6. Neat Fact: In three instances, Vince Gilligan has titled episodes as callbacks to earlier episodes: “Half Measures” vs. “Full Measure,” “No Mas” vs. “Mas,” and “The Cat’s in the Bag” vs. “And the Bag’s in the River.”
7. Neat Fact: Season three, episode three is called “I.F.T.” for “I F–ked Ted.”
8. Clever Pun: Saul Goodman = S’ All Good Man.
9. Neat Fact: Krazy 8 was going to be killed in the pilot, but Vince Gilligan dug the actor so much, they let him live for three episodes. (Coincidentally, it’s also why Aaron Paul was kept on after the first season. Walt was supposed to kill him in the finale but the kibosh was put on Jesse’s death because Gilligan loved his acting, and because of the writer’s strike).
10. Cool Allusions: There have been at least two Sopranos references, if not more: “Juan Bolsa” (a a high-level member of the Juárez drug cartel) translates in English to “Johnny Sack,” a character on The Sopranos, and the opening episode of the fifth season, “Live Free or Die,” was also the title of a Sopranos episode. (Some have also likened Skyler to Carmelo Soprano).
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‘Live Free or Die’ is the state motto of New Hampshire. Walt has a New Hampshire driver’s license in the diner when he says it’s his birthday. That the Sopranos also had an episode take place in New Hampshire is probably incidental.
however, carmela and skylar are similar. i hate both of their characters.
On the pink stuff (and really spit balling here):
Walter & Family (White) + Death/violence (red) = Pink
Walt wears pink when he hurts people, and I think Holly White is gonna die.
that would be one way to turn viewers completely against him. brock is one thing, his own “infant daughter” is another.
I don’t think Gilligan would have Walt kill her, but if he did Walt will have gone full evil. Or maybe she doesn’t die. People dressed in pink have been around death but haven’t died, so I could be wrong.
Wait, you don’t think Walt has gone full evil by now?
The other obvious choice is that Walt kills Jesse Pink(man).
In “Abiquiu” – Badger tells Jesse that selling crystal to people in group is unnatural, “it’s like shooting a baby in the face.”
Its entirely possible that Walt gets in over his head gets his family killed and decides that as a last act he will exact revenge and that is why he was using a false identity and buying a machine gun , ready to just go out and inflict maximum damage with whatever he has left in him. His daughter being highlighted in pink may be an indication that someone places a bomb in her car seat.
More than likely Gus Frings family , it has yet to be revealed who or how dangerous they were. I mean the cartel head sparred him out of “respect” for his father or family.
I took that more as a sign that he knew Gus had been involved in the Pinochet regime and was someone he’d better not fuck with.
So maybe there’s some old Chilean revenge coming down the pike.
Oh, excellent point. I forgot all about Fring’s family. Another glaring blindspot for Walt, and another thing Mike knows that he doesn’t.
The common theory about reservoir dogs is that Mr.Pink was caught or even killed by the cops after he leaves the warehouse. If you listen closely you can hear him yelling at the cops and the cops yelling back. So maybe Jesse doesn’t get away but I don’t think he will die. Maybe he’ll turn Walt in and wear a wire. Here’s a link to the reservoir dogs audio
[www.youtube.com]
[www.youtube.com]
Some other “death talk” from the last episode:
Walt talking to Skyler on why he’s not selling his condo: “I’d get killed (in the current market)”
Ira from Vamanos assures his customer “We’ll kill ‘em dead”
And as mentioned, Walt & Jr. watching Scarface “Everyone dies…”
ps. love the Reservoir Dogs tie-in. Although I always pictured Saul as the shit-weasel who crawls out from his hiding spot & sneaks off into the sunset with all the loot post-shootout.
In Scarface, Tony Montana is in love with his sister Gina who eventually loses her mind. Looks like Skyler might be headed in that direction.
Given the examples given, could pink be more innocent (at least non-criminal) victims? It could also just show up a few times around girls.
There’s a lot of purple in the show outside of Marie. Saul wears a lot, but Walt has been seen wearing purples as well. I’m sure there are other examples. I kept wondering if it was supposed to symbolize anything, but eventually decided someone in wardrobe liked purple.
Another cool connection related to the Scarface references; Don Eladio was played by Steven Bauer, who played Manny Ribera (Scarface’s sidekick) in Scarface. Totally blew my mind when I realized it. Manny’s held up well all these years later, even if he’s doubled in size.
