# 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:** 7
**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, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/121 "2012-07-16T17:55:20Z")
If he was trying to be noticed to establish an alibi, the 52 thing might’ve been a good way to get the waitress to notice him and get him to pull his ID - to keep it in her memory. Or he may legitimately be 52, and the series starts out with him celebrating his 50th birthday, so it’s an interesting reference point. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/122 "2012-07-16T17:56:54Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > But I don’t think ram is magnetically affected storage. I think you should test your hypothesis by putting a large magnet next to your computer’s RAM. A [strong enough magnetic field](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_pulse) can break anything electronic. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/123 "2012-07-16T18:11:01Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Would police generally take a framed photograph from an office into evidence? Absolutely. Why wouldn’t they? Everything is evidence, _especially_ photographs. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/124 "2012-07-16T18:19:32Z")
Was that [David Strathairn](http://www.google.com/search?q=david%20strathairn&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=9loEUJPPKYmg8QSkiY22CA&biw=1440&bih=712&sei=-loEUKOSGYK49QST4NCHCA) as the junkyard owner? ---
**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, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/125 "2012-07-16T18:26:08Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > 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. You’re definitely right in that he wanted to be noticed and remembered. If he just needed to meet with the gun guy, he could have just had a cup of coffee or something and sat at a table or booth. Instead he sat at the bar, played with his food, had a conversation with the waitress, left $100, and left his food mostly uneaten. But I’m having a hard time imagining why he would set up an alibi using a fake name. For most crimes on TV shows and movies, the crime is done with the fake name, and the alibi is set up with the character using his real name. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/126 "2012-07-16T18:33:21Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Was that [David Strathairn](http://www.google.com/search?q=david%20strathairn&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=9loEUJPPKYmg8QSkiY22CA&biw=1440&bih=712&sei=-loEUKOSGYK49QST4NCHCA) as the junkyard owner? Pretty sure it was [this](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0359969/) guy. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/127 "2012-07-16T18:34:46Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Was that [David Strathairn](http://www.google.com/search?q=david%20strathairn&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=9loEUJPPKYmg8QSkiY22CA&biw=1440&bih=712&sei=-loEUKOSGYK49QST4NCHCA) as the junkyard owner? I believe it was [Larry Hankin](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0359969/) who played “Tom Pepper as Kramer” (the show-within-the-show’s Kramer) on “The Pilot” episode of _Seinfeld_ ---
**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, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/128 "2012-07-16T18:35:12Z")
Also, [here’s an interesting article](http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/16/arts/television/breaking-bad-creating-magnetic-attraction.html) about how they set up the magnet stuff in the episode. ---
**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, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/129 "2012-07-16T18:36:03Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Was that [David Strathairn](http://www.google.com/search?q=david%20strathairn&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=9loEUJPPKYmg8QSkiY22CA&biw=1440&bih=712&sei=-loEUKOSGYK49QST4NCHCA) as the junkyard owner? Larry Hankin > **[Old Joe](https://breakingbad.fandom.com/wiki/Old_Joe)** > > Old Joe is the savvy owner of Rocker Salvage who helps Walter White and Jesse Pinkman out of several scenarios. Clovis contacts Old Joe about destroying Walt & Jesse's RV when Hank Schrader starts searching for it. Walt pays Old Joe... He played the same character in season 3 when he destroyed the RV for them. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/130 "2012-07-16T18:37:13Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Maybe I’m being nitpicky, but I’m pretty certain that the sudden wiping of a hard drive wouldn’t cause a computer display to fail in that manner. I think that kind of drive failure would by itself either freeze the screen or cause some sort of BIOS error message. It wouldn’t automatically wipe the screen like that. > > Sure, it could be that, before a message could be displayed, the magnet killed the screen (Would a magnetic field do that to an LCD display? I have no idea.) but they seemed to be acting on the assumption that the display failure was a direct indication that the drive had been wiped, an incorrect assumption. > [@Joey\_P](#): > > Yeah that bugged me too. Not only that, but even if the display didn’t fail (And no, a magnet doesn’t effect an LCD) I figured a magnet destroying a (resting) hard drive probably wouldn’t do anything noticeable. > [@SenorBeef](#): > > And… the screens would likely not fail like that > [@Invisible\_Chimp](#): > > You may be technically correct, but it’s a television show and they needed a visual shortcut to show it to the average viewer. I hope Gus had a solid-state drive. I think Invisible Chimp has it right. It was a visual shortcut for viewers, kind of like when a code cracker is shown cracking a password one digits at a time. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/131 "2012-07-16T18:41:08Z")
> [@Sam\_Lowry](#): > > Also, [here’s an interesting article](http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/16/arts/television/breaking-bad-creating-magnetic-attraction.html) about how they set up the magnet stuff in the episode. Neat! Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/132 "2012-07-16T18:42:44Z")
