Agreed, but that sure appears to be the case, based on the hemming and hawing from Gould:
Don’t these shows have someone who’s in charge of continuity? Sheesh, weak.
And I mean, it’s not like his birthday’s time of year was ancient history people wouldn’t still be thinking about, because with this show like few others, a lot of people have recently re-watched the pilot. I know I did just this past weekend, and I had also re-watched it a few months before that. Then there are all the people who saw it for the first time within the past few months in a Netflix binge-watch.
Agreed. And you reminded me that his birthday was shown again not to be in the winter by having the other one be at a pool party.
I appreciate that some people will say they have so much goodwill built up towards the writing team that they will forgive this or that. And I am somewhat willing to do that when looking back at some rough edges in the pilot. People at that stage can never be totally clear on where the characterisations are going and so on. But I think by the time you are several seasons in and it is widely understood that you are still finishing work on a work of art that is seen as a national treasure, you have a responsibility to not taint it at all with needless sloppiness. And they have known for over a year now that the finale was building towards his 52nd birthday. Just inexcusable IMO.
How about waiting until Sunday night to call things inexcusable.
And “national treasure”? Come on… It’s a TV show. A really really great TV show, but let’s not get carried away. It’s not like Nicolas Cage is going to try and steal it from underneath the Smithsonian or anything.
ETA: Plus it’s very possible it took Walt awhile to end up at that Denny’s on his birthday. We don’t know what happens to him after he leaves that NH bar, but he’s certainly not going to be able to just hop in a car and drive off. It’s going to take some work (and time) to get out of there without being caught.
Today in ABQ it was 81F. Plenty warm for a pool party. So probably not winter but certainly late fall would work. A misstep, perhaps, but one of only a few over so many seasons.
A show as complex as this will probably many people disappointed that their favorite plot point, backstory, characterization, etc wasn’t handled quite right. My guess is that there’s going to be way more good stuff in the finale than dissapointment. We binged watched this over the summer and its been a delight. Enjoy it for the marvelous piece of TV entertainment it has been.
Holly’s birth must have taken place around three or four months after Walt’s 50th birthday. Her age is given as 18 months when Walt runs off with her in “Ozymandias”. Add about three more months to that for the time Walt spends in New Hampshire, for a total of 24. So, his 52nd birthday must be around the end of “Granite State”, no matter how you shake it.
Month-wise, it adds up, but seasons are obviously weird in the BB universe. I blame global warming.
(None of it fits with April as the date given for Jane’s birthday, and her turning “27 next month” according to her dad at the time of her death, which happens shortly after Holly is born. But maybe we can overlook that.)
In the interests of further over-analyzing, New Hampshire is one of a few states where you don’t need a title on an older car. So, provided it’s a car older than 15 years (say, an '80’s Volvo 240) it would be extremely easy for Walt to walk up to someone on the street, give them a pile of cash, and drive away with their car without anyone verifying who he really is. You’re eventually expected to report the sale to the state, but if he was willing to fake the dates, Walt could drive around more or less indefinitely with a bill of sale made out to his alias and it should hold up to casual scrutiny at a traffic stop.
Of course, he did the exact same thing with the truck back in New Mexico, presumably ignoring the legal niceties of the situation.
It seems to me that the only possible way that Walt could have made it out of that bar as fast as he did was to buy the bartender’s car or the one belonging to the woman who helped him with the phone call.
If you want to laugh about the wonky seasons in Breaking Bad’a ABQ, check out the last scenes of 5a (the lunch with Hank when Hank finds the book) and the continuation of that scene in the first episode of 5b. In one the trees in the background of the backyard are full and lushly green and then when Hank leaves the bathroom, the trees are suddenly bare.
No. You do see continuity credits in TV and movies, but that’s not what it means. They sometimes have show bibles that list all the characters and important facts, but ultimately almost every single fact takes a back seat to coming up with a story that will keep people interested. In fact from what I’ve seen, fans usually keep tighter track of this stuff than the people making the shows do.
Unrelated to the birthday, but concerning everyone’s fears/hopes regarding Gray Matter, Gould says in that interview:
(My emphasis.)
I know from the podcast that it apparently was a tight squeeze getting that scene shot because of the actors’ schedules, so I think this makes it increasingly unlikely that they will show up again in the finale.
Yes, I believe it is, though you wouldn’t necessarily tell. Still dry wit, acerbic observations, real humanity on display. Charming, funny, meditative but shot in B&W. Payne is himself from Omaha, so he’s back to his roots after Sideways, The Descendants, etc.
Ah but the bank accounts were revealed when Walt and Jesse destroyed the laptop evidence. Every action on this show has an equal and opposite reaction.
I recall there were still plenty of warm days left in Albuquerque during September, although it was starting to get a little chilly at night. A pool party in early September would be completely believable. Maybe a last gasp before autumn settles in.
I don’t think this is correct, while I think all three were close, something happened over the 4th of July where Walt left Gretchen without saying a word. She probably then moved her love interests to Elliott. When Walt took the $5000 buyout, patents were pending, those patents probably hit paydirt.
The Gray Matter fallout and later switch from successful research scientist to school teacher/car wash worker are keys to Walt’s background that need to come to light so we know what drove him to break bad.
The name “Holly” is traditionally given to babies born around Christmas. She was born around three or four months after Walt’s birthday, so a September birthday for Walt fits with that, too.