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

you thought it was gonna be one way but it's not it's the other way

He was who he was, and he did what he did. And because he wasn't willing to get real with the story, that shit caught up to him.

thought they'd already tipped that jesse was under the car - wasn't there a shot where you saw walt registering Jesse under the car while he was still on the ground?

Nice hole he had dug for himself, btw.

I don't like to be the dude that tells people how to enjoy TV, but anybody that's like Team Walt completely doesn't 'get' the show and should have their viewing licenses revoked.

The beauty of the show is that it propped itself up as a boilerplate "what would YOU do..." type show, then slowly unraveled Walt's modus operandi over the next 4 seasons. But you could see elements of Walt's true demeanor early on. How he kept the cancer from his wife for about a month. How his motivation for cooking abruptly shifted to wanting to be the "best" at something, and build his own empire that could financially rival Elliott/Gretchen's company. To by Season 4 and 5, he's bought so much into his own persona that he gets gratification from it ("Say my name!", "I am the one who knocks").

I like to think Vince Gilligan positions Walt as this guy that was not a victim of circumstance, but a beneficiary of good fortune. He always had the potential to be this Heisenberg guy. He had this deeply-seated resentments and was driven by ego and pride, but he was able to function normally because he had a normal life; nothing grand, financially struggling, but a solid family life, even despite his disappointments. It was more than the cancer and the opportunity to use his knowledge to cook meth kind of pulled his worst tendencies out of him, but they were always there.

I mean really, the only way for Walt to have been redeemed on this show would have been for him to crawl home crying "Honeeeee, omg I can't believe what I just did, I cooked crystal methhhhhhhhhhh and then these two guys tried to kill meeeeeeee...boohoohoo I'll never roam again, let's keep this our secret but I'm on the straight and narrow from now on!".

xp yeah, it's tipped. what's perhaps not so clear is that walt has seen him and is up for letting a bunch of AryanassholesTM cack him
and that his gaze is not directed off into nowhere while jack is talking to him but pointedly, directly on the jessie with the car on top

Team Walt forever

I'm Team Combo.

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there was also a glimmer of hope that he'd seen Jesse and was going to save him - so when he does toss Jesse to the wolves it's even worse

Some of the Team Walt folks I know celebrate his 'evil genius,' always coming out on top, etc..
I'm wondering if this episode has shown that he's been winning battles but his hubris has fucked him over repeatedly and cost him the war.

anyways, if we assume walt's cancer really IS back (and the chemo scene and fast forward suggest it is), it's gonna be pretty fucking hard for him to get anonymous treatment while on the run, so rapid deterioration and hair growing back makes sense

there's always been a vicarious thrill with Walt, but it's funny that when the whole M.O. of the show seems to designed to pull that rug out from underneath you how hard it is for some people to reconcile that with the earlier feelings. not that a MRA type is really gonna brook moral complexity in their TV dramas.

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yeah - he's no evil genius as much as he wishes he was. Always fucks up. Hank nails it with his "You're the smartest guy I know, but..." last words.

nice catch forks

I like the idea that a man can build a drug empire merely by acting out his unresolved psychological issues.

more likely he'd build a message board

if it was the 90s, he'd have set up a BBS

anyways, if we assume walt's cancer really IS back (and the chemo scene and fast forward suggest it is), it's gonna be pretty fucking hard for him to get anonymous treatment while on the run, so rapid deterioration and hair growing back makes sense

he's not really on the run though, he has a massive pile of money and someone who's seemingly enough of a magic crime guy to use that money to forge him a whole new identity. so maybe a notable plot point to come is some hitch in his new identity scheme.

but for once, instead of looking to the future, let's remember the good times:

http://25.media.tumblr.com/37f9fef3ecb0786e34e4f6630be95e0e/tumblr_mt79nooYtu1st9c2yo1_500.jpg

what I love about this show is that awful rant that Walt is giving Skylar on the phone *while* openly weeping

Cranston is ridiculously good at those complicated moments

http://i.minus.com/ibpCnMCNVp9zBX.gif

kudos

what I love about this show is that awful rant that Walt is giving Skylar on the phone *while* openly weeping

Cranston is ridiculously good at those complicated moments

― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl)

He almost seemed possessed! I watched a very haunting doco about a young alcoholic a few years back, in one scene this guy was downing bottles of red wine with tears streaming down his face, obviously having no control over his actions. Kind of reminded me of that.

