I really, really liked what the writers did with Jesse this week. On The Wire we’re accustomed to seeing the other side of unsympathetic characters, but it’s unusual for most shows. I liked the way his parents were written too – no domineering dad or hapless mom – just two people who loved their kid but were fed up with his crap.
It was just a bit out there that the joint his parents found belonged to the over-achieving little brother, but it probably happens in real life.
I could totally relate to Walter wanting to keep his cancer to himself. His life is out of control, but he wants to control how he deals with the cancer. You could see him sorta shrivel away while Skylar made medical appointments and his BIL was getting ready to “take care” of his family.
Where do you see this going? No happy ending, I’m sure, but probably some stuff we can learn from.
I’m enjoying it…a lot. Makes me feel a lot more sorry for Bryan Cranston, who was wrongly overlooked on Malcolm in the Middle all those years while Jane whats-her-face took home the trophies. He’s absolutely amazing on the show. I’m glad that he didn’t try to hide the cancer for very long…it would have created too much manufactured drama. It also goes pretty far to explaining (to Skylar) the pot situation, so that’s wrapped up easily enough.
I love making his kid disabled…great touch…I wonder if the actor is disabled himself.
According to IMDB, the actor – R. J. Mitte – does have cerebral palsy. The only other actor I can think of with CP is Geri Jewell from Deadwood.
When I googled Breaking Bad, almost all the hits were related to breaking bad news, how to do it. I’d thought the title was a reference to Walter cooking meth – breaking bad – but maybe not.
I’m enjoying the show, but I don’t know how long it will be able to run. It seems like a one season kind of mini-series more than a multiple season show.
I’m wondering about the whole bit with the new oncologist saying that there’s at least a small chance of remission. It seems like the obvious direction for the writers will be that he does go into remission only to have to face the fact that there will eventually be blowback from his criminal activities (something he figured he would avoid by dying). This may force him into committing more and more crimes as he desperately tries to protect himself and his family from the consequences of his actions.
I liked in last week’s episode how he resolved the issue of the prisoner in the basement. (I think his name was Crazy 8.) Walter was getting way too sympathetic for his own good and was about to let the guy go when he got proof positive that the guy was no good.
And it’s also interesting to see him act out in other ways, like beating on the punk in the clothing store and then getting vengeance on the “Ken Wins” yuppie.
And another thing. It’s background information that was mentioned in a television news article about the show that goes to explain more about his character. I don’t think they’ve presented this in the course of the show, so I’ll spoiler-box it.
Supposedly, before he became a high school science teacher, he was on a team of scientists that won a Nobel Prize (presumably in chemistry). If that’s the case, I think it partly explains his motivation to act out now at the end of his life.
Yep, he shorted the battery. In real life, I don’t think that would cause the car to burst into flames like that, but it would definitely ruin your day.
I loved Ken running around yelling, “Call 911, why is it doing that? Why is it doing that?” as his car went up in flames. I wonder if he’s going to somehow become part of the story.
I’m enjoying the show - everything just seems to get worse for him every episode and then he lashes out in some new and horrible way. It’s better than most of what’s on TV. I also agree with AuntiePam that the joint belonging to the younger brother was a really humanizing touch.
It’d be fun to watch Walter make Ken’s life a living hell.
Think of all the vengeance Walter can wreak for us – tailgaters, movie talkers, the store clerk taking a personal call, Jehovah’s Witnesses at the door at 8 a.m. – the possibilities are endless.
As soon as the cleaning lady found the joint I knew it had to be little bro’s.
I’m really liking this show, and that last episode was quite good. The money being sucked into the air duct had me in stitches, and of course I cheered when he blew up Bluetooth Guy’s beemer. Looks like next week they
I liked this a lot, too. You could see that the parents were really pushy with regard to certain types of acheivement, and definitely a bit perfectionist. BUT they weren’t bad folks. Just typical of a certain type of parent.
I think Jesse is going to turn out to be a more interesting character than he seemed at first. That scene where he didn’t want his friends to leave was really heartbreaking.
That’s funny. The instant the cleaning lady pulled out the joint, I assumed it belonged to Perfect Jake.