Also, Mark Margolis is Hector Salamanca in BB, and he played Alberto (the explosives guy) in Scarface.
[scarfacewikipedia.weebly.com]
Whoa — I definitely didn’t catch that Tio Salamanca was the one trying to blow up the kids in Scarface. Makes it even more fitting that he died from a bomb strapped to his wheelchair.
He also played Ace Ventura’s landlord, a fact I discovered on Comedy Central during an airing a few weeks ago. Quick analysis for you: it was a different sort of role.
Not that every season hasn’t been pretty great, but this little list (especially the Gus Fring video) really set in that stone that last season was some of the best on television.
I was pretty enthralled with each episode.
I look at 3 & 4 as one long winning streak. 3 just kicked it up a notch for me and 4 stayed on the plateau.
If they pull some “fade to black before we know who dies” bullshit Imma go Scarface myself.
better that than “it was just a dream”
The dream of the autistic son of Bob Newhart. In a snowglobe.
I think Marie is going to sleep with Walt because she feels bad for what (she thinks) Skylar did to him and then she will tell Hank and Hank will be all like. “What else is this man capable of?” and then he will “accidentally” drop a rock on Holly.
Mineral dude, mineral.
Eh, I think the “big shootout” theory is too obvious for Gilligan. I mean, half the internet is expecting it already. The season 4 finale was intense and unpredictable, and I think the series finale will be even more so.
That said, of all the mob movie variants for endings, I’d love to see a Goodfellas one. Why? Well I think they showed us the Scarface scene not to foreshadow Walt’s ending, but rather show us HOW WALT WANTS IT TO END. He’s gone full gangster and he wants to go out like one in a blaze of glory. So how great would it be to see him end up in witness protection, no longer a big shot meth kingpin but back to being a suburban chemistry teacher. This would be Walt’s ultimate tragic ending.
The Shield already did that.
My longshot guess is that at the end, Walt dies–of cancer. Full circle and shit.
He’s going to end up back at teaching or washing cars again. Not death but death in life. He’s a genius but he’s not smart enough to see that his only chance at happiness existed in season 1 episode 1….all the humdrum tedious daily living at his regular job with his regular house and normal life. But his ego HAD to have more. The cancer wasn’t a cayalst; it was just Walter’s excuse to build his empire. His family only feeds his own ego of himself. He will die of cancer alone….imagining himself in the very first scene after the RV crash of episode 1 season 1 lying there awake next to his wife. And he will realize that he’d give ANYTHINg to go back to that
Well one common theme i noticed and haven’t seen much talk about is Jesse and the protecting of younger boys.
Season 1 – Taking the fall for his Brother for the pot
Season 2 – The kid of the two meth addicts
Season 3 – Girlfriends brother Tomas
Season 4 – Brock gets poisoned and he does what he does to protect him
S5E05 gives a good continuance of this theme. I wonder what Jesse will do to calm his guilt over Dirtbike Boy
In the episode where Ted falls over and fractures his spine,
earlier in that episode Sklyar goes to visit to try and get him to write the check, and on the way to open the door to her he trips on the rug slightly
I think we all caught onto that one..
*on to
Gus’s dead partner Max’s full name is the name of the actor who played Krazy 8 in season 1.
No more cool facts or Chekov’s stuff, but Vince Gilligan on the BB Insider Podcast foreshadowed that episodes 5 and 7 are going to blow everyone’s mind.
I’m thinking 5 is going to have a sweet train robbery, and in 7, finally, one of our main cast members is going to bite it. My vote is for Mike. But I hope I’m wrong.
episode 5 is titled Dead Weight
guh Dead Freight
This may be the best thing I’ve ever read on UPROXX. Well done, sirs.
Shouldn’t it be “‘S All Good, Man”? The apostrophe marks the missing letters.
BTW – has no one mentioned the possible Scarface foreshadowing that Walt might try “getting high on his own supply?” It’s a stretch and too obvious at the same time, but still?
Nice. Surprisingly *not* obvious, since nobody has suggested that before (that I know of).
So the kid is wearing an Orange “all seeing eye” t-shirt? I don’t remember that specific scene but it sure sounds like the danger there is him knowing more than is safe for Walt to know.
Sorry, but #16 is wrong. Bit by a dead bee is a reference to To Have and Have Not. It’s a running gag with Walter Brennen’s character. “Was you ever bit by a dead bee/”
I picked that one up straight from Vince Gilligan (in a video on the AMC site about the show titles). It could be that HE’S mistaken about the movie?
