Shall we anticipate the FIFTH SEASON of the AMC series "Breaking Bad"? I think I may.

Yeah it's a shame they didn't put the same level of realism into this episode that they did with stuff like having a Chilean fast food restaurateur / meth kingpin get half his face blown off by a wheelchair bomb triggered by the desk bell that a convalescing cartel boss uses to communicate to his nurses.

^ yeah pretty unrealistic for him to be Chilean

I am happy suspending belief in detail, especially as it just pushed up the arrogance of these guys in their ability to get away with anything, maybe even child murder. Arrogance will be the downfall.

Using the advanced research skills I learned from the Skyler White School of Crime, I got pretty close to finding the proper tanker fittings in about 30 seconds http://www.midlandmfg.com/products/general-purpose-car/bottom-outlet-valves

xp lol, I threw that in there because I seem to remember some people complaining about his lack of a chilean accent.

Given the show's proven attention to detail, I would not be shocked if there is some regulation that requires hazardous liquids to be last in a train, or trains carting such being only x trains long. I think it was Slate that determined this train track/line actually exists, via google earth or whatever.

Given the show's proven attention to detail, I would not be shocked if there is some regulation that requires hazardous liquids to be last in a train, or trains carting such being only x trains long. I think it was Slate that determined this train track/line actually exists, via google earth or whatever.

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 14 August 2012 19:37 (38 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this post and this talk of attention to detail in general is bringing out a whiney-esque hatred. why do you people/why does the internet care? like it could be seen as good the people involved pay attention to these things but digging to find the exact part of trainline is way too far down the aspie rabbit hole, time wasted that could be spent doing absolutely anything else would be more productive

Also, not watching the show each week frees up an hour to do other stuff, too.

I could care less whether some fictional construct relates perfectly to something in the real world, but it seems a little odd to be both a fan of Breaking Bad and dismissive towards attention to detail.

Personally, I find the attention to detail rewarding, because it shows effort. The same goes for set design in films, or someone nailing a regional accent, or whatever. It's not vital but, go figure, it makes a difference. Unless you want some sort of Brechtian/Von Trier Breaking Bad POS.

but digging to find the exact part of trainline is way too far down the aspie rabbit hole

YMMV, and way to go with the aspie slur

Approximate time it likely takes to google trainline I estimate to be < the time a hoy hoy has spent on this thread in the past few minutes alone.

Imagine how much more fun this thread would be if it was just all chill bros going 'That ep was tite!' x infinity.

ie pretty sure THAT WOULD NOT BE THE INTERNET

one can dream, vegemitegrrl, one can.. dream

this ep was p tite imo

I would be into a show that was just Jesse and Walt getting into new trouble each week and then getting out of it with elaborate but farfetched Mission Impossible / Macgyver style capers.

tite tite TITE!

Given the show's proven attention to detail, I would not be shocked if there is some regulation that requires hazardous liquids to be last in a train, or trains carting such being only x trains long. I think it was Slate that determined this train track/line actually exists, via google earth or whatever.

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, August 14, 2012 1:37 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I wasn't going to bring it up, but I already looked up rail lines in McKinney County, NM, and except for some old mining tracks that lead up into nowhere, the main line seems to stick pretty close to I-40 – pretty much away from any dead zone.

I thought I found the filming location south of Santa Fe, but who knows.

Maybe this was a secret dead zone!

Ghost Railroads of the Western Interior

An I think non-aspie plot hole that's bugging me is, shouldn't Mike be under tons of police surveillance? Like, didn't Hank & Gomie actually say they'd be doing this? Even if not, wouldn't he assume he was?

Loved this ep so much. I get Old Lunch's (I think) point above about the pleasure in how this show walks us through dorks becoming criminals, but it's been 4+ seasons, I felt this was earned. Besides, the pulpy thrill of the whole sequence set up the final horror so perfectly.

Here's why I'm ultimately able to ignore niggling questions like "How did they know that that particular train car would stop exactly where they needed it to?": One of the running themes of the show is Walt's attempt at wrangling control over this world he's in and then being forced to problem solve on the fly and mop up (sometimes literally) in the wake those messy attempts at wresting control. That tension could have been achieved in this instance by having the methylamine car wind up somewhere inconvenient, which would then have forced Walt to Mr. Wizard a solution to the problem. But one of the other running themes (particular to this season) is Walt's increasing arrogance and feeling of invulnerability, and I think they felt it was more important to use the nearly-disastrous heist to showcase that theme instead. From a narrative standpoint, the conflict of the murdered kid is a more appropriately-scaled consequence for the post-Gus incarnation of Walt to deal with (he's taking much bigger and more fearless gambles, so the losses are going to be much more potentially devastating).

I'm looking at Mike's surveillance through a Wire lens: they probably want to do a lot more to keep tabs on him than they have the time/money/manpower/probable cause to do.

They couldn't keep tabs he left at night and was in a dead zone don't you get it? IRONCLAD!

I don't even care about the plausibility of it. It's not that Mike running around to potential cook sites & threating Lydia's life every episode is "unrealistic" but it seems like it'd be dramatically interesting to have him feel constrained--leaving Walt with more space for his ego to swell & take charge.

I thought it was even less realistic (but also really funny and intentional) that Walt knew for sure that Hank would shut the blinds and leave the office when Hank started crying.

