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

saul spinoff is REAL

how did they answer questions for a whole hour and never mention gus??

probably cuz he wasnt there. skylar didnt come up either!

Mike wandering off to get a beer is hysterical

so the last episodes don't start airing until august! i assumed it'd be early summer.

huh, yeah i thought it'd be right after mad men ends. what's in that gap?

Ah, I'm willing to let them take their time. They're under enormous pressure not to fuck up.

dean norris is gonna be in that mini series they're doing of under the dome, perfect for the role if it's who i think it is. betsy brandt's gonna be on that michael j fox show. anna gunn's filming something that definitely sounds like a pilot. cranston and paul are focusing on movies it looks like.

I've been thinking about the season 5 opener.

One reason Walt might have a fake ID with his real birthday on it would be if he's in a witness protection program.

That's a really interesting theory. If this is the case I assume it would be Hank's doing. So Walt is coming back with an ak47 for.....JESSE??

huh, yeah i thought it'd be right after mad men ends. what's in that gap?

― balls, Thursday, April 18, 2013 12:03 AM (4 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

my guess is hell on wheels

so I watch this show for the first time tomorrow!

it's superfun soto, don't judge until you're done w/ second season imo.

One reason Walt might have a fake ID with his real birthday on it would be if he's in a witness protection program.

― abanana, Friday, April 19, 2013 2:17 AM (4 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This explanation is too simple for me; I hope it's more complicated and horrible than that.

That's a really interesting theory. If this is the case I assume it would be Hank's doing. So Walt is coming back with an ak47 for.....JESSE??

― (from a bottle you dicks) (sunny successor), Friday, April 19, 2013 2:14 PM (4 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it's not an AK47, it's an M60. A way more mass murder-y gun.

your in for a treat alf

i think i'd assumed w/ that flash forward and then moreso now as a way out of this w/ hank that walt's in witness protection but that whoever he gave up found him and killed his family hence he's back in new mexico loaded for bear

i love u guys but august cannot come soon enough

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSUK4WgQ3vk

nice

so I just started Season Three! Walt got arrested.

yeah, he just spends the next two seasons in jail, don't know why everyone's so gung ho about this show.

that s4 episode where jesse visits him in his cell is brilliant

HELLFIRE RAINED DOWN ON MY HOUSE!!!!

He had a point

I finished the flashback episode last night. Steven Bauer's Mexican Spanish is more convincing than Gus' Chilean Spanish.

This Vince Gilligan interview was discussed in the other thread, but I thought this quote was pretty interesting, when it comes to season 5 ending predictions:

Having binge-watched, I have to ask: What can you tell me about the ending of Breaking Bad?
In my mind, the ending is a victory for Walt. You might see the episode and say, “What the fuck was he talking about?” But it’s a somewhat happy ending, in my estimation.

To me, this seems to imply Walt will die while saving Jesse (or, alternatively, his family members). Who Walt is saving him from are probably the Phoenix drug dealers, since the scene where Walt bragged to them about Jesse's meth cooking abilities felt kinda significant, though I guess it could be the Mexican cartel too. This would also explain the season 5 intro with the machine gun, and if it's Jesse he's saving, that would neatly tie with the whole idea of Walt being his surrogate dad.

This sort of scenario is pretty much the only way I can imagine the ending being a "victory for Walt". There's no way they can rehabilitate him anymore... I guess they could also come up with some sort of ironic happy ending, where Walt actually manages to get rid of all his problems and settles for a nice family life with all his money, but he's shown to be morally dead inside. But that sort of ending seems less likely, now that Hank's on Walt's case. They'd have to kill Hank, and I don't think they'll do it, since he's the most sympathetic character in the whole series.

bloodbath incoming imo.

They'd have to kill Hank, and I don't think they'll do it, since he's the most sympathetic character in the whole series.

Come on, they totally would. In fact I'd bet they will.

I don't think Gilligan would call it a "happy ending" if Hank dies... And it seems that despite being somewhat transgressive for a mainstream TV series, BB still follows the basic rules of a morality play: the guilty will be punished, and the innocent will survive. So I'd say Jr. and Hank (and the baby, of course) are the only ones who are certain not to die, everyone else is a possibile death. (Though Jesse will probably survive too, his redemption arc are pretty evident, and killing him wouldn't fit to that.)

