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

true.

Frequently during (and before, and in other parts of the episode) the dinner scene, Jesse seemed to pass beyond 'awkwaaaard' into terrified. Though there's always been a strong element of fear in their relationship, I felt it was a really strong theme this episode.

sensational

i was thinking about the legacy costs.. can't remember how much the potential stoolies get every month but with another 9 years to go i can't imagine mike would have much left over from 5 mil? possible motivation for agreeing to whatever walt has up his sleeve (well, that and the fact that only walt knows where the methylamine is - though the look on mike's face suggested he would have had little problem doing what was necessary for walt to spill the beans)

the opening scene was probably the first time i've felt truly unsettled by the show. i know it's had its moments before, a friend told me she stopped watching after a season or two cos it was too dark, but the dismantling of the bike and the body etc, it was just very emotionally real and unlike how death usually is on tv.

yeah

it is almost at the point that i was asking how they're being allowed to make such hard-hitting stuff. i mean dissolving a kid in a barrel of acid ffs.

I was curious whether they would differentiate in how they treat drug trade death and civilian death, but there was literally no difference.

brilliant music in that scene

avclub review points out that there are a bunch of imitations mentioned in the episode: Miracle Whip for mayo, kelp for cavier, fake pictures of frozen lasagna vs. the actual thing.

fake methylamine?

hmm, are they gonna make some high class fake shit to sell to the Arizona dudes?

It'll be like eating a scab.

This episode was so, so well written. And they're doing such a great job depicting Walt as so despicable he makes everyone else look palatable.

he doesnt really want to kill people, can you blame him

Also he especially doesn’t want to kill the brother-in-law of the big boss cop that he has literally just come from having removed from his ass for 24 hours only, if he can avoid it

dinner scene was so excruciating. I could only get through it by staring at Jesse and pretending he was wearing a White Noise - An Electric Storm tshirt.

i don't really understand and am maybe a bit disappointed by the way they seem to toy with the corniness of walt's kingpin megalomania - obv it has to reach a dramatic crescendo but like idk, swirling a glass of whisky alone on your throne saying "i'm about empires" or the scarface refs, i know this show doesnt always have the lightest touch but guh why? it undercuts the whole journey of it being walt and his own personal life vengeances rather than anyone else and their generic gangster tv ones

another great bit of casting for the declan guy, immediately intriguing

didnt recognise the actor but kinda budget gabriel byrne with a bit of hugh jackman in there sorta thing?

i enjoyed that last week's preview made it look like somebody else discovered that kid's body and then this week that scene was in the intro

breaking bad isn't 'mad men' level misleading promo, but it still manages to keep you on your toes

Best episode so far this season.

Like eating a scab.

I can't think of any way in which everyone wouldn't have been better off if Mike had killed him rather than sellotaping him to a radiator.

They didn't kill Todd either. Mike doesn't just pile bodies up for the sake of it, and he doesn't consider Walt himself to be a danger, just working with Walt. Also killing Walt would probably give Mike a Jesse problem.

i don't really understand and am maybe a bit disappointed by the way they seem to toy with the corniness of walt's kingpin megalomania - obv it has to reach a dramatic crescendo but like idk, swirling a glass of whisky alone on your throne saying "i'm about empires" or the scarface refs, i know this show doesnt always have the lightest touch but guh why

Because Walt's high on himself right now and totally playing up that corniness, "robbin' a train" etc.

ya but like i say the basic fundamental premise of the show is the juxtaposition of mr chips and scarface - simply losing the former to the latter so literally and basically seems probably the least interesting take on it imo

Mr Chips will be back.

i thought the extra stuff about his old chemistry company was quite nicely done.

yeah and for me it's like OK nice, that's settled - we don't need to keep that stuff sacred and secret, like it's his Rosebud. we can get on with the Tragedy of Walter White.

Yeah I thought that as well, it kind of explains why Walt has been so maniacally driven. There's still a reveal there as to why he sold out and left, but I can only assume it's family-related.

isn't it to do with that couple who offered him the treatment money? he had a fling with the woman iirc

Yeah, he conveniently elides over the fact that the rift was his doing.

Just watch, Grey Matter will turn out to be a giant meth operation, too.

I hope this show doesn't end with a montage set to an ironic song of all the regular people cooking and using meth behind closed doors.

ya but like i say the basic fundamental premise of the show is the juxtaposition of mr chips and scarface - simply losing the former to the latter so literally and basically seems probably the least interesting take on it imo

This stage of the game is about Walt's megalomania (which we've been aware of from very early on) starting to break through to the surface. And knowing who Walt is, naturally it's going to manifest as cliches. Because for all of his brilliance and sociopathic tendencies, he's still largely clueless about what it truly means to be a sustainable criminal kingpin. Walt's self-image and reality haven't quite merged fully, and once they do, I guarantee it won't last long.

Yeah, he's only morphed in his own mind. Part of his arrogance stems from his ignorance; he's been teetering on the brink of death longer than he knows, but surviving cancer has given him a false sense of strength (just as his past failures have given him a false sense of entitlement). But for sure, whatever Walt has planned, Mike must be thinking of ways to take him out at this point. Of course, this show being this show, I still predict Mike will not make it out of this mini-season alive. Alas. Maybe Todd will kill him?

isn't it to do with that couple who offered him the treatment money? he had a fling with the woman iirc

didn't she want to be with him and he flaked?

I thought they were a couple and then she went with the other guy.

but like idk, swirling a glass of whisky alone on your throne saying "i'm about empires" or the scarface refs, i know this show doesnt always have the lightest touch but guh why?

yeah, that line was lame

the line was lame because walt is lame

or more specifically, walt's ambitions and sense of purpose are fundamentally lame

I thought they were a couple and then she went with the other guy.

― wk, Tuesday, August 21, 2012 9:14 AM (15 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

naw walt left

the line was lame because walt is lame

― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, August 21, 2012 9:19 AM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

^^

opening scene was great, it was so well done to show them methodically dismantling the bike (mike wearing his reading glasses) instead of the body, perfect metonymy, and the no-sound thing till jesse sparks his lighter. just perfs

i did like that they literally had multiple people yelling at him "it's 5 million dollars! just take it!" cause like fuck you wanna build an empire that's some nice start-up money bro but now they've just erased any lingering suspicion that something shrewd and ultimately wise is going on under that goddamn porkpie.

any news on the spider? parents must be worried sick by now

Todd has it

i'm calling it: todd teams up with the spider

the line was lame because walt is lame

― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, August 21, 2012 9:19 AM (20 minutes ago) Bookmark

if they underlined the lameness it might've scanned better

it is kind of great how this show has turned the viewer against walt and yet at the same time you want him to succeed at every crazy plan

i listened to this song while i was running yesterday and it made me laugh because it reminded me of walt and his empire
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuezNswtRfo

like i halfway expect them to bust this song out at some point

if they underlined the lameness it might've scanned better

Like, if you haven't figured out by now that the complexity of Walt's criminal self-image is basically on par with a Looney Tunes gangster in a pinstripe suit, smoking a cigar and shooting two ridiculously oversized gatling guns into the air while he chuckles maniacally, I don't know what to tell you.

In many ways, Breaking Bad is the television adaptation of The Mask.