Breaking Bad 5.07 "Say my name" 8/26/12

[Bob Ducca]

Originally Posted by Billy Baroo

Reminds me of Lance in Pulp Fiction.

This is 500 a gram. But when you shoot it, you will know where that extra money went. Now, there's nothing wrong with these two. This is real, real, real, good shit. But this one is a fucking madman.

I'd like to know what a five dollar shake tastes like.

[Marley23]

I would think a purer product means more harm from the actual drug and less chance of random side effects from whatever shit has been dumped into it to increase the product yield and from whatever flaws in the manufacturing. It's not like they're doing anybody a favor. It sounds like the most common adulterants of crystal meth are not dangerous: caffeine, sugars, and a dietary supplement called MSM. Meth has also been found that was adulterated with acetaminophen and ephedrines, and I found reports of IV meth users who were hurt because there was lead in the meth because of sub-Walt-level manufacturing and others who used meth adulterated with talcum powder and wound up with lung infections. I was going to say a purer product would mean more overdoses, but on second thought probably not- if the users know what's in it, they're more likely to know how much to use. If the purity fluctuates unpredictably, you get overdoses.

[Bryan Ekers]

Clearly exposition of the macroeconomic effects has been woefully inadequate.

[coremelt]

Originally Posted by oft wears hats

I've been wondering if Walt is ever going to try his product himself.

Well Walt has been acting all through Season 5 as if he was on meth.

Base meth can be absorbed through the skin. With the amount and concentration that they are cooking even with the bunny suits and masks it would be very hard to avoid getting tiny amounts on you. They don't have a shower spray down system cooking in peoples houses, so everytime they remove those suits they'd be exposing themselves to some degree to the residue left on the suits. They also show them with masks off handling finished meth quite often.

In reality I think they'd both be high after every cook.

[oft wears hats]

Originally Posted by coremelt

Well Walt has been acting all through Season 5 as if he was on meth.

Base meth can be absorbed through the skin. With the amount and concentration that they are cooking even with the bunny suits and masks it would be very hard to avoid getting tiny amounts on you. They don't have a shower spray down system cooking in peoples houses, so everytime they remove those suits they'd be exposing themselves to some degree to the residue left on the suits. They also show them with masks off handling finished meth quite often.

In reality I think they'd both be high after every cook.

Well, no wonder he wants to keep the meth train going!

[Alice The Goon]

Sorry if this has been covered and I missed it, but were this season's both halves written knowing that it would be split? Will the next episode be a cliffhanger, like the last of a season, or more mundane, like the middle of a season?

[coremelt]

Originally Posted by Alice The Goon

Sorry if this has been covered and I missed it, but were this season's both halves written knowing that it would be split?

They knew it would be split and my bet is that it will be a cliff hanger with Hank finding something to point him clearly to Walter and one more major character dying.

[Alice The Goon]

Originally Posted by coremelt

They knew it would be split and my bet is that it will be a cliff hanger with Hank finding something to point him clearly to Walter and one more major character dying.

Ah, okay, thanks.

[enalzi]

I gotta say, with every passing episode, I get more and more worried about Jessie. I knew he was safe until now, but all bets are off.

[yoyodyne]

I think Todd may know more than he lets on about chemistry and is giving Walt a false sense of security. Perhaps he is a grad student working his way through school as a pest control guy instead of a barista.

[by-tor]

What is the name of the movie that Mike is watching when the DEA search his place?

[Rigamarole]

Originally Posted by yoyodyne

I think Todd may know more than he lets on about chemistry and is giving Walt a false sense of security. Perhaps he is a grad student working his way through school as a pest control guy instead of a barista.

I don't know what he knows, but there's something about that guy that tells me he's gonna be hustlin' Walt, somehow. The "eager to please, loyal soldier boy" description people have been applying to him in this thread is an act for sure. You can never trust a sycophant.

[standingwave]

Originally Posted by by-tor

What is the name of the movie that Mike is watching when the DEA search his place?

The Big Heat (1953)

Tough cop Dave Bannion takes on a politically powerful crime syndicate.

Taglines: Somebody's going to pay ...because he forgot to kill me...

