It’s been repeatedly mentioned in some of our past Breaking Bad discussions that episode five of this season — the one that aired last night — would be a heart-in-your-throat one, based on word leaked by members of the cast and Vince Gilligan himself. It did not disappoint.
Over the past few days commenters have speculated wildly about what was possibly to come. Example: “My guess Walt gives Holly the ricin” and “(Walt’s) going to wake up with Skylar pointing a gun to his head (mirroring what he said Jesse had done before he wnet to bed) and he’s going to strangle her to death”, etc. Well now we know exactly what went down.
So let’s get right to it, shall we? Here are a few notes I made during last night’s Breaking Bad about characters, scenes, etc. I found interesting for one reason or another.
- I kinda of had a feeling something bad was going to happen involving that kid as soon as I heard the train horns off in the distance during the opening scene. We all knew that the episode would involve a train heist — the previews shown after last week’s episode tipped us off to that — so I figured that he’d somehow wind up witnessing it. The question then was whether or not Walt and the gang would know that he’d witnessed it. Still, I never would have guessed that Landry from Friday Night Lights “Todd” would put a bullet in him. Such a Todd move.
- I will be disappointed if this episode doesn’t inspire an “Overeager Todd” meme.
- I don’t know about you guys, but this episode to me felt more like an action/heist movie than it did an episode of Breaking Bad and I, for one, LOVED IT. I could feel a mild lump in my throat and an uncomfortableness in my stomach as soon as that action movie-esque soundtrack started kicking in.
- When Walt began crying in Hank’s office the only thing I could think was, “Okay, what the hell is he up to?” I’d never have guessed he was there to bug it. Holy sh*t that was balls!
- Also, the bug Walt placed in Hank’s office behind the photo on his desk has to come back into play, right? Hanks going to find it at some point. He has to. Also, what the hell did Walt attach to Hank’s computer? Was that some sort of hacking aid?
- Once again, Jesse — the guy who I was sure would accidentally burn himself to death cooking meth early in the series — turns out to be the man with the plan, finding inspiration again while Walt and Mike squabble about how to work something out. Also, Jesse’s moment of revelation was framed in much the same way that it was in the magnets episode.
- Speaking of Jesse, I have a feeling that the well-put-together Jesse of this season may begin to unravel mentally and emotionally after witnessing the murder of the kid on the dirt bike. There’s no way he’s going to take this any way but unwell.
– “I am not your wife. I am your hostage.” — Skyler
- Actress Laura Fraser, who plays Lydia Rodarte-Quayle on the show, told Vulture last week that she still hasn’t met Vince Gilligan: “The episodes that he was there for, I’d just left or I wasn’t in the episode. So he’s like this majestic phantom that everyone talks about every day, all the time, that’s invented this whole crazy world — but I actually haven’t met him.”
- Speaking of Lydia, I LOLed hard when she hissed “asshole” at Mike after she’d been vindicated by the Hank bug.
- I imagine Walt must have felt like John Wayne when he was out in the desert wearing his Heisenberg hat preparing to rob a train.
- Skyler: “Out burying bodies?” Walt: “Robbing a train.” The nonchalance in Walt’s reply to his awful wife was kind of awesome, wasn’t it?
- “Everyone sounds like Meryl Streep with a gun to their head.” — Mike
- So I guess that “Flynn” is back now? Long live Flynn! WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?!
- I kinda love Jesse, Walt and Mike working together as a team. I was genuinely excited when they pulled off the train robbery — a train robbery — successfully. Too bad Buzzkill Todd had to come along and f*ck it all up.
- While I obviously found last night’s episode to be entertaining as hell, I think it’s safe to say that we’ve entered a phase in Breaking Bad history where plausibility has essentially been tossed out of the window. If destroying evidence held in a police station with a giant magnet didn’t do it, then robbing a train in the middle of the desert certainly did. However, I, for one, am fine with this. Others, like Vulture’s Breaking Bad recapper, not so much.
