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

and her plan is terrible! my brother in law the obsessive dea agent is on to us but maybe we can just ride it out

What's the alternative, though? She knows that if Walt is caught, she'll probably go down with him... What with all their laundry business and everything, it'd be pretty hard to prove she knew nothing about Heisenberg, and Hank probably couldn't stop her from getting prosecuted too. So when Hank put that recorder on the table, he pretty much revealed his hand to her: he has nothing on Walt unless she talks. With the cancer coming back, she figures her best alternative is to wait for Walt to die, to ride it out.

I think VegemiteGrrl is right that the moment Hank mentions the cancer is when Skyler figures out this is what she could do. Yeah, it's selfish, but that's how she's portrayed throughout the series. BB is hardly a feminist show, but at least what she does here is consistent with her character; self-preservation seems to be her number one motive, and at the moment she seems to think the best chances for that are to side with her sociopath husband. I thought the scene where Walt is ready to give himself up but Skyler says no was nicely done: just proves how far down the rabbit hole she's gone by now.

Also, I think this episode kinda pulls the rug under the "Walt will kill Skyler" theory, no? Because unless she changes her mind and does decice talk to the cops, what reason would Walt have to kill her?

She bitching about Walt buying Walt, Jr another car

the obvious choice is for scarlip to ask for immunity and spill the beans on walt, and maybe even keep the money, i think tho skylar really really doesnt want to be exposed and humiliated publicly, which is understandable but her other option is to side with the murderous psychopath and prob having everything turn out much much worse

Because unless she changes her mind and does decice talk to the cops, what reason would Walt have to kill her?

suspicion that people MIGHT talk has been plenty reason for Walt to kill somebody so far

self-preservation seems to be her number one motive

keeping rather than losing the giant pile of money also seems to be a motivating factor

Also, I liked how the diner scene showed that Hank, probably the most sympathetic main character in the show, isn't alway as great as he'd like others to think... It was pretty obvious that his biggest interest was not to help Skyler but to catch Walt, that's why he took the recorder out as soon as he had the chance, he probably thought Skyler being in a shock state would be the best opportunity for him to get a confession out of her.

the obvious choice is for scarlip to ask for immunity and spill the beans on walt

I know this card is often pulled in movies and TV, but does American law really work like that? If the prosecution finds out Skyler knew where the money came from and willingly helped Walt launder it, would her testifying against him really give her immunity?

Because unless she changes her mind and does decice talk to the cops, what reason would Walt have to kill her?

suspicion that people MIGHT talk has been plenty reason for Walt to kill somebody so far

Well yeah, but you'd think that suspicion will go away when the cops won't come knocking on their door the next morning?

not really? she could change her mind and spill the whole story to Hank at any point.

I know this card is often pulled in movies and TV, but does American law really work like that? If the prosecution finds out Skyler knew where the money came from and willingly helped Walt launder it, would her testifying against him really give her immunity?

― Tuomas, Monday, August 19, 2013 3:51 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

its not guaranteed but it could happen sure, particularly if she portrayed herself as walts victim, offering reduced sentences using informants etc is prob the single biggest way law enforcement gathers evideince

does American law really work like that?

short answer is yes, it does work like that. long answer has some caveats and stuff. (xpost)

good question... definitely by TV rules, though it makes sense, her only crimes are really money laundering and harassment, vs. like a dozen counts of murder and racketeering

tbh Tuomas I don't think anyone on this show is sympathetic.

not really? she could change her mind and spill the whole story to Hank at any point.

I guess so, but the bathroom scene made it feel like Walt really believed her when she said she isn't gonna talk. I mean, he even offered her the chance of him giving himself up, but Skyler still said no.

good question... definitely by TV rules, though it makes sense, her only crimes are really money laundering and harassment, vs. like a dozen counts of murder and racketeering

Don't forget that if the whole thing goes to court, Ted Beneke will probably come out and testify against Skyler too.

Huell and Bill Burr otm

they really shouldve taken the money

And if eyebrow man is gonna tell the court how the Whites acquired his car wash, that isn't gonna help Skyler sound like a victim either.

