Breaking Bad - Season 5

[Shelton]

I just do not care about skylar or junior.

[Antrat]

When Walt turned 48, I wonder how many pieces of bacon it took.

[NeedMoreLike84]

I just do not care about skylar or junior.

The point isn't to care about them as much as they are necessary to add depth to Walt's character.

[DTroppens]

Also, Walter's watch is bugged. Jesse and Mike are in cahoots now to keep an eye on Walt after the comments he made to Jesse last week.

For sure it is. And Walt is too blind to realize it.

But you had to like the symbolic ticking to midnight, signifying Walt's time on top is about to end.

[DTroppens]

I found it comical how Walt tried to show Skylar that she will embrace Walt and who he is one day based on the story he told her about Jesse wanting to shoot him. That had to be pretty comforting to hear if you were Skylar. You mean you are telling me all the threats are over and here's this guy hanging around you that I didn't know about that tried to kill you as well. Yeah, that's reassuring. If I was her, right there, I would've wanted to see that watch.

I'm really shocked Mike isn't being followed NOW. They mention they are going to start following him. Seems to me the minute they questioned him, I would've wanted to follow him, knowing that he might want to put some key plans into action. They knew they had his money. If he was going to act upon losing it, it was going to start immediately, yet they don't. That made no sense. It's only a matter of time Walt is spotted with Mike by Hank.

[John_Brian_K]

I have not been reading this thread AT ALL because I have missed every single stinking epsiode since episode 1 and I was fairly drunk when I watched that anyway and forgot half of it.

I will most likely watch the entire thing VIA Amazon streaming again in a 2-3 night marathon session.

I will be back to offer my opinions when I have caught up.

9:30pm, Sunday night softball games blow for fans of Breaking Bad and our team ended up with more 9:30pm starts this year than any of the others in our 10 team league...we had 8 and the next closest team had 4. Someone over there hates us.

I am just happy TWD doesn't start until later this year. Even with Sunday Night Football I still manage to see every episode 'live'.

[Joe Gahona]

It's not a watch -- it's a camera. They are watching him. And so is Gus, from beyond the grave...

[Antrat]

Walt has upstaged them. He has put a phone in Jesse's shoes.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

You never know. I certainly would drive by the house and check it out. Stuff like that. And, if someone told me they had something I could wear and be okay, I might sneak a look in. Hey, I've also been known to mix the wrong cleaning chemicals together in poorly vented corners of homes.

My older sister had the misfortune of working with a dip**** who had her mix two wrong cleaning chemicals at work and her lungs were severely damaged with no chance of healing from simply breathing a small amount of the resulting gas. She can't have children and cannot exert herself physically at all. She will have problems simply drawing breath the rest of her life.

The point is don't screw around with chemicals if you don't know the dangers. It isn't worth it.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

I found it comical how Walt tried to show Skylar that she will embrace Walt and who he is one day based on the story he told her about Jesse wanting to shoot him. That had to be pretty comforting to hear if you were Skylar. You mean you are telling me all the threats are over and here's this guy hanging around you that I didn't know about that tried to kill you as well. Yeah, that's reassuring. If I was her, right there, I would've wanted to see that watch.

I'm really shocked Mike isn't being followed NOW. They mention they are going to start following him. Seems to me the minute they questioned him, I would've wanted to follow him, knowing that he might want to put some key plans into action. They knew they had his money. If he was going to act upon losing it, it was going to start immediately, yet they don't. That made no sense. It's only a matter of time Walt is spotted with Mike by Hank.

The impression I got was the DEA had limited resources and that they assumed one of the guys they were holding was going to flip by now, so they didn't use resources tailing Mike.

That written, I would have expected the DEA to have been observing Mike since they let him walk.

[waffel]

Also, Walter's watch is bugged. Jesse and Mike are in cahoots now to keep an eye on Walt after the comments he made to Jesse last week.

No way it's bugged. That's just way too obvious and it feels like people are looking way too much into the scene and are completely missing the point of it.

[DTroppens]

No way it's bugged. That's just way too obvious and it feels like people are looking way too much into the scene and are completely missing the point of it.

I think everyone understands the symbolic meaning, but there can be something beyond that as well - a practical reason for the "gift."

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

I think it is going to take something significant (like finding out Walt poisoned Brock) for Jesse to give Walt a bugged watch.

[Antrat]

I can't remember if Walt was wearing the watch in the first scenes of this season.
If somebody still has it on DVR, I'd be curious to know.

[Yoda]

He's wearing long sleeves but there's no sign of said watch.

[thefunk]

Skylar has gone from being out of the loop but very suspicious, to being opposed to Walt, to cheating on Walt, to being ok with what Walt does, so far as to devise a plan to launder his money, to being now completely against it, scared, angry, and wishing her children away from this 'dangerous' man and hoping his cancer comes back.

The only way her character would make sense is if they do tests and reveal she's bipolar or schizophrenic. Weakest written character in the show, trying to be acted well, resulting in a mess that is hard to watch, empathize with, get angry at, or connect with in any other way shape or form.

