damn, boo a cliffhanger finale.

they showed the biosuits earlier i'm pretty darn sure.

the planes crashing seems a little too implausible for this show i think, though.

5/31/2009 11:04:50 PM

yeah i'm pretty sure they'd shown the hazmat guys before.

maybe walt's broken glasses in evidence means he will fake his death. Seems like a pretty legit opportunity to do so if he wanted, lol.

body bags are passengers i guess?

[Edited on May 31, 2009 at 11:09 PM. Reason : .]

5/31/2009 11:05:51 PM

My gf (who's out of town) said she saw the pink bear in the big mural Jane painted in her room. odd.

5/31/2009 11:17:49 PM

^ugh.

buncha red herrings in this series.

[Edited on May 31, 2009 at 11:22 PM. Reason : .]

5/31/2009 11:19:25 PM

yeh, hopefully thats just an easter egg and this isnt turning into Lost or something.

I will say this show probably has the best cinematography i've ever seen in any TV show and 90% of movies ever. It is fan. tastic. Brilliantly done show.

5/31/2009 11:22:49 PM

Quote :

"maybe walt's broken glasses in evidence means he will fake his death. Seems like a pretty legit opportunity to do so if he wanted, lol."

this is supposed to be a joke, but it really makes me question the validity of anything you have to say about this show.

Quote :

" I will say this show probably has the best cinematography i've ever seen in any TV show and 90% of movies ever. It is fan. tastic. Brilliantly done show."

agreed, it really is beautiful, I didn't notice it as much until the episode where they were cooking out in the desert...the DP should definitely get a raise

As a whole I liked the finale, though I was somewhat disappointed by the way the disaster/hazmat dudes scenario played out. My heart just about broke in two for Jane's dad as he was pulling up to his daughter's duplex only to see paramedics.

[Edited on June 1, 2009 at 2:38 AM. Reason : .]

[Edited on June 1, 2009 at 2:44 AM. Reason : .]

6/1/2009 2:37:36 AM

Quote :

"this is supposed to be a joke, but it really makes me question the validity of anything you have to say about this show. "

I mean, you like burn notice. that makes me question the validity of anything you have to say about anything.

[Edited on June 1, 2009 at 2:51 AM. Reason : .]

6/1/2009 2:49:44 AM

How can you not like Burn Notice? It's one of the best "guy shows" on tv. Oh, you haven't seen any episodes and you just don't like the fact that it has a voiceover? Well then, I guess your opinion means much more than someone that's actually seen the show.

I didn't really see this as a cliffhanger at all. I thought the crash was a cheap way to get the hazmat people into the neighborhood and avoid actually having characters that we know in the bodybags, but aside from that little issue, it wrapped everything up.

Oh, and how would someone actually use a plane crash THAT THEY WEREN'T ON to fake their death? What's he gonna find one of the dead bodies, drag it to a lawn chair, burn off all fingerprints, pull out the teeth, destroy the face, and then replace the corpse's blood with enough of his own to pass a DNA test. Then put a giant piece of wreckage on top of the body in a way that makes it look like he died from getting hit by it?

Yeah, that sounds completely logical.

6/1/2009 3:14:11 AM

EXACTLY


But seriously, I'm sure they could figure out a way to do something similar to what I was saying. It's
not like Walt has made a habit out of using legitimate excuses for disappearing and such. How
the fuck else do you explain broken glasses by the pool?


Either way, this is not a "cheap way to get hazmat people." It's not like writers write completely
blindly, never planning anything. This season, especially the last few episodes, was pretty much
about the butterfly effect, and the "Sky" falling was the culmination.




and regarding burn notice, the little USA spots for it just do nothing for me. Just doesn't seem like
the stuff I would watch, at all. Maybe the spots are misleading or i've just seen the wrong
ones(not a big USA watcher). I've decided to give the pilot a chance, but I'm not big on self-aware
comedy-thrillers (lol). Until it wins me over I WILL FOREVER TROLL AGAINST 'LOOK-HOW-FUNNY-I-AM' VOICEOVER


[Edited on June 1, 2009 at 3:58 AM. Reason : .]

6/1/2009 3:46:40 AM

unfortunately, this was probably the only time I've truly been disappointed by this show. There were several things about this episode I didn't like.

