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

I just... wow.

yeah "wow" was like my only reaction to the last 4 weeks. hank's speech to the dea guys; walt/jesse breakup fight; Mexican compound poison clusterfuck; this most recent episode's house of cards collapse. I don't even know anymore. stand back, watch, and breathlessly applaud.

so as long as we're playing the "here's what's gonna happen game": this season kinda HAS to end with either walt or gus dead at this point right? how do you maintain what they've established here otherwise?

Two more, right?

Yeah two more.

I agree that someone has to die, surely the pay-off wouldn't be there for the viewer otherwise. Especially since this show has a history of turning everything upside-down without warning.

Most likely result is that Gus dies (remember Jesse's still got that cigarette somewhere), although no way is he going down alone. I wouldn't be at all surprised if Hank goes.

Being, you know, that the ultimate tragedy for him would be finally recovering from that horribly debilitating bullet wound to just die, or to find himself back at square one.

I'll play devil's advocate here: why not kill walt? he'll likely be in the next season in a ton of flashbacks anyway, Cranston is co-producing the show and clearly involved in its direction and we've established that we don't need him to make an episode hum. We could get a whole season out of what happens when mr. white's gone easy.

like it or not, the show is walter white's story. there just isn't a show without him. i mean I agree that there could be, but that show isn't Breaking Bad.

i dunno, i kind of disagree. i don't think it's an open story without walt but i do think they've established enough characters to get one more great season out of this without him.

idk that's sort of just not how tv works? you're talking about a batman movie without batman in it. or sopranos continuing a year after tony dies.

on a side note, something worth discussing: Cranston was doing the Walt's Cancer Cough quite a bit during the last act of the episode. I'm pretty sure the "Walt's cancer is back" storyline is staring us down.

I said it last week, but it has become totally obvious that Walt's face has turned into a face of meth, right? (Not that he is doing meth, just ~meth destroys~) His behavior -- the desperate need to talk to Jesse, the cackling in the crawlspace -- that too.

for a minute there before gus told walt he's gonna cap hank and the situation was just like go away and never bother us or jesse again I thought walt was gonna be like enterering the void of oh what now the prospect of being at home with the baby and helping out at the car wash he was just gonna be *bored* and miss the meth-cooking criminal conspiracy lifestyle bit like a henry hill I guess and kinda begs the question why gus told him about hank insteada just pullin the trigger but then I guess this is the story

Reading people talk about the Chekovian rug, but I can't remember it from anything before. Was it a thing earlier?

they showed him trip on it once earlier in the same episode when Skyler was there

Ted's death (scene with Saul seemed to imply he was dead) was pretty dumb but didn't detract from the episode at all reall since there was so much other stuff goin on. but I don't really get why they had to kill him, the check being sealed up and mailed to the IRS would have had the same result for the plot, no? (I guess if Ted was alive you could always force him to withdraw the money and have the check bounce and that's now an option now ... ?)

*not an option

ted was rubbish and had a rubbish end

ya - got the ending he deserved.

hes gotta be dead, it's not like they're gonna rush him to the hospital

yeah it seems like one less thing for the writers to have to deal with (we saw skylar with the baby!) what with every other crazy thing converging in these last eps.

skyler needs to deal with the fact that she's culpable as well; this is gonna be her first taste of that power/shame dynamic that walt's been playing with for years.

ted's death may have some repercussions for someone somehow down the line

I will never learn this lesson, but making predictions about breaking bad relying on some kind of stasis in the characters' relationships is just foolhardy, I mean we were all "gus will never go after walt's family" a couple months ago

walt didnt actually say he HOPED jesse would wind up in a barrel in mexico right? not hugely important & i kinda like jesse twisting walts words a bit

i noticed that too.

just rewatched the last three scenes with a coworker. SO AMAZING!

Reckon Skylar is going to turn over that $650k to Ted in self-preservation only for Walt to suddenly and urgently need it for something.

