The first episode of True Detective entitled "The Long Bright Dark" brings us a dead woman with deer antlers for a crown, then spills over from there into the personal life of two detectives, one with family and earnest living concerns and the other with a concern for good old-fashioned alcoholic self-destruction.
Killer Joe vs. Billy Hoyle
Stan Earnest:T-Bone Burnett! Fuck yes! Love the opening credits.
Craig Scholes:Mc-Con-uh-hey ages like shit in this.
SE:YOU SHUT
YOUR MOUTH! We are in the McConaussance!
CS:Long-haired, handle-bar mustachioed, arm-tat future Mc-Con-uh-hey looks
like a real pederast.
SE:Don't
mess with the Jesus.
CS:It’s a
good thing this takes place in Louisiana instead of Miami; I'd hate for this to
be a Dexter spinoff.
SE:Fuck the
last season of Dexter with the passion of a hundred-million suns. I'm a big
true crime fan, so it has been a long time coming for a fictional show that
does detective work any justice. I have high hopes for this show. This better
not be some hybrid CSI bullshit, so far so good.
CS:You'd
think smoking at a crime scene would be frowned upon.
SE:I've
always thought hovering around a crime scene would be weird. How are cops not
required to wear gloves immediately? Not securing the crime scene was the key
mishap of the Jon-Benet Ramsay case.
Alright, alright, alright! Mc-Con-uh-hey is really
putting on a clinic here.
CS: He has
come a long way since trolling for high school chicks.
SE: Do you think they used superglue or velcro for
Woody's mop? He really is putting Bruce Willis's hair stylist to shame. Stay
sexy Woody.
CS:I hope
they used that aerosol spray-on adhesive for Woody's rug.
SE:"It's all one ghetto man. A giant gutter in outer space." My
lands, this shit is gonna be dark.
CS:I was on
the fence about this show until the very last line: "Then you better start
asking the right fucking questions."
SE:I'm sold,
and the reason is that most detective shows fall flat because either: a) shitty
acting, or b) trying to make a detective case have to many twists and turns.
This one has character. They are somehow making these scenes where nothing
happens matter. I haven't quite figured it out yet.
CS: For me I don't even care
about the case or where it’s going. I want to know where Mc-Con-uh-hey is
going. I should really learn how to spell his name.
SE: Matthew McConaughey. I
have to admit that I checked IMDB for that. I also thought that was Lester
Freamon in the church, but IMDB says no. [**CORRECTION** IMDB now has Clarke Peters listed as an actor in True Detective.]
CS: Lester Freamon on a case, and it won't be a case for very long.
SE: That’s right, gotta have some good
old-fashioned existential drunks on the scene. Maybe Lester is the killer. I
mean he loved him some tiny furniture crafting, maybe he's moved on to those
little devil's nest thingies.
All the pieces matter.
CS: Lone Star tall-boys to the
rescue!
SE: Wife has The Golden Globes on, I
think Joaquin Phoenix's neck beard could play a role in True Detective.
McConaughey's stache would kick its ass.
CS: Of course Joaquin will
always have a disadvantage in the facial hair department because of the harelip.
SE: One episode in and Craig is in
true form. You’ve already picked on fictional characters (Flynn from Breaking
Bad), now you're in a full-on war with harelips?
SE: Yes, listen to Craig's podcast. I laugh ballz [OMD: Fuck you, Stan. That alternate spelling instantly made this website the worst ever. I hope you're happy.] at least once an episode. (I'm setting the over/under on
the text I get from Old Man Duggan for putting that last sentence in at 237
characters and I'm taking the over).
So what is it about this show that
you think makes it so good? I hope this slow burn keeps weaving the characters
into more sinister places and doesn't worry about too much of a
let's-catch-this-killer-now plot.
CS: Honestly, the first half didn't
have me at all. I don’t care much about shows just about murder solving. I’m a big fan of the idea of them rehashing the story ten or so years
down the line. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens between them
because they don't appear to really be fans of each other.
SE: That scene in the car with
McConaughey waxing about his biological programming while Woody tried to
verbally put his burning cigarette out ranks up there with only a few scenes I
can remember off-hand where I was just in awe. I'm thinking Donald Sutherland
and Judd Hirsch from Ordinary People for some reason.
