# 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:** 4
**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, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/61 "2012-07-16T12:08:03Z")
> [@Reverse](#): > > It’s Walt’s 52nd birthday which he’s “celebrating” alone (contrast with pilot); a guy shows up; he goes in the bathroom and Walt follows; Walt gives money to the guy who gives him keys in return; the guy mentions mentions that Walt is skipping the country; Since there’s been some confusion, the exact lines are: I got your word this won’t wind up crossing the boarder? Walt: It’s never leaving town. Of course, we don’t know what town they’re in and the guy doesn’t exactly sound like an arms dealer considering he pulled directions off the internet for Walt. Also, why did they feel the need to make the car part of the purchase? Also, I’m wondering if the hair and beard are fake considering he showed up at the restaurant in something other then his Aztec (and the fake ID thing from the beginning) and left in something other then what he showed up in. It could be a “Way off in the future and now we’re going to show you how we got there” type thing like we’ve been discussing, OR it might be not that far off and he’s just changed his identity to hide from (or sneak up on) somebody. But who? ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/62 "2012-07-16T12:13:34Z")
> [@Sam\_Lowry](#): > > 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. Hasn’t Jim Beaver been a somewhat regular poster here on the SDMB in the past; at least as far back as his Deadwood days? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/63 "2012-07-16T12:14:47Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Also, why did they feel the need to make the car part of the purchase? Because he needs an untraceable, disposable car to do whatever he has planned with his little friend. ---
**Author:** ![Reverse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@Reverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reverse)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/64 "2012-07-16T12:25:59Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Since there’s been some confusion, the exact lines are: > > I got your word this won’t wind up crossing the boarder? > Walt: It’s never leaving town. Well, that certainly makes a lot more sense than trying to sneak across the border with a giant machine gun in your trunk. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/65 "2012-07-16T13:23:39Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > 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? No, the shot was just from Gus’ car so when Walt drove by, you’d see the Los Pollos Hermanos air freshener hanging there. It was a moment of reflection on his victory where Gus had left his car, never to return. > [@Enright3](#): > > Hasn’t Jim Beaver been a somewhat regular poster here on the SDMB in the past; at least as far back as his Deadwood days? I think he only posted a few times, several years back. ---
**Author:** ![SykoSkotty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@SykoSkotty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SykoSkotty)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/66 "2012-07-16T14:12:54Z")
“I can think of hundreds of ways this could end, and none of them involve ‘Miller Time.’” I laughed out loud when Mike said this - great start to the season and can’t wait for more. ---
**Author:** ![ekweizn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7c8e57/32.png) [@ekweizn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekweizn)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/67 "2012-07-16T14:16:15Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Since there’s been some confusion, the exact lines are: > > I got your word this won’t wind up crossing the boarder? > Walt: It’s never leaving town. > > Of course, we don’t know what town they’re in and the guy doesn’t exactly sound like an arms dealer considering he pulled directions off the internet for Walt. Also, why did they feel the need to make the car part of the purchase? > > Also, I’m wondering if the hair and beard are fake considering he showed up at the restaurant in something other then his Aztec (and the fake ID thing from the beginning) and left in something other then what he showed up in. > It could be a “Way off in the future and now we’re going to show you how we got there” type thing like we’ve been discussing, OR it might be not that far off and he’s just changed his identity to hide from (or sneak up on) somebody. But who? From [Alan Sepinwall’s always thorough review](http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/season-premiere-review-breaking-bad-live-free-or-die-magnet-and-steel): > [@](#): > > (\*) The series began with Walt’s 50th birthday (where he was served veggie bacon, not the real stuff that he orders at Denny’s). A little under a year had passed between the pilot and the end of the fourth season, and Walt makes a 52 out of bacon before telling the waitress it’s his birthday. So his need for a machine gun presumably comes more than a year after the other events in this episode. ---
**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, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/68 "2012-07-16T14:25:14Z")
I wonder if there’s any way for the casual viewer to have put that together. I know from time to time some of the dopers have attempted a time table and have come up with something similar (very little time has passed, usually just a few months depending on where in the series we are), but Vince certainly doesn’t make it easy or leave any blatant clues about this. You almost have to be specifically paying attention to it to realize it. Even a calender or just a subtle reference to the year (maybe even in the background) from time to time (showing that it hasn’t changed) would be nice. I think most viewers are under the assumption that it’s been several years. Not only because the show has been on for quite a while now, but all the characters have undergone such dramatic changes. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/69 "2012-07-16T14:45:05Z")
