Meth, I Hear You Callin': The Final Season of Breaking Bad

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: Meth, I Hear You Callin': The Final Season of Breaking Bad

One minor quibble with Walt's McGyver-ish escape: Even if you could get the live wires to arc like that, wouldn't that blow a breaker somewhere?

I did love the fact that it was so obviously a mannequin's hand because it was smoldering with black dust instead of burning his wrist...

 

[MaizeRage]

Re: Meth, I Hear You Callin': The Final Season of Breaking Bad

I've got mixed feelings on the show by this point. Last night was obviously a well-written, beautifully constructed episode of television. That said, Vince Gilligan said in an interview earlier this year that his initial plan was to have Walt directly kill Jane rather than being a passive witness. He ended up being talked out of it by his other writers because they convinced him that would be taking Walt's character past a point of no return. Gilligan ended up agreeing that it was absolutely the right call, and I tend to agree.

That's kind of where I feel the show is now. By running out of antagonists--other than the cartel which has gone from conveniently absent to comically absent this season--and setting up Walt as the antagonist of the series, it feels like they've taken him past that point of no return, and to me, lessens the stakes of the last ten episodes because I don't really care whether Walt makes it or not.

 

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: Meth, I Hear You Callin': The Final Season of Breaking Bad

I've got mixed feelings on the show by this point. Last night was obviously a well-written, beautifully constructed episode of television. That said, Vince Gilligan said in an interview earlier this year that his initial plan was to have Walt directly kill Jane rather than being a passive witness. He ended up being talked out of it by his other writers because they convinced him that would be taking Walt's character past a point of no return. Gilligan ended up agreeing that it was absolutely the right call, and I tend to agree.

That's kind of where I feel the show is now. By running out of antagonists--other than the cartel which has gone from conveniently absent to comically absent this season--and setting up Walt as the antagonist of the series, it feels like they've taken him past that point of no return, and to me, lessens the stakes of the last ten episodes because I don't really care whether Walt makes it or not.

I think we all think he's nuts for not taking the money, walking away and getting his life back, but he is probably right that he can never what he wants at home because even if he had sold the methylamine, I kind of doubt Skylar would accept that as an end point and let the kids come home.

 

[The Rube]

Re: Meth, I Hear You Callin': The Final Season of Breaking Bad

I've got mixed feelings on the show by this point. Last night was obviously a well-written, beautifully constructed episode of television. That said, Vince Gilligan said in an interview earlier this year that his initial plan was to have Walt directly kill Jane rather than being a passive witness. He ended up being talked out of it by his other writers because they convinced him that would be taking Walt's character past a point of no return. Gilligan ended up agreeing that it was absolutely the right call, and I tend to agree.

That's kind of where I feel the show is now. By running out of antagonists--other than the cartel which has gone from conveniently absent to comically absent this season--and setting up Walt as the antagonist of the series, it feels like they've taken him past that point of no return, and to me, lessens the stakes of the last ten episodes because I don't really care whether Walt makes it or not.

With all the capos and such gone, it takes a while to rebuild a cartel with just soldiers and such. I may have read a few organized crime books. Remember, Gus didn't just kill the don, he killed all the main guys below the don (at least one level, probably two levels of top guys).

And as for Walt being nuts for not taking the money, remember his ego. This is all he has left now. He doesn't want to "lose" that too.

Finally, Walt said that the methylamine would last for about a year, year and a half. Remember the beginning of this season and the timeframe?

 

[UNH GH]

Re: Meth, I Hear You Callin': The Final Season of Breaking Bad

I've got mixed feelings on the show by this point. Last night was obviously a well-written, beautifully constructed episode of television. That said, Vince Gilligan said in an interview earlier this year that his initial plan was to have Walt directly kill Jane rather than being a passive witness. He ended up being talked out of it by his other writers because they convinced him that would be taking Walt's character past a point of no return. Gilligan ended up agreeing that it was absolutely the right call, and I tend to agree.

