Prick Tunes: Breaking Bad Edition

August 11. August 11. August 11.

Today let's chronicle some of Breaking Bad's best songs to gear up for August 11. Here are two extraordinary songs from the show, plus a bonus: Weird Al's "Albuquerque" cut to basically every scene ever from Breaking Bad. I recommend watching all 12 minutes of glory, but if you haven't seen all the episodes up to this point, serious spoiler alert. You have been warned.

The first video is the official Alexander Ebert video for "Truth." This song aired during the Gale lab notes reveal at the beginning of season 4:



This song is the most fitting of any Breaking Bad song: Apollo Sunshine's "We Are Born When We Die." The imminent doom portrayed in these 2 minutes is immaculate:



I don't want to bombard IP with 10 of my favorites, so here were just a couple to whet your appetite. Honorable mention to Ana Tijoux's "1977" and Timber Timbre's "Magic Arrow." Finally, this magnificent Weird Al/Breaking Bad splice:

Breaking Down: Breaking Bad - Season Four Finale & Season Five Talk

Season Four ends with Walt orchestrating his last ditch effort to kill Gus. Following the failed car bomb incident, Walt badgers Jesse for a place where he thinks Gus is vulnerable, but Jesse gets nabbed for questioning by the police about the possible ricin poisoning of Brock. Saul saves the day once again and relays information to Walt concerning the interest in the nursing home bell ringer, Hector Salamanca, who proceeds to give Hank one last spin around the wheelchair for old time's sake. If you're a fan, you know what comes next. Gus goes boom, the superlab gets torched, and we find out that Walt was the devilish poisoner of Brock all along.

Come on back to Inconsiderate Prick early Monday, June 16th for the recap of Breaking Bad's Season Five opener, "Live Free or Die."

Kevin Costner starring in Walterworld

Stan Earnest: Kaboom! The last episode of Season Four is Aztek-crunched with action. Did you know the title was "Face Off?"

Craig Scholes: More like Toyota Matrix-crunched with action. I did actually know this episode was titled "Face Off", the good ol' double entendre at its best right there.

SE: Yeah, thankfully it wasn't a homage to the Travolta/Cage thriller, although there is an ironic re-watchability to that one.

Jesse takes a back seat in this one, but he is still the moral backing for the show. I loved how he chastised Walt for bringing a bomb into a hospital, and the added touch of the magnet sticking to the hospital door is that little wink of comedy we've grown accustomed to with Breaking Bad. Even when doomsday is upon Walt there is still some laughs to be had.

CS: I loved the baby bag sticking to the elevator door, I would love to see a minisode with the camera staying in the elevator to see how the Doctor reacted to the strange event. Also, it's kind of hard for Jesse to be a major player in the episode when he is basically in the pokey the entire episode.

Walt is getting better at this criminal stuff, evading the people sent to get him at his house.

SE: Fun fact: the lady he sent over to flush out the goons was played by Vince Gilligan's mom. That was a point where I was like whoa, Walt really is willing to do anything. I like how he endangers everyone he comes into contact with in this episode. Another fantastic touch was Walt exiting Saul's broken door in the same way he broke in instead of just unlocking it. And how about a golf clap for Saul's assistant? Extorting the great Heisenberg was a well-played move.

CS: It's very conceivable that Walt and Jesse aren't actually paying Saul enough money.

SE: If it's the 5% Walt ground him down to when he re-upped, it definitely isn't enough. Saul has saved their asses more than once. I love YouTubing compilations of Saul quotes. And it sounds like Jesse has been following House as closely as Old Man Duggan.

CS: I really want to know how Hector's comments to the DEA ended. Suck my ferret? Fuchsia?

It was a pretty spectacular plan to have Hector fuck with the DEA one last time. Have they ever disclosed what Hector Salamanca has? I would assume its Lou Gehrig's Disease.

