Anyone into 'BREAKING BAD'?

I think that's exactly what it was -- plus, he saw his own options dwindling, and if Lydia could get the methylamine (earlier noted as the single hardest component of their little operation to obtain), he could control her AND get back to earning money. Mike will probably have to kill the other 9 of his "solid" guys now that he knows the Feds have shut down all their Cayman accounts, and they'll be desperate.

 

When Walt said "have faith" about getting the methylamine made me sick. He's so cocky! This man needs to be brought down!

 

You got another 14 episodes before that happens. And even then...

 

It was just the insinuation by that remark that what they were doing was "God's work" or divine. I hope Gilligan gives us a flashback that provides more information about how Brock was poisoned. From last week, we learned that Saul had something to do with it, at Heisenberg's urging of course. We know that he was delivering money envelopes to the kid's mother, so there's the opportunity.

 

I don't get the impression that's what Walt meant. I think he meant the more secular meaning of "don't lose hope".

 

Here's a link to an interesting Salon interview with show creator Vince Gilligan. No big spoilers about the upcoming season, but plenty of revealing insights into their process.

http://www.salon.com/2012/07/23/vince_gilligan_ive_never_googled_breaking_bad/

 

Lydia was sitting at the table with the Madrigal folks when they met with the DEA.

 

I loved the little look Mike gave as he left the interview (with his back to Hank and Steve). He'd kept his cool during the interview, but that was his little acknowledgement to the viewer that since the DEA had found the money, everything he'd told Lydia about his guys being well compensated (and therefore that the situation was under control) was no longer true. It's the little touches like that that make this show amazing. Lovely bit of acting by Jonathan Banks.

 

We've been shown before how close Mike is to his granddaughter. I assume he was thinking about how she would react if he just "disappeared." If Lydia had pled for her own life, he'd have killed her; no question. But she was pleading for him not to dispose of her body, so that her daughter could have some closure. Coming right after his interrogation (and the realization that everything he intended to leave for his granddaughter had been confiscated by the cops.), he was surely looking for a straw to grasp. And Walt, right now, is his only straw. Tick tick tick. Boom.

I'm loving how much better Hank is dealing with his success than Walt is. Considering how low Hank sunk at the beginning of season four, it's great to see him climbing back up while Walt sinks further down. There's no sign (yet) of arrogance in him, no taking things out on anyone else - he genuinely seems distressed that his boss had not only lost his job, but also a close friend. And he let his (ex-) partner help him in the lobby when he couldn't keep up the walking. That this is happening 14 episodes before the end makes me wonder if there's going to be yet another major turn of the characters. Are they setting Hank up to be the ultimate hero of the piece or are they just teasing the audience before everything turns ugly again?

 

Thank you. I didn't notice her. But, they said that on the podcast.

 

Watched the first few episodes of the first season on Netflix streaming. I haven't been blown away and I'm not sure I'm gonna stick with it. In any event, is the consensus opinion that the show gets better?

 

I thought it was great from the first episode so maybe you just won't like it. I'd definitely give it a couple of more episodes though.

 

after second episode last Sunday, that Walt was so ready to jump back in and start cooking again seemed unrealistic and kind of cartoonish. Also, how could he be broke? Where did the money go? How much was the IRS bill for that dude?

 

No, the consensus opinion is that the show is amazing out of the gate and never loses quality.

Seemed perfectly in keeping with the Walt we know now. This is not the same Walt from season 1. This man has made the choice to be the meth kingpin of the southwest. He killed Gus with a pipe bomb, of course he's going to want to start cooking right away. He's 3/4s of the way to Scarface at this point.

It's not really about Walt being broke. It's about Walt's unquenchable thirst for power and control. He's as addicted to the power as his customers are to his product.

 

The IRS bill was over six hundred thousand dollars! That was at least three quarters of what he had in storage under the house, and almost as much as they paid for the Car Wash. If you follow his expenditures over the last season he had to dish out a LOT and it's not surprising to me that he's broke.

 

Here's my slightly different viewpoint: I didn't like the show the first half of the first season or so as much as I came to really enjoy the show, and I like the third and fourth season markedly more than the first two. So I say it gets better.

 

Plus he had to pay off Saul's secretary to let him know Saul's whereabouts. His fortune disappeared in a hurry.

 

The IRS bill was over $600,000 -- and don't forget, they paid all of Hank's medical bills and bought the car wash too. The car wash is supposedly doing well, but Walt's plan wasn't about paying for the groceries each week, it was about providing long-term financial security.

I didn't find Walt's eagerness to cook again unrealistic or cartoonish; his entire self-image now derives from being Heisenberg the bad-***, the mastermind behind the best meth ever made. He has a sense of power and virility that he never had before in his life, and he doesn't want to let it go.

 

General Zod, I'm with you in that I felt that aspects of the first two episodes were "off" from before, a bit cartoonish as you say. Walt's attitude, the way Jesse pushes Mike to accept Walt's plans. . . these seemed clunky or forced to me, and I chalk it up to compressing the storyline for acceleration of the season's arc. I think once I just shrugged and accepted those (not as easily as I thought) it was better and I think it's going to be better moving forward.

 

Walt is so broke, he had to borrow $40,000 of Jesse's money.

 

To answer your question... I love the pic of Heisenberg in the background of the pie chart.

 

http://www.amazon.com/LOL-Laugh-Loud-Rollovers-Bacon/dp/B002QH09HY





No more "half-measures"

 

That's gold

 

Wow, that's an in-joke.

This show moved so damned fast, I swear, it felt like it was 20 minutes long! They jammed a lot into this episode. Watching a Vince Gilligan-written episode is like watching a chess game played by a master: every move carefully calculated, every step inevitably leading to the final moment. And watching Walt manipulate the people around (particularly the wife and Jesse) makes you hate him more.

I can't wait to see where this thing goes.

 

Three hundred and sixty-six thousand dollars left, and HE'S CRYING POOR?!?!