is basically a sort of vulnerable goofy kid.

I sincerely can't read Hank. What he does and doesn't suspect is a mystery to me. But he's good at hiding those kinds of things, right? Even if he outright knew that it was Walter, which I don't think he does (yet), he'd still be impossible for Walter to read, because Walter is just a liar, not a trained professional at telling lies to get other people to confess their crimes. Hank is. I have no idea where the Hank plotline is going, except that it's probably not to the pot of gold at the end of anyone's rainbow.

Pizza, dipping sticks, meth, you know. What a man needs to survive.

video games

Another moment I loved. There's a hot girl in the corner, and Jesse grabs her hand and tugs her upstairs as if to say, "It's that time when we do what we do." And she knows exactly what that thing is. And it turns out to be playing video games.

You have to be interested in life to be interested in sex, and Jesse has no will to live at all.

You have to be interested in life to be interested in sex

oh i don't know about that

but you're generally otm

what was the intro scene with mike in the van all about?

showing the cartel is still an ongoing problem

The only reason he shows up to work at all is because he feels a sense of loyalty to Walter. And he doesn't know why.

or because he doesn't want to intentionally, consciously cause himself to be murdered to death by Gus' goons

I'm waiting for walt to get jealous that someone else is stealing all his Heisenberg glory and do something ridiculous to feed his ego.

i think the glory-stealing envy-rage moment will have to do with chemistry, rather than drug dealing per se -- it's already happened to him once, and he carried that resentment/rage around for a LONG time. (some might even say that THIS was the cancer, but that's a bit much imo)

he's not going to let sweet dead old Gale take credit no matter how sweet or regrettably dead he is.

Need it be said that at this point, Walt is the cancer?

Walt's fauxpology fooled me! Actual scene from our living room:

Walt: I'm sorry. I'm sorry I put you through all this.

Jenny: About time, Walt! Good job.

Walt: How's that sound?

Jenny: FUCK YOU WALT!!!!

Skyler was absolutely referencing Walt Jr's take on the situation, which Walt intentionally exacerbated in an attempt to manipulate Skyler.

Also the baby's name is Holly.

but there were two "sorrys" ;)