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

At this point, the ONLY reason Hank might suspect Walt is his "I won a fortune at the casino" story. But (A) Walt has the receipts to back that up (thanks to Saul), and (B) if you're a cop, what's the more reasonable conclusion? That your nerdy, awkward, cancer-recovering brother-in-law figured out how to count cards? Or that your nerdy, awkward, cancer-recovering brother-in-law is actually the criminal supervillain you have been obsessively chasing, who has flooded the entire Southwest with thousands of pounds of meth?

he's after Heisenberg because he has leads to Heisenberg - he hasn't had any leads to Gus (until now)

Well right -- but when he saw Gale's tidy lab notes and cozy apartment and karaoke video, didn't he maybe think, "Hmm...not sure this particular dude has the wherewithal to pump this volume of drugs into this massive a region...maybe he's just a low-level drudge and the DEA should be investigating the obviously MUCH-larger operation here"? At this point, frankly, for Hank, Gus IS Heisenberg, in that Gus is the guy he really wants, the BIG bad guy. Even if he were to ID Walt as the cook, after fainting from shock, Hank's ONLY course of action would be to get Walt to flip on Gus, right?

feel like hanks been suspecting walt for a while now just on an instinctive level but doesnt want to admit it to himself

To be honest, in that regard, Walt's insight was pretty inconsequential. Sure, Gale MIGHT not be the genius chemist who created the blue meth...but he's DEFINITELY not the criminal mastermind supplying the entire Southwest with product, knocking out the cartel, dropping bodies all over the region... And neither is Walt.

@ice cr?m -- I feel like the show has set up that suspicion just in Hank's interactions with Walt (the sidelong glances, etc.) but from any logical point of remove it would be fucking delusional: "You know, I think my impotent dweeb brother-in-law is the Vicious Drug Kingpin I have spent the last year of my career as a DEA agent hunting down." Riiiiight.

He's not an impotent dweeb -- he has seen Walt forcefeed shots to Walt Jr, has seen him move out of his home into an apartment and his wife refused to tell why (for a while) -- he has not been an entirely stable dweeb.

Definitely unstable, but that's a far cry from "supervillain." (Based on your evidence, Hank has greater cause to suspect Walt is a child molester than a drug kingpin.) The thing with Junior was super uncomfortable and horrible but it shouldn't give Hank any reason to suspect Walt as Heisenberg. The thing with Skylar MIGHT HAVE raised his suspicion, but they explained that pretty sufficiently with the gambling story -- as I said a few posts ago:"(A) Walt has the receipts to back that up (thanks to Saul), and (B) if you're a cop, what's the more reasonable conclusion? That your nerdy, awkward, cancer-recovering brother-in-law figured out how to count cards? Or that your nerdy, awkward, cancer-recovering brother-in-law is actually the criminal supervillain you have been obsessively chasing, who has flooded the entire Southwest with thousands of pounds of meth?"

Walt has actually directly challenged Hank a couple times, telling him he was carrying around a few hundred thousand bucks in his duffel, saying, "Ya caught me," or whatever he said in response to the WW thing. But the idea that Hank already suspects Walt is Heisenberg has no basis in logic. This is not that the show hasn't deliberately insinuated this, of course, just that it doesn't really stand up to any scrutiny.

(That last line should read "This is not *TO SAY* that the show hasn't deliberately insinuated this, of course, just that it doesn't really stand up to any scrutiny.")

Nobody, let alone Hank, suspects Walt of anything.

That's actually the best (and most logical) way to read it, but then why put so much emphasis on the "Maybe your Heisenberg is still out there" moment? Just to set off viewers? Again, if I'm Hank and I DON'T suspect Walt, then him saying that makes me trust him MORE, not less. If I'm Hank, I'm thinking, "Wow I've got this great resource who knows chemistry -- maybe he's right, and maybe he can help me FIND Heisenberg." The show seemed to insinuate the opposite, though, and made it appear Walt had overplayed his hand or something. (Or maybe I'm reading it wrong?)