I’ve been willing to buy pretty much every violent event that Breaking Bad has presented thus far, because even if the action was spectacular (the midair collision, which was more an example of chaos theory than a direct result of Walt’s shenanigans; Hank’s nasty shoot-out with the cousins; Walt blowing up Tuco’s office and the nursing home and Gus’s lab) the circumstances were somewhat intimate. When I watched Walt, Jesse, Mike, and the gang digging holes in the desert with a steam shovel and somehow getting a freight train to stop exactly where they needed it to stop in order to siphon the chemicals and replace them with water delivered via tanker truck into the middle of friggin’ nowhere … I’m sorry, the more details I list, the sillier the whole thing seems.
- Once again, a Pacino gangster movie gets featured in the show. Didn’t everyone die at the end of Heat as well?
Your own thoughts and observations are of course welcome in the comments.
(GIFs via Chet Manley, KK Jordan, )
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“This is the second reference to Jesse James by Mike. Maybe someone in the gang of them kills Jesse James/Walt?”
Bingo. That’s all I will say.
Anyone else think that the DEA is in on everything? Hanks boss mysteriously promotes him JUST as he’s getting close to cracking the case? Too suspect.
Last week Mike told “Todd” and co. that Walt and Jesse’s names were “Sir”. When Todd was asking Walt and Jesse about why they needed a tank of water, Walt repeatedly kept using Jesse’s name. Walt just can’t stop “throwing jesse under the train”
As someone who has loaded and unloaded tanker cars of chemicals I was impressed with the attention to detail during the heist. (The dome lid, the internal valve, and having to put on a hose fitting.) My one problem was that they took the metal seals off. (The seals ensure that the car has not been tampered with, obvsly. They are numbered and are listed on the manifest/BOL.) When they were finished they put seals back on the car. Now, did they get random seals and say, “Fuck it.” (Not likely) Or did they somehow get doubles of the exact same seals and know what the numbers should be because, Lydia?
This is slightly unrelated to this episode, but I kind of feel like Skyler White is the Jerry from “Parks and Rec” of this show, has anyone made a mashup of these characters yet?
This is the second reference to Jesse James by Mike. Maybe someone in the gang of them kills Jesse James/Walt?
Bill Burr stole the show!
Anyone else notice the parallel between this anonymous kid playing with the tarantula and Jesse in the 2nd season playing with the roach he finds on the corner waiting for Skinny P, just before Skinny P shows up and unceremoniously smashes the bug?
Oh wow
While we’re talking about gangster movies:
Didn’t the wildcard third wheel of a certain group involving an older mentor and a young apprentice shoot a young kid named . . . Spider?
“What do ya want from me? Good shot. Fuckin’ rat anyway.” – Tommy DeVito
“Like the Mafia!?” – Jesse Pinkman
I love these recaps. The AV Club has great reviews too but the GIFs put these over the top.
Man, what a gut-punch of an episode.
Woo hoo! We robbed a train! We’re awesome! Science, bitches!
Then, Boom. Ho Lee Shit.
I for one hate the below rationale about Heat and comparing the tattooed loose cannon in Heat to Todd.
That guy flew off the handle. Todd is following directions.
“Noone, other than us, can ever know that this robbery went down. Nobody. Got it?”
He was following instructions.
Call me crazy, but when Walt makes up the name “Peter” for Skyler’s new shrink, co-executive producer Peter Gould’s name is on the screen. I instantly had a Usual Suspects flashback, and started drawing comparisons between Walter White and Kaiser Soze, who got away at the end, mind you.
That’s interesting. I’ve been wondering something like that this whole time. Everyone expects him to die in the end, but he may just slither away…
I do highly doubt that however at this point, it would just upset the fandom
Jesse will be the one to end Walter, but I doubt by that point he will want anything to do with the meth business. Maybe he gets back together with the Spanish girl (Andrea? I forgot). There is a chance Walt gets Jesse to wrongly kill Mike, Jesse finds out about that and the lilly of the valley and kills Walt.
Plus, in the teaser for next week, Mike says he’s “out”, but is that really an option when you’re this deep in the game?
I just assumed it was a revelation that he’s gay.
