# Breaking Bad 5.14 "Ozymandias" 9/15/13 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 15, 2013, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-14-ozymandias-9-15-13/668893 "2013-09-15T06:43:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 19
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-14-ozymandias-9-15-13/668893/361 "2013-09-17T01:20:31Z")
> [@newcomer](#): > > You mean, that’s how Matt Damon would look like after using meth 😃 If he was a meth-head actor. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-14-ozymandias-9-15-13/668893/362 "2013-09-17T01:21:04Z")
In expressions and actions, Todd is a really fucked up manchild. In some ways he’s a sweet kid, who happens to be a totally remorseless killer. He totally needs the “tell me about the bunnies” trip to Belize, but they have made him interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-14-ozymandias-9-15-13/668893/363 "2013-09-17T01:31:45Z")
> [@Washoe](#): > > It’s the John B. Robert Dam on Juan Tabo Blvd. NE, Albuquerque (35°8’20"N 106°30’52"W). If you Google Map it, the aerial view shows a red minivan parked right where Walt is sitting. OK, that’s actually a little bit [creepy](http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/4595/981o.png). There’s even a [guy who is obviously waiting for a pickup](http://img541.imageshack.us/img541/2113/snp6.png). (BTW, I don’t remember if I heard it on the podcast or read it somewhere, but if you’re wondering what those gravestone-esque slabs are, it turns out that they’re actually for diverting water to stop it running onto the road.) ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-14-ozymandias-9-15-13/668893/364 "2013-09-17T01:40:29Z")
It’s not _that_ cweepy. It’s a public recreation area. There’s a wide dirt turnout for public parking in between the street and where Walt is sitting. The van (it may not even be a van; I just said that to make people go look) just happens to be red. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-14-ozymandias-9-15-13/668893/365 "2013-09-17T01:44:03Z")
> [@Washoe](#): > > It’s not _that_ cweepy. It’s a public recreation area. There’s a wide dirt turnout for public parking in between the street and where Walt is sitting. The van (it may not even be a van; I just said that to make people go look) just happens to be red. Well, OK. 😛 It’s actually even less creepy if you look at the pic - it’s the car on the other side of the road that’s red, not the one parked on Walt’s side. Still kind of cool, though. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-14-ozymandias-9-15-13/668893/366 "2013-09-17T01:55:27Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > it’s the car on the other side of the road that’s red, not the one parked on Walt’s side. Still kind of cool, though. No, zoom down from the aerial view, don’t go straight to street view. There’s a vehicle that’s the exact shade of Walt’s ride parked right next to the sign where Walt was sitting. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-14-ozymandias-9-15-13/668893/367 "2013-09-17T02:00:51Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > Very cool. Also, Director of Photography Michael Slovis’ name is shown right over the[shot of Walt and the bullet hole over the forehead](http://i.imgur.com/bCfMpRL.jpg). Almost like he’s signing a shot that he’s particularly proud of. Slick! Thanks for posting the shot; somehow I missed the second Walt-face in that reflection. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-14-ozymandias-9-15-13/668893/368 "2013-09-17T02:02:22Z")
> [@Washoe](#): > > No, zoom down from the aerial view, don’t go straight to street view. There’s a vehicle that’s the exact shade of Walt’s ride parked right next to the sign where Walt was sitting. Oh, right! Mea culpa. I tried the map view first, but I was looking at the [new Google maps version, and there’s nothing there](https://www.google.com/maps/preview#!q=35%C2%B08%2720%22N+106%C2%B030%2752%22W&data=!1m4!1m3!1d727!2d-106.5156933!3d35.1382203!2m1!1e3!4m11!1m10!4m8!1m3!1d26081603!2d-95.677068!3d37.0625!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!17b1&fid=7). However, [it’s there in the classic version](https://www.google.com/maps?sll=37.06250000000001%2C-95.677068&sspn=57.94889164378686%2C96.35404905924051&t=h&ll=35.1382203%2C-106.51569330000001&q=35%C2%B08%2720%22N+106%C2%B030%2752%22W&spn=0.0015013967081109914%2C0.0024479662034110243&output=classic&dg=opt). ---
**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:** [September 17, 2013, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-14-ozymandias-9-15-13/668893/369 "2013-09-17T02:04:40Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > Someone linked to it last week; it’s the John B. Robert Dam in Albuquerque. Here’s a satellite view of it. Do I see a red van? :eek: > **[Wikimapia - Let's describe the whole world!](http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=35.138315&lon=-106.515434&z=20&m=b&show=/5996709/Bear-Canyon-Arroyo-Spillway-Dam)** > > Wikimapia is an online editable map - you can describe any place on Earth. Or just surf the map discovering tonns of already marked places. ---
**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:** [September 17, 2013, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-14-ozymandias-9-15-13/668893/370 "2013-09-17T02:16:29Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Here’s a satellite view of it. Do I see a red van? :eek: > > [Wikimapia - Let's describe the whole world!](http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=35.138315&lon=-106.515434&z=20&m=b&show=/5996709/Bear-Canyon-Arroyo-Spillway-Dam) That’s what I get for posting before I read the rest of the thread. :smack: I almost wonder if the writers looked at Google map images of the ABQ area to see if they could create some kind of creepy coincidence. ---
**Author:** ![zoog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7ea924/32.png) [@zoog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoog)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-14-ozymandias-9-15-13/668893/371 "2013-09-17T03:20:50Z")
One little thing I’m still having a hard time getting my head around: Why did Jack decide to leave Walt a barrel of money? I can understand why he didn’t kill him (“my nephew would never forgive me” or something like that, plus he may still think Walt might be useful). I can see where it serves a narrative purpose, but I’m not sure I understand the motivation. But yeah, I’m definitely on the “one of the best episodes of TV ever” bandwagon. Wow. ---
