Breaking Bad Final Half Season

Discussion in 'TV & Media' started by Chuck Finley, Aug 6, 2013.

  1. Mojochi

    Mojochi Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Whatever I've said, at any time, about any of these characters being anything less than utterly awesome. I take it all back

    Anybody not watching this show is missing the greatest thing being televised. This show couldn't be more perfect if flawless diamonds popped out of the screen after every episode

    I feel like someone just stomped on my guts
     
  2. JirinPanthosa

    JirinPanthosa Admiral Admiral

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    That episode was amazing. I mean, I didn't think it was possible to take Breaking Bad to a new level. When Skyler pulls the knife on Walt, and Flynn has to pull his psychotic father off his complicit mother, holy crap.

    I also like the way Hank went out. "You're the smartest guy I know, but you can't see he made up his mind ten minutes ago." He gets to go out like a man, like a guy Anton Chigirn would respect as he murders.

    Skyler finally realizing she should have turned Walt in the second she found out he was a drug dealer, Flynn finally facing reality. Marie having empathy for her sister. Just amazing. And still two episodes left in the series.
     
  3. sidious618

    sidious618 Admiral Admiral

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    That was incredibly painful. I didn't think it could get worse than Hank dying but the breakdown of the family was incredibly tragic.
     
  4. Agent Richard07

    Agent Richard07 Admiral Admiral

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    I couldn't help but think of about what bigdaddy said a few posts up... This is "Breaking Bad", not "Breaking Bad, then not too bad".

    I thought that Jr might get stabbed and killed in the kerfuffle, sending both Walt and Skyler over the edge.
     
  5. JirinPanthosa

    JirinPanthosa Admiral Admiral

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    The more I think about it, the more I wonder if Walt's phone call at the end was designed to get Skyler off the hook.

    He gained nothing by calling her, and he went out of his way to say that he threatened to hurt her, even though he didn't. And he said 'No Police?' when he must have known full well the police were listening. I think Walt was trying to cast Skyler as a terrified victim instead of a complicit accomplice.
     
  6. CaptainCanada

    CaptainCanada Admiral Admiral

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    I think that's pretty clear, when you see how he acted when the call was over.
     
  7. Agent Richard07

    Agent Richard07 Admiral Admiral

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    Interesting. Never thought of that. Blowing up and blaming others isn't unusual for Walt, so it's easy to miss something like that.
     
  8. Jonas Grumby

    Jonas Grumby Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I certainly saw it that way. And thank God for it; I was beginning to worry that Gilligan was going to give us some kind of nihilistic "we're all shit on the inside" ending. But it seems Walt is (still) trying to save his family.

    Walt is not a totally corrupt person. While his ego definitely got away from him and led him into some bad decisions, his reason for "breaking bad" in the first place (to provide for his family after his death) and the motivation for many of the schemes he's perpetrated (to save others, primarily Jesse and Hank) were not dishonorable.
     
  9. Mr Light

    Mr Light Admiral Admiral

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    I don't like the way Gomey died off-screen. Or that suddenly Hank has a mortal wound when they both seemed perfectly fine at the end of the previous episode.

    Walt kidnapping his baby and threatening his wife's life over the phone is by far the most heinous thing he's done in the show. So I like the theory that he did it for the police to hear to absolve her of his crimes.

    I have a new theory on the end of the show. Walt, on the run, dies alone and in pain from the cancer in the bathroom of a slimey motel room.
     
  10. Mojochi

    Mojochi Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Not yet anyway, but isn't that the whole point? Isn't that why we get shown a flashback of a time when he was all loaded with good intentions & genuine care for people? All those things are being left behind, painfully, like tearing away parts of himself
     
  11. Mojochi

    Mojochi Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    BTW, Aaron Paul has aged too much to play himself in a flashback with a bad wig. LMAO!
     
  12. J.T.B.

    J.T.B. Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Yeah, I don't think there is any question about it. It was his last attempt to help his family before starting his "new life."
     
  13. Mojochi

    Mojochi Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Um... OMG I've been watching that Skeevy Uncle Jack for god knows how long & it never occurred to me in the slightest that it is Michael Bowen playing him. Wow he looks different
     
  14. bigdaddy

    bigdaddy Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Favorite quotes...

    "I watched Jane die."

    "Put on your seatbelt."

    And anything Jr. says.

    And I'm not even done.
     
