The Sopranos: "Isabella"

This is a returning weekly feature. I'm reviewing The Sopranos episodes starting from the beginning.  This is the eleventh episode of the first season.  

Past Episodes
Pilot
46 Long
Denial, Acceptance, Anger

Meadowlands
College
Pax Soprano

Down Neck

The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti

Boca

A Hit is a Hit

Nobody Knows Anything

In "Isabella," Tony is depressed, because he thinks Big Pussy is dead.  He blames himself for it because he no longer thinks Big Pussy is a rat.  So he sleeps in bed all day and creates an imaginary beautiful woman to talk to.  Why the hell can't I do something like that?

Anyway, the first assassination attempt goes badly because Christopher parks in the middle of the street because he's worried about Tony committing suicide.  Ok, this feels off to me.  Chris and Tony sort of, kind of talked about being depressed in a previous episode, and Chris is the type of person to do something stupid like park his car in the middle of the road.

But this doesn't feel natural to me, it feels like the writers needed a way to stall the inevitable.  I don't honestly see Chris following Tony and Chris parks in the middle of the street, because?  So I have a few problems with that scene.

Meanwhile, Junior is struggling mightily with this decision.  He doesn't want to hear about or talk about Tony, he just wants to finish the job so Tony could be dead and he will then be able to move on.  We get that hilarious scene after first botched attempt, Junior wants the hit off so Mikey just shoots Donnie.  It was funny because it was abrupt and kind of shocking.

The second attempt kind of defied probability.  Apparently these guys were good, yet the one guy missed a clear attempt feet away TWICE.  The other guy missed Tony and hit his partner in the face and I think Tony's ear, which I guess is slightly more believable but the accuracy of these two guys is unbelievably bad for being supposedly good hit men.  

The missed attempt did brighten Tony's mood however.  And it gave us a nice moment where Tony was offered a new life and Carmela badly wanted to take it.  We know from "College" that she has regrets about entering this life, but can't resist the good lifestyle for her and her children.  Also, AJ Soprano doesn't buy the car jacking story further pushing along a previous story line that had him finding out Tony was a mobster.

That's the kind of reason The Sopranos is great though.  They don't just dropped story lines, they build on them in some way.  So it's good to see actual evidence of it (To be fair, I didn't really pay attention to this the first time around.)

Tony imagines Isabella because of a need for a mother-son relationship.  This is reflected in the scene where Isabella is breast-feeding a baby "Antonio."  Anyway, I think this show takes these scenes too literally and psychology is not as cut and dry as it makes it out to be.  But I don't really feel terribly strongly about it.

Also, an underrated aspect of why shows like this are successful is the humor.  The humor is so vital, yet it seems that the copycats of shows like this recently have none, such as Low Winter Sun.  (And I mean NO humor).  Any scene with Livia usually gets at least one laugh from me and the AJ's date being in the limo with Paulie and Silvio across from them will never not be funny.

Deaths

Donnie, who says the truth, but suffers because Junior feels guilty.

Quotes

"She's telling the truth or she deserves an Academy fucking Award." - Chris

"I don't know nothing no more." - Tony

"Aha, Tony S's own mother wants him popped." - Donnie, unknowingly leading to his death

"What were you thinking about just then?" --- "This gorgeous piece of cooze." - Nice Tony

"You know if I was that young lady, and you used that kind of talk, I'd slap your face!" - Livia, constant source of comedy at that dinner table scene

"This is the last time.  I'm never coming back to this house." - Livia, with an ounce of truth in her meaning

"I never threatened to cut your dick off." - Carmela

Playlist
1. "Feel Good Hit of the Summer" - Queens of the Stone Age
2. "One Good Thing" - Jared Evans
3. "Go Outside" - The Cults
4. "Hip Hop Saved My Life" - Lupe Fiasco
5. "Tundra/Desert" - Modest Mouse

Breaking Bad: "Blood Money"

Well, this show certainly moved faster than I anticipated.  I assume Vince Gilligan and the writers thought to themselves, "I bet everyone expects us to drag out Hank knowing about Walter so let's reveal it in the first episode!"  Because that's what they do.

