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

Yes, do that:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHpUs1edbzA

breaking bad nerds are so amazingly twee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=NyyhcgCiv8k

oh yeah! i forgot what happened at the end! that does sort of make things more interesting. i just just kind of lost interest in the whole thing, but now, now i remember. i guess i can wait.

oops sorry for the two justs there
the two nows were on purpose

so i've been rewatching old seasons and that part where badger gets busted? and they go kidnap saul goodman? to, like, fix it for them? and he's like, "so, you want him shived then?" and jesse's like "NO!" and walt's like "well, hold on, how does that work" and jesse's like. "i said, NO, no shiving badger yo" and walt sighs and says "ok, no shiving" and saul comes up with the guy who'll go to prison for $30000 and he tells they guys and jesse's like "great let's do this" and sauls like "you're sure? cause just shiving the guy would be a lot cheaper" and walt like looks at jesse out of the corner of his eye, and jesse's like "yo, i said we're not shiving badger" and walt just gets this kinda wistful look, sighs, and says "ok, let's do it the other way" but he looks like he's actually kinda more into the shiving-the-guy-in-prison-and-getting-it-over-with deal?

that shit was kinda comic relief the first time, but watching it now it's hella creepy, yo

otm

yo

Reeeeeeally want to find some people to rewatch all of this/watch the final episodes with.

guys, look up:

Aaron Paul ‏@aaronpaul_8
New episodes of Breaking Bad will air July 14th. Get ready to break some shit.
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, January 3, 2013 10:29 PM (2 weeks ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

julyyyyyyyyyyyy

sigh

I love this show. All caught up now.

We finally caught up with first episodes of Season 5, and I was a bit perplexed about the episode 8 cliffhanger with "Leaves of Grass". How could Walt be so careless as to just leave it lying around in their toilet? He knows Hank knows about Gale, how Hank was interested in the mysterious "W.W.", and Hank is a frequent visitor to their house, so it's not unfathomable he might see the book. I know there's a Vince Cilligan interview linked to above, where he says Walt simply got careless, but I'm not really buying it. Walt has been shown to be pretty meticulous with hiding descriminating evidence, like the putting the poison capsule inside the electric socket... He even remembered to get rid of the lily of the valley on their back yard, even though Jesse (unlike Hank) rarely visits their house.

The only good explanation I can think of is that the book was there because Walt (at least subconsciously) wants to get caught, wants to be punished for his crimes. This would tie in with the previous scenes in episode 8, where Walt goes through the medical scan, then tells Skyler he's out of the drug business; the implication seems to be that the cancer is back, and Walt is dying, so he doesn't see the point of continuing to cook anymore. Also, maybe Walt thinks that Hank investigating the case would finally make everyone recognize him as the genius he thinks he is; there have been several scenes in earlier episodes where it feels Walt almost wants to blurt out the truth for this reason. The police coming after him would also provide him with a way of going out in a blaze of glory type of suicide-by-cop, instead of slowly dying of cancer. (Remember the speech where Walt told Walter Jr. he doesn't want Jr. to see him just wither away, like Walt saw his own dad go?)

The only problem I seen with this theory is that the cops would confiscate the White family money, so Jr. and Holly would be left with nothing. Maybe this is the arc for the final eight episodes: Walt wants to die, but before he can he has to ensure his kids get the money, no matter what happens?

yeah wow, man, i'm starting to wonder if Walt is self-destructive or not as in control as he thinks.

Er, of course he's self-destructive, my point was just that previously he's done everything he can not to get caught by the cops, the self-destructiveness hasn't manifested in that way. But if the cancer is back and he knows the end is near, maybe he is looking for some sort of punishment, and/or recognition of the fact that he was the genius Heisenberg all along.

I took it as an example of his arrogance that he won't get caught. He has become decreasingly meticulous compared to the first few episodes. Plus the book is not something you might instantly think to get rid of - it's not direct evidence of a particular crime, for instance, more a peripheral detail that he's lost sight of.
Not that any of that is a wholly different thing from being self-destructive etc

it's not direct evidence of a particular crime, for instance, more a peripheral detail that he's lost sight of.

It's a direct link to a known criminal, and Walt should know Hank would find it significant... It's not like the previous discussion about Gale's notebook was just some casual thing Walt forgot, he was clearly scared of the idea Hank might connect Gale and his "W.W.", so it seems pretty weird that for months he's held on to a book that might verify the connection, if Hank ever saw it.

I agree that season 5 showed Walt getting more arrogant, but that was when dreamed of becoming the new top dog to replace Gus... However, the episode 8 finale is three months after Walt has (at least seemingly) decided to give up the meth business and return to normal family life, so you'd think he'd done everything he could to make sure that life won't get disrupted again?

there's also arrogance of power - as walt has gained more power he has become less cautious through cockiness. i think he gets off on having that book where someone can see it, hiding in plain sight etc.
not to say that he's not an idiot though :)

Maybe his wife just found it lying around and threw it in the bathroom reading pile?

Or he just forgot about the inscription?

The implausible part about Hank finding the book isn't that Walt would've just let it lay out in the open like that, it's that a house guest would bypass the common bathroom to go use the master bathroom.

Hell, Hank seems like one of those "drive-home-to-take-a-shit" dudes anyway.

otm

Tuomas, the character is developing. He has been through many experiences. He is not permanently meticulous, permanently vigilant, permanently smarter-than. One of the general rules of crime, in fact, is that criminals always slip up. Always. What's harder to believe is how long a guy with no criminal experience would go without making this sort of oversight.

tbf Tuomas has remained steadfast these last five seasons

i bought it because i loved the scene.

It's so great he looked like he was shitting his pants, but he was already on a toilet!