SE: Yeah, it's likely ALS because of the oxygen, as the neuromuscular symptoms of the disease hinder breathing, but I'm about to get all psychology nerd up in these digs. It could be a stroke with damage to Broca's area in the brain, the section that is largely responsible for speech. Damage to the area can cause weird things to happen with language, like with Hector, where he understands language because other areas of the brain process it, such as the frontal lobe, but he can't speak. Patients that have undergone split-brain surgery to cure severe epilepsy experience similar problems when viewing items with the left eye, which is processed in the right brain which doesn't have a Broca's area; they can point to the word corresponding to what they saw but can't speak it. This can seem very confusing to the person, but with both functioning eyes witnessing the object there is no problem and split-brain patients complete almost any normal life task with no difficulty. With that said, I researched and didn't realize ALS patients still had bladder control (the DEA is not impressed), so it is likely Stephen Hawking's Disease. Shouldn't we rename diseases by the most recent famous person that has it just for awareness?

CS: It's kind of remarkable how long Stephen Hawking has lived with ALS. After having checked with the official internet fact checker Wikipedia (which has never been wrong), it was in fact a stroke. And apparently Hector can still wink, because he shot one at Hank as he was being wheeled away.

SE: Wow, all that schooling is actually paying off. So I know Mike has some inside info on the cop front, but there almost certainly has to be someone close in the DEA tipping Gus's team off to Hector's "chattiness." I'm not discounting Gomez from the equation; he may have only had time get out a modicum of info and couldn't share the poignancy of Hector's messages. Gomez gave the lab entrance an awful strange look while surveying the laundry, and he's still sporting the Walt goat you know.

CS: I'm still dying to know who the cartel member's brother is, which leads me to believe it is Gomez; he didn't leave Albuquerque for very long when he got that promotion that Hank turned down.

SE: I thought the brother was just a local Mexican sheriff, but not much info was given from that phone call. The previews for Season Five show some scene with commotion at a police department, so maybe we'll find out.

So, as fellow Inconsiderate Prick Wordy Ginters put it, "Gus goes boom." Apparently the writers have had that particular idea for ending Gus on their "big board" for a long time, and it took them a while to figure out what pieces would fit to get to Hector's bell being the instrument that ignites the demise. I just want to give praise to Gilligan for shooting Gus's death march into the nursing home with some intense, sentimental music. We know Gus is a goner. That is how Walt becomes Scarface. I appreciate not being insulted and getting a sort of tribute to Gus at the same time.

Every time it comes on TBS, you can't leave the house.

CS: I thought the idea was great, and clever. Using Hector's bell as the device to end Gus was fantastic. I also loved the sheer look of panic on Gus's face when he realizes he's been had, but Jesus Christ, that cartoonish walk out of the room missing half a face was pretty stupid. I get that it's TV, and they were trying to create a superhuman--albeit brief--image, but I hated Two-Face Gus.

SE: Fun fact: The Walking Dead team helped with the Two-Face Gus makeup and effects. Was it a little hokey? Okay, I will give you that, yes, but for me the whoa factor was worth it. I am not talking about the visual effects that a lot of people were fans of, but rather the split-second where I thought Gus was still alive. I was pissed in that moment--my biggest fear is the show getting bombastic and formulaic--and then Gus straightens his tie and crumbles. Is it entirely implausible? Not at all. I've seen a guy on foot get clocked by a 50 MPH train with my own eyes, and he was still alive and moaning for an hour. I've heard EMT friends tell me disgusting stories of trying to save guys that they knew were brain dead from a skull crush, were still moving, and (**warning gross alert**) spewing chunks of brain matter. So shortly after first-viewing I convinced myself I liked the over-the-top shot. At least we know immediately and definitively that Gus is dead.

CS: I'll concede most of that, and I didn't mind him stumbling out of the room as much as how ridiculous it looked. My problem with it was that it looked like he took all of the damage to the one side of his face. Having said all of that, yes, at least we know that he is definitely dead.

SE: My soul cringes because there are people that actually theorize that Gus is still alive. I think that, like most post Season Two Breaking Bad plots, Gus's death is not necessarily about the fact that it happened, but how it happened. It happened because he underestimated Walter White in much the same way that Don Eladio underestimated him. No matter how cold and calculated he had become, he couldn't detach himself from the emotional weight he wanted to release on to Hector Salamanca.