CS: I'll have to go back and
re-watch that scene. That was around the time I was losing interest.
SE: You're a monster, Craig. That was
where I was gaining interest. The script in that scene is admirable.
CS: So where do you hope this goes?I personally already don't really give a shit
about Woody. I just want to know where McConaughey goes in this.
SE:I want to
see how Woody stands up next to the force that McConaughey is, so far so good.
I'm just hoping this doesn't become unhinged after a few eps like the other
detective show I unfortunately watched all of (The Killing...ahem).
HOLY SHIT, HOLY SHIT! As I type this McConaughey
wins a Golden Globe and opens his speech with "ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT!
ALRIGHT!"
"Gliding Over All" brings us a reminiscent Walter White. Heisenberg orchestrates a few prison shankings while keeping Lydia alive to grow the business. The business grows and grows and grows. A cancer scan turns Walt into a big softy, dumping cash at Jesse's front door and proclaiming he is out of the business. Walt Whitman has something to say about that though.
Gus Fring post Robocop reconstruction
Stan Earnest: Zombie Gale is pissed. He is after Walter White. He was the Garfunkel to the Simon, the Slash to the Axl, the Ono to the Lennon, the Louise to the Thelma, the Whitney to the Bobby, and Walt had to go and ruin it. First the coffee pot being tossed across the room, and now he is leaving messages for Hank. Walter White is doomed.
Craig Scholes: So you are telling me AMC is going to do a Breaking Bad/Walking Dead season to wrap up Breaking Bad next year? BRILLIANT!
SE: Why not? I'm still waiting for the digital world to give me a Rocky/Rambo combo with dueling Sylvester Stallones.
CS: Why would Rocky fight Rambo though?
SE: Rocky gets kidnapped and Rambo saves him. They fight as a team. This is not an original idea by me, but it is a damn good one, and it should get made.
CS: A better idea would be if Conan the Barbarian was used to stop the T-800.
SE: Well, there was talk of a Saul Goodman spinoff, which would easily win the world's greatest spinoff competition.
CS: Until the Ron Swanson spinoff gets made
SE: Ron Swanson could probably use a good lawyer.
CS: Saul Goodman has to be a Libertarian too.
SE: Full disclosure time: Last week we pranked Old Man Duggan by included a plethora of ellipses and many mentions of sandals. This time I've been duped. I was 99.5% certain the spoiler I heard was correct, that Walt was going to choke out Skyler screaming, "This was for us! This was for us!" And then go into hiding. Breaking Bad, you are good, you are damn good. They planted spoilers and then had them pulled from site forums to add to the plausibility of them.
CS: The greatest trick Walter White ever played was convincing Hank Schrader that Heisenberg didn't exist. Brilliant strategery, next thing you know they will do minisodes for next year where Walter White finally owns that Lazer Tag joint.
SE: As far as Breaking Bad episodes go, there isn't much that tops this. I am so giddy right now. This episode was so fantastic. You will find no criticism here. The flash forward worked. The montage worked. The spoiler fooled me. And we finally got the Keyser Soze moment I thought would happen at the end of Season 4.
CS: Of course Landry has an in with a Neo-Nazi white supremacist group. Why wouldn't he?
SE: And the ricin didn't get used...AGAIN!
CS: That ricin is going to be a teaser forever; it’s never getting used.
Uncle Miltey isn't afraid of Heisenberg
SE: This was the writers pulling a Milton Berle. They always pull out enough to impress, but never go full monty. So Walter White is "out" huh, isn't that sweet? Well, Hank is going to pull you back in buddy!
CS: Isn't that how the bad guy always go down? A gifted Walt Whitman book? When I first saw the book, I thought it was going to be hollowed out with something stashed in it Shawshank Redemption style. I didn't even see that it was a Walt Whitman book. Of course, I also thought when Flynn went to go get the sunscreen to put on Holly that he was going to drop a little baggie of blue meth.
SE: Most productive dump ever. I thought that first shower scene was weird. Just never forget that Breaking Bad does not waste a scene. Whenever you think it is pointless, it will pendulum your ass in the face. I think Walt said it right the first time when he said, "Nothing stops this train." I mean think about it. What could he possibly do to get out? Sell his recipe? No chance that ever happens. Someone would bring him back in, but he was probably just lying anyhow.