I don't think any other show could have handled Hank's reaction better than Breaking Bad.  It seems perfectly in character and realistic.  Hank is reacting with anger and apparently a passionate drive to catch Walt.  Hank has had time to think about what has happened in the past and realizes Walt is a monster.

We find out it's been a month since Walter quit making meth.  And it's clear that it is not going to stay that way.  Well, actually, it's clear it's not going to fly with Lydia.  Mike has warned about Lydia to Walt and Jesse and I think we see that play out in the next seven episodes.

Jesse goes through some personal shit, and frankly, I'm a little tired of that story.  It's been played out.  We get it.  But anyway, it's probably necessary since it's in character and it's his thing.  He doesn't give a shit and doesn't want money so he's a loose cannon.  Also, an important plot point is that he knows that Walt killed Jesse.  I hope I'm not spoiling that, the show hinted that at us pretty strongly.

We see a Saul appearance, albeit no memorable zingers this time.  I have a feeling we will have to wait until the spinoff for any more old Saul Goodman scenes.  That's just a guess, but it might feel out of place in this final season.  The Breaking Bad writers could certainly figure out how to fit it in though.

How to discuss this episode without mentioning the cold open, probably the best show at finding ways to open the show.  We get a further flash forward into what Walt's life will be like.  It doesn't look good.  So he just got his shotgun (I'm not an expert on guns so don't quote me on that) at Denny's in "Live Free or Die," the first episode of season five part one.  In this one, he's apparently coming home - or what used to be his home.

And uh, he's collecting the ricin he left in his outlet for some reason.  And uh, his home is abandoned, locked off, and people know he is Heisenberg it seems.  "Hello Carol" is probably the funniest part of the episode, first when she drops her groceries in shock, and later because of the contrast.

But it's not really hard to believe that is what Walt has coming for him.  I mean he has Lydia, Jesse, cancer and Hank after him.  That's the Lydia Mike insisted should be killed, the Jesse who doesn't give a fuck, and a Hank who is seriously pissed off at Walter right not and is also on the DEA.  So, I'd say they set up the final season quite nicely and I'm excited to be a part of it.

Note: I made sure to avoid any professional opinions on Breaking Bad so my opinions would not be influenced by anyone else.

Low Winter Sun

Well, this looks like an interesting show.  I'll probably be watching it for the rest of the first season, just because it's on after Breaking Bad and it takes very little effort.  The first episode was ok, way too intense for my liking, and there were zero laughs, which can put a strain on watching a series.

The performances are top notch with Mark Strong and Lennie James.  It looks pretty well shot and here's another show that for some reason is obsessed with bald men.  It's a pretty good start, but I do hope they inject some humor - any humor in the following episodes.  I won't be talking about the series any more, but that's just my two cents on the its start.  I can't recommend it to you, but I can't dissuade you either.

Breaking Bad Season 5 Songs!

My original plan was to write a sort of review for the first half of the fifth season.  However, I feel like that review should come when the fifth season is completed.  The first half was great except for one minor detail - as pointed out by Alan Sepinwall, there's no way Mike would entrust Walt to give him the money over Jesse making Mike's death seem a little contrived.  But that's literally it.

Anyway, I wanted to post the best songs of the first half for you to listen to before the finale to get you really amped up.  And of course if you missed it, I posted my reviews of the first four seasons below.

Breaking Bad (Playlist of Season 5 Part 1)
1. Stay on the Outside - Whitey (Walt and Jesse look for ricin cigarette)
2. On a Clear Day you can see Forever - The Peddlers (Walt and Jesse cook in Episode 3)
3. Bonfire - Knife Party (Walt and Walt Jr. test out new cars in Episode 4)
4. Going Down - The Monkees (Walt teaches Todd how to cook meth)
5. Pick Yourself Up - Nat King Cole (Prison shanking sequence)
6. Crystal Blue Persuasion - Tommy James & The Shondells

Previous Seasons
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
Season 4

Thanks for reading and let's enjoy this final season of Breaking Bad.

Breaking Bad: Season 4

Upon further review, I can say definitively that Season 4 is not the clear best season.  It's a very different kind of good than anything Breaking Bad ever did.  The string of episodes that end on a "HOLY SHIT" note is impressive, but I can't say that makes it the best season.  It just makes it the most exciting and shocking season.  To be clear, those are very different things.