― Matt DC, Tuesday, September 13, 2011 8:46 AM (1 week ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

good call

maybe ted is alive! could be the shocking reveal next week, cut to ted in a hospital bed planning his revenge against skylar

ted kills skylar, takes over the car wash empire

ted + walt battle to the death in the car wash to the tune of "car wash"

omg...that ending was just tv on some whole other level. walt losing it and laughing was just amazing, and you think it's ramped up already then marie ringing, the utter sense of chaos and horror, srsly that last 5 mins is one of the most amazing bits of tv i've ever seen.

the ep as a whole was a bit disjointed until then but god it's well poised now.

can't see walt dying, to weigh in on the discussion upthread. walter white backed into a corner is walter white doing something fucking mental, he's proven this all the way through.

gus is going to be dead by the end of this season i think.

gotta consider also that walt's easiest way out now would be killing jesse.

holy. balls.

actually that's my bet...gus lives, walt kills jesse. xpost

did anyone else lol at the beautiful ultra-grim comic timing of "i gave it to ted"...

besides walt i mean.

jesse dying well before the end of the show's run is only SLIGHTLY less unlikely than walt dying. feel like you guys are maybe naive about any show killing off that major a character, much less actors who have won Emmys and will probably win more.

i don't see Walt offing Jesse. i just can't see him doing that.

xposts

Ted's death was comic gold.

I will never learn this lesson, but making predictions about breaking bad relying on some kind of stasis in the characters' relationships is just foolhardy, I mean we were all "gus will never go after walt's family" a couple months ago

― black metal version of "the boy with the thorn in his side" (Edward III), Monday, September 26, 2011 12:22 PM (3 hours ago)

i am thinking tho - that Mike being left behind in Mexico has to have some sort of significance. him not being around for this last chapter has to affect things somehow.

walt + hank form an alliance, just as they're about to mow down gus + jesse, mike crashes into them with a mexican airplane the end

gotta consider also that walt's easiest way out now would be killing jesse.

that was my comment at the end of the episode, that now Jesse is basically the Gale in Walt's equation, the guy who needs to be gone for Walt to be indispensible again

I don't *think* they'll go there but

"feel like you guys are maybe naive about any show killing off that major a character, much less actors who have won Emmys and will probably win more."

Agree. Neither Walt nor Jesse is dying.

my comment to my wife I mean. not on here. (xp)

I'll play devil's advocate here: why not kill walt? he'll likely be in the next season in a ton of flashbacks anyway, Cranston is co-producing the show and clearly involved in its direction and we've established that we don't need him to make an episode hum. We could get a whole season out of what happens when mr. white's gone easy.

― Dudley Daigle: Tugboat Captain (forksclovetofu),

I love this idea, though I don't think it'll happen.

We should have a poll.

i would bet my house on walt living but could see them killing jesse.

if walt or jesse die it's not going to be this season

Tyrus is probably going to die though.

It seems like Walt legitimately has a chance to get out of the game now, but he's going to miss it because he has been misreading Gus all season.

Tyrus is probably going to die though.

Yeah, bad time to be a goon. I hope Saul's guys survive.

yeah like..why is walt saying his family are going to die, etc...does he just not trust gus, cos gus only made that threat as an "if you don't do what you're told" type thing.

gus told walt if he tries to interfere w/ hank getting whacked his family is on the line, walt is trying to save hank + his own fam

It seems like Walt legitimately has a chance to get out of the game now, but he's going to miss it because he has been misreading Gus all season.

― polyphonic, Monday, September 26, 2011 3:55 PM (3 minutes ago)

as always it's his stupid ego - the baddest of badasses is basically saying "you're free to go" and he responds with "ha! you still need me! or I'd be dead right now! I win!"

yeah like..why is walt saying his family are going to die, etc...does he just not trust gus, cos gus only made that threat as an "if you don't do what you're told" type thing.

― When a German communicates, you listen (LocalGarda), Monday, September 26, 2011 3:56 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

that would require him letting hank be murdered

Ted's death was comic gold.

― you've got male (jim in glasgow), Monday, September 26, 2011 7:35 PM (24 minutes ago) Bookmark

This. I know it was very coen-bros dark slapstick, but i loled pretty hard.