CS: I dunno, I bet literally having a mountain of cash would be a sobering realization. I'd count all those monies many times too, just to do it.
SE: Didn't you think for a second that Walt was going to leave Jesse the entire pile, and totally punk his family?
CS: Not for a second.
SE: I can't wait to see the internet calculations on how much money that was. If only 3% of America's economy is cold hard cash, then it was all in that room.
CS: I’m watching the replay now, and I missed the part in the epic montage of how much Saul clearly hates himself now. Which is crazy that one of the sketchiest of all-time sketchy ambulance chasers actually feels dirty.
SE: Saul isn't the only one weary. Jesse was quite worried himself. That is how far Walt has come. Everyone around him is afraid. So how amazing was the montage? Does it rank up there with the Goodfellas montage?
This episode reminds me of something Billy Corgan said one time about music. It was something about how he started making music because of all of the late 80s music he heard on the radio sucked and he wanted to do something better. Well, I can sit down and write and rewrite a million scripts over a million years and never touch this level of entertainment.
CS: Never seen Goodfellas.
SE: Don't make me pop your eyeball out for not watching a mobster movie.
CS: That ranks right up there with the Rocky IV montage, which has to go on the Rushmore of all time epic montages.
SE: Somewhere, the Grantland writers are furiously putting together a montage tournament.
CS: One of my best good buddies took an AV class in college, and he had to make a montage, so he made a montage of him making a montage to the song “Montage”. That teacher shows that video to his classes now.
SE: Rad. The montage missed a scene though: Junior in the bathroom snorting the crystal blue persuasion.
CS: Do you think the DVD's will have the deleted scene of Walt throwing Skyler down on that mountain of cash and forcing himself on her?
SE: The only thing more haunting than that would be a prison shanking montage. Oh wait, we already had one of those. That had to be the darkest 5 minutes in television history. That was gruesome.
CS: Or, better yet, will it have Walt doing the backstroke in a mountain of cash like Scrooge McDuck. The prison shanktasterpiece was pretty awesome
SE: I'm not the most intelligent person in the world, but I think it would probably be a little wiser to spread that money around to several storage units. I mean, you're one good fire away from losing a billion dollars in cash. If we haven't seen Walt pissed yet, that would probably do it.
CS: Even smart people get overwhelmed. And clearly Skyler is all out of fucks. Of course, I don't get the nice convenient stack under a flowered sheet. I would have those different denominations stacked in each of the corners to ease the counting of it.
SE: So was the mountain of cash the thing that "sobered" up Walt, or was it the return of the cancer? I think he saw that mountain of cash and imagined that whole storage facility rented out with each unit full of the different denominations.
CS: Probably both. Walt having cancer is going to make him want to spend the rest of his time with the people he cares about, and giving Jesse duffel bags of cash is similar to a person who is about to commit suicide giving away their belongings.
SE: I think it also has a lot to do with how they remember him. Of course the writers have a way of making Walter somehow redeemable after he orders the deaths of 9 people in 2 minutes.
CS: The reminiscing about the old RV was a pretty sweet scene.
SE: I hope the Weeds writers watch the Blu-Ray of this season on a loop until they figure out how to plot out a season of television, because Breaking Bad just pulled a total cliffhanger to end a season, and I liked it. That hardly ever happens. We still have no clue what the M60 is for, and we don't even care. We totally got Keyser Soze'd.
So what predictions do you have going forward? I think the Hank-blamed-as-Heisenberg plot is totally at play here.
CS: Why would Hank take the fall for Heisenberg?
SE: Because Walt will MacGyver his way out of it, just watch. Hank's fingerprints are all over this thing. He showed up in perfect timing for Tuco. The cartel has come after him. He has unknowingly taken dirty money for his therapy. He will wind up on a wild goose chase after Walter and end up at a lab with his fingerprints all over it. Then a mechanical device drops a Heisenberg hat on his bald head just as Gomez shows up and has his own Keyser Soze moment. Meanwhile, Walter slowly dies in a random hospital bed.
CS: No way Skyler lets Walt do that to Hank and Marie.
SE: There is still a vial of ricin to be used bro.