It'd be easier to count the episodes that didn't have a "HOLY SHIT" moment, but I'll go through the list anyway.  Below I have each of the episodes of Season 4 and the "HOLY SHIT" moment - the moment where you sort of spend the next ten minutes after the episode saying "HOLY SHIT" repeatedly.

Box Cutter: Gus killing Victor with a box cutter
Cornered: "I am the one who knocks" (Maybe a stretch)
Hermanos: Max (Gus' "hermano") getting shot in a flashback
Bug: Walt and Jesse fight; Also, Gus with "Come at me, bro"
Salud: Gus killing the cartel
Crawl Space: The ending, oh God, that ending. (Walt laughing maniacally)
Face Off: Gus walking out after the explosion and adjusting his tie; also Lily of the Valley

That's more than half of the episodes.  I might be missing some only because they seem less shocking in hindsight or because I don't find them as shocking on multiple viewings.  Still, that's a lot of shocking moments.

This season seemed a bit more plot-based and not as character-based as the show usually does.  For example, the last five or so episodes are almost all plot.  I'm not saying it's a bad thing, because it's still well-written, it's just a different kind of good.  I almost don't want to compare this season to the others because it's almost a different show.

Hard to top, but Walt's descent into evilness goes even further.  It's really hard to top letting an innocent person die (Jane in Season 2), but then they did top that when he took Jesse to his level by telling him to kill Gale (in Season 3).  So how do you top letting an innocent person die and then destroying the moral compass of the people you love?  Well you give a kid poison knowing full well they could die from it.

Like I said in my Season 3 review, Breaking Bad could have went the easy way and had Walt kill Gale, but they made Jesse do it to elevate the show to something else.  Similarly, they could have just had Gus poison Brock, which would have actually been semi-plausible enough.  But instead they elevate the show and have Walt poison him, which makes more sense really and shows how far he's dropped.

So at the end of the season, Walt says "I won" after he's defeated Gus.  This means he takes no moral lesson from what he went through, what he put his family through, and it's simply vindication that he could now be the new kingpin.  Whereas most people might take this as a sign of good luck, Walter feels invincible, and he feels greed and power.

Jesse's transformation in Season 4 is one of the highlights.  He starts off the season as a depressed party animal, desperate to avoid any and all moments where he has to think about what he did.  Then Gus kind of manipulates him into thinking he's wanted and needed and valuable.  Then he proves his worth (I don't mean the fake robbery scene either)  His loyalty slowly switches from Walt to Gus until they fight in Bug and he fully separates himself from Walt.  He has a triumphant moment in Salud when he does his best Walter White impression in Mexico.

This show does not like it when things start going Jesse's way however.  Anytime anything looks promising for Jesse, the show does something to destroy it quickly.  In this case, he's manipulated by Walt into teaming up with him and trying to kill Gus.  It's a shame almost every Jesse action in this season is in some way manipulated by someone else.

Hank begins this season as a lost soul, picks it back up when he has a new target in Gus Fring, and really spends the rest of the season trying to find evidence on Fring.  He also collects rocks - sorry MINERALS - something that was depressing but never not funny.  The great thing about Hank is that he's really smart and is figuring this out due to persistence.  Like I said before, the law enforcement agents are actually smart in this show.

As far as the other main characters, Skylar spends the first half trying to run the car wash and the second half trying to shut up Ted.  There's not much character stuff, mostly plot stuff, but Skylar "breaks bad" even more this season.  Marie is shown struggling to get Hank motivated and happy and resorts to stealing.  That's pretty much all she does.  Walter Jr. gets a car, eats breakfast, and has a genuinely touching moment when he visits his Dad during his birthday after Walt got beat up by Jesse.  RJ Mitte is underutilized as he knocks the few meaningful scenes he's given.

Onto the interesting characters, we find out how ruthless Gus is in the first episode, we see why he's so ruthless in Hermanos, and we see his brilliant ploy to get Jesse on his side.  His downfall was his need for revenge on Hector Salamanca, which made him blind to his usual pragmatic and fastidious behavior.  I think it's ironic that his rise in power was made possible by Hector, but his downfall was also Hector.

