# Breaking Bad 5.15 "Granite State" 9/22/13 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 22, 2013, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429 "2013-09-22T09:43:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 25
**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 26, 2013, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429/481 "2013-09-26T16:28:16Z")
> [@thinksnow](#): > > Why does everyone think it was only a few days? > > I’m fine with thinking he took a few weeks or months figuring out where everyone was, lining up the deal to get the gun, setting up a trust fund for Holly (fuck Flynn), getting an unmarked car, and rolling back home. The cops came for him at the bar just moments after he left. I suppose he could have gone back to the cabin to wait around a bit longer, but I doubt he’d risk it, since it’s known now that he’s in the area. Whatever he’s up to, I think he realizes that he needs to be moving pretty fast, to stay ahead of the law. Also, the cancer will get him soon. I doubt that he even brought that barrel with him back to ABQ, so he probably only has the money that is in the package that he was planning to send to Junior. Edit: What everyone else said. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429/482 "2013-09-26T16:35:15Z")
Is “Fuck Flynn” about to become the new motto here? ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429/483 "2013-09-26T16:38:16Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I read an interview with Peter Gould (writer/director of the episode) and he kind of suggested he didn’t keep track of the birthday. He said he pictured Walt being there for a couple of months, which I think is how you have to take it. They made it clear a fair mount of time had passed.(snip) We know it was at least two months, and probably three. Vacuum cleaner guy (Robert Forster) was making monthly supply runs and said Walt should make a list of needed items. VCG apologized at the last visit for how badly the last chemo session went, and said he’d looked at some youtube videos to help with the needle stick. So we have the initial drop off, a supply run where Walt orders chemo supplies, another run where the chemo went poorly, and the last chemo session. Walt might have had the chemo supplies pre-ordered for the first run, or the urgency might have accelerated the schedule, but 60 days minimum, and probably 90. ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429/484 "2013-09-26T16:50:18Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > It doesn’t make a lot of sense for Walt to do the 52 thing if it’s not really his birthday; that has no meaning to anyone else. It could be a wistful imagining of a now-impossible future that he knows he will never see. Maybe his birthday is months away and he knows that one way or another he won’t live to see it. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429/485 "2013-09-26T17:02:16Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > Nitpick: he never says he just drove 30 hours. The waitress asks how far it is and he says 30 hours if you only stop for gas. I agree, he’s suggesting that’s what he just did, but he didn’t actually say it. Thank you. But I think that’s what we’re supposed to believe. > [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Maybe he did it in an ironic, wistful way. Reflecting that this is who he has become. His new name, his new birthday, but still trying to make it feel normal. > [@BlackKnight](#): > > It could be a wistful imagining of a now-impossible future that he knows he will never see. Maybe his birthday is months away and he knows that one way or another he won’t live to see it. Alright, maybe so. To be honest I don’t care if the writers forget when Walt’s birthday is. It seems like a minor error like the Bin Laden raid reference in (I think) Gliding Over All. ---
**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:** [September 26, 2013, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429/486 "2013-09-26T17:18:09Z")
According to the [Breaking Bad wiki](http://breakingbad.wikia.com/wiki/Walter_White), Walt’s birthday is September 8th, 1959. Also this: > [@](#): > > **Season 1** > On September 8, 2008—the day after his 50th birthday—Walter passed out while working at the car wash. He was then reluctantly rushed to the hospital via ambulance where he was eventually diagnosed by Dr. Belknap with stage-three terminal lung cancer and given less than two years left to live. ---
**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 26, 2013, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429/487 "2013-09-26T17:25:31Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Alright, maybe so. To be honest I don’t care if the writers forget when Walt’s birthday is. It seems like a minor error like the Bin Laden raid reference in (I think) Gliding Over All. Normally, I don’t think anyone would even notice, let alone care, but the show has consistently used Walt’s birthday as a milestone. We got the contrast between the surprise 50th party and the frosty 51st pool party. We got Walt’s speech about what a tough year it had been between the two birthdays. We got the bacon numbers, for heaven’s sake! After all that, for the writers to say, “Fuck it, it’s his birthday in the finale, timeline be damned!” would be annoying. Plus, it screws up how much time has elapsed since Walt quit cooking and he got caught. Personally, I don’t care at all about tiny anachronisms like the Bin Laden thing. I do care about stuff that messes with the timeline. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429/488 "2013-09-26T17:36:05Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Alright, maybe so. To be honest I don’t care if the writers forget when Walt’s birthday is. It seems like a minor error like the Bin Laden raid reference in (I think) Gliding Over All. Ditto- Frankly I put myself wholeheartedly in the writers hands. I trust that where they are taking me will be worth the trip, minor nitpicks notwithstanding. ---
**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:** [September 26, 2013, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429/489 "2013-09-26T17:45:26Z")
If the location Walt was at was so far north in NH that it could only receive Montreal radio signals, then it’s not unlikely that that mountainous of an area could be buried in snow even during the warmer seasons, if his elevation is high enough. Also, in looking at the map of that area of NH and it’s proximity to the Canadian border, I wouldn’t be surprised if the spot was chosen for Walt in case Ed the Vacuum Guy wanted to spirit him across the northern border. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429/490 "2013-09-26T18:09:45Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Is “Fuck Flynn” about to become the new motto here? Sheesh. Poor boy just wanted a nutritious breakfast. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429/491 "2013-09-26T18:57:49Z")
