Malcolm's Dad, er, I mean, Breaking Bad

[Reply #320 on:]

Who's going to take them? A vulture? A scorpion? You?

Some homeless wanderer? That Indian guy wasn't too far away from them.

Yeah, I bet he makes his living collecting Desert Pants and selling them to tourists. Seems legit.

Seriously, would you pick up a pair of somebody's discarded trousers in the middle of the desert, rather than simply head into town and buy a pair that (a) fit you properly, and (b) haven't spent god-knows-how-long marinating in a combination of some stranger's sweat and the desert dust?

[Reply #321 on:]

Only two episodes left, and I'm still not completely sure where we're going. How does the White house get trashed? What prompts Walt to come back to New Mexico? My first thought is that he would stage a rescue mission for Jesse, but how would he know he's being held captive? As far as he knows, Jesse is dead.

[Reply #322 on:]

What prompts Walt to come back to New Mexico?

Maybe he wants to avenge Hank's death and get his money back? And he takes the ricin to use on himself incase he is captured and tortured by the Nazis.

Seriously, would you pick up a pair of somebody's discarded trousers in the middle of the desert,

Wouldn't the trousers have worn away at least a little?

[Reply #323 on:]

Pants are not biodegradable!

11 million is plenty...and Hank is gone and nothing will bring him back. I don't see those as believable reasons to go after the Nazis. I only see him going back after the Nazis is if somebody is in immediate danger.

Maybe Jesse tries to fight back against the Nazi's, but gets killed in the process, and then the Nazis abduct Walt's family and trash his house to get him to come back and cook? But then how would Walt know about it, being all alone out on the east coast where nobody knows where to find him?

[Reply #324 on:]

But then how would Walt know about it, being all alone out on the east coast where nobody knows where to find him?

It'll probably be on the news or something, since Charlie Rose is going to be in the next episode. Walt will probably figure out where they have been taken, whilst the public just labels them as "missing".

[Reply #325 on:]

That...actually sounds like a pretty reasonable theory. I can totally see it happening that way.

[Reply #326 on:]

I can't see the nazis going to any extreme efforts to force Walt to cook for them when they have Jesse "on staff".

[Reply #327 on:]

Well FishyJoe's theory provided that Jesse is killed trying to fight back, which I could see happening.

That said, to go to so much trouble to have more meth cooked when they already have $70 million...

[Reply #328 on:]

or Walt might want to "save" Jesse because he doesn't wan't anyone else making his product

[Reply #329 on:]

Walt's probably just on a mission to recover his money by this point. He certainly doesn't care too much about Jesse anymore, and I'm not sure that the Nazi organisation are dumb enough to think that kidnapping Walt's family will end well for them, seeing as how Fring had only threatened to do so (and look what happened to him).

I'm going to say that since Walt's gone over completely to the dark side now, he's after revenge (and in a big way, if that gun means anything).

[Reply #330 on:]

I'm kinda psyched that the next episode will likely all take place in my lovely state of Nuh Hampsha.

[Reply #331 on:]

Seriously, would you pick up a pair of somebody's discarded trousers in the middle of the desert,

Wouldn't the trousers have worn away at least a little?

Totally. New Mexico is the home of the infamous Desert Trouser Beetle, which survives on an exclusive diet of discarded pants. They should have eaten those pants down to the bone by now. I sure hope that somebody was fired for that blunder!

[Reply #332 on:]

Walt's probably just on a mission to recover his money by this point. He certainly doesn't care too much about Jesse anymore, and I'm not sure that the Nazi organisation are dumb enough to think that kidnapping Walt's family will end well for them, seeing as how Fring had only threatened to do so (and look what happened to him).

I'm going to say that since Walt's gone over completely to the dark side now, he's after revenge (and in a big way, if that gun means anything).

I'm not even sure if Walt cares about the money anymore. He's more than likely dying and no longer has his family to spend it with. Minus the disappearance fee, he'd have plenty of money to spend the rest of his life. I'm guessing he either hears about the nazis recreating his product and tarnishing the one thing he has left, or possibly something happens to one or more family member

[Reply #333 on:]

Ooh, yes. I forgot about the product. He still cares about that. The family members, I'm still skeptical he's going to want to show himself to them now.