[Enright3]

Originally Posted by Shark Sandwich

Psssst. See post #178.

haha, damnit. I knew there was a chance I missed it.

[Enright3]

Originally Posted by cmyk

I assume all the money, including his granddaughter's was, yet again, confiscated by the DEA.

The idea had crossed my mind as well that Mike was going to off himself at the Park, but now I realize he was realizing his granddaughter wouldn't be getting that money, and this would be the last time he would see her.

I'm going to live with the (faulty?) reasoning that since the lawyer was able to place the happy 18th birthday note, and filled the box to its absolute fullest (and even said to Mike that a single dollar more wouldn't fit) that the DEA didn't get that money because the lawyer wasn't opening that particular box on the trip where he got arrested.

[coremelt]

Originally Posted by Enright3

I'm going to live with the (faulty?) reasoning that since the lawyer was able to place the happy 18th birthday note, and filled the box to its absolute fullest (and even said to Mike that a single dollar more wouldn't fit) that the DEA didn't get that money because the lawyer wasn't opening that particular box on the trip where he got arrested.

There was also 9 photos of boxes being opened on the photo board in hanks office when Walt retrieves the bugs. To me that also hints that kaylees money doesn't get taken.

[hajario]

Saul explicitly said that Mike got his stash taken twice by the DEA. Also, the bank would have had records on all of the boxes.

[Marley23]

Originally Posted by hajario

Saul explicitly said that Mike got his stash taken twice by the DEA. Also, the bank would have had records on all of the boxes.

Right, there's just no way that money would be left alone. It would also undercut the whole story they are telling here: Mike was doing the same thing Walt says he is doing (leaving money for his family). He failed. The money is gone, he abandoned his family, and now he's dead. As far as his goals went, it all amounted to nothing.

[Frylock]

Originally Posted by Rigamarole

I don't know what he knows, but there's something about that guy that tells me he's gonna be hustlin' Walt, somehow. The "eager to please, loyal soldier boy" description people have been applying to him in this thread is an act for sure. You can never trust a sycophant.

Exactly. I mean, did you guys not see how casually and thoughtlessly he pulled out a gun and shot a little kid?

"Eager to please loyal soldier boy" implies a moral sense. But someone with a moral sense would at least hesitate before killing an innocent kid, even if it were for some reason necessary to do so.

Todd (Tod--german for death) is going to be the undoing of Walt.

[Malthus]

How about this for a totally wild-guess prediction:

- Walt attempts to favour Todd in a final attempt to manipulate Jesse back into the fold through jealousy, not accepting that Jesse has had enough of him and the business. Todd uses the lattitude he's given to plot taking out Walt and his whole family, to take over. Jesse finds out about this, attempts to warn Walt and is blown off, and is forced to make a choice: walk away and leave them to their fate (as he would like to do), or take out Todd. Because of residual loyalty he takes out Todd, and is sucked back into the business he would rather flee. Walt, not accepting that Todd was plotting his death, now sees Jesse as the danger, leading to a final confrontation between 'em.

[Marley23]

This is the first season I've been watching the show as it happens, so I have to ask- do people usually get this focused on relatively minor characters? Did people ever talk this much about Tyrus or Victor? Nobody's denying that a psychologically healthy person wouldn't just pull out a gun and shoot a kid, but then again, Walt has killed at least half a dozen people in the series and we just saw him kill Mike because Mike criticized his decisionmaking. That was just as impulsive and even less justified (it's really is true that the kid could have told someone something; Mike was leaving forever). From a narrative standpoint I think Todd illustrates the difficulties of being in charge: your word is law and your underlings will apply your instructions even if you don't think about the implications of those instructions. He also shows how lucky Walt got with Jesse as a partner because he does not seem to be up to par as a replacement. And of course the shooting led Jesse to leave forever because he realized that Walt's promises are always bullshit. Todd joined the business two weeks ago and he's going to take over somehow? Todd is setting Walt for some kind of betrayal to... whom? Mike already said his prison connections amount to squat. I don't think the show has ever pulled this kind of twist and I doubt they'd start now.