If pink represents death, what does that mean for Mr. Pinkman?
What color does Mike’s granddaughter wear? If Walt does kill a child, I think he’d be much more likely to kill Mike’s only good thing in life than his own infant daughter.
As long as there is a dead baby “S all Good man”
If something happens to baby White, I expect it’ll be as collateral damage. But death is still death.
Gus Fring = Fring is a combination of the words Fries and Onion Rings.
Try them with Franch.
“Walt buys a machine gun. What was Tony Montana using when he died in a blaze of bullets? A machine gun.”
Tony Montana wasn’t using a “machine gun” he was using an M16 Assault Rifle with a Grenade Launcher, walt has an M60, THAT is a machine gun.
Maybe he just researched and discover that while he wants to go out like Tony Montana we would like to have a higher rate of discharge.
“higher rate of discharge” sounds like my time in the navy , HEY OOOOOOO!!! So many puns so little time.
When I was in the Navy, all of my discharges were dishonorable.
+1 @larry
I would actually die if #20 happened.
I’ve noticed a scene of foreshadowing that hasn’t really popped been mentioned here, but did find another mention of it during a Google search:
In “Bit by a Dead Bee,” a celebratory cake is given to Hank after he shoots Tuco. Later in the scene, when the cake is cut, they choose a specific spot on the cake to cut: [i.imgur.com]
I took it as foreshadowing Hank being shot in the stomach during “One Minute”
[tinypic.com]
Nice find. He also seems to be in a parking lot on the cake, even though he was not in a parking lot when he shot Tuco.
Dont know if this is of any merit or has any meaning. In the movie “Traffic” Madrigal is the name of the Mexican kingpin who everyone thinks is dead. When in fact he just staged his death.
In season four, episode 12, at the start of the episode, Walter spins his gun on the table twice and both times it points to him, and the third time he spins it, it points to the (unknown at the time) Lily of the Valley plant pot.
Episode title reference: “Cat’s in the bag and the bag’s in the river” is a line from the (great) movie Sweet Smell of Success. Title of which is, by the way, ironic.
“The cat’s in the bag, and the bag’s in the river”, is also a line delivered by Burt Lancaster’s character in Sweet Smell of Success, a movie about a powerful and brilliant man manipulating underlings/sycophants to get what he wants.
Gah! Just checked IMDB, and I misremembered who said the above quote. It’s actually Sidney Falco (played by Tony Curtis), the primary sycophant, who says that line.
Not sure if I still have a point.
HOLY SHIT THE RESERVOIR DOGS ENTRY JUST BLEW MY MIND. why can’t i be genius?
the mention of Holly’s potential death sent shivers down my spine. the fact that you think Walt might sacrifice his own daughter has me so worried what could happen in this show.
did anyone notice the dinging in the season premiere when mike and jesse/walt were meeting in the desert? it plays very quietly in the background.
Re: No. 6, episode titles referencing each other, you also have ‘Peekaboo’ (S2/E6) and ‘I See You’ (S3/E8). Plus, take note of all the episode titles of Season 2 that have the pink bear/crash cold-openers…
S5/E3 Is it The Three Stooges is playing on the tv by Walt and Jessie after they cooked in the tented house? 3 Stooges… Mike, Walt and Jessie. It’s a stretch, but a possibility. And the pool bear is missing an eye just like Gus.
It’s also a 3 Stooges episode with a gorilla, and it shows the Stooges getting shot in their @sses by said gorilla.
This was a great post, and great layout. Sincere thanks for not making me click through 20 slides.
Also, does anyone else wish they discovered this show AFTER it was said and done? Plowing through The Wire and Deadwood allowed me to, you know, THINK ABOUT OTHER THINGS.
In “Sunset” (S3/E6), when Hank has Jesse and Walt trapped in the RV, Hank pulls off the duct tape covering the bullet holes on the door. Inside the RV, we see 3 bullet-hole shaped patches of sunlight appear on Walt’s stomach. Possibly foreshadowing Hank shooting Walt?
Signed up just to say that the last episode of Season 4 is called “Face Off” and Gus literally has half his face blown off.
From the BB Wiki:
“Seven Thirty-Seven”, “Down”, “Over” and “ABQ” are the titles of four episodes in season two. When the teasers are viewed in order, it depicts a black and white short film called 737 Down Over ABQ that acts as a flash forward to events taking place immediately following the season finale.
