75 minutes left until Breaking Bad is officially over. And from my perspective, they will need all 75 minutes of it, because I don't know how they'll wrap this series up in that short amount of time, especially given Breaking Bad's usual pace. I don't doubt they will and I don't doubt that it will end up being perfectly paced, but it's just hard to see right now.
This episode scaled down a little - to say the least - from last episode. It's a piece-mover for the end of the series really. This was still good television, it just kind of seems like it was almost like the premiere of a new season. You're not really judging it yet because almost everything in the episode will pay off later.
But then again, a few things happen that are shocking still. I liked how they did the opener, defying our expectations a bit. First of all, Robert Forster is the vacuum repair man! And it's a real shop! Saul understandably wants to get out of town and that will be the last we will see of Saul in this series I think. That was a nice way to tie up his story while also still making sure to keep it relevant.
Walt has fallen far. He deserves every bit of it and I'll speak more on that later - just for you people who somehow are still on Team Walt. He tries to intimidate Saul to get him to stay with him, but Saul's had enough of his shit. Sure, Walt pathetically having a coughing fit probably didn't hurt. But it shows just how powerless Walt is now.
Meanwhile, Jesse.. oh Jesse. That small slimmer of hope that Jesse would escape vanished this episode. It makes sense that the Aryan Brotherhood would have cameras and have other means of making sure Jesse won't escape. But they need to make sure Jesse won't even attempt to escape anymore and they kill Andrea. This was actually kind of necessary for the time skip because it would help explain why Jesse would never escape. He wouldn't even risk Brock getting killed. He has a soft spot for children.
Todd somehow amps up his creepiness. Man, is he a creepy fuck. First of all, after breaking into the White residence, Todd creepily plays nice with Skylar - you know while her baby is being threatened - and wants to make sure that she won't tell the police on Lydia. I doubt Skylar will or did I suppose.
Then he meets with Lydia and gets that business going. They did make passing mention on why they are continuing to cook when they already have $69 million. Part of it is because the writers can't have Jesse killed, but enough of it makes sense to not be terribly obvious in my opinion. I mean they do need Jesse to cook 96% and Todd does know Lydia will do business with him if he can provide that quality of meth. So really the only stretch is that the Aryan brotherhood would agree to this. They don't really seem like the smartest people so I'm not bothered a lot by that stretch of belief.
So we skip to what I assume is around the time when the flash-forward happened to begin the season. They show the passage of time by having Walt grow out his hair and his beard. Walt is super depressed and lonely. That scene where he pays $10,000 just for an hour of company is one of the saddest things I have ever seen.
He reaches a point where he wants to give money to his family, but Walt Jr is not having any of that. Good for him. Money has compromised far too many people, but it's clear Wal... I'm sorry Flynn will not be one. So then Walt has lost all hope and just decides to turn himself in for the good of his family.
Except you know a little thing called Walt's ego happened. He cannot take his former partners claiming Walt had nothing to do with the company. His pride is being threatened. So he changes his mind, presumably buying that gun that he bought in the flash forward, then returning to get the ricin, and likely plans to go out with a bang.
People who claim that Walt has always done this for his family? You're watching this show wrong I'm sorry. Walt was offered his full treatment for the price of nothing and he rejected it due to pride. HE NEVER HAD TO MAKE METH. If he truly was looking out for his family, he would have swallowed his pride and accepted that money. It's all about Walt and his pride. He needs recognition, and he needs to do it himself. How more people haven't seen this is beyond me.
I mention that because it's a nice parallel to what happens in this episode. Walt's downfall is his pride, his ego. So he needs to actively choose to do something that could harm his family when there are alternative options. If he was cooking meth because he had no other choice: because he needed the money and he wanted to set his family up for his death, it'd be different. But he had a choice.
I have zero idea how there are still people who are Team Walt. Either it is physically impossible to dislike Bryan Cranston and people let that affect their opinion of Walt or there are more fucked up people in this world than I thought. I think I rooted for Walt far longer than I should have, because really letting Jane die should have been the straw. That is unforgivable and people who think she had it coming, you need help. I'm sorry. And people who think Walt's family betrayed him? Seriously, what fucking show are you watching? /end rant
I don't know how many months they skipped, but it made perfect sense. From what I'm watching, it seems like nothing super important happened between Walt escaping and Walt choosing to return to the ABQ. The Aryan brotherhood didn't go anywhere which means Jesse didn't go anywhere. They have most likely done the same thing for months, forcing Jesse to make meth, selling it to Lydia. Nothing really new happens.
Skylar and Flynn are still trying to recover a semblance of the life they once had. They aren't going anywhere. I'm not really sure there's anywhere else to go with Marie's story. I mean she was well-acted by Besty Brandt, but her entire relevance was being married to Hank and being sister to Skylar. The characters are all in some sort of purgatory waiting in place for Walt to come back and screw up all their plans.
75 minutes left. One week.
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