I thought it was great too. I reasoned in my head that if Hank had to go, he's the kind of guy who'd have no problem taking over his brother-in-law's bathroom and shitting in it.

How could Walt be so careless as to just leave it lying around in their toilet?

How could you have watched four and a half seasons of this show without working out that Walt is a hubristic idiot who carelessly fucks up time and time again?

i bought it because i loved the scene.

― turds (Hungry4Ass), Sunday, April 14, 2013 3:30 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah i could barely look at the screen the tension was so high. i was waiting for the kid to drown or for the woman from the corporation to come pop somebody or w/e. leaving the book out seems fairly benign; it's a reasonably elliptical inscription, it wouldn't necessarily be the smoking gun for anybody other than hank, & there's a sweetness to walter reading leaves of grass on the toilet

Walt is a hubristic idiot who carelessly fucks up time and time again

this! I mean, stupid stuff like blowing up that car.. after Hank was about to give up investigating didn't he get drunk and convince him that Gale wasn't the one who knew how to make 99% pure meth.. putting a bug in Hank's office and then going back to remove it was pretty brazen.. almost getting Jesse killed at the end of that train robbery.. telling Declan that Jesse was the other brilliant meth cook seemed like a terrible idea. I always wondered what happens if he ever sees Andrea's kid again because wouldn't the kid possibly recognize him? (did I miss something?) This is without even thinking more than a couple minutes about stuff Walt has done.

believing he could walk away from the meth business - and quit delivering product to a lot of people who had deals with him for millions of dollars for the supply - and keep on living in the same house right there with his whole family in Albuquerque seems incredibly arrogant and stupid to me

can this show come back already

Walt is a hubristic idiot who carelessly fucks up time and time again

word. and he has been shown to be getting cockier and more frustrated the last two seasons consistently too

I always wondered what happens if he ever sees Andrea's kid again because wouldn't the kid possibly recognize him? (did I miss something?)

He did see the kid, but the kid didn't seem to recognize him, so apparently the poison was delivered in some mysterious way that didn't involve Walt personally.

and he has been shown to be getting cockier and more frustrated the last two seasons consistently too

I guess so... But Gale gave him the book as far back as season 3. So I don't get why he didn't get rid of the book immediately after Gale's death, or at the latest when he found out Hank has Gale's notebook and is investigating his death? It's just inconsistent that he meticulously gets rid of the Lily of the Valley and hides the poison capsule (neither of which implicate in him in any crime, unless a person who rarely visits his house happens to see them), but just casually leaves the book (which directly connects him to a dead criminal, and the organization behind him, if a person who visits his house often happens to see it) lying around.

And don't get me wrong, I thought the final scene was pretty cool, and the idea that it was Gale's revenge from beyond the grave was nice... But IMO they could've used some other way to make Hank realize the connection that would've been more consistent with what what has happened before. Unless they do actually reveal Walt wants to get caught, but I doubt that'll happen.

I think the way in which Hank found out was very deliberate. The master criminal foiled by his toilet reading material. It's meant to be a bit ridiculous

He did see the kid, but the kid didn't seem to recognize him, so apparently the poison was delivered in some mysterious way that didn't involve Walt personally.

iirc it seemed that some of Saul's thugs got the ricin pellet from Jesse so he'd think that was the cause, so Saul presumably arranged the actual poisoning too.

Pilot episode of his sitcom iirc.

tuomas' continuing wonderment that movie and tv characters aren't as intelligent as the omniscient observer never fails to amuse me

Er, I wasn't comparing Walt's intelligence to some "omniscient observer", I was comparing it to the intelligence he has shown elsewhere in the series.

most of the series has been Walt somehow weaseling his way out of the consequences for making phenomenally dumb decisions, the first of which was cooking meth

tuomas you seem to have a persistent difficulty in accepting character flaws in fiction

as mh said, if there is ONE consistent thing this show has hammered home, is that walt makes mistakes and bad decisions constantly and consistently, but is smart and wily enough that he manages to stay a pube-hair ahead of them

Solution: pretend ILX is a serialized novel.

xp

"i don't get it, why wouldn't this guy just use google? totally implausible someone would continue to act this way imo"

that implies a significant change in character, imo

He's been through quite a few things which would, you know, change your character.

Jesse Pinkman: Dude this isn't even seven grand alright, my guy wants eighty-five.
Walter H. White: This is all the money I have in the world. You're a drug dealer... negotiate.
Jesse Pinkman: Y-Y-You are not how I remember you from class, I mean like not at all.
Walter H. White: I gotta go.
Jesse Pinkman: Wait wait hold on. Tell me why you are doing this... seriously.
Walter H. White: Why do you do it?
Jesse Pinkman: Money... mainly.
Walter H. White: There you go.
Jesse Pinkman: Nah come on... man, some straight like you giant stick up his ass all of a sudden at age what 60 he's just going to break bad.
Walter H. White: Fifty.
Jesse Pinkman: It's weird is all okay it... it doesn't compute. Listen if you've gone crazy or something. I mean if you've if-if-if you've gone crazy or depressed I'm... I'm just saying that that's something I need to know about. Okay, I mean that that affects me.
Walter H. White: I am... awake.
Jesse Pinkman: What?
Walter H. White: Buy the RV. We start tomorrow.

walter white being labelled 'meticulous' is like buzz lightyear insisting he could fly when woody pointed out he was merely 'falling with style'.

he's meticulous with the one thing he knows about (chemistry) and wrongly things he can generalize his expertise to other things. which is a self-awareness blind spot lots of people, maybe everybody, have to some extent

*thinks

survivor bias plus years of resentment

Walt's not a chemist now, he's a crime boss.

If you don't believe me, just ask him!