[Reply #334 on:]

I'm HOPING Walt is going on a rescue mission for Jesse in the flashforwards, though it seems much more likely that he's just seeking vengeance from the nazis. Possibly going after either his money or trying to shut down the production of his meth. I have no doubt the risin is for Walt himself, most likely as a contingency plan if he needs it (either that, or the cancer has numbered his days to the point where he just wants it so he can go out on his own terms... he's clearly not going through chemo in the flashfowards). Maybe Walt sees the quality of the current product and figures out Jesse is alive and working on it? He's flip-flopped that many times on whether or not he wants Jesse to live, it's possible he could do it again. Granted, it's entirely wishful thinking... "Jesse getting out alive" is about the happiest ending we can hope for at this point.

[Reply #335 on:]

That episode made me cry so hard. It was just so emotional, I've never cried during Breaking Bad like that before. 
Does anyone else think Skyler's gonna die?
I don't even know, I just have a feeling.

[Reply #336 on:]

But then how would Walt know about it, being all alone out on the east coast where nobody knows where to find him?

It'll probably be on the news or something, since Charlie Rose is going to be in the next episode. Walt will probably figure out where they have been taken, whilst the public just labels them as "missing".

Yep, and I'm pretty sure...Jesse will show he finally learned something from Walt other than to cook meth, while he will "apply himself" to make a good old red phosphorus escaping kaboom. Which could lead to anything. I don't think Jesse will die either.

Walt's probably just on a mission to recover his money by this point. He certainly doesn't care too much about Jesse anymore, and I'm not sure that the Nazi organisation are dumb enough to think that kidnapping Walt's family will end well for them, seeing as how Fring had only threatened to do so (and look what happened to him).

I'm going to say that since Walt's gone over completely to the dark side now, he's after revenge (and in a big way, if that gun means anything).

They're portrayed as the prototypical redneck idiotic gang, hell they're Aryan Brotherhood...cough. Remember that scene of Todd bragging to his uncles in the restaurant ? They haven't shown us that for nothing, they were accidentally snooped upon, that waitress totally heard all of this...

I'm HOPING Walt is going on a rescue mission for Jesse in the flashforwards, though it seems much more likely that he's just seeking vengeance from the nazis. Possibly going after either his money or trying to shut down the production of his meth. I have no doubt the risin is for Walt himself, most likely as a contingency plan if he needs it (either that, or the cancer has numbered his days to the point where he just wants it so he can go out on his own terms... he's clearly not going through chemo in the flashfowards). Maybe Walt sees the quality of the current product and figures out Jesse is alive and working on it? He's flip-flopped that many times on whether or not he wants Jesse to live, it's possible he could do it again. Granted, it's entirely wishful thinking... "Jesse getting out alive" is about the happiest ending we can hope for at this point.

Yes, I like your sense of foreshadowing, but in the first flashforward, Walt takes a medicine pill in the bathroom with the guy selling him the goods. And chemo doesn't necessarily makes you lose all your hair, I'm sure with his money and new identity he still went back to get some chemo or I'm not sure he'd have survived let's say 11 months more.

That episode made me cry so hard. It was just so emotional, I've never cried during Breaking Bad like that before.  
Does anyone else think Skyler's gonna die?
I don't even know, I just have a feeling.

This one is up in the air, but that wouldn't make me happy. Mary(Marie?) as another instance though....Hank and her didn't even have a kid so that's also one thing I'd happily use to dust my mind off.

If Hank was smart he would have shown his badge like he is REQUIRED to do anyway, but he and Gomie thought it was Miami Vice or The Duke of Hazzard for a day or two.

Also, tnuk, lol, you made me laugh, especially since all these silly creatures you invented to put a sock in that one's mouth were all possible Mother series (Earthbound) characters (the Mole Crickets in Mother 3 would easily go on on a rant about them loving Old Dusty Desert Pants...hah.

[Reply #337 on:]

[Reply #338 on:]

Yes, I like your sense of foreshadowing, but in the first flashforward, Walt takes a medicine pill in the bathroom with the guy selling him the goods. And chemo doesn't necessarily makes you lose all your hair, I'm sure with his money and new identity he still went back to get some chemo or I'm not sure he'd have survived let's say 11 months more.

