Breaking Bad II - Always say "thank you" to Walt.

[deep]

Lydia has been one of the best things in this season. That scene in the cafe, she kept suggesting Walt have something to drink. She figured Walt had gotten rid of Mike. She knew once he had the names, he would see her as one more lose end.
Walt knew she did not trust him, that with Mike gone she was able to work on getting rid of the 9 (10) herself.

If she just gave Walt the names, he was ready to slip her the ricin. Walt would not drink anything because he thought she may have prearranged to have him poisoned. Perhaps she had. Anyways, Lydia played it right.

 

[DRay9911]

i like lydia also. she's the right amount of hyper and the right amount of nice looking.

she could have easily brought up the CR at the same time she gave the guys the info on the methylamine. oh well. hope she doesn't die next year. being a mom and hot and all.

it was cool to see the ricin make a cameo, but i can't see her leaving the table for him to give it to her in the same way that walt was smart enough not to get anything to drink.

 

[cobl04]

Lydia's neurotic tendencies annoy me, but she has been an interesting addition to the cast. Very cunning. The look on Walt's face when he realised that, yet again, he has failed in his quest to control absolutely everything, was priceless, although by the end of the episode it mattered little given he'd quit.

Didn't Vince say we'd see Gus in some flashbacks? Wonder how that will play out.

I don't think I've ever been looking forward to a series of TV episodes as much in my life.

 

[LemonMelon]

can't believe it took 5 and a half seasons to fit 'crystal blue persuasion' into the show.

nice timing though.

I had a big grin on my face the entire time. It was so obvious.

I suppose Hank felt that way at the end of the episode; there was every reason to suspect Walt, but it was impossible to see that with any degree of objectivity in his situation. The dead silence during the eureka moment was perfect. The rest of the episode was nice, albeit heavy on montages. It got me pumped for the final stretch and that's all I can ask for.

Lydia grates on me. I understand that she contributes to the show, but her delivery is so rushed and clipped that nothing she says resonates, ever. And that's ALL she does. I can't tell if the actress that plays her is horrendous or if it's just an irritating directorial choice, but she's godawful to listen to. OK to look at though.

How was Walt able to just "quit?" Didn't he have an agreement/contract in place? EDIT: I see Laz threw out a hypothesis, but that doesn't exactly excuse the writers from addressing it entirely. This show is usually OK about tying up loose ends.

 

[cobl04]

I suspect they've had Crystal Blue Persuasion up their sleeves since day one.

 

[corianderstem]

Yeah, that's probably the last cooking montage we're getting, so it's fitting to save that song for the last one.

 

[bono_man2002]

I'm pretty sure Hank will have something cooking while he reads the rest of that book.

How was Walt able to just "quit?" Didn't he have an agreement/contract in place? EDIT: I see Laz threw out a hypothesis, but that doesn't exactly excuse the writers from addressing it entirely. This show is usually OK about tying up loose ends.

I know right? Nobody tried to convince him to stay? Maybe he hasn't really quit?

 

[corianderstem]

There's no reason to believe that it's not DONE-done. He just decided to get out - next season could be all about how he attempts to do that, while Hank sits on the toilet and thinks some more.

 

[cobl04]

My colleague's theory is that Hank tells Walt he knows, and tells him to change his identity, hence the flash forward. He gets rid of the blue meth but doesn't implicate himself (because his rehab was paid for with the drug money).

 

[U2DMfan]

I think Walt uses the ricin on Walt.

Some baddies are after him (Madrigal? The Phoenix group? New group?) and he is cornered like a rat, with the cancer having come back.

They (hope to) make him a hero for sacrificing himself and taking all the info with him to the grave, hoping it will play out like some kind of redemption.

Rather than the Scarface ending they are setting up.

 

[Irvine511]

Yeah, that's probably the last cooking montage we're getting, so it's fitting to save that song for the last one.

and the best one of the series. it was stunning, especially the final shot over the sprawl with the green and gold tents.

Lydia grates on me. I understand that she contributes to the show, but her delivery is so rushed and clipped that nothing she says resonates, ever. And that's ALL she does. I can't tell if the actress that plays her is horrendous or if it's just an irritating directorial choice, but she's godawful to listen to. OK to look at though.

i have very mixed feelings on her as well. she's written in such a way that she has to deliver long, expository monologues that, for me, feel a bit like they were stuck in for the audience's benefit. or perhaps, because she's a new character, i just haven't bonded with her like i have the rest. i think she does a good mix of a paranoid, high-powered, hyper, annoying, competent but possibly totally bonkers type-A person who i wouldn't trust with my lunch money. i know several women like her. they are all godawful to listen to. so perhaps the actress is spot-on?