[Malthus]

Originally Posted by Marley23

This is the first season I've been watching the show as it happens, so I have to ask- do people usually get this focused on relatively minor characters? Did people ever talk this much about Tyrus or Victor? Nobody's denying that a psychologically healthy person wouldn't just pull out a gun and shoot a kid, but then again, Walt has killed at least half a dozen people in the series and we just saw him kill Mike because Mike criticized his decisionmaking. That was just as impulsive and even less justified (it's really is true that the kid could have told someone something; Mike was leaving forever). From a narrative standpoint I think Todd illustrates the difficulties of being in charge: your word is law and your underlings will apply your instructions even if you don't think about the implications of those instructions. He also shows how lucky Walt got with Jesse as a partner because he does not seem to be up to par as a replacement. And of course the shooting led Jesse to leave forever because he realized that Walt's promises are always bullshit. Todd joined the business two weeks ago and he's going to take over somehow? Todd is setting Walt for some kind of betrayal to... whom? Mike already said his prison connections amount to squat. I don't think the show has ever pulled this kind of twist and I doubt they'd start now.

Well, if you are watching it episode to episode you don't really know who will turn into a major character. After all, Mike was originally a pretty minor character.

But I am, as I said, just wildly speculating. The great thing about this series is that most plot developments and twists aren't easily predictable and minor characters can have major impact - I mean, who foresaw that the 2nd season would end with a plane crash caused by Jane's Dad?

[TriPolar]

Marley, I think last season with the storyline about Gus brought the detective work to a new level. At least for me. Before that the foreshadowing didn't add to the drama much, and the main characters weren't that devious. Walt's killings before then were spur of the moment decisions, or poorly planned. Now we see plots and conspiracies unfolding, or more like folding up one of those old gas station maps, that seemingly never can be re-folded again, but at the end it all collapses down to a neat little flat rectangle. YMMV.

[Joey P]

Originally Posted by Marley23

This is the first season I've been watching the show as it happens, so I have to ask- do people usually get this focused on relatively minor characters? Did people ever talk this much about Tyrus or Victor? Nobody's denying that a psychologically healthy person wouldn't just pull out a gun and shoot a kid, but then again, Walt has killed at least half a dozen people in the series and we just saw him kill Mike because Mike criticized his decisionmaking. That was just as impulsive and even less justified (it's really is true that the kid could have told someone something; Mike was leaving forever). From a narrative standpoint I think Todd illustrates the difficulties of being in charge: your word is law and your underlings will apply your instructions even if you don't think about the implications of those instructions. He also shows how lucky Walt got with Jesse as a partner because he does not seem to be up to par as a replacement. And of course the shooting led Jesse to leave forever because he realized that Walt's promises are always bullshit. Todd joined the business two weeks ago and he's going to take over somehow? Todd is setting Walt for some kind of betrayal to... whom? Mike already said his prison connections amount to squat. I don't think the show has ever pulled this kind of twist and I doubt they'd start now.

When you watch the old episodes you don't have to wait a week for the next episode to come on so we have time to take the episodes apart like this. Also, when you're watching the old episodes, you don't have people to talk to like this. We talked about Victor quite and how he may or may not have posed a threat to Gus. But Gus took care of that pretty quickly so there wasn't a lot of discussion.

[UncleRojelio]

Also, we now know we are close to the end. Everything that happens now happens for a reason.

[AuntiePam]

Marley23, I think Todd is being treated differently than other minor characters because viewers have no background on him. He came out of nowhere and we don't know anything about him.

As an example, nobody speculated about the motivations of Skinny Pete and Badger because we knew they were Jesse's friends and they behaved like Jesse's friends. We saw them in scenes when they were away from Walt and Jesse, and we knew what to expect from them.

Todd's a mystery. We haven't seen him interact with anyone except Walt and Jesse and Mike. We haven't seen him alone except for that scene in the car, when he was looking at the spider. All we know for sure is that he's trying to ingratiate himself with Walt.

Plus, his name is in the opening credits, so we know he's important.

