Breaking Bad

It appears Gus is "playing" Jesse to see what will happen. What does one do when they have "all" that money laying around.

It seems someone is playing with us too. Boy, that episode was pretty hinky!

There was a couple of amusing scenes last night. When Walt was talking to Jessie on the phone while he was riding with Mike, and asked him where they were going, Jessie says north. The very next scene shows the car going east toward town on the road through Laguna Pueblo that parallels I-40 west of town.

Then after picking up the money bag out at the abandoned ranch (the location scouting guy must find those places by helicopter) they were back in town picking up another one at the old A T & SF locomotive maintenance facility on First St., along the tracks. It's been deserted for over 40 years and has appeared in many productions. A production company bought it a few years ago, I think they rent it out for filming. There was a plan to create a railroad museum there but the financing never came through. After that they're out of town picking up more bags, then in the last pick-up scene after dark they're back at the maint. facility !, in the alley. That's where the set-up went down and Jessie "escapes". You may ask why he didn't get both bags the first time they were there....but of course it was supposed to be somewhere else......for non-Albq. viewers.... :lol:


AMC Renews ‘Breaking Bad’ for Final Season
by Associated Press
Aug 15th, 2011 | 7:51 AM | Comments 0

NEW YORK — The AMC network and producers of its popular “Breaking Bad” series about a chemistry teacher gone bad have agreed on making a fifth and final season of the show.

Production on the final, 16-episode run will begin early next year and hasn’t been scheduled for air.

Negotiations with series maker Sony Television had reportedly been tense, with Sony even contacting other networks to see if they’d be interested in picking up the show if AMC bowed out. The cable network, with another costly and popular series in “Mad Men,” was looking to keep expenses down and had been seeking a shorter run of episodes.

Watch Full Episodes Of “Breaking Bad” On XfinityTV.com

Producers may have gained leverage with the strong performance of the series in its fourth season this summer. The season debut on July 18 had the series’ highest ratings ever, and overall “Breaking Bad” has 28 percent more viewers this season than it had the last, the Nielsen Co. said.

Actor Bryan Cranston has won three Emmy Awards for his portrayal of lead character Walter White, who uses his chemistry knowledge to become a drug kingpin after receiving a cancer diagnosis.

“This is a great gift to me and my wonderful writers,” said Vince Gilligan, series creator. “It’s knowledge which will allow us to build our story to a satisfying conclusion. Now, if we don’t manage to pull that off, we’ve got no one to blame but ourselves.”

The series premiered in January 2008.

Sara Bibel: Deep Soap

‘Breaking Bad’ Preview: Heavy is the Head that Wears the Crown
by Sara Bibel
Aug 21st, 2011 | 9:50 AM | Comments 0

“Breaking Bad’s” Walter White (Bryan Cranston) is not in charge of his own life. He has to keep his boss, the terrifyingly efficient meth dealer Gus (Giancarlo Esposito) happy, because for a drug chemist screwing up on the job means getting killed, not getting fired. He needs to keep his careless, emotionally fragile partner Jesse (Aaron Paul) in check, especially now that Gus has manipulated him into believing that he plays an important role in the drug organization. His wife Skyler (Anna Gunn) just allowed him to move back home. One argument, and he could find himself packing his bags again.

This week, Walter finally gets to be the boss — of a car wash. In this preview, the car wash’s former owner schools Walter, telling him that being the boss is more about fulfilling responsibilities than telling others what to do. He also suggests that Walter, who despite his numerous flaws seems anything but lazy, lacks the work ethic to became the boss.

Is he right? Is Walter always behind the eight ball because he lacks leadership qualities, or is it because he works with violent, ruthless people? Will he be the king of the car wash? Or will his employees walk all over him? Or will Skyler end up running everything? Will Jesse realize that he is Gus’s pawn? Will Walter figure out that Gus has manipulated Jesse? Will viewers learn why meth dealers drive such ugly, old cars? Will they wash their ugly cars at Walter’s car wash? Will the car wash accept competitor’s coupons? Tune in Sunday night and find out

Yep, I'll be there....

If you study the writing techniques that Gilligan uses, things jump out at you as examples of great, economical writing. Last night in the second scene with Mike and Jessie in the restaurant, Gus comes in and asks Jessie to step outside while he talks to Mike. In about 5 lines of dialog he finds out how Jessie is doing with Mike, he tells Jessie that he is doing well, Jessie finds out why he's chosen to be Mike's "helper".

