Breaking Bad - Season 5 (AMC) (2 Viewers)

[Greg_S_H]

Walt better not hang any pictures with his back to Jesse. Or who would stand in for "that dirty little coward," Bob Ford?
Ha, can't be a shock early exit for Walt with the flashforward.

 

[Roger_R]

Great episode, apart from the ridiculousness with the defibrillator at the beginning. Such devices are designed to sense whether a shock is required and will not fire otherwise.
Apart from that really enjoying the shifting landscape of the season so far.

Perhaps it was a prototype without safety precautions?
The whole plot with the magnet from the first episode was worse. Hell, there already are magnets in the header construction in mechanical HDs.

 

[joshEH]

Next episode is titled "Fifty-One." Definitely Walt's birthday-party discussed in the last episode.
More Tequila for Walter Jr.? Different bacon-shapes? More awkward speeches and poolside shouting?
Can't wait.

 

[joshEH]

Makes me think of Jesse James/train-heists/"Dead Freight"/"Nothing stops this train!":
[VIDEO]http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5qA9g1jfqw&feature=player_embedded[/VIDEO]
Rewatching this episode, something tells me that Jesse didn't actually break it off with Andrea. Remember how nervous Jesse got when Walt mentioned Andrea earlier? My guess is that he tried to do it in the video-game scene, but couldn't bring himself to do it (we didn't see it, after all) because he's lost so much -- she's all that he's bascially got, now. So my guess is that he TOLD Walt he broke it off, so that Walt wouldn't think about her anymore, and thus protect her.
Now, it's just as likely that he DID break it off with her for the same reasons I mentioned, but I think that Jesse is now exercising his muscles in lying to Walt for future use. It could go either way, but I'm playing Devil's Advocate, and voting in the other direction at this point.
(Also, first Epyck, now Landry. If Santiago shows up as one of the mules, the trifecta will be complete.)
And finally...push it to the limit:

 

[joshEH]

Haha:
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/breaking_bad_hair

 

[ScottH]

Not a great episode, but probably a necessary one. Something had to give with Skyler. I liked when she said "I thought you were the danger."

 

[Scott McGillivray]

Yeah, not a ground breaking episode, but it moved the plot along.
My favorite scene was with the new cars. I was sad when they first pulled up and there was no Challenger and then *BAM!*...there it is!
(Sorry, I know it was brutal not-very-subtle advertising, but...I own one and it is just cool to see one featured on my favorite show!)

 

[TravisR]

I like the Walt/bomb motif that keeps playing this season. Tick tick ticking away...
Walt selling the Aztec was the worst thing he's ever done. Except poisoning Brock. And letting Jane die. And polluting his community with meth. OK, maybe selling the Aztec wasn't that bad but I was still sad to see it go.

 

[joshEH]

Christ. The Walt/Skyler bedroom scene was amazing. Not ashamed to say I was completely awed nearly to the point of tears by the final line before the commercial break.
Anna Gunn and Bryan Cranston, ladies and gentlemen. Nothing short of astounding. Holy Christ. She's waiting for Hank to figure it out. She needs him to save the family. I was in love with the way Gunn was smoking the cigarettes -- a little bit passive, a little bit malicious. Like she's willing Walt's lung cancer back into the house.
It's funny, because as a viewer there are all these moments where I'm yelling out "fuck yeah!!" when Walt does something haphazard, poorly-thought-out, and oblivious to consequences in nature, only to be contrasted by the buzzkill of Skyler's reality-checks.
The return of Walt Jr.'s red Challenger was a nice touch, too. It originally made us as the viewers really dislike Skyler, but that bedroom scene reminds us that this is a world of consequence, and Walt is building up a massive karmic debt that will inevitably have to be repaid.
I had to laugh at Walt staring mesmerized at his stupid "badass hat" while Mike and Jesse are having a tense, urgent, literally-life-and-death conversation right in front of his oblivious self. Also amusing that Walt vetoes Mike taking out Lydia without even slightly acknowledging that they're talking about an actual person.
He might as well have been rejecting a proposal to shut down a building that they need for business. It's all about business with him now; no value for human life. His level of self-absorption is unparalleled to a hilarious degree.

 

[joshEH]

Also, quick -- someone go back to the 52nd birthday-opener. Is Walt wearing that watch??

 

[Greg_S_H]

It may not work out that way, but I think Skylar has become the most likely ricin recipient at this point. Maybe Walt will do up her food, and either Holly will eat some, too, or will be the only one to eat some. That kind of seems likely. Walt and Skyler are broken up over the loss, and it brings them together. Walt figures, "Hey, well, some good came out of it!"

