Breaking Bad

[Swiss]

I actually lost some sleep last night because I couldn't stop thinking about this episode. A TV show (or any other form of media, for that matter) has never had this effect on me before. 

 

Damn it, Vince.

[Crabigail]

I watched Ozymandias with Carbo this morning and I was kinda half-asleep and hesitant on watching it because I was really tired, but I pushed myself to plop onto the sofa and watch the episode with him. Sure enough, not even five minutes in, I was wide awake and already shaking with from the chain of events going on. If you didn't hate Walter White's guts by now, Ozymandias made sure you did.

I can't say I'm really on anyone's side anymore, but I am still very interested in what Walt will do now since he's the one who dragged everyone into this mess in the first place. I am very eager to see what the star anti-villain of Breaking Bad will do for the remaining two episodes.

And well, as for Jesse? I feel bad for the guy. I can understand that he desired revenge, but because he was so blinded by the thought of finally giving Walt what he deserves, he never really gave himself the time to really think things through. Although, he wasn't really much of a thinker in the first place; always depending on Walt to come through with some kind of plan. I actually hope Jesse can manage to escape and live for the ending of the series, but I can't bet on that happening considering the conditions and possibilities.

Also, I was really upset when Skylar was forced into telling Walt Jr. everything. I can't say it's a relateable situation since I highly doubt anyone has had to learn of their father's deep dark secret of working as a methamphetamine cook and their mother's involvement in money laundering, but it's relateable in the sense that you feel lied and cheated to. They say children are cruel? Man, parents can be just as baffling and horrifying. My heart sank even more when Walt Jr. called the police though. It was right then and there, that we finally see the White family collapsing for good.

Edited September 16, 2013 by Ktullanyx

[Brad]

I have never despised Walter more than I have in this moment. I hate him. I hate him, I hate him. HATE. HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE. 

[Carbo]

"We're family."

I have never despised Walter more than I have in this moment. I hate him. I hate him, I hate him. HATE. HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE.

At least he willingly vilified himself in order to remove any suspicion from his family. That was an honorable thing to do honestly.

[Sean]

This was the only recent episode in which I simultaneously hated Walt... and actually felt sympathy for him. The first time in a very, very long time.

This might be his last good deed in the show. Although I'm still not rooting for him, he's not a complete monster by any stretch of the term. The fact that he was able to muster any shred of goodwill after Hank's death is a testament to his devotion to his family.

Even if he's an abusive fuck who did the absolute right thing in finally getting out of their lives.

[Kevin]

There was a really good theory/prediction posted on reddit in regards to Walter:

 

 

Walter White is done. He is over. Bam. Ceased to exist.

A lot of people are going to say that this episode made Walter out to be a villain. An evil person. He gave up Jesse, and he essentially told Jesse the worst thing he could. He kidnapped Holly. He sent that last call to Skylar.

Think about it, though. In Walt's mind, it would be very easy for him to blame Jesse for Hank's death. Jesse was the person who called him and got him out there. Jesse was the one that "went rabid" and so very threatened Walt's very existence after what Walt saw as a very caring relationship. Jesse was the one that helped Hank get out there to get Walt.

It's very easy for somebody in Walt's position to not think clearly and give up the one that he could most simply place the blame on.

He kidnapped Holly, but Holly was the last possible link to a healthy family Walt could have left. His son went against him. His wife went against him. His brother is dead and his sister-in-law will absolutely have nothing to do with Walt after that. With Holly, he could at least raise her as if he was never Heisenberg. A fresh start.

But he gave her back, and he made that final call as Walter White.

The last known record of Walter White will be that call. The call where he spoke down to his wife for going against him and implied to the crime of murdering Hank Schrader. If there was ever a chance that Skyler could be the accessory to Walt; it is gone. There is absolutely no chance Skyler will ever be convicted of anything now. She is no longer an accessory; she is a hostage.

Walter White gave up his reputation to his family in order to protect his family's reputation. Skyler will never be seen as Skysenberg. She will be his victim. She will be stopped in the supermarket and hugged and told nice things, rather than potentially let off anyways and forever being an O.J. Simpson or similarly acquitted 'criminals'.

Walter White is a man. He isn't a great man. He isn't a bad man. He is a man. He is a father. He is a husband. Even at the final moment, when it was do or die. When it was his money; his TROPHY for what he did, he was still eagerly ready to ignore all logic and give up his money for his brother-in-law.

And we all know where it's going from here. We don't know the specifics, but we do know a few things...

Jesse is now a meth slave. He has to cook for the safety of HIS family. Jesse is now what Skyler expected Walt to become.

Walt has no family left. He is dead to Walter Jr. He is dead to Marie. He will never be more than a monster to Holly as she grows up. The only person who may see Walt as less than a monster is Skyler, but even that's based on the idea that she may one day think logically about her last contact with Walter and the fact that he gave back Holly.

Walter is coming back, and he is buying an M60, and he is retrieving the ricin.

