# Breaking Bad 5.01 "Live Free or Die" 7/15/12 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 15, 2012, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323 "2012-07-15T18:26:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/21 "2012-07-16T03:17:25Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > The cigarette. > > _The_ cigarette. And he specifically said the Huel picked it up. So we can put that to rest. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/22 "2012-07-16T03:19:04Z")
> [@Bytegeist](#): > > Now, why is Saul holding onto that?? Surely it should be flushed, post haste. I would guess that, since the theme of the episode overall was “destroy evidence/cover tracks/eliminate leads,” Walt wanted it back so that he, personally, could ensure it’s destruction. ETA: which just spurred a nasty, nasty thought, as soon as I hit Submit: how do we (or Walt) know that that’s _the_ cigarette? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/23 "2012-07-16T03:22:11Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I always assumed (not a spoiler because it hasn’t come from Gilligan, though Bryan Cranston has said it was his assumption) that the series would end with Walt’s death. I believe I read or heard somewhere (possibly here, maybe on the podcast) that Vince pretty strongly believes in the whole Karma thing when he’s writing and that it’s pretty safe to say that Walt will get what’s coming to him. So we picked up \*exactly[/] where we left off last year. So close to that moment, that we even started right at the end of last year with Walt’s “I won” statement. So what was with him buying the gun and the fake ID and with the grown out hair and beard? I assume that was a flash forward? Maybe that’s where the season is going to end up in a few months now we’re finding out what happened that lead Walt to needing that gun? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/24 "2012-07-16T03:24:26Z")
Well that was a great start to the season. I’m still processing the episode, but I loved that it was Jesse’s idea to use a magnet. And his excitement when it worked. I also liked how Hank said almost nothing this episode. He’d been investigating Gus and telling people that Gus was a criminal, but now that it seems to be proven true it’s like he can hardly believe it. He seemed to be a bit in a daze. > [@Washoe](#): > > We’ve _all_ assumed that. It seems almost a given. But the quote I read said that Gilligan said something to the effect that “now we just have too much story to tell.” However you slice it, our answer will be a long time coming. I used to think it was inevitable that the show would end with Walt’s death. But I’ve been thinking that it might be more fitting for him to live, but have everything taken away from him. I think Walt would much prefer death, especially going out in a blaze of glory, rather than the indignity of being rejected by his family, his protege, everyone he knows, and being left with nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/25 "2012-07-16T03:25:17Z")
The last episode of the previous season ended with a meeting between Walt and Jesse in a parking garage. There was a shot of Walt driving out of the garage, filmed from within a parked car. I thought it implied that Mike was watching them, but this episode made it clear that Mike was in Mexico at the time of the explosion. So was anyone watching them? ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/26 "2012-07-16T03:26:46Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > So what was with him buying the gun and the fake ID and with the grown out hair and beard? I assume that was a flash forward? Maybe that’s where the season is going to end up in a few months now we’re finding out what happened that lead Walt to needing that gun? He made a “52” out of bacon and said it was his birthday. Combined with the hair and beard and what-not, I too assumed we were looking at a flash forward, and we now get to see how he ends up with an M-60 machinegun and several boxes of ammo in the trunk of a burn car, heading for Mexico. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/27 "2012-07-16T03:30:02Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > He made a “52” out of bacon and said it was his birthday. Combined with the hair and beard and what-not, I too assumed we were looking at a flash forward, and we now get to see how he ends up with an M-60 machinegun and several boxes of ammo in the trunk of a burn car, heading for Mexico. Wasn’t the bit about Mexico that the gun wasn’t going to end up there? Where do you get that he’s going to head to Mexico? I took it to be a subtle inference that he was going on a suicide mission. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/28 "2012-07-16T03:40:11Z")
Good episode, but in the past the cold opening is usually the end of the episode and the episode is the story of how it came to pass. Perhaps this opening will require the entire season to get to that scene. I started laughing as soon as they began driving into the parking lot with the truck. The truck tipping over just confirmed that this would be at least a semi-fuckup. They don’t disappoint. Too goddamn many commercials. I’m recording it from here on out and watching it an hour later. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/29 "2012-07-16T03:41:21Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > Wasn’t the bit about Mexico that the gun wasn’t going to end up there? Where do you get that he’s going to head to Mexico? I took it to be a subtle inference that he was going on a suicide mission. You’re right, I mis-heard/mis-remembered it. It’s _not_ crossing the border; it’s not even leaving town. ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/30 "2012-07-16T03:47:30Z")
Meh. I was underwhelmed by this episode. At least the whole magnet plot. The rest was good but that scheme was just a little too 3s Company for my tastes. My guess is the laptop had a solid state hard drive and still functions. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/31 "2012-07-16T03:48:51Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Good episode, but in the past the cold opening is usually the end of the episode and the episode is the story of how it came to pass. Perhaps this opening will require the entire season to get to that scene. Yeah, it sure seems that way. He coming back to town alone after having apparently been “living freely” under a false identity in NH. He’s acquired some serious firepower that one would not typically use for low-key purposes. It seems like he’s out to terminate someone with extreme prejudice - someone who has obviously wronged him in some grievous way. And he has the telltale cough, which might mean that he soon expects to die from cancer, and has nothing to lose. ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/32 "2012-07-16T03:53:00Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > He made a “52” out of bacon … Oh, bacon. Is there nothing you can’t do? Another observation: Walt looked a bit taken aback when he learned Walt Jr. and Hank had spent time in Gus’s restaurant. Does he think that’s a potential problem, or was he just mildly surprised at the new information? I recall that the restaurant visit is how Hank got a cup with Gus’s fingerprints on it — but Walt presumably doesn’t know this, and even so, that event by itself wouldn’t be a risk to him (that I can see). ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/33 "2012-07-16T03:53:24Z")