- The pacing felt off, mostly because it was impossible to follow where in time events were happening. Some things seemingly happened overnight (Jesse going to the drug-house), then there was some stuff in the middle (Hank's investigation thrown somewhere in there), then we're 2 months later, which was conveniently pointed out with the doctor asking how old the baby was

- now, i've never been to a drug-house, or whatever they're called, but if I thought of every stereotypical or cliche druggie image and put them all together in a 30 second scene, that's how it would end up

- I'm all for crazy backstory coincidences in shows like Lost, but in real life, they don't happen that often. I thought it was a bit of a stretch last week when Walt stopped off at a bar (something we've never seen him do) and happen to run into Jesse's g/f's father, and they share life lessons with one another, but I was OK with it. But now all of a sudden, the same guy is an air traffic controller, who distressed about his daughter's death, that is ostensibly Walt's fault (or at least he could have prevented it), lets some planes get too close together, that happen to crash right above Walt's back yard?

- And speaking of the plane crash.... I'm sorry, but that's just bogus. Half of the season was a giant cock-tease. It doesn't take away from the amazing stories and episodes from the season, but all the build-up with the scenes from Walt's house were nothing but a giant tease. There's no other way to put it. The crash has nothing to do with Walt, Jesse or the other story lines, and there was no reason to lead us on through the season with the foreshadowing scenes.


All that said, the season overall was very satisfying, and I think the main storylines, some quibbles aside, moved at a good pace and moved along realistically. And it is good, and makes sense, that Sky is seeing through the lies. I don't think she has a clue as to what he's actually doing, though. It's possible something like "it must be drugs" has flitted through her mind, but nothing to the extent of what he's really doing with drugs.

6/1/2009 11:43:16 AM

Quote :

"- I'm all for crazy backstory coincidences in shows like Lost, but in real life, they don't happen that often. I thought it was a bit of a stretch last week when Walt stopped off at a bar (something we've never seen him do) and happen to run into Jesse's g/f's father, and they share life lessons with one another, but I was OK with it. But now all of a sudden, the same guy is an air traffic controller, who distressed about his daughter's death, that is ostensibly Walt's fault (or at least he could have prevented it), lets some planes get too close together, that happen to crash right above Walt's back yard?"

Exactly. I hope it doesn't turn into that super coincidental Lost'esque crap.

they could have totally done without the plane crash, and really even the whole hazmat scene if this is how it winds up.

The cliff hanger is the fact that Sky is pissed and has info ($100k+ out of thin air) that could destroy Walt and is going to the live with the DEA. What will she say? What will Walt do about it?

There was a lot of forshadowing in tha ep. in the DEA office with chicken guy. When DEA guy held up the donation jar, Walt's face was right in line with all the drug dealers lined up on the wall. There's a shit ton of indirect forshadowing. I was feel stressed out as shit when i watch this and i think its all these subtleties that really add up to create suspense.

There has to be a good reason for the plane crash and the hazmat scene.. I can't believe the writers that have done so well so far will suddenly go to shit. But maybe some higher ups demanded a change in direction or something.. who knows.

6/1/2009 12:01:14 PM

^ good catch:

6/1/2009 12:15:19 PM

You really didn't catch that the first time around?

And I really think they dropped the ball on this one. I really think they weren't expecting the show to go past this season so they had to write their way out of it. It was wayyy too coincidental. I've loved every storyline in this show so far so I really hope it has a purpose.

6/1/2009 12:47:01 PM

i loved the episode except for the ending. i mean it was okay but just somewhat disappointing considering i thought it was going to be some major battle between walt and drug dealers or something. maybe skyler and "flynn" will be gone for good now. fuck em'. they were the worst part of the show.

6/1/2009 12:50:10 PM

^^ yeah, i know..... i'm reformatting/reinstalling my computer, so I was watching the episode with one eye on my computer and one eye on the TV, mostly relying on audio for scenes like that. finally closed the computer 1/2 through so I could concentrate on the show.

speaking of coincidences..... I'm curious to see where the chicken-guy story goes, now that he knows Walt's bro-in-law is DEA. What was chicken-man doing there - was he really putting on a 5K with those other guys? Is he part of the 5k-committee so he can get an inside look at the DEA? Trying to get more info?

6/1/2009 1:18:08 PM

TV Critic Alan Sepinwall (go ahead and hate on him some more Bweez) did an interview with the creator of the show Vince Gilligan about the finale and here are some interesting tidbits:

Quote :

"So what's the point of the ending, in your mind? Why is judgment falling from the sky onto Walt? In simple terms, we just wanted a giant moment of showmanship to end the season. And what better way than to have a rain of fire coming down around our protagnoist's ears, sort of like the judgment of God? It seemed like a big showmanship moment, and to visualize, in one fell swoop, all the terrible grief that Walt has wrought upon his loved ones, and the community at large. "

Quote :

"Let me play devil's advocate for a moment. I liked the ending, but I can imagine some people – who had built it up in their minds that the Mexican cartel was coming for Walt, and/or that the bodies in the bags were Skyler and Ted Beneke, or whatever -- feeling cheated that it's not remotely what they thought it was going to be. There may be some folks who feel that way. By and large I hope they don't feel that way. If folks figure it out for themselves, or learn about the meaning of the names of the episodes, they'd realize we were planning this for a very long time. It's not a random event, but in fact a cosmic indictment of Walt's life choices of late. And my philosophy is if you can guess it's the cartel, and it turns out to be the cartel – well, as a viewer, I'd rather be surprised."