When Walt pulled her outta the pool........ugh.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

Skylar has gone from being out of the loop but very suspicious, to being opposed to Walt, to cheating on Walt, to being ok with what Walt does, so far as to devise a plan to launder his money, to being now completely against it, scared, angry, and wishing her children away from this 'dangerous' man and hoping his cancer comes back.

The tipping point for her appears to be having her family threatened and discovering her husband had Gus killed.

Before she accepted the risk when she didn't think it was dangerous, or at least not nearly as dangerous. She also didn't think Walt was somebody who could kill another.

Or, more succinctly, she went from thinking Walt was engaged in a criminal activity that took place in a sanitiary lab (and being OK with that), to thinking Walt is a full-blown hardened criminal / murderer.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

I should add, I don't think Skylar's character development has been nuanced or even particularly well written, but I don't think her attitude towards Walt / the business changing dramatically given the upheaval and wild turn of events over what I think is a couple of weeks of time is all that surprising.

[eastside billee]

I think that Skylar is going to kill Walt. I mean, she feels completely trapped. She can't get out. It seem to be her only option.

[Antrat]

All this drama makes me want to smoke meth.

[robgrave]

The saving grace of this show has been humor, but it's beginning to develop in a way that humor will be hard to come by. Not good, IMO.

[Yoda]

The saving grace of this show has been humor, but it's beginning to develop in a way that humor will be hard to come by. Not good, IMO.

I just don't agree with in any way. The show does not need to be saved by humor, and the humor they do add has been very good this season.

[NeedMoreLike84]

I just don't agree with in any way. The show does not need to be saved by humor, and the humor they do add has been very good this season.

I agree.

I am just going to say it. This show is so much more deep and the character development is so much more expertly done than Mad Men. Here is what Mad Men does. It keeps things purposely vague and has each character have a skeleton in their closet (that is completely unrealistic). This allows arm chair analysts to pontificate and feel smart and deep but it's a less mature writing style than Breaking Bad.

The transformation of Walter and Jesse does not have an equal on Mad Men.

[Shelton]

I tend to grade tv shows on a curve. Breaking Bad deserves a great amount of scrutiny because it is such a great show (easily the best on tv since The Wire). And I feel like this season isn't living up to those expectations. It's still a fantastic show.

A show like the newsroom, I don't think it's nearly as good, but because of that I don't end up disappointed after an episode and I almost enjoy it more just because of that.

I'm disappointed with the pacing of this season of Breaking bad due to the limited number of episodes, but with four remaining, I think they still have time to right the ship so to speak. It just feels like they have been spinning their wheels, I guess.

I wish they hadn't opened the season the way they did with that teaser.

[robgrave]

I just don't agree with in any way. The show does not need to be saved by humor, and the humor they do add has been very good this season.

At it's best, BB is dark comedy, where the comic element derives from Walter's awkward excursion into the "bad world", including his struggles with Jesse. Now, with season 5, we have a newly transformed Walt, king of the hill, whose struggles with being bad appear to be over. The situation doesn't lend itself to the comic element any longer -- at least, not as easily. I've found the first few episodes interesting as ever, but the difference is obvious to me.

But we can agree to disagree, I hope. And it is, after all, the show I most look forward to every week, still. I'm not about to give up on it.

I agree.

I am just going to say it. This show is so much more deep and the character development is so much more expertly done than Mad Men. Here is what Mad Men does. It keeps things purposely vague and has each character have a skeleton in their closet (that is completely unrealistic). This allows arm chair analysts to pontificate and feel smart and deep but it's a less mature writing style than Breaking Bad.

The transformation of Walter and Jesse does not have an equal on Mad Men.

I'm not sure how a comparison with Mad Men is relevant here. I missed many of the first or second season's episodes of that show, and I've never been motivated to catch up on them. It's a good show, and I watch it when I can, but in no way is it on a par with BB.

[NeedMoreLike84]

I'm not sure how a comparison with Mad Men is relevant here. I missed many of the first or second season's episodes of that show, and I've never been motivated to catch up on them. It's a good show, and I watch it when I can, but in no way is it on a par with BB.

two critically acclaimed shows on the same network that both have rabid followings and it short-circuits your brain as to how anyone can compare them?

[Yoda]

two critically acclaimed shows on the same network that both have rabid followings and it short-circuits your brain as to how anyone can compare them?

Yes because you need more than the similarities you've provided. They just aren't similar shows. It would be like comparing House to The Simpsons. Same network, lot of fans...

[robgrave]

two critically acclaimed shows on the same network that both have rabid followings and it short-circuits your brain as to how anyone can compare them?

Walking Dead also has a rabid following -- and rated well by critics who like that sort of thing -- but me, I'm not into zombies (or vampires or werewolves, for that matter) so I ignore that one. AMC seems to have something for everyone. I pick and choose. The Killing I liked, BB I really like, and then maybe Mad Men. But really, I would never think to compare the shows, where the content differences are so great.