CS: I think Hank simmers on it for a bit and then says something to Marie, who absolutely loses her fucking mind calling Hank insane, only to plant the doubt in her mind. Walt gives himself the ricin before he kills Skyler.
SE: By the way, I want to thank everybody that has been following along with us. I am a fan first and enjoy doing this. Secondly, I want to give a big shout out again to the guys at Bald Move; their Breaking Good podcast is the best one of them all. They actually read my random emails on the waves from time to time.
CS: I have no idea why anyone would have put up with me this long, or why you have tortured yourself with proof-reading my incoherent ramblings and random capitalization
SE: The best part of that last statement was that you put a dash in proofreading. Now say something funny to close this bitch out.
CS: I was talking about the ramblings I have written on dough that is reaching its proper age before being used to make pizza.
So…what show are we doing next? I still think it would be fun to rip a bad show to pieces.
SE: Yes! The Killing, Season Seven up next. We finally find out who killed Rosie.
CS: Nope, in Season Seven we find out the Illuminati was involved.
We leave you with Mike Ehrmantraut's first ever acting role:
In the last episode we covered, Hank went all John Rambo on the Salamanca twins. The last half of Season Three brings us plenty of more drama. Walt brings aboard Pinkman to replace Gale in the super lab to avoid litigation against Hank. Meanwhile Walt can’t escape the hospital visiting room where his family is waiting on word of Hank’s health, thus casting his web of lies to include Gus, who is not impressed. Gus makes an appearance at the hospital much to Walt’s surprise, and this sets up a meeting at the chicken coop in which Walt reveals that he understands Gus’s brash business tactics, and accepts a continuous supply of cash to continue production of the “blue.” Jesse starts dating a fellow rehabber and haphazardly discovers the killer of his comrade Combo, the gal’s kid brother. This prompts a confrontation between Team Gus and Team Walt. The child drug dealer is then murdered, prompting revenge at the hands--or shall I say hood--of the Pontiac Aztek. As Walt is left with no other option but to protect his life by making himself the only meth chemist Gus has access to, he petitions Jesse to give a knock on Gale’s door.
As we near the start of Season Five (one month away, hooray!), we will be shortening the span of the episodes we cover. Look for a break down of the first few episodes of Season Four next Friday.
Stan Earnest: The latter half of Season Three starts with bad Jesse. I really despise the role acceptance of Jesse Pinkman as he diverges into evil, celebrating Hank's critical condition, which really speaks to Aaron Paul's acting chops. Never thought I would be saying this at this point, but Paul can stand toe-to-toe with Cranston. Just brilliant acting all around.
Craig Scholes: In all fairness if you were in Jesse's shoes there, wouldn't you get a little bit of schadenfreude joy there too? I mean Hank essentially turned Jesse into the stunt double for Sloth from The Goonies. In contrast of spiteful Jesse, I also love the scene where Jesse clowns around in the lab waiting on Walt to get back from the ER, further proof of Aaron Paul's acting chops.
SE: Breaking Bad just speaks to me in ways other shows don't. My first college roommate was like this smart, prankster version of Jeff Spicoli that listened to either Alice in Chains, Grateful Dead, or gangster rap, nothing else. He introduced me to a lot of good stuff, including my favorite song at the time that I had never heard before: "Shimmy Shimmy Ya" by Ol' Dirty Bastard, the song during the aforementioned Pinkman scene. But why wouldn't Breaking Bad use an ODB song? That guy was the epitome of bad; his FBI profile circulating on the internet is quite exquisite. You've got to feel bad for Gale though, being at the top of your game and getting ousted for Jesse Pinkman, but the ho-hum work of an amicable Walt/Gale relationship doesn't spell drama the same way Jesse and Walt spell it.
CS: Yeah I imagine an entire season of Walt complementing Gale on how amazing his coffee is just wouldn't be the same. How great is it when Walt finds out he can't get one by Gus. Painstakingly going out of his way to create this intricate web of lies to try and throw off Gus, only for Gus to show up at the hospital and blow Walt's mind. I also really love how cool Gus plays it in the hospital, telling Walt he also hides in plain sight, then calmly saying, "Now thank me and shake my hand."