Over thinking it. Just an easy excuse to get Hank back on the case. Violates the rule of "show, don't tell."

OFF TOPIC AND CONFIDENTIAL TO JOSH IN CHICAGO: Did you recently meet ILX's own n/a at a child's first birthday party and if yes, were you also at that child's mother's baby shower last July because if so, you and I have met IRL.

Ha, I can't even remember last week! I don't think so, but I suppose it's within the realm of possibility that you did. But I don't think so. Might have been a different Josh, in Chicago.

Well, if you weren't at the child's birthday party, then it was not you. NEVER MIND CARRY ON.

Is this thread just people expounding their theories about what is going to happen in Breaking Bad?

Well, there's no point talking about what already happened, is there? That's what the show is for.

I still think Walt will kill Hank. Hank is peripheral enough to the action - and more or less paraplegic at this point - that he's expendable. Also, it would be some nice irony, given that a) Walt saved his life and b) doing that is what left his paraplegic.

And then Hank will wake up and it will all have been a dream. In the afterlife. And then it goes black.

I think nobody will kill anyone and something bad will happen to Walt Jr, but he will be ok

Well yeah. Plus the occasional "holy shit I didn't see that coming!"

And then I think the baby will say "dada" at Walt.

And Gus will kill Mike and Jessie will kill Gus for killing Mike and then Hank will kill Jessie for that and then Walt will kill Hank and go to jail, but leave lots of money for his family.

And the car was will do really well and Skyler will open car washes all over the Southwest. And Bob Odenkirk will go to jail/hide out in mexico

But the idea that Hank already suspects Walt is Heisenberg has no basis in logic. This is not that the show hasn't deliberately insinuated this, of course, just that it doesn't really stand up to any scrutiny.

― SonicBum, Friday, August 19, 2011 3:18 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

imho its possible that hank is already feeling a lil weird abt what walts up to - that is his intuition is telling him something - which if hes a good investigator is he should be p attuned to - intuition is the ability to detect a pattern in v subtle clues - like it could be enough that hank gets weird and hella tense when heisenberg comes up - but there are a bunch of more obvious things too, the money the chemistry background the fugue state the strange behavior etc - irl suspects have been examined based on far less for sure

this seems to be what the show is portraying at this point - in hank and walts two most recent interactions hank is seriously sizing walt up vibing him out asking leading questions hardly breathing when hank speaks just watching him etc - i think at this point hanks not quite sure or cognizant of what hes up to - its just his cop training kicking in - hes like a dog smelling something on the breeze

As I mentioned above, the relationship between Hank and Walt - and Walt and Marie, and Hank and Skyler, etc. - is all a little weird, standard/typical of in-laws thrown together by marriage. Like, might as well make nice and make the most of it, none of them are going anywhere anytime soon.

o rite thx for clearing that up josh in chicago

IMO, of course. Like, I like my bro in law, but the few times we've ever hung out, just the two of us, have always been a little awkward. Like, who is this guy?

its a show its abt things!

It's a show about nothing. Last ep will be all:

http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lde1ufwrgM1qzid25o1_400.jpg

haha

Well ultimately I guess it's impossible to discern what Hank the character suspects or intuits and what the show wants the viewer to feel watching any given scene -- Walt is the point of entry for the viewer, so I think the show's intention is for the viewer to feel somewhat paranoid and claustrophobic when Hank and Walt interact, like the noose is always tightening even when it's not. My point was just that maybe Walt's slip wasn't as damning as a lot of people seem to believe. My other point is that Hank's obsession with Heisenberg doesn't jibe with the idea that he has these highly sensitive detective tools: At his best Heisenberg should lead to Gus. Arresting Heisenberg does nothing for the DEA or the community. If Heisenberg DOESN'T lead to Gus, someone fucked up. Hank has worked this beat long enough to know this. If he's sharp enough to pick up on subtle clues in Walt's demeanor, he's definitely savvy enough to know that the chemist who cooks the meth isn't the guy he wants. It would be like McNulty zeroing in on Bodie because he couldn't even conceive of Stringer Bell.