  15. Chuck Finley

    Chuck Finley Commander

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    This episode was gut wrenching. I knew Hank would die and Jesse would be kidnapped, but the knife fight really had me honestly terrified. I thought either Skylar would be accidentally stabbed or Jr. I was really worried there and then when Walt took Holly, I was just creeped out. The shit really hit the fan quickly on this one. I like that Todd seems to feel bad for Jesse. It should be I interesting to see if he helps Jesse and turns on his uncle or what. Great episode.
     
  16. doubleohfive

    doubleohfive Fleet Admiral

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    This might be the best television series ever made.

    [​IMG]
     
  17. Chuck Finley

    Chuck Finley Commander

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    I'm pretty sure it is.
     
  18. Tom

    Tom Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Amazing Episode! Who else thought Walt would come to the car wash right before Marie and Skylar talked to Walt Jr.? The reaction from Marie would have been priceless for Walt to come in pretending nothing happened. Poor Hank and Gomie, hopefully Walt reveals were the bodies are so they can have a proper burial.
     
  19. Robert Maxwell

    Robert Maxwell memelord Premium Member

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    Such a great episode. I think this was the climax we waited 5 seasons for. Everything has fallen apart for Walt. He's lost his family. It's only a matter of time before the whole city--maybe even the whole country--knows about his secret life. Seems like the kind of thing that would make a great national news story. "Loving husband and father turns out to be murderous drug lord, find out more at 11."

    Looks like those of us predicting Hank's exit last week were right. Hank was probably a dead man due to his wound, anyway, but seeing Walt plead for his life was great. Nope, Walt, this is one thing you can't control, even though it is entirely your fault. Jack's Nazi Pack knew they couldn't let Hank go, not after engaging in a shootout with DEA agents and killing Gomez. There's just no way Hank would let it go, Jack knew it, and Hank knew he knew it. Walt was the only one who thought there was some kind of "out" here.

    And then, with Jesse helpless and marked for death, Walt decides to turn his grief into petty vengeance, twisting the knife in Jesse by telling him about Jane.

    It was amazing to see Flynn's transformation in this episode. I think we saw him go through most of the stages of grief here: you had the denial ("you're making this up!"), the anger ("how could you lie to me?!), the bargaining ("maybe Dad can explain and this will all be ok!"), the depression (the quiet ride in the car with his seatbelt off), and then he moved right on to acceptance by stopping his parents from killing each other and calling the cops on Walt. Skyler's the one who grabbed the knife first, and it's possible an earlier-season Flynn might have taken Walt's side, but not now. His entire image of his father is shattered, and there's nothing to do but cast him out.

    Walt taking Holly was particularly scummy, but totally believable as a rash thing for him to do in the moment. His phone call toward the end was a great performance. He actually fooled me the first time around. On a second watch, it was much more obvious to me that he was putting on one final performance to shield Skyler. Even if she hated him, he wanted to do that one last thing for his family. It could easily be argued that it was a product of arrogance, though. It's Walt exerting his control just one more time. Rather than let Skyler cop to her part in everything, he took that way from her, so it can be all his. If his legacy is to be a ruthless drug lord, then it is to be a legacy that entirely belongs to him, with no aid or accomplices.

    I feel bad for Jesse. He is totally the Miles O'Brien of this show. He just gets tortured, over and over. He did the right thing by working with Hank, and all it did was get him turned into, essentially, a slave. The photo of Brock and Andrea sure wasn't subtle.

    Looks like those of you who speculated Walt bought the M60 to rescue Jesse were probably right. Although it's hard to imagine what kind of horrible state Jesse will be in after almost a year being forced to work for Jack's Nazi Pack.

    I also wonder what Lydia's take on all this will be. Dead DEA agents, Walt's life ruined, Jesse a prisoner, forced to cook--none of this is going to fit into her neat little world where everything is tightly-controlled and runs like clockwork.

    A brief shout-out to the flashback in the opening: I like how Walt had to rehearse his lie, to drive home how good he got at lying, later on. That said, he was never that good of a liar. Even his adoring son could see through his lies a couple episodes ago. He just got better at spinning them on demand without the need to rehearse.

    Finally, an interesting visual motif:

    [​IMG]

    Those moments dovetail nicely in terms of who was involved, too. Here we have two men, on the ground, crying at the sight of men they loved having just been brutally murdered. But the differences are what make it so intriguing: Gus was broken at the beginning of his career, and Walt was broken at the end. If there is a lesson from all this, it is a simple one: if you're going to break bad, don't care about anyone, ever, or it will ruin you.
     
  20. 137th Gebirg

    137th Gebirg Admiral Premium Member

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    "Don't let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner."

    - Neil McCauley (Robert DeNiro), Heat