SE: Walt is a chemistry genius, but he can be behind the curve when it comes to judging character. Walt was extremely naïve to think that Gus didn't know about Hank being DEA. It was very shortsighted of Walt to think of himself as some sort of hidden mastermind, that he could tell my-dog-ate-the-homework stories to a slick drug kingpin. If Tuco could track your ass down, Gus probably has his eyes on you, Walt. Even more naïve it was to not realize that Gus's pragmatism also applies to him, that Gus was probably using Walt just for his formula anyhow, and could cleanse his hands of him at anytime.
Speaking of Gus knowing all, are you smelling an insider at the DEA? I feel like I can bring this up, because most viewers had been getting that feeling for awhile at this point. Danny Trejo reappears (no one on this show really ever dies) and we remember he had been tipped off, Hank is constantly being guided away from his Heisenberg search, and the Federales had the cartel leader's home in Mexico surrounded following the Hank/twins bloodbath, yet he met a machine-gun demise.
CS: Uh, do you not remember the cartel member saying his brother is the police chief? Getting back to the drug raid, it's amazing what Gus managed to do in a couple of quick strokes. And then for Walt to kind of figure it out was fairly impressive too.
All through high school, I worked in a chicken restaurant , but man is Los Pollos Hermanos distribution system way more complicated than what my employer did. Of course, it was me and a couple other high school flunkies working in basically what was a mom-and-pop chicken joint. I can't imagine the amount of work and trust it takes to be hiding meth in batter.
SE: Why can't real chicken commercials be that good? All of those fresh chilli peppers, spindles of slow roasted chicken dripping with flavor, and fried chicken wings falling from the sky makes we want to drive to Albuquerque and see if Los Pollos Hermanos really exists. All we get here is KFC commercials with buckets of "special seasoning" (basically MSG powder) laying around and uniformed stereotypes with teeth whitener. I think a Los Pollos Hermanos chain would make some serious money, even sans superlab. Surely someone has the paperwork started on that.
Both Walt and Skyler have eureka moments in regards to the meth operation. Skyler realizes that Walter has to--in some form--be caught up in Hank's shooting, which makes her realize how unsafe her family may be, and the trail of lies starts again for Walt. As Walt comes to and levels with Gus, I really applauded the choice to have Walt speak to Gus in a way that Gus would appreciate that he "respects the strategy," agrees with the move, and would have done the same. With that, both Walt and Gus have underestimated each other, and the chess match begins; oh wait that's Season Four, but the groundwork is definitely laid out in that chicken coop, or should I say coup?
CS: At the place I worked the chicken was salted and peppered, coated in home-made bread crumbs and cornmeal, and battered in just milk, egg, and garlic. Doesn't get any easier than that.
That conversation in the chicken coop kind of causes Walt to have a momentary lapse of craziness though. He maxes the Aztek out at 88 MPH and lets it wander into the opposite lane perilously close to a semi. Someone should tell Walt that the Aztek needs a new belt, because there was a little bit of a squeal when he got off the shoulder and back onto the pavement.
SE: What did you think of Skyler's gambling monologue? In a microcosmic way, it parallels Gus's later fell swoop to take out the cartel; she needed an explanation for the money, a diatribe to let Walt know she was on board, and a way to show she had skills to be a player in the game. She knew Walt wouldn't go for it, so she just did it. Have you ever given someone an excellent idea and they shun you, but like three weeks later they somehow morph the idea into their own and go with it? Walt is that guy. He doesn't listen to an idea unless he thinks it's his own. "Walt that belt is squeaky, might want to get that looked at." Three weeks later he tells you how he figured it out.
CS: I have an aunt who I convinced that she used to lock me in a closet, and now that story has morphed into something even crazier. It's absolutely hilarious to me.
Most definitely about Skyler, you can pretty much see how if the shoe was on her foot that she is very capable of Breaking Bad herself. Her character is a phenomenal liar. You know Walt just keeps kicking himself, knowing that you can't bullshit a bullshitter. Then again, an open-ended $15 Million per annum can make even the most moral people amoral.
The conversation where Jesse loses his shit about only making half a million a year as opposed to Gus making his $96 Million is hilarious to me. It would be impossible for me to be in that situation and not have to worry about any of the risk. Gus put up all the money to create this endeavor, and stands to lose the most; I know way too many people that would also fight the man in that situation.
