Breaking Bad

[Commando]

or how about the DEA is reviewing security footage of the health care facility where Gus dies, and someone notices Walt hanging around.

I know I'm nitpicking, but Hank finally discovering who Walt is the most crucial part of this story to date, I wanted more.

I guess I get what you're saying- that there was ample opportunity to have a more creative, exciting way of snaring W than a flashback to a near-miss a few seasons ago. But I guess nobody- writers included- was able to do so.

[Donuthole]

Just finished season 5 ep 5. Wow, what an ending! Most everything has been discussed, but I wanted to add that Jesse was turning the hex head of the release plug on the train car with a pipe wrench. Lame.

[scottie]

Line from Jesse in Buyout talking to Walt and Mike about Todd/Landry: "EXACTLY -- We can't know because Ricky Hitler there SHOT him."

[PaloAltoCougar]

Here's a nice summary and analysis by Emily Nussbaum in The New Yorker (including two TNY cartoons!). She has some good insights, including the treatment of children throughout the series and where the show seems to be heading. She offers her own hopeful hypothesis, but ends with the following:

Right now, however, it’s easier to imagine someone innocent coming to harm. Early this season, Skyler wandered into the living room, only to find her husband watching TV with Walt, Jr., baby Holly cradled in his arms. “Say hello to my little friend!” Al Pacino shouted on the screen, spraying gunfire. Walt, Jr., laughed and said the line along with Pacino, grinning with excitement. “Everyone dies in this movie, don’t they?” Walt asked. The look in his wife’s eyes wasn’t anger, or even fear. It was dread. She’d seen that movie, after all. She knew how it ends.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Here's a nice summary and analysis by Emily Nussbaum in The New Yorker (including two TNY cartoons!). She has some good insights, including the treatment of children throughout the series and where the show seems to be heading. She offers her own hopeful hypothesis, but ends with the following:

That is a great article. I especially liked this:

The show has shed its original skin, that of the antihero drama, in which we root for a bad boy in spite of ourselves. Instead, it’s more like the late seasons of “The Sopranos,” the first show that dared to punish its audience for loving a monster. This makes “Breaking Bad” a radical type of television, and also a very strange kind of must-watch: a show that you dread and crave at the same time.

and...

When Brock was near death in the I.C.U., I spent hours arguing with friends about who was responsible. To my surprise, some of the most hard-core cynics thought it inconceivable that it could be Walt—that might make the show impossible to take, they said. But, of course, it did nothing of the sort. Once the truth came out, and Brock recovered, I read posts insisting that Walt was so discerning, so careful with the dosage, that Brock could never have died. The audience has been trained by cable television to react this way: to hate the nagging wives, the dumb civilians, who might sour the fun of masculine adventure. “Breaking Bad” increases that cognitive dissonance, turning some viewers into not merely fans but enablers.

This is so true. I have a friend who absolutely despises Skyler. When I ask him why, he replies "Because she should be more supportive of her husband. She is just a nag." WTF? Are you kidding me?

In his insistence that he maintain complete control, Walt will not allow Skyler to send their kids away, or let her separate from him and keep the kids with her. He will not even admit that they are at risk. It’s the irresolvable irony of the character: Walt’s justification for every act is that he’s a great dad. But he’s a monster precisely because he’s so willing to place his kids in danger in order to prop up his self-image as a family man.

Bingo.

[clackamascoug]

As I was mowing the lawn today, I realized that Walt has "removed" every obstacle in his way, and if the story arc remains true, Walt will kill Hank himself. It's the only ending I can imagine.

[RC Vikings]

For next season I'm guessing that Walt Jr. is addicted to meth and Walt sees first hand the harm he has been causing to others.

[scottie]

For next season I'm guessing that Walt Jr. is addicted to meth and Walt sees first hand the harm he has been causing to others.

I think that's a good guess.

[Non Sequitur]

For next season I'm guessing that Walt Jr. is addicted to meth and Walt sees first hand the harm he has been causing to others.

If Walt sees it, he won't be moved. If this show teaches us anything, it's that there is no such thing as redemption. If Walt has a crisis of conscience, it will be the biggest sell-out in the history of television.

[wuapinmon]

As I was mowing the lawn today, I realized that Walt has "removed" every obstacle in his way, and if the story arc remains true, Walt will kill Hank himself. It's the only ending I can imagine.

Ok, that's an interesting idea. But, the size of Walt's gun wouldn't work against the DEA. If he kills Hank, it'll be isolated, and not with that Big Booty Judy he bought.

If Walt sees it, he won't be moved. If this show teaches us anything, it's that there is no such thing as redemption. If Walt has a crisis of conscience, it will be the biggest sell-out in the history of television.

I agree. Walt Jr on meth would be such a letdown.

[CardiacCoug]

I think 2 out of 3 will die among Walt, Jesse, and Hank. I hope Jesse survives.

[Mrs. Funk]

I think 2 out of 3 will die among Walt, Jesse, and Hank. I hope Jesse survives.

Yes, it's strange how the meth head loser at the show's beginning turns out to be the sympathetic character with a conscience. I really like Jesse. I'm hoping they don't pull a George R. R. Martin on us and kill him off.

[UtahDan]

I think 2 out of 3 will die among Walt, Jesse, and Hank. I hope Jesse survives.

I think Skylar kills Walt and gets away with it.

[CardiacCoug]

I think Skylar kills Walt and gets away with it.

That would be a good ending as long as we first get to see the Walt vs. Hank showdown we've been waiting for the entire series.

[BigPiney]

I agree. Walt Jr on meth would be such a letdown.

Meh. Flynn is boring. I wouldn't really care if he was on meth.