Breaking Bad Season 3 Starts Tonight

[Ziggy]

No comments on 402. Hmm.

I couldn't believe the trailerriffic line "get me in a room with him and I'll do the rest" was delivered to Mike! Damn, walts got some balls. . . or he's desperate. Probably both. And now Mike's made it pretty clear he's loyal. . . at least for now.

My dad texted me during the show and said "too much hank and marie". I didn't think there was too much, but considering the pressure walt is under, I obviously wanted to get back to that storyline. But this is Breaking Bad, so I know we won't get 13 episodes of hank crapping in a bedpan and yelling at Marie. My guess is at some point in the next couple episodes, Gomez will stop by with the notebook and Hank will get some incentive to get his ass walking.

Jesse is now clearly suffering PTSD like hank, so that should be interesting.

And the amazing eyebrow man doesn't want to sell. I wondered how that would play out. Skyler seemed so sure they'd just. . . buy it, and everyone else seemed to be going along with the idea that it'd be that easy. So I'm glad something twisted that plan up. I wonder how Walt will handle that?

I know, I can't believe Walter said that to Mike. Although I don't think Mike has made anything clear. Obviously he beat up Walt for saying it, but I think it's apparent that Mike has been thinking a lot about the whole thing.

I think it's interesting to see what's going on with Hank and Marie. "Marie... Get out." I can't wait to see what happens with that. From what we've seen in the trailer for next week, it's obvious that they start questioning him about Gale's notebook because of his prior work with the blue meth. I'm very interested to see where that goes with Hank, and in general.

Haha, "For Walter White... 20 million dollars! He knocked down my air fresheners and grabbed himself..." I was wondering why that scene was in the "previously on Breaking Bad" scenes. I'm starting to like Skyler. I have previous said that she annoys me. After the eyebrow dude told her that and she just got up and left, I'm thinking that she has a good idea what to do. I think there's gonna be more of that.

The last thing we hear Goldman say was, "Do you have a passport?" Do you think we're gonna see him any time soon?

[Jrecee]

I actually missed the trailer for next week because I had recorded it and it didn't record that part. Kinda glad, I have no idea what to expect.

And the "previously on _____" always seem to spoil shows a little bit when they do stuff like that, because it makes you expect to see a character or reference to an event you weren't expecting to see.

[emwearz]

I am hoping Jess doing the coke was just because he wanted to stay awake (because he is scared, thus the big speakers, party, etc). Hope he does not have another 'addict' moment because I am over it.

[dsheinem]

so I am all caught up.

I must say, I am not a big fan of what they've done at the end of Season 3 and so far at the start of Season 4. Is it tense and captivating TV? Yes, because we are already invested in these characters. But is it as sharp and consistent as Season 1 and the majority of Season 3? No. I wouldn't go so far as to say they've jumped the shark, but Walt has made a string of stupid decisions that his character wouldn't have made in the first 3/4 of the series. He's also become very comfortable with murder (he used to be sickened by it), he's not being careful with what he says and does (or when and where), and Jessee is being far too complicit with everything for what we've seen from his character so far.

In contrast, Skyler's character development has been well plotted and planned, and her behavioral changes make sense given her progression from episode to episode. Hank and Marie's development makes sense, too. Walt and Jessee, on the other hand...it feels like the writers are trying to change them too much too quickly, and it strikes me as them trying to quickly take the show in a different direction so as to more rapidly prepare everything for some long ago planned finale.

[Jrecee]

I would not say Walt is comfortable with murder. He was obviously sickened by what happened with victor. He knows at this point it's him or gus, and that tension is what's driving his decisions right now.

And Jesse to me wasn't being complicit, he was in denial. He spent the first 30 minutes of episode 401 not talking, and almost all of 402 on drugs, trying to keep people at his house to keep his mind off what happened. And then when they all left he pretty much went into shock.

The show is changing though, but I'm not sure what to make of it. It's just the nature of doing something different with a tv show I guess.

[dsheinem]

I would not say Walt is comfortable with murder. He was obviously sickened by what happened with victor. He knows at this point it's him or gus, and that tension is what's driving his decisions right now.

And Jesse to me wasn't being complicit, he was in denial. He spent the first 30 minutes of episode 401 not talking, and almost all of 402 on drugs, trying to keep people at his house to keep his mind off what happened. And then when they all left he pretty much went into shock.

The show is changing though, but I'm not sure what to make of it. It's just the nature of doing something different with a tv show I guess.

Walt plowed over the drug dealers, shot one of them in the head, ordered a hit on Gale, and is now gunning for Gus. Considering that he had trouble bringing himself to commit murder earlier in the show, he seems to be using it as the go to strategy now for many situations. It strikes me as inconsistent.

Jessee is now doing more or less what Walt tells him to do, and he has turned from rebellious and reckless into faithful and mopey. It also strikes me as inconsistent.

I agree that character development is a good thing, but having it happen so rapidly and so drastically seems misguided. As I said before, the current arc of the show is interesting TV, but the writing itself is not near as good as it was in everything up to and including "The Fly".

