I see it as foreshadowing some bad shit happening at Walt’s house for the season finale, I don’t think it’s a dream.
Yeah, because the other episode that started like a dream, with the two guys finding Tuco’s grill in the river, ended with Hank throwing the grill in the river — so the writers like to sort of use fake-outs like that. Even on the first episode, where Walt is standing in the road with a gun in his underpants — and then the fire engine goes the other way. So maybe the bodies are going to be minor characters we haven’t even seen yet, some kind of change-up. I hope they don’t kill off any of the mains.
kick ass show
This ep. wore its subtext proudly, didn’t it? Walt fixing the boiler exposes the rot eating at the foundation of his home. Poor Walt. He starts out wanting to fix things at home (this was the jumping off point for the series: cancer diagnosis, short time to live, family has no money- gotta fix this!). With the news that his cancer is in remission, he can’t quite get a grip on the straight life. These repair jobs (and just how is he supposed to explain the outlay of cash for all this to Skylar?) is just his subconscious screaming out for him to return to what he really digs- cooking and selling meth. The meth-head’s shopping basket in the home supply store was like a realization of who he really was, and how he then punked the bigger goon in the parking lot proved it- Walt is bad-ass. He’s way over the line now.
I’m really hating Skylar. I’m going to have to consider why that is. Walt is a dangerous egotist, with a severe personality disorder, who has caused much harm. He’s not a good guy. But whenever Skylar appears, I hate her more. I don’t know that this is an intention of the show. Maybe it’s me. This show gets in my head.
I know what you’re saying, but I feel bad for Skylar because she knows there’s something off with Walt but he’s so great at keeping her in the dark. He hasn’t cheated on her, but it probably feels to her like he has or is. One thing I like about Breaking Bad is that Walt is sort of a mean sick person — it breaks the last taboo on cancer. But I think it was set up early in season one that Walt has a sense of being unfulfilled in life and a lot of grudges going way back to when he was a young man — in a way, he’s getting to lead the kind of life he always wanted, large and in charge, and with direct results to show for his efforts.
What a great season finale — I can’t wait till next year. A little homage to Magnolia at the end.
Holy smokes. I watched the second to last episode on my computer, then watched the season finale.
And wow, I’m feeling drained. Anyone else see it/caught up?
Thoughts?
I gave up around the third or fourth episode of the second season. Is it worth it?
Heck yes, it is.
The whole series up to date is available of ninjavideo.net
it realy is one of the most original and dynamic shows out there
Don’t give drugs to air-traffic controllers’ daughters!
JP, that’s great advice.
Ah, thanks wilfred. I got tired of torrenting it…life’s rough.
Is Walt an irredeemable character? The pain his actions have caused (Jane’s death to the mid-air collision!!) would suggest that this is so. This is a brilliant series.
Walt was operating under the theory of his own impending doom — all bets were off. Now, he has to face the rest of his life with the consequences of his actions. How will he redeem himself? Or is he irredeemable? It is so much more interesting than anything else on tv, imo.
The thing about Walt is that up until he learned about his cancer, he had slowly smothered his happiness and ultimate satisfaction by making compromise after compromise. However, once he learned he was going to die, whatever had been growing inside of him was set free, and now he’s slowly smothering his morality and humanity in much the same way by making compromise after compromise. To see him shed just a few tears after Jane’s death, and then watch indifference slowly creep over his face was chilling.
Damn and blast! I missed this series completely! Any way I can catch up online? No credit card utilisation please (ate my last one – that’s it for me and credit cards).
Letting Jane die was an all time low.
Any woman with a Bettie Page hairdo deserves to die. And that Skylar is a beotch!
Jesse loved Jane and Walt knew this. He only killed her because he was afraid she’d rat on him one day. I don’t think you’ve ever seen this show.
There is a hole in my week now where this show used to be. I miss it already.
I missed the entire season? Damn! I kept meaning to look it up.
I would call this my favorite program of all time, and it’s only been two seasons.
Bump this thread. This is a great show. The best on television. Yeah, you heard me, Cuse, Lindelof.
Well, this season’s been exhaustingly powerful. Last night’s episode was near-horror.
Any thoughts on this season?
Recently, I posted my opinions on the show onto my blog. You can check them out if you want to hear somebody who is highly displeased with the show, but given this thread’s general thrust, I’m sensing that will be unlikely. And I’ll take my comments off the air.
http://killerstencil.wordpress.com/2010/04/11/a-few-thoughts-on-breaking-bad/
I have been enjoying this season – mostly. Except for the two Mexican drug cartel assassins. And the lack of consistency between most characters. Really, any portrayal of Mexico in this show is offensive. They cross the border and suddenly the world of Mexico looks as if it had been soaked in urine over night and the primary mode of transportation is the donkey. Even lens filters can convey stereotypes – thanks to ‘Traffic’
Sunday night’s episode, ‘Fly,’ was laughable – so on the nose, unsubtle. The form was so off the mark, lacking any coherence to former episodes, that I had to look it up and it turns out the episode was a guest director thing – the guy who made ‘Brick’ and ‘The Brothers Bloom.’ No wonder it was filled with so much gimicky camera tomfoolery (read: fly cam) and emotive music. Hate.
Okay – not a good season – but the episode before last was fucking incredible.
Really, Jeremy, you think the yellow filters convey a stereotype? I figured it had more to do with the heat or the desert—are you referring to negative stereotypes about desert climates? Perhaps the show creators are revealing a political bias toward certain hues.
Conveying stereotype, perhaps that may be hyperbolic, but I do think it’s problematic. The New Mexico and Texas deserts are also hot, but the sky is blue and the air is clear – in contrast, Mexico is yellow, exaggerated yellow. If you re-watch the first episode of this season, it opens on the yellow yellow sky and then the camera tilts down to a medieval village with chickens, donkeys, and the cult of pilgrimage.
Mexico is portrayed as the other, as quaint, or enigmatic – while America is the actual, the normal.
I don’t think it has any thing to do with biases. I think the show’s creators are following norms that were established and solidified in films like Traffic. They aren’t thinking. They appeal to style over possible problems that that style conveys. They are part of a long trajectory of misrepresenting Mexico in cinema and television.
Justin Vicari
So who were the bodies under the sheets in the driveway last week, in the opening sequence? And was that Hank helping to process the scene in one of those protective uniforms? I wonder if it was a dream or if it’s going to be resolved later down the road…