**Author:** ![Crawlspace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Crawlspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crawlspace)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-14-ozymandias-9-15-13/668893/372 "2013-09-17T03:24:23Z")
> [@SecretaryofEvil](#): > > Back to Breaking Bad, I agree with you completely. I liked that they couldn’t bring themselves to completely kill and fuck over Walt because they respected him as a criminal. Killing Walt would be like shooting an evil unicorn. If they had any respect for Walt as a criminal they would have either shot him in the head the second they found his money or helped him move it to a new location, fearing what would happen to them if they threatened to take it. > [@Marley23](#): > > Remember when Walt was a successful negotiator who always stumbled across a backup plan? In that last scene with Hank he kept losing and wouldn’t stop playing. This is going to sound snarky, but no I don’t. People keep saying this and I don’t know what they’re referring to. Walt has never been any good at just talking his way out of situations. The only time he’s been able to appear successful at it is when he’s had a “fist full of nothing” (mercury fulminate, lily of the valley, Gale’s address). In effect, he’s not able to manipulate people all that well, but he’s able get his way by manipulating their perception of reality through science\* > [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > I’m curious for those who didn’t get that Walt phone call was a ruse for the police - why did you think he was crying? He could barely get the words out, they were such anathema to him. It is so brilliantly edited that when the phone call starts, the viewer thinks Walt has completely broken and that what he is saying is real, but then in the middle of his tirade, we twinge onto what he is really doing, right when Skyler herself understands. After that moment, when we see how painful it is for him to say what he is saying, I’m sorry but how can anyone have not understood what was really going on? Because it’s dumb. I’d assumed Walt had reverted to the sniveling 4 year old throwing a tantrum that we’ve seen him revert to when things don’t go his way (see roof pizza, shooting Mike, I’ll cook for free, etc) as opposed to engaging in some ruse to get his wife off the hook because the latter is stupid. In real life (and hopefully on the show) this would last for maybe a few days, until they find out that Skyler was in charge of the books at the car wash/was complicit in laundering money, or that she was cooking the books at Beneke, or they ask Jr if he’d ever heard his parents fight before or had reason to fear his dad, or they find out that far be being intimidated into submission she was able to file for divorce/kick him out of the house/ship his kids off to her sister’s house by threatening to go to the police. I’d assumed he was crying on the phone because, despite his best efforts Hank was dead and his life in shambles. He’d lost and, since there was no one to blame but himself, he was furiously looking for a scape goat. I admit I’m most likely wrong, but I hope that ruse doesn’t hold up. As a corollary, I don’t understand why people keep talking about Walt as if he is the criminal mastermind Heisenberg feared/revered throughout ABQ when it’s been made very clear that he is pretty bad at this. Heisenberg is the tall-tale that Walt has deluded himself into believing is true. That, more than anything else, was the motivation for Hank’s line, “You’re the smartest guy I ever met, and you’re too stupid to see—he made up his mind ten minutes ago\*.”\* It beats home the point that for all of Walt’s book smarts, he has almost no understanding of the street. [sup][sup]\*BITCH![/sup][/sup] ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-14-ozymandias-9-15-13/668893/373 "2013-09-17T03:29:32Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > So: **Gatopescado** , I’ve been about as patient as I’m going to be. You need to cut the crap right now. Cut. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-14-ozymandias-9-15-13/668893/374 "2013-09-17T03:44:26Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > One interesting speculation: did Walt take Holly with him when he left deliberately to ensure that the police would have to come just so that his phone call would work? Why else would he take her? His cancer makes “I’m going to take this child and barrel of money and go start a new life” a less likely plan. > [@Marley23](#): > > I think we’re supposed to believe he took her because it was his last chance to have any relationship with anyone in his family. He didn’t seem to be thinking rationally for most of that scene: his excuses were desperate and implausible and then he wound up grappling with Skyler for the knife. When he heard Holly crying for her mother he realized he had to give her up. I agree with **Marley**. He took what was left with his