Oh yeah, Saul will obviously survive too because of the spinoff, but that's a different thing.

In my mind, the ending is a victory for Walt. You might see the episode and say, “What the fuck was he talking about?” But it’s a somewhat happy ending, in my estimation.

does this not hint to you it might not mean a traditional "happy ending"

BB still follows the basic rules of a morality play: the guilty will be punished, and the innocent will survive

this is inaccurate too, really. plenty of innocents are punished in breaking bad. plus you know, it is about a meth dealer.

otm, 'happy' could be that the meth ring ends and all the meth dealers die (and walt's guilt is absolved because he is dead but his kids are fine)

it's futile even trying to read into a comment like that

Sorry, I wasn't writing too clearly, I meant that the morality play rules apply to the main characters. Minor innocent characters can die, but the major characters are still treated with such rules. Yeah, it's about a meth dealer, but it's been abudantly clear for a long time that the story will not end well with Walt alive and doing fine. And sure, Jesse has done awful things too, but his character arc is that he (unlike Walt) repents them, so there's still the chance he will survive and will be rehabilitated.

(xxpost)

otm, 'happy' could be that the meth ring ends and all the meth dealers die (and walt's guilt is absolved because he is dead but his kids are fine)

I dunno, this would mean Walt gets exactly what he wanted in the first place (he dies and the kids get the money), and I don't think the writers will let him off the hook that easily.

Maybe Jesse will go back to school, get a chem degree and finish the series teaching high school science.

I don't think Walt has always wanted to die, xpost.

Personally I kind of think it'd be cool if everyone except Walt died.

I don't think Walt has always wanted to die, xpost.

Not always, but after the cancer diagnosis he has. In "The Fly" he pretty much admits to Jesse that the cancer going into remission was not what he wanted, because his plan was to make as much money as possibly for his family, then die, but when that didn't happen, he doesn't know what to do next.

I don't really believe he actually wants to die. He's having too much fun indulging his tough guy fantasy.

I don't think those two are irreconcilable... A big part of why he can keep up the tough guy fantasy is that he doesn't care whether he lives or dies, so he can take risks a regular person wouldn't.

yeah, walt has changed quite fiercely (so it's foolhardy to take anything he said/felt in an earlier season and assume it points straight to his ending. xp

i think he cares btw

i really think he is terrified of death. i mean we don't even have to speculate, the end of s3, qed.

...A big part of why he can keep up the tough guy fantasy is that he doesn't care whether he lives or dies, so he can take risks a regular person wouldn't....

did you watch season 4? Walt spends the entire season begging literally everyone, with reason to, not to kill him

I think he kind of wants to die, but from cancer. That's the fate he's assigned himself. Being killed as the result of his criminal endeavour would mean the failure and invalidation of that endeavour.

Yeah, and also, at least during season 4, he is worried about the safety of his family, so he thinks he can't die until they are out of harm's way. (Though it remains unclear whether Gus was really planning of harming them, or whether Walt just overreacted and wanted to act as a saviour of his family.) Anyway, my point was that Walt feels he can die peacefully once his family is safe and they have the money he's earned. So that's why I thought AA's suggested ending won't happen, because it would mean Walt gets exactly that.

I don't think making money for his family post death is really an issue with Walt anymore. i mean hes in remission. as soon as he knew that he could have stopped but didn't. Walt biggest motivator is his ego and of course as we all know from Shakespeare and every other writer since with hubris comes not always your death but whatever circumstance is most painful.

I see the second half of season 5 being very little to do with making money and meth. Id be surprised if Walt ever cooks another batch ever. he has the money. he told everyone hes out. he seems very happy with being out. I'm sure its going to be about how Hank deals with the knowledge Walt is the other WW and how Walt is going to respond to that and of course how the whole family is going to react. Or what hank and Walt are willing to keep quiet for the sake of the family. And then on top of that Jesse probably finding out about Brock and maybe Jane.