One of the parts of reddit that I still somewhat enjoy are the discussions around episodes of television, especially the shows that benefit from discussion like Breaking Bad.
So, I thought I'd see if Hubski could do it just as well (in fact, I think the community here is much more preferable for various reasons).
So, who's seen it yet? Thoughts?
Note: I'm about to watch it, so will be back in few hours to join in.
Edit: obviously spoilers ahead. Tread lightly/beware, et cetera.
Breaking Bad is my single tradition upheld since day one of the show. It's the only thing that I actually set aside time for, sit down on Sunday, and watch the premiere of each episode. To be at this point now in the show.... to just know that we've come to this from the point where it was a chemistry teacher taking off his pants to cook in an RV is chilling. Season 4 was the single greatest season of television I've ever seen, with special notice for Crawl Space, and I have no doubts in my mind that by the time this is over, the entirety of season 5 will match or surpass that. It's great also seeing the scene in the new episode where he walks into his house and it's revealed that the world knows what he's done. I want to see him crushed, because there's no longer any humanity left in him at all; Walt is truly a person of absolute evil. Yet when he stands in front of the spray-painted 'Heisenberg', you can't help but feel a tinge of sympathy behind the hatred. I mean he's been through some awful shit and, while I can't call him human anymore, he's something resembling it, and once was a human. Jesse is going to be the most important factor in the end. He's the only moral character left, and he's clearly going mad from it. I don't know what part he's going to play in it all, but sadly he's most likely going to end up dead. From an artistic standpoint as well, the episode was staggering. The cinematography from the first scene with the kids on the skateboards in his pool, to the shot of Walt in front of the Heisenberg tag, to Jesse at the Dog Pound, to the last scene, with the garage door closing and Hank and Walt's eyes burning at each other was flawless. I'm loving as the seasons progress as well, the subtle color coding for the characters gets more and more blatant, more revealed. At this point, every aspect of the colors is prevalent at all times, as if everything is at its maximum saturation. It's really gives you the feeling that this is the endgame and every from here is collapse.
I just read that they are one step closer to green lighting "Better Call Saul," a prequel to the Breaking Bad series that focuses on Saul Goodman's character. I'm excited for it, Bob Odenkirk is hilarious.
The fact that you mention hating Walt is interesting. I don't hate him, and I don't think my flatmate does, either. I think I knew from the start, as most people did, that he was going to get to this point, going to get this bad, and that has had an influence on me and how I interpret his character: the horrible things he does doesn't leave me thinking "wow, how horrible", but rather "holy shit, that was fantastic, look at how terrible he's getting". There was a while during which I really hated his character, but it wasn't because of horrible things he had done, but more smaller things, like the way he acted and treated other people - really minor stuff compared to murder et cetera. I'd be interested to see how other people feel about his character. Thoughts, b_b, onehunna? (I'll refrain from tagging TNG and MK in case they haven't seen it yet).
I hate Walter. He's pretty much gone full antagonist for me at this point. Dude is a despicable human being--how could anyone even argue otherwise? He's consistently shown that he will commit any atrocity to save his own ass. He lets his own pride and ego get in the way constantly. I think the major turning point from 'relatable character in a desperate situation' to 'total villain' was when he made the choice to poison Brock with the Lilly of the Valley. After that he went from Walt the dying high school chemistry teacher turned meth cook into Heisenberg, straight up. To me, Jesse is 'the protagonist' of the show--he's the one I'm rooting for. Walt can eat a dick.
See, I'm not sure how or why but I think I've developed a disconnect of sort from Walt and his actions. I think it probably stems from the fact that I first started watching Breaking Bad as a study in a media studies class, so spent ages analysing the show and his character - something that I still do (it's probably actually my favourite part of the show). The one thing that stuck in my mind was an interview with Vince in which he said something about the entire series essentially being an experiment of sorts into how long it would take him to transform Mr Chips into Tony Montana. I think because of this I've always approached the terrible things he's done in this nearly comic way. I think if I didn't have this view, I'd probably hate Walt much more. As it is, I just love seeing how terrible he can get. Jesse is my favourite, though, definitely the protagonist in many ways. He's done some pretty bad stuff, too, but he has a conscience, he's the one who has grown the most throughout the show (whereas Walt has less grown and more self-corrupted).
I completely agree that the Brock poisoning was Heisenberg's real coming out party. After that it was obvious that Walt no longer cared about anything beside being the king, not people, not friends, not even money anymore. Money, his original motivator, is now completely inconsequential to his goal, which I think is to shit on the world that sleighted him. Although the look on Walt's face when he shot Mike still was one of horror.
You almost get the sense that Jesse and Skylar are going to come to the realization that their only out is to turn themselves in. At the very least, Jesse seems to understand that if wants to stay alive, he has no choice but to play Walt's game. His only other option would be to go to the Feds, but but that could get him killed in a heartbeat, too. To me, Jesse is both the most sympathetic and most interesting character.
