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

I really love how politely sociopathic Todd is

Breaking Bad Death Pool Poll - Season 5 - Episode 15 (Sept 22 2013)

and you guys were right about the Jane thing! *eats hat*

my big problem with bringing back jane was that I assumed its only potential value would be "yet more motivation for jesse to attack walt," as jesse attacking walt was major plot-motivator at the moment. i never could have guessed that jesse would be helpless an episode later, and that it would be used by walt as a knife-twisting move, the motivation for which being either "walt fucking hates jesse" or "walt wants jesse to hate him" or both.

This show is amazing.

the Nazis have good reason for trying to dispose of Sky-Ra and Marie, so that could be another thing behind the return + the destroyed house.

― Waluigi Nono (Merdeyeux), Monday, September 16, 2013 11:26 AM (32 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ya this seems like the most likely impetus for walts return, particularly as driven by lydias fastidiousness for tying up loose ends whoever said that upthread

damn it people, the house didn't look that destroyed, it just looked abandoned and it seemed that kids had been breaking in and using it as a hangout

― beautifully, unapologetically plastic (mh), Monday, September 16, 2013 11:27 AM (33 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

its not abandoned or destroyed its a crime scene w a big ass fence around it

i keep thinking about how dean norris played hank's death - imo he managed to get both defiance and a regret in those stares

not sure why i put an "a" before regret

yeah I loved hank in those final moments

hes real good

went out rolling his eyes at walt as always

nor-dog owns, glad hank got to go out with a cool line at least

yeah i love that he got a cool line without having to be a cartoon badass, that while he accepted his fate he wasn't, like, happy about it

i've been watching x-files on netflix and was pleasantly surprised by him stomping through the pus bubble episode as a marshal

sorry for your loss was

lol nice name

look on ye mighty and SB

Something that bugged me at the beginning of the desert scene: how the fuck did Walt get his glasses back on?

hah i thought that too

gonna rewatch, wish me luck.

A bullet ricocheted against Walt's glasses as they fell, propelling them back onto his face. I claim my No-Prize.

hader was pretty good on talking bad. the rest of the celeb fans have been annoying as fuck.

No one can be annoying as Chris Hardwick

can we just agree that teens have probably been chilling in the house along with skating in the pool regardless of why the house is empty

i don't know if I'd want to watch Talking Bad even if they didn't put Low Interest In between

ahh its not bad. its nice to see the cast and gilligan taking about the show.

I've been listening to the Breaking Bad podcast - which does have a few moments of genuine insight from Gilligan and the writers, but the backslapping and shout-outs on the level of "the clean-up crew guys we have are just amazing - they were out there raking the desert between every take" make it a bit of a slog... never seen Talking Bad though.

yeah but Gilligan is a genuine give-props-where-props-are-due guy, I don't find that part annnoying -- that's his personality

I will watch the Hader Talking Bad episode

I hate-watched Talking Dead so I know what I'm in for ---it's only ever as good as the guests, otherwise it's just an annoying circle-jerk

i don't watch commentary tracks between episodes a show, i wait until i've seen the whole season, if ever

xpost
I know, it's sweet that he's so into his team - just a lot of other things I'd rather hear him talk about...

I'm more blown away by Hank's death on a narrative/thematic level the more I think about it. I spent the last week devising a million different scenarios for Walt to save the day (much as I'm sure Walt was doing in the back seat of the car between episodes). The viewer, like Walt, grew so convinced of his ability to weasel out of any tight spot that it became almost inconceivable that things might not go his way. When he finally encounters a situation that he can't maneuver around with brains/luck/money/force, he and we are slapped in the face by the true limit of his power and everything unravels. I'm sure there was a lot of discussion in the writer's room about whose death was going to be the one to underscore Walt's ultimate impotence. As bleak as it was, it could've been a lot worse (and the knife fight was a bazillion times more tense given that it took place during the same episode).

in case anyone missed it (tuomas), Hank died mid-episode

I was half-expecting Walt to drive up and waltz in when Marie was strong-arming Sky-ra ... if only he hadn't run outta gas he might have pulled it off (I assume that's what the point of that barrel-rolling scene was, to give Marie time to work her conversion scheme)

i love how self-aware the staging and direction of the knife scene was...they knew how keyed we are to expect a tragic accident - at one point i swear they just hold the thing up so walt jr could just leap on to it - but it winds up serving as a misdirect for when walt takes holly instead

Was convinced Holly was going to croak before the end of the episode.

me too

and just how layered the motivations are. Marie's treatment of Skylar, Walt's treatment of everybody, you can't say they're just being cruel or just trying to help. the resentments and love are so intertwined

at one point i swear they just hold the thing up so walt jr could just leap on to it

yeah the next shot after she grabbed the knife was of her waving the knife in front of Walt Jr.'s torso

Walt's phonecall where he threatened to kill Skyjar seemed a bit OTT to me - I mean, what motivation would he have to kill her now? it would be sort of pointless.

that's the thing - even if he was aware of the police and on some level trying to get her out of trouble, that wasn't a cooly considered rant he was giving

again, that call was to clear skyler from being charged as his accomplice
it was ott because it was meant to be

that whole monologue was *ridiculously* cruel

felt like todd and jack both knew right away that they were gonna keep jesse as a meth slave

The question remains, did Walt figure this out too, or did he buy Todd's lie that they're just gonna make Jesse tell everything he knows, then kill him? Because if Walt bought it and thought they'd kill him, then I guess the plot for the final two episodes is that Walt somehow (via Saul?) finds out about Jesse's fate, gets a final pang of conscience, buys the gun and saves Jesse, and dies. Which would be okay, I guess, except that I'm not sure if I want such a clean redemption arc for Walt, and making the final bad guys to be Evil Nazis feels a bit too easy, a bit too black-and-white for a series like this.

Anyway, whatever happens, I predict the final scene of the show will be Jesse in the midst of Alaskan nature.

it was a hotly considered rant that was killing him to do it but it was "the right thing to do"

forks are you genuinely under the impression that walt knows exactly what he's doing and saying every second here? To me, he's one step ahead and three steps back.

do you think he intentionally took holly to get skylar to call the cops so he could give a planned rant where every line had a specific intention?

Wasn't he trying to get the cops to protect her? in reality from Lydia and the Nazis, but by making the cops think she's in danger from him

There was definitely a mixture of calculated goodwill (wanting the best outcome for his family amidst incredibly fucked up circumstances) and desperate anger (lamenting the fact that he'll never have any of that family in his life again) in Walt's call to Skyler.

xpost i meant with the call - not snatching holly

xp
nah, i don't think he had any idea what he was doing when he took holly. that was walt and walt is out of control and ridiculous I AM THE ONE WHO KNOCKSness
the "mama" bit took him out of not seeing the situation analytically. the phone call was heisenberg, same as the "confession" video was.

i've watched the scene three times now and i'm pretty sure that's the intention by the writers/actors