Lovely! I for one was pleased to see things get out in the open immediately; I didn’t want a season-long game of “does he know? does he know I know he knows?” etc. Also, Bryan Cranston is obviously bucking for Gordon Freeman’s job.
Regarding one extra crystal: Coppola stole that rolling cans/rolling oranges move from Fritz Lang, in M (1931). In that film, it’s a child’s rubber ball.
Holy cow. What an episode. Great recap/analysis, Kevin.
i dont know if anyone’s been keeping track of walts underpants, but when he’s walter white, he wears y-fronts, when he’s heisenberg he’s wearing boxers, and now, in the first episode of this season, he’s back to y-fronts.
Tighty-whiteys
Also, Amazon Instant Video: Not So Instant.
It should be named: Amazon The Day After Everyone Spoils It For You Video.
Posting with my eyes shut cause I still have four eps of season five to re-watch with the GF before I trust myself to DL this ep…
Looking forward to the inevitable YouTube animation somebody’s going to do, ENSIGN CHEKOV AND THE BLUEBERRY PIE-EATING CONTEST: A STAR TREK ADVENTURE, from last night’s Breaking Bad.
That was so brilliantly ludicrous, or maybe it was ludicrously brilliant. I’m not sure. But I also think it’s the first time in the entire series that I found myself laughing. I don’t mean that as a criticism of Breaking Bad’s writers. I think they’ve done a great job of including just the right amount of humor. It’s just that, until now, my reaction to those humorous moments has been to think, I’d laugh at this if it weren’t for the context.
A couple bits of possible symbolism I really appreciated:
Walter AND Skyler are both decked out in white/near-white while at the car wash, symbolizing their “clean life” and unity with one another.
When Jesse and Walt have their confrontation, the bags of money are physically in between them.
I did like the flash-forward, but I can’t remember which episode of Malcom in the Middle involves ricin.
Though it’s not like Malcolm in the Middle is exactly on the opposite end of the spectrum of the Breaking Bad-verse. One episode involves the dad having to hurriedly get a damn LIVE GRENADE into their new sturdy high-end stainless steel fridge in order to absorb the impact of the explosion (which it does, but destroys the fridge in the process). This ain’t the Brady Bunch!
I’ve noticed such subtle bits of symbolism throughout the series, such as the camera being placed behind a support during an argument between Walt and Skyler, so they are visually divided. I’ve also wondered if Skyler frequently wearing green, even from the first episodes, was a nod to her role as life giver. And when Walt tells Skyler he’s out of the business I noticed they were both wearing green, and that the plate Skyler held was green, suggesting life returning to the White household.
I haven’t been diligent enough to tell whether color symbolism is used throughout the series, but it does seem like the directors/producers are very aware of symbolism.
Of course Jesse couldn’t look Walt in the eye while agreeing that Mike is alive. Walt was basically saying, “If you don’t believe me, I’ll have to kill you.” And Jesse eventually relented and picked up on it.
“I never thought for a moment that the show would put Walt and Hank in a room together with the truth between them.”
Indeed. I fully expected a protracted cat-and-mouse game between Hank and Walt, as the writers treaded water for at least a few episodes. But I’d forgotten just how amazing their work actually is, and when Hank closed the garage door… I realized they’re every bit as committed as Walt/Cranston was when he first shaved his head.
One request - even after replaying the scene several times, I just couldn’t make out what Hank said immediately after Walt made his “right hand to God” gesture - to which Walt replied “That’s not going to happen.” Can anyone fill me in?
Shh. Some of us are still on the first season… and are waiting for the box set before we take an entire week of PTO to watch them all in a row.
Also: I still haven’t seen Titanic. I mean, I probably won’t ever, but I still haven’t also.
-Mitch Hedberg-ism
I’ll be watching it on DVR later today. What I can’t wait for is an explanation of last season’s flash forward of Walt buying breakfast in a greasy diner with a $100 bill, going out to his car, and getting a sniper rifle from the guy who sold him a pistol a few season’s back.
I think you will find that it was not a sniper rifle but an M-60
Huge difference in its application and use.
Well, that didn’t take long:
The Star Trek saga from last night’s Breaking Bad, in animated form
I replayed that scene several times. I think Hank told Walt to bring Skyler and the kids over to Hank’s house (possibly protect them from Walt) so they could discuss the matter further. Hank’s implication is that Walt should put himself at Hank’s mercy. Not gonna happen.
(I don’t have access to my recording presently in order to make a transcript)
