I just started and finished watching Breaking Bad

[HopsGuy]

I was never sure what these guys had on Walt. Mike maybe, but Walt?

I agree. Lydia made the list and when she initially met with Mike she noted that these were 9 people that knew about her and Mike. The warehouse guy that the DEA arrested in Houston wouldn't have known Walt. Maybe the logic is that these folks were linked to Lydia who in turn was linked to Walt. Walt was going to poison Lydia so he was trying to eliminate everyone who could possibly be linked to him at all. Jesse might have been next if Skylar hadn't shown Walt the massive pile of money. Walt had a "Come to Jesus" moment when he realized that he actually had won. He's out and has paid off Jesse.

 

Now we have Hank realizing that Walt is Heisenberg but there's no obvious way he should proceed. The note from Gale in the book of poems is probably not enough to get an indictment, so what does he do? Maybe he confronts Walt and gets him to give him info on the Phoenix group? How exactly Walt extricated himself from the business also provides for some story lines. What becomes of Todd? How about Todd's uncle? Maybe Walt needs an M60 because he has to mow down the Aryan Nation of New Mexico? Are we done with Lydia? I presume she did quite well with proceeds from the Czech Republic.

 

I'm glad that spoiler I had related from "Breaking Good" was wrong. The way the story played out is much more interesting and provides for many more options for the writers.

[Jim in Anchorage]

I hate to admit it but who was GG again? I can't remember.

[K-9]

I bet if the writers could go back in time, they'd have Mike paying off "legacy funds" to just 2 or 3 guys in jail. Would've been a lot more believable.

 

I see your point. But when every other production value is so spot on, especially over the long haul as in this series, I find it easier to cut slack for certain plot burps. Gilligan has earned that respect from me. Every time he seems to cut a corner in the story line, I soon come to realize it was to enhance the story line. It's just easier to suspend disbelief when you place that disbelief in such capable hands.

[The Poojer]

Gale? he was gus's original cook that jesse shot in the head in his apartment

 

I hate to admit it but who was GG again? I can't remember.

[Buftex]

I was never sure what these guys had on Walt. Mike maybe, but Walt?

 

Actually, the guy, Dennis (the one who was in talking with Hank at the beinging, with his lawyer, asking for "queen for a day" privledges), had direct connection with Walt and Jesse. He worked as the manager (I think) of the laundrimat...as I recall, he had a few encounters with the "chemical brothers", including when they torched the lab.

 

Your earlier point about the scene of the 9 guys getting killed straining credibility was right on, but whenever the show does that (I thought the train robbery thing a few weeks ago was pretty far fetched), it is done so well, you can overlook it.. the montage of the guys getting shived was really well done...

 

btw- have to stick this here, cuz I am not sure how else to work this in...for you with kids..the ultimate Christmas gift, BB style:

 

http://io9.com/5919867/this-breaking-bad-meth-lab-lego-set-is-unsuitable-for-children

 

Gale? he was gus's original cook that jesse shot in the head in his apartment

 

It is actually "G.B." aka Gale Bottecher...

[Jim in Anchorage]

Actually, the guy, Dennis (the one who was in talking with Hank at the beinging, with his lawyer, asking for "queen for a day" privledges), had direct connection with Walt and Jesse. He worked as the manager (I think) of the laundrimat...as I recall, he had a few encounters with the "chemical brothers", including when they torched the lab.

 

Your earlier point about the scene of the 9 guys getting killed straining credibility was right on, but whenever the show does that (I thought the train robbery thing a few weeks ago was pretty far fetched), it is done so well, you can overlook it.. the montage of the guys getting shived was really well done...

 

btw- have to stick this here, cuz I am not sure how else to work this in...for you with kids..the ultimate Christmas gift, BB style:

 

http://io9.com/59198...le-for-children

 

 

It is actually "G.B." aka Gale Bottecher...

