‘Breaking Bad’ Discussion: Skyler’s Terrible Pool Party

I’m kinda short for time today 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.

– Man I’m gonna miss that Pontiac Aztek. Scenes of Walter White, drug kingpin — especially when he was coming unhinged — driving around in that oh-so-bland, middle-American hooptie made me giddy at times. RIP Aztek.

– I think it’s safe to say that by shedding the Aztec and embracing the Heisenberg look during non-business hours that Walt is allowing himself to more fully morph into Heisenberg — it’s like he’s slowly coming out of the closet or something. Walter White has no more f*cks left to give, obviously. He is, for all intents and purposes, Heisenberg now, 24/7.

– Oh was that dubstep playing in the opening scene?! Oh yes it was! Score some cool points for Skrillex. (I can’t believe I just said that.)

– Okay, let’s just go here: Walt is gonna kill Skyler, isn’t he? A few of you have suggested in past discussions that the existence of a cigarette filled with ricin coupled with Skyler’s frequent chain-smoking can mean only one thing: that she will, either accidentally or because of Walt, smoke a cigarette laced with ricin. To me this almost seems too obvious, but it’s becoming more and more apparent that Skyler is going to be a human problem who will get in Walt’s way, and we all know by now that Walt doesn’t care for people who get in his way. With that said, I can also very easily see Skyler plotting to kill Walt out of fear. Either way, sh*t is about to go down, I think.

– “Life is good, Skyler.” — Walter White

– I know a lot of people still find Skyler to be the Betty Draper of Breaking Bad, but I’m finding myself feeling increasingly sympathetic with her, to the point that last night I actually found myself rooting for her to win and Walter to lose. Walter may have gone and jumped the likeability chart for me. I’m just have much more difficulty rooting for him than I did in seasons 1-4. He’s undeniably evil and the qualities that made him redeeming have slowly faded off into the distance.

– On the other hand, regarding Skyler, she does seem to be slowly drifting toward insanity, doesn’t she. I mean, the whole scene with the pool — while beautifully creepy and all — seemed to me as something intended to lay a foundation for her sanity to be called into question later on. Also, WTF was up with Skyler’s eyebrows? Was I the only one who thought something weird was going on? Specifically, that they were hardly there? Did she shave them off? Does her going crazy make her more or less likely to try to kill Walt?

– I’m guessing that Walt and Skyler have no friends outside of Hank and Marie? Because I can’t remember them ever doing anything socially with anyone else. EVER.

– This has to be some sort of symbolic omen, right…

– Meanwhile, I suppose Hank accepting a job transfer can only mean one thing: dumbass Gomie taking over as lead guy investigating the activities of the local meth trade. How long before Hank grows frustrated by Gomie’s impotence and demands to be sent back to chase Heisenberg?

– “He changed his mind about me, Skyler. And so will you.” — Walter White

– LOVED the closing scene showing with the watch on the nightstand. The clock is indeed ticking on Walter White and it’s getting louder and louder. I heard Vince Gilligan say in an interview that the fifth episode of this season is going to blow people’s minds. So buckle your seatbelts for next week, kids.

Your own thoughts and observations are of course welcome in the comments.

(GIFs via Chet Manley)

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