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

who didn't know that this was going to happen?! it was sooner or later that vain old walt would be offended by something hank said about chemistry and correct him and raise suspicion, etc. what i thought was kinda funny was that he let his guard down because he was boredom-drinking at a family event. now that's realism.

Also keep in mind he was loaded up on Hawaiian Punch

high fructose corn syrup is a helluva drug

couldn't it have been rose? it really should have been in a box in the fridge though.
anyway, getting loaded and mouthy at family dinners is a time honored tradition.

yeah but I was saying to mrs aero - when you've actually had to dissolve a body and pour it down the bathtub, when you actually know what the stakes are in the drug world, all that criminal-mastermind-must-be-respected shit would go right out the window. dude makes a lot of money and is able to provide for his family, he would not be getting liquored up and resenting somebody getting credit for his work. he'd be relieved that him not getting credit means he won't get killed in jail while awaiting trial, and he'd completely understand that: he's a smart dude. so the scene, and presumably the plot twist, sucks. but Watching For The Moment When It All Goes To Hell Because That Always Happens! First!!1!! sucks worse still & always imo

xpost it COULD have been rosé except that it looked like a red wine when Walt opened a new bottle in the kitchen.

Also sorry buy I want to know why inside the Superlab Jesse is breaking up the meth on a tray like my mom does with peanut brittle.

Fellas are getting sloppy in there, don't they have a machine for that stage? Little flying crumbs and whatnot?

like, two weeks ago he watched his boss puncture a dude's carotid with a boxcutter, and then he had to clean up all the blood. I don't want Ultra Realism (because lol at "I own this meth lab & I kill people in it") but the idea that you see that and then meeting with your cop bro-in-law think "fuckin, this guy doesn't even know I'm the man, wtf" is pretty poor

Ok, but the crumbs!

good point
i still don't think walt is enough of a skilled criminal mastermind to always be able to control his mouth -- he talks and talks when he gets nervous, just like in the horrible boxcutter scene.

Also sorry buy I want to know why inside the Superlab Jesse is breaking up the meth on a tray like my mom does with peanut brittle.

yeah presumably you'd put it in a trash bag & then smack it with a hammer I was confused by that too

I buy the Walt stuff just fine - it's the Jesse plotline that really irks me. The whole "stage a ripoff to boost his confidence" thing? And it's meant to be Gus's idea? Doesn't sound like the sort of solution he'd come up with at all, esp. given his special disdain for "junkies."

I assume there's some sort of long game.

I'm having a really, really hard time imagining an even halfway plausible one. (And I mean "plausible" in the terms of the show's universe.)

It was something like, what, two weeks ago by the show's own chronology that Gus's idea of solving employee problems was slitting throats?

yeah but Walt has made it clear - in this very episode - that he's not going to work very effectively without Jesse; he did this in early interviews with Gus, too. Jesse isn't a Gus employee, he's a Walt employee; presumably that isn't to Gus's liking for whatever reason.

damn, i suspected, as im sure we all did, that steven tyler had dissolved a body & poured it down a bath drain, but now that i have confirmation i have a whole new take on "Pink"

surprised at the complaints upthread, that dinner scene was typical of walt. he's always been full of hubris and up his own ass about his meth cooking. it's not that he wants to be a criminal mastermind, it's that he's such a possessive geek about chemistry and is disgusted by the idea anyone else could be better. plus i think he's bored at a shitty family event and decides to put the cat among the pigeons a bit.

also the way it comes across to hank isn't "walt is the mastermind" but a more needling "fuck you hank the guy is still on the loose". hank probably thinking walt yanking his chain.

the gus/jesse/mike thing was a little more silly, in that if jesse "failed" what was going to happen, they actually shoot him? or feign a beating or something?

having said gus' motivation is clear enough i'd say, divide jesse and walt plus also give the young man something to believe in, an honest day's work of killing and meth making keeps idle hands busy!

yeah for real

Walt shows Jesse* no appreciation at all - Gus is going to win the whipped cur over by giving him little treats and a sense of self-worth. This will fuck with Walt, which Gus no doubt can take satisfaction in given how much Walt's fucked his shit up in recent weeks / months, and stop him from getting complacent or cocky -- like he does at the dinner, and Gus knows makes him dangerous -- and also sow the seeds of Jesse being able to take over the lab if required.

*or anyone in his life but

i don't think Walt considers himself a "criminal mastermind" at all. he's a genius chemist.

i didn't mind that scene at all you guys are ragging on. the super-speed-up scenes sort of got under my skin tho. totally loved how they began and ended the ep tho.

yeah but I was saying to mrs aero - when you've actually had to dissolve a body and pour it down the bathtub, when you actually know what the stakes are in the drug world, all that criminal-mastermind-must-be-respected shit would go right out the window. dude makes a lot of money and is able to provide for his family, he would not be getting liquored up and resenting somebody getting credit for his work. he'd be relieved that him not getting credit means he won't get killed in jail while awaiting trial, and he'd completely understand that: he's a smart dude. so the scene, and presumably the plot twist, sucks. but Watching For The Moment When It All Goes To Hell Because That Always Happens! First!!1!! sucks worse still & always imo