SE: Walt has probably had the conversation too many times with high school students that want to fight the man, so he just figured he would give it the cake-and-ice-cream treatment. Walt could have really flipped out on him there though. Hey, Jesse, you want to know why Gus makes the $96 MM and you make $1.5? It's because your boss is a conniving mastermind willing to do anything to keep his business floating. How much overhead do you think it costs to employ Mike and Co.? Are you going to go head-to-head with the cartels? Do you have a distribution network as smooth and wide as Los Pollos delivery trucks? Do you sponsor the Fun Run for the DEA every year or even attempt to keep your nose clean? And how about the money it takes to clean up all your mistakes? Zip it, bro. Sit on your bag of cash and spin.
Everyone wants to let that inner Walter White out once in a while.
CS: So how about "Fly?" I know you are dying to talk about this episode. I've probably seen it three or four times total, and I just don't love it like everyone else does. I mean, I get the appeal, and I wouldn't call it a bad episode, but it just doesn't do the same for me as it does everyone else. To me, this episode says, "Hey, our budget is getting out of hand; how can we cut corners a bit?"
SE: Duder, "Fly" is one of my all-time favorite episodes of any show, ever. All character building episodes tend to have that putting-a-plug-in-the-budget feel to them, but didn't we applaud last season's version "4 Days Out?" My guess to what happened on that episode is that a portion of the script just ended up so damn good that Gilligan and Co. just figured it would work as an entire episode. Anyhow, I wish I was a fly on the wall in that meeting. The episode wasn't that fun for me the first time around; I was really wanting the action to continue to amp up, but I too have seen it several times and now I can't get enough. I literally snickered for 15 solid minutes the last time through, so damn funny.
Aaron Paul is at his best in that one. Talk about stories about aunts, how about that possum story? If I am ever in an Irish band, we will definitely be named the O'Possums. Walt is still showing after effects of going through treatment, marital strife, the attack on Hank, and the whole meth operation thing, so it isn't a surprise to seem him chase a fly to stop "spillage." I cannot imagine the hell fire conversation that would immediately reign down on Walt if Gus had video of that day. You know what is great? The Netflix 30-second rewind button. I must have watched Walt fall on that lab vat five or six times. As far as I can tell, it's all one shot, but I'm guessing that is probably not true, as I don't see who would approve Cranston over a stunt double for that one.
CS: Full disclosure: I am going to be playing with a friend tomorrow, and he wants to start a folk rocky type band. I'm gonna pitch the name the O'Possums. I also once came up with the band name the Republicants, but I think that is taken.
I guess I like the RV episode because it seemed more like genuine tension, not fabricated tension because Walt is beginning to lose his mind. Even though I've seen that episode several times, it still amazes me that Walt doesn't spill the beans about Jane; though I do love the part when Walt is going on about having lived too long, and, "You want them to miss you." I think this is also the first episode where Walt's cough starts to come back.
SE: I like how Walt's monologue provides closure to his thoughts on the plane crash, that there was a "perfect moment" where he could have died and all of it would have been worth it, but now the cosmic rocket--and Walt's ego--has been launched and nothing can stop it from reaching light speed. For that alone, the episode makes sense. We normally have to read Walt's inner thoughts, but this time we get those few raw moments where Walt is blistered from a combo of Gale's coffee (what would you pay to try a cup of that?), no sleep, and a half-dozen sleeping pills, revealing how he has rationalized the tremendous odds that aligned for him to meet with Jane's dad that night. At this point, Walt is really beginning to believe he was meant to become Heisenberg all along. You know, Elvis thought he could move clouds with his mind.
CS: I have actually only taken two sips of coffee in my whole life, so I probably wouldn't give much more than a wooden nickel to try Gale's coffee, though I can't imagine mixing sleeping pills with caffeine is a good idea.
Episode 11 is the first episode where I really start to not like Hank. I've never had serious physical therapy, but I have had minor physical therapy and Hank is being a full-on pussy. Just being the worst combination of whiny bitch and quitter, not to mention taking it out on everyone.
SE: I feel for Hank. All I will say is that I have gone to physical therapy 2-3 times a week for a couple of years with no end in sight and, although the folks that help me are extremely personable and fun to chat with, it's about the last thing you want to do when in pain.