So has anyone else mentioned that holly is another plant with toxic berries? There are conflicting sources as to how toxic, but it’s generally not a good idea to eat them, especially if you’re a kid. That poor pink-wearing plant-named baby.
Did anyone else notice throughout season 4 how Walt coughs more frequently, but it’s in scenes where dust/dirt are around. When he is taken to the desert with Gus….when he is in the crawl space…etc. Hinting at his cancer possibly coming back, as well.
For number 4, when Marie and Walt are looking after Holly (in S2E12), Walt tells Marie not to put Holly “on her tummy but rather on her side in case she decides to do a little spit up”. Which again, foreshadows Jane’s fate.
I have a theory that Holly White is going to die. The electrical socket is going to spark and go on fire and the ricin inside it will be released killing anyone in the vicinity. (More than likely Holly because she’s always in that room). This will also be sort of karma for Walt poisoning Brock.
That’s what I’d do if I was a writer on the show.
nice. Is it just me or was there less of the ricin in that little tube right after meeting Lydia for coffee. I think walk could have put it in her drink when she was writing down the 10 times but she got up and left before she finished it
looking at the colors,maybe this could be somthing:
in episode 2 madrigal,in the final scenes when the nanny is teaching spanish to lydia’s daughter,there is a sofa whit five pillows with 5 different colors pretty well arranged.the colors are yellow,orange green blue and red.also lydia’s daughter is trying to learn colors in spanish,and these colors are yellow,pink,blue green,brown,orange in this order.
in the first scene of the episode,you can see different colors in the sauces
yellow,orange,green,brown and red
and in the scene when mike walt and jesse are in mike’s kitchen if you look close at the fridge (when walt is focused) ,you can see a drawing that says:
“blue is good,yellow is…green is …. red is….”
i cant read it very well ,i have a poor quality video.
too many color references in this episode,what do you think?
one thing not mentioned here that i think may be intentional is a couple eric clapton references, i.e. when elliot, walt’s rich ex-chemistry partner, gets an eric clapton signed guitar for his birthday, and there’s jesse’s rehab guru who looks like clapton, both long and shorter haired versions, who killed his kid in accidentally while high on coke. the proposed theory involving color coordinated themes for death, danger, etc, posits that walt’s always pink-wearing baby will end up dead like the pink teddy bear that fell from the plane crash (albeit into a blue (meth) colored pool so maybe there’s hope for her yet), but going back to elliot, he gets the nice guitar part of clapton’s legacy while walt gets a drug problem and dead baby, which is an analogy for the unfair outcomes of their former partnership. not to mention- elliot stole walt’s girlfriend away a la clapton stealing george harrison’s wife, sending harrison into a bitter drug addled depression, which he overcame but ultimately died of lung cancer, which eventuality a certain mr. white still enjoys.
also, eric clapton and vince gill are frequent collaborators, so maybe vince gilligan just thinks it’s funny that his name’s almost vince gill.
Breaking Bad-11 letters
The Sopranos-11 letters
Tony Soprano-11 letters
Walter White- 11 letters
LOL I guess if you try hard enough you can find similarities between anything.
11… 1+1 = 2…and 11-2 = 9..
911… Whoa Cartman was right
Dear God, Breaking Bad will have a unsatisfying ending!
Pink does symbolize death, Walt’s death will come at the Hands of Jesse PINKman, this is as much a story about Jesse’s redemption as it is about Walt’s corruption.
So, from Reservoir Dogs,via Breaking Bad,we have Mr. White (Walt), Mr. Pink (Jesse), Mr. Orange (Hank) and now may I introduce you to Mr. Blonde (TODD)!!!!!!!!!!
nice!
one more thing not mentioned, they foreshadowed the S4 finale back in Gale’s apt
[25.media.tumblr.com]
A couple of instances of foreshadowing Gus’ face being blown half-off
[2.bp.blogspot.com]
[media.nj.com]
[i.ytimg.com]
there is no wire present in any of these screenshots. jesus christ
I just realized pink doesn’t mean that person dies, it means that person causes accidental death. Walt wears pink, plane explodes for example. Jessie wears red, murders Gale.
I’m sorry, but I can’t even see a wire in ANY of the pics. Can someone circle them?
oh sorry, wrong article.
What if, instead of Holly dying, she is instead the REASON for somebody’s death?
And becomes a twist in the foreshadowing?