Thanks to all for the Larry Hankin answers; I thought Strathairn was a bit much star power, but there is a slight resemblance and they did have Jim Beaver in a bit part. A tiny bit I loved: > [@](#): > > “If Wendell doesn’t eat, nobody eats.” Apparently Mike has a genuine affection for Jesse after their adventures together. And of course he does owe Jesse his life for-real at this point. ---
**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, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/133 "2012-07-16T18:46:39Z")
So now the police are going to wonder what the hell someone was trying to achieve with that giant magnet. Maybe they, or Hank, will figure out that the intent may have been to wipe a hard drive. If they do, then the question is, was that laptop the only one recently placed in that evidence locker? If so will that tip off the police, or Hank, that even though Gus is dead, there are still some very resourceful individuals left from his operation? Will it also get them thinking that maybe someone who knows the layout of that police station was involved? Perhaps an ex-policeman? (Mike is an ex-policeman for those who don’t remember). ---
**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, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/134 "2012-07-16T18:52:01Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Thanks to all for the Larry Hankin answers; He also stole George Costanza’s raisins. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![McDeath\_the\_Mad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@McDeath\_the\_Mad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/McDeath_the_Mad)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/135 "2012-07-16T18:57:18Z")
Yet another nit-picky item about the video: Video feeds are large to store, even when compressed. Walter had been cooking for weeks, there are multiple cameras each recording 24/7 (it’s a multi-million dollar meth lab, you will be recording 24/7 on all cameras!). Smart DVR technology will compress video frames when there is no movement (if nobody goes into a room all day, why store video of nothing happening?). But here’s the thing, if I’m Gus I would want 100% live video recordings of all cameras all day. If he had this there is no way he could store that on a laptop. Especially if it had an SSD. Realistically if it was an SSD he’d have 512GB _possibly_ 1TB. Even if it wasn’t an SSD drive, I don’t know if you can buy a 2.5" laptop drive in sizes larger than 1TB. Most laptops only allow 1 internal HD, max it would offer is 2. So he could have ~2TB of video storage on his laptop. Maybe someone else can run the numbers but I’m pretty sure that laptop would not be adequate as a DVR storage device. MtM ---
**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, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/136 "2012-07-16T19:03:09Z")
I’m assuming that he deleted the videos after viewing them. If there was no suspicious activity, why keep them 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, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/137 "2012-07-16T19:06:49Z")
Maybe he only kept a few days or a weeks worth. As you say, it wouldn’t be storing much during down time, and how many hours a day and how many days a week were they working? Was it a 40 hour a week job to cook the amount Gus wanted each week? I have no idea. Also, it could have been a black and white feed, like many security feeds, which would reduce the amount of storage needed. But you do have a point. I think a lot of security systems still use tape, maybe for the very reasons you point out. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/138 "2012-07-16T19:09:44Z")
I’m pretty sure Hank knows that part of Gus’s gang is still out there. The laundry didn’t burn itself down. The only part that bugged me was the gun dealer wanting assurances that the gun wouldn’t end up in Mexico. If I’m selling someone shady a big ass gun, I don’t want them using it in town. I’d prefer they kill a bunch of people in Mexico. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/139 "2012-07-16T19:21:25Z")
> [@Shakester](#): > > I think you should test your hypothesis by putting a large magnet next to your computer’s RAM. > > A [strong enough magnetic field](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_pulse) can break anything electronic. Or you could go with Jesse’s explanation for how it works - _hand gesture + sound effects_ Blooooop! 🙂 ---
**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, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323/140 "2012-07-16T19:27:43Z")
Yea. I got the impression that Jesse came up with the right idea for the wrong reasons. He seemed to be thinking about smashing it against the wall or something. When Walt and Mike were arguing about incendiary devices I was yelling at the TV, “a magnet”, along with Jesse. It seemed obvious, but then computers are my field. I guess it makes sense that a chemist would first think about explosions and fire. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-01-live-free-or-die-7-15-12/628323.md?page=8)