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Breaking Bad on AMC (4 Viewers)

Oh come on....... this is getting silly. It had nothing to do with all the crap that went down, but his ego?
His family doesn't want his money, he was ready to call it quits, now he gets satisfaction for taking out the two people that really caused him to break bad (in his mind), someone to blame.
I mean him returning to town guns blazing ready to take down the nazis that did his family and Jessie wrong...

But since you brought it up... his son tells him to drop dead and he is all emotional. But it's a PBS show based 3000 miles away that is what sets him off as needing revenge?
his entire ego is fueled by his grey matter experience

 
Not sure why Jesse would do what he did there, refuse to cook and get Andrea killed. I guess the lesson is once again Jesse is stupid? I don't know..

I'm no longer quite as excited about next week as I was about the past couple.
just wasn't thinking straight

 
A review of tonight's "Breaking Bad" coming up just as soon as I'm managing a Cinnabon in Omaha while owning three pairs of Dockers..."I wanted to give you so much more, but this was all I could do!" -Walt

There was a point midway through "Granite State" where I was ready to accept the series' penultimate episode as a piece-mover for the finale's endgame: how Walt got from New Mexico to New Hampshire, what Skyler's new circumstances are, how so many of Todd's decisions are being driven by his crush on Lydia, etc. Not bad, but a comedown after the crushing emotions of "To'hajiilee" and "Ozymandias," right?

But then Walt stood in his lonely little mountain cabin, put on his Heisenberg hat and trudged out into the snow, and "Granite State" — written and directed by longtime producer Peter Gould — began revealing itself to be something much more complicated, dark and powerful: an hour-plus in which everything we loved about "Breaking Bad" was turned against us, until we were prisoners of the show in the same way that Walt, Jesse and Skyler all found themselves prisoners of their terrible new circumstances.

Early on, we see Jack and the other Nazis watching Jesse's confession video on a big-screen TV, laughing at Jesse as he tears up at the memory of Gale's death. "Does this ##### cry through the whole thing?" Uncle Jack sneers. This is something that we saw Jesse agonize over for a long time, and an action that the show had taken even longer building up to, and here, it's just fodder for jokes while the Nazis wait for something cooler to happen. They are essentially watching "Breaking Bad," and they've become what Emily Nussbaum from The New Yorker refers to as "the Bad Fan." We care deeply about Jesse Pinkman and his emotional highs and lows; they couldn't possibly care less.

And bit by bit, Todd, Jack and the Nazis take over every corner of the show. No one is safe from them. They can be in Holly's bedroom, ready to warn Skyler away from telling the cops about Lydia (which I suspect Skyler never would have even thought to do without Todd's prompting). They can be at Walt and Lydia's old meeting spot, with Todd all preppy and buttoned down and picking threads off of Lydia's blazer as he convinces her to keep the blue meth pipeline flowing. And they can be at Andrea's doorstep, putting a bullet in the back of her head while an enraged, powerless Jesse watches, bound and gagged in the truck.

As I've said, the Nazis aren't the show's most glamorous villains, but this is the point. They are here to reveal the fantasies of "Breaking Bad" for exactly that. The meth game isn't a quippy buddy comedy full of macabre slapstick and surprise escapes and thrilling improvised plans. It is cold, it is brutal, and it is inhuman. For a moment, it seems Jesse will be having one more adventure, as he picks the locks to his handcuffs and circus acrobats his way out of his dungeon, but it's just setting him up for one more devastating slap of reality.

You might think "Breaking Bad" wouldn't kill Andrea — that the show still, at this late date, has some boundaries it will not cross — but you would be wrong. The show we thought we were watching all along would not have done this; the show we were really watching all this time had to do this, no matter how hard it was for us and Jesse to witness.