Not entirely sure why Skyler should be described as an “awful wife.” Yeah, she’s been good and bad and good and bad over the course of the series, and she’s gone along with Walt’s crimes, but this was all before she learned about (or realized) the explosions and guns involved. She’s been an incredibly sympathetic character this season because she genuinely wants no harm to befall her children. It’s easy enough to think of her as a “crazy” Ophelia, but let’s get real here: Walt’s an effing drug kingpin. Skyler didn’t sign up for this shiz, and sure as hell doesn’t want her kids involved.
Agreed. Skyler behaves in a way someone in reality would, rather than someone like Carmela Soprano who is all about repressing.
Does anyone else think Walt is going to try to get lydia to kill mike
I got a taste of that when he was talking to her about whether or not she had actually put a hit out on Mike. You could certainly see the wheels spinning in Walt’s head
Fun theory but you overlook one crucial detail: she failed to kill Mike.
2 solid Ideas for Jesse? I have a feeling he’s gonna turn into the next Heisenberg and end up maybe “taking care” of Walt. Maybe with ricin he made himself?
Predictions for next episode? Preview seemed to show Mike walking out on the group, but sans context who knows. I personally think Todd will have to go, and I think the buried hand from the preview is actually his
I don’t even want to begin to speculate what is going to down next week. I just want to know who was going after Jesse. FBI or DEA?
I would assume DEA. It looked like Gomie and another guy were spying on Mike earlier in the preview, then when the SUV pulls Jesse over Mike is with him there
The next Pacino movie Dog Day Afternoon or Carlito’s Way?
I’d pick Carlito’s… “criminal” lawyer, bad guy, and ya know Benny Blanco from the Bronx!
I do the same thing with soda as Jesse.
I still don’t understand why Skylar is regarded as an “awful wife” (and i hear so much worse than that about her from fans). I just don;t get it. To me she just seems kind of…fine…as a person. Like not pure evil like Walt has become, but also not so amazing that she was able to rise above the muck. She’s done a few bad things, but in the world of Breaking Bad, she’s pretty damn normal. I totally sympathize with her.
Its absolutely ridiculous! I dont know if its an underlying of sexism or the fact she actually stands up for herself but its no reason to rail on her as much as breaking bad fans do. I have noticed that in many shows that deal with badass guys their wives/girlfriends are immediately shafted as bitches who need to die.I think its safe to say that in this season Walter has become a villain and Vince G is asking us how far long are we willing to root for him. IMO Walter needs to punished for his actions and I hope Jesse is able to come out alive.
Seconded. And speaking of Jesse, the hubs and i debate after every episode who deserves to kill Walt the most: Skylar or Jesse? I’d be happy for either of them. Don;t think Skylar will make it long enough to get the satisfaction, though.
To be fair, not being evil/being normal and being annoying (like she was for most of series) aren’t the same thing.
I think Todd’s actions pretty much set things up as Jesse and Mike vs. Walt and Todd. Jesse and Mike aren’t going to be happy with an innocent person dying, let alone a kid. Mike already has a “too old for this shit” vibe going on and Jesse is just around to help Walt. Now that Todd has shown he will do whatever it takes to help Walt’s meth dynasty going, it seems like Walt should develop an affinity toward the kid—if he hasn’t already. Todd could easily replace Jesse as the cook’s assistant (plus he already works for the pest place so that’s an easier cover). Either way, the next three weeks are gonna be great.
Mike was the one saying he’d have to off the two man crew he is not above killing innocents and he didn’t show too much concern when the dealers offed Tomas.
I find it funny that of you analyze a movie/film to every little detail, you’re called a snob.
But if it’s Breaking Bad, everyone looks at EVERY single bit and talks about it. Huh.
Not a problem.
Rad ep though. I also didn’t find the kid killing shocking. Four seasons brutal, soul crushing moments, it’s going to be hard for me to feel shocked for random jar kid on a bike.
That’s Spider Boy to you mister!
Someone on the tumblr suggested that Flynn was only pissy because Marie makes a horrible breakfast. I can’t be convinced otherwise now.
That theory works for me.
I’ll buy that.
Good point. It’s probably nothing but a bowl of blueberries.
Lasagna is not a proper breakfast.