Mike begins his father-son like relationship with Jesse.  He slowly comes to care about the kid even if he won't show it.  Jesse's apparent need for a father figure is a recurring theme in this show.  It's delightfully convenient that Mike needs a week to recover from his wounds, enough time to avoid getting killed.

I have less to say about this season mostly because it's more plot-based.  I think Season 4 is a season that is more instantly gratifying than the other seasons, but it's not better.  It definitely still lives up to the "greatest" show currently airing however.

Walter White Kill Count: 5 + 5 (I'm counting Hector's suicide murder of Gus and Tyrus; also two guards to release Jesse at end)
Walter White Death Count: 172 + 1 (I'm only counting one indirect death - Victor in Box Cutter)
Walter White Badass Count: 8 + 3 ('I am the one who knocks,' daring Jesse to shoot him, "I won")
Audience View of Walter White: I'm sorry I can't judge this because of HOW AWESOME THAT FINALE WAS - is most likely their view of Walter white.

Playlist (Best of Breaking Bad Season 4)
1. Truth - Alexander
2. Digital Animal - Honey Claws
3. If I Had a Heart - Fever Ray
4. 1977 - Ana Tijoux
5. Boots of Chinese Plastic - The Pretenders
6. Tidal Wave - Thee Oh Seas
7. Freestyle - Taalbi Brothers
8. Black - Danger Mouse & Danielle Luppi feat. Norah Jones
9. Goodbye (with Soap & Skin) - Apparat

Breaking Bad: Season 3

This isn't my first time re-watching this series, but it's the first time I've re-watched the episodes in order. I'm also paying a lot more attention to these episodes this time - about as much as I did when I first watched the series except the second time around you pick up more details and happen to know the show is headed in a good direction.

My point in bringing this up is that for some reason I had this idea in my head that Season 4 was head and shoulders above the rest of the seasons.  I don't know if this was an unconscious thought of mine or if it was a recency effect (I've seen Season 5 only when it aired - I've since seen Season 4 on Netflix multiple times) or something else, but it definitely was there.  Because each season I've been surprised at just how good the season really was.  This is weird to me because I have already acknowledged this show as my second best show of all time.

It's obvious this show will somehow come back to Walt and Jesse working together no matter how they feel about each other - especially in retrospect otherwise Jesse is kind of a pointless character.  But what the writers of Breaking Bad are able to do - and this is no easy feat - is create a situation that doesn't feel contrived by the writers, that feels character-based, and feels like that's what they would actually do.

For example, in this season Jesse decides to make "blue meth" on his own after he finds out that Walter has retired.  Well of course Walt gets pissed at this and pisses Jesse off to the point where Jesse would happily turn Heisenberg into the police, because he's done with Walt.  Just think about what has to happen to get them back together.

Hank needs to be on Jesse's tail - a natural progression that can be traced back to his killing of Tuco.  (More on Hank later)  Hank needs to beat the shit out of Jesse after Walt and Jesse get out of an impossible situation by saying Hank's wife is in the hospital. (Also, very logical character reaction at that point in Hank's life.)  Jesse needs to be pissed at Walt and Hank and want to take Hank for everything he has. (Seeing as Walt has an ego and said Jesse's product was inferior and insulting his character and you know Hank beat him up, not a big stretch.)  And finally Walter needs to believe that Jesse will turn him in when he gets the chance (effectively conveyed by the acting of Aaron Paul) so he takes matters into his own hands and basically offers Jesse $1.5 million to not file suit.  That doesn't feel contrived at all, it just feels like brilliant writing.

What Breaking Bad does is make both the criminals and the law enforcement agents smart.  The Wire is the only other show that has done this effectively.  The only comparable show - a seemingly normal guy who is actually an insane killer, Dexter - makes Miami Metro have the mental capacity of a toddler. (This is more of a later seasons problem - Doakes presented an effective believable detective earlier on)

The most sympathetic character in Season 1 is Walter White.  The most sympathetic character in Season 2 is Jesse Pinkman.  Season 3? Hank Schrader.  I think the first two seasons are debatable, but this season is not.  Shall I run down the list of what he goes through?  First of all, he's toughing it out despite having what appears to be post traumatic stress disorder.  Then, he's forced into a position he doesn't want to be in when he gets the promotion.