He has one enemy left in the world.

Is Walt coming back to save Jesse? I doubt it. I don't see how the news that Jesse is a meth slave could EVER reach Walt.

No.

Walt is coming back for one thing and one thing only: he is dying, so he is going to go down avenging his brother-in-law. He'll probably end up saving Jesse, but that'll be something that just happens naturally.

No, Walt is coming back to kill Jack.

 

My thoughts:

 

I think that person is dead on in regards to Walter White being done as a character. He has nothing left after he made that phone call and he'll never see his family again after that and he knows it. That prediction the poster made is a very plausible one. This is not going to end well at all.

[Noir]

It all sounds fairly plausible. Really after that episode I can't form many coherent thoughts about this show so I can't read that prediction beyond like "yeah ok sounds good" but it's believable I guess.

 

Now what I want to know is what's with that dog that ran across the street at the end of the episode. It was obviously intentional and you can assume it's supposed to hint at Jesse but what exactly?

[SuperStingray]

Now what I want to know is what's with that dog that ran across the street at the end of the episode. It was obviously intentional and you can assume it's supposed to hint at Jesse but what exactly?

It's symbolic.  Now that Walt doesn't have a home, he's a stray dog.

[Carbo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQSTieJH70Y

Promo for the next episode.

[Strong Bad]

Wow this show is ablsjfkasdfjalskdjlkajsdkfjlasdasdf I can't even

Please why

[Noir]

After the past few episodes this was such a relief. Andrea broke me but other than that it was pretty tame.

 

Not sure how they're gonna wrap things up with 75 minutes left to go. Feeling like things could go any way at this point, but all I know is next sunday is going to be one hell of a wild ride.

[Kevin]

Andrea! I really hope karma comes back to get Todd! Other than that scene, this episode was tame compared to the last one. Next Sunday cannot come soon enough and I'm curious how this is all going to end in 75 minutes.

 

Oh and I loved how they played the theme song during the ending of this episode.

[Strong Bad]

yeah Todd is a real asshole. Fuck that guy, seriously.

[Chaos Incarnate]

Holy Shit. That felt like a real punch to the chest (in a good way).

 

Andrea's dead, WTF????? Todd is so fucking dead now. Jesse has nothing left to live for, death will be an escape for him. I've actually gone back to feeling sorry for Walt now, that phone conversation with Flynn was just heartbreaking. I'm glad Saul made it out OK, now I can understand why his spinoff will be a prequel. He didn't really get a happy ending, but I'm glad he survived. And holy hell, Elliot and Gretchen!

 

It's taken a while for it to sink in for me, but this it folks. Just one more episode to go, and Breaking Bad is done! I started late, watching it on Netflix a couple months ago, but after watching tonight's episode at my Grandma's house.... I'm so ready. Bring it on, Vince!

[Sean]

Guys, stop using spoiler tags.

Yeah this episode wasn't that bad compared to the last few ones. Andrea's death devastated me but everything else felt like a much-needed breather after what happened in last week's episode.

[SuperStingray]

This was probably the most depressing episode in the series.  Seeing Walt pay Saul's guy to stay an extra hour was heartbreaking- he has no one left in his life, his name has been tarnished and all of his efforts for his family may have been in vain.  It's karma, to be sure, but seeing everything that Walt gave up for his "empire" makes it hard not to sympathize.

 

Also as of this episode, I think Todd has overthrown Gus as the most terrifying villain in the series.

[Carbo]

#TeamWalt is about to go on a fucking odyssey after that ending. HEISENBITCH.

[Chaos Incarnate]

So, the vial of Ricin that Walt collected at his house. Who do you think Walt is going to use it on?

 

There's been a ton of predictions, ranging from Jesse, the Nazis, to Walt himself, who do you think it's for? After last night's episode, I'm seriously thinking Elliot and/or Gretchen as Walt's act of horrible revenge for them not giving him credit for the company he co created. Walt's ego is too big to let them get away with it, they had to of shown that TV interview for a reason. It's just a hunch I have. Aside from them, the only other victim I can think of is Lydia.

[SuperStingray]

He voiced to Saul that he wanted to kill Jack and his crew, that's probably still his intention.  Personally, I think Walt decided to return to New Mexico because he heard blue meth is still in circulation and realized that Jesse's still alive, not because of Elliot and Gretchen.

[Noir]

Gretchen and Elliot aren't getting any more screentime than they did. They were there to make Walt see his old self has died and his empire is gone. They've served their purpose.

 

I'm really betting on him going back to save Jesse. He's the closest thing to family he has anymore, and at the same time he gets revenge on Jack and the neo-Nazis. He still owes them one cook, so my big idea is he'll use the same trick he killed Emilio and (almost) Krazy 8 with to kill them and escape with Jesse. Literally no idea about the ricin though. Suicide? Lydia, since she'd be the last remnant of his business once Todd and friends are gone? Couldn't even begin to guess which it'd be.