I think Walt uses the ricin on Walt.

Some baddies are after him (Madrigal? The Phoenix group? New group?) and he is cornered like a rat, with the cancer having come back.

this seems most plausible to me. Walt would have a period of time before the ricin goes to work, so maybe he takes it and then goes out in the 72 hours before he falls ill in a blaze of glory.

i also think there's bad news, re: cancer. the overhead shot of him in the hospital gown made him look very, very corpse-like.

my thought is that everyone around him goes down in flames and he's the last one standing, but then the cancer gets him.

i, too, was waiting for Walter to cap Jesse, but i never felt the family was in danger. it was feeling a bit final Sopranos episode to me, where i still maintain that Tony didn't die but that he's meant to live in a kind of hell where he can't even sit in a restaurant without thinking every last person in the place could potentially do him harm.

 

[cobl04]

I would not want to be a Breaking Bad writer right now.

 

[Mr. V]

Lydia is fucking sexy.

 

[deep]

I would not want to be a Breaking Bad writer right now.

yeah,

sometimes they go with a re-write

 

[cobl04]

That is quite literally exactly what I was expecting.

 

[gvox]

Glad I wasn't the only one!


oh, and.."You got me!"

also I'm surprised anyone is questioning whether or not the cancer is back. It most absolutely is: the look on Walt's face immediately after saying "I'm out" and as he turns away is the dead giveaway imo.

 

[PhilsFan]

I think the delivery by Lydia makes perfect sense for her character.

 

[Lancemc]

VIDEO ESSAY: Gliding Over All: The Cinematography of BREAKING BAD, Season 5.1 | Press Play

everyone should read/watch

 

[Irvine511]

VIDEO ESSAY: Gliding Over All: The Cinematography of BREAKING BAD, Season 5.1 | Press Play

everyone should read/watch

rapturous.

thanks for sharing.

 

[maycocksean]

There's no question in my mind that the cancer is back. No other explanation for his sudden exit from the meth business makes any kind of sense.

 

[corianderstem]

Yeah, why show him going through the CATscan machine if it's not foreshadowing?

 

[BoMac]

Just popping in to say I've watched the first few episodes and love it. Looking forward to what's in store.

#betterlatethannever

 

[Irvine511]

There's no question in my mind that the cancer is back. No other explanation for his sudden exit from the meth business makes any kind of sense.

i think the fly is cancer. you shoo one away and it always comes back.

flies are also symbolic of death and decay. wasn't one of Satan's minions or messagers a fly?

i'm trying to recall high school English.

 

[deep]

There's no question in my mind that the cancer is back. No other explanation for his sudden exit from the meth business makes any kind of sense.

From episode one this season I have been saying this. The scene in the Denny's bathroom where he gives the gun dealer the money, he then pulls out a prescription bottle and takes some meds.

As for being out. I think they were trying to garner some sympathy for Walt. After Skyler showed Walt all the money and she asked him why he was doing it, what else could he do. He wants to make amends with Jesse by giving him the money. We have the scene where this could all end ok, the family back together, if only Hank had not picked up the book.

A little bit out of character for Walt to keep a book from Gale with a dedication to him signed by Gale. Walt has been meticulous, look at how he disposed of every trace of Mike.

 

[djerdap]

I'm still pissed about how they dealt with Mike in the end, and somebody mentioned how we all expect our favorite characters to be flawless - quite the opposite in my case. Walt's "mistake" by keeping Gale's book is perfectly credible and believable as far as I am concerned.

I've just read a Vince Gilligan interview where he, if you read between the lines, basically confirms the cancer is back.

 

[deep]

why between the lines
it was out front, plain as day in episode one

I will also say Walt called the vacuum clearer guy from the 'Crawl Space' episode and got himself disappeared, that is why he had the NH license and car with NH plates.

 

[PhilsFan]

It was a gift to him, just like the watch from Jesse. He holds them in a different regard. It's not a loose end. It's a prize.

 

[corianderstem]

Do we know for sure the book was from Gale? I saw a theory that maybe it's from Gretchen from that company he's still bitter about. If her last name starts with a G, then it could be from her, and it's an unrelated coincidence that sparks Hank's memory.

I assumed Gale as well, especially since Gale's notebooks referred to WW (hence Walt & Hank's "you got me" conversation), but now I can't remember where the book came from.

I think I need to go back and watch from the start before next summer.

 

[PhilsFan]

Their last names were Schwartz, Gretchen and Elliott.

 

[corianderstem]

Oh, Gretchen was a last name? Oops.