Every single performance in that episode was Emmy-worthy, *including *the baby.
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. He managed to achieve his final betrayal of Jesse - “Pinkman. You owe me.” was chilling - but other than that, all he managed to do tell the Nazis that Hank was his brother-in-law and give away $70 million. He’d have lost everything and been killed if Jack hadn’t been in a good mood.
The ID was fake, but I’d assume it’s his real birthday.
If the easy way is violence, they always take that. What Nazis don’t do is pass up a chance to conquer or quit while they’re ahead.
I so want a Blues Brothers “I hate New Mexico Nazis” reference.
I couldn’t agree more. I’ve never had one TV show take me on such a rollercoaster of emotions. So intense. So sad.
-When Walt pulled out of the driveway with Holly crying, I had tears in my eyes.
-When Walt told Jesse about Jane, I was so shocked I could hardly move.
I think Walt took Holly knowing that Skyler would call the police. It was all part of his plan to make sure his family was innocent and taken care of. Once he stood up and said, “what’s wrong with you?! We’re a family!!” and saw the look on Skyler and Flynn’s faces…he knew his family was gone.
That was the most intense, twisted goodbye in the history of television.
Nah, watch that scene again, he cries for Mr. White. Now, he turns around a few seconds later, and is figuring out how he can enslave Jesse, so he’s no cupcake. He’s easily as bad as Walt, who really does seem to like having a memento of Gayle, the person who he had Jesse kill; but he’s not any crazier than anyone else in that patch of desert.
As far as whether the Aryan Brotherhood are a satisfying villain: I see them as the logical progression into a more ruthless (and to be honest, more realistic) meth kingpins. Unlike Gus’ or Walt’s organization, they’re not hindered by morality or some semblance of decency. I don’t like Jack’s type at all - I’ve known the less successful version IRL. But I still have a grudging respect for the character. He’s very much like Mike, with far fewer redeeming qualities. That’s part of what’s great about this show, even the Nazis aren’t 2-d monsters.
Forgot to add this:
Did anyone else notice, when Walt’s car broke down in the desert, when he’s staring at the bullet hole near the gas tank, his reflection is lined up just so that the bullet hole is right in the middle of Walt’s forehead?
A sign of things to come???
He pretty much implicated her, didn’t he? He said something about how she told Jr. “what I do”, implying she knew what he did - and it wasn’t gambling.
If you know somebody is committing a crime and don’t call the police, aren’t you an accessory or accomplice or something? If she knew what he did and was running a car wash bought with the proceeds, wouldn’t that be some sort of criminal conspiracy?
I agree it was a great scene, but I don’t see how it put Skylar in the clear.
She couldn’t plausibly plead ignorance, even before that phone call. If nothing else, once she’s in custody, Beneke may start talking.
This way she can at least say that she cooperated out of fear because he had been threatening her. That could increase her chances of gaining at least some immunity in exchange for testifying against him.
If nothing else, it may make her look better in Jr’s eyes, which Walt knows is important to both her and Jr.
Are you a psychiatrist or psychologist? Have you had enough contact with Todd to diagnose him? Do you know for sure he feels no remorse? Have we seen him kill or harm for no reason or take pleasure in killing?
There’s actually two reflections of Walt in that shot: one with the bullet hole, and one without. Walter White the family man is dead, all that remains is Heisenberg.
IANAL but she might be protected by spousal privilege, at least for not coming forth with what she knows about his crimes. She’s not protected for what she did to further them.
Spousal privilege or not, it may still be in her best interest to testify if she can get a deal out of it.
Spousal privilege has to do with what she can say when testifying at a trial. It doesn’t protect her from prosecution when she doesn’t come forward.
What Walt did gave her an out. She can now say that she was in fear of her and her children’s lives and that she was mentally abused. Marie will back her on that.
I didn’t notice Todd crying, but I might’ve laughed at “sorry for your loss.” There was something ridiculous about Todd using the blandest words possible to say he was sorry his gang killed Hank while Walt begged them to spare his life.
Walt painted a very detailed picture in that tirade: he said Skyler was always asking questions that were none of her business and that she objected to his drug manufacturing on moral grounds and he spoke to her like a crazy, domineering, and probably violent husband who was holding her hostage. So he implied that she wasn’t a willing accomplice and she didn’t know anything about his actions. It was crafted to make the police think she was his victim and nothing else.
I did, too, until somewhere in the middle of his rant. Based on what happened in the previous scene I was ready to believe he’d finally snapped and become Heisenberg for good. That’s what made it great.
I bet they have enough evidence that they wouldn’t feel the need to offer a very good deal. I bet she won’t be able to shake the money laundering charge. I bet they’ll have Ted as a witness for her crimes.
During the Talking Bad program, Bill Hader joked that when Walt took Holly, it was the most time he’d spent with her since she was born.
And in the beginning of the show, Dean Norris started to say something about this role and his role in Under The Dome but they muted part of what he said. Was anyone able to read his lips or otherwise gather what he said?
You gotta be f’n kidding me. This isn’t a trial, you don’t need to have an expert consultation to label someone a psychopath.
Plus, Todd murders a child and his reaction is, and I think this is an exact quote, “was that wrong? Should I not have done that?”
Frankly, I don’t think Todd has shown any emotion. I get the impression that he’s dead inside, or perhaps lacks empathy. (Which is, I think, a symptom of psychopathy.)
If that were true he wouldn’t have relinquished Holly and made that call letting Skyler off the hook.
The trap is using words like “psychopath” to pretend that a person has to be transformed into something else in order to do so. Labeling Todd a “psychopath” gives you the false security that you think you know what’s going on in his head and that it is categorically different from a normal person.
You don’t know what he’s thinking or feeling. You just don’t.