 

[joshEH]

Hard to say, but it would be a nice twist. I figure he wasn't saving it for nothing. And even though Skyler's little pool-stunt was designed to get the kids out of danger, more importantly, Hank and Marie now believe she is suicidal.
So if she turns up dead, they won't be surprised. But the Ricin may be overkill. By the time it comes down to it, Walt may be so frustrated that he'll simply smother her with a pillow.
Looking forward to seeing the watch as a kind of a memento mori in the next few episodes. The number of loose-ends the new business is spawning will lead to a rapid disintegration.
It's funny, even on his birthday, Walt couldn't command the full admiration of his son, as he made sure to congratulate his hero Uncle Hank on the big promotion...twice. Jesse's watch is the last kind thing that will ever happen to Walt -- it's all downhill from here.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Good episode tonight.

Can't top Josh's assessment of it all. In fact, I am in
awe of of it.

Really love reading your recap each week. You pick
up things that most of us don't -- or at least I don't.

 

[Hugh Jackes]

Ricin and Skylar (and possibly Holly) -- Does ricin pass in breast milk?

 

[MarkMel]

Ricin and Skylar (and possibly Holly) -- Does ricin pass in breast milk?

No way in hell I'm googling that to find out - lol

 

[joshEH]

The bacon-reappropriation scene makes me oddly apprehensive about Walt Jr.'s future.
(Also, not surprised to see Rian Johnson is evidently a fan of Night of the Hunter.)
Over these past four episodes, Jesse has shown himself to be more mature and competent this season than in the past, and is now much more stable than Walt. Kind of funny how those roles have switched. I got the impression Jesse was ready to retire his "Cap'n Cook" suit, until Walt insisted that they continue. And Andrea and Brock were fast becoming his family. Walt has ruined all that.
Jesse had the idea about the magnet, not the brilliant scientist. Jesse had the idea about the plastic tent/room to minimize meth-odors in the houses they cook in. Jesse sent Badger and Skinny Pete for the roadie-cases.
Walt is now the antithesis of the "cautious man" that he described himself as to Gus Fring in the beginning of their relationship. He will ruin every one around him. I think Jesse will ultimately be the one to take down Heisenberg (with some groundwork laid by Skyler and/or Hank). And I think he is the axis around which the final episodes will turn. And we all know Aaron Paul will masterfully deliver every agonizing moment.
(One other thing...I could watch an endless loop of Walt saying, "Nothing stops this train. Nothing." I loved that.)
So we know next week is going to be the (sorta-) train-heist, which should be a blast. Really curious to see what goes down there. "Dead Freight," huh? Do we think Mike doesn't make it? I say he does. Then, we got "Buyout" after that. Who's buying out whom? Walt and Jesse buying out Mike? Does the title refer to Madrigal? The car-wash? So many possibilities!
Can it be Sunday yet?

Good episode tonight.
Can't top Josh's assessment of it all.  In fact, I am in 
awe of of it.
Really love reading your recap each week.  You pick
up things that most of us don't -- or at least I don't.

Thanks, man -- really appreciate that. I try to just sort through my thoughts on each installment, which sometimes goes for paragraphs, but considering this is my second-favorite TV series of all time, it's something I'm gonna miss when it's finally all over and finished.

 

[TravisR]

No way in hell I'm googling that to find out - lol

That's pretty funny. While it's gross to think about, I would imagine that ricin would do that but I'm not going to look up a definitive answer either.
Based on the flashforward, it seems to me like Walt is back in New Mexico to settle a score. Since he's buying a machine gun, I think he's at least planning for the possibility of a confrontation with Mike and his team (even if his main goal is to get to Jesse or Lydia). If he was going back to kill Skyler or even Hank, I don't think he'd need that kind of weaponry. In short, if Walt is returning to avenge someone's death, I think he's looking for one of his co-workers rather than a family member.

 

[SamT]

Ok I don't know. 4 Episodes have passed, it means half of this year's episodes and there is no big thing going on. I kind of want to say they have failed with season 5 as far as I see. These things happening in season 5 are all kind of "little things". I think that any of the previous seasons had greater tension than this season. I was excepting bigger and better things than what we are seeing this season. Something that would really grab you.
What do you think? Don't you think that they have failed with season 5 so far? They have to at least match the previous seasons.
On another note. I don't get Skyler's 180 turn this season. For no reason, she's not behaving like how she was in the previous season. It's like they need it for this season and they are writing her this way, which feels not genuine.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Sam,

I agree that the tension level isn't there this season. Not
totally disappointed at everything going on, but Season 5
is certainly not on par with past seasons.

I can accept Skylar's 180 degree turn only because Walt
is not nearly the same person he was when the show began.

 

[Patrick Sun]

I'm treating it like a 16-episode season, so, to me, we're only a quarter of the way into the season, and they are setting things up that will pay off in the final 2-3 episodes (based on the track record of this show).