That's kind of where I feel the show is now. By running out of antagonists--other than the cartel which has gone from conveniently absent to comically absent this season--and setting up Walt as the antagonist of the series, it feels like they've taken him past that point of no return, and to me, lessens the stakes of the last ten episodes because I don't really care whether Walt makes it or not.

It's been a full season now where I've really cared about Walt. To me, he's no longer the protagonist of the show, it's now Jesse. Seeing what becomes of Jesse is what I'm most interested in.

 

[Deutsche Gopher Fan]

Re: Meth, I Hear You Callin': The Final Season of Breaking Bad

It's been a full season now where I've really cared about Walt. To me, he's no longer the protagonist of the show, it's now Jesse. Seeing what becomes of Jesse is what I'm most interested in.

This. Oh, and Hank.

 

[bigblue_dl]

Re: Meth, I Hear You Callin': The Final Season of Breaking Bad

Walt's Plan:

Mike and Jesse sell their 2/3 of the methylamine to the Phoenix crew. In exchange for letting Walt keep his 1/3, Mike introduces the head of the Phoenix crew to Walt, so instead of competing against the blue meth, the Phoenix guys have control of it. Walt is a 1/3 partner, because he has 1/3 of the methylamine, and now he has a new ready made distribution network. Mike and Jesse are out, like they wanted. Skylar cracks, gives up Jesse, Walt, and Mike, Walt is gone, because he's in with the new crew, but Jesse is turned against Walt and works with Hank to get immunity.

 

[The Rube]

Re: Meth, I Hear You Callin': The Final Season of Breaking Bad

Walt's Plan:

Mike and Jesse sell their 2/3 of the methylamine to the Phoenix crew. In exchange for letting Walt keep his 1/3, Mike introduces the head of the Phoenix crew to Walt, so instead of competing against the blue meth, the Phoenix guys have control of it. Walt is a 1/3 partner, because he has 1/3 of the methylamine, and now he has a new ready made distribution network. Mike and Jesse are out, like they wanted. Skylar cracks, gives up Jesse, Walt, and Mike, Walt is gone, because he's in with the new crew, but Jesse is turned against Walt and works with Hank to get immunity.

You're either onto something, or you're on something...

 

[The Rube]

Re: Meth, I Hear You Callin': The Final Season of Breaking Bad

I just found this out:

The song that Walt was whistling? "Lilys Of The Valley"

 

[bigblue_dl]

Re: Meth, I Hear You Callin': The Final Season of Breaking Bad

I just found this out:

The song that Walt was whistling? "Lilys Of The Valley"

Did Jesse recognize it? He did stop and look at Walt for a while, but I tend to think that Jesse wouldn't know what song that was.

The more I think about it, I think I'm right with my prediction.

Also, we need to figure out who Mike's "connection" is inside the DEA. At this point, I only see it being 3 people, Gomez, Hank or Hank's boss. Hank would be the biggest twist....is the real reason why Gus called Hank to warn him because Hank is actuallly on his payroll? (personally, I think there's no way, especially with the way that Hank was going after Gus last season, that seemed legit, and there's not way he'd do that if he was on the payroll). My vote is Hank's boss. Gomez is too easy.

 

[The Rube]

Re: Meth, I Hear You Callin': The Final Season of Breaking Bad

I don't think Jesse recognized it; he just was surprised at how light-hearted Walt's attitude seemed to be after the "serious" talk about the kid.

And Gomez is too easy, sure. No way on Hank. No way. Hank's boss? Possibly. I'll stick with Gomez.

 

[Foxton]

Re: Meth, I Hear You Callin': The Final Season of Breaking Bad

Bye bye Mike, hope you enjoy your pointless death where you wish you had everything you just chucked away.

 

[Hammer]

Re: Meth, I Hear You Callin': The Final Season of Breaking Bad

Saw that coming a mile away.

