Breaking Bad - Season 5 (AMC) (1 Viewer)

[ScottH]

It doesn't look good for Hank or Gomez but it seems like if they were going to die, they would have gotten killed in this episode if only for the episode to end on the shock of that.

I do have to ask the question - if Hank and Gomez are dead, how does it get to the point where Walt is on the run with a new name? Certainly makes you wonder if at least one of them survive - but get injured to the point where Walt can at least escape the current quandary.

 

[joshEH]

If both of them die, and Walt refuses to cook for Uncle Jack because of the shootout, he could still be forced to go on the run to New Hampshire using Skyler's maiden name (probably using Saul's eraser-guy), and then returns a year later to rescue Jesse or whomever with the M-60.

Mind you, that's all speculation, and I've rarely ever predicted any plot-twist on this show with any degree of accuracy whatsoever.

Cranston was on fire this episode. So nothing new, I guess, but seriously, that raging torrent of rationales over the phone as he's barreling to the dig-site, his emotions when he makes the decision to give up, and his realization that he has no control over the Nazis was gripping as fuck.Love the moment between Walt and Jesse when the two exchange provocations. Those two are doomed to see the end of this hell ride together, as we always knew in our hearts.

 

[joshEH]

"FIRE IN THE HOLE, BITCH."

 

[ScottH]

If both of them die, and Walt refuses to cook for Uncle Jack because of the shootout, he could still be forced to go on the run to New Hampshire using Skyler's maiden name (probably using Saul's eraser-guy), and then returns a year later to rescue Jesse or whomever with the M-60.

I thought of that scenario as well, but I have a hard time believing Walt would need Saul's vacuum guy to hide from those thugs.

 

[joshEH]

EMMY BOUND

 

[mattCR]

I think they die in the shoot out, except Marie was on the other end of the line, and she knows how it was supposed to go.. so, Walt goes on the run but has to come back to cleanup some Marie business.

 

[joshEH]

Oh, that's totally what I'm predicting -- no matter whether Hank lives or dies, Marie is how Walt is outed as Heisenberg to the world. Assuming Hank dies in the gunfight, she will go absolutely insane in trying to hurt Walt and Skyler.

I'm still fucking shaking. I haven't been that nervous since I lost my virginity.

(Best part of the episode: Walt Jr. being so fucking starstruck to see Saul Goddamn Goodman in his store.)



Ending abruptly during the shootout was pure genius. This makes me think even more, especially given next week's episode title "Ozymandias," that we will probably be seeing the end of "normal Walter," and either at the end of the episode, or the beginning of the penultimate episode, we will see The Bearded Future™ through the final episode.

This also reminds me of "Crawl Space," and how it ratcheted up all that tension, and there were still two whole episodes to go after it.

(Next week is THE episode. Rian Johnson, motherfuckers.)

 

[Marc_Sulinski]

I'm not exactly sure what was going on with Hank, Gomez and Jesse during that phone call with Walt. If they recorded it, they have Walt confessing to about 10 murders.

 

[Hanson]

Isn't all of this evidence the fruit of the poisoned tree? At least from what I gleaned from Law & Order. How are they going to make any of this stick?

I don't suppose that really matters judging by the flash forward that opened the season.

Hank is quite the cameraphone auteur.

 

[TravisR]

Isn't all of this evidence the fruit of the poisoned tree? At least from what I gleaned from Law & Order. How are they going to make any of this stick?

I'm assuming that Hank recorded Jesse's phone call so that clears Hank from Walt's confession video and tells the prosecutors to go after Walt. The tape of the phone call would be inadmissible in court but at a minimum, they have Walt dead to rights as a massive tax cheat. They have Walt's money barrels (some of the money must have his fingerprints on it), the GPS coordinates on Walt's lotto ticket pinpointing the location of the money, Walt can't explain where he got the money to buy a car wash, pay for Hank's treatment, pay for his own treatment and so he's going away for tax fraud and at that point, the cancer will kill him.

 

[mattCR]

I'm assuming that Hank recorded Jesse's phone call so that clears Hank from Walt's confession video and tells the prosecutors to go after Walt. The tape of the phone call would be inadmissible in court but at a minimum, they have Walt dead to rights as a massive tax cheat. They have Walt's money barrels (some of the money must have his fingerprints on it), the GPS coordinates on Walt's lotto ticket pinpointing the location of the money, Walt can't explain where he got the money to buy a car wash, pay for Hank's treatment, pay for his own treatment and so he's going away for tax fraud and at that point, the cancer will kill him.

I don't think so.. Walt didn't do the books or launder the money. All of those books were done by Skyler, who, FYI, also cheated taxes for another company so if they went after the tax thing, she is definitely the one who would be on the hook, not Walt. She ran the fake business, did the taxes, did the books..

RIght now they don't have Walt's barrels.. so they were hoping to get it.. but again, Walt didn't lay physical hands on that, he had others load up and seal the barrels, and Skyler was the person who handled the money.. PLUS you had people roll around on top of it, which would soil it further. Any prints on the outside would be obscured by the fact it was buried.

The money for hospitals, etc. is a big deal, but he wouldn't go to prison for Tax fraud, he'd structure a tax repayment plan with the government and stick with his private gambling story... so, he'd make an IRS payment every month.

So far, Walt has done a pretty amazing job putting insulation between himself and the action at every point.

 

[TravisR]

I don't think so.. Walt didn't do the books or launder the money. All of those books were done by Skyler, who, FYI, also cheated taxes for another company so if they went after the tax thing, she is definitely the one who would be on the hook, not Walt. She ran the fake business, did the taxes, did the books..