Aaron Paul and Giancarlo Esposito in The Ghost Whisperer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ce37ApsjfKc

side note: random Wilhelm scream at 1:46

xpost

Well, if there's one thing Walt has proven really adept at, it's reading/manipulating people. He probably knows Hank well enough to predict his reaction to that particular scenario.

this was p tite btw

next FAP - Santa FE

http://www.sfsr.com/

truth be told, the ep WAS tite

I was so mad at Walt for waiting til the last possible nanosecond to call them off the train. Greedy motherfucker.

I think it's fair to say, at this point, that he doesn't particularly value anyone. Except inasmuch as their value to him as pawns. I would've said he cared about Jesse's well-being, but that doesn't seem to hold true anymore. His kids? Maybe. But only maybe. Would not be at all surprised if, before this show is over, he's forced to make a decision between his family and his business and he sides with the latter.

"Except inasmuch as they have value to him as pawns." Sheesh.

I know Walt's not really following any logic but his own deluded narrative now but every time he says to Skylar not to worry about the kids I'm like, does he not remember those Mexican psychokiller cylon twins? they would've gutted his family like fish!!!

"would've", I know but still

Like, I kinda don't get his angle with respect to his family anymore. I think he's clinging to whatever vestiges of love he feels for his kids, if only because it's just about the only shred of decency or humanity he has left, but it is a completely deluded thing at this point. I mean, his actions betray a complete lack of interest in their general well-being. I'd almost imagine that a newer struggle is taking place within himself between that love he feels and the question of whether he'd be willing to sacrifice them in the service of his Scarface-ification. Beyond that, they're really little more than pawns in his effort to keep Skylar in line (as well as property that he isn't willing to concede).

He's territorial about them in roughly the same way and to roughly the same extent as he is about his house. They're HIS.

I don't even care about the plausibility of it. It's not that Mike running around to potential cook sites & threating Lydia's life every episode is "unrealistic" but it seems like it'd be dramatically interesting to have him feel constrained--leaving Walt with more space for his ego to swell & take charge.

― RCMP, Tuesday, 14 August 2012 19:30 (1 hour ago) Permalink

the teaser for next week showed that Mike is going under heavy surveillance so I guess they just wanted to have a fun caper before dealing with that plotline.

this post and this talk of attention to detail in general is bringing out a whiney-esque hatred. why do you people/why does the internet care? like it could be seen as good the people involved pay attention to these things but digging to find the exact part of trainline is way too far down the aspie rabbit hole, time wasted that could be spent doing absolutely anything else would be more productive

― a hoy hoy, Tuesday, August 14, 2012 2:41 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

come on it's awesome that ppl are criticizing this for not being realistic and then it turns out it actually is, ultimate burn

i have to say i usually hate flash-forward shit, beginning of episode or season or w/e, but Breaking Bad does it better than any show i can think of off the top of my head. thought the whole season 2 post-plane crash thing was a good example.

Guys, not to get overly-pedantic here or anything, but "attention to detail" and "realism" are two different (if sometimes related) concepts that people have been using interchangeably in this thread. Breaking Bad is generally pretty good with the former while playing relatively fast and loose with the latter.

I remember reading an article once about men who murder their families before killing themselves. The claim was that their patriarchal ego was so dominant that they saw their family as actual appendages of their selves. So suicide necessitated the death of their families too.

Whether this is a real psychological phenomenon or not, it does seem to be a path that Walt is headed down - his concern for his families unity and safety is ultimately self-serving, not least because they provide the justification he needs for his crimes. From the very beginning he has framed his actions like that ('need money for when I die').

The interesting thing about this episode is that there is a new threat to that sense of self - Hank is literally usurping his role as father of his baby. So Hank's earlier, more literal 'castration' has shifted to a threat of 'castration' for Walt. I think we'll see some serious sparks fly between Walt and Hank; not over their opposite sides in the war on drugs, but over their rival claims as protector of the family.

tl:dr spent my afternoon reading Zizek, sorry.

Do not apologize. Excellent post.

The two references to Jesse James are now making me wonder who, in the end, will shoot Walt in the back.

yeah dowd that was great, no apology necessary!

It's like, the way Walt sees it is his motivations *started out* as noble so, pfft of course they still are! He still thinks he's doing 'all of this' for Skylar and the kids. Even though he's the greedy green eyed monster now he's still holding onto that original idea like a liferaft, like that's still the thing that makes him A Good Guy. Even though the actual motivation to provide for his family dried up almost as soon as he saw the giant piles of money. Then it just became about getting more money.

It's like his family has slowly become a standin for his cancer, and the business is his new chemotherapy. It's almost literally chemo therapy.

xpost I used to think Breaking Bad really pushed the realism boundary, but then I read that piece about the Mexican cartel dudes who had built a secret underground smuggling tunnel behind a button activated hidden door and a giant catapult to fling product over the border.

I do like how in this season Walt is all finally, fuck it, I'm spending some money. Because almost every illegal American drug enterprise story inevitably shows everyone living in squalid flats, too paranoid to spend a penny.

that was fine but did wonder why they'd choose to put twisty ties on meth tanks rather than a lock

The two references to Jesse James are now making me wonder who, in the end, will shoot Walt in the back.

― cue "White Rabbit" (kenan), Tuesday, August 14, 2012 4:49 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

jesse, skyler, hank and mike simultaneously and a nanosecond before ted shoots skyler and saul shoots mike (also simultaneous)