CS: This show is different than other dramas. Most shows are about the story, where Breaking Bad is actually about Walt. The show really couldn't go on without him, so it's about how he evolves, as pretty much every other character is disposable. There really isn't a supporting character in Breaking Bad that could get offed that would anger me. This isn't to say that I wouldn't be bummed if certain characters were killed, but I am also very much interested in how Walt would take on any new challenges.

SE: I want to know how Walt snagged Gus's henchman and got him in that elevator. Jesse definitely has to be looking at Walt in a different light now. He is competent and ruthless. Not only did he dust Gus, but he smoked the other two clowns without any hesitation, and Kafka's snub-nose finally gets some use. They definitely weren't part of Gus's A-Team. How about the destruction of the superlab? That was masterful. One more shout of praise for the music. I know the music team contemplated several different tracks for that scene and finally found a song written by the teenage Taalbi Brothers, a 13-year-old and a 15-year-old. I don't know about you Craig, but that just pisses me off. I've been playing guitar for 12 years, practicing three to four hours a day for probably three or four years in the middle of that stretch, and I have never written anything as technical or cool-sounding as "Freestyle". Kudos young men. Kudos.

CS: Walt was all like, "I hate my job. I'm gonna burn this mother down." I'm a total fan of the way the lab was torched. I've been playing guitar for about twelve years now, and I'm lucky if I pick mine up every three or four weeks, there is no excuse for me not to be better at that thing than I am. One of these days I may just bite the bullet and actually take lessons.

SE: Bite the hollow-point and find a good guitar instructor. I progressed more in the first three weeks of lessons than I had in the first year of playing solo, but I also happened to have a worldwide superstar guitar teacher, Jason Riley. I am not joking, that guy has played all over the world, has about ten bands he gigs with, and works with the incomparable, Pulitzer Prize nominated Anthony Glise from time to time. If one is ever serious about guitar, those are guys to look up.

The phone call to Skyler was pure genius from Gilligan and Co. Instead of just saying it was over or that it wasn't him that orchestrated the whole deal or just anything that wouldn't shake Skyler to the core, he says, "I won." Walt is a complete madman now.

CS: Definitely. Walt has full on swung to the dark side now, and I fully expect that next season he is the guy to fear. Pretty much the only guy that isn't going to be scared of him is Mike. I can't wait to see how that dynamic evolves.

SE: There was an original line on the hospital parking garage roof where Jesse was supposed to say, "Mike is gonna be pissed." That is a good line; I kind of wish they would have left it in. I have to admit that I haphazardly stumbled upon the surprise that ends Season Four. That Apollo Sunshine song was so great that I YouTubed the scene from the previous episode where Walt is playing spin the .38 just to listen to the song a few times and noticed Walt pausing in pensiveness when it pointed towards that plant, and I figured it out. Walt really is going to be more evil than Gus ever thought about being.

CS: It just seems like a convoluted idea to go through Brock. I don't get the motivation for using him, or how you could logically go through him to accomplish what needed to be done, and that's for Gus or Walt. It just seems to me the Gus and Walt battle could have been done without dragging Jesse through a furlong of shit again. Regardless, I don't think there is any doubt that Walt has broken bad.

SE: Walt basically had a day before he or his family was dead, so he just closed his eyes and threw the haymaker. He had to find some way to get Jesse back into his camp. I'm positive Huell lifted the cigarette pack off of Jesse too, but how deep was Saul involved? Did Saul give Brock a poisonous Baby Ruth or something? I hope we get a flashback scene to some of this for Season Five, but that isn't really how the show works. Flashbacks are used on this show to advance the plot line forward, not muddy it with this-is-how-it-happened scenes. I thought for sure that Season Four was going to end with a Keyser Soze moment for Hank, maybe while Junior and him witnessed Walt meet with Gus on a stakeout, but now Hank might think he has already found "Heisenberg". You have any predictions for Season Five? I would be pretty disappointed if we didn't get a Gus flashback pretty fresh into the new season.

CS: I think they can definitely throw in a flashback to what went down with the end of Season Four. Mainly because Brock is old enough to be asked questions. As for genuine predictions, I think we find out that Walt has full-blown inoperable cancer. His coughing really started pick up with "The Fly" episode, and clearly Hank is going to find out at some point. It's really only a matter if the cancer is bad enough that he isn't going to try soil the name of a dying man.