Oh, I have missed this show (though I haven’t participated in any of the discussions prior to this season, so I guess I’ve missed out somewhat ;)). I love the way it builds up tension with long slow shots more than any other show on TV. I think there were questions as to why was Ted alive - at least in this episode it kind of showed how far Skylar had fallen. She had those tears when she saw him, but as soon as Ted said he wouldn’t talk, her face re-arranged itself and she just said “Good”. Walt isn’t the only one Breaking Bad by the events he set in motion. ---
**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, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/70 "2012-07-16T14:53:59Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I wonder if there’s any way for the casual viewer to have put that together. I know from time to time some of the dopers have attempted a time table and have come up with something similar (very little time has passed, usually just a few months depending on where in the series we are), but Vince certainly doesn’t make it easy or leave any blatant clues about this. You almost have to be specifically paying attention to it to realize it. > > Even a calender or just a subtle reference to the year (maybe even in the background) from time to time (showing that it hasn’t changed) would be nice. > > I think most viewers are under the assumption that it’s been several years. Not only because the show has been on for quite a while now, but all the characters have undergone such dramatic changes. The baby is a good indication that it hasn’t been several years. We don’t see the baby every episode, but she does pop up occasionally. I don’t remember how far along Skyler was in her pregnancy at the beginning of the series, and I’m terrible and telling how old a baby is, but while the episode was going on I was thinking about how much time had passed and figured it was a year and a half at most from seeing Walt play with the baby. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/71 "2012-07-16T15:11:48Z")
Ok Gus computer is gone (ignore the realities of how good HD forensics are). But IMO Hank now has WAY more than enough knowledge to tie Walt into things. He now knows without a doubt that the exact laundry that he wanted to check out with Walt, did have a methlab in it… And walt crashed a car to stop him seeing it. Hank has to know, thats got to come out over the next few episodes. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/72 "2012-07-16T15:22:08Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I wonder if there’s any way for the casual viewer to have put that together. I know from time to time some of the dopers have attempted a time table and have come up with something similar (very little time has passed, usually just a few months depending on where in the series we are), but Vince certainly doesn’t make it easy or leave any blatant clues about this. You almost have to be specifically paying attention to it to realize it. > > Even a calender or just a subtle reference to the year (maybe even in the background) from time to time (showing that it hasn’t changed) would be nice. > > I think most viewers are under the assumption that it’s been several years. Not only because the show has been on for quite a while now, but all the characters have undergone such dramatic changes. > [@Sam\_Lowry](#): > > The baby is a good indication that it hasn’t been several years. We don’t see the baby every episode, but she does pop up occasionally. I don’t remember how far along Skyler was in her pregnancy at the beginning of the series, and I’m terrible and telling how old a baby is, but while the episode was going on I was thinking about how much time had passed and figured it was a year and a half at most from seeing Walt play with the baby. [According to Alan Sepinwall](http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/season-premiere-review-breaking-bad-live-free-or-die-magnet-and-steel), we’re not even a year away from the pilot, when Walt turned 50. If the flash-forward is his 52nd birthday, we’re about a year + into the future from the current timeline. > [@Sepinwall](#): > > (\*) The series began with Walt’s 50th birthday (where he was served veggie bacon, not the real stuff that he orders at Denny’s). A little under a year had passed between the pilot and the end of the fourth season, and Walt makes a 52 out of bacon before telling the waitress it’s his birthday. So his need for a machine gun presumably comes more than a year after the other events in this episode. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/73 "2012-07-16T15:23:00Z")