Yeah I mentioned the train robbery was pretty far out when it was first aired. They had to calculate the train would stop EXACTLY where it did. Not 50 feet closer, not 50 feet later.

[Buftex]

Yeah I mentioned the train robbery was pretty far out when it was first aired. They had to calculate the train would stop EXACTLY where it did. Not 50 feet closer, not 50 feet later.

 

Yeah, an awful lot of things had to go right, to pull that off.

[HopsGuy]

Ok, just thought of another plot hole. On the insider podcast they mentioned that they never try to set where the show is in time. Judging by the technology we see, this show was to have started in real-time in 2008 and the smartest phone we've seen is Lydia's Blackberry. Everyone else uses a flip-phone/burner. We're told about 15-16 months have passed based on the premiere being Walt's 50th birthday and this season's "51" being the titular nod to Walt's birthday. S508 had a nice cook montage that supposedly lasted 3 or so months.

 

HOWEVER - Todd's Aryan Nation uncle mentioned that the plan to knock off Lydia's 9 (plus the lawyer) was "more complicated than the plan to take out bin Laden). This throws off the timeline, doesn't it? It's a small point but still...

[KD in CA]

Awesome episode. The prison montage was riveting. Loved the set up for the final 1/2 season with Hank.

 

 

Judging by the technology we see, this show was to have started in real-time in 2008 and the smartest phone we've seen is Lydia's Blackberry. Everyone else uses a flip-phone/burner.

I thought drug dealers used 'dumb phones' to avoid GPS tracking.

[/dev/null]

Awesome episode. The prison montage was riveting. Loved the set up for the final 1/2 season with Hank.

 

 

 

I thought drug dealers used 'dumb phones' to avoid GPS tracking.

 

Lydia isn't a drug dealer. She's a respectable business woman that works for a legitimate multinational corporation. All she does is move freight from one location to another. How that bag of blue meth got in the barrel, well golly how would she know? That barrel has traveled around the world and passed thru several different hands.

 

But yeah, I see where you're going. And I think Lydia will be one of the loose ends that Hank will tug or Walt will tie up

[KD in CA]

Lydia isn't a drug dealer. She's a respectable business woman that works for a legitimate multinational corporation. All she does is move freight from one location to another. How that bag of blue meth got in the barrel, well golly how would she know? That barrel has traveled around the world and passed thru several different hands.

 

But yeah, I see where you're going. And I think Lydia will be one of the loose ends that Hank will tug or Walt will tie up

Well yeah, which explains why Lydia has the Blackberry. Hops was questioning why other characters had flip phones.

 

At some point in the next several months I'm going to need to indulge in a BB marathon from the very beginning.

[HopsGuy]

Well yeah, which explains why Lydia has the Blackberry. Hops was questioning why other characters had flip phones.

 

At some point in the next several months I'm going to need to indulge in a BB marathon from the very beginning.

 

Actually what I was concerned with was the timeline. Beside the OBL remark, the other thing that has put the show in the present time is the product placement of Walt's 2013 Chrysler 300 (& Jr's Dodge Challenger). I mentioned that the dealer types would use flip-phones (burners) but that we hadn't seen any smart phones other than Lydia's BB in the show. Remember Jesse meeting him and tossing a burner to him and saying "Here - prepaid cell phone. Use it!" In the first season, Walt's original phone was also a flip-type. Those were still the predominate phone in 2008 but the timeline suggests. That DanWins guy was using a Bluetooth earpiece but that was fine for 2008.

 

To me this suggests the show that debuted in 2008 was set in 2010. That's sort of the corner they've painted themselves into. I'm picking-nits but that's what we tend to do on shows like this.

 

Heck, it only took a couple of days for the intarwebs to examine just how much cash was in the storage unit.