CS: Fair enough I guess. I suppose if I couldn't go play laser tag I would be a pretty grumpy person as well.
SE: How much of a snake move was it for Beneke to show up at the
White household after ducking Walter at his office? You know he circled
the block like seven times to make sure mean ol' Walter White wasn't around.
The funny thing is that Ted has no clue what he is stepping in, and
Walter probably would have earned a prison sentence on the face of Teddy
Beneke if he had showed up to that awkward situation, which is why the
writers probably left it at that, but wouldn't you have liked to see
Teddy get chased around the Aztek by a hornet's-nest mad Walt?
CS:
Fuck Beneke, what a pansy. The funny thing is though, Beneke doesn't
realize that Walt is kind of a pussy. Regardless, it would be
entertaining to see the continuation of Walt unable to throw a fake
plant through a window.
SE: I want to know how in the hell the writers came up with the plot line that brought Combo's death back to haunt Jesse and forced a confrontation with Gus. Along with that plane crash, the odds that Jesse would start dating the kid killer's sister are pretty stout also; I think the cosmos is dropping hints. And I love that Pinkman falls back into good guy status. That guy is on a roller coaster ride through the bowels of hell.
CS: Yeah, its pretty fucked up to use children, but history has shown that the most effective way to create criminals is to get them started young. It's such a great twist of writing to bring up call backs like that. In reality, the story wouldn't have changed much if that kid killed somebody that wasn't Combo. Jesse probably gets just as angry over it. I'm actually a little surprised that Gus, who runs such a tight ship, would actually allow this because there is no way he isn't aware of it.
SE: That is where we are left to wonder how much Gus knows and whether he ordered the kid's death or not. I would think Gus wouldn't specifically order it, but maybe influenced the men to take care of the issue, in which they saw fit to off the poor kid. Then again, I doubt the thugs make any serious moves without Gus's approval if they are very close, and being as they were in ABQ they are probably pretty tight-knit.
You have told me that Jesse was only supposed to be in the first couple episodes before he was to be killed off, but the friction with Walt worked, so they kept the character running. This was confirmed by an Aaron Paul appearance on Conan in which he also divulges that every season Cranston loves to scare him into thinking new script revisions have offed Pinkman. I've listened to a lot of the podcasts about the show featuring Vince Gilligan. He is pretty laid back and honest about the items he is willing to talk about. Apparently, the writer's literally don't know where they are going sometimes and just piece together ideas and mix and match until the stars align. I think the Combo murder tie-in may have been them retracing steps to push some confrontation to the forefront. I do love that if they find incongruities before the season airs, Gilligan shoots the additive scenes and edits them in previous episodes to further enhance plot cohesion, so I am always left wondering what was originally plotted out and what changed.
I also have read that Tuco was supposed to be a villain for several seasons, but Raymond Cruz had contractual obligations, in which the writer's developed the anti-Tuco, Gustavo Fring. Paul McCartney always said that he believed The Beatles succeeded because they were willing to try new things and experiment with new sounds and technologies, not discarding the off-the-beaten-path stuff. When Vince Gilligan says he doesn't know how this ends, I believe him, but I also know he will work like hell to get it done in a way that is true to his vision, quirks and all, for what it's worth.
CS: I think this type of thing is actually quite common. I know in the TV show Lost, Benjamin Linus was only suppose to be in a couple of episodes, and Mr. Eko was suppose to have a much bigger role, but he hated living in Hawaii.
For one, I'm glad the Tuco character didn't last. I much prefer Gus. I prefer my villains to be cold and calculated, not some kind of maniacal wild card.
SE: I know I'm guilty of pointing out all of the genius moves that Breaking Bad has made, but in reality there have been a lot of breaks that led to how the show turned out, that whole contingency of life thing again. I like the contrast from Tuco to Gus. We see that not only are Walt and Jesse ill-equipped to handle a maniacal meth dealer, they can't even stay the course with the most pragmatic of men who has given them the deal of a lifetime and can offer them protection and an unlimited supply of cash. The only conversation we see between Gus and Gale is the plot to rid Walt, but what did he tell Gale when Walt ousted him? Surely Gale was still getting paid to chill out in his humble apartment, soaking in his patchouli stench.