[Marley23]

I understand the amount of attention you can pay to characters on a week-to-week basis is different, but I was curious about the look at the peripheral characters in particular. If some people considered Victor as a potential major actor, that does answer my question. And yes, Saul and Mike wound up being significant characters in unexpected ways. I just don't think you're going to see the kinds of twists being proposed here. Breaking Bad is not the Sopranos or The Wire. Both those shows spent a lot of time on a lot of characters and gave us in-depth looks at how most of them ticked. The cast here is fairly small and the show really doesn't care that much about the side characters. There hasn't been a lot of Hank this season (that's changing now) and little of Marie, and we're not even seeing much of Skyler the last few episodes because she no longer wants anything to do with Walt. Ultimately everything that happens on the show is about Walt and his transformation and drive. That wasn't true of The Wire, which was about an entire city, or on the Sopranos, which was about a whole Mafia family and Tony's civilian life as well. Walt doesn't even have a domestic life anymore. There are twists and turns but they're of a different type than "Todd is a serial killer" or "Todd betrays Walt to the prison gang." We've seen Walt betrayed on the domestic level with Skyler and in various ways by Gus, although Gus' actions were generally prompted by the fact that Walt was unstable and a pain in the ass for his operation. The rest of the show is going to be about Walt grasping for more power and seeing it all fall apart, and that has to come from within, not because it turns out that someone who just showed up this season is a usurper or a lunatic.

[MaxTheVool]

Also, any of us who watched Friday Night Lights (which is on the short list of shows that are ALMOST as good as Breaking Bad) were like "hey, that's Landry! Clearly he MUST be an important character".

[AuntiePam]

Originally Posted by Marley23

The rest of the show is going to be about Walt grasping for more power and seeing it all fall apart, and that has to come from within, not because it turns out that someone who just showed up this season is a usurper or a lunatic.

True. But it's evident that the someone who just showed up this season will play a large part in Walt's fall. He already has, by killing the kid, which caused Jesse to quit. It remains to be seen what else Todd will do, but I think it will be important.

I don't see him as a usurper. Jury's still out on lunatic.

[Erdosain]

Originally Posted by MaxTheVool

Also, any of us who watched Friday Night Lights (which is on the short list of shows that are ALMOST as good as Breaking Bad) were like "hey, that's Landry! Clearly he MUST be an important character".

Yeah, this. There are innumerable young male no-name actors out there. For Vince Gilligan to pick one as instantly recognizable and semi-famous as Landry, he must have had SOMETHING meaty for him to do.

[Bob Ducca]

Alan Sepinwall has a great post-"Say My Name" interview with Jonathan Banks up. Good stuff.

[cloudfishing]

My Plot Predictions: Walt hid the cigarette as a suicide escape route. If he has to smoke it to kill himself, he will. Hank will figure out Walt is Heisenberg and get enough evidence for a search warrant. The DEA will tear his house apart looking for evidence and find the cigarette. Jesse will be brought in and interrogated. During the interrogation, the cigarette with the Ricin will come up. Jesse will learn about the cigarette. Then he’ll know that Walt poisoned the kid. This will set up Jesse to go against Walt. Jesse will make a deal to testify against Walt out of revenge. Walt will kidnap the little boy that he poisoned as a way to keep Jesse from testifying but in the process have to kill the boy’s mother. Skylar will be arrested and thrown in prison. Saul will cut a deal that gets Jesse temporarily released or Walt will break Jesse out to kill him and then Jesse will escape. Jesse will hide out in the rehab sanctuary with that creepy guy who leads the rehab group. Walt will leave the state for awhile. The Cartel will kill Walter Junior. Walt will hear the news about Walter Jr. and feel remorse. Walt will feel remorse and then return to break Skylar out of prison. He will succeed but he will be chased by Hank and Jesse to the Los Alamos lab where he used to work and will get his hands on old nuclear materials and create a dirty bomb which he will use to kill everybody in a hundred mile radius.

