Just watched it - between Mike’s ear, the whole absurd script scene where Skylar’s coaching Walt, and Gale’s music video, this was hands down the most hilarious episode of BB ever.
Anyway you guys sure have some crazy crackpot theories about this show. I’ll agree though that it’s too early to kill off Jesse. For all his failings he’s still one of the “good guys” from our point of view, and he hasn’t earned his redemption yet. I think his character has had one of the most interesting arcs of any on the show: from unruly but innocent hooligan, to rock bottom addict, to sober good guy getting his act together, and back to rock bottom again - this time with blood on his hands. Walt saved his life - and while he kinda repaid that debt by killing Gale, that was a necessary but ultimately disgraceful act. We still need to see him do something truly heroic, and I think that’s yet to come.
Well, before the cousins and the guy on the phone in Mexico were killed, they wanted to work together, it seems. Maybe saying things like “Ok Gus, you can have New Mexico and Colorado, we’ll get Arizona and Texas” and so forth. It was sort of a mutual respect kind of thing.
But then Gus got the cousins killed, and at least one, if not more, higher-ups in the Cartel killed by the Federales. He then took it a step further and expanded into what is clearly their territory, so the remains of the Cartel are PISSED. But it’s also possible the rest of them don’t know who Gus is. Maybe the reason Gus took out that one specific head of the Cartel was because he was the only one to know Gus personally.
The Cartel have obviously figured out that Gus’s chicken trucks have the drugs in them, but that doesn’t mean that they think the actual owner of the chicken company is also the head of the drug ring. Who would think that? It seems absurd when you think about it. Most people would just assume it’s a fake truck, or something. Just because I can ship some pot with Fed Ex doesn’t mean their CEO is a drug lord. (Not a perfect example, but you get my idea.)
Or, alternatively, it’s possible the Cartel doesn’t know Gus had anything to do with the death of the cousins and that other Cartel guy, and are only pissed that he’s expanding into their territory, and are ok with just “sending a message” by shooting up a truck or two (I’m assuming if Mike knew to be in this truck, then it wasn’t the first one to get shot up in that area.)
After Tuco was killed, Walt was talking to Saul about his distribution difficulties. Saul said “I know a guy who knows a guy” that was a major distributor and might work with Walt. This eventually led to Walt meeting Gus.
I’ve been assuming since then that Mike was the guy Saul knew since Mike seemed to work for both of them. Of course since then Mike has turned to threatening Saul so if he ever did any work for him that’s over with.
Maybe Mike didn’t actually work for Saul to begin with. Maybe Saul was Gus’s lawyer, but indirectly, using Mike as their contact.
One really nice touch was Mike’s reaction to his ear being shot. A regular person in that situation would be screaming in pain, maybe going into shock. He acted like the Xerox machine was acting up on Monday morning, just another petty annoyance.
Although I think each of the points above could be patched with a little thought, the fact that there are so many of them in this episode–not to mention last week’s car wash purchase and Skyler’s reaction to the $300 champagne–shows that this season of BB has gotten bogged down.
Good storytelling is something like a magician’s act: It’s success depends on keeping the audience from looking too closely. All storytelling has plot weaknesses; good storytelling isn’t so much making the plot air-tight as it is moving things along so that the audience doesn’t start mulling over the implausibilities.
Advancing the plot isn’t the only way to keep things moving–the excellent drama developed in the scenes between Walt and Hank, for example, did little to advance the plot (other than now Walt knows Gale’s killing is being investigated, which he probably should have guessed anyway), but they sure were riveting. By contrast, the scene between Walt and Saul was useless exposition, and my mind started to wander to some of the plot holes mentioned above (so Walt thinks the car wash is a bad idea; yeah, I can see than. And yeah, just how likely is it that Skyler could pull of that con with the legal books in the car? Why again is the car wash a good idea?).