Escape in "Granite State" is a fantasy. We discover that Walt's phone call at the end of "Ozymandias" wasn't a cure-all for Skyler's problems; so long as he stubbornly remains free, guarding money that it turns out will never make it to his family, Skyler will be a government target. After all the money Saul has made as Walt's consiglieri, the best he can hope for is a boring, anonymous life in Nebraska. Walt goes to his snow mountain cabin with no phones, no TV, and no connection of any kind to the outside world. He is completely alone with his barrel, and his thoughts, and his plans that he's too weak from cancer to act upon, so desperate for human contact that he pays his caretaker ten grand to spend a single hour with him.

Saul was right: Walt should have stayed in New Mexico to save his family. Instead, he thought he could find another way out of things: hiring hitmen to take down Jack's crew and retrieve the rest of his money (knowing recent luck, these new guys would've just kept the cash for themselves), or surreptitiously sending cash to his family through Flynn's best friend Louis. But, like so many of Walter White's self-rationalizations over the life of the series, it's all nonsense. He expects his son to be grateful to be receiving the money: Flynn understandably gives his dad an earful for murdering his uncle and destroying the family. Now Walt is left with nothing: money he won't live long enough to spend, and that his family won't accept even if he can get it to them, everyone he ever cared about either dead or despising him. It's enough to make him finally turn himself in, ask for a Dimple Pinch neat, and wait for arrest...

...until the series' very final act reveals itself with Gretchen and Elliott's Charlie Rose interview. We'd been assuming the machine gun was for the Nazis, and I suspect it still will be. But Walt decides to journey back to Albuquerque on his own, rather than in custody, due to his former lover and other former partner. We've never been told the full story on what happened between Walt and Gretchen (the closest the series ever came was in their ugly lunch in season 2's "Peekaboo"), but we know just how much he resents their success — as much for the prestige as for the money. Walter Hartwell White wants to be celebrated — say his name, say his name, say his name — and he wants his accomplishments known and fully credited. He couldn't leave well enough alone with Hank when Hank was ready to write Heisenberg off as Gale Boetticher, and there is no way on this Earth that he can let go Gretchen and Elliott claiming that his only significant contribution to Gray Matter was in the name.

While bunking underneath the vacuum repair shop, Saul tries to tell Walt, "It's over," identical words to the ones Hank used when Walt was cornered in the desert. People keep telling Walt his story is over — and it will be after next week — but he doesn't want to listen. He wants to end it on his terms.

But as gratifying as it might be to imagine Walt pulling that machine gun out of his trunk, laying waste to the Nazis, rescuing Jesse, putting himself on trial to rescue Skyler and other manner of cathartic action, I don't think the finale Vince Gilligan has in mind for us is going to be quite that neat. That's the kind of ending the great Heisenberg, who appears as a cartoon character on shirts nationwide, might have pulled off. What "Granite State" made clear is that in its end game, "Breaking Bad" is a show with no use for Heisenberg. He's a guy who can't even make it to the end of the driveway without coughing. He may vanquish some of his enemies (may intend the ricin capsule for Gretchen and Elliott, for instance, rather than Lydia), but nothing he has ever done has gone exactly according to plan, and has almost always made things worse for him and those around him.

Escape is a fantasy. Heisenberg is a fantasy. "Breaking Bad" was at times a fantasy — an amazing one. This is something much colder and harder. This is the end coming fast for us all.

Some other thoughts:

* It wasn't the overwhelming Emmy night some had been predicting — I suspect that comes next year, when voters are picking based on these last eight episodes — but "Breaking Bad" broke through in two big new areas, with Anna Gunn joining Cranston and Paul among the cast's winners, and the series itself getting the top prize of Outstanding Drama Series. Yay, Anna Gunn! Yay, "Breaking Bad"! And what a puzzling (if often deserving) overall list of winners!

* I'd been wondering the last few weeks if we would ever get a look at Saul's identity-changing "guy." Then he revealed himself — in a piece of casting I'm impressed was kept secret — as ace character actor Robert Forster, who was perfectly calm and Ehrmantraut-esque in the best possible way. While I will keep an open mind about "Better Call Saul," at the moment I'd rather see a quasi-spin-off starring Forster and Jonathan Banks as no-nonsense retired cop brothers who bust up fools because it's just in their nature.