Try writing all that in a conventional way. It would take pages of dialog and be redundant of scenes we've already seen.

Banjo wrote:If you study the writing techniques that Gilligan uses, things jump out at you as examples of great, economical writing. Last night in the second scene with Mike and Jessie in the restaurant, Gus comes in and asks Jessie to step outside while he talks to Mike. In about 5 lines of dialog he finds out how Jessie is doing with Mike, he tells Jessie that he is doing well, Jessie finds out why he's chosen to be Mike's "helper".

Try writing all that in a conventional way. It would take pages of dialog and be redundant of scenes we've already seen.

You are absolutely right. Great writing +great cast = successful show. And that looks easy...but it takes something special to get it right. Gilligan is excellent.

Also they do a good job of portraying meth heads and their living conditions. There have been cases here that when things got really bad in a meth head's house, the neighbors started complaining about bad smells.....and the cops showed up. If those scenes don't dissuade someone from trying meth, I don't know what will. Of course those people aren't watching BB or the other BB.... :lol: or any other TV...

‘Breaking Bad’ Preview: Walt Would Like to Buy the World A Coke
by Sara Bibel
Aug 28th, 2011 | 9:13 AM | Comments 0

This week on “Breaking Bad,” Skyler (Anna Gunn) becomes the only wife who has ever complained that her husband is making too much money. It’s not that she wants to go back to the days when Walt (Bryan Cranston) was a school teacher who needed to moonlight in order to pay the bills. It’s that she has to figure out a way to launder all of his drug money. In this scene from Sunday’s episode, “Problem Dog,” Walter breaks the news that he is a millionaire seven times over. Skyler realizes that there is no way she’s going to be able to be able to pass off all that money as profits from the car wash that they purchased. Perhaps she should have bought a website or a hedge fund. Nobody understands how they work.

Note that this this clip features a very special guest star: Coca Cola, in regular, Diet and Coke Zero form. The camera lingers on the cases of it that Walter is using to hide stacks of cash. Coke also made a cameo last week, when Walt used the first dollar that was ever earned at the car wash to buy a can of the cola from the car wash’s vending machine. The question is: did Coca Cola pay for this product placement? Does it want to be known as the beverage of choice for meth manufacturers? Is the company hoping that “Breaking Bad’s” allegedly (what do you mean "allegedly, Ms. Bibel ? :lol: ) upscale, educated viewers associate Coke Zero with their favorite show? Is this part of a stealth campaign to market cases of Coca-Cola as an alternative to a bank account? Or are Coca Cola’s public relations executives going to blow a gasket when they see this episode?

In non-beverage related storylines, according to AMC’s website, “A frustrated Walt gambles on a risky new plan.” That is the vaguest description ever, which probably means that Walt is going to do something shocking and cool that the network does not want to spoil. Also, “Hank recruits Walter, Jr. for an unusual outing.” Perhaps as Hank (Dean Norris) attempts to regain his mobility, he’ll finally do the obvious and reach out to his nephew who has been using crutches for his entire life.

Sara Bibel: Deep Soap
‘Breaking Bad’ Preview: Up in Smoke

by Sara Bibel
Sep 11th, 2011 | 11:19 AM | Comments 0

This week’s “Breaking Bad” preview clip is a shocker: it actually has to do with the main storyline. No more scintillating drama surrounding Skyler’s purchase of the car wash. This signifies that we have actually reached the point in the season where everything is going down. There is no filler in the episode. Or it could mean that the AMC promo staffer got mixed up because while this clip has nothing to do with the car wash, there are cars in every shot. The vehicles belong to Walt and Jesse. If you love to mock Walt’s Pontiac Atzek, you’ll be in heaven.

Executive producer Vince Gilligan promised that Walt would do things that would shock the audience this season. In this clip, he sure does. (Hint: it’s not violent, just incredibly reckless for someone who has lung cancer. Then again, Walt is convinced his days are numbered, so why not take a few physical risks?)

This preview also reveals Jesse’s favorite TV show. If he were a fan of on-the-nose analogies and network cross promotions, he’d love “The Walking Dead,” but his choice does work as a subtle metaphor for his life, in that it involves completing a dangerous task with precision in a hostile environment. Ice Road Truckers ! One of my favorite shows too. Great minds think alike !

