Breaking Bad

[Tom Chick]

It's got nothing to do with plausibility, Mr. Star, and everything to do with the standard dramatic fake-outs I've come to expect from episodic TV.

However,I'm not sure I buy the plausibility of having a Ouija board at a nursing home, but did you imagine this conversation: "Hey Ramon, since Mark Margolis doesn't have any lines in this series because he's playing a mute, do you think they'll have something at the nursing home with all the letters of the alphabet? Preferably something big that reads on camera. It would be really cool if it somehow kinda tied into that mystical bit where we crawled on our bellies to the voodoo hut. Remember that?"

Look, I like the show better than most TV I try to watch. But I'm a tough guy to please. I just want more stuff like roof pizza and plane wreck eyeball from the pool. I'll be delighted if we ever get anything as good as Bryan Cranston's scenes with the drug dealer fastened to the basement pillar with a bicycle lock in season one. That stuff was aces.

Also, would it be crass to bring up Anna Gun's cleavage? She's a good actress with absolutely beautiful eyes, but I can't deny that she also appeals to my baser instincts. Actually, just pretend I didn't say that and that I've kept talking about dramatic feints and narrative arcs and whatnot. I mean, she's a mother, for pete's sake, who's just given birth. What kind of clod brings up her cleavage?

-Tom

[Jackstar]

From that perspective, I'm in agreement with you, as the standard dramatic fake-outs often impact my enjoyment.

But this stuff you are bringing up all gets a pass from me. The Ouija board for example. If you were in that guy's position with the paralysis and the bell and all that, wouldn't you want there to be a similar device around? Obviously someone is paying for Gramps to be housed in the facility. I don't see a problem with that payer saying to the staff, "Make sure there's a Ouija board around. Gramps needs one." Maybe it's his board, and they brought it with him along with his clothes.

I'm the guy who gave up on Lost because of a problem similar to what you've been describing, but so far the 3 things you've criticized don't seem to be problems. If you find something out of place that I can't rationalize, though, I want to know!

[Strollen]

But now that I see you didn't like season 2, I don't know what to say. You may be incapable of experiencing joy.

Also, would it be crass to bring up Anna Gun's cleavage? She's a good actress with absolutely beautiful eyes, but I can't deny that she also appeals to my baser instincts. Actually, just pretend I didn't say that and that I've kept talking about dramatic feints and narrative arcs and whatnot. I mean, she's a mother, for pete's sake, who's just given birth. What kind of clod brings up her cleavage?

-Tom

Well seems clear how to bring joy to Mr. Chick is to appeal to his baser instinct.

I am all for gratuitous nudity, plunging necklines, and great cleavage, but I think the costumes for Anna Gun are just about right, a MILF, but not a slut.

The side arc of Skylar dealing with the moral quandary of her boss, who she clearly likes, and his illegal accounting is one of the nice touches of the show.

[Tom Chick]

The side arc of Skylar dealing with the moral quandary of her boss, who she clearly likes, and his illegal accounting is one of the nice touches of the show.

Agreed. I especially like how it's being used to give her some insight into her husband.

I was also really glad Walt confessed to her what he was doing. The whole dynamic of him keeping everything secret was a great way to tease the audience, but it was also a hindrance to her character's development. I wasn't looking forward to another seasons of Skylar being shut out of the substance (ha ha!) of the plot.

-Tom

[Jackstar]

Walter Jr. is going to find out real soon too. You heard it here first.

[Demon G Sides]

I just want them to start cooking again. I want the drug business side too!

Though, honestly, what a crazy ending. Who else was like "How the fuck is this going to endddd" and they literally left the ending up til the very end of their timeslot. I almost thought they were going to cliffhanger us with it, and I was going to end up smashing something into my TV in anger.

Also, Saul's scene with the house and the lawyer? Fucking fantastic. What a great ploy.

[Juntei]

Also, Saul's scene with the house and the lawyer? Fucking fantastic. What a great ploy.

Saul is easily one of my favorite characters. I do wonder though just how connected Saul is. I remember his terror when he was kidnapped by Walt and Jesse, then he puts them in contact with Gus, and now Gus can call off the hit crew.... makes me wonder if it was Gus that Saul was afraid of during the kidnap scene.

I will admit to my recollection of the kidnapping being a touch fuzzy.