[Ziggy]

Walt plowed over the drug dealers, shot one of them in the head, ordered a hit on Gale, and is now gunning for Gus. Considering that he had trouble bringing himself to commit murder earlier in the show, he seems to be using it as the go to strategy now for many situations. It strikes me as inconsistent.

I disagree. Jesse surely would have died if Walt didn't intervene. Walt HAD to kill them to save Jesse, no matter how he felt about it. And he didn't "order a hit on Gale." He knew that Gale was his replacement, and that Gus was gonna have him killed. He knew that killing Gale would be his only chance. He didn't order a hit on Gale, he was about to be murdered so Jesse was his only chance of survival.

Same deal with Gus. Walt is dead certain that Gus will have them killed at the first opportunity. That's a good motive to want to kill Gus, whether it still makes him sick or not. And honestly, I think killing is coming a little more natural to Walt. And I don't see it being rushed.

The show is called Breaking Bad after all. I mean, in the very first episode, Walt was ready to commit suicide in the form of death by cops.



Just tell me one this. I forget what season it was in, but wasn't it hilarious when the pizza ended up on the roof? I was laughing so hard. And then Skyler leaves a message on his machine and asks about it, it was so funny.

[dsheinem]

Walt plowed over the drug dealers, shot one of them in the head, ordered a hit on Gale, and is now gunning for Gus. Considering that he had trouble bringing himself to commit murder earlier in the show, he seems to be using it as the go to strategy now for many situations. It strikes me as inconsistent.

I disagree. Jesse surely would have died if Walt didn't intervene. Walt HAD to kill them to save Jesse, no matter how he felt about it. And he didn't "order a hit on Gale." He knew that Gale was his replacement, and that Gus was gonna have him killed. He knew that killing Gale would be his only chance. He didn't order a hit on Gale, he was about to be murdered so Jesse was his only chance of survival.

Same deal with Gus. Walt is dead certain that Gus will have them killed at the first opportunity. That's a good motive to want to kill Gus, whether it still makes him sick or not. And honestly, I think killing is coming a little more natural to Walt. And I don't see it being rushed.

The show is called Breaking Bad after all. I mean, in the very first episode, Walt was ready to commit suicide in the form of death by cops.

I get that what you've described is how it has been written, but it bothers me that Walt is going for murder as the first best option in all these cases whereas earlier in the series he tried to avoid bloodshed at all costs. Why not let Gale in on what's going on and offer him cash? Why not hold the line on Jessee's behavior? Why not skip town with his family and be done with it altogether? Why is he not using more covert methods (like the ricin plan from earlier in the series)?

Hell, I don't even know what his main motivation is in cooking anymore other than self-survival. That's a much weaker motive than the one we had through most of the series, and the narrative is suffering as a result. I get that he's "Breaking Bad" further than before, but it seems a stretch for the character as we knew him until recently.

[Ziggy]

But he hated what his life became up to the point of the first episode. He's a genius chemist, yet he was teaching at a high school. He also had to work part time at a car wash to make ends meet. The whole cancer thing and needing money to support his family was a lot of motive, but you also have to realize that he loves chemistry. He loves cooking meth.

[racketboy]

Walt plowed over the drug dealers, shot one of them in the head, ordered a hit on Gale, and is now gunning for Gus. Considering that he had trouble bringing himself to commit murder earlier in the show, he seems to be using it as the go to strategy now for many situations. It strikes me as inconsistent.

I disagree. Jesse surely would have died if Walt didn't intervene. Walt HAD to kill them to save Jesse, no matter how he felt about it. And he didn't "order a hit on Gale." He knew that Gale was his replacement, and that Gus was gonna have him killed. He knew that killing Gale would be his only chance. He didn't order a hit on Gale, he was about to be murdered so Jesse was his only chance of survival.

Same deal with Gus. Walt is dead certain that Gus will have them killed at the first opportunity. That's a good motive to want to kill Gus, whether it still makes him sick or not. And honestly, I think killing is coming a little more natural to Walt. And I don't see it being rushed.

The show is called Breaking Bad after all. I mean, in the very first episode, Walt was ready to commit suicide in the form of death by cops.

I get that what you've described is how it has been written, but it bothers me that Walt is going for murder as the first best option in all these cases whereas earlier in the series he tried to avoid bloodshed at all costs. Why not let Gale in on what's going on and offer him cash? Why not hold the line on Jessee's behavior? Why not skip town with his family and be done with it altogether? Why is he not using more covert methods (like the ricin plan from earlier in the series)?

Hell, I don't even know what his main motivation is in cooking anymore other than self-survival. That's a much weaker motive than the one we had through most of the series, and the narrative is suffering as a result. I get that he's "Breaking Bad" further than before, but it seems a stretch for the character as we knew him until recently.

Offering Gale money would have been a rather weak and short-sighted solution. Sure murder is extreme, but if you look at how Gus and Mike handle things, you have to see where Walt is coming from.