As the Tumblr kids say, this made LOLer
the reviewer at Salon also disliked the entire plot, saying it was too absurd, minus the child killing at the end.
man, Jesse is even looking more and more like Walt and Mike. he’s the last conscience of that trio.
and JESUS CHRIST LANCE WHAT THE HELL
Something about Walt knocking on “Flynn’s” door gave me the creeps in the worst way. You don’t want Walt knocking.
He is, after all, the one who knocks.
When I expected a twist/big moment, I thought it was going to be then when Walt say something “revealing” to Jr.
I was shocked that Lydia didn’t put the tracker on.
Another great misdirect.
When Lydia mentioned “dark territory” I was hoping the episode would take a turn towards Under Siege 2 rather than Heat.
just posted the same thing on the badass rankings.. glad someone else thought of that too. I’m not alone in my sadness.
Also, Jonathan Banks was in Under Siege 2: Dark Territory…
When she said “Dark Territory” I absolutely expected Pinkman to say, “Yeh, like Steven Segall!” with possibly a ‘bitch’ attached to the end of that.
Jesse: Katherine Heigl is in that and she’s a bitch, bitch!
guys this is Jesse 2.0 He hasn’t really been using the word bitch as much this season. He’s growing up.
One question I’m dying to ask Bryan Cranston is how has his portrayal of Walter White changed over these five years? What was he doing differently in the fifth season that he wasn’t doing in the first season? Did he plan this? How did he adapt to the character’s ever changing personality.
Has Mike ever used the expression “we’re not out of the woods just yet, kid”?
That’s such a Mike thing to say.
“Nothing stops this train. Nothing.”
/stops train
Whoops late to the party inn this one, apparently.
:p
The Heat reference was more contained to this episode, and not an “Everybody dies” moment.
“A movie about a heist where the robbers bring a new guy, who kills someone without permission, which starts a chain of events that leads to the downfall of the main character.”
ahh nice
The only one of the crew that lives is Chris (Val Kilmer’s character)—the overeager protege whose wife takes the fall so that he escapes.
The refrence to Heat/Scareface to me is just more about how Hank/Walt Mirror each other. Hank graduates up the peckign order of the DEA the same way as Walt is moving up the criminal ranks even season 4 was a bit of a stagnant time for them and in the end both won.
Walt watches the movies about the Bad Guys while Hank watches movies about the Cops.
More Bill Burr!!
Pacino (The Cop) and Val Kilmer (young apprentice tyep) are left standing at the end while DeNiro (the bad guy anti-hero and audience favourite) ends up dead.
Just another curve ball to contradict the Scarface reference.
Hank likes Heat, since it’s the Cop that eventually closes in on the bad guy.
It’s the Cartel in Scarface. I have a feeling that the cartel is not completely done as we are lead to believe
I was actually kind of hoping for the “Todd is an undercover cop” theory to shake out, but I guess that’s not the case.
That’s what I thought as well.
“Todd’s OBVIOUSLY a narc! It’s all so planned! Telling Walt and Jesse about the Nannycam and gaining their trust! At the end of the episode he is gonna pull out his badge and… Oh… well… I guess I was wrong.”
Same here. I was convinced.
Wow, great episode.
That wouldn’t prevent me from thinking he’s a cop. Who is a jury going to believe shot the kid, the cop or the killer drug lord?
Hilariously Insane Theory: The diluted/missing methlylamine will, according to Walt, supposedly be blamed on China, which through Chaos Theory and whatnot, would lead to Walt indirectly causing World War III between China and The U.S, ala causing the planes to crash into each other in season two.
Hey, a guy can dream, right?
Red Dawn remake is Walter Whites fault? Fuck!
Carlin isn’t a fan of guys named Todd [youtu.be]
Pretty sure the Heat reference was relevant because in that film a new guy whose credentials hadn’t been checked by the gang killed a witness and the whole heist went to shit. As for the thing Walt attached to Hank’s computer it seemed like some kind of tracing/hacking device that would allow them to view anything Hank does on his computer.
He didn’t kill a witness. He raped a teenage prostitute. Semantics.
Stringer, before he kills the hooker, he goes all Mr. Blonde on the armored truck driver at the beginning of the movie, ergo, killing a witness. Either way, the point about an unproven loose cannon fucking everything up has been made.