[Joey P]

Originally Posted by cloudfishing

My Plot Predictions: Walt hid the cigarette as a suicide escape route. If he has to smoke it to kill himself, he will. Hank will figure out Walt is Heisenberg and get enough evidence for a search warrant. The DEA will tear his house apart looking for evidence and find the cigarette. Jesse will be brought in and interrogated. During the interrogation, the cigarette with the Ricin will come up. Jesse will learn about the cigarette. Then he’ll know that Walt poisoned the kid. This will set up Jesse to go against Walt. Jesse will make a deal to testify against Walt out of revenge. Walt will kidnap the little boy that he poisoned as a way to keep Jesse from testifying but in the process have to kill the boy’s mother. Skylar will be arrested and thrown in prison. Saul will cut a deal that gets Jesse temporarily released or Walt will break Jesse out to kill him and then Jesse will escape. Jesse will hide out in the rehab sanctuary with that creepy guy who leads the rehab group. Walt will leave the state for awhile. The Cartel will kill Walter Junior. Walt will hear the news about Walter Jr. and feel remorse. Walt will feel remorse and then return to break Skylar out of prison. He will succeed but he will be chased by Hank and Jesse to the Los Alamos lab where he used to work and will get his hands on old nuclear materials and create a dirty bomb which he will use to kill everybody in a hundred mile radius.

Should we just take turns with this?

1)The ricin was never intended to be smoked. It was hidden in the cigarette only as a convient way for Jesse to carry it. When it was time for Jesse to use it, he would have ripped it out of the cigarette and put it in (at the time) Gus' food. It's in a glass tube, that cigarette wasn't really smokable to begin with.

[hajario]

Originally Posted by cloudfishing

My Plot Predictions: Walt hid the cigarette as a suicide escape route. If he has to smoke it to kill himself, he will. Hank will figure out Walt is Heisenberg and get enough evidence for a search warrant. The DEA will tear his house apart looking for evidence and find the cigarette. Jesse will be brought in and interrogated. During the interrogation, the cigarette with the Ricin will come up. Jesse will learn about the cigarette. Then he’ll know that Walt poisoned the kid. This will set up Jesse to go against Walt. Jesse will make a deal to testify against Walt out of revenge. Walt will kidnap the little boy that he poisoned as a way to keep Jesse from testifying but in the process have to kill the boy’s mother. Skylar will be arrested and thrown in prison. Saul will cut a deal that gets Jesse temporarily released or Walt will break Jesse out to kill him and then Jesse will escape. Jesse will hide out in the rehab sanctuary with that creepy guy who leads the rehab group. Walt will leave the state for awhile. The Cartel will kill Walter Junior. Walt will hear the news about Walter Jr. and feel remorse. Walt will feel remorse and then return to break Skylar out of prison. He will succeed but he will be chased by Hank and Jesse to the Los Alamos lab where he used to work and will get his hands on old nuclear materials and create a dirty bomb which he will use to kill everybody in a hundred mile radius.

Walt didn't hide the cigarette. He hid the vial with ricin. Jesse knows all about the vial and that the poisoning was from a plant. He assumes that the kid ate the plant berries on his own. He also knows that Walt had the vial after they found it in the Roomba.

I don't have the energy to read the rest of your post.

[cloudfishing]

Originally Posted by hajario

Walt didn't hide the cigarette. He hid the vial with ricin. Jesse knows all about the vial and that the poisoning was from a plant. He assumes that the kid ate the plant berries on his own. He also knows that Walt had the vial after they found it in the Roomba.

I don't have the energy to read the rest of your post.

Yes, alright, I was remembering the scene wrong. Still, I do want to hear what you think of the Dirty Bomb.

[Joey P]

Originally Posted by cloudfishing

Yes, alright, I was remembering the scene wrong. Still, I do want to hear what you think of the Dirty Bomb.

Did they have nuclear materials in that lab? I really only recall Skyler saying she was wondering it was the 'chemicals' that might have made him sick. Besides, even if I missed it then, I don't recall him even mentioning anything about having a background in nuclear physics, just chemistry.

[Bumbershoot]

Originally Posted by Joey P

Did they have nuclear materials in that lab? I really only recall Skyler saying she was wondering it was the 'chemicals' that might have made him sick. Besides, even if I missed it then, I don't recall him even mentioning anything about having a background in nuclear physics, just chemistry.

Yes, there is nuclear material at Los Alamos (article describes concerns over radioactive material at the facility during a wildfire last year).

I like cloudfishing's scenario- except the widespread destruction. I live 2 miles from the Albuquerque city limits and I don't want to go out as part of Heisenberg's grand finale. Maybe he could just take out the downtown area. Or better yet the south valley.