Around here, we sometimes do get people screaming and going into shock about the copy machine… That was a great reaction shot from Mike though, we all burst out laughing.
I predict that the last episode (or second to last) of the season will finally have Hank figuring out Walt is Heisenburg. Hank will confide with Walt that he knows everything.
Walt will confide with Mike or Gus, and Hank will get whacked. Walt will then have one more death on his conscience.
So let’s just work with that for one second. Assuming that’s the case, how involved will Skylar be at that point? Will she be the Carmella Soprano? Loving the money, helps out a little, but turns a blind eye to where it actually comes from and has no idea about Walt’s involvement in Hank’s death (though she might suspect it).
Or will they be a team and she’ll agree with Walt that Hank needs to be pushing daisies?
I don’t think there was anything terribly implausible in this episode. I was commenting on how going with the shame thing was a bad tactic - it didn’t match up with the facts well and might not be entirely convincing - but this is a plausible bad decision by the characters rather than any sort of plothole.
That’s why the $300 champagne thing was so out of the ordinary last week. Characters make bad decisions but they’re plausible and in-character. This show has very little in the way of plot holes. It’s very well crafted. Which is why that one just stuck out horribly.
That or Hank will join forces with Walt and help him build his empire. We know at the end of this Walt will be numero uno for a time, so having a DEA agent on your side would certainly help bring that about.
We went over this in the last thread: this has nothing to do with some “dopian” behavior pattern. This has to do with this being Breaking Bad, which is spectacularly good in every meaningful respect, but most prominently because it is so consistently well written, without any fakery, plot holes, Ozian (as in no looking behind the curtain) requirements at all. It is incredibly intelligent, plausible, and fucking brilliant.
So when some of that brilliant consistency shows signs of weakening, it’s very noticeable and somewhat distressing.
Breaking Bad has acheived something I don’t believe any other television show has ever achieved: it has gotten progressively better and stronger with each of its three seasons, even as the story became more outrageous and its main character less forgivable. That’s really an astonishing achievement. And in so doing it has set the bar incredibly high, so what would be considered terrific stuff in any other show is now disappointing in this one, which is of course always the danger and downside to being fantastic: sustaining your fabulosity.
This one I lay at the feet of Skylar, and I’m very good with the writers writing it that way. Because she knows the REAL way Walter made the money, and she’s pissed about it, there is no way she will allow him to play hero around being the blackjack bigshot.
And the writers made the fundamental unreasonableness of Skylar’s insistence on taking the shame route pretty clear by showing Walt Jr’s more reasonable and believable reaction. Most reasonable people would agree that there’s no inherent shame in being a gambler if you consistenly come out ahead. The only shame is in losing, and really, only in losing in a manner that’s damaging. Lots of people can set budgets for themselves and treat gambling as entertainment, so that winning is a bonus, not a requirement, and there’s no shame their, either.
It’s just like drinking. Lots of people can drink responsibly and have no reason to be ashamed of it. Others are alcoholics who are hurting themselves and others and behaving badly.
But Skylar’s head would pop off if she had to swallow Walt strutting around like a peacock for (in reality) becoming a meth manufacturer.
Because this was the picture that was sent out in this season’s press packet, and because Vince Gilligan has been repeatedly saying that BB is the story of one man’s journey from Mr. Chips to Scarface.
Which doesn’t mean the end won’t feature bloodshed and prison, it merely confirms that Walt is going to become the big fish.
The only thing I wish for is that this series would be on HBO instead of AMC. Sitting there fast-forwarding through the commercials, watching all those wasted minutes of what could be fascinating entrainment dribble by is maddening. Teeth grindingly, blood boilingly maddening.
Well, you could always not be a cheapass and buy it on iTunes.
(I say this as someone who almost never pays for media beyond a monthly Netflix sub, but for this season I just couldn’t stand to wait so I shelled out the 30-some bucks for the season pass. If there is a show in the world that’s ever been worth it, it’s this one)
