Anyone into 'BREAKING BAD'? (part 4)

Hmm... good point. Had not thought of that. There was no way Walt would believe the police were not at his house, especially since Jr. had made the call.

 

And yet at the end, with Walt calling Skylar, knowing that the police would be listening in and recording the call, he made one last ditch effort to save his family by portraying her as a know-nothing who had fought him every step of the way. He didn't redeem himself, obviously, but it was something. It will be interesting to see if that ploy works.

 

You know what, now that you mention it, you may be on to something here. He didn't mention anything about the other dudes to her, and he can't be stupid enough to know she wouldn't be alone. Maybe he wants to get revenge on his own (as we know from the flash forward)?

The call from Saul they were previewing from next episode.....exactly what I was thinking....they know that Walt's family knows and Hank's wife knows....so maybe the neos go after them....but they will be heavily protected now.

I thought it was a little strange that Walt just got away after 911 was called....that the police couldn't have found him....but I guess that's a 1 out of 10 complaint from me on an otherwise magnificent episode.

 

Yeah, that's it. At the beginning of the call I thought Walt had gone completely around the bend but when he almost started crying it became obvious he knew the cops were listening and he was using the call to clear Skyler. Man, excellent writing and acting!

Edit: Ah heck, Clark V beat me to it.

 

Also, what a great episode for Walt Jr. The scene where he wrestled the knife away from Walt and called the police was by far one of the most intense scenes in the entire series.

 

He may need some drugs after this episode.

 

What an extremely creative opening. Taking us back to the beginning and dissolving to present day. Great writing.

It was without a doubt one of the best, if not THE best, television episode of a show that I've ever seen.

All that's left at this point is to go along on this amazingly wild ride to the end.

 

Another GREAT episode. So long Hank and Gomez.

 

He was crying heavily. Go back and look at his glasses. They were so foggy I couldn't hardly see his eyes. Problilly the best hour of TV I've ever seen. But I'm with you I thought he had went totally off the rails.
MFW watching this hour

 

I wasn't aware that you could hold your breath for an hour. Holy s^#*. The best hour of television I've ever seen.

 

Someone needs to bring up this up.... The final season is propelled by the actions of that Neo-Nazi guy and therefore forces us to accept the fact that A)the exterminator company that Walt finds earlier in the season just HAPPENS to have a guy whose uncle has enough connections in prison to get 10 people killed in short order and that B)the guy playing the Neo-Nazi leader can act...which he can't. His role has become too important to give to a guy who's best used as a minor player.

 

Now will you believe me that Gomez was hit?

 

I don't think he's a bad actor at all....just my opinion.

 

I didn't see two shots in the chest in any screenshot from last week.

 

As is mine... you're right. To each his own.

 

Another example of the brilliant writing in this show and why it pays to see how events and episodes connect before thinking the writing team is getting sloppy or disappointing or running out of ideas is how they treated the phone call between Hank and Marie. Last week it appeared to be too predictable and cliched that Hank would gloat that Walt is under arrest only to have things go straight to hell from there. Yes, that cliche played out with Hank getting killed, and yet as we see this week if that call isn't made, then Marie never confronts Skyler with knowledge of Walt's arrest, Walt Jr doesn't find out, and instead Walt comes home, packs and they all head to New Hampshire as a family to start that new life.

Likewise, the missed shots of the gunfire and the questions on when last week's episode should have ended (and I admit I had my doubts here) were so quickly forgotten and seem trivial now that we saw how the shoot out actually ended.

 

He may have bought Skyler some time -- and more importantly, police protection -- but I think Skyler's role will become clear during the inevitable investigation. Maybe not, though -- maybe Vince Gilligan is willing to absolve Skyler of her crimes as some kind of reward for enduring the Skyler-haters for five years. But I don't think anyone who's "broken bad" should get away with anything.

Also, I'm not ready to engrave "Walter H. White" on any "Man Of The Year" trophies just yet. Trying to help Skyler and his kids doesn't absolve him of what he's done or who he's become. If he hadn't put a hit on Jesse, Hank wouldn't be dead. He also alerted the nazis to the existence of Andrea and Brock, and if anything happens to them, that's on Walt too. And I don't care what Jesse did to deserve it, Walt's little "I watched Jane die" farewell was the biggest dick move of all time.

 

Marc, I have no idea how Breaking Bad will end, but one thing I'm fairly certain of is that you will be likely be disappointed with it (and that's okay...can't please them all).

 

Excellent point -- the "honey it's over, and I'll be home soon" phone call was a cliche, but it was also functional. It drove most of the first half of the episode, with Marie (heart-breakingly) confronting Skyler with all these facts that she doesn't realize have gone horribly wrong. And the scenes with Walt Jr. -- oy. When he had to jump on his father to keep him from killing his mother, it was cathartic, horrifying, and deeply sad ... all at the same time.

Now that we know how it played out, they should have cut to black a little sooner -- but still, the quick, no-nonsense shot of Gomie lying dead said it all. No cliches there -- they didn't even give him a death scene. Just laying there, another innocent victim of Heisenberg.

 

I couple of shout-outs to the BB writers, who are still masters of symbolism and foreshadowing, even now as the show descends into pure horror:

1. When Marie took Hank's final phone call, she was staring at brains in her garbage can. Hank was shot in the head.

2. Jesse has been the focal point of two canine-themed episodes, "Problem Dog" and "Rabid Dog." He ended tonight's episode literally ON A LEASH.

 

And she was wearing black (pointed out by others last week)

 

watching the episode again.....another question. Why would Skylar believe Marie that Walt was in custody? How does she know that Marie was telling the truth?

 

Why would Marie lie about it? Also, Skyler saw Walt dash out of the car wash in a panic a few hours earlier, and hadn't been able to get a hold of him since. She knew something bad was happening.

 

My hands were dripping with sweat the entire time (and not just because it's 77 degrees in LA). Relentlessly scary show. The whole thing felt like it was 10 minutes long! Absolutely amazing show... just when you think you got it figured out, Gilligan and his writers turn the whole thing upside down. I'm stunned with where it's going. Not a single disappointment for me, just a stellar, stellar episode in every way.

You know... what if Walt is on a rescue mission in the final episode, and that's why he has the giant gun? What if he's trying to save a bunch of people saved by the crypto-Nazis? I'm inclined to believe this more and more (and this is all just a guess).