Breaking Bad

Me, Griffith, Gobulatula and Grail recorded a Breaking Bad podcast yesterday. You can grab it here: http://skullknight.net/podcast/breaking-bad-podcast.mp3

It's over an hour of talk about this last season, how we got here, and what makes the show so exceptional. We'll probably do one more after the show is over. Enjoy!
 
Cool podcast guys! I had to stop around the 44 minute mark when there was going to be talk about the preview(s). Now I'm like aarrgghhh, why'd I stop it I could've just fast forwarded it but to what point (5 mins ahead/ 10 mins ahead/ etc.)!?

One thing that's been bothering me and I'm going to re-watch the episode soon anyway to figure out what exactly happened but
why couldn't Walt just tell Skylar what went down or how it went down with Hank when they were both standing in the living room ... I mean, it would take a minute or half ... I tried to get him out of it, they had a gun to his head, I offered them to keep the money, they didn't listen, Hank didn't want it any other way and they killed him. There, didn't take too long *sigh*

I don't know if you guys talk about it in the podcast after that preview talk though, so sorry in advance.
 
IncantatioN said:
One thing that's been bothering me and I'm going to re-watch the episode soon anyway to figure out what exactly happened but
why couldn't Walt just tell Skylar what went down or how it went down with Hank when they were both standing in the living room ... I mean, it would take a minute or half ... I tried to get him out of it, they had a gun to his head, I offered them to keep the money, they didn't listen, Hank didn't want it any other way and they killed him. There, didn't take too long *sigh*
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Walter White was in an emotionally compromised state and thought everyone would be coming for him at any minute, so he wasn't thinking clearly. Saying 'We have to leave everything behind right now' without offering a shred of explanation is not the behavior of a level headed person. But even if he did try to explain, Skyler never would have believed him. This pathologically lying criminal mastermind/mass murderer was about to go to jail just hours ago but then manages to escape with his freedom after the death of Hank. At that point, any explanation he would have given would have fallen on deaf ears.
 
Gobolatula said:
I had a great time on "The Badcast," guys. Thanks for having me on.
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I second that! It was very fun as always. Thanks for having us.

Incantation, regarding your comment:

The way I see it, after talking with Marie and having to admit everything to Junior, Skyler was finally putting things back into moral perspective. No matter what Walt said to her and Junior, I doubt that she would have been willing to believe him or go along with his plan. I felt it was made pretty clear that Walter had used up all of his chances to be honest with his wife in the previous episode, when they were staying at the hotel. Ice machine smice machine! :azan:
 
Meant to mention this on the pod, but could Breaking Bad's own publicity photos contain specific references, even spoilers, to the coming final episodes?
In them, Jesse is styled in a way we haven't seen this season... so far. Could this be his look in the future? And check out this shot in particular:

http://media.amctv.com/img/originals/breakingbad/downloads/Season_5B/BBS5B-1600x1200-E.jpg

An obvious callback to the Gale shooting, but it also appears that there's a chain coming down from Jesse's wrist; a possible, and pretty specific, reference to his imprisonment, and what could signify a specific callback to the shooting in the final episodes themselves. In that case, it's not hard to guess who would be standing at the business end of the gun.

http://media.amctv.com/img/originals/breakingbad/downloads/Season_5B/BBS5B-1600x1200-A.jpg
 
Great podcast guys

ALSO HOLY SHIT ONE MORE EPISODE!
I'm glad they brought Gray Matter back into the picture, seeing Heisenberg reawaken with the opening theme playing was just perfect.
 
Oh man...
I thought it was going to get easier after Ozymandias!

Andrea's death caught me totally by surprise. I didn't think that Jesse would end up calling the Nazis' bluff so early on. It's hard to say how Jesse's going to act now that almost everything he's ever cared about is gone. If he makes it through the next episode, I wonder if he'll try to reach out to Brock... that is, if BROCK is still alive... oh god. :judo:

The phone call between Walt and Junior really got me in the gut. I'm kind of annoyed with myself for continuing to feel sorry for Walt. Something tells me that it's not going to get any better. Where's my hankie.. (poor choice of words. OH HANK! :judo: )
 
As much as I know deep down that Walt is a terrible person whom I can no longer root for...
God Damn, did it feel good to see his resolve rekindled after Gretchen and Elliot dismissed him on TV. Of course they had to distance themselves for their own protection, but it's somewhat reassuring to Walt as a character that his ego has not forgotten Grey Matter. I don't doubt that everything Walt did was for his family - but it was only a secondary goal. First and foremost, it has ALWAYS been about him. Hopefully no one can dispute that now.