Will Jesse get the nerve to attempt to kill Gus via a poisoned cigarette? Will Walt get recruited by the CIA for coming up with such a deliciously Cold War era murder plan? Will Walt have a heart attack when he and Hank return to Los Hermanos to retrieve the tracking device that they placed on Gus’s car? Tune in to Sunday’s episode, “Bug,” and find out.

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So I guess Walt and Jesse are "over" for good ? That particular scene could almost have doubled for the season finale, but they have two more to go.

There was only one thing wrong with Skylar playing the "dumb blond" and getting the feds to drop the case against Beneke. That agent would have caught 'heck' if he closed the case without getting some cash out of Beneke, even if he didn't go to prison. So he would have found some way to fine him even if the statutes didn't support it.

BTW, go here if you want to see where the various scenes are filmed. Somewhat out of date...

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You will recall that last year I posted some pics of Jesse's and Jane's duplex. I haven't bothered with the rest of them. The car wash that the White's bought and where Skylar is apparently making money by the buckets full, is an Octopus car wash. There are plenty of those around town but this one used to be an independent operation that has been on the corner of Eubank and Menaul, long before the Octopus chain came to town. Which is why the size and style of the building is different than the standard Octopus layout.

If you have Google Earth you can see it by entering 9516 Snowheights Circle NE , Albq, NM.

Snowheights Cir. is a little, curved connecting road on the SW side of the intersection of Eubank and Menual.

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I'll say one thing...this show never disappoints....When the credits started rolling Craig and looked at each other and both of us had our mouths open. Jaw dropping stuff! I really enjoyed it.

I think Walt and Jesse will come full circle and be together but it might be brief. I'm thinking Gus has got nowhere to hide....

Jeez, that was quite an episode. Gilligan keeps coming up with "didn't see that coming" plot twists. I thought Gus cut it pretty close on when to throw up the poison. People outside are already dropping when he threw it up, and without drinking water beforehand it wouldn't be possible to throw up every bit of the poison. Of course he was affected and Jessie and Mike had to drag him out of there, but I guess he survives. It was interesting that one of the Mexican drug dealers cars was a De Tomaso Pantera. The three of them wouldn't have fit in it so Jessie had to settle for an old Cadillac. And you have to wonder how they get out of Mexico, driving, without arousing the suspicions of the Federales...

Also, I need to DVR a repeat and see exactly how many shots Jessie and the capos exchanged in that gun fight. With a standard size magazine in each 9 mm, they would have 21 shots between them. There are 15 round magazines that will fit those guns, they are readily visible if used and Jessie definitely didn't have one in his gun, couldn't see the capo's guns clearly enough to see. Anyway, I counted 20 shots from memory so I think they stayed within the bounds of reality. I sweat this stuff....be thankful you don't ..... :lol:

Now I'm off to research the registration number of the plane they flew to Mexico in. Is it real ? Where they landed the plane looked like the big , open prairie between Belen and the Manzano mntns. It always has that dried, tall grass. I've never seen it green.

2:10 pm:

Well, after searching all over the web I can verify that at least part of the registration number is legitimate. The XA identifies it as a commercial aircraft registered in Mexico . The 8AC is more problematic because Mexico uses just alphabetic characters in the reg. # not numerics. So the 8 shouldn't be there according to all the sources I've found. The sequence would be XA-AAA to XA - ZZZ. Also it's very hard to find any complete listings of all Mexican Reg #'s online. Other people are noticing this. One guy in Canada working at an airport noticed that there are a lot more XA numbers showing up there, but when he tried to find any of the suffixes listed he couldn't. The Mexican equivalent online of our FAA only list the total number of prefixes but doesn't list individual aircraft, unlike the U.S. , U.K. , Canada or most other leading aviation users. It's a puzzle. I'm not giving up...........

It's too bad that BB wasn't eligible for Emmy consideration this year because of their scheduling. If it had been, Cranston would have won his 4th Emmy solely on the basis of his performance last night. When he was down in the "crawl space"....wow !

I highly agree Banjo. As far as I'm concerned he's in a class of acting all by himself. Last week I couldn't imagine how they would top that episode and then last night's episode just left me speechless..Friends at work who are watching it say the same thing. This is what TV should be.

He's in that new movie "Drive" and in the "John Carter of Mars", coming out next year. But both those roles can only pale in comparison to Walt White.

I agree Banjo. I've seen him in other things but I really enjoy his portrayal of Walt....what a mess...