― pathos of the unwarranted encore (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Sunday, August 14, 2011 11:42 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yeah drug kingpins are all rational actors not deranged adrenaline junky egomaniacs who would never do something like take umbrage while drunk at dinner to some nerd stealing their thunder or say pose for the cover of the nytimes magazine

http://soulhonky.com/candanny/nicky_barnes_1977_ny_times_magazine_cover_mr_untouchable_movie_image.jpg

btw <3 @ jesse n mike bffs

I think I would have been less horrified by this cliche if it weren't for the fact that two nights ago we watched the simpsons ep where lisa gets sideshow bob to admit that he stole the election by poking at hid pride and telling the jury that he wasn't smart enough to rig an election himself. lol cartoon bad guys etc

also prob why I turned into comic book guy last night

dont want to end up a cartoon bad guy in a cartoon prison

the super-speed-up scenes sort of got under my skin tho.

yeah they are overdoing it on the camera tricks this season

I think people are vastly overestimating Walt's common sense. It wasn't some Bond style gloating monologue, he was drunk, bored and messing with Hank. Also, he is self-destructive. It was actually my favourite scene If Walt and Jesse didn't have these slip-ups and fuck-ups, there wouldn't really be a story any more; it would just be about two guys working in a lab and quietly getting very rich.

I agree it was the weakest ep of the season, but I certainly don't think a shark or skis are anywhere in sight.

I didn't have a problem with Walt's actions last night, but I thought Hank's whole, "now wait a dog gone minute - this meth cook only ate free-range organic everything! What's he doing eating at a fast food joint?" as the thing that blew the case wide open, was kind of silly. I'll try to reserve judgment 'til we see how it plays out, but when the credits popped up after that, I was kind of like, "um..."

no way was this the weakest ep. the first ep is by far the weakest of this season, really badly set out and edited, the rest have all been quite good for me.

That scene was totally in character for Walt. Probably the pivotal moment in his life was losing out on a shitload of money for chemistry work that he considered to be his own. Fair to say he's been a tad bitter ever since.

yeah exactly...i agree with that take 100 per cent, can't understand how people can't see it was the exact opposite of him asserting his status as a criminal mastermind, it was him being a bitter and pedantic jerk, like he always is.

a little man, not a big man.

an amateur

a charlatan

with the hat and everything, I thought it was intentionally clear that in some ways, walt is totally playing dressup.

yeah he's sometimes a bad ass but also still an awkward nerdy guy.

I didn't have a problem with Walt's actions last night, but I thought Hank's whole, "now wait a dog gone minute - this meth cook only ate free-range organic everything! What's he doing eating at a fast food joint?" as the thing that blew the case wide open, was kind of silly. I'll try to reserve judgment 'til we see how it plays out, but when the credits popped up after that, I was kind of like, "um..."

― rockapads, Monday, August 15, 2011 5:41 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

eh i felt like that was more like hank fully engaging in the case for the first time, like gale as heisenberg never really made sense to him but he just didnt want to deal w/his misgivings

and he wanted it to be heisenberg so badly, so he could have some closure.

when was the pollos bag dropped or whatever? did it even show it?

i think it makes a lot of sense that a perceptive dude like hank would notice the fried chicken thing -- he's a professional DEA agent, this is what he does. totally otm about him wanting closure and to just not-think about it. but because he's hank, he can't help it.

i feel like the series is going to close with a shot of hank, who has brought down a huge criminal organization along with his family, sitting in his sick bed staring at the tv wondering what to do now.

it's such a tv detective discovery tho, what is this, monk

Thought the fake stick-up was the lamest element.

what is this, monk

― iatee, Monday, August 15, 2011 7:19 PM (44 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

whatre u, ebert

no ebert reviews movies

Shoulda bagged Hank's lines re: Pollo and just showed the napkin.

I think in general it is not that the various plot-points are so implausible or inconsistent with the characters/narrative, but that they are uncharacteristically hamfisted/telegraphed, etc.

Except for the wine. THE WINE IS NOT WINE.

yeah they are overdoing it on the camera tricks this season

SB’d you for this

he was drunk, bored and messing with Hank.

Not messing with Hank, he didn’t consciously want to put Hank down, he was rankling so hard about not being allowed to even take the credit Walt Jr and Marie wanted to give him for his FAKE money-raking achievements, let alone his real one, that when Hank started in on the waste of Gale’s talents, Walt’s super-deep bitterness about his old partner/girlfriend/business burst through. It’s his self-loathing leading to self-destructiveness, not actually wanting to fuck with Hank per se.

I thought Hank's whole, "now wait a dog gone minute - this meth cook only ate free-range organic everything! What's he doing eating at a fast food joint?" as the thing that blew the case wide open, was kind of silly.

The deductiveness was totally on point, it was just the presentation of it -both to the viewer, as dun-dun-DUNN, and in-show, to Marie as if she gives a shit – that made it silly. cr?mster otm about him really paying attention for the first time, showing the super-capable Hank that we’re used to.

when was the pollos bag dropped or whatever? did it even show it?

iirc there was a phone number written on it? Presumably from an early meeting Gale had. V v sloppy on Gus part if so, both to meet him at work and to let him write a contact number ON A CLUE.

Also out of character for Gale not to copy it into a neat handwritten phone directory or sthng once he was home.

Wine looked like a cheap rose when Hank was finishing the bottle, the problem was him switching to a red. (Someone said this yesterday too.)

I was ginning up a long post about how Walt's slurry dinner table statements were 100% in character but Number None and sic said it better and shorter.

Also - Beneke mug reminding Walt that Skyler effed Ted and Jesse picking Mike as his new favorite surrogate dad = Walt jealous and drinking too much and particularly sensitive to people taking what's his, including credit for his genius meth making.

The Gus manipulation was a little harder to buy just because there was so much potential for it to not work out, but I like that none of us guessed what the plan was.

tbf, there was no way in hell anyone would guess that plan