The Breaking Bad Thread

I preferred this episode to last week's. I've felt the show has been relying too much on contrivances to drive the plot and characters to a destination it's designed, so for me I didn't find much drama and tragedy and tension with some of the stuff that's been happening lately, I've found it funny and melodramatic and disappointing. It's similar to the Shield in that the writers made it so Vic Mackey narrowly avoids getting caught, again and again, to the point where it feels like the show is rooting for him and wants you to do so too, and like that show it's the secondary character who gets strawberry floated up along the way who you really root for. With The Shield people in real life gave Forest Whitaker a hard time, like 'leave my mate alone' kind of thing, and he was astonished that they'd feel that way towards such a despicable character and not his character, just because he's trying to stop him. It's similar to how people irrationally despise Skylar, Walt does cool things and she's trying to prevent him and the show from flourishing.

Contrivances like, I don't believe that Walt would want Jesse killed, but it's so clear the show will engineer ways to make that happen, and the clearest example is when they cheated by using the misunderstanding of Jesse thinking Walt hired a hitman to stand about 10 feet away from the bench he was meant to meet Walt at. I don't even believe that Jesse would think Walt would kill him. They've used this paranoia trick before, with Walt and Gus, to drive the show forward to the point where Walt will try to kill him. But it was more deserved there because Gus regularly threatens Walt and his family. When Mike says things like 'we had a good thing, but you couldn't leave it', Walt never seems to say 'but...he threatened my family'. Gus kills a man in cold blood to make his point. I'd be as scared as Walt was too.

I don't believe Walt blames Hank's death on Jesse. I don't believe the nazi's would leave Walt alive and hand him so much money. You're going to let the man go who's a witness to the murder of his DEA brother in law, who hired you to assassin someone, who has lots of cash and is broken and angry and vengeful and likely to want to hire someone to kill you all and get his money back? Todd adores Lydia, and Lydia went to the car wash, of course. That a lot of the contrivances seem to just exist to pile on more misery for Jesse is more annoying than heartbreaking for me, I've preferred it when Jesse breaks down when reacting to how badly Walt has treated him, that scene from season 3 or 4 when he's recovering in bed and talks about how everything has gone to gooseberry fool for him since he met Walt was fascinating. Also the scene where he says 'can you just stop working me, just for once'. One of my favourite scenes from season 1 as well was when he returns to his house and talks to his younger brother, and he just sits on his bed, lost. I prefer that kind of Jesse character development that adds depth to his character, its more real and affecting because there is real content to it, it wasn't just hollow drama, more contrived awfulness happened to Jesse because Todd has a hard on for Lydia. Aaron Paul really is an amazing actor though, and I'll miss his performances the most of anything when the show ends.

I don't believe that Hank and Gomez would go it alone, they're aware that Walt has contacts who carried out mass killings in prison, and Hank is aware that Walt has tried to lure Jesse out. It's not unbelievable to think that he'd use those same people to kill Jesse. I don't believe they'd risk Jesse being there for the arrest.

I don't believe that Walt would not consider it for one second that Jesse wasn't working with Hank. So Jesse pours petrol all over his house and just leaves? Or changes his mind? He knows Hank knows about Heisenberg and he knows Jesse, and also knows he spoke to him a few days ago. He's the first person Hank would go to. And he knows Jesse is angry enough that he wants him to pay. If Walt is so smart how does he not even consider that Hank got their first? Jesse was about as angry as he's ever been, he's reacts in the moment, pouring petrol and setting Walt's house alight makes sense for him. He's not likely to back away, and be strategic, he'd calm down eventually.

Anyway, this was episodes ago. I've missed the Gretchen character and back story of her and Walt and Grey Matter, I've missed things like that that add interest and content to the story, rather than always focussing on drama between a small selection of characters, who seem to go round in circles over and over again until one kills the other.

Also, I don't know why Walt won't just say; 'yeah, I didn't kill Hank' to Flynn, like he ought to have said to Skylar. 'Hank got caught up with some people I work for, I begged for them to not do it, you have to believe me'.

What are the chances of Walt seeing something on telly about himself whilst in the middle of nowhere and the one time in many months he decided to venture out of his hut.....

It's easily forgiveable. Would have been more realistic to have it be an interview in the big stack of papers but the scene is a lot better with the visuals of who they are to remind the viewer and seeing Walt's direct reaction as it unfolds.