Breaking Bad

[The Narrator Returns]

So the reason the Saul series is a prequel is because otherwise it'd be an exploration of the manager of a Cinnabon in Omaha

It's interesting to note (or maybe it's not) that Bob Odenkirk has a role in Alexander Payne's upcoming Nebraska, which is either a coincidence, or we're getting six seasons and a movie.

[mfunk9786]

So Walt could be returning:

01. To free Jesse and prove he's a good guy to himself before he dies
02. To kill the owners of Gray Matter for disrespecting his contribution
03. To kill the nazis and Jesse if necessary to get back this now worthless money

Any other guesses? I love that the penultimate episode has aired and we're still not entirely sure why Walt has returned to ABQ.

[flyonthewall2983]

I'm not totally convinced he's got his mind set on his former partners in the previous cold openings. Possibly because he already just killed them, or something happens in between him leaving the bar and arriving in ABQ.

EDIT: It didn't occur to me until just now that he could have read that as Jesse still being alive. So he's definitely not going after his former partners (maybe).

[mfunk9786]

He hears about Jesse still being alive, my best guess is that he took those words about being a sweet man inside to heart and decides he needs to free Jesse. Do I think that'll go well, and everyone whistles a happy tune? No. But I think that in Walt's mind, that's why he decides to make the drive, the purchase, and the ricin acquisition. Still of the mind that he'll use the ricin on himself before driving up and opening fire. All that being said: I don't think we're done with his family, and I don't think what's left will be good, either.

[domino harvey]

Emmys for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama and... Best Drama

[Black Hat]

Whatever goes down next I'm amazed at how they're going to be able to fill it all in the 75 minutes. Seems like there's still a lot of ground to cover before we even get to the endgame.

[Professor Wagstaff]

Emmys for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama and... Best Drama

Anna Gunn's takedown of the Skyler haters definitely worked in her favor. Good for her!

[Professor Wagstaff]

I'm waiting for the Breaking Bad/Friday Night Lights mash-up edit that suggests Landry Clarke shot Epyck on behalf of Principal Tammy Taylor, y'all.

[mfunk9786]

Whatever goes down next I'm amazed at how they're going to be able to fill it all in the 75 minutes. Seems like there's still a lot of ground to cover before we even get to the endgame.

If this show is good at anything (and I don't hedge like Domino - I think it's good at everything ) - it's montage and passage of time within a short period of runtime. I wouldn't sweat it. Gilligan wanted to wrap things up with a 13 episode fifth season, AMC wanted two. They decided on two 8-episode chunks, and the writing room took an extra few weeks to break the final 8 scripts. This is all playing out exactly how Gilligan and his team want it to.

[Black Hat]

Agreed. I have no doubt that they're going to be able to pull it off I'm just awestruck by it. There's Marie, Todd/Lydia, Jesse, Skyler, Huell (do they even go back to him?) and so on and so forth. Is Saul now done after walking away?

[knives]

I'm sure we won't be seeing any of the comedy characters from here on out. By the way I'm surprised there's not been more applause for Mitte's thing this episode. These last two have been surprisingly affecting with him.

[Cold Bishop]

My takeaway from this episode: Dimple Pinch's sale are about to go through the roof.

[flyonthewall2983]

I'm sure we won't be seeing any of the comedy characters from here on out. By the way I'm surprised there's not been more applause for Mitte's thing this episode. These last two have been surprisingly affecting with him.

His end of the phone call was devastating.

[cdnchris]

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium

Two copies!

[Roger Ryan]

I had assumed that the conversation with Saul (as heard in the preview) would have to be a flashback from before Walt was picked up by the vacuum cleaner repairman, but it makes complete sense that Saul would need to "disappear" as well. A fitting final scene between the two.

Jesse is definitely getting the worst of everything here. I'm starting to think it would have been better for him to have been killed a few episodes back! I can't imagine him being able to deal with the trauma of it all if he survives.

[warren oates]

If this show is good at anything (and I don't hedge like Domino - I think it's good at everything ) - it's montage and passage of time within a short period of runtime.

I agree, though I'd probably put it a little differently. For me, this aspect of what really makes the plotting/the structure of the storytelling on Breaking Bad so great is that the writers are constantly asking themselves what the next logical step in the story is and then how they can reasonably skip over it in a way that will keep the audience on its toes and force us to fill in some blanks. So it's not just about montage or the compression or passage of time but about managing and manipulating audience expectations at the point where they're all breaking story in the writers room.