The appearance of blue meth gives him the excuse he needs to stay.  I think he knows deep down that he is not going to El Paso because he is afraid.  However, he aggressively tries to find Heisenberg to ignore that.  He wants to believe that he is avoiding El Paso, because he can find Heisenberg in ABQ.  He relentlessly follows every lead imaginable which lands him at Jesse.  He follows Jesse to a site where he finally has his RV.

He NEEDS to look inside and find out his evidence.  Through some nifty knowledge of the law, he is prevented from it for the time being.  No problem, he'll just wait until he gets his warrant.  Except he gets a call from the hospital telling him his wife was just in a major accident.  Hell, they tell him she's being flown in.  I can't even imagine what went through his mind.  And then pure anger that went through him as he found out he was duped.  The anger surpassed any logical thought and he knew he was just going to destroy Jesse.

Then he gets in trouble, and he finds out the charges are dropped.  He seems to have picked up who he used to be.  And then he gets shot four times.  That kind of psychological turmoil is unimaginable and horrible to even think about.  I fear for Hank in the fifth season, because nothing but bad things happen to people who find out who Heisenberg is and Hank is one of the only good characters to root for on the show.  (Then again, I can't imagine anybody having a happy ending to this series)

Here's something I forgot about the third season.  Jesse turns pretty unlikable.  I forgot he reached a point where he actively embraced being bad.  He didn't lose all of his sympathy in this season, but he certainly pushed it.  From rehab, he comes to the conclusion that you are supposed to accept who you are and he thinks he's the bad guy.  This is mostly due to the fact that he thinks he is in some way responsible for Jane's death.  (Technically, I suppose he is)

He really reaches his low point probably of the entire series when he goes to a meeting and tries to get recovering addicts back on meth.  I remember him doing it at some point later too I believe.  He never does anything worse than that.  Sure, he killed Gale, but that was arguably justifiable for all the times Walter has saved his life. (Tuco, getting him to go to rehab, and running over the dealers with his car for starters)

In typical Breaking Bad style however, Jesse begins to gain his humanity back when he falls for Andrea.  Sure, his original intention was to get her hooked on crystal meth - somehow that seems worse than killing on this show - but when she sees he has a kid, he ditches that plan.  And dammit that he had to find out who Combo's killers were, because he really seemed to be going in the right direction.  This leads him down a road where he actually is forced to kill a mostly innocent person after he's accepted he's not a murderer.  So Jesse's path was the realization that he's a bad guy, to gaining humanity, to becoming a murderer.

Strangely, this might be the season where Walter has the least amount to do.  He's mostly on the sidelines while everybody else is doing the action.  I'm vastly over exaggerating this, but essentially over the first 10 episodes, he decides to cook meth thanks to Gus' persuasion and $3 million and brings Jesse into the fold to save his own skin and Hank's.  He's also dishonest with himself still holding to that thought that he's only doing it for his family.  That's pretty much it.  He's satisfied with his situation and wants it to remain that way.

However, after Mike does his half measures speech, he realizes he's not fully committed to this.  I think this is the moment where he stops lying to himself and accepts that he's a criminal.  He's not going to be convincing himself he's doing it for his family anymore.  Also, though not in this season, it allows him to accept his wife's request that she be brought into this.  Walt was never given the chance to kill Gale, but I am certain he would do it.  Because at this point in his life, he's in it for himself.

See, the writers knew that if Walt killed Gale, it wouldn't really advance anything because we the audience know he would do it.  Walt killing Gale would have been a perfectly acceptable season finale, but the writers are more ambitious.  Instead, for the price of his life, Walter is not only responsible for the death of an innocent person, but destroying the moral compass of who he thinks of as a son and who's life he just saved.  Would allowing Jesse to die in Half Measures have been a better fate?  So essentially, they managed to one-up last season's finale in terms of the deteriorating morality of Walter by having him take down Jesse with him.

The other character whose moral compass is slowly crumbling?  At the end of last season, Skylar tells Walt to leave.  Well he doesn't exactly listen which leads to "I fucked Ted," which may have sounded good at the time, but actually was really stupid.  Not so much the affair but telling Walt.  She's thinking way ahead though and when Walt agrees to a divorce, she doesn't file it because she doesn't want to testify against her husband.