family, but the look on his face when his daughetr started crying for her mommy mad ehim realize this just wasn’t going to work. > [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > That could’ve just been teenage vandals, not a sign of anything bad. > [@Cognoscant](#): > > Originally Posted by Siam Sam View Post > Remember: Someone is going to scrawl “Heisenberg” on the wall of his house, which is clearly abandoned in the flash forward to the future. Something really, really bad is going to happen there. > > I’m not sure “Heisenberg” is a common thing for teenage vandals to scrawl on someone’s wall, especially on the wall of the abandoned house where someone nicknamed “Heisenberg” used to live. It’s either one of two things: > > 1. Walt dies, Skyler and family leave the house, and the name “Heisenberg” becomes something of a local legend. > > 2. Something really, really bad is going to happen there. I believe it will be Jesse who scrawls “Heisenberg” in the house. ---
**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:** [September 17, 2013, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-14-ozymandias-9-15-13/668893/375 "2013-09-17T04:45:47Z")
> [@zoog](#): > > One little thing I’m still having a hard time getting my head around: Why did Jack decide to leave Walt a barrel of money? I can understand why he didn’t kill him (“my nephew would never forgive me” or something like that, plus he may still think Walt might be useful). I can see where it serves a narrative purpose, but I’m not sure I understand the motivation. > > But yeah, I’m definitely on the “one of the best episodes of TV ever” bandwagon. Wow. I think leaving the barrel was actually pretty smart of Uncle Jack. (Of course, smarter would have been to kill Walt and Jesse on the spot, as I’m sure they’ll discover to their detriment and demise.) If you’re going to leave Walt alive and you take all his money, he’s going to come right back at you to try to get it back. You leave him a hefty chunk and he has enough money to escape, to move on. To count himself lucky that he got $10 million out of the deal. Uncle Jack knows Walt is pretty worthless as a threat physically speaking, but Walt has managed to kill a fair number of people and become a drug kingpin of a sort. Better to not risk it. Also, Uncle Jack doesn’t like all the greed, man. It’s unattractive. ---
**Author:** ![Yaxche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8dc957/32.png) [@Yaxche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yaxche)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-14-ozymandias-9-15-13/668893/376 "2013-09-17T04:58:18Z")
So, if it seems like Walt is finally trying to “save” his family now, is it possible he’s going to rescue Jesse? Maybe since he couldn’t save Hank? Also, the ricin seems to be taking a back seat to the M60 here, just because we saw the M60 purchase on the cold open for the season. Seems like it would be the way to take Jesse out (and everyone in and enclosed space like a lab) if that were what he intended. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-14-ozymandias-9-15-13/668893/377 "2013-09-17T05:40:29Z")
> [@Crawlspace](#): > > As a corollary, I don’t understand why people keep talking about Walt as if he is the criminal mastermind Heisenberg feared/revered throughout ABQ when it’s been made very clear that he is pretty bad at this. Because managing to kill the 10 or 12 inmates in different prisons all in the same 2:00 window is about as hardcore as it gets. One of the things that was so good about the power dynamic in the scene with Walt begging for Hank’s life is that Jack is the one guy who can never be impressed with that, because of course it was Jack who actually made it happen. To almost the entire world, Heisenberg really is a bona fide criminal mastermind. It’s only in the presence of Jack’s crew that he’s an ineffectual nebbish. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-14-ozymandias-9-15-13/668893/378 "2013-09-17T05:50:11Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I don’t want a Jesse-Walt standoff! The final confrontation will be a Walt-Jesse-Skyler three-way. At least if [this](http://cdn.uproxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/bb-threesome.jpg) picture posted by Aaron Paul on Instagram is anything to go by. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-14-ozymandias-9-15-13/668893/379 "2013-09-17T05:54:03Z")
> [@Yaxche](#): > > So, if it seems like Walt is finally trying to “save” his family now, is it possible he’s going to rescue Jesse? Maybe since he couldn’t save Hank? No. He sold Jesse down the river after Hank was already dead, and made sure to give the knife a good hard twist while he was at it. ---
**Author:** ![CheapBastid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8baadc/32.png) [@CheapBastid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheapBastid)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-14-ozymandias-9-15-13/668893/380 "2013-09-17T07:41:30Z")
I’ve been turning over motivation in my head, and reading through this thread I don’t know that I see much in the way of Walt wanting to save Jesse. We could have some kind of threat to his family, but that would have to be drawn up in the next two episodes. Looking at the current tableau, I do see one final motivating force: the return of Blue Sky. Now that Walt has lost everything, seeing a resurgence of his creation (the only pride that he has left) could be a final ‘thing to do’. It is both his creation to destroy and a sign that Jesse was not killed as Jack promised. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-14-ozymandias-9-15-13/668893.md?page=18) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-14-ozymandias-9-15-13/668893.md?page=20)