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

Important follow up bit in that vulture interview

At the same time, he's venting old Walt's real frustrations.
Walley-Beckett: Yeah, in the writing of it and the breaking of it we talk a lot about the line between truth and fiction. There are things in there that are truth, but it’s all subterfuge. It’s a very fine line.

Really liked this take from Emily Nussbaum (also the idea that Todd is a "Team Walt" representative)

But what was truly fascinating about that phone call was that if it was trolling the Bad Fan, it was also trolling me: the sort of feminist-minded sucker who took the speech at face value, for nearly an hour, until I suddenly realized, in a flash of clarity, that it was a fake-out for the police. (Skyler realized long before I did.) Once my analytical skills flared back into being, I was stunned by the moment’s effectiveness. I mean, on one level, that speech was just what it looked like: Walt venting every toxic feeling he’d ever had about his wife. On another level, it was the opposite: it was Walt pretending to be an abusive husband, as a gift to Skyler. It was an apology to her, as well as an attempt to get her off the hook legally, to honor Holly saying “Mama.” Walt’s language was pretty much a PowerPoint presentation of abuser behavior, designed to make Skyler’s case in court proceedings. And yet it still had the sting of catharsis, letting Walt say what he felt: that Skyler is a whiner, a nag, a drag, responsible for anything that happened to her. Like the Bad Fans who roam the Internet (and even some Good Fans, who can make a more reasonable case for disliking Skyler), he relishes calling her a bitch.

Now, that’s all at the Walt level, inside the story. At the fan-response level, though, the scene also had two sides. There was the part that was directed at the Bad Fan who hates Skyler, and who has written entire posts on Reddit indistinguishable from what Walt said, and who now got his own language shoved back in his face, labelled “abuser-talk.” And there was the part that was designed to sucker the Prissy Progressive Fan (me) who was all too eager to see Skyler as a pure victim, not merely of abusive Walt, but also of the Bad Fan. Vince Gilligan, you cunning bastard, I am confused and delighted. In one way, this scene was “Breaking Bad” having it both ways; in another way, it was the best kind of text, evading the simple read, as emotionally labile as I felt an hour after watching it.

nussbaum link http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2013/09/last-nights-breaking-bad-that-mindbending-phone-call.html

So this just occurred to me: much like we (and Walt) had grown convinced of Walt's ability to squirm out of any tight spot until Hank's death turned that particular tide, we've also been conditioned to believe that Walt is always going to rescue Jesse when he's in a tight spot. Because that's what he's done in the past. Which is why so many people (including myself) can't seem to let go of the idea of Walt returning to ABQ with heavy weaponry to release Jesse from bondage, even though that scenario doesn't really make sense anymore given what's gone down between the two of them. Jesse's arc this season has been all about getting out from under the manipulative wing of Mr. White and finding some degree of agency. If he's to be freed, he'll be the one doing the freeing.

xpost it was one of the best-crafted scenes I've ever seen on TV I think, the whole thing just unenveloping so succinctly

my guess is that if they go for any kind of conventionally satisfying ending it'll be a la western motifs like in The Searchers--Walt on the outside of some version of domesticity or "home" while his family press on with a normal life. i hope they upend that expectation though!

Been thinking that the BFG 9000 that Walt bought maybe isn't the best for assaulting the nazis, being wildly difficult to control and all.

tho maybe he'll mount it onto an armored Winnebago and get Jr/Skyler/Saul/Hewell to drive him into the compound to fuck 'em up.

A comment from the Nussbaum post:

The phone call also exonerates Skyler in Marie's eyes. She can now forgive Skyler as a scared, battered woman instead of the willing abettor she believed her to be after she helped Walt blackmail Hank with the fake confessional video.

There's a certain satisfaction in things panning out in a more or less predictable manner from now on.

it says something about how this show has people tying themselves in knots that anyone thinks that the next two episodes are going to be "more or less predictable"

my fave moment this episode was walt jr turning on walt—feel like i've been wondering for ages how he was gonna react once he found out the truth inevitably and of course that's how it went

A comment from the Nussbaum post:

The phone call also exonerates Skyler in Marie's eyes. She can now forgive Skyler as a scared, battered woman instead of the willing abettor she believed her to be after she helped Walt blackmail Hank with the fake confessional video.

― first I think it's time I kick a little verse! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, September 17, 2013 3:15 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Marie was primed to believe this, too, per the conversation in Skyler's office when she said something to the effect of "I don't know what he did to you but it's over now."

ya for sure—i actually super liked the idea of them having some sort of rapprochement

even if its based on lies

so it turns out Skyler's the unwitting slave in the eyes of Marie and possibly the law, while Jesse really is.

Jesse's arc this season has been all about getting out from under the manipulative wing of Mr. White and finding some degree of agency. If he's to be freed, he'll be the one doing the freeing.

― Coke Opus (Old Lunch), Tuesday, September 17, 2013 3:03 PM (18 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I like this a lot.

Got to say, respect to Walter Jr for managing to take his knife wielding maniac dad down like that.

he hadn't even had breakfast yet either

I think Skyler's gonna get off scot free and that she'll have to live with the knowledge that she also has a dark side that could've led her down the same path as Walt. I was thinking that her encouragement of Jesse's murder felt a little out of left field until I remembered her willingness to cook Ted's books and the threatening/crippling visit to Ted that she instigated and her ongoing complicity in Walt's deeds when, right from the start, she could've gone straight to Hank with what she knew. She was a pawn to some degree but she certainly made her share of conscious bad decisions.

WALT AND SKYLER BOTH STARTED BREAKING BAD WHEN THEY DID ILLEGAL COOKING DO U SEE

Yeah, my heart really swelled with Flynn's behaviour in this episode: has a clear vision/moral fibre that both of his parents lack.