Then she has the intuition to realize that somehow Walt is to blame for Hank's shootout.  So she comes up with this elaborate lie to allow Marie to accept money from Walt and also explain the divide between her and Walt.  Earlier in the series, there was a comment about how Skylar was a writer at some point so she knows how to concoct a story.  So because of Walt, she has an affair and agrees to participate in a money laundering scheme.  Walt really knows how to destroy the people he loves.

As far as the side characters, Gus is still a mostly terrifying, distant evil villain.  Developing him as a character is still to come.  He'd be a much less compelling character if not for the great performance of Giancarlo Esposito, who deserved at least one Emmy.  Mike is an awesome character who we find out was an ex-cop, is very good at what he does, and doesn't fuck around.  Almost every scene with Mike in the last few episodes is golden.

You know what's pretty difficult?  To create two shocking endings to episodes to finish the season without killing off a major character or a semi-major supporting character (Gus, Mike).  The first one was shocking because we didn't expect Walter to intervene and certainly not to RUN OVER THE BAD GUYS WITH A FUCKING CAR.  Then in the finale a character gets shot who was in three episodes at the time and it's shocking because of who pulled the trigger.  For as many murders that occur on the show, it seems to convey the magnitude of a murder pretty effectively.

Walter White Kill Count: 3 + 2 (Two drug dealers who killed Tomas - Gale basically counts but he didn't pull the trigger)
Walter White Death Count: 170 + 2 (Tomas and Gale; arguably the Cousins, but he was unaware they existed most of the time)
Walter White Badass Count: 7 + 1 (Since he's on the sidelines for most of the season, I consider him running over two dealers the only badass moment)
Audience View of Walter White: In reality, I still think audience rooted for him; theoretically, he is now bringing others down with him so we shouldn't.

Playlist (Best of Breaking Bad Season 3)
1. "A Horse with No Name" - America
2. Magic Arrow - Timbre Timbre
3. Tush - ZZ Top
4. Sun Shine on Me - Buddy Stuart
5. Ginza Samba - Vince Guaraldi & Bola Sete
6. Shimmy Shimmy Ya - Prince Fatty ft. Horseman
7. Windy - The Association

The Sopranos: "Nobody Knows Anything"

This is a returning weekly feature. I'm reviewing The Sopranos episodes starting from the beginning.  This is the eleventh episode of the first season.  

Past Episodes
Pilot
46 Long
Denial, Acceptance, Anger

Meadowlands
College
Pax Soprano

Down Neck

The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti

Boca

A Hit is a Hit

This is one of the best episodes of the season for me and as a bonus it's a huge foreshadowing for a major plot line in the second season.  There are two major story lines brewing: Is Big Pussy a rat and Junior is misled into thinking Tony Soprano is making a move on him.

Tony's inside source for police intel, Detective Vin Makazian, tells Tony that Big Pussy is wearing a wire.  Tony and Big Pussy have been friends for years so that news comes as a shock.  He comes to the conclusion that he is 90% sure that Big Pussy is a rat, but he needs to be 110% sure.

Turns out Detective Makazian, played by great actor John Heard, owes Big Pussy $30,000 in debt from betting on football games.  We get inside of Makazian a little bit and he takes a more three-dimensional role in this episode before David Chase decides to kill him off.  He's generally an unhappy guy who is pushed over the edge by getting caught in a bordello with a wise guy and he's placed on administrative leave.

Tony is told by nearly every one that they don't think Big Pussy would do something like this but two things lead him to believe that he's wearing a wire: Makazian wasn't worried about his debt as long as Tony's in his corner and Big Pussy refused to take his clothes off when Paulie tried to see if he had a wire.

We find out here that Big Pussy has been wearing a wire since the drug bust months back (before the show started presumably).  He also gets out of jail fairly soon so the fact that he's been in cahoots with the police help us understand why.  And it explains why he refuses to take off his clothes.  I mean it was smart because it bought him time and it causes him to flee.

Jimmy is not as good with a wire as Big Pussy and he pathetically attempts to string out information from Tony.  Tony picks this up immediately and knows Jimmy is wearing a wire.  However, he mistakenly ignores Makazian's info as mixed up and chooses to think only Jimmy was wearing a wire.  This is understandable since he has an obvious long standing friendship with Big Pussy that he doesn't want to end.

