Breaking Bad

[Kormod]

In case you haven't seen it yet, the A.V. Club did a fantastic interview with G. Esposito:

http://www.avclub.com/articles/giancarlo-esposito,62959/

This interview is excellent.

If anyone's interested, Hitflix posted the first minute or so of tomorrow's episode: http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/whats-alan-watching/posts/hitfix-first-look-walt-cleans-up-a-mess-on-sundays-breaking-bad-finale

[Martin]

In case you haven't seen it yet, the A.V. Club did a fantastic interview with G. Esposito:

http://www.avclub.com/articles/giancarlo-esposito,62959/

G. Esposito in an international treasure.

[Omar]

In case you haven't seen it yet, the A.V. Club did a fantastic interview with G. Esposito:

http://www.avclub.com/articles/giancarlo-esposito,62959/

G. Esposito in an international treasure.

Well said, Martin!  A truly great man.

[Paul DeLouisiana]

In case you haven't seen it yet, the A.V. Club did a fantastic interview with G. Esposito:

http://www.avclub.com/articles/giancarlo-esposito,62959/

G. Esposito in an international treasure.

Well said, Martin!  A truly great man.

I heard that in the finale he switches gears from killing Walt to boycotting Sal's Famous.

[Kormod]

I guess the crazy Internet theory wasn't so crazy after all.

[Kormod]

And I'm not gloating. I dismissed the theory and thought the plant scene was put in there to fuck with the heads of Internet geeks. I still don't see how Walt could have gotten the cigarette.

[Kormod]

And I'm not gloating. I dismissed the theory and thought the plant scene was put in there to fuck with the heads of Internet geeks. I still don't see how Walt could have gotten the cigarette.

And not the entire scene, just the part where he looks at the White Monkshood plant. Also, I get that Huell, when he was patting Jesse down, could have jacked the cigarettes and then slipped a near identical pack into Jesse's jacket, but, as someone said earlier in this thread, that seems like some Ricky Jay shit way outside Huell's wheelhouse.

[Chris L]

As soon as I saw that the episode was titled "Face Off," I knew that I should take that very literally.

So the convoluted, almost totally improbable "Walt poisoned Brock*" theory turned out to be on target, but the payoff with Tio was so great it went a long way toward easing the sting of how they got there. I guess it almost evens out, although I really hope they go back to planning the final season's ending far in advance.

*I think it's safe to say this is the most dramatic tension and handwringing that's ever been expended on someone named "Brock."

[wood and iron]

I read an interview with Vince Gilligan here: http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/whats-alan-watching/posts/interview-breaking-bad-creator-vince-gilligan-post-mortems-season-4  He says that the writers pretty much hand waved the whole logistics by saying, "Well, Walt would have enough time to get the berries to Brock."

I'm fine with it. Super realism is not something I require in a show about a high school teacher turning meth lord. As long as they maintain their own internal realism (that is, if the show sets up laws of the universe for itself, it should adhere to those laws) I'm perfectly fine.

This also makes Gus's hesitation at his car make more sense. The fact that Brock was poisoned and Jesse's seemingly accusatory nature toward Gus would make Gus more cautious as he knows he didn't poison Brock so Walt must have, which means Walt was ready to do anything to take out Gus.

[Kormod]

Thank you, A.V. Club: http://www.avclub.com/articles/vince-gilligan-walks-us-through-season-four-of-bre,63013/

[Wes]

So the convoluted, almost totally improbable "Walt poisoned Brock*" theory turned out to be on target, but the payoff with Tio was so great it went a long way toward easing the sting of how they got there. I guess it almost evens out, although I really hope they go back to planning the final season's ending far in advance.

I think this kind of gets to where I stand on things. I really, really don't think Walt's plot stands up to any real scrutiny. And I don't just mean Huell's secret Ricky Jay superskills or Walt getting Brock to eat the berries or other things that had to happen (mostly) offscreen because they couldn't hammer out the details. I mean the very idea that Walt sees Brock for the first time (am I forgetting an earlier scene?) when showing up at Jesse's house in a panic and just seconds before being tazed multiple times and led out into the desert for a possible death. And somehow he remembers that two seconds of seeing a kid at Jesse's house and comes up with "Jesse must love whoever that hell that kid was so much that if I could only find a way to use him as the lynchpin to convince him to blame me for something and then convince him to blame Gus instead before he kills me for...hey, is that poisonous plant in my backyard?"

It's just a weird, convoluted series of logic jumps that uncomfortably stacks up on top of Gus' similarly weird plan from earlier in the season (that drove the wedge between Walt and Jesse that required this weird plan), with the odd Ted Beneke shennanigans in between. They should have put some more of the plot wheels in motion in those first few character-heavy/plot-light episodes at the start to give them room to dig that hole and then crawl out of it. And because of all that, I don't think this season was as strong as Season 3.

Buuuuuut, as spectacle and entertainment, that finale and a good solid chunk of this season were phenomenal television, without question. I think the bit with Gus walking out and straightening his tie like some kind of T-800-by-way-of-Chuck-Jones was their way of acknowledging "Yeah, you know what, Gus just DOES have Spidey-sense, because Spidey-sense is cool and everyone knows that in their hearts" and THAT SHOT of him immediately after is going to go down as TV legend.