SE: Interesting, so Hank might find out and then break bad himself to save Walt's family from shame. That would be one hell of a standoff. A lot of people, including myself, have predicted that Walt will eventually kill Hank, but I will tell you why that is not likely to happen: Skyler knows who Walt really is now and if Hank turns up missing, Marie and Skyler will be tougher for Walt to deal with than the cartel and Gus combined.

CS: I don't think Hank not selling him out would necessarily be him "breaking bad." I guess it would depend on how much time Walt had left. I still don't see Walt killing his own, including the in-laws. I do see something happening to his immediate family, maybe a kidnapping or even a family death.

SE: At first, I thought that Season Five would provide Walt with a new enemy to run from or destroy, but the more I think about what happened, with Gus's team being decimated and the cartel to blame for it, the more I think the show might just fill the rest of Walt's prophesy by putting a brick on the gas pedal and letting an insane Heisenberg run rampant with no ax-wielding enemies to track him down. This has certainly been touched on by the AMC promos. Hell at this point, I wouldn't be surprised if Walt dug up some Uranium-235 and torched half of New Mexico just for a laugh. The writers have done their job and then some. I am just going to kick back and watch Walt scorch every bridge he crosses.

However, there are a lot of loose ends left. Did Gus's lab cameras leave any recordings behind? Who exactly was Gustavo Fring in his Chile years? Is Beneke dead?

CS: I doubt the lab black box will be recovered, as I doubt Gus was dumb enough to have any type of backed-up surveillance to incriminate him. I'd like to see how Gus became a successful business man in Chile, and Beneke is definitely dead. Also, there is always a cartel, and I imagine they will be more than willing to try to move into a perceived weakness in the New Mexican market.

SE: I guess I am clinging to the idea of Ted surviving his kerfuffle with Chekhov's rug for one final skirmish with Walt. From the looks of it, Mike is going to be forced onto Team White, but, like you said, it will be interesting to see how that conversation goes down. If Walt could punk Mike, that would be some kind of a feat. Any chance Mike has any new faith in Walt, or will he just be happy to have his old job back? Another loose end is the video of Pinkman cooking meth in the scum lab that might be circulating on the Mexican black market.

CS: Mike is a very practical man, I don't think he cares who he works for, he just knows not to bite the hand that feeds. So provided that Walt pays him properly, Mike is going to do his job and not really say anything about it.

SE: But what if Mike and Gus were secret lovers?

CS: That would be insane, though highly unlikely.

SE: There is a good chance that Mike will think that Gus's death was solely the cartel's work anyhow. Or do you think Walt is crazy enough at this point to sack up to it?

One thing we know about Season Five is that Walt and Jesse are going to continue to cook their blue meth. Any chance Walt sifts through his old buddies and finds a Gale type to hook him up with some lab equipment and maybe work for him? I know I bet Jesse and Walt wish they had the time to lift some of that pricey equipment from the superlab before it got toasted. Then again, if they keep Mike happy, I'm sure he has the connect.

CS: I think Mike is smart enough to know that Walt did this, but I also don't think Mike had any real loyalties to Gus.

Of course the blue meth is going to still be manufactured, hell they may even get themselves a new Winnebago temporarily until they can get a more secure setup. The hard part isn't the lab equipment, it's the materials.

SE: I have just one final plea to all television shows before we close this mother out: please stop with the "previously on" segments directly before a show airs. The annoying segments where every single plot line that is to come is spelled out in spliced clips from the show's past episodes, like Gus, have to go. Dexter is the worse about this, showing like two-to-three minute versions of these. Look, I know that the goal is to get as many viewers as possible and if people watch the show for the first time without knowing a key plot line it might detract them from the show, but any real fan would back track to figure out what was missed. There is nothing worse than getting all excited for what is to come in the episode and the "previously on" segment tips it off. It's a cheap way to shave a minute or two off of a television budget, and it must end. Give me all the preseason promo videos and pics as possible, but don't dick with me in season. And to Breaking Bad, if there is a super-violent scene, don't tip that off with a violent warning directly before the scene. Pay the FCC guy off or something. Good television is a commodity rarely witnessed, and I want to enjoy every second of it while this show lasts.