[stusser]

My feeling is that someone in the cartel sent the assassins to avenge Tuco. They didn't realize they were being sent to kill Heisenberg, aka the goose who lays golden eggs. Nobody's gonna kill the source of all that bestselling blue ice. Walter is a valuable commodity. He's going to start cooking again real soon, because he's far too valuable to ever allow him to quit. That's what the rest of this season will be about, is my guess.

[EvilIdler]

"Make sure there's a Ouija board around. Gramps needs one." Maybe it's his board, and they brought it with him along with his clothes.

More likely that Mattel donated some games to the place. They make ouija boards (now also available in pink! Honest!) as party games. No, I never understood that thing about American culture.

I'll have to agree with Tom's other complaints, though.

[Intangir]

[Strollen]

My feeling is that someone in the cartel sent the assassins to avenge Tuco. They didn't realize they were being sent to kill Heisenberg, aka the goose who lays golden eggs. Nobody's gonna kill the source of all that bestselling blue ice. Walter is a valuable commodity. He's going to start cooking again real soon, because he's far too valuable to ever allow him to quit. That's what the rest of this season will be about, is my guess.

You got that prediction right. Well they certainly laid the ground work to entice Walter to start cooking again.

My nomination for line of the season. Is Skylar's "I fucked Ted", while picking up the salad and serving it to the boys.

What a great show.

[Jackstar]

Walter should have seen that one coming. He should have been prepared to immediately say, "Oh, how did he like your awesome birthday/ebay/handjob technique?"

Skyler is a terrible human being. I like that it's so obvious, but Walter denies it, because he's still in loooooooove with her. Man, when that dam breaks, she's getting washed away.

And I love that we're expected to believe that Skyler is not certain what "attorney-client privilege" means, even though she's a trained accountant. Because I totally believe she is that ignorant!

[Calistas]

The thing I love most about this show is how perfect each of the characters are. They are all great, they all are interesting and they're all vital. That's quite an achievement for the writers to pull off.

[Glenn]

Yeah, that makes sense, but I preferred the idea that Giancarlo Esposito was just a business-oriented drug dealer rather than a bona fide uber-connected mafioso bad-ass.

I think they're turning his character into something very much like the white guy drug-smuggling pilots in Cocaine Cowboys (on Netflix, recommended) from the early days of Miami's drug trade. The head smuggler in Cocaine Cowboys was on the White House VIP list and worked for nearly a decade with no trouble from the police, but he also knew all the top-level people in the Ochoa cartel, and knew what was going on. Gus is very competent, no drama, and makes a lot of money for the cartel, and therefore he's allowed to remain independent... but can certainly call high level people whenever he needs to.

But I'm also sorta disappointed that they're moving away from the idea of a Stringer Bell that survives Season Three.

Also, I'm bummed at what a fake-out it was that the two hit men with no lines go so deeply undercover that they have to get rid of their clothes, but they're somehow still able to be reached by cell phone. Whatever, Breaking Bad.

Yeah, everything with the pitbull brothers so far has been for the purposes of one suspense scene per episode at the cost of plausibility and consistency. Which is really worrisome after the payoff for last season, where the reason for the bodies at Walt's house turned out to be... just an excuse for flashforward to the bodies at Walt's house.

The intrafamily strife with Walt has been good so far, so I'm still watching. But the fact that the show seems to be moving towards bigger bloodier crazier just to hang onto viewers, even when there's zero reason for it plot-wise, is a bad sign.

[Athryn]

The scenes with Jesse calling Jane's phone over and over to hear her voice were heartbreaking. :(

[drake113]

The scenes with Jesse calling Jane's phone over and over to hear her voice were heartbreaking. :(

Aaron Paul's performance in this series has been fantastic. I'm still in shock that he didn't get an Emmy for last season.

[Lunch of Kong]

The scenes with Jesse calling Jane's phone over and over to hear her voice were heartbreaking. :(

I wish I could say I have never done that before. *sigh* I don't have the heart to remove old friends from my contact list either. I guess I'm just a big softie.

[Jackstar]

But the fact that the show seems to be moving towards bigger bloodier crazier just to hang onto viewers, even when there's zero reason for it plot-wise, is a bad sign.