EDIT: I also enjoyed Rubicon, but my enjoyment unfortunately wasn't shared by many others, and the show was dropped. I guess I'm not such a good judge of what most deserves to be on TV. Congrats to AMC anyway, for giving us so many good shows to choose from. Beats major network programming by a large margin.

[NeedMoreLike84]

Yes because you need more than the similarities you've provided. They just aren't similar shows. It would be like comparing House to The Simpsons. Same network, lot of fans...

Except House and The Simpsons are not close to the same thing. Mad Men and Breaking Bad are both dramas.

[DTroppens]

I haven't seen much of Mad Men. The DVDs I have that I purchased for cheap around Christmas still lie in my DVD drawer mostly unwatched. But, I'm guessing that Mad Men probably changes the dynamics of their storylines every season. Maybe push forward with one for a bit, but by season 3 themes that may have been important in season 1 aren't that important or are just a non-issue.

Breaking Bad is the same issue that continues to grow upon itself as each season moves on. Maybe stuff that happened in season one isn't so important now, but those episodes were a link towards where they are now. Even if there is a conclusion to a key issue (like last season), another plot builds off that conclusion because of it. A lot of shows don't really do that. A conclusion comes and then something totally unrelated occurs creating another issue.

In that way I think Breaking Bad is very unique to a lot of shows that are out there. Actually, while I'm not a big fan of the show, you could probably argue that The Walking Dead is reasonably similar Breaking Bad in that respect.

Something like Dexter really doesn't do that. There are storylines that are reasonably related, but for the most part, they complete one key story line each season that is completely or nearly unrelated to the past season. I could be wrong, but out of the few shows I've seen of Mad Men, it seems like a show that is more similar to Dexter. Am I right? If I am, I think it's fair to say the two dramas - Mad Men and Breaking Bad - are almost like comparing apples to oranges. I like both Dexter and Breaking Bad. And, actually, I'm kind of losing interest in Dexter because it doesn't have that connection Breaking Bad has (or certainly not nearly as much). They had a chance to do something with that with Deb in that warehouse, and wimped out, frustrating the crap out of me. There's a part of me that wanted Dexter to take that "next step."

Now, there's shows like The Killing where it seemed it would be a show with an ending and because it didn't have it, it was frustrating because you thought that was what the show led you to believe would occur.

I hope this all makes sense.
But if I'm wrong with my assumptions with Mad Men, then half of this stuff doesn't matter.

[hueytaxi]

I've watched season 5 and admit I should have gone back to the beginning because, I just don't follow it without the background.

[Nastradamus]

I always thought this show would end with Walt being caught or killed. Now I'm not so sure. This is arguably the darkest TV show ever and I'm no longer sure that such an ending fits the tragic style of the show. Part of me now wonders if someone or everyone else will end up dead instead. Mike,Hank,Jesse,Skylar,Walt Jr., who knows. I am very curious to see where they go with things in this season. I hope the pace picks up a little, but I don't expect it to a ton. Its a longer season(or 2 shorter ones, whatever) than normal and they'll probably take their time. I figure this first 8 episode part ends with Hank figuring Walt out and we go from there.

[Vonlenska]

I agree.

I am just going to say it. This show is so much more deep and the character development is so much more expertly done than Mad Men. Here is what Mad Men does. It keeps things purposely vague and has each character have a skeleton in their closet (that is completely unrealistic). This allows arm chair analysts to pontificate and feel smart and deep but it's a less mature writing style than Breaking Bad.

The transformation of Walter and Jesse does not have an equal on Mad Men.

lol

why would you bring up that show again?

[Motor City Sonics]

The saving grace of this show has been humor, but it's beginning to develop in a way that humor will be hard to come by. Not good, IMO.

I think they used humor to help you empathize with Walt and some other characters, but I see the humor being dropped. As I have said before, I think these last two half-seasons are going to be about how truly bad these people are - the writers have done a masterful job of putting you on their side and I think now they are going to show you that they are destroyers. I already despise Walter White at this point, I think he is going to become more and more unlikable and I think they only character that may be capable of redemption is Jesse. I think you'll see Jesse as a guy who had no real options in life, but he seems to be the only one now that has true morals.......he saved Lydia's life last week (at least he did for now). He's already saved Mike's life - and he doesn't seem to give a **** about the money.

[Antrat]

One thing that has changed for me this season is my feelings toward Walt.
In the previous seasons, I rooted for him. In this season, I look forward to his downfall.

[Joe Gahona]

Meth is robbing Walter White of his soul without him even being a user.

[Motor City Sonics]

WOW, WHAT AN ENDING !

[NeedMoreLike84]

How did a show that provided the two best anti-heroes in TV history suddenly outdo them with a third?

[MIguy]

Aside from the fact that trains don't stop nearly that quickly, how could they possibly predict exactly when the conductor would apply the brakes so that the chemical tanker would be in the right position?

[NeedMoreLike84]

Aside from the fact that trains don't stop nearly that quickly, how could they possibly predict exactly when the conductor would apply the brakes so that the chemical tanker would be in the right position?

Hopefully you post more. You seem super fun.