Also my heart broke a little when he asked if the vacuum guy would keep him company in exchange for more cash. Now that we're at the series conclusion, I think I just have to admit that this show isn't about how a good person can become bad. It's about how complex human beings are, and you can love them one moment and hate them the other. I don't believe in a "Walt vs Heisenberg" dual personality crap that a lot of the internet subscribes to. I think he's just Walter White, a terribly complicated person. Even in the penultimate episode, when he feels despair, I feel some of it for him.
 
Emmy for breaking bad!!!! :ubik: :ubik: :ubik:

wevz.jpg
 
Honestly very surprised they gave them the Emmy. I was expecting a "Lord of the Rings" style send-off next year, where they basically award the show for its entire existence. :guts:

But I am okay with this! Season 5a was fantastic, especially after a repeat viewing.
 
Special preview for next week:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lX2JvBaoCw

:badbone:


Anyway, about what I expected, except for Andrea... YEEESH! Otherwise, a nice transition/setup episode for Walt (someone show Inoue this so he can see how to end Vagabond =)

Maybe the one comic highlight: "Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium. Two copies." We've all been there. :ganishka:

Lovely choice of Robert Forster for the vacuum man. So sad and pathetic when Walter is offering 10 grand to hang out with him and the guy nickel and dimes him down to an hour, especially contrasted with the way Walt was trying to get rid of him at the beginning (like his revenge delusions, which quickly atrophied along with him). Same goes for his phone call to Junior with him clearly out of his mind and unable to see just how puny and grasping his plan is. Pleasantly surprised to see the Schwartz's appearance on Charlie Rose (!) snap him out of it, pretty much pushing every Walter/Heisenberg ego button along the way. When she said that sweet man was gone, it was almost inspirational at that point, "You're God damn right." BTW, no way they could have planned this, but just as Walter White is reaching the peak of his national fame in the real world, so he is on the show as well (which would be a bit much, if it wasn't so suddenly relevant). Other shows, Breaking Bad is smarter and luckier than you.

Finally, the nitty gritty, the sickeningly unfair death of Andrea, just the next station of the cross in the passion of Jesse Pinkman. Jesse should have known better from the photo, but it's tough to blame him but that's the worst part, he will (I sort of do too, like Walt he's just a walking disaster for everyone that crosses paths with him). I don't even know what else to say about it other than these guys need to die, and if Walter has to be a greater monster to do it, so be it, kill everybody. Is there any other way this can end other than Walt killing Jack and Jesse killing Todd and then Walt? I don't know, part of me wonders just what Walt has up his sleeve, or if he's going to fall on his face completely (alone with that M60 isn't going to cut it against Jack, and if he fails, I wouldn't want to be somebody he cares about). Precedent says Walt is going to win, but will pay the ultimate price this time one way or another, whether by his own hand, some other enemy's, or God's.

Finally, loved them ending it with the main theme like that. Again, straddling the border between cheesy and cool (Walt's comfort zone =), it was a nice callback to their roots, which along with the Gray Matter thing made it feel like a flash forward that could have fit in season 1.

Oh, and here's the real preview, no spoilers if you're caught up to the current ep, it's just like a cool little series retrospective hyping the finale:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ykYNdS6dAE
 
That episode was flawless.

It just did such an excellent job of screwing with my momentary expectations and always having the outcome worse than you expected. Skyler was just going to check on the baby, and then some guys threaten her. Saul thought he was going to go to Hawaii, but then he just went to some small town in Nebraska. I then thought Walt was going to go to a small town, but then it was random wilderness where he would have nothing but to pathetically wait and die. I thought Todd was merely going to threaten Andrea, but then he murders her in front of Jesse.

I have no idea whether or not Jesse will kill anyone. Killing the Nazis or Walt could be seen as finally enacting retribution on the people who ran him down. But then again, not killing them could be seen as Jesse finally walking away from all the murders around him which made his life of crime possible and poisoned his soul.

What I do know for sure is that Lydia and those Nazis should fucking die in the most horrible way possible.

I'm insanely excited for the very final episode of Breaking Bad. I just hope 53 minutes will be enough time to give this show the send-off it deserves.
 
Groovy Metal Fist said:
It just did such an excellent job of screwing with my momentary expectations and always having the outcome worse than you expected. Skyler was just going to check on the baby, and then some guys threaten her. Saul thought he was going to go to Hawaii, but then he just went to some small town in Nebraska. I then thought Walt was going to go to a small town, but then it was random wilderness where he would have nothing but to pathetically wait and die. I thought Todd was merely going to threaten Andrea, but then he murders her in front of Jesse.
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Yeah, it has to make you wonder about Walt's family. After last week, I thought they were off limits now and it was going to be between Walt and his various adversaries, but things obviously aren't so clean. Is he making the same mistake Jesse did?