I don't agree. The entire purpose of the show is to "take Mr. Chips and turn him into Scarface." That's direct from the creator. Expect more crazy. We're not even close to Scarface yet.

And I don't get how any of you can find the Cousins to be implausible. That's Tuco's blood. They're clearly fucking insane. Anything they do doesn't have to be plausible at all!

[Tom Chick]

"Hey, Ramon, so we have to get this guy in a wheelchair out to the chicken farm."

"That's no guy, Pablo, that's our uncle?"

"What, really?"

"Yeah, I think so. I'm not sure."

"Well, anyway Ramon, should we rent a car now that we've got new suits, cell phones, and the fiscal liquidity to buy a chrome-headed axe?"

"I have a better idea, Pablo. Let's go steal a van from a handicapped lady at the bingo parlor!"

Whatever, Breaking Bad.

I did like this episode for the family drama, including whatever's going on with the brother-in-law. And it was pretty cool to get two violent scenes -- Danny Trejo's head hacked off and random biker/druggie bad-ass getting his kisser splattered on the corner of the bar -- and a bona fide knife-twisting full-on eye contact use of the F-word, even if they did mute the sound so you couldn't hear how hard Anna Gunn hit the "ck".

As for Aaron Paul, I'm not sold. Good lord, how much more film stock has to be spent on him moping around? Whatever, Breaking Bad.

On the flip side, I've finally come around to accepting Bob Oedenkirk without worrying that maybe David Cross is going to pop up in some ancillary role. And whatever they do with Giancarlo Esposito -- I was a bit worried he was going to gun everyone down, or something implausible like that -- I like what he's doing as an actor. There's a reason he was my favorite performance in Chupacabra Terror.

-Tom

[Jackstar]

Alright, Tom, you got me. You nailed it and I was wrong before.

It's still completely plausible! TUCO = LOCO

[Jackstar]

Wait, I take it back. Why would the Cousins bother to go shopping for a wheelchair and a wheelchair car and a van when they could just find an old lady and kill her? It'd be way faster.

[Jackstar]

You can change my name to "Breaking Bad Apologist" now too if you want. :)

[Strollen]

You can change my name to "Breaking Bad Apologist" now too if you want. :)

Jackstar, as the winner of the Break Bad Apologist Beauty Pageant, I want you to know, that I nominate myself to be 1st runner-up in the event that you are unable to fulfill your duties, and/or run of excuses.

It is vital that we protect the dramatic license of the Breaking Bad cast and crew, from the Vulcan-like logic of Mr. Chick. :)

By the way, Tom where was this critical analysis when you were viewing Hurt Locker?

[Jackstar]

Okay! I got it!

They didn't know they were going to go out to the chicken ranch, right? They just thought they were going to ask Don Salamanca with the Ouija board to find out who to kill, right?

Instead, they get totally cockblocked from what they love to do, which clearly is killing people. So then, they get told, "Okay grab your uncle and take him to see Gus," and they're like, "Fuck! All we want to do is kill someone, and instead we need to go get a goddamned wheelchair van! Hey, wait a minute..."

Busted, Tom! What? What?

[Tom Chick]

By the way, Tom where was this critical analysis when you were viewing Hurt Locker?

Uh, fully engaged?

You don't seem to understand that I like both Breaking Bad and The Hurt Locker. My enjoyment of entertainment doesn't hinge precariously on how realistic it is.

That said, you're setting up a strange set of rules when you juxtapose a family drama and a dark gritty story about the drug underworld of the Southwest. Go figure. So if you want an example of rules-breaking Forces of Darkness and Chaos, check out Cormac McCarthy's No Country for Old Men to see it done right. Or, better yet, Outer Dark, which manages to out-Chigurgh Chigurgh and makes Pablo and Ramon look like the featured TV extras they are.

-Tom

[Tom Chick]

They didn't know they were going to go out to the chicken ranch, right? They just thought they were going to ask Don Salamanca with the Ouija board to find out who to kill, right?

Instead, they get totally cockblocked from what they love to do, which clearly is killing people. So then, they get told, "Okay grab your uncle and take him to see Gus," and they're like, "Fuck! All we want to do is kill someone, and instead we need to go get a goddamned wheelchair van! Hey, wait a minute..."