* And I assume that's it for Saul Goodman in the present-day reality of "Breaking Bad." Unlike Walt, Saul always had a secure sense of self and of his own limitations, and he knew when it was time to cut and run for Nebraska. Now Gould and Gilligan get to show us how

* In the past, Gilligan and company kept the muted f-bombs to maybe once a season. Now we've had two in two weeks, first with Hank dealing with the Nazis, here with Jesse declaring he won't be doing another cook for "You psycho f--ks!"
 
Well, it was nearly impossible for tonight's episode to not be a bit underwhelming after last week's masterpiece, and it was, but it was basically the set-up for next week, and I suspect once we see the finale, tonight's episode will look a lot better. And it was good already.

 
Anytime I'm disappointed a bit in a BB episode, they usually rope me back in the next week and tie it all together.

This week is no different. It's nothing like what I expected. I expected them to skip practically everything we saw and pick up a year later. Why? Because we didn't learn much.

I mean, we saw it all play out. We saw his exile, we saw what his wife and family are going through, and we basically have a very low-key episode, aside from the shocking murder of Jesse's girl.

The finale will no doubt bring it all home. But in reality there isn't a lot left.

The family is gone. He blew it. There will be no redemption. He's going to go back and get revenge on the Nazi's, on Jesse and likely on the Grey Matter duo. They are the root of his ego and although I've seen some already calling that a stretch, thats ridiculous. The only stretch might be that he happened to see them on the TV at the exact moment he needed to...but hey it's television.

This is a typical Breaking Bad setup episode, which they are so good at. After the drama of last week, it was hard for me to imagine how they could ramp the tension back up. So they didn't. But instead they gave us the "almost" slow and painful death of Walt, the complete and total loss of his family, and the "re-birth" of Heisenberg and he simultaneously got blindsided by Grey Matter, AGAIN, and as he learned that Jesse was still alive and cooking for Lydia and the Nazis.

The machine guns are obviously for the Nazi's, and the ricin is most likely for his former business partners, although it sounds as if he could do as much damage to them by some sort of public statement.

I'm looking forward to the conclusion, and the drama has been raised, but now it's heading to a weary end. In the end, I think we are all feeling a bit like Flynn who wonders why he won't just die. It's kind of pathetic that after all that time in a cold cabin, he still thinks that all his family cares about is money. He finally gets Flynn on the phone and it's the same old Walt.

So at this point, it's all about Heisenberg and how Heisenberg meets his end.

 
Well said, shader, and I suspect Heisenberg's end is still gonna be something none of us see coming. Walter White is gonna die, somehow, someway, now. There is no doubt left in my mind.

 
Well, it was nearly impossible for tonight's episode to not be a bit underwhelming after last week's masterpiece, and it was, but it was basically the set-up for next week, and I suspect once we see the finale, tonight's episode will look a lot better. And it was good already.
Yeah, the setup episodes are necessary if you are going to have the amazing episodes.

 
So this is a "set up" episode? I admit that it wasn't as impactful as last week, but the death of Andrea- that was as shocking a scene as I can remember. Like Gus and the box knife, or Todd and the kid.

 
Sepinwall with a great review. In the end, Heisenberg is a bit of a sham.

Only one episode left, and we still don't know what Heisenberg's legacy will be. I'd suspect he'll be known (inside the show) as a criminal mastermind to the public, while all those that knew him personally will despise him and know how pathetic he truly was.

Maybe a good night's sleep will bring clarity, but at this point I can't even think of a good way for the show to end. He ruined everyone's lives and now he's after more revenge and out to satisfy his ego yet again.