Forgot about the pill, though it's definitely been far less than 11 months. He had his 51st birthday earlier this season, and we had a time jump of at least a few months in "Gliding Over All," during the montage with Walt and Todd doing their mass cooks (and I'm guessing there were quite a few if Walt's fortune ended up at $80 mil), and this on top of the show's natural passage of time anyway (which is usually between one and two months per season if the big time jumps are ignored), which means the flashforward would probably be less than 6 months from where this episode left off. Presuming Walt loses all motivation to look after his physical appearance now that he's lost his family, I'd say the hair growth in his flash-forward looks like it's around the 3 month mark.

[Reply #339 on:]

http://www.nbcnews.com/entertainment/breaking-bad-producer-i-didnt-script-baby-saying-mama-8C11169986

What an ad-lib

[Reply #340 on:]

^^^^
Careful with artists of all sorts exaggerating the magic of their moments...but if true, which I think is pretty likely anyway, is just magic and Bryan just went on with it and it worked, the perfect best real person tv show ever gods wanted it this way.

Beamer, he was also making his own bacon made 52 at the restaurant with the arms dealer guy so...yeah...maybe not 11 months, so it has still been a while... I'm sure he's still taking care of his health, otherwise he'd be too weak to do whatever the hell it is that's going to be awesome when he finally comes back.

"Good luck I guess" -arms dealer, hahaha....yeah, I think the dude knows his odds are bad

[Reply #341 on:]

Beamer, he was also making his own bacon made 52 at the restaurant with the arms dealer guy

I know, it was the main anchor I was using to work out how much time it had been. Though I'm sure if you were to venture into a Breaking Bad forum or something, someone out there is keeping far better track of the passage of time in this show than we are.

[Reply #342 on:]

I'm wondering if once the show finally ends they'll be a definitive timeline. I've found a few incomplete ones

http://www.vulture.com/2011/07/breaking_bad_calendar.html

http://blog.thegreenfieldgroup.org/a-year-in-the-life-of-walter-white-a-breaking-bad-timeline/

As great as the show is, sometimes the 1 year constraint is a little hard to swallow

[Reply #343 on:]

Not really... Given that he's constantly liaising with people who pose a threat to him, it would be less plausible if they were in his life for extended periods of time with Walt just living through it, not to mention the whole cancer/remission thing, Holly's birth/gradual aging, etc.

On another note, it has been confirmed the final two episodes will be extended to 75 minutes in length each. That's about 45 more minutes of Breaking Bad than I thought we were going to get!

http://www.avclub.com/articles/those-final-two-breaking-bad-episodes-will-be-extr,103109/

[Reply #344 on:]

Excellent news! That's like a movie in 2 parts, I like.

A lot of time has passed  between Walt telling Skyler he was "Out" and the moment Hank finds the damn Leaves Of Grass book and that silly leninist Gale and his need to write into brand new books.....lol, I just thought about his videos Hank was looking at and i lol'd irl.

[Reply #345 on:]

Excellent indeed. Long episodes! I'm enjoying these final moments of Breaking Bad far more than the last few episodes of Dexter. I don't know what's going on with that. Breaking Bad has been consistently super happy fun times. Well, maybe that's not the most accurate wording..

I don't know that I want to speculate on how it all will end. This show is it's own entity, I don't see it being able to ruin anything. I see it being something you'd want to watch over again to discover things you missed that link to the ending. I don't see it as one of those shows that ends ridiculously and makes you feel like you wasted years of your life watching it.

[Reply #346 on:]

Excellent indeed. Long episodes! I'm enjoying these final moments of Breaking Bad far more than the last few episodes of Dexter. I don't know what's going on with that. Breaking Bad has been consistently super happy fun times. Well, maybe that's not the most accurate wording..

They're incomparable, really. Even Dexter at its absolute best (arguably seasons 1 and 4) still doesn't hold a candle to the complexity and brilliance of Breaking Bad. Dexter has been a ridiculously fucking dumb show for a while now, I'm happy to see them finally bury it. Other than the first half of season 7 which almost seemed like the show was back on track before the Hannah storyline took over, I've struggled through these past few seasons.

[Reply #347 on:]

Honestly season 2 of Dexter is my favorite, followed by 1 and 4. But ya, otherwise I'm with you.