I think Gilligan is taking a big chance (and a brave one) by making Walt so cold and arrogant. He’s totally unsympathetic now – suggesting a “small incendiary device” in the evidence room, bullying Saul, treating Mike like a minion, and telling Skyler “I forgive you”. Ugh. He thinks he can’t lose. This is gonna be a great season. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/34 "2012-07-16T03:55:06Z")
Too late for ETA: So, after “living freely” it looks like he chose the “or die” option. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/35 "2012-07-16T04:07:08Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > Yeah, it sure seems that way. He coming back to town alone after having apparently been “living freely” under a false identity in NH. He’s acquired some serious firepower that one would not typically use for low-key purposes. It seems like he’s out to terminate someone with extreme prejudice - someone who has obviously wronged him in some grievous way. And he has the telltale cough, which might mean that he soon expects to die from cancer, and has nothing to lose. I had thought that Lambert was just a temporary fake identity; that he actually hadn’t been living in New Hampshire. He seemed to be trying to call attention to himself, by telling the waitress that he had turned 52 and showing her “his” license. I don’t know why he was doing that, and I’m not going to guess since I’m terrible at guessing where the show will go, but I thought that was interesting. Also, I didn’t see anyone else point it out, but the guy that sold him the gun was [Jim Beaver](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0064769/), the same guy who sold him a gun last season when Walt was just going to try to walk up to Gus’s house and shoot him. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/36 "2012-07-16T04:08:14Z")
> [@Bytegeist](#): > > Oh, bacon. Is there nothing you can’t do? > > Another observation: Walt looked a bit taken aback when he learned Walt Jr. and Hank had spent time in Gus’s restaurant. Does he think that’s a potential problem, or was he just mildly surprised at the new information? > > I recall that the restaurant visit is how Hank got a cup with Gus’s fingerprints on it — but Walt presumably doesn’t know this, and even so, that event by itself wouldn’t be a risk to him (that I can see). Yeah, I think he was just taken aback by the fact that Gus had been that close to his son, and that Hank would bring him along on something like that. He was probably processing just how much his endeavors have managed to intertwine with his family, which is something that he never expected at the beginning of it all. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/37 "2012-07-16T04:11:25Z")
GREAT start to the season. I had some fears that maybe it had reached it’s peak last year, but damn what a great episode. When Skyler told Walt about Beneke, was Walt thinking “I’m going to have to kill him”? ---
**Author:** ![Mixolydian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Mixolydian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mixolydian)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/38 "2012-07-16T04:12:50Z")
From the Season 5 thread… > [@Breaking Bad Season 5! (Prev. Season Spoilers)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-season-5-prev-season-spoilers/627444/24): > > Fring did have a video feed into the Super Lab. It’s entirely possible that authorities could discover video on his laptop’s hard-drive that incriminate Walt and Jesse. Nice call! > [@Cubsfan](#): > > My guess is the laptop had a solid state hard drive and still functions. Seemed to me they were keying into what was behind that photo of Gus and ???. An unfortunate side effect of the magnet is that they drew attention to whatever was in the locker. > [@AuntiePam](#): > > I think Gilligan is taking a big chance (and a brave one) by making Walt so cold and arrogant. He’s totally unsympathetic now – suggesting a “small incendiary device” in the evidence room, bullying Saul, treating Mike like a minion, and telling Skyler “I forgive you”. Ugh. > > He thinks he can’t lose. This is gonna be a great season. There was really no sign of the old Walt…he’s fully transformed into Heisenberg. I got a kick out of Mike’s desire to get as far away from Walt as possible…and that look in the rearview mirror. He did open that gate fairly easily, no? > [@Sam\_Lowry](#): > > He seemed to be trying to call attention to himself, by telling the waitress that he had turned 52 and showing her “his” license. I don’t know why he was doing that, and I’m not going to guess since I’m terrible at guessing where the show will go, but I thought that was interesting. Leaving a $100 tip isn’t too inconspicuous either 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/39 "2012-07-16T04:13:50Z")
> [@Sam\_Lowry](#): > > I had thought that Lambert was just a temporary fake identity; that he actually hadn’t been living in New Hampshire. He seemed to be trying to call attention to himself, by telling the waitress that he had turned 52 and showing her “his” license. I don’t know why he was doing that, and I’m not going to guess since I’m terrible at guessing where the show will go, but I thought that was interesting. > > Also, I didn’t see anyone else point it out, but the guy that sold him the gun was [Jim Beaver](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0064769/), the same guy who sold him a gun last season when Walt was just going to try to walk up to Gus’s house and shoot him. Yeah, I noticed it was that guy. Makes sense. Why go looking for a different “gun guy” and have one more potential loose end? ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/40 "2012-07-16T04:15:55Z")
> [@Cubsfan](#): > > Meh. I was underwhelmed by this episode. At least the whole magnet plot. The rest was good but that scheme was just a little too 3s Company for my tastes. :dubious: And Walt and Jesse breaking into a chemical storage warehouse and carrying (as opposed to rolling :smack:) a barrel of precursor out of there was Hamlet? There’s always been a thread of dark comedy throughout this show, even if it was much less conspicuous last season. > [@Cubsfan](#): > > My guess is the laptop had a solid state hard drive and still functions. That would be _so_ awesome. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323.md?page=3)