 

[ExileOnDaytonStreet]

Bye bye Mike, hope you enjoy your pointless death where you wish you had everything you just chucked away.

Mike chucked it away?

If anything, Walt was (again) the one acting without aim. What was his plan for shooting Mike, exactly?

My only complaint is that Walt didn't have any reasoning behind it. Perhaps that's what we're moving to with Walter: now he kills out of spite. The transition to Tony Montana is almost complete.

 

[MaizeRage]

Re: Meth, I Hear You Callin': The Final Season of Breaking Bad

Saw that coming a mile away.

Yep.

I know it's sacrilege, but maybe only nine more episodes is enough for this show.

 

[ExileOnDaytonStreet]

Yep.

I know it's sacrilege, but maybe only nine more episodes is enough for this show.

Why, because we might have seen it coming that Walt would kill Mike? The majority of Walt's kills (Jesse's too) have been pretty predictable. Shoot, we spent almost an entire episode telegraphing the Gus-splosion. Since when has predictability been the selling point?

It wasn't interesting to have Jesse be forced to kill Gale, but it was fascinating because of what it meant. Here, I'm at a loss to fid out what it meant for Walt to kill Mike. There was no reason, beyond Walt's pride getting in the way and reacting on his temper. Perhaps the fact that Walt himself couldn't even seem to justify this one (he almost looked like he wanted to apologize, really) is the point. Walt has now (again) reached a new low through his arrogance.

 

[The Rube]

Re: Meth, I Hear You Callin': The Final Season of Breaking Bad

Perhaps the fact that Walt himself couldn't even seem to justify this one (he almost looked like he wanted to apologize, really) is the point. Walt has now (again) reached a new low through his arrogance.

THAT'S the point.

And Maize: I think the general consensus favors the series ending after this season, and was the consensus before this season started.

Random thoughts while watching, meaning off the cuff spewing:

Todd is a Fed. I backtracked on that thought before, but now I don't care that he killed a kid. He can blame that on someone else. He is a supposed diehard criminal and refuses payment? Wha? No. I don't buy it.

Skylar and Jesse will flip. Those looks they gave each other....they know who they are dealing with.

 

[MaizeRage]

Re: Meth, I Hear You Callin': The Final Season of Breaking Bad

Why, because we might have seen it coming that Walt would kill Mike? The majority of Walt's kills (Jesse's too) have been pretty predictable. Shoot, we spent almost an entire episode telegraphing the Gus-splosion. Since when has predictability been the selling point?

It wasn't so much the predictability of it. It was introducing a completely new character so Mike could make a completely out of character mistake that would lead to his downfall that was really hacky.

 

[ExileOnDaytonStreet]

It wasn't so much the predictability of it. It was introducing a completely new character so Mike could make a completely out of character mistake that would lead to his downfall that was really hacky.

What was that mistake? Not pulling a gun on Walt every chance he got? Having a weakness for a sweet grandchild? Not being omnipotent or perfect? The fact that he knew it was only a matter of time before he slipped was the reason he was out in the first place.

 

[Rimbaud]

Re: Meth, I Hear You Callin': The Final Season of Breaking Bad

Todd is a Fed. I backtracked on that thought before, but now I don't care that he killed a kid. He can blame that on someone else. He is a supposed diehard criminal and refuses payment? Wha? No. I don't buy it.

Um, a fed would have no reason to pull a gun on a small unarmed child and shoot him in cold blood, that's just asinine to think that. If I had to guess, Todd's connections are tied to the group in Phoenix that was trying to get the methylamine, he's now learning how to cook the good meth, and when he get's it, bye bye Walt.

It'd be interesting if Hank gets wind of who Walt is and ends up having to concoct a way to keep him safe....Walt admits to starting to cook meth because of cancer, then the drug cartel gets to him and forces him to keep cooking or they'd kill him and his family....something along those lines.