CS: I hate to rain on your rant, but I don't mind the episode previews. I don't understand why they don't just run the same warning before every episode. It would be easy to just show the warning with every mature subject in the season, listing that the episode may have one or more of the following.

"How much to put the Winnebago back together?"

SE: They do serve a purpose, and it's essentially what we do at the beginning of these articles, but some steps have to be taken to avoid a tip off. When something from ten episodes ago is shown it is pretty obvious that subject or certain character will be touched on in the coming episode. I think they need to be more concise and more vague. It's a fine line. It's weird, I don't have any problem with Breaking Bad tipping off viewers with the plethora of sneak previews and photos preseason. But Breaking Bad is an anomaly; I think I could read the entire script beforehand and still enjoy the show. I'll leave with a preview pic that shows Walt, Mike, and Jesse back together in a junk yard. You have to be happy that Carl from Billy Madison makes a triumphant return right?

CS: Super stoked for the return of Crazy Carl, I cant wait to see what other laws he has mastery of that give him an advantage in his shady business dealings.

Ok, folks, see you Monday. We look to cover each episode throughout Season Five, which will sadly only be eight weeks long for now. Look for an article each Monday morning. We don't have the privilege of having an advanced screening, so give us at least a couple of hours to deconstruct the episode and post our thoughts, and, as always, comments are encouraged and we will likely respond. If you have an idea or theory about the show--maybe Walt is going to start trying the product and get all Tuco'd out--we want to hear it.

Breaking Down: Breaking Bad - Season Four, Episodes Nine through Twelve

In the homestretch run of Season Four of Breaking Bad Walt suspects he is losing grip on Jesse, plants a bug on his car, tosses the evidence to Jesse, and Jesse tosses it back. Skyler enlists the services of Saul Goodman to handle a sticky situation with Beneke, and Ted takes the high road. Meanwhile, the cartel is not cutting Gus any slack, so Gus seemingly caves and takes a trip south with Mike and Jesse as his wingmen. After Jesse demonstrates his mad cooking skills, Gus orchestrates his maneuver involving poisonous tequila, effectively removing the last inheritors of the Salamanca clan. Upon his glorious return, Gus tries his best to intimidate a disgruntled Walt, but Walt ignores the ploy. As Hank and family remain cuddled up at home with the DEA, Walt plots his way out of imminent danger. 

Tune in next week for the recap of the final episode along with predictions and commentary on the upcoming Season Five.

These guys clearly haven't seen Tremors, find a giant rock, stat!

Stan Earnest: These last few episodes of Season Four pack a heavy punch. The only complaint I have is the opening to "Bug", a wink at Season Three's episode titled "Fly" that has a much different flight pattern (see Craig, these episode titles are great). We already know Walt is going to get curb-stomped by Jesse when he shows up at his house, but again, it's not so much about if or when, but how with Breaking Bad. Professor Plum, in the living room, with a monitoring device to the face, that's how.

Craig Scholes: Speaking of the opening to the episode “Bug”, what do you think Old Man Duggan's stance is on dudes wearing moccasins? Did you find it odd that Beneke's Geo Metro had keyless entry?

SE: We definitely have to get a ruling from the Old Man, because there might be an exclusion for the suede, dressy look. I think you were right about Walt's fighting style; it's one part Tyson ear bite and two parts Rowdy Roddy Piper, and after getting thrown into his own household fixtures by Walter White, Pinkman might want reconfigure his fighting stance also. They looked like the Bushwhackers turning on each other.

CS: If Walt and Jesse are the Bushwackers, which one licks the other one's armpit? You want to know what has bugged me more than anything? The fact that Gus is this worldly guy who clearly dabbles in all the finer things--it is apparent he is fond of cooking and enjoys gourmet food--yet the guy can't use a knife properly at all.