VG, there was an interview with dean norris after the season opener where the interviewer made this comment on the confrontation b/w hank and walt: It’s such a loaded scene. Walt’s decision to show Hank the GPS was a little rash, though he’s so arrogant at this point that it’s not unexpected. But then he kind of runs the gamut of possible emotions: He confesses to Hank, then takes it back, then mentions the cancer coming back — feel sorry for me! — and ends with a veiled threat. Which makes Hank’s line, “I don’t even know who I’m talking to anymore,” even funnier. - and it made me think how insanely accomplished cranston & the writers are that they consistently pull off this medley-of-emotions thing with walt and have it all feel perfectly in character instead of like random bullshit being thrown at a wall

almost forgot i started this episode laughing at how bad cranston's "old walt" wig was

thought they were making a homage to JGL's forehead in Looper

That gif needs a James Brown knee-drop.

opening scene was such a great "remember the good old days" bit

I'm not saying it's a better show than either, but Breaking Bad really is doing something more interesting and engaging with its final season, and the whole idea of how to close off a TV series, than either the Sopranos or The Wire did. Or am I just feeling BB right now cause we're in the thick of it?

haven't seen sopranos, but this is hella better than s5 of The Wire (which lands easily in the "shows that died worrying about new characters we didn't worry about" box)

bb def has a more cohesive season spanning narrative than either the wire or the sopranos

you can see the progressive relaization of whats possible in the tv on dvd form from sopranos to wire to breaking bad

bb def has a more cohesive season spanning narrative than either the wire or the sopranos

this is probably true, and BB benefits from having those two as a precursor in terms of paving the way for dramatic series' with multi-season spanning arcs. Sopranos and the Wire both lived season-to-season, they were not planned out ahead of time as having discrete arcs. at the same time, Sopranos and the Wire are both way, way wider in scope than BB.

I don't think any show ending will ever top Sopranos tho tbh, just in terms of audaciousness and effectiveness and just being totally right for the series and the main character

BB is DEFINITELY doing a better job closing out than those shows, so far. but we've got two episodes to go, so let's hold off final judgment

it just seems unfair to hold it against either the Wire or the Sopranos, network politics totally different

yeah - just talking about the endings, really - all 3 did different things better than each other, and cohesive narrative + plotting virtuosity is BB's strength

but sopranos "you decide" ending - which I never much minded before - seems like more of a cop-out now with Gilligan promising a definitive closed ending to BB... then again it made sense for the Sopranos in a way it totally wouldn't for BB

the Wire was cancelled, Sopranos had to split their last season into two etc

but there's never been any question with BB that AMC was gonna bankroll it all the way

remember when the bozos writing Lost said that they had a multi-season arc with a planned ending to wrap it all up?

yeah BSG too

the wire wasnt cancelled

is there any show that avoided both introducing newer, weaker characters AND completely bungingly a series long payoff?

lol, completely bungling, i mean.

though BB could still end with everybody having breakfast in heaven

i thought the final ep of the sopranos was great but the last couple seasons not so much

the wire wasnt cancelled

I thought there was some forced hiatus between the 4th and 5th seasons...? (I never bothered watching the 5th season fwiw)

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has any other show actually done that? really been built to wrap up in the way BB seems to be heading toward?

I see shakey's point that it's not entirely fair to compare BB to shows that never tried to do what BB is doing now... also fair point that BB probably benefits from coming after those shows.

Poor Mad Men writer's room is probably watching BB this season and shitting bricks. Has Weiner ever promised that he had a grand plan?

Season Five "Wire" is a creator reading the Sunday think pieces about What It All Means.

maybe don draper should... break bad B-)

I see shakey's point that it's not entirely fair to compare BB to shows that never tried to do what BB is doing now... also fair point that BB probably benefits from coming after those shows.

wouldn't be surprised if the ghost of the x-files doesn't keep Vince on the straight and narrow when it comes to keeping focus AND a tight resolution

yeah - I think he even did one of the last episodes of X Files too - a bottle episode that went nowhere

BB's last season got split/truncated as well, let's not forget, there was behind the scenes turmoil for the last season

the other shows deserve credit for building a new Golden Age of TV Era where this show is even possible, no doubt

the last few episodes of Sopranos were perfect. maybe not as exhilarating as BB so far but it was never that kind of show

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunshine_Days