(xxpost)

Also, I liked how the diner scene showed that Hank, probably the most sympathetic main character in the show, isn't alway as great as he'd like others to think

he did beat jesse to a pulp

she just has to say he threatened to kill her and so forth

Beneke's another one who'll keep his mouth shut if he knows what's good for him.

Walt looked so fragile in that bathroom floor scene.

I think almost everyone on the show is sympathetic.

Sympathy has little to do with why I like or dislike shows so I'm no judge.

theyre all sympathetic in their own way even walt who is a psychopath because he did what lies in all our hearts and went gangster

I love how Hank starts off being very sympathetic to Sk'lar and within less than a minute he's hinting to her how she needs to snitch and has a recorder in pretty much no time at all. He turns from sympathetic ear into pig cop and she's got the "fuck you, piggy" instinct.

Notice she said absolutely nothing when Marie was talking to her, either. Her own sister could be wearing a wire, she's not gonna say shit.

ya hank really blew it he needed to take step back

enjoyed the creative license of showing Walt digging a big-ass hole in the middle of the desert all by himself

ain't no dude digging a hole that big within a day

hes v determined

but sometimes he collapses (he has cancer u know)

lol I don't find Hank very sympathetic either myself - he's a blowhard and not half-as-good a cop as he makes himself out to be

hank is a really good investigator tho it seems like, unless he has to speak mexican or deal w exploding heads

I often wonder if this show can pull off the task it seems to set for itself--in terms of making Walt the villain and really turning the audience against him rather than just get us to intellectually agree he is immoral or whatever--since (if indeed that is what they are trying to do) that would set them against pretty powerful narrative forces and a charismatic performance. I think even now ("tread lightly") there's an illicit thrill in Walt's gangsterisms that sorta renders the moralism of the show moot.

he's such a good investigator it took him over a year to figure out his bro-in-law is a big-time meth dealer

xp

if you only have that one data point then sure

I find Hank sympathetic in that he's a decent family man and good with his nephew and niece.

He and the entire DEA were obnoxious as fuck for so long, posing next to corpses and cracking jokes about drug dealers and being general cocky pieces of shit. When Walt hit the big time and got so far out ahead while the DEA was getting played by Gus (and Hank was getting shot) they made him more sympathetic in that he was less of a cocky loser and more of just a loser.

but yeah, speaking mexican and exploding heads

yeah I agree w all that

the thing with that is that Walt being under Hank's nose all along is that Hank would probably have caught Walt if he was doing his off-the-books detective work of season 4 with anyone but Walt.

ain't no dude digging a hole that big within a day

yeah, that annoyed me too

I don't have a giant home theater complex and I've been playing loud music in clubs for the last 20 years. Fuck do I ever hate episodes where half the dialogue is whispering.

― combination hair (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Sunday, August 18, 2013 9:03 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

oh man this annoys the crap out of me esp since we can only watch when the kids are asleep so we turn it up to hear the dialogue then boom a commercial or music or something is suddenly loud as fuck. by the time you turn it down theyre back to whispering again. i ended up rewatching season 5 part 1 one night with closed captioning on

I don't have AMC so I watched it over lunch with headphones on like a bad employee, worked for me

seems like they could just make the whispers loud when they mix it why not

dynamic range and the loudness war. google it

oh i know I KNOW

the hole digging was TOTALLY ridiculous
dude couldn't have done that even in his prime

It's kind of what dudes in their late teens/early 20s who are all like "yeah, I've never done <some physical thing> but if I had to I could totally flip out and do it"

Kind of like how they watch The Godfather or w/e and think they could definitely be a crime boss, if they really wanted

i assume the louboutins were for the trademark SPLASH OF COLOR that gilligan likes

i had images of walt getting his shirt caught on one of those huge barrels o'cash and being dragged into the hole and crushed like a bug

rest of season just long time-lapse shots of walt's decomposing corpse

He totally could've dug that whole. Just needs some meth.

maybe he was there for days. making a fun weekend of it like he did back in the day with jesse and the rv.