SE: I don't care how poorly he uses a knife, I still want some of that Chilean soup that he cooks, sans ricin. What did you think of him walking into the sniper spray Terminator-style? Jesse just standing there is definitely a real thing, dangerous situations tax the hell out of cognitive functions. A plethora of accounts of disasters involve victims that had plenty of time to escape but froze and failed to make it out alive. We see this unfold on television daily it seems. I understand Jesse turning into a fainting goat, but something about humans I have never understood is the want to be close to disaster. There was a giant building fire in my town recently. I was trying to take all the back roads and alleys I could to escape any traffic that would force me into the fumes of the fire. I saw it from a ways away, so I was able to take a route downwind and witnessed people literally walking out their front doors and heading directly to the site to witness the carnage. It was as if the fire was a giant spectator magnet, sucking people into its field. Hell, I'm surprised they weren't doing the snake crawl from the Season Three opener. As I got blocked in traffic, I saw hundreds of people just sitting on the town square, gladly ingesting the massive balls of brownish smog released by the blaze.

I guess in a way it parallels what has happened to Walt; he has been sucked into becoming a monster. Disaster is imminent, but his course remains the same. Nothing says "screw lung cancer" like sharing a cigarette with Jesse (not really). I can't decide if he was just trying to manipulate Jesse, or if he was really just having a to-hell-with-life moment.

CS: On one hand it's pretty bad ass that Gus challenged him like that, on the other he knew they couldn't shoot him; not that I have the cojones to test a sniper like that. There was a building in my hometown that recently went ablaze, and I remember wondering how many man hours they were wasting just to trying to keep the peace so people could do their job.

Gilligan and crew sure love themselves some shitty cars. If my parents bought me a PT Cruiser, I can't say that I would have been happy. On a trip to San Francisco once, I reserved a rental car only to find out that it wasn't available upon my arrival. I had the option to drive a PT Cruiser but chose instead to pay a little extra for a Mustang.

"Yo Avon, I found the phone booth, but I don't see Bill & Ted anywhere."

SE: I laughed like a little school girl when I saw the PT Cruiser. Not only is the average age of PT drivers upwards of 60, but it is sky blue. Talk about having a pulse on the younger generation. At least she could have found a black or red one, but hey, it comes with a CD player Junior! So much for Mom understanding technology; I doubt she knew that the Challenger had an iPod port. Speaking of technology in a television series, are we ever going to see a smart phone? How many times are Gus and Saul going to snap flip phones in half and toss them in the trash? It reminds me of watching The Wire when the cops undercover team was so intrigued that the criminals were now using high-tech cellphones to receive newfangled messages that didn't require conversation. Nowadays when I see someone using a Tracfone, deductive reasoning takes hold. There are only three things a Tracfone is used for: 1) the person cannot pass the faintest credit check to get a regular cell, 2) the person is cheating on a partner, 3) or the person is engaging in clandestine activities. I am pretty sure Hank uses the same basic sleuthing technique.

CS: You forgot the fourth option: there are some Tracphones that cost $40 a month for unlimited calls, texts and data. Having said that, I've made that Wire connection too, probably easier to destroy a phone if you aren't having to shell out a couple Benjamins every time.

I love the way Jesse shows up the Mexican chemists by the way.

SE: The best part of that was the look on Gus's and Mike's faces. I can't even image the look that would have come across Walt's face if he would have seen that scumtacular lab, talk about bitter-beer face. Walt would be shark bait in under a week with Don Eladio running the gig.

I was happy to see a plot line that put Skyler in Walt's shoes. We know she hasn't been squeaky clean and consequences are inevitable. If Walt's alter-ego is Heisenberg, the developer of the uncertainty principle, then what could possibly be the name of Skyler's act as a busty bimbo that dabbles in The Quicken?

CS: More than likely Walt would have been given a little more benefit of the doubt. It is very possible that part of the reason that Walt's meth is so "pure" is because of how meticulous they are at keeping their lab free of contaminants (see what I did there).

It didn't take Skyler much prodding to get her to go full-on sketchy, did it?