 
So this is a "set up" episode? I admit that it wasn't as impactful as last week, but the death of Andrea- that was as shocking a scene as I can remember. Like Gus and the box knife, or Todd and the kid.
Well yes, it was a shocking moment. And being a "setup" episode doesn't mean it wasn't great. This was another great performance by Cranston. But lets face it, we were expecting 75 minutes of action, and we got 30-40 minutes of Walt in a cold, snowy cabin. It reminded me of Rocky being sent to Russia. Only he's getting sicker and weaker, and he's not going to win in the end.

 
So this is a "set up" episode? I admit that it wasn't as impactful as last week, but the death of Andrea- that was as shocking a scene as I can remember. Like Gus and the box knife, or Todd and the kid.
Well yes, it was a shocking moment. And being a "setup" episode doesn't mean it wasn't great. This was another great performance by Cranston. But lets face it, we were expecting 75 minutes of action, and we got 30-40 minutes of Walt in a cold, snowy cabin. It reminded me of Rocky being sent to Russia. Only he's getting sicker and weaker, and he's not going to win in the end.
:lol: That's true. If Vince Gilligan had written Rocky 4, Rocky would have gone to Russia certain he was going to lose, no matter how hard he trained, and then Drago would have killed him like he did Apollo.

 
Is there any ending that won't be a letdown at this point? He pretty much needs to kill everyone...and go out in a blaze of glory. Either that or get blown up by Jessie. Something has to give. Todd clearly needs to die as well.

 
Is there any ending that won't be a letdown at this point? He pretty much needs to kill everyone...and go out in a blaze of glory. Either that or get blown up by Jessie. Something has to give. Todd clearly needs to die as well.
Eh, I think everyone is caught up in the "they need to die" mode.

A lot of people are probably going to die. But who lives and who dies is unknown.

For all we know, Walt's plan could fail horribly and he and his family could all die (pretty close to real-life here..I mean we are all expecting a man that is about to die to go and kill a gang of cold-blooded killers alone..cmon)

Or Walt has one final "revenge" and kills the Nazi's and Lydia and Jesse and Walt's family escape.

What actually happens will likely be some sort of mix of that. Some will live, some will die, and there will be some that are unhappy with who makes it. It's hard to imagine how anyone involved with this show has a happy life after the show, however...Just no way for any sort of happy ending. Maybe some kind of cruel moment with Marie and Flynn watching Holly play in a playground in a weird "Steel Magnolias -- Life goes on" sort of way.

 
The writers have set Todd and the Nazis up to be way worse than Walt has ever been, so while Walt will be paying the price for all of his sins next week (if he hasn't already), the part of all of us that still can't help but root to some extent for an anti-hero like Heisenberg will get the satisfaction of Walt taking down those worse than him, before he meets his inevitable end.

 
Why does everyone think he's going after the grey matter duo? It looked to me that it was just a vehicle for him to get back to New Mexico instead of dying in the snow. He needed that ### kick that he's about to be remembered as a nothing to go back and finish what he started.

 
We'll know if the Grey Matter couple will be a factor right away, if their names are in the beginning. I caught Jessica Hecht's name at the beginning of tonight's episode and thought, "Hmmm, Gretchen is coming back," but I have to admit that by the time it got to the end where her and Elliot were on screen, I had forgotten. :lol:

 
At this point, the police and DEA have nothing. Any recording of Walt's call to Jesse would have had to been in Hank's car, it also should be inadmissible. Jesse's confession is worthless without him appearing in court. They've got no physical evidence. He admitted to nothing in his call to Skylar. Its not even like he broke a custody agreement when he took Holly. About the only thing they could get him on right now would be domestic abuse/assault on Skylar. But that falls apart unless Walt Jr perjures himself.