Oh yeah, he shoots the deaf guard. Completely forgot about that.
Wait, the guard was actually deaf? Holy shit, I’ve seen the movie 3-4 times and never got that.
If I remember correctly, the guards’ eardrums were blown out in the attack and they couldn’t hear.
I think the mentioning Pacino of movies where everyone dies at the end is a red herring.
Skyler is not awful, for fuck’s sake.
I can’t help but be absolutely infuriated by everything about her even though she is mostly an innocent party.
Yes she is. The Whites could still have a perfectly comfortable, normal family life if it weren’t for her and her boss-fucking ways.
She used to be awful, but I feel like she’s a fairly sympathetic character right now, because she’s so scared shitless of Walt.
Betty Draper, however, can die in a tire fire.
Yeah, because Walt selling meth and not taking a job at Grey Matter had nothing to do with their current state of affairs.
Betty is harder to stomach, but I can feel some empathy. Mostly only because during that time some women were raised to be eternally childish, and she was one of them.
You can blame Walt and his rash, prideful decisions all you want, but in your heart you know it’s much more fun to blame Skyler.
@Rhelgy I can buy that about Betty, but I think it really says something when every time she appears on screen, I want to turn off the show and give up on it completely. EVERY. TIME.
Poor fat Betty.
Agreed. My theory is that too many dudes who watch this show project their feelings about their own exes onto her, never mind that she’s holding up extraordinarily well for someone who is married to a meth cook with zero qualms with murdering people and poisoning children. Guess I won’t be reading these recaps if that’s the recapper’s opinion of her.
Bert, I gotta disagree with that. I know AMC doesn’t paint their female characters in a great light, and it’s become cool to womem bash on the ‘net (wonder why?), but Skyler was supportive from the start, all her awfulness was a reaction to her husband deciding to be a metn dealer/murderer, etc. I don’t like the character much, but she is a prime example of a confused person being pushed to the point of insanity.
I’ve actually defended Skyler in past recaps. But then I just wind up hating her again when she does shit like her pool stunt.
Dude, what else could you do, but just go absolutely batshit? If anything, her pool stunt could be good for people who want to see her go. Walt could kill her, make it look like suicide, and Hank & Marie may not question it. Then again, it is Breaking Bad, and everything could backfire horribly.
I just want Skyler to have a hand in Walt’s death. Her and Jesse need to cross paths again, seriously. It’s worse than when Diablo Cody didn’t have Jason Bateman and Michael Cera interact AT ALL in Juno.
The amount of PURE HATE for any woman who causes problems for the main male characters in a TV show is unreal. See the Betty Draper comments. Out of all the male pieces of shit on that show, people hate her most. Why? Well I guess she’s a bad mom and pretty annoying. But when you think of what the guys on that show are like, how does she REALLY rate on the “awful” scale?
I agree. Everyone has their faults and are victims of their time period, but Betty was screwed over by Don for sure.
@beatrixkiddo I think because of all the men who are “pieces of shit” on the show none of them are as selfish and childish about it as Betty is. Betty is always one to pass the buck of her own actions and unable to admit that she could have ever done anything wrong. Don tries to run from his actions, but knows they’re there. Pete is a completely jackass, but knows it and doesn’t care. Betty wants to blame everyone else for her problems. Sally, Megan, food, Don (even if he’s not around), whoever. It’s never heard fault. How do you like a character like that?
@Charie Potatoes, well I guess, if we want to take Pete for an example, being a rapist, serial cheater on his awesome wife, pimp, entitled whiner who hates every good thing that he’s given (just to name a few reasons I hate that guy), makes him more hateable. The fact that he “knows and doesn’t care” is not a virtue. And incidentally, he also blames everyone else for his disappointments. More hate-able character, and even though I do see a lot of hate for him, I see even more for Betty.