More like McNulty zeroing in on Stringer Bell because he couldn't conceive of the Greek. Oh wait that's kinda what he did.

I mean imagine that press conference: "Dear Albuquerque we are proud to announce that we nabbed the dude who cooked all that superb meth, although we were unable to dismantle the elaborate and massive machine by which it was distributed. So now you can rest easy knowing your kids won't be tempted with the 99-percent-pure shit; they will be smoking a product that is somewhat less pure!"

I get the impression that since Hank's injury and being out of the force he's been thinking a little outside of the box - as you say, not at all consciously, just allowing his intuition and imagination to kind of run free (I think this is maybe what they're illustrating with the crystal collection? although I'm sure that's gonna turn out to be something more definite, plot-wise). But yeah I think anything that can be perceived as OMG HE KNOWS is just TV playing with us.

on some level hank and for that matter gus' interest in walt/heisenberg is based on fascination, they want to be associated w/this guy who cooks the best meth in the world - they also have more concrete reasons for wanting him which is for gus that its good for business and for hank he gets this pure ass meth off the street - now im not sure what hanks conception of the pollos cartels org chart is but yeah no doubt he want to take the whole thing down, but heisenbergs crazy blue meth sure seems like a major hook for him - and its worth noting that iirc heisenberg was portrayed in the Intel he got as the cook and the kingpin, tho were i hank id for sure be looking at that w/a skeptical eye

and id like to state for the record that if what were witnessing is not something dawning in hanks mind re walts culpability in all this then i think the show is willfully misleading us or just getting the tone all wrong

I mean imagine that press conference: "Dear Albuquerque we are proud to announce that we nabbed the dude who cooked all that superb meth, although we were unable to dismantle the elaborate and massive machine by which it was distributed. So now you can rest easy knowing your kids won't be tempted with the 99-percent-pure shit; they will be smoking a product that is somewhat less pure!"

― SonicBum, Friday, August 19, 2011 5:54 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

this is basically what the cops do all the time, except even more impotently its usually just a pile of drugs that theve seized, not a virtuosos chef

@Alex in SF -- Neither is really a perfect analogy though. String wasn't even connected to the Greek. That entire relationship went through an incredibly diluted chain so that NO ONE was connected to the Greek. (String got his product from Prop Joe, right?) So it's not like McNulty could have got Stringer to flip on the Greek. Meanwhile Walt has been to Gus' house for dinner, knows the mechanics of his entire money-laundering op, has watched the dude commit murder...

this is basically what the cops do all the time, except even more impotently its usually just a pile of drugs that theve seized, not a virtuosos chef

― ice cr?m, Friday, August 19, 2011 11:00 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark

LOL, good point.

sobotka knew the greek

don't ruin The Wire

I still ain't seen the last season

haha ok i guess theres a thread for that

TBH the Wire's portrayal of the drug trade is a hell of a lot more authentic than BB's, I'd imagine.

WIRE SPOILER ALERT

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But that's my point: How was Sobotka connected to Stringer? Etc. It's a silly comparison anyway, my fault. The Wire is a fairly realistic and complex portrayal of the drug industry; BB is a drama focusing on a very small group of people and their complex psychologies.

(BTW sorry admrl -- FWIW this is all S2 shit!)

so next ep is def gonna have some skyler awareness happening as a result of his drunken bs because the commercials show a clip of her yelling at walt that he is in over his head.

no mentions of the wire please...this is a thread about a show that isn't the greatest piece if tv art in the history of realistic magical complete bullshit.

that doesn't make sense, Ronan

i'd had a few drinks and wanted to criticise the wire.

please forgive me sur

i do liftin wurk very well

haha