RIght now they don't have Walt's barrels.. so they were hoping to get it.. but again, Walt didn't lay physical hands on that, he had others load up and seal the barrels, and Skyler was the person who handled the money.. PLUS you had people roll around on top of it, which would soil it further. Any prints on the outside would be obscured by the fact it was buried

Skyler would also be going to prison but Walt touched the money inside the barrels when the van was outside of Saul's office. His prints are definitely on the money so there's no way to say that he didn't know about it. Even without the money barrels and going with the gambling story, he still didn't claim more than a million dollars (I think the car wash was more than $700,000, Hank's bills were nearly $200,000 and then his chemo treatment and surgery had to be more than $100,000) in gambling winnings to the IRS.

The money for hospitals, etc. is a big deal, but he wouldn't go to prison for Tax fraud, he'd structure a tax repayment plan with the government and stick with his private gambling story... so, he'd make an IRS payment every month.

Don't forget that it would a situation akin to Al Capone where the IRS would be out for blood because they know they're prosecuting a ruthless criminal rather than a citizen who cheated a little on his taxes.

 

[ScottH]

I think what is happening supports my theory that I've been saying for a while now - that the Aryans essentially kidnap Jesse to cook for them, and the heavy artillery Walt is getting as future Walt is to save Jesse as sort of a redemption for him.

And yes, it seems Marie will be the one to expose Heisenberg and I have to wonder if she's the one that writes it on their wall.

 

[joshEH]

Todd in that last scene is like, "This is a lot harder than shooting a little kid standing still."

 

[joshEH]

Not since Biggie Smalls has an SUV taken that much fire.

And not to get everybody even more hyped. But Vince thinks next week's episode might be the best they've ever done:

http://blogs.amctv.com/breaking-bad/2013/07/video-breaking-bad-cast-creator-on-timestalks-panel/

(Starts at 1:27:00.)

I think Walt making the "moral call" to turn himself in is an extension of a theme that has emerged with these last few episodes, which is that even if Walt wants out of the criminal world, it's too late, because of the surrounding corruption that he's created.

He can't escape the business, because Lydia needs him. He can't argue with his wife/lawyer that a problem to be eliminated is a "person," because he's simply murdered his problems in the past. He can't protect innocents, because he's gotten into bed with fucking NAZIS who, it turns out, can be a mite uncontrollable.I think these last episodes are very much about Walt trying to end the bloodshed. But it's too late. Even when he finally decides to be taken into custody.

Man, I'm fucking exhausted. The shootout between Hank and the Cartel-guys was just as tense, but it also made your adrenaline pump. Whereas, this was just utterly bleak. Sinking, pit-of-your-stomach, actually-kinda-feel-like-vomiting despair.

 

[Quentin]

It's hard to have much to say about that. I just sort of stood there with my jaw dropped for a while.

I think Jesse going for the door handle bodes well for his immediate future. He could very well escape this mess. Hank and Gomez? Nope. That's a bona fide Butch & Sundance moment.

And, so what does Walt do now? What does Jesse do (if he lives)? What the heck does Marie do? What about Skylar? She was willing to kill Jesse...but Hank? She's not gonna be too keen on that. And, of course...what do the Nazis do?

I can see the Nazi negotiations now: "Yer cookin' for us now" "You didn't kill Jesse" "We killed two DEA agents. Yer cookin' for us." And, it escalates from there.

Jesse would be wise to get the heck out of dodge. But, he won't. He'll grafiti "Heisenberg" on Walt's house and do whatever else he feels compelled to do right before he gets killed. Probably by Nazis.

And, I'm still hoping to see Marie go full Shakespeare and try to poison Walter - only to poison her sister and then kill herself in guilt.

Gilligan is saying that NEXT episode is possibly their best. After this week that's saying a lot.

 

[Quentin]

I think what is happening supports my theory that I've been saying for a while now - that the Aryans essentially kidnap Jesse to cook for them, and the heavy artillery Walt is getting as future Walt is to save Jesse as sort of a redemption for him.

And yes, it seems Marie will be the one to expose Heisenberg and I have to wonder if she's the one that writes it on their wall.

I hadn't considered this. Certainly possible. She has the confession disc right? If Hank is dead, no need to give a shit about his career. She could make it public and it still makes Walt look pretty bad and the DEA would have a TON of questions for him.

 

[TravisR]

I think what is happening supports my theory that I've been saying for a while now - that the Aryans essentially kidnap Jesse to cook for them, and the heavy artillery Walt is getting as future Walt is to save Jesse as sort of a redemption for him.

Yeah, that make sense. Episode 14 will be Walt escaping, episode 15 will be Walt's new life and we'll catch up to the flashforwards and then episode 16 will be Walt trying to save Jesse.

Todd in that last scene is like, "This is a lot harder than shooting a little kid standing still."

Speaking of Todd, how weird was it when he was making a move on Lydia? In the unlikely event that Todd survives the series, they can spin him off on to the next season of The Killing as a maniac serial killer.

 

[joshEH]

Meanwhile, Walt Jr. is firing up his Instagram...

Walt Jr. is a good-looking guy (I assume), has the "sympathy factor" going for him in a big way, and has probably the baddest-ass badass ride in his high school. So why isn't he drowning in vaginal secretions?

There's only so much game he cold possibly lack to keep the ladies away. Unless I missed something, he seemingly hasn't even had a first date yet. He's lucky he has such a good and loyal friend in Louis to help assuage his loneliness.

Here's to hoping that Jr. and Louis pull a Bonnie and Clyde, and break bad in the series finale.

 

[Quentin]

LOL! Nice instagram.

I like the theory of Walt trying to save Jesse...would make for an interesting conclusion...