SE: Never underestimate the power of the postnatal hormonal flux. I like how all the pieces fit together for madness to happen. Walt is in hiding, drowning himself in pain pills and whatever beer he drinks (Molson? Amstel Light?). I am surprised he wasn't having a White Russian after wearing that Southwestern robe straight out of The Dude's closet. Or maybe it's a stiff cocktail, because he is totally Don Draper-ing Skyler with his disappearing acts. It inadvertently gives him power of control over her, but it also leaves her brain churning to keep up with Walt's style of taking care of problems, turning to Saul and his "A" team.

CS: Speaking of "A" team, BILL FUCKING BURR! He's had a pretty small part so far, but he has absolutely NAILED it. I’m not as big a fan of the rather large black fellow that accompanies him, but he plays the part okay.

SE: Fun fact: when the writing crew had some down time or was feeling uninspired during Season Four, they would fire up the ole YouTube and watch Bill Burr clip after Bill Burr clip. He is quite the enigma. Judging from the stand-up clips, I would have never imagined he could just sledgehammer that role so well. I didn't even recognize him the first time he showed up giving the business to Eyebrows McGee. Huell is also a comedian, the lesser known Lavell Crawford. Another fun fact: the name Huell was inspired by television personality Huell Howser. At first, I wasn't a big Huell fan, but in the scene with Beneke he really comes through. I like that he fits really well with Saul. I just don't see Saul employing a serious bodyguard, as he is deathly afraid of Mike. Something really weird I've noticed on second viewing is that Huell and Kuby are both wearing purple in Saul's office, Gus is also wearing purple in the last few episodes, and Marie has her house just plastered in purple, but maybe it's just Hank's favorite color.

CS: Marie was also wearing purple when she got busted being a klepto at the open houses.

It pisses me off how slimey Beneke is. How could you justify buying a new Benz when you owed the government $617K and change. And then for him to say he has to get his business going. Buying a new Mercedes isn't exactly overhead. What a fucking clown.

SE: Teddy knows exactly what he is doing. Skyler, like Walt, was too naive and prideful to not let Ted know where the money came from. If Saul thinks it's a bad idea, chances are it is a pretty bad idea. She wised up all quick like because Ted was definitely trying to blackmail her, or at least push her in a direction back into his slimy, scaled hands.

I got a question for you: do you think that Gus ever thought at any point that Walt was tipping Hank off, or was he merely using the Hank snooping plot to convince Jesse that Walt was a problem? I thought it was a nice touch that the viewer doesn't know if Gus can hear Walt through the camera.

CS: I actually don't think Ted was blackmailing Skyler. I think he instead was just trying to justify being a selfish moron.

No, I don't think Gus was of the impression that he was tipping off Hank. Mainly because of how terrified he was when Hank wanted Walt to lo-jack his car. And yeah, since Gus is such a master schemer he clearly took advantage of the hand he was dealt.

SE: Another question: is it winter like year around in Albuquerque? Because Jesse sure likes his hoodies and Walt sure likes jackets. Seems like the heat is really played up in the day shots and cold is really played up in the night shots. I've never gotten down in the ABQ, but by the series, it seems I need to pack heavy.

I wonder what kind of a plan Gus had in place if he didn't make it out of Mexico alive. I am sure he has some ten page under-the-table will worked out where his operation gets handed down to somebody, or at least covered up and the money split up. The guy sure had a plan for Don Eladio and crew, the riskiest move he'll ever make. After surviving that madness, he knows he is on borrowed time. I loved that he was sly enough to avoid Pinkman getting got by the specially hand-crafted anejo, and telling the remaining folks to raid the mansion and leave was a classy move.

CS: Well sand doesn't really hold any heat, so there are massive temperature fluctuations when the sun goes down. Fun story, I have a cousin from the same southeastern region of Kansas I'm from who moved to Los Angeles to go to UCLA. After a couple years, he decided to come home for Christmas. He flew into Kansas City wearing shorts, sandals, and a tank top because he forgot it got cold in the Midwest.

I dunno, but it was pretty ballsy to spike tequila with Iocane powder without properly immunizing himself against it.

Gus has been watching The Princess Bride

SE: You know what poison Gus used? Remind me to never piss you off. Whatever he spiked it with, he did take some pill for it beforehand while reminiscing about his boy Max next to the pool.

