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

foxgloves

That spin-the-gun thing...wasn't it just an echo of Skylar's Four Corners cointoss?

or xpost maybe it gave him the idea to build a bomb? Plant...fertilizer...diesel fuel...kaboom!

I thought he was spinning it like a roulette wheel but disliking the results every time it pointed to him. So he kept spinning it until it pointed somewhere else. Because for all his bravado, Walt is kind of cowardly.

I read the gun-spinning thing as Walt toying with the idea of suicide, especially if his cancer is coming back. And like Sky, he keeps spinning til he gets the "answer" he wants.

xpost Yep

that's exactly how i read it too, like he at least wanted to fool himself that suicide was an option

yeah but the camera move to what the gun was pointing at - the ricin plant - was significant no

Maybe Walt can get a new job at a ricin plant!

or a cigarette factory

yeah but the camera move to what the gun was pointing at - the ricin plant - was significant no

No. Even if there were such a thing as a "ricin plant" it's not like anybody watching the show knows that that looks like!

now they do!

Watch the clip again Tracer. Walt looks at the plant and then practically has a light bulb come on over his head. The audience doesn't have to know what kind of plant it is, all that matters is it means something to Walt.

Look, any "meaning" from a scene that requires rewinding and an in-depth knowledge of botany to become apparent is coming from your own head, not the show

there is such a thing as a ricin plant! it's called a castor oil plant.

I do agree that the way the camera shot is set up, walt looks at something and there is a pan to where the gun is pointing but it was not clear what it was

plant -> fertilizer -> bomb is a possibility

Ricin comes from castor beans -- I used to grow a castor plant at each of the four corners of my garden when I lived in a location that had a lot of moles and gophers.

According to a SPOILER I just found, on the 3rd spin the gun points at a
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White Monkshood plant, not a castor plant.

xposts

I'm not even gonna look into that

Wait, Walt is going to hire a bunch of monks to take out Gus?? Then why doesn't he tell Jesse that in the first place! So many questions

The audience doesn't have to know what kind of plant it is, all that matters is it means something to Walt.

Look, any "meaning" from a scene that requires rewinding and an in-depth knowledge of botany to become apparent is coming from your own head, not the show

― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, October 5, 2011 11:36 AM (26 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

unless it's written by nabokov

Number None, I watched the show just like you, but I didn't even notice Walt's house plant. So to me, it didn't mean anything to Walt. It would be an incredibly subtle reference, and by my lights wayyyyyy too below the radar to effectively convey anything. Just one cutaway close-up of the plant would be enough to establish that the plant was important, but they didn't do that.

Well they're not hitting you over the head with it

oooor, they're not even intending to indicate it.

i inferred from that scene simply:

walt: "what should i do? kill myself?"
universe: "no, kill someone OUT THERE."

the camera work is pretty leading but then again this show has a track record with troubled camera tracking... there was so much debate over the final shot of s3 that gilligan had to make a statement about it iirc

Presumably all this will be answered a week from tonight! (yeah, I'll be out of town & unable to view Sunday's broadcast THANK U STUPID CANADIAN THANKSGIVING)

oh, shit, I'll have to kick my dinner guests out by then

Or just keep serving drinks until they're docile

i inferred from that scene simply:

walt: "what should i do? kill myself?"
universe: "no, kill someone OUT THERE."

Haha that's exactly how I read it too.

that's not a pan

the camera work is pretty leading but then again this show has a track record with troubled camera tracking... there was so much debate over the final shot of s3 that gilligan had to make a statement about it iirc

OTM, I did think the plant was meant to be significant but then forgot about it when the next exciting thing happened.

boy monkshood sure is poisonous!

Yeah, a dispiritingly weak ep this late in the game, hopefully the last one will be a coup (Gus has to die, surely). Think they´ll keep Hank alive, but I don´t rate his chances in S5 much.

Gus can't die*! He's a great character and you need someone who knows what's up and plans long-term strategies. Walt used to be a bit like that but now along with everyone else he's just reacting and scrabbling around.

*I mean, they could well kill him. But it would be a lesser show without him unless they bring in some ultimate boss baddy.

if gus is dead surely who will get hank

they have to get rid of gus, i mean i love him, but im ready for a new plot

This has felt like The Gus Year to me, so yeah, it's probably all about the rise and fall of Gus.

If Gus is gone, then there are no looming life/death conflicts. Hank/Walt/Family safe, out of the meth business, etc. They need Gus as a threat to push things forward. I will say that the ridiculous Ted turn of events leaving Walt without his pile of money ratchets things up a bit, because sans Gus they'd have to deal with practical issues, but I doubt that is how things will play out. Best bet I can think of is Walt trying to find a way to rat Gus out to the feds while saving his own skin, which seems to me fuel enough for plenty of tension/conflict/suspense, albeit of a real we've-seen-this-before variety.

I'd be bummed if they gave Walt any degree of real salvation, though. Dude is a prick. Any time Skyler gets worried about his well being I think, jeez, fuck this guy that put your whole life at risk.

This has felt like The Gus Year to me, so yeah, it's probably all about the rise and fall of Gus.

― Autumn Almanac (Schlafsack), miércoles 5 de octubre de 2011 22:00 (5 minutes ago) Bookmark

He brought down an entire cartel, and was brought down by a nutjob with a goatee.

I'd be bummed if they gave Walt any degree of real salvation, though.

They won't

Walt trying to take over Gus´ splintered empire could provide masses of plot.

I can't imagine they'll kill Hank off before he comes to the realization that Walt was Heisenberg.

he may already know

Wonder if they'd rope Hank in, have him help take down Gus while saving Walt. A family affair, as such.

Hank has no fucking clue. Yet.

you gotta assume that the final ep this season is a big cliffhanger, probably an "...is [character[] dead?" & the only q's at present are which character will that be & is he/she actually dead or no

End-of-season cliff hangers can go suck eggs

Walt trying to take over Gus´ splintered empire could provide masses of plot.

Walt has no clue what Gus' empire even entails though, even if he wasn't utterly utterly unfit to run any small part of it

fuck walt so much. totally happy for him to get offed and S5 to be The Gustavo Fring Show (starring Mike and Jesse).

― challopian rubes (sic), Monday, 12 September 2011 23:07 (3 weeks ago)

^ agree w/ this guy

BB hasn't really done stupid cliff hangers. The Gale thing was as close as they get.

end of season one was cliffhangery, if only due to the writer's strike.

"stupid" cliff hangers

he may already know

― conrad, miércoles 5 de octubre de 2011 22:13 (Yesterday) Bookmark

Hank has no fucking clue. Yet.

― Josh in Chicago, miércoles 5 de octubre de 2011 22:14 (Yesterday) Bookmark

Feel this back and forth has comprised the majority of the BB thread recently (I am in the latter camp)