[Reply #348 on:]

Season 2 wins massive points for Lila, but the narrative of the season as a whole had a few too many contrivances for me to rank it alongside season 1 (season 4's plot is also full of them, but John Lithgow's performance alone earns it enough cred to overlook all other flaws). I also think they should have saved the Bay Harbour Butcher storyline for later on in the show's run; seemed like way too soon in the series to pull that inevitable card out of the deck (and also undermined some of the seasons that followed since they'd never be able to live up to its stakes).

Breaking Bad, on the other hand, has been great since the first season, and I honestly think it got better and better with each subsequent year. I really would rank the seasons in the order of "5, 4, 3, 2, 1," which I don't think I can say about any other show (Mad Men almost had that sort of streak, until season 5 set the bar so high that 6 just felt so much lesser in comparison).

[Reply #349 on:]

I recently ploughed through all of Dexter in order to be up to speed for it ending.

I really enjoyed seasons 1-4, but season 2 was a very clear point where the show peaked, if you ask me. They splurged their load far too early on that season. There was a very real sense that Dexter could get caught any minute - that his being caught was inevitable and on the horizon and once they played that storyline out, they were basically left with nowhere to take the show except for soap-opera stuff about Dexter and his relationships.

Season 8 is an embarrassment to the show, too. It's the worst that they've done.


And yeah, even the very best episode of Dexter isn't a patch on the very worst episode of Breaking Bad. They're just worlds apart.

If you ask me, Dexter should have lasted for maybe 4 seasons and the 2nd season should have been saved for the last one.


Aaanyway, as for the extended running time on the last two episodes, it's 30 minutes more, not 45 minutes more. 75 minutes a piece (with commercials) basically means each episode gets an extra 10-15 minutes.

So yeah, the last two episodes could, in theory, be watched together to simulate the experience of watching a 2 hour film, but even if they weren't extended, you could do that and simulate watching a 90 minute film.

Anyway, I'm glad all the same. Extra Breaking Bad is always a bonus.

[Reply #350 on:]

Damn, I thought it was 75 without commercials... Oh well. Still awesome.

Season 4 would've been a good place to end, especially given the final image of that season. Very symbolic, "story comes full circle" closing point.

[Reply #351 on:]

Well now, I didn't mean in any way to compare the substance of Breaking Bad to Dexter. I just meant that Breaking Bad has always been good and even though it's ending it's still at peak performance, whereas a lot of other shows (such as Dexter which is ending at basically the same time, hence the comparison) feel like they've run out of steam and they just want it to be over but they didn't figure out how it would end before they got to the end, so they just cobble together a bunch of stuff and hope it looks okay. Kind of like how I used to do assignments at uni.

Also, how the hell do you guys remember seasons as being better or worse than other seasons? I guess I saw season 1-6 of Dexter in one go so that makes it hard, also season 2-4 of Breaking Bad in one go...

For a moment I thought it was Sunday and that tomorrow we'd get the next BB. But then I remembered it just turned into Saturday. I'm sad now.

[Reply #352 on:]

Like I said, I watched all of Dexter in a very short period, very recently, so it's fresh in my mind.

I can sort of understand how it could all blur into one, except it's a show with such a definite arc, each time.

In each season, Dexter gets a new friend and they either wind up being an accomplice or someone that he has to end up killing, so I just sort of remember it based on that. Season 1 is the ice-truck killer season, season 2 is the annoying artist that's into him, season 3 is the Mexican lawyer he makes friends with, season 4 is John Lithgow and so forth.

[Reply #353 on:]

There are storylines in the later Dexter seasons that I really enjoyed, up until the point where they squander them and then end up completely ignoring that they happened at all.

I thought the stuff with Quinn being onto Dexter in season 5 seemed to be leading somewhere, Quinn even must have had a deep suspicion that Dexter killed Liddy (the PI he hired to look after Dexter) in the van...but then at the end of the season Quinn completely drops it for no better reason than the fact that he was dating Deb, and then even tries to buddy up to Dexter later on, which made absolutely zero sense considering how close he was.

I really enjoyed the first half of season 6. I thought Brother Sam's influence on Dexter was great and would have been a good way to segue into ending the series, with Dexter realizing he could conquer his urges just like Sam had. I even really enjoyed the mid-season craziness that was him seeing Rudy and the Nebraska episode...but then again, they just dropped it. Instead of having that storyline come full circle, after the Nebraska episode they never talked about it again and just went ahead with the Doomsday Killer storyline which was far less interesting in terms of Dexter's character development. The only saving grace for the rest of the season was the final moment where Deb walks in on Dexter, which was inevitable.