Groovy Metal Fist said:
I have no idea whether or not Jesse will kill anyone. Killing the Nazis or Walt could be seen as finally enacting retribution on the people who ran him down. But then again, not killing them could be seen as Jesse finally walking away from all the murders around him which made his life of crime possible and poisoned his soul.
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I can see that with Walt, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with killing Todd and his ilk. They're not some schmoe like Gale or even Walter, they're truly remorseless monsters. And again, considering how dark the show went this week and Jesse's original intended purpose, if not revenge or justice, does he have anything left to live for, literally or thematically? I don't see how he comes back from this magnanimously, if at all.
 
Griffith said:
Yeah, it has to make you wonder about Walt's family. After last week, I thought they were off limits now and it was going to be between Walt and his various adversaries, but things obviously aren't so clean. Is he making the same mistake Jesse did?
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For years, Walter White's crimes posing a threat to the family had always been in my mind. It only made sense for that to come to fruition, and not just from the family's reaction to Walt. It may even be worse in the final episode.

Griffith said:
I can see that with Walt, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with killing Todd and his ilk. They're not some schmoe like Gale or even Walter, they're truly remorseless monsters. And again, considering how dark the show went this week and Jesse's original intended purpose, if not revenge or justice, does he have anything left to live for, literally or thematically? I don't see how he comes back from this magnanimously, if at all.
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On this show, no matter how much someone deserved to die, murder has always taken a psychological toll. Every murder from a little boy named Drew Sharp to Tuco, who is every bit as evil as those monsters, has inflicted guilt, PTSD, moral decay, incarceration, and more death.

But everyone in the criminal world had been running over, manipulating, using, and abusing Jesse, so I see the case for him standing up and enacting a homicidal revenge.

The last thing he has to live for is Brock. Perhaps his final act could be dying for him.

All I know for certain is that the writers kept Jesse alive for something more than just the functional purpose of aping Walter White's meth.
 
I finally caught up to you guys. Man, amazing tv series. I am glad i decided to give it another try.

Possible mega spoiler below

A friend of mine showed me this site, http://madrigalelectromotive.com . He is saying that Elliot and Gretchen Schwarz are Lydia's bosses. He is basing this assumption on this find

"We've depended on Madrigal Electromotive for years. I can honestly say that without their expert advise, timely delivery, and superb support our company could never have achieved it's premier position in the industry."

Elliott Schwartz
CEO, Gray Matter International

Source : http://madrigalelectromotive.com/Air%20Filter.htm
What do you guys think about it ?
EDIT: I looked at this site a bit more and i think that it must be a ruse made from a fan.
 
Loved that ending.

Also, I still think Todd is a great character. He really, really reminds me of a certain character in The Wire. You guys are just getting too emotional :void:

Saephon said:
First and foremost, it has ALWAYS been about him. Hopefully no one can dispute that now.
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I'd be surprised if anyone was still confused about Walter's motivations at this point of the series, but yes, he has a big ego, and providing for his family before he dies directly tied into that. He didn't want to leave them with nothing, and be remembered as a bum who left his family high and dry. Instead, he left them in among the worst scenarios imaginable.

"Whatever he became... the sweet, kind brilliant man that we once knew long ago—he's gone."
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This was my favorite moment this episode. That look... His family hates him. His money was taken. His signature meth is now being cooked by another. Now, even his ancient contribution to Grey Matter was brushed off as worthless. So what will Walter White's legacy be?

It's now in the hands of a man with nothing to lose.
 
Gobolatula said:
Fuck Todd.
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Became my second favorite character after Hank died :) I don't get the hate really. He's fantastic, and played brilliantly by the actor. So many nuances.

I loved this episode, more than the last one. I expect nothing less than a Shakespearean finale. If either Jesse, Walt, or the meth nazis survive, i'll be disappointed.
 
NightCrawler said:
Became my second favorite character after Hank died :) I don't get the hate really. He's fantastic, and played brilliantly by the actor. So many nuances.

I loved this episode, more than the last one. I expect nothing less than a Shakespearean finale. If either Jesse, Walt, or the meth nazis survive, i'll be disappointed.
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I'm still rooting for Skyler, Marie, and the kids dying.
 
Was sick last night and couldn't watch the episode. Now I'm thinking I could a few more days and watch them both back to back ^_^. Good to see long posts with spoilers.

Gotcha, Groovy Metal Fist and Grail. I felt a bit frustrated that it could've taken half a minute or just a few sentences to explain =_= oh well.
 
IncantatioN said:
Gotcha, Groovy Metal Fist and Grail. I felt a bit frustrated that it could've taken half a minute or just a few sentences to explain =_= oh well.
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The preview we discussed turned out to be something of a red herring anyway. It was no spoiler.
 
Sweet, thanks for clarifying that bit, I'll hit up the rest of the podcast soon. Btw ^_^ the comment above was about the spoiler-discussion that both Grail and Groovy replied to.
 
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