As far as the other story line is concerned, Junior proves how stupid he really he is when he lets Livia convince him of a conspiracy plot aimed at getting Junior out and Tony in.  That sets the wheels in motion for Junior to plan and kill Tony.  It's pretty funny that we see Livia try to downplay her influence to Carmela, which Carmela isn't buying at all.  Then the next scene she's in, she's plotting her son's death.

Anyway, this episode is vital to the season, foreshadows next season, and helps us see more of why we root for Tony Soprano.  (He's a pretty smart guy for picking up on Jimmy's wire so quickly and his reluctance to kill his friend)

Surprise Guest Appearances
Nobody.  I might kill this feature, because nobody is a notable guest star anymore.  (And when Steve Buscemi comes, he'll be there for more than a few episodes.)

Deaths
Detective Makazian isn't killed, but commits suicide as the lone death of the episode.

Quotes
"Go see if Mr. Mop and Glow is still here?  Don't worry he's a real doctor." - Followed by an image which explains his name

"I don't give two shits about you, your family, or whether you take it up the ass." - Tony to Makazian

"I'm sorry I'm under a little bit of pressure here, I don't have time to suck your dick." - Tony's quips to Makazian are some of the best quotes in the season

"Well hello there Carmela, so nice to see you." - Carmela sarcastically on what Livia should have greeted her with.

"You got options.  Don't let anybody ever try to tell you don't got options." - Tony telling Big Pussy why he shouldn't wear a wire

"She's more connected to the world." -- "Which one?  This one or Neptune?" - Tony about Livia

"Hey who wouldn't want to sleep with their shrink?" - Said by Debbie to Tony, which is maybe a little too on the nose

"At least with Tony Soprano, you know where you stand." - Makazian

"Yeah but you won't have any teeth left to eat if you don't get up off your ass to see who's at the door." - Tony on why you should listen to what he says

"You answer me like I'm Jesus Christ himself, and if you fucking lie to me, may your mother die of cancer of the eyes." - Tony with a variation on swearing to God

"No, the other forever." - Mikey talking about death, not jail to his wife.

Playlist (Reds walk-up music version - Just went to GABP)
1. "Paint it Black" - Rolling Stones (Votto)
2. "Fly Me to the Moon" - Frank Sinatra (Frazier)
3. "Hypnotize" - Notorious B.I.G. (Izturis)
4. "Intro" - The xx (Leake)
5. "Brass Monkey" - Beastie Boys (Ludwick)

Breaking Bad: Season 2

In lieu of Breaking Bad's final season, I am watching and talking about each season until August 11.  I am preparing both myself and anybody else who is interested in this show a sort of refresher and a tool to be absolutely ready.  Breaking Bad is a show that would not hesitate to use a plot line from a few seasons back.  I want to be completely ready by the time the show airs.

To end the first season, Walter White and Jesse Pinkman witness the brutal murder of nameless drug dealer by the hands of Tuco.  This makes them come to the realization that they need to find another way to sell their meth.

This season marks the progression of the decay of the White marriage.  If the first season began the slow decline of this marriage, well this season just put it all on the table.  To end the season, Skylar leaves Walter because of all of his lies.  (And when she shoots down all of his previous excuses, it's kind of painful).  As long as Walter is lying to Skylar, this marriage will not work.

Walter has a second cell phone which is revealed when he is kidnapped and goes missing.  Walter is none too smart about trying to handle the situation.  I'm no expert liar, but you should probably own up when you've been caught.  And really there was a simple explanation that would have defused the situation in no time.  Simply say that it was for buying your weed.  Boom.  Maybe you'd get in trouble in the short term but it's way better than the alternative options and it would make sense since she already thinks you smoke.

Anyway, Walt comes dangerously close to getting caught and devises a plan where he goes into a  "fugue" state.  Everybody buys it except Skylar.  Anyway, it gets to the point where Skylar is putting herself in a position to have an affair with Ted.  Between pushing her pens and pencils to get his attention, singing "Happy Birthday" in an inappropriate way, and going back to him after she found out he'd been making money illegally, there was plenty of foreshadowing to their future affair.