Related: the moralist in me is pretty unhappy with the way Skyler seems skidding toward exoneration. She "deserves" a greater punishment than her son. (Obv this "deserving" is [and should remain] irrelevant, plot-wise, but they're the sort of feelings I can't help but project onto what's happening.)

also:

http://cdn0.sbnation.com/imported_assets/1808995/E60ZhXV.gif

also croosh: was hank's death the first/only time we really see walt showing remorse? the first death that's TRULY hit him?

Some of those people on the planes almost hit him.

jane's death hit him pretty hard. not that it made a difference.

maybe the first one that really changes his life forever because it is so close him - I think he felt bad about gale and jane and crazy eight at the times

Related: the moralist in me is pretty unhappy with the way Skyler seems skidding toward exoneration

I doubt the moralist in you will be disappointed for too long.

jane's death hit him pretty hard. not that it made a difference.

Maybe not Jane's death itself but he was definitely freaked out by the plane crash.

didn't get a chance to watch until today

Jesus fucking Christ

hi aero!

I still haven't seen it – gotta wait until next Sunday.

No, I don't care about spoilers.

xxxxp I think it was the first death that really got him. It was also maybe the first time that he has tried to manipulate someone into acting a certain way and completely failed with no other recourse?

I've been watching these a day late and having a visceral reaction, then scrolling through the thread to see the reactions others had as it aired, is kind of a jarring view on the linearity of time

Matt Yglesias: why do they still have answering machines?

tbf if I cared about anybody who called on our land line, I would get an answering machine so as not to have to pay for voicemail.

But it's only robocalls and Jesse when I don't answer my work or cell phone or email or text or ILX.

this may be "methodically indexing every conceivable outcome as if... mapping the digits of pi" (nice turn of phrase by the way) but...

Could the final final confrontation end up being Skyler vs. Walt? Not suggesting the big gun or ricin is for her, I think it's clear now that he wouldn't hurt her physically - but after Walt vanquishes the Nazis and/or Jesse or whomever - do the final scenes end up being a confrontation between Walt and Skyler?

one of the dumbest things ever is tv shows and movies that assume everybody is totally up-to-date on all technology, clothing, furniture, etc. no reason a middle-aged couple in 2008 wouldn't have an answering machine

http://cdn0.sbnation.com/imported_assets/1808995/E60ZhXV.gif

http://i.imgur.com/bQXYcNx.jpg

i think it's fine to find the answering machine funny - while it's not unthinkable for a middle-aged couple to have an answering machine for a landline, it's pretty arbitrary who calls it and when (remember the drama over walt having two cellphones?) so it's not above a chuckle

maybe the first one that really changes his life forever because it is so close him

― conrad, Tuesday, September 17, 2013 3:54 PM (49 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

while watching w/friends, at hank's death & walt's rxn one of them kept repeating 'it's over now. his life is ruined now. it's over.'

this comment makes sense:

They're running a criminal enterprise. Presumably they want their messages to reside on a medium that they control (and that they can destroy immediately if need be), rather than on a telephone company's computer system.

Really, this is sort of like asking why a meth dealer insists on getting paid in cash, when these days there are convenient apps that will let your smartphone be used as a credit card reader.

makes sense if you think he bought the machine AFTER cooking meth

xxp I think it's maybe easy for us to forget that for all the carnage Walt left behind him while getting out of one disaster after another, from his perspective he was essentially doing just fine with his overall plan - he had piles and piles of money and a family that was more or less intact. Hank's death isn't just a really big thing on top of the already huge pile of awful things, it's the point where the runaway train finally derails.

I know a couple of people who still have answering machines. It's cheaper than paying for voice mail.

I could see this being some easy way to save $2 per month for the White household back when they weren't millionaires.

reasons walt would go back (may include some combination of these)

1) save his family
2) saves jesse
3) stops his blue meth recipe from being distributed

combo of those 3 seems quite likely

― Western® with Bacon Flavor, Tuesday, 17 September 2013 03:43 (13 hours ago) Bookmark

Hate to tell you man but.... Combo's dead

Combo's mom gets her revenge

combos always get their revenge

Combo returns from the dead: ZOMBO

why do they still have answering machines?

They're fans of Wait Wait Don't Tell Me and are hoping that Carl Kasell might one day record their greeting.

Walt Walt Don't Tell Me

I've been thinking about "Ozymandias", and one thing I don't really get is, why didn't the Nazis just kill Walt after they dug up the money? If they want to cook more meth, they have Jesse, so Walt is a total loose end. They just killed Walt's brother-in-law, and he was clearly quite upset, so can the Nazis really be 100% sure he won't go to the cops and implicate them on the murder of two DEA agents? Uncle Jack says that Todd respects Walt, so I guess it's supposed to be a case of Honour Among Crooks, but on the other hand that honour didn't stop them from killing Hank against Walt's wishes, from not killing Jesse even though Walt asked them to, and from stealing 80 million of Walt's money.

Uncle Jack seems like a smart guy, so would he really risk them loosing the 80 million and going to jail because of Todd's "respect"? Anyway, since they decided let Walt live, giving him the barrel of money was actually a smart move, because now he has a reason to keep quiet about the whole affair. If they left Walt with nothing, he might feel he has nothing to loose, so he could go and talk to the cops.

― Tuomas, Tuesday, September 17, 2013 3:23 AM (10 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

thought this was a really great little moment, showed why jack is the boss and undercut the tv concept of criminality as just killing everyone and taking everything, like it was obvs a mistake in this particular situation to let walt live, but the decision to keep todd happy and give walt the money is generally a successful leadership type habit, respecting relationships and all, especially since todd is family and his crew seems to have a lot of family in it