BTW, still rooting for Walt.
:confused: They have him saying on the phone call to his wife that he killed a DEA agent.
that's implied. I thought Walt was going to tell sky he had only $11m in the barrel and hank had the rest and took off. I feel like Heisenberg would have said that, but he was already on his way out of Walt.Maybe the ricin is for Elliot and Gretchen.
...or just for Elliot and he has something else for Gretchen
You know what's terrible/funny? If the gun ends up being for him to stand in front of Grey Matter and shoot it all to hell I won't be the least bit surprised.
This actually makes some sense, given that Grey Matter is within ABQ city limits.
Doesn't really matter. The guy he knows that sells machine guns is there as is his ricin. His car is probably able to transport him out of ABQ if need be.
The guy who sells him the gun wants assurances that it won't cross borders, and Walt tells him it won't even leave town. He doesn't have any incentive to fib that detail.

We still don't know why he bailed on Gretchen yet, do we?
Sure he does. If he's going to cross borders is he going to tell the truth and jeopardize the sale? He probably isn't, but why wouldn't he if he needed to?I doubt Gray Matter comes up again. It served its purpose as a motive for his empire building mania. It wasn't clearly laid out, but so much that happens isn't clearly laid out for us on this show as it usually is. There was a love triangle and Walt lost. As a result he watched a mountain of money pile up that he could've been a part of and it's eaten at his ego for years.
Good call Abe. :goodposting:

I thought it was a fascinating episode. The whole Grey Matter fallout is the kernel of the show. Without that, none of this ever happens.

The Jesse storyline was some depressing stuff.

 
I can't shake this feeling that the finale ends with Walt dying in a very public manner. Heisenberg's ego won't allow him to die quietly; he will want everyone to remember him.

 
I always assumed Saul was covering his own behind somehow. Using lawyer-client privilege or whatever. So #### hits the fan and his life is over too? And he wasn't getting his share of the millions? What was the point?

 
I always assumed Saul was covering his own behind somehow. Using lawyer-client privilege or whatever. So #### hits the fan and his life is over too? And he wasn't getting his share of the millions? What was the point?
Being a lawyer who can hide behind privilege is the difference between criminal lawyers and criminal lawyers.

 
Nothing wrong with wanting to see it spelled right. Just saying it doesn't bother me, even though other seemingly pointless things do. That, and I thought it was Skylar for the first 4 seasons.
It wouldn't bother me so much if the guy named Skylar wasn't such a difficult stuck up person to work with, painful office memories.What order do these characters die if at all?SkylerJessieLydiaTodd (aka Landry).
LydiaJessie

Skyler

Todd standing over a dying Walt saying Heisenberg is the final scene.
I think something like this is going to happen. I think Todd aka Landry may be smarter than he appears. Doing your best Verbal Kint without all the dramatics could be a win if you're playing the long game. Dude is already ruthless i.e. killed a kid and has criminal backing. All he needs is the formula. What up D.O.C: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rv_JM94I__s
:coffee:

 
Couldn't remember where I first knew Walt's caretaker in the cabin from...pretty sure he was Clooney's father in law, in The Descendants. Anyway, another great episode. This finale is gonna be bananas.

 
He's not going after Grey Matter. He had given up after his son told him to #### off and that was the way to get him moving again. I'd be pretty surprised if we saw them again.

I do wish they had shown some of the local news clips about him. I like that kind of stuff.

Kind of sad to think of Saul spending the rest of his days managing a Dairy Queen. :-(

 
Anither spectacular episode. After the high-tension of Ozymandias, some may not like it as much, but I think over time it will come to be truly appreciated. The despair, emptiness and lonliness of Walt's new life...the Schwartz' revisionism about his past...Flynn believing he killed hank...an barrel of money with no destination...6 more barrels in the hands of the most unrefined ruthless scum he has encountered on this journey....after last week's high tension, an episode that captures so many dark emotions and really drives a stake into the heart of Walter White, this will probably always be an underrated masterpiece.

 
I really don't know who Walt is going after. He knows the blue is out there still. The nazis have his money. Grey Matter still eats at him like his cancer. His family is gone. He looks like a defeated man in the diner and at his home in the flash forwards. He just doesn't care what happens. He's just not finished yet. He's too weak to use that gun though isn't he?

 

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