I’m in New Hampshire at the moment, which happily happens to be September, and I can confirm that there’s no snow here yet. I’m not in the northern mountains, but even on top of Mount Washington, which always has the worst weather in the state, it’s currently 40 degrees F. Snow - particularly the deep snow shown in the last episode - is not what you’d expect to see around here in September of any year. ---
**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 26, 2013, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429/492 "2013-09-26T19:33:02Z")
BTW, perhaps interestingly (or perhaps not), Walt’s birthday is specifically given in the divorce papers as September 1959, which is also the month and year when Marty Robbins’ “El Paso” (the song which people are connecting to the episode title “Felina”) was [first released](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunfighter_Ballads_and_Trail_Songs). Edit: I could add that Walt’s birthday is even more specifically given as September 7, and “El Paso” is the seventh track on the album, if you count upwards from side 1 and continue on side 2. But I think that’s just a sign that it’s time for me to go take a walk around the block. ---
**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 26, 2013, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429/493 "2013-09-26T19:46:30Z")
I posted the following in the “Felina” thread instead of this one by mistake, but what the heck, I’ll post it here as well: I found the source of the September birthday: It’s the [divorce papers](http://images.wikia.com/breakingbad/images/c/c8/Divorce_papers.jpg). Hard to argue with that one, then. (Of course, in any case, neither a September or February birthday for Walt fits with Jane “turning 27 next month” and her date of birth being given as April. In that case, it would have made more sense for Walt’s birthday to be in December.) I think I’ll just settle for the timeline being thoroughly boned, and take it as a reminder to get that shit right when I create my own hypothetical future TV show. BTW, perhaps interestingly (or perhaps not), Walt’s birthday is specifically given in the divorce papers as September 1959, which is also the month and year when Marty Robbins’ “El Paso” (the song which people are connecting to the episode title “Felina”) was[first released](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunfighter_Ballads_and_Trail_Songs). ---
**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 26, 2013, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429/494 "2013-09-26T19:47:37Z")
And now I totally screwed up the previous two posts. Yeah, walk around the block it is. ---
**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 26, 2013, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429/495 "2013-09-26T20:17:40Z")
My last few posts got a bit messed up and \*\*Marley \*\*kindly cleaned them up for me, but I think the link to the screenshot of the [divorce papers](http://images.wikia.com/breakingbad/images/c/c8/Divorce_papers.jpg) stating Walt’s birthday got lost, so I’ll just repost that. For the record, that seems to be the source of September as the date of Walt’s birthday. ---
**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:** [September 26, 2013, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429/496 "2013-09-26T20:36:55Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > My last few posts got a bit messed up and \*\*Marley \*\*kindly cleaned them up for me, but I think the link to the screenshot of the [divorce papers](http://images.wikia.com/breakingbad/images/c/c8/Divorce_papers.jpg) stating Walt’s birthday got lost, so I’ll just repost that. > > For the record, that seems to be the source of September as the date of Walt’s birthday. I like that he lists “Teacher” as his occupation, as “Meth Kingpin” might raise some red flags… ---
**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:** [September 26, 2013, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429/497 "2013-09-26T20:42:21Z")
> [@DragonAsh](#): > > I’ve been wondering if maybe Walt doesn’t even use the big-ass gun to shoot anybody, but instead uses it as part of a set-up to sic the cops on the Nazis. Seems a bit too obvious to have Walt start shooting a gun we saw him buy og knows how many episodes. > > \ > > And for heaven’s sake, please please please just let Jesse die already. What a poor, tortured soul. Living with the guilt of Tomas, Jane, Gale, Andrea etc…It’d be too much for him; if Jane dying next to him while they slept was enough to send him into an emotional tail spin, Andrea being shot in front of him will send him into a worse-than-death downward spiral of soul-destroying destruction. I can not imagine \*any \*scenario that has Jesse ‘living happily ever after’. Not with Andrea dead. > > Maybe Jesse decides to kill himself, somehow taking out Todd (and/or the Nazis) along with him? That’s a good idea about the gun, maybe it will be as a set-up or something else. Walt has been violent before, but to mow people down with a big-ass gun seems like such an action movie cliche. Using the gun with trickery or manipulation seems more like Walt’s style. But the show is also about going from Mr. Chips to Scarface. It’s hard to guess what will happen. And while it would be nice for Jesse to have a happy ending, you might be right that the happiest ending he could have might be to go out with a bang, and take Todd and the Nazis with him. And maybe Walt as well. With all his done and been through in just the past two years, there’s no way he could go on and live a normal life. ---
**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 26, 2013, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429/498 "2013-09-26T20:45:38Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Is “Fuck Flynn” about to become the new motto here? His latest [photoshoot](http://www.vulture.com/2013/04/walt-jr-rj-mitte-shirtless-photos.html) makes that prospect look a bit more attractive (slightly NSFW). ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429/499 "2013-09-26T20:54:38Z")
Jesse has really suffered for Walt in a lot of ways on the show. For one reason or another Walt couldn’t absorb a lot of huge beatings, so Jesse did. Does that finally result in Jesse dying because of Walt? Or does Jesse become a leader and execute one of his own designs? ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429/500 "2013-09-26T21:40:18Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > His latest [photoshoot](http://www.vulture.com/2013/04/walt-jr-rj-mitte-shirtless-photos.html) makes that prospect look a bit more attractive (slightly NSFW). He’s clearly graduated to the big boy pants. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429.md?page=24) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-bad-5-15-granite-state-9-22-13/669429.md?page=26)