Breaking Bad

[dave from knoxville]

I think that it's easy for us to conclude "there should be more TV like this!" when in fact there's an incredibly small group of people capable of writing at that level. With between 300-400 ongoing networks, TV's eating up hundreds of thousands of hours of program time every year; the only things that are going to stick with you are the quality outliers.

[Kiwi_Herman]

Spoilers, Spoilers


Great cliffhanger. I thought at first that maybe Gale was just injured, but he is obviously dead.

You can never tell what direction this show is headed. The charactors are so well written and acted, and the plot changes so fast that cliche moments become brand new. I think I like this show better than The Wire. The Wire had a bigger scope, but Breaking Bad is more entertaining.

[Paul DePhiladelphia]

You can never tell what direction this show is headed. The charactors are so well written and acted, and the plot changes so fast that cliche moments become brand new. I think I like this show better than The Wire. The Wire had a bigger scope, but Breaking Bad is more entertaining.

After some debate I think I feel this way too.

[Hugman 3.0]

I think I like this show better than The Wire.

I was thinking the same thing on the second to last episode. It's left Mad Men in the dust and probably has passed the Wire for me. The way they take you on Walter's journey of conscience along with him is just masterful.

[lisajanepersky]

What a finale!
I loved The Wire and fell hard for Deadwood. I watch Mad Men and that takes me to some interesting places but Breaking Bad has it all and then some. It's as close as television can get to being a great book.

[Barry Egan]

"You ever actually play Laser Tag?  It's great cardio, plus you get to shoot at kids!"

[Kormod]

So Gus was just kidding about that whole "I will kill your entire family" thing, right?

[Joe Rogaine]

What a finale!
I loved The Wire and fell hard for Deadwood. I watch Mad Men and that takes me to some interesting places but Breaking Bad has it all and then some. It's as close as television can get to being a great book.

Hated the Wire finale, didn't it end with montage? Seemed cheesy to end it like that.

[wood and iron]

What a finale!
I loved The Wire and fell hard for Deadwood. I watch Mad Men and that takes me to some interesting places but Breaking Bad has it all and then some. It's as close as television can get to being a great book.

Hated the Wire finale, didn't it end with montage? Seemed cheesy to end it like that.

Every season before that ended with a montage featuring the only non diegetic music in the series. I thought it appropriate.

[cutout]

Whoa. The showdown happening between Walt and Gustavo is getting amazing.

Did Gustavo go back into the hospital because he was paranoid or because he's going to drag Jesse out with him?

[Kormod]

I think Gus was just being overly cautious. He'd left the car unattended and he knew that Walt would be crazy enough to do something like concoct a homemade bomb and put it in his car. Gus could have also known about the plan beforehand, since he "has cameras everywhere."

The ricin poisoning storyline bothered me a little. Gus being the poisoner seems far-fetched -- what exactly would Gus have to gain from doing this? Walt's theory that Gus did it so Jesse would turn on Walt is pretty shaky -- it's not exactly inevitable that Jesse would blame Walt for the poisoning and not Gus (who's had children killed before). I'm guessing either Tyrus/Gus took the cigarette or Jesse misplaced it, and the kid got sick naturally. But that also seems far-fetched -- what are the chances of the kid contracting a serious illness on the same day Jesse loses the ricin cigarette? Come on, Breaking Bad, give me a plausible explanation for this in the season finale.

[cutout]

I didn't get that part either. How would Tyrus have even known Jesse possessed a poison cigarette? And what would he have done, stolen the cigarette and gone to Jesse's when he wasn't home and convinced an 11-year old stranger to smoke it? That whole thing was confusing. Also strange that Jesse would be so convinced Walt would poison a child that he'd confront him with the gun, but I guess they were trying to underscore how paranoid everyone's become.

Also, is it confusing that the writers named a character Tyrus who already looks like the model Tyrese?

[ben]

My assumption was Gus sensed something in Jesse's behavior.  Gus knows how to read and intimidate people and could perhaps tell that Jesse was up to something.  Or Gus just has some preternatural abilities and sensed danger, but if that was the case it seems he would be as worried about snipers as carbombs.

As for the ricin it's possible the kid stole a cigarette and it happened to be the wrong one, and being curious tried the stuff in the vial.  If I was that kids age I would probably steal a cigarette if I could.

I think Gus was just being overly cautious. He'd left the car unattended and he knew that Walt would be crazy enough to do something like concoct a homemade bomb and put it in his car. Gus could have also known about the plan beforehand, since he "has cameras everywhere."

The ricin poisoning storyline bothered me a little. Gus being the poisoner seems far-fetched -- what exactly would Gus have to gain from doing this? Walt's theory that Gus did it so Jesse would turn on Walt is pretty shaky -- it's not exactly inevitable that Jesse would blame Walt for the poisoning and not Gus (who's had children killed before). I'm guessing either Tyrus/Gus took the cigarette or Jesse misplaced it, and the kid got sick naturally. But that also seems far-fetched -- what are the chances of the kid contracting a serious illness on the same day Jesse loses the ricin cigarette? Come on, Breaking Bad, give me a plausible explanation for this in the season finale.

[Kormod]

But Jesse said on the day Brock was poisoned he'd switched the ricin cig from one pack to another, and I got the impression Jesse wasn't around Brock at all that day until the hospital scene.

Of course, Brock could have ingested some of the ricin the day before and put the vial back in the cigarette, without Jesse's knowledge. According to Walt in one of the Tuco episodes, ricin takes about 24 hours to take effect (but this for some reason wasn't brought up during the Jesse/Walt scene, making me wonder if "ricin" works the same way in Season 4 as it did in Season 2).

Gus probably didn't poison Brock -- he became super-cautious only after Jesse brought up the ricin poisoning; if Gus had done the poisoning, I think he would have left someone to watch his car. And Tyrus sneaking into a house and slipping ricin into some kid's chocolate milk seems outlandish -- Gus takes his cue from Machiavelli, not Boris Badenov.

[Paul DeLouisiana]

Of course, Brock could have ingested some of the ricin the day before and put the vial back in the cigarette, without Jesse's knowledge.

Highly unlikely. I can't think of a reason this kid, whose personality we really know nothing about, would pull a stunt like this. I hate to be the downer but I think there is a possibility that we as viewers are making a mistake in siding with Walt through all this. I'd like to think he is the good guy here, but you never know.
Also part of me thinks that it's playing out just like it seems. Gus poisoned the kid to get Jesse to turn on Walt, but at the hospital Gus realizes that that didn't work and Jesse knows it was him who poisoned Brock and gets a little nervous. Because now he realized its 2 on 1.