Quote :

"When we spoke before this season, you said you envisioned the show running four seasons, which would put us at the halfway point now. Did anything about this season change that estimation in your mind? I haven't added to that. We appreciate the kind reviews, and anecdotally the folks we hear from who are watching, but that doesn't change my mind: "Oh, we can go five seasons." You don't want to leave anything on the table, but you don't want to overstay your welcome, either. You want to leave 'em wanting more. I think we can get through four. That's my hope. I'm not speaking for the company, for AMC or Sony, just for myself. "

Quote :

"And in the finale, we see him finding out a whole lot about Walt during his visit to Hank's office. The way we see it, in the writer's room, is that was not a surprise. Gus is, in our minds, like Bobby Fishcer. He's a master chess player, always thinking 12 or 20 moves ahead. He would never have gotten into business with Walt in the first place without doing due diligence: "Oh, he's a high school chemistry teacher, he has a brother-in-law in the DEA," etc. In my mind, Gus would be less than he is if he was to be surprised by that. It was interesting for us, putting those two worlds together. "

here's a link to the whole interview if anyone is interested:
http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2009/05/breaking-bad-vince-gilligan-post.html

6/1/2009 1:53:46 PM

That interview made me feel better about it. I do like the symbolism of the plane falling, but its just too coincidental. At the same time it makes sense with the whole butterfly effect.

I think what I'm most mad about is that this show left us with a good cliffhanger, which while I love a good cliffhanger they drive me crazy because I just want to see the next episode.

6/1/2009 6:24:22 PM

what exactly is the cliffhanger everyone is talking about?

- Sky leaving Walt? Well.... he had it coming
- Who are the dead bodies in the driveway? Who cares - it's obviously not Walt, and nobody else of importance was near Walt's house at the time of the crash. Probably people from the plane.
- What's the damage to Walt's house from? The planes. BFD.

as far as I'm concerned, pretty much all the loose ends have been tied up.

6/2/2009 9:14:40 AM

I guess its not as much a cliffhanger as a WTF moment. And there is a lot that is up in the air right now. Whats going on with the chicken man since he figured out Walt, what is going to be the point of the plane crashing, etc, etc.

6/2/2009 9:54:24 AM

Quote :

"The cliff hanger is the fact that Sky is pissed and has info ($100k+ out of thin air) that could destroy Walt and is going to the live with the DEA. What will she say? What will Walt do about it? "

6/2/2009 10:15:17 AM

Quote :

"Whats going on with the chicken man since he figured out Walt"

it's not much of a cliff hanger if you read the interview that I posted...I'll post what the show's creator said about again since you didn't bother to read it the first time:

Quote :

"The way we see it, in the writer's room, is that was not a surprise. Gus is, in our minds, like Bobby Fishcer. He's a master chess player, always thinking 12 or 20 moves ahead. He would never have gotten into business with Walt in the first place without doing due diligence: "Oh, he's a high school chemistry teacher, he has a brother-in-law in the DEA," etc. In my mind, Gus would be less than he is if he was to be surprised by that. It was interesting for us, putting those two worlds together. ""

[Edited on June 2, 2009 at 11:20 AM. Reason : .]

6/2/2009 11:19:34 AM

dannydigtl I saw the pink bear on the mural as well, it was in the top right corner....tell your gf she isn't crazy!

6/2/2009 7:24:29 PM

^I, too, saw it.

Quote :

"Chicken man finds out more about Walt... that should be interesting."

I figured he would've already known that. Didn't Jesse's girlfriend know that too?

After seeing someone post 'the sky is falling' before the Vince quotes, I really like that they did it. Yeah, the coincidence thing is weird, but its a great way of showing how Walt just fucked up so many lives. Especially with the TV interview where his son was talking about how great of a man he was and he was his hero and Walt was just losing it.

6/2/2009 8:16:54 PM

nice, looks like others noticed what I saw back in April

Quote :

"i noticed it earlier in the season, but the guy playing Jesse is doing a really good job this season. Last season I thought he was a bit over-the-top and annoying, but this season he has the character dialed in perfectly. "

Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama Series
Breaking Bad • AMC • High Bridge, Gran Via Productions, Sony Pictures Television
Aaron Paul, as Jesse Pinkman

7/16/2009 4:56:23 PM