Loved Saul's final scene. For all of his colorful speech and shady connections, Saul's always been one of the more level-headed characters on the show. When he say's "it's over," it's over. I can imagine him being the worst Nebraskan fast-food manager in history for a while and somehow, eventually, perhaps not practicing law again, but starting up some extra-legal schemes if not so much for the money then just to stave off boredom.

Speaking of which, how sad was that scene where Walt paid his new identity man $10,000 for an hour long game of cards whilst taking his black market self-administered chemo (and how come he's regrown all his hair? has it been a while since the last dose? is the stuff he can get on the sly just not potent enough?)

Agree with the praise for Mitte's brief but intense appearances in the last few episodes. I think I liked the reaction in the car wash office even better, because it was like he was regressing emotionally to the first moment in his life when he realized his parents weren't perfect, that they could be hypocrites: "But if that's true, then you're a liar. How do I know you're not lying to me right now?"

Agree that Jesse's now living a life that's for him worse than death, having seen the murders of everyone he holds dear and knowing that Walter and he are responsible. I think if Walt frees Jesse it will be an afterthought of his apocalyptic revenge on the Nazis. And that what happens in that moment where they both look at each other -- surprised to both be alive amidst this carnage and chaos -- will end up defining their relationship and the tone of the whole final episode. Both of them had previously wanted the other dead. Both of them now have lives that are in just about every way worse than death. Are they going to use their last dark moments to go at each others' throats? To reconcile in some small way? Or to limp away?

[flyonthewall2983]

Speaking of which, how sad was that scene where Walt paid his new identity man $10,000 for an hour long game of cards whilst taking his black market self-administered chemo (and how come he's regrown all his hair? has it been a while since the last dose? is the stuff he can get on the sly just not potent enough?)

I think the guy said he'll come in once a month which makes me think two months went by by the time we see Walt with his hair again.

And damn that scene was sad. Especially when Walt asks him, in the most desperate he's been the whole show in my opinion, if he could take that money to his family once he dies. The response was perfect, too.

[warren oates]

And damn that scene was sad. Especially when Walt asks him, in the most desperate he's been the whole show in my opinion, if he could take that money to his family once he dies. The response was perfect, too.

And perfectly ambiguous. Only an actor of Robert Forster's caliber could have pulled that off. But his personal energy at this moment in his career is just perfect for this role and for that line. He's like the Max Cherry of heavy duty new identity men. There's really nothing -- except his professionalism -- stopping him from forcefully taking all of Walt's money right now just like the Nazis did. And his answer to Walt is even more about acknowledging that what Walt desperately wants/needs to hear from him -- that he will do it, and also that it will magically be possible in the future to send his family large sums of money without any authorities noticing, that Walt's whole misadventure into crime won't come to nothing, that he'll have some sort of legacy -- is something he could never reasonably promise anyone in Walt's position. All of that in his laconic non-answer answer.

[flyonthewall2983]

Andrew Ross Sorkin's article mentioned in the Charlie Rose interview.

[domino harvey]

I think the guy said he'll come in once a month which makes me think two months went by by the time we see Walt with his hair again.

He's been by at least once before since there's newspaper clippings up on the wall in the cabin, so two months at the minimum, but I assumed a lot more time had passed since the first visit-- grand juries and house seizures and so on take time

[Murdoch]

Man am I glad this just has one episode left, I don't think I could watch Jesse's life deteriorate any further. That execution of Andrea was unwatchable.

[flyonthewall2983]

I think the guy said he'll come in once a month which makes me think two months went by by the time we see Walt with his hair again.

He's been by at least once before since there's newspaper clippings up on the wall in the cabin, so two months at the minimum, but I assumed a lot more time had passed since the first visit-- grand juries and house seizures and so on take time

Probably, 3-4 months max since it's still winter (assuming it's in the middle of the season when he's dropped off).

The Andrea scene was pretty bad. Aaron's reaction is just devastating.

[warren oates]

Still, I know this is a minor point, but it's one that confuses me. Not so much the amount of time Walt's been in NH but the specific reason his hair would be filling in with any kind of normal thickness, given that he's supposedly resumed chemo on his own (whether it's working to beat the cancer back or not). Are we to take this as a sign that he had no treatments for weeks-months? Is it that the black market stuff is both less potent and in shorter supply? Or all of the above?

[Cold Bishop]

It may also be the lack of radiation therapy.

[Noiradelic]

Still, I know this is a minor point, but it's one that confuses me. Not so much the amount of time Walt's been in NH but the specific reason his hair would be filling in with any kind of normal thickness, given that he's supposedly resumed chemo on his own (whether it's working to beat the cancer back or not).

Chemo doesn't always cause hair loss depending on the type and the dosage. Perhaps one or the other's different than his last course of treatment.