[SageAgainstTheMachine]

Actually what I was concerned with was the timeline. Beside the OBL remark, the other thing that has put the show in the present time is the product placement of Walt's 2013 Chrysler 300 (& Jr's Dodge Challenger). I mentioned that the dealer types would use flip-phones (burners) but that we hadn't seen any smart phones other than Lydia's BB in the show. Remember Jesse meeting him and tossing a burner to him and saying "Here - prepaid cell phone. Use it!" In the first season, Walt's original phone was also a flip-type. Those were still the predominate phone in 2008 but the timeline suggests. That DanWins guy was using a Bluetooth earpiece but that was fine for 2008.

 

To me this suggests the show that debuted in 2008 was set in 2010. That's sort of the corner they've painted themselves into. I'm picking-nits but that's what we tend to do on shows like this.

 

Heck, it only took a couple of days for the intarwebs to examine just how much cash was in the storage unit.

 

To use zepp's terminology, what a herpetic lesion on an otherwise beautiful woman. That scene was the show's nadir.

[Canadian Bills Fan]

_{Quick question for someone to answer.}

_{Did I miss something during the scene awhile back where Walt bought the fake identity from Sal and shows him at a diner on his birthday as he arranges his age with the bacon?}

_{Doesn’t the waitress read a fake name off the ID? It seemed like he was on the run.}

_{Did that ever get explained or do you think all these new episodes will be “flash backs” and the final episode will go back to the diner and show Walt driving away with the money and a new ID?}

[SageAgainstTheMachine]

_{Quick question for someone to answer.}

 

_{Did I miss something during the scene awhile back where Walt bought the fake identity from Sal and shows him at a diner on his birthday as he arranges his age with the bacon?}

 

_{Doesn’t the waitress read a fake name off the ID? It seemed like he was on the run.}

 

_{Did that ever get explained or do you think all these new episodes will be “flash backs” and the final episode will go back to the diner and show Walt driving away with the money and a new ID?}

 

It's a technique known as "en media res", where the audience is dropped into an unfamiliar scenario and then zapped back until a point where it can be explained. A more manageable example would be the series pilot where the RV is zipping through the desert with no explanation and pair of khakis goes flying.

 

So, no the fake ID has yet to be explained.

[Maury Ballstein]

then you have never seen The Wire

 

1. The Wire (by leaps and bounds)

2. BB

3. Sopranos

 

sorry Hell on Wheels lovers, but it doesnt even sniff the big three, maybe in a couple more seasons, but as of now? no freaking way

 

Agree wholeheartedly....McNulty and Omar would slay the Hell on Wheels cast in a few seconds. The wire's story is so detailed love it.

 

1. the wire.

2. sopranos.

3 mad men

4 breaking bad

4 Justified.

[SageAgainstTheMachine]

Agree wholeheartedly....McNulty and Omar would slay the Hell on Wheels cast in a few seconds. The wire's story is so detailed love it.

 

1. the wire.

2. sopranos.

3 mad men

4 breaking bad

4 Justified.

 

Mad Men's a great show with a great aesthetic. But compared to Breaking Bad, it's a soap opera of a story. In my opinion!

[ajzepp]

To use zepp's terminology, what a herpetic lesion on an otherwise beautiful woman. That scene was the show's nadir.

 

[Maury Ballstein]

Mad Men's a great show with a great aesthetic. But compared to Breaking Bad, it's a soap opera of a story. In my opinion!

 

I can see how you can think that.....if you watch them all it does get a little "deep" sometimes. I think I might be hypnotized by Joan though. Breaking Bad is excellent but it seems a little far fetched sometimes which loses me to a degree......much like Dexter it can get repetitive but they always seem to keep it fresh with new twists.

[KD in CA]

It's a technique known as "en media res", where the audience is dropped into an unfamiliar scenario and then zapped back until a point where it can be explained. A more manageable example would be the series pilot where the RV is zipping through the desert with no explanation and pair of khakis goes flying.

 

So, no the fake ID has yet to be explained.

The charred stuffed animal in Walt's pool from Season 2 is the example that really hit me during this series.