If Gus encrypted anything he saved (likely, given how cautious he is), the fact that it’s both encrypted and damaged is going to make recovery extremely hard - it won’t have all the pieces you need there to figure out and crack the encryption. Exposing a hard drive to a very powerful magnet is also one of the ways you can pretty thoroughly scramble a hard drive, since the recovery techniques rely on detecting residual partial magnetic charges. It’s not implausible at all that the data would be destroyed, given what we saw. What I don’t know if it’s plausible is if their magnet + car battery trick would’ve been so effective. Seems exaggerated to me, but what the hell, YEAH SCIENCE! ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/74 "2012-07-16T15:32:58Z")
[QUOTE=Bob Ducca;15277563According to Alan Sepinwall, we’re not even a year away from the pilot, when Walt turned 50. If the flash-forward is his 52nd birthday, we’re about a year + into the future from the current timeline.[/QUOTE] I’d like to know how Alan works out that less than a year passes in the first 4 seasons. If it’s just on the aging of the baby it could be from 1-2 years and anyway writers could just fudge that 6-9 months either way when convenient. There’s been several times in the first few series where its impossible to determine the time between episodes and it could be assumed that several months of uneventful cooking went by (around the time the fly aired for example). ---
**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, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/75 "2012-07-16T15:35:58Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > According to Alan Sepinwall, we’re not even a year away from the pilot, when Walt turned 50. If the flash-forward is his 52nd birthday, we’re about a year + into the future from the current timeline. A few things about that…And they’re just ‘thinking out loud’ type thoughts. If he’s 52, that would be considerably far off in the future. With the way time’s been moving, it would be another 4 seasons (he was 50 when it started, right?). Of course, we could just skip ahead. Also, it would involve Walt either celebrating his fake birthday or having the same birthday as his fake ID. Perhaps he’s been using the fake ID for a long time at this point and totally taken it over as his new identity. Maybe he’s in witness protection. But Walt has shown to be sentimental. He’s kept souvenirs, he’s had a drink after something major happened. I could see him sitting alone in a diner celebrating a fake birthday if that’s what his life came down to…or I could see the 52 made out bacon being a signal for something else to happen (except that his ID matched up, so I doubt that’s the case). ---
**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, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/76 "2012-07-16T15:39:35Z")
Wait, just thought of something. Maybe, just maybe, he made the bacon 52, knowing the waitress would ask for the ID to confirm his birthday and that would confirm his whereabouts later to create an alibi for something or other later on. The $100 would make him extra memorable and he likely scoped the place out a head of time to make sure the place didn’t have cameras in the parking lot that would see him swapping cars. Ha! I’m running with this idea. I’m also going with the beard and hair being fake. My money is on this. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/77 "2012-07-16T15:46:25Z")
You will get full credit if you’re right. We’ll also tease you unmercifully if you’re way off base. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![infinitii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e8c25b/32.png) [@infinitii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/infinitii)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/78 "2012-07-16T15:47:40Z")
> [@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. Heh. I actually think that was a flashBACK, to a previously unexamined part of Walt’s life. He still had hair, and he was just developing the cough that is a sign of the lung cancer. The 52 was the birthdate of the fake ID he had. I don’t know how that will fit in with the rest of the story, but I am excited to find out! ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/79 "2012-07-16T15:49:38Z")
Didn’t someone do a detailed rundown of how long the show had been running at some point? Lots of episodes pick up exactly where the last one ends off, so it turned out to be a surprisingly short amount of time. Maybe I’m misremembering the guy who detailed the timeline of The Walking Dead. There are usually some clues in the background - for instance, when Walt Jr turns on the TV looking for the news, there’s a brief shot of a football broadcast, putting the premier episode into football season. I get the impression that less than a year has taken place in the series so far, so if it’s really his 52nd birthday, it’s a ways off. But it could just be his new identity’s 52nd birthday. It’s good that Ted was alive, I think, because a lot of people thought that storyline ended a little too neatly. This ending is a bit more plausible, and gives Skyler a taste of power. ---
**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, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/80 "2012-07-16T15:51:47Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > You will get full credit if you’re right. We’ll also tease you unmercifully if you’re way off base. 😃 Wouldn’t be the first time. I missed the edit window since I had to…work :eek: but I wanted to add in, does anything directly contradict this? Often times things I predict are just plain wrong right off the bat because of something stated earlier that I totally forgot about. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323.md?page=5)