For what it's worth, I liked the scene. It was funny. I liked them crawling on their bellies to the oracle and shedding their clothes. And I loved the sequence of them creeping into Walt's house with the axe. Those things are set up and shot very well. But they're ultimately pretty silly when you think about them. Optional activity, of course, but since I find myself thinking about Walt and Flynn and Skyler, I figure I might as well think about the rest of the show as well.

I was worried we were done with Ramon and Paco after the POLLOS text message, but I'm glad to see they're being kept around. Maybe those two goofballs will pay off eventually. I hope one of them gets fastened by the neck with a bike lock to the crawlspace under Walt's house!

-Tom

[Jackstar]

But they're ultimately pretty silly when you think about them.

I can't agree. You had me for a moment, but then I really thought about it, and now their murder of the van lady is the only way I can see things happening in that world.

I was worried we were done with Ramon and Paco after the POLLOS text message, but I'm glad to see they're being kept around. Maybe those two goofballs will pay off eventually. I hope one of them gets fastened by the neck with a bike lock to the crawlspace under Walt's house!

I pledge to you, if this show does not take us to a place where Walter kills at least one of the Cousins with his mad scientist powers in a story that is as satisfying as what happened with BikeLockGuy, I will never forgive this show.

[Tom Chick]

I can't agree. You had me for a moment, but then I really thought about it, and now their murder of the van lady is the only way I can see things happening in that world.

I credit my dramatic re-enactments of the conversations between Paco and Ramone for filling in the blanks in your imagination. For future episodes, exclusively on Qt3, I shall continue to endeavor to take up the slack where Vince Gilligan's writers leave off.

-Tom

[Kirian]

Hank's storyline is getting better, thankfully. He's going to go into a total meltdown, I reckon.

Anna Gunn: her bustlines are definitely getting lower. Which detracts [distracts?] a little from her performance. Her showdown with Walt was fantastic. It demonstrated how strong Bryan Cranston is- we still have sympathy for Walt even though he completely deserves that and more. It demonstrated her acting chops that she held such a vicious, hateful pose and stare perfectly for the entire time just to let Walt's reaction be all the more bitter and his bluster the more inane.

Jesse needs to sort himself out, true. I mean, he did say "I'm the bad guy" and I hope he realises that line either as a truth or as a lie. Right now, he's just motoring along not really going anywhere. Which I suppose works for the character perfectly, it just doesn't make for interesting viewing.

The Murderoso brothers: they need to figure out exactly what they're going to do with them. A showdown with Hank? Being cut out of the cartel? Gustavo offing them? Their use as dramatic pawns, as fun as it is to watch, is starting to grate a little. The promise shown in the first episode is almost wilting now.


Otherwise I love this show. I watch very little TV but this I would heartily recommend.

Addendum: I did hear someone point out a disparity between the way Skyler treats her criminal boss and her criminal husband. I chalk that up to one being her husband and committing a worse crime, but I suppose that's a flaw. Just about.

[Tom Chick]

Anna Gunn: her bustlines are definitely getting lower. Which detracts [distracts?] a little from her performance. Her showdown with Walt was fantastic. It demonstrated how strong Bryan Cranston is- we still have sympathy for Walt even though he completely deserves that and more. It demonstrated her acting chops that she held such a vicious, hateful pose and stare perfectly for the entire time just to let Walt's reaction be all the more bitter and his bluster the more inane...I did hear someone point out a disparity between the way Skyler treats her criminal boss and her criminal husband. I chalk that up to one being her husband and committing a worse crime, but I suppose that's a flaw. Just about.

Well, I don't think she's treating them that differently, aside from the fact that she's only fucking one of them.

My read on the situation is that she fucked Ted to intentionally scuttle her marriage and drive Walt out of the family. You'd think from all that glorious cleavage that they're setting her up as a sexual character, but I see the gesture as primarily maternal: she's protecting her family by using emotional leverage to remove a threat. She didn't sleep with Ted because she was okay with his cooking the books. She slept with him because Walt barged back into the house and refused to leave. I don't think the show intends us to regard Ted as anything other than a pawn.

BTW, RJ Mitte sure crossed that puberty line while the show was down. Yikes. He went from a kind of cutely round-faced kid to some dude with a chiseled model's face. What is it with kids named Walt growing out of their TV series?

-Tom