Edit: I don't recall them mentioning the nuclear material before, in passing or as a possible cause of Walt's cancer.

[Washoe]

Originally Posted by Bumbershoot

I live 2 miles from the Albuquerque city limits and I don't want to go out as part of Heisenberg's grand finale. Maybe he could just take out the downtown area. Or better yet the south valley.

Well, since he’s Heisenberg, you can’t know his location with any certainty. So even if he builds a dirty bomb, there’s only a 90% probability that he will be somewhere in Albuquerque when he detonates it.

[wedgehed]

Originally Posted by standingwave

There is one shot of Walt and Mike at the river, where Walt is standing with the pistol just behind Mike who's sitting and staring at the river that I really want to caption: "Tell me about the rabbits again, Walt."

Seeing Mike at the river reminded me of Slim Pickens in Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid.

[Yaxche]

Originally Posted by Marley23

I understand the amount of attention you can pay to characters on a week-to-week basis is different, but I was curious about the look at the peripheral characters in particular.

I think, this season in particular, we have to speculate about the peripheral characters because so few of the old guard are left standing. We are looking for a new villain, or someone to push the story to it's conclusion.

[Marley23]

Originally Posted by Yaxche

I think, this season in particular, we have to speculate about the peripheral characters because so few of the old guard are left standing. We are looking for a new villain, or someone to push the story to it's conclusion.

Makes sense. I think that's more likely to be Declan in addition to Hank starting to make the final connections.

[Malthus]

Season ending twist: Hank talking to Walt -

"Good job, going deep undercover. Your actions, while we of course can never publicly acknowledge them, have resulted in a total decimation of organized meth crime not only here, but in Mexico as well. We in the DEA are very pround, in an unofficial way, of how you wreaked such total havoc on the bad guys. You are a true American hero!

Well, admittedly there has been some collateral damage ... "

[MaxTheVool]

Originally Posted by Malthus

Season ending twist: Hank talking to Walt -

"Good job, going deep undercover. Your actions, while we of course can never publicly acknowledge them, have resulted in a total decimation of organized meth crime not only here, but in Mexico as well. We in the DEA are very pround, in an unofficial way, of how you wreaked such total havoc on the bad guys. You are a true American hero!

Well, admittedly there has been some collateral damage ... "

That would be SO hilarious.... I kind of hope that they put together some deliberately terrible alternate endings for the series as a special DVD feature, or something.

[Malthus]

Originally Posted by MaxTheVool

That would be SO hilarious.... I kind of hope that they put together some deliberately terrible alternate endings for the series as a special DVD feature, or something.

To continue the series:

Bad ending 2:

"... and it was just a dream. "

Bad ending 3A:

"I knew I'd be betrayed and replaced as meth kingpin eventually. I never thought it would be by you, Skyler."

Bad ending 3B:

"I knew I'd be betrayed and replaced as meth kingpin eventually. I never thought it would be by you, Marie. Though the advent of the infamous "purple meth" should have given me a clue ..."

[Marley23]

Bad ending 4: Flynn meets with his foster father Hank in Hank's office and talks casually about his school day. Flynn leaves, and Hank looks at a poster on his wall and suddenly drops his coffee cup, which shatters on the floor. He runs toward the door, but it's too late. The real drug kingpin has stopped limping and gotten into a limousine driven by a man who looks like Declan. Beside him are men who look like Walt and Jesse. "Walt" nods to his boss. The limo pulls away from the curb, and we hear Flynn in voiceover: "The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist. And like that, poof. He's gone."

[enalzi]

"Blue meth is people!"

[BlackKnight]

"I'm Heisenberg!" "I'm Heisenberg!"
"No - I'm Heisenberg!"

"I'm Heisenberg - and so's my wife."

[Bob Ducca]

"Forget it Hank, it's Albuquerque town."

[Joey P]

Originally Posted by BlackKnight

"I'm Heisenberg!" "I'm Heisenberg!"
"No - I'm Heisenberg!"

"I'm Heisenberg - and so's my wife."

It's Hisensteen

[Malthus]

You guys crack me up. Keep 'em comming!