Oooh I love the idea that Jesse PINKman might be the cause of Walt’s death… I gotta say, tragic endings are great and all, but I love a good redemption story. Jesse is my absolute favorite part of this show (if he dies I don’t know what I’ll do) and I would love if it ended with him becoming some kind of hero… I just love that him and Walt have been moving in complete opposite directions when it comes to character development, despite the fact that they’re in the same environment.
M60 Tracer Ammunition contains Strontium. Strontium can be used as a precursor in the manufacture of methamphetamine. The M60 rifle contains a gas cylinder, which can be utilized during the production of methamphetamine. The M60 rifle and tracer ammunition are going to be utilized to create a miniaturized meth lab… Or is Walter creating a Strontium derived cancer treatment?
Something to think about: If Walt is Now “scarface”, think about what happens at the end. He Kills his Best friend in a fit of rage… Will Walt Kill Jesse in Season 5 ?
This may have already been said somewhere, haven’t read all of the comments but I don’t believe pink means Holly will die, but someone will die around her or because of her. All of those people on the 737 died around the bear in pink. All of those people above Walt in the two jets died while he was in pink. Many people have died around Jesse Pinkman that were close to him as well. Also just noticed, Kaylee Ehrmantraut (Mikes Granddaughter) wore pink around him as well, possibly foreshadowing he was going to go. I think someone around Holly, probably in her presence, like Skylar, Walt Jr. or the whole family may end up getting killed, not necessarily her.
Jesse will find out all the crap things walt has done to him, like watching his girl die without helping her and poisoning Brock and he will kill or threaten and accidently kill one of walts kids…..
Just noticed that in Half Measure, Walt is sitting in a chair watching Jeopardy, holding a pink stuffed pig. Moments later, he learns of Tomas’ death, goes into the bathroom to call Jesse, and there is a pink towel on the counter, even the lighting looks pink. Fun to catch these little details when rewatching eps.
Here are two elements of possible foreshadowing in the first and last episode of season 5 that I have yet to see anyone comment about:
1. The roofing hammer from the evidence room is said to be from the Gutierrez case. The name Gutierrez means Son of Gutierre, which is derived from the Germanic name for Walter. Thus, Gutierrez means Son of Walter. Thus I believe that it is perhaps a Chekhov’s gun involving Walter Jr./Jesse or it will at least be revealed to be somehow related to Walt Jr./Jess (Interestingly, Gutierre means “he who rules”)
2. In the last episode, Marie is talking to Skylar by the pool about her hair. She asks Skylar if her hair is so shiny that she has a halo, and circles her head like a halo. This could mean a number of things. 1) Her name, Marie, combined with the halo suggests the Virgin Mary, so I’m wondering if she will become the surrogate mother for the White children, i.e. immaculate conception. 2) She and Hank are truly the most virtuous characters on the show 3) Marie may die and the halo foreshadows her ascent to heaven
Walt is going to die of cancer….at home with his family. Why? How do I know this? “Werner Heisenberg died of cancer of the kidneys and gall bladder at his home, on 1 February 1976.[142]” It’s also interesting to note that the real Hesenberg had twins….
Other coole Hesenberg facts: “his thesis was on the mathematics of turbulence.” “In May of 1925, Heisenberg came down with what might be the most important attack of hay fever in history. Seeking relief from sneezing, he holed up in Helgoland, a speck of land in the North Sea. While the change of atmosphere may not have cured his allergies, it did get him away from Bohr’s pestering. And there, he rewrote the book on physics.” “Despite the frustration it brought his peers, Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle survived every shot aimed at it. Eventually, it was adopted by everyone in the physics community—with the exception of Albert Einstein.” So then who is Einstein going to be?
In 1973, Werner Heisenberg was diagnosed with cancer. The disease apparently went into remission, but returned two short years later. He died in Munich on February 1, 1976. His unofficial epitaph is a fitting reflection of the Uncertainty Principle. It states, “He lies somewhere here.”
The very first scene of Breaking Bad when walter is lying in bed..the clock is 5:02. 502 has to mean something. Why would it be on THAT number. I think it’s a reference to the 502 “bad gateway” as in walter is about to embark on the worst gateway to hell any nerdy high-school teacher has ever seen
Very cool facts!
Good catch, ipresnel. 502 is also a medical code for Pneumoconiosis, which is interstitial lung disease. The detail of this show is insane.
[vsearch.nlm.nih.gov]