New ending prediction: Todd gets the final line of series, spoken to Lydia: “Say hello to my little friend”.
Joke Prediction: The first episode of “Better Call Saul” focuses on his lawsuit against the federal government on behalf of the tribe, for property improperly seized on their sovereign land.
That would be a hilarious DVD “alternative ending” spoof if they could put it together.
I wouldn’t call it juvenile, but yes, some people are trying way too hard to find a way every single element of the series can fit into the conclusion. It’s not going to happen. This isn’t a spy movie or something. Hank’s mineral habit wasn’t a plot point. It was a reflection of the emotional state he was in after he was shot. He got out of his funk in part because the Heisenberg case gave him a reason to live. Walt actually goaded him into it. That was one of the great turns of the series because it was so odd and so perfect for both characters. And at the beginning of the next episode it may wind up with Hank dead.
I’ve been calling Walt a nihilist all series!
I’ve been wondering that myself. Vince Gilligan made a point of saying all plot lines would be tied up at the end, but the mineral thing seems to be too long ago to be relevant now.
Perhaps it was Hank’s way of handling depression? It just didn’t seem to tie into anything.
The Nazi crew isn’t supposed to be interesting and nuanced. They’re rabid dogs.
Followed by her screams as he puts a tarantula on her $3,000 shoe.
Sounds like the script for Ocean’s 14.
The show has dropped lots of plotlines. One of the first was Walt Jr.'s cerebral palsy. They could have made him a non-disabled and just slightly akward kid, and it wouldn’t really have made a lick of difference. There is one scene in the first season where he can’t get his own pants on in a changing room and needs Walt to help him, but since then he’s been acting less and less disabled for each season, and now it has no significance at all.
Uh, RJ Mitte really has cerebral palsy.
Yes, I know. Which is part of what makes me think that the creators planned to make more of a point of Jr.'s condition than they ended up doing, since they actually went to the trouble of casting an actor with cerebral palsy. At this point in the series, no one on the show even treats Jr. like he’s disabled. In fact, except for a handful of scenes (the clothing store, the driving lesson, a couple of conversations), no one ever has. He might as well be your regular awkward teen (OK, a bit more awkward than most), except for the crutches.
While Mitte doesn’t require leg braces, his voice gives him away as CP, so it has to be dealt with somehow. And the fact his son was special needs also made Walt’s plight more sympathetic in the beginning when his main goal was to provide for his family.
I get that. And that’s why they’re uninteresting.
This.
I’d also like to add that he’s grown up significantly on the show - he now drives and has his own car. What kid, once he gets his own ride, ISN’T around his family less?
I figured you would. That’s why I found it bewildering when you said he’s been acting less and less disabled for each season. He isn’t acting any more or less disabled.
I have no way of knowing, but I never got that feeling. His CP helps establish that Walt is a loving father and (I think) is one of those ways we see that Walt’s life hasn’t quite turned out the way he hoped: maybe if they had fewer medical bills they’d have a bigger house or Walt wouldn’t need that job at the car wash. And when Walt attacks the kids who are making fun of Junior it’s our first hint that there’s more going on underneath the meek surface of this man. It’s the first time we see the rage that is going to allow him to become Heisenberg.
Well, I just mean that his disability has featured less and less a part of his character. At this point, Junior does everything a regular kid does (drives a cool car, has mood swings, helps out at the car wash, eats extensive amounts of breakfast, has a complicated relationship with his dad), and pretty much nothing that relates to him having cerebral palsy.
In the first season it was a plot point, I agree, with Walt beating up the bullies, and as a way of showing that Walt’s life didn’t turn out the way he wanted. It just hasn’t featured like that since early in the first season.
He does play it up for the show, however, as his case is comparatively mild. So it is entirely possible for him to act more or less disabled, as you put it, then he does on the show. Not that he has changed it, but thought I’d throw it out there.
I’m going to pat myself on the back briefly for my first Breaking Bad prediction that came true. I figured the the neo nazi attack on Hank and Gomez was the easiest way to get Jessie free - and dramatically it’s necessary to Walt and Jessie to have a final face off of some sort.
Last week I mentioned that I think with Hank dead Marie is going to lose her shit and go after Walt directly. I figured this would result in Skyler defending Walt and killing Marie. I have changed my mind though. I think Marie is going to try to poison Walt but that will backfire, she’ll poison either one of the kids or Skyler or both. Killing a loved one and losing Hank will then cause her to kill herself.
I’m imagining a garish, multi-zillion dollar casino that would make a Dabawi sheik green with envy, called ‘White Man’s Crystal Palace,’ and featuring Walt’s smiling face on their billboard advertisements.
The cerebral palsy isn’t used in later seasons because it already served its narrative duty. Walt attacking the bullies is the primary reason. Junior convincing Walt into taking the chemo rather than just dying was another. Having a son who has to deal with tough shit in his life also allows Walt to develop paternal feelings towards Jesse who has his own tough shit to deal with, whereas if Junior was more “regular” Walt might not have the patience to deal with Jesse’s drug addiction and occasional dumb moments. It also serves as a constant chafing reminder that Walter White, The Greatest Genius To Ever Have Lived, has produced a son that is less than perfect, which combined with the rest of the wasted potential in his life is what causes all the heisenbergian anger and frustration to build up inside of him in the first place.