I just want to go on record as saying that the end to Episode Eleven, "Crawl Space", is the most ominous ending of a television show I can remember, and nothing else is even close. It's weird to think that four years of Breaking Bad is only like ten months in Walt time. It's easy to forget that Walt hasn't made that much money yet, so plucking out some change for a car wash and Teddy Beneke's mistakes put a dent in the meth fortune. The writer's strike deep, dark oil once again with Walt maniacally laughing Syd Barrett style as the camera pans out to some wicked Reznoresque backing track while Maria flips out on the answering machine. I can't get that menacing camera shot out of my head. Walt has done the most awful of things to set his family up for a future, and Teddy's got his money now while he is up a creek, sans paddle. Now that is a Swayze-sized Road House karate chop the ole beanbag.

CS: Not only has Walt not earned a totally obscene amount of money yet, but Skyler and him haven't exactly been really careful with the money, giving tons of it to Hank and Marie, buying a car wash, burning it in a grill, torching a Dodge Challenger, oh and then there is still the massive cancer treatment debt they started in.

SE: And then we find Walter next to the pool spinning his .38 of fate, contemplating a way out. There is no way you don't like the Apollo Sunshine song during that scene, aptly titled "We Are Born When We Die", hearkening to a Season One, Episode One Walt beginning his new double life.

CS: I meh that song. I wouldn't ever actively listen to it on my own, but on the other hand I wouldn't turn it off when it came on.

I could have sworn Jesse was present when Gus drug Walt out into the desert to threaten him, but clearly he wasn't.

SE: Yeah, there is no way that Gus would have let Jesse hear him threaten Walt's baby daughter; he knows Jesse is a big softy.

Do I even need to mention how awesome it was that the Aztek took on even more brutality? If you're ever going to dress up as Heisenberg for Halloween, I won't get it unless you're driving an Aztek with body damage. Now that would be a scary look. Do you think Walt saved money by avoiding the high fees of an incognito repairman or will his insurance premiums negate that?

CS: Of course not, the Aztek taking on copious amounts of damage is one of my favorite things about the show. I think the Aztek is finally dead, because he is driving some sort of white station wagon mini van hybrid thing, something like a Pontiac Vibe or some sort of Honda.

You don't want to wear moccasins in this lab.

SE: I am really hoping that it is a rental, because I am rooting for a glorious return by the Aztek, but judging by the new poster for Season Five, Walt is going to be driving a new Mercedes S Class.

So we end these episodes with yet another Jesse and Walt confrontation ending in Walt building, of all things, a car bomb. Full-on criminal Heisenberg is pretty much everyday Walt at this point. What did you make of Gus's spidey sense to avoid Walt's trap?

CS: Yeah, there is no way that Aztek is going to be brought back. Maybe when it was totaled out Walt bought back a salvaged title or something, and we'll get a chance to just see it sitting in the street from time to time.

I think Gus's sixth sense was a little ridiculous to be honest, but I guess its not too far-fetched for someone as meticulous as Gus to take all precautions. Makes you wonder though, how many times he has changed course for no reason. Do you think his muscle just thinks he is crazy?

SE: His muscle probably never gets anything in direct message from him, so I guarantee they think he is a quack. You know, there was a monstrous fuss on the net about Gus avoiding his car, but I think it is warranted. He knows Walt is after him. He thinks he has turned Jesse, but he isn't positive. The talk he had with Jesse was very strange. Gus was likely just thinking about how weird it was that Jesse said that someone poisoned Brock but didn't mention anything other than that really. Jesse really didn't play his hand very well at all. He looked very afraid of Gus. So either Jesse thinks Gus did it and wouldn't say anything or he thinks Walter did it and would then give the go ahead for Gus to off Walt. Gus just figured something was up with that conversation so he avoided his car.

CS: I don't think Jesse gets enough credit for how sharp he is at times though. He may not be the most book smart, but he has plenty of the streets know-how.

So there you have it. The first twelve episodes of Season Four of Breaking Bad. Walt sure has managed to get himself into quite the pickle, and it'll be fun to see how the craziness is resolved. Tune in next week when we break down the finale of Season Four in preparation of the Season Five premiere.