@beatrixkiddo Let me be clear, him knowing and not caring he’s a piece of crap (see his shoulder shrug) is not meant to be a virtue. It’s just something he and every other character other than Betty have done. There’s just no reason to sympathize with Betty. There a few more reasons, in Pete’s case, why it can feel like he’s less hated. He adds more to the story then Betty does right now. She’s was largely useless last season. The show makes him more fun to hate. There’s always some schadenfreude there (the best being his beat down at the hands of Lane). The internet damn near exploded over his butt kicking. I don’t go looking around for Mad Men talk, but it seems about even between him and Betty to me.
I found myself trying not to vomit the last four minutes of the episode because, you’re right, it totally felt like a heist movie and not an episode — also loved it!
Can we talk about the difference between s1 Walt & s5 Walt? Like, he just stood there and watched that kid get killed, didn’t even flinch. Remember when he couldn’t even kill Crazy 8 in Jesse’s basment!?
ALSO — I could be wrong about this and, if so, I’m totally fine with that. But in the first ep. when Walt drives the RV into a ditch, the guy that has to come tow them out — was that the same “good samaritan” from last night or am I just going nuts?
About the Good Samaritan – I don’t think so. Dude from the pilot looked hardcore Native American
Just rewatched that episode — totally different guys. The tow truck driver was much fatter.
Okay — just wanted to make sure. For some reason, that guy seemed so familiar.
probably to give Hank some privacy. No one wants to see a grown man cry
“I think it’s safe to say that we’ve entered a phase in Breaking Bad history where plausibility has essentially been tossed out of the window”
You are correct. There isn’t a chance in hell a train that heavy would stop in the distance they portrayed in that scene. More likely a mile or two.
I’m o.k. with it. The show kicks too much ass for me to nitpick
man, I Hank had that condescending interrogation tone of voice when he talked to Walt. I absolutely thought he was playing dumb and leaving the room on purpose so Walt could set up his device. I think Hank’s playing Walt
it did seem interesting that Hank closed the blinds before he left the room.
I don’t think so,
With Walt turning into a bubbling mess, I found it very likely that Hank would draw the blinds.
I agree, plus I get the feeling that Hank isn’t really the crying shoulder type
@ Andrew, Hank is “manly man” he finds crying embarassing/sad for the wrong reason and didn’t want to be seen next to another guy crying. Mostly because he doesn’t know how to deal with his emotions. He’s a rock, I mean a mineral and minerals don’t have emotions.
Lol’d at mineral :p
Walt playing Hank like that felt so evil. It turned the series for me fully into Hank vs Walt. The nail in the coffin being Hank playing with the baby while Walt plots a heist.
The best part was the beat between “You’re a good provider” (Walt smiles a little) “and a good role model” (smile disappears)
Nothing stops this train, nothing….
Holy shit….that’s good!
While watching the final 5 minutes my wife walked into the room and began to talk, I immediately held up the palm and shushed her and it worked. Not only that but she sat down and watched. This show is fuckin magic. The trio have finally gone over the line. Not as “oh my god” inducing as killing Holly/Mike or sending the crowd home happy as killing Skylar but still. The gif above with Todd shooting motorbike Jimmy is perfect as Jesse reacts the way Jesse would but Walt not even flinching is perfect and damming for who he has become.
Walt did flinch a little when the gun went off, but for the most part, you are correct. You have to wonder if he evens cares about his family all that much at this point.
I was expecting more in terms of characters, you know, like everyone was expecting Mike/Skylar/Holly to die. But this was pretty exciting, I got lost in time and I was pretty pissed when I saw the end credits, I have to wait a damn week now.
I’m guessing Skyler can’t bring herself to say Walt’s name much, let alone call her son by it. So she goes back to Flynn.
Oooh, that’s good. I read some review somewhere that made the connection between trying to appease a pissed off Walt, Jr. by calling him Flynn
Maybe, but Marie was calling him Flynn earlier in the episode, it probably just means he’s pissed off with his dad again for not telling him anything.
Brilliant.
@AfternoonDelight–Unless Marie just heard Skyler using it and figured it was back.
Personally, I’d love it if he just changed his name to “Tony Montana”.
I would still venture a guess that this is the tip of the insane action iceberg. I mean, considering Dean Norris’ comments last week concerning an upcoming scene–there was nothing in this episode that mirrored what he said (trying not to spoil for those who do not wish to know). Over all, great episode.