 

I've wanted the show to end with Jesse killing Walt for the longest time but at this point I don't see it happening, I think Jesse's broken far beyond being able to do that. All I want now is for Jesse to be with Brock and fuck all can happen to Walt.

[Carbo]

Gretchen and Elliot's scene served a lot of purposes but perhaps the biggest point it was there to serve was for Walter to realize that history has repeated itself. Two legitimate empires in the making that were built on his research, ideas and foundation were robbed from him because of his hubris, and he's getting no recognition for it anymore. As Heisenberg, his meth empire has been taken from him and there's nothing left for him to do. As Walter White, his legitimate business and family was taken from him. Now the world lives under the misconception that Walter is nothing but a monster and a criminal - that it was never in his character to take full measures and that no one will acknowledge his work even mattered. People are now taking fraudulent credit for his work. Nothing is holding him back anymore however, and the director of the recent episode said that the intent was always for the series to build up to this moment. Walter and Heisenberg are no longer mutually exclusive. He confirmed that, whatever sprung out of him in the last scene, is something completely new.

For that matter, I doubt that he knows that they're keeping Jesse captive, he knew that they were still planning on cooking.

And frankly, I doubt this is the last we're going to see of Gray Matter, because interviews and implications seem to hint that there might just be more to the finale than meets the eye. RJ Mitte has said that the last episode is propped to the brim of stuff that they have no idea how they managed to get into the allotted running time. There is no chance in hell that the last episode is just a Nazi shoot out. This is going to be an episode full of payoffs to events that have transpired throughout the entire series, and throwaway villains introduced in this season is not it. In fact, if Gray Matter ends up having more significance in the finale it would actually be a pretty apt ending as you can argue the entire reason Walt broke bad is because of that company.

I'm going to theorize that Walter poisons Lydia with the ricin (heavily setting up that chekhov's gun with the Stevia obsession she has), that he heads to kill the Nazis and saves Jesse as collateral. Jesse kills Todd. Walter then makes it a point to blackmail Gray Matter in order to give a majority share to Skyler so they can receive what is legitimate money based on the good research that Walter did. Walter then, quite possibly, leaves a full confession to his family or the public the location of Hank and Gomie's bodies, that he had slaughtered the Nazis who did them in and that he took it upon himself to destroy the meth empire. He then leaves to see his remaining age off, while Jesse adopts Brock to set a new lease on life.

[Crabigail]

I probably wouldn't place my finger on the ideal that Jesse would be considered "family" to Walt anymore, since this entire last half of the season has been focused on the tension between them.

Because of Walt's actions a la the Heisenberg personality, he's become more of a monster than a father-figure in Jesse's eyes. Even Aaron Paul has confirmed that Walt was supposed to play a sort of fatherly role for Jesse, but because of how dangerous and egotistical he is, Jesse sought out solace in Mike. After Mike's death, Jesse finally opened his eyes and saw that Walt was just completely engulfed in the Heisenberg persona, he was no longer his true self. Getting the truth from Saul about Walt poisoning Brock was just the cherry on the proverbial ice cream sundae. And it enraged Jesse even more, that his own partner would even consider going out with such a sick and twisted procedure of poisoning a child.

At this point, this is when Jesse basically gives up on everything and tosses his filthy blood money out on the streets. He no longer desires wealth, he helped Walt KILL people to make this money. He is drowning in a bottomless ocean of guilt and shame. Helping Hank was the only thing he could do to redeem himself, but even that ended in vain. And because of Jesse trying to turn Walt in, this is where everything just turns even uglier than before. This is where they are no longer that dynamic duo of meth cooks. Jesse wants Walt gone for good, and Walt (as Heisenberg) just wants Jesse dead.

If watching the Schwartz' interview on TV made Walt realize something about himself, going back for Jesse may not be an option. Jesse loathes him for everything he's put him through. Jane and Andrea's death are all Walt's fault, and Jesse pretty much has nothing to live for anymore at this point. Walt has practically taken Jesse's life and smashed it in front of him, there will be no forgiveness whatsoever, and Walt probably knows this.

If Walt does happen to save Jesse from Jack and his gang, I can totally expect Jesse killing Walt in the end. But, if Walt does't save Jesse, then well... I guess I could probably see that one coming too. Here's to hoping Walt somehow redeems himself in the final episode. I am not expecting a happy ending, but I certainly expect that this final episode will be some sort of "logical conclusion" to all of these fucked up events.

God I love this series.

Edited September 25, 2013 by Ktullanyx

[SuperStingray]

Meanwhile in the safehouse...

[Noir]

Celebrating the right way this morning:

 

 

Happy 62nd - and final - episode

[Chaos Incarnate]

Just 20 more minutes and it airs! Don't let me down Vince!

 

Problem is, I don't have cable and I'm not at my Grandma's house to watch the finale this week(I know, I'm such a poor deprived child ) Does anyone know where I can watch a livestream of the finale online, by any chance?