I'll preface what I'm about to say by saying that yes, there are spoilers that aren't blacked out in the following. It's your fault if you click on a BB discussion if you haven't seen the latest episode yet. Anyway last night's episode was amazing, IMO. It's too often that anticipation leads to disappointment, but I didn't have that feeling yesterday. I think that Walt has solidified himself as a complete sociopath (if he hadn't already). The two scenes that I thought were priceless were the scene between Walt and Jesse and the Walt/Hank showdown. In the Jesse scene the only true statement that came out of Walt's mouth was, "I need you to believe me." I think Walk does need that, both for his own operation to continue smoothly, and so that he doesn't have to kill Jesse, who I think he actually cares about, perhaps the only person he cares about besides his own kids. The ending of the show gave me chills, too. The line (paraphrasing) where he tells Hank, "If you really don't think you know who I am, then maybe you should tread lightly," is the greatest line in the whole show so far. Cranston deserves an Emmy for that. It was brilliant. Whatever happens this season, I'm super geeked about it. The teasers with the giant gun in the back of the car are leading us to believe there is a Scarface-esque showdown in the offing (which was, of course, alluded to earlier in season 5 when Walt and Jr. are watching it on TV and Walt specifically points out the ending scene to Jr.), but who knows. Walt is way slimier than Tony Montana, so maybe he doesn't have a shootout in him, but only thinks he does. The only certainty is that this is going to end poorly for everyone.
I'm really interested that his cancer is back, and I think this is going to have a huge impact on the outcome of the show and the showdown (if there is indeed one). It's also really interesting that he hasn't told Skylar - both because he didn't right at the very start, and because of the first half of this season and her waiting for his cancer to come back and kill him. I think this season is the one where Skylar's character is validated. She's been unpopular all along, but her character's always been important as a foil to Walt - and in this season most of all I think she's going to do some really interesting things.
Spoilers ahead. TREAD LIGHTLY SON. That shot of the wall with 'HEISENBERG' spray-painted in yellow sent a shiver down my spine. That definitely means that Walt's past actions are common knowledge. So was it Hank that exposed him? And why was Walt retrieving the ricin? Obviously he has to take someone out quietly, but who could it be? I've heard some people say for suicide but why would Walt use ricin of all things to commit suicide. So is it Hank? Or is it Jesse? Unfortunately, I think Walt has already killed Jessie by this point. So my best guess is Hank. Speaking of Hank, when that garage door started to close... Oh my shit. That punch had the force of a thousand minerals packed behind it. I can't believe they had that confrontation this early in the season. Walt essentially admitted to Hank that he was Heisenberg--so what's Hank's next move? I don't think he can go to the DEA with this one. He has too many connections to Walt. So I say he goes at it lone wolf style. Action Hank. I also think Jesse knew Walt was lying to him about what had happened to Mike. But how did Jesse know? Did Hank speak with Jesse first after realizing his connection with Walt? Or did Jesse just intuit that Walt was lying to him? I think it's the latter--Jesse just isn't accepting any of Walt's bullshit any more. That sent him over the edge. Also funny to see Walt act so much like Gus (the towel before he vomited, his attitude towards Lydia at the carwash). The line between Walt and Heisenberg is completely indistinguishable at this point. They are the same person. I can't believe we've gotta wait a whole week until the next episode.
Hank is in a terrible spot and he knows it. If he were to turn Walt in, no one would believe that he wasn't in on it, especially since it was Hank who took down Gus when no one else believed Gus was doing anything wrong. Where did he get his inside info? Police intuition just doesn't sound convincing to most people. The only thing Hank knows is that he's FUCKED either way. And on top of all that he loves Walt like a brother, even though I believe that Walt consciously or subconsciously absolutely despises Hank (the look on Walt's face when Jr. was talking about how Uncle Hank is a hero for taking down Gus, work for which Walt was responsible, was one of pure disgust). I think you are right about Jesse. Jesse thinks two things. He thins that with Walt is telling the truth, which is unlikely but possible. In that case he is out and can just fade away. Or Walt is probably lying. In that case he better just pretend to believe, because he's starting to get the picture that Walt is so far gone as a person that he no longer cares who he crosses. In both cases all Jesse can do is keep hos mouth shut and lay low, so what's the difference to him?
It took me a while, but I'm back, and holy shit. That was absolutely stunning. As a fan, it was a fantastic episode, and a supremely strong return - from an analytical perspective it was fucking wonderful. Some absolutely stunning directorial touches with some brilliant acting. Of course, at 8 in the morning I can't remember most of the things I was going to bring up. There's a stunning shot when Walt and Hank are talking in the garage: Walt is acting all friendly and whatnot, but when Hank picks up a box and turns around to put it away, Walt's expression changes suddenly to one of anger and suspicion - an absolutely Heisenberg face. Little touches like this made the episode gold.
I just thought of something. I scolded anyone for being mad about my potential spoilers because it's their goddam fault if they click on the Breaking Bad link. But, actually, I'm the asshole, because of 'chatter'. Some poor unsuspecting victim could both be called a an idiot by me and have some amazing plot points ruined. That said, maybe we could have some kind of privacy option, like a check box that you can hit to keep your comment out of chatter for these kind of odd and specific circumstances. Seems very pointed and specific, but I could think of hypotheticals why it might be a good idea to keep your comment in context.
I don't have cable, I'm a luddite when it comes to torrenting stuff. Any suggestions how or where I could see this? Season 5 was some of the best TV I've ever seen and I'm pretty excited to check this out.