That was a good season finale. With Gus gone and the cartel gone, mostly, and the meth lab blown up, we have to wonder what Walt and Jesse will do next season. It doesn't seem likely that they would go back to cooking in a motor home, that would be small potatoes, plus their customer base would now have to be individual meth-heads on the street corners since Gus' distribution system and high volume customer base is gone. I'm sure Gilligan has something unexpected up his sleeve.

Of course both Walt and Jesse have murder charges hanging over their heads assuming they can be connected to the murders. Mike is still the "loose cannon", with knowledge of everything that has gone on and he hasn't been in the last couple of episodes so he may play a pivotal role next season.

When Gus came out of the room after the explosion and we saw only his left side, I thought, "Wait a minute, he walks out of there in one piece after standing 5 feet from a couple of pounds of a C4 explosion ? (it looked like that was what Walt cooked up )." But then we see that the right side of his head was missing. Of course that was done for dramatic effect since it's highly unlikely he would be ambulatory in such condition. The other two were probably "distributed" around the room. Normally you would feel sympathetic for the poor assisted living home janitors and staff that would have to clean that mess up but since they can't touch it as a crime scene and after the ATF and FBI, etc. get through carting off all the "evidence" there might not be so much left to clean up....a lot of scrubbing, wall replacement, painting of course.

In the last scenes where Walt was standing on the top level of the parking garage we could see that those scenes were filmed during our smokey period last summer from the forest fires in AZ. You could barely see the sun and the horizon was socked in.

And next week starts the new season of The Walking Dead !... We will survive bunkies !!!

Breaking Bad’s Jaw-Dropping Finale: The Walking Dead
by Sara Bibel
Oct 10th, 2011 | 8:58 AM | Comments 0

There was a scene in the fourth season finale of “Breaking Bad” that will still be remembered a decade from now. It was clear for weeks that Gus (Giancarlo Esposito) was going to die. He was hellbent on killing Walt (Bryan Cranston), and without Walt, there is no show. The question was how Walt was going to find a way to kill the fiendishly clever, cautious, and always protected drug dealer.

Last week, Gus managed to avoid Walt’s car bomb. But the bomb had his name on it, and sooner or later it was going to go off. An increasingly desperate Walt brought the bomb into the hospital. Would Walt blow up the Pediatric ICU? No. Two cops took Jesse (Aaron Paul) away for questioning because his insistence that Brock was poisoned by ricin aroused suspicion. Jesse managed to stonewall the cops by claiming he learned about the poison on “House.” How many real life criminals have cited “Breaking Bad” during interrogations?

Catch Up On Last Week’s Episode:

Walt managed to track down an AWOL Saul (Bob Odenkirk) after retrieving 25 grand from the crawlspace to bribe his secretary – an operation that involved him sending his elderly neighbor to check on his house as a decoy for Gus’s minions. That established Walt no longer had any qualms about risking innocent people’s lives.

I half expected the neighbor to be shot when she stumbled across Gus' henchmen in Walt's house, but they missed seeing her....

Saul learned from Jesse, who he could not get released, that Gus occasionally met with Tio Hector at the retirement home. It was the one place where Gus might be vulnerable. So Walt persuaded Tio — who it has been established, hates him — that he had the power to get revenge on Gus. Tio used his bell and letter board to persuade his nurse to take him to the DEA, where he thoroughly enjoyed spelling out curse words for Hank.

Gus learned from his watchful minion that Tio spoke to the DEA and went to his room to confront him. He tells him that no man talks to the DEA, asks if this is how he wants to be remembered. Tio keeps ringing his bell. Gus, and we, realize that his wheelchair is rigged with Walt’s bomb. The bell detonates it. Esposito brilliantly conveys Gus’s horror as he realizes what is about to happen to him. Then comes the most amazing shot: Gus walks out of the blown-up room. He straightens his tie. How did he manage to survive? Then the camera zooms in to reveal that half of his face has been blown off! In retrospect, the episode’s title, “Face Off” was one hell of a spoiler. He falls to the ground, dead. RIP, Gus. You were one of TV’s greatest villains. You deserved to have an awesome, memorable death scene.