Add onto that Paul stepping up in a major way and carrying most of the season, Esposito embracing S4 Gus and playing him to perfection and Cranston being allowed to re-emerge as Bryan Cranston: TV's Finest Actor in the final few episodes, and I'm happy to accept it for what it was: amazing, entertaining television. We're still in a TV golden age.

*I think it's safe to say this is the most dramatic tension and handwringing that's ever been expended on someone named "Brock."

Brock Samson and Brock Lesnar can only shake their heads in disappointment at you. Eh, maybe not Brock Lesnar, I'm not sure he has a neck.

[Kormod]

I think this kind of gets to where I stand on things. I really, really don't think Walt's plot stands up to any real scrutiny. And I don't just mean Huell's secret Ricky Jay superskills or Walt getting Brock to eat the berries or other things that had to happen (mostly) offscreen because they couldn't hammer out the details. I mean the very idea that Walt sees Brock for the first time (am I forgetting an earlier scene?) when showing up at Jesse's house in a panic and just seconds before being tazed multiple times and led out into the desert for a possible death. And somehow he remembers that two seconds of seeing a kid at Jesse's house and comes up with "Jesse must love whoever that hell that kid was so much that if I could only find a way to use him as the lynchpin to convince him to blame me for something and then convince him to blame Gus instead before he kills me for...hey, is that poisonous plant in my backyard?"

Keep in mind that Saul was in on the plot and at one point was paying regular visits to Andrea and Brock.

[Wes]

Keep in mind that Saul was in on the plot and at one point was paying regular visits to Andrea and Brock.

Yeah, he gets the address for their home from Saul, no problem there. And I'm willing to assume that Saul, under these circumstances, shrugs off poisoning a kid and even fill in the blanks for them that Saul has Huell and Bill Burr's character (did he get a name on the show?) help out/run interference/put on disguises so Walt can get the whole thing done safely that afternoon.

My lingering hang-up is the logic chain that has to go: Walt sees plant -> Walt remembers the face of a kid he saw for less than 10 seconds the night before when he was kidnapped and led out to the desert -> Walt correctly guesses said kid is so important to Jesse that his well-being can motivate Jesse to kill someone when threats on Jesse's own well-being failed to motivate him to kill Gus at least twice in the past weeks -> Walt correctly guesses that Saul will know who the kid is -> Walt devises cigarette swap plan on the hunch that Jesse will blame him and he can get Jesse to blame Gus -> this plan actually works.

Anyway, Bob Odenkirk as Saul: one of the greatest unexpected casting decisions and payoffs in recent memory.

[Kormod]

Keep in mind that Saul was in on the plot and at one point was paying regular visits to Andrea and Brock.

Yeah, he gets the address for their home from Saul, no problem there. And I'm willing to assume that Saul, under these circumstances, shrugs off poisoning a kid and even fill in the blanks for them that Saul has Huell and Bill Burr's character (did he get a name on the show?) help out/run interference/put on disguises so Walt can get the whole thing done safely that afternoon.

My lingering hang-up is the logic chain that has to go: Walt sees plant -> Walt remembers the face of a kid he saw for less than 10 seconds the night before when he was kidnapped and led out to the desert -> Walt correctly guesses said kid is so important to Jesse that his well-being can motivate Jesse to kill someone when threats on Jesse's own well-being failed to motivate him to kill Gus at least twice in the past weeks -> Walt correctly guesses that Saul will know who the kid is -> Walt devises cigarette swap plan on the hunch that Jesse will blame him and he can get Jesse to blame Gus -> this plan actually works.

Anyway, Bob Odenkirk as Saul: one of the greatest unexpected casting decisions and payoffs in recent memory.

At some point, Saul told Walt about Jesse's relationship with Andrea and Brock. Remember, Walt was afraid for his life once Jesse became buddy-buddy with Mike. At that point, he probably started paying Saul to keep tabs on Jesse.

[Regular Joe]

...Walt getting Brock to eat the berries...

Out of all the Fring-head sized plot holes this devil may care writing attitude could bring about, this is the biggest one.

Walt knows full well how much kids love to eat decorative house berries. Getting him to eat them would have been all too easy, just set a bag of them out on the front porch and Brock will smell them a mile away. You don't even have to put his name on the bag. Kids can't help themselves where this is concerned, which is why these plants should be constitutionally outlawed in my opinion.

Once the kid is berry-napping in the hospital, all you have to do is go over to Pinkman's house and pump knock-out fumes into his vents. You can probably make this from the berries. When it's full, put on a gas mask and break into his house through a crawl space hole that you build yourself. Tiptoe through the house and carefully steal the Ricin cigarette. Once you have it, leave through the same crawl-hole being careful not to get any of that Ricin on ya, then repair the hole behind you so Jesse doesn't notice a thing. Outside, let your car warm up at the same time as you pump wake-up fumes into the house. When he's awake, place a call in a ladies voice, pretending you are Andrea calling from the hospital to freak him out. Drive away. This leaves you a solid 30 minutes to go help Huell-dini practice his sleight of hand acting.

Later, if the DEA catches you, trick them into sharing a bottle of poison water that you keep in your pocket, but have another bottle of water in your other pocket (secret pocket) that has the antidote in it. When the cops are all poisoned, just take the handcuffs off, drink the second water and drive away.