(I think at this point it was common knowledge that Skylar was pretty disliked so I guess bold strategy for making an unlikable character and then having her actively try to cheat on her husband.  Not saying her actions weren't reasonable just interesting.  Anyway, I read an interesting theory why she's so disliked despite pretty reasonable reactions and actions.  She's extremely passive aggressive and self-righteous (the worst combination - his words) and early scenes indicate she married Walt because she could "control him."  Not saying it's right or wrong, it just is the best reasoning I've come across yet.)

During this season, we also get a taste of how a major meth operation starts.  With Tuco gone, theoretically, the "turf" is now open for a new distributor.  All potential and likely problems happen due to this: Skinny Pete gets robbed, Badger gets arrested, and after expanding their turf, Combo gets killed.  After some confusion on if Jesse smashed a user's head with an ATM machine, they now had zero respectability as a viable enforcer.

But first, we get the first taste of Saul Goodman, the potential spinoff character of this show. (I'm skeptical on the quality, but I'll probably watch at least the first season).  He's got one-liners and in the first episode he's in, he destroys Hank in his response to Hank's usual insulting quip.  So right away we know this character is going to be fun.

Speaking of Hank, he begins to become one of the more essential characters on this show.  First he kills Tuco in a shootout, brags about it, but secretly it haunts him.  He is great at putting up a facade of being alright.  That kill earns him a promotion to El Paso, a group of DEA agents who are assholes.  Anyway, long story short, he narrowly avoids death and probably helps preserve the leg of a fellow agent when a human head on a tortoise (Danny Trejo!!) explodes.

Walter Jr. gets underutilized, but he does get to make a donation web site to help raise money for Walter.  Every time the ding goes off on the computer, I bet Walter is dying a little more inside.  Honestly, I'd be kind of pissed if I walked into my house and a TV crew was airing a story about giving charity to me.  I'm certainly no person who won't accept charity (not that I've ever had a situation where I could), but holy cow that would destroy my dignity.  Marie has a fight with Skylar resolved but that's literally all she does - not that I mind as her character is probably the weakest of the series.

And this season also marks the first appearance of Gus Fring - way earlier than I remember.  (And also the first appearance of Victor... oh poor Victor)  Watching Gus Fring on re-watch brings a certain amount of hilarity knowing what will come.  I can't really imagine him being super helpful and useful fast food owner who's almost obnoxiously polite.  Also, Mike's first appearance is in this season!

Anyway, there are four flash-forwards in this season leading to the airplane explosion.  That was such a Breaking Bad thing to do to have the audience think that something will happen to the Whites only for it to be that Walter inadvertently killed hundreds of people. (Season 5 Spoiler: Kind of like how the cliffhanger was that Hank found out Walt was Heisenberg.  No huge bang, but extremely earned moment.)

Looking back, I think the moment when Walter lets Jane die should have been the moment when the audience stopped rooting for him.  This was the point of no return in my opinion.  He killed a mostly innocent person for personal gain and nothing more.  All of his kills have been self-defense and also drug dealers.  Now, shows like this bring in worse guys than the "protagonist" so it's easy to root for him.  This show didn't let him get away with it easy either - destroying Jesse and two planes crashing together as a result of her death.

Walter White Kill Count: 2+ 1 (Jane - He just let her die.  He would have known how to save her)
Walter White Death Count: 170 (Tuco, Spooge, Combo, 167 people on two planes - In some way responsible for the death if he didn't outright kill them )
Walter White Badass Count: 4+ 3 (Walt telling Tuco they tried to poison him; Walter saying "Fuck you" to Gretchen, "Stay out of my territory)
Audience View of Walter White: In reality, I think audience was still rooting for him kind of; In theory, he just committed an unforgivable sin to where we should root for his demise.

Playlist (Best of Season 2 songs)
1. "It's such a Pretty World Today"  - Nancy Sinatra
2. "Negro y Azul" - Los Cuates de Sinaloa
3. "The Peanut Vendor" - Alvin Red Taylor
4. "One by One" - Black Seeds
5. "Good Morning Freedom" - Blue Mink
6. "DLZ" - TV on the Radio
7. "Enchanted" - The Platters
8. "Life" - Chocolate Genius