I liked the first half of season 7 as well, like Beamer said. I thought they handled Deb's coming to terms with Dexter as a killer surprisingly well. But then just like the last two examples I gave, once the writers felt they'd explored that avenue enough they just dropped all the development stuff and moved onto the less interesting storylines of Hannah and Isaac (and let's not even discuss the pointlessness that was the Quinn/stripper storyline) which weren't relevant to the direction of the show at all. Again, the saving grace of that season was also the final episode, with LaGuerta being onto Dexter and then Deb having to shoot her, which was a great moment. But then of course they squandered that with the half-assed handling of the fallout from it at the beginning of season 8, and the rest of season 8 has just been abysmal.

So ya, I would have liked to see the show have had maybe 5 or 6 seasons. Rita's death was a big moment for Dexter to see that his urge hurts the people he loved (the line "It doesn't matter what I do, what I choose...I'm what's wrong" was brilliant). I actually thought the first episode of season 5 was excellent so I'd keep that, but then would have removed the Lumen/Jordan Chase storyline and replaced it with LaGuerta being onto Dexter from the 7th season. I'd have Deb walk in on Dexter doing some minor kill halfway through the 5th season (which would have been a lot harder to see coming) and then have the second half of the season be what happens in the first half of season 7 as far as Dexter and Deb's stuff goes, but end the season with Deb killing LaGuerta still. Then I'd have season 6 be the final season, except without any of the Doomsday Killer stuff. No Evelyn Vogel bullshit, Quinn should die because he's a terrible character, Dexter should contemplate more deeply the irony that perhaps some of the people he kills would be better punished by letting the police catch them and having them go to jail. I'd use the whole Brother Sam storyline, except now Dexter takes the whole thing more seriously having seen how much he's completely damaged his family, and this time after the Nebraska episode they have it come full circle with the end of the show having him finally conquering his urge for the good of his children.

That I think would have been a much more impactful way to end the show than Dexter's current realization that Hannah fulfills his need so he doesn't have to kill. It makes you wonder what was wrong with Rita or even Lumen, who were much better people than Hannah is. The only thing Hannah has on them is that she's hotter...so apparently the moral of the show is just that it's all about finding the right pussy?

Perhaps this belongs in the Dexter thread.

[Reply #354 on:]

Whilst I agree that we're taking this dangerously off-topic, I'm sure we'll be bang right back on topic after the incredibleness they're going to hit us with on Sunday, so I guess it's not too much of an issue.

The stuff with Quinn being onto Dexter didn't do a lot for me because it was just such a retread of whatshisname in season 2. They'd already done it, basically. I didn't need to see it again.

I agree about season 6. I really enjoyed the first half but it just sort of dissolved into nothingness, then hit us with the great cliffhanger ending, that lead into some brilliant episodes at the start of season 7, and they just sort of brushed over it and that was that.

So yeah; if I'd been in charge of things, season 1 would have been as usual, then there'd probably be seasons 3 and 4 as they were in the show as seasons 2 and 3. Then I'd give an amazing final season where the police were hot on Dexter's tail like in season 2, complete with the stuff like Deb finding out who he is. Sort of where all of the shit hits the fan, just like what Breaking Bad has been delivering in this final season.

[Reply #355 on:]

So, the penultimate episode is almost upon us. Does anybody have any last-minute predictions? Will we see any of the major questions about the flashforward answered, or is that all going to be saved for the finale?

[Reply #356 on:]

Flashforwards, from the beginning of the season and beginning of the mid-season. It's possible we could see one explained in one episode and then one in the other.

[Reply #357 on:]

... fuck you and your eyebrows. I meant to type that "s".

[Reply #358 on:]

Dear god, that was brutal

[Reply #359 on:]

I once found Todd funny due to his creepy ginger kid thing he had going. Now I just want all of them to die painfully, especially Todd.

It's funny the fixer mentioned maybe catching Montreal and seeing a Habs games on tv at the bar, might as well mention how poutine makes it's way into the diners in NH too hehe. I think the 1/4 full shot glass is somehow like Walt's remaining "juice"

Those are 2 revenges at once to complete, yes, Walt is gone indeed. Now only Heisenberg remains, and it's gonna be nuclear.