The toxicology report clears Jesse. It turns out Brock was not poisoned by ricin after all, but by Lily of the Valley, a plant that kids accidentally ingest all the time. He and Walt set the meth lab on fire, destroying all evidence of Gus’s empire. Walt chillingly gloats to Skyler that he’s won. Then, in the episode’s final reveal, the camera focuses on a Lily of the Valley plant in Walt’s backyard. Yes, Walt poisoned a child, risked his neighbor’s life, risked the lives of everyone in the nursing home, and lied to everyone he cares about, so he could get what he wanted. The transformation of Mr. Chips into Scarface is nearly complete.

I must admit that I didn't connect the Lily of the Valley in Walt's yard with Walt doing the poisoning. I thought it would be a 'mystery' until next season when we would find out who did it. The L of V in Walt's yard being a 'symbol' but not necessarily the actual source used in the poisoning of Brock. Of course this all ran through my head in about 3 seconds so I should have "calmed down" and realized the truth. Maybe that's why I don't write show reviews for a living. :lol:

we'll need some of these. I think I'll get the Pollo one.

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Lalalalala, can't hear you!!! Not reading these last few posts because I'm only starting the 4th season. I was told to check it out, so I started watching it on Netflix Friday evening. It's already Monday night! :what?: I've lost track of my days. This is my new favorite way to watch TV -- all at once! I love Netflix! It's going to be harder to find these season 4 episodes online, since Netflix isn't airing them!

Question: As I'm watching them on Netflix I have encountered the occasional f-bomb and nudity, which caught me by surprise at first since I knew it didn't air on any premium channels. Obviously they're bleeped/blurred, correct? I was wondering about other scenes, though. How much of the gore of the murders do they edit out, if any?

Oh, and all this talk about a fifth season, but split into two years??? Sorry, but that's a fifth AND sixth season.

Back to it. <--- I need a smiley that isn't laughing, but staring mindlessly with black circles under its eyes, mouth agape, frizzy hair, and various food wrappers littering the couch, table, and floor. That'd be about accurate.

LOL! Liz! It is a great show isn't it. I have really missed it and can't wait for it to start up. The other show you need to watch is Fringe...Excellent TV.

I wouldn't swear to it but I don't think Netflix blurs or blocks anything out. And some of Breaking Bad is well extremely graphic so if you are quesy...shut your eyes..that's what I did.

I'll see if I can find that smiley for you...

"Question: As I'm watching them on Netflix I have encountered the
occasional f-bomb and nudity, which caught me by surprise at first since
I knew it didn't air on any premium channels. Obviously they're
bleeped/blurred, correct? I was wondering about other scenes, though.
How much of the gore of the murders do they edit out, if any?"..........I can't think of any time that something was bleeped/blurred on Breaking Bad. Possibly there was a bleeping that I missed but no nudity that needed blurring. That's odd that you're seeing that on Netflix unless there were alternate scenes filmed that never aired on AMC.... [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Also, there wasn't any 'gore' on screen that would have required editing out unless, again, there were alternate scenes not shown on AMC.

I could cite several scenes that were pretty graphic gore-wise and showed on AMC but I don't want to put any spoilers on here for you Liz.... :)

Incidentally, Bryan Cranston is planning another celebrity softball game like they had last May. With the In Plain Sight cast gone now I don't know who he has in mind for the opposing team. As soon as I find out I'll post it on the Breaking Bad thread.

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I can't find any info on what he has in mind although KOAT-TV was hyping the story last night for inclusion on their 4:30 AM newscast this morning, which
I didn't watch, needless to say, so I'll follow him on Twitter and see what he comes up with...

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Ben asked me to thank you for the Breaking Bad tour, Banjo. We have just started season 2. Baby born but she's walking out in him. We are so enjoying seeing all the places we stopped at or you commented on. This is a great series...I had thought it would be too violent for me to enjoy but it has all these characters that you get interested in. And that has me hooked.

Tell Ben I'm glad he likes the series and congratulate him on his good behavior during the convention.


Here's a site with location pics from earlier seasons.

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Berry wrote:Ben asked me to thank you for the Breaking Bad tour, Banjo. We have just started season 2. Baby born but she's walking out in him. We are so enjoying seeing all the places we stopped at or you commented on. This is a great series...I had thought it would be too violent for me to enjoy but it has all these characters that you get interested in. And that has me hooked.

Ditto here. The acting in this series is unbelieveable and that's what had kept me hooked.

Yes Banjo thank you so much for showing us the tour. That was very cool to me and especially getting to have lunch at Twisters. I can't wait for the show to start up again but then I'm gonna be sad because it will be over soon.