CS: I don't think Gus talked to Gale again until he was rehired. Walt was the one that had to tell Gale his services would no longer be required. I think it would have been awesome if Gale flipped his shit and took his super coffee maker with him.
How big of a wheel barrow did Jesse need to haul his nuts around when he told Gus how it was going to be? It took massive cojones to tell Gus no after he tried to put the kibosh on Jesse's rage.
SE: No doubt it was a Paul Bunyan-sized wheelbarrow, bet you could fit Jupiter and Saturn in that thing. Jesse is at the end of the line there. Life's pissed on him too many times, and he just decides to ride the blue dragon into battle with the rival dealers. I guess he figures someone has to take some sort of an ethical stand eventually. And then probably my favorite single moment in the whole series happens: kamikaze Aztek rampage! The Kamikaze Azteks would be a killer band name, but you would probably get sued by the tribal nation, let alone Pontiac or the Japanese.
CS: Its odd that Jesse is, at times, the moral compass of the show. I had a teacher in high school that told a similar story to Mike's abusive husband story, except my teacher's version of the story dealt with a physically abusive wife, not husband.
Man I love the last episode of Season Three, it's probably my favorite episode in the whole series (thus far anyway).
SE: Whoa, no comment on the acrobatic Aztek? I wore the Netflix 30-second button out on that one. I love the comical way in which Walt scrambles outside the vehicle. It's almost like he is Mr. White scrambling through the chemistry lab after a student-created fire in those slacks, and then he grabs the gun and goes all Heisenberg on that ass, steadying and then kapow.
I really liked the whole desolate-field scene with Heisenberg vs. Gus
that begins the last episode of Season Three. One of the best lines is
dropped by Mike, as Walt needs "assurance." Gravely responding, "I
assure you I can kill you from way over here if that makes you feel any
better." You're still naïve Walt. Better start learning the game quicker
than that. And Walt, get your car fixed.
CS: Oh you know I take glee out of seeing the Aztek take on any sort of damage; however, I'm not a fan of turning the Aztek into a hero by eliminating evil-doers. It would be like being rescued from a burning fire by Denis Leary; it would be really hard for me to still hate the guy. SE: Yeah, you know I am on board with the Denis Leary hate. I
played No Cure For Cancer on an endless loop during a phase when I was
13, but then I discovered Bill Hicks. If you like Bill Hicks, you can’t
like Dennis Leary’s stolen routine. Maybe it’s just that Bill Hicks went
out in a blaze of glory, and Leary hung around to quit smoking, do a
major television show, and make appearances on The View.
CS: There is the old joke, Why is it that Denis Leary achieved
mainstream popularity while Bill Hicks died in relative obscurity?
Because there is no cure for cancer.
Denis Leary not only stole Bill Hicks' jokes, but his entire persona.
Man, the last episode is so good. After Walt is educated to how unsafe he really is, we then get a glimpse at why Mike is such a BAMF. So many great quotes in this episode, too. I love Walt reminding Jesse that he saved his life and asking if he is going to return the favor. And then there is my favorite moment of the season and that's when Walt has the phone, he looks Mike right in the eye and says, "You might want to hold off... Because your boss is going to need me," then blurts Gale's address and BOOM! The sheer terror in Mike and Victor's eyes is fantastic.
SE: Did you notice how Mike and Victor are so confused at that moment they draw their guns and back away? I never thought Pinkman had it in him, but it was the only way. Gale is an interesting character, such a cheap way to go, but I like how Walt proves to Gus that he is more like him than Gus realized, willing to take necessary steps. I was one of the many that was confused about the camera angle of the gun in the final "shot" and thought Pinkman may have opted to kidnap Gale.
CS: I never thought for a second that Jesse didn't shoot Gale. I would have liked a little more dialogue between Jesse and Gale though, I really wish there would have been another way.
SE: I got on the internet immediately afterwards and Vince Gilligan was adamant in interviews that Gale was most definitely dead. I can appreciate that kind of candor from a showrunner. A lot of other shows play that did-he-or-didn't-he game, and it just isn't right. Hell, as many murders as Breaking Bad has unveiled, The Killing would have to run about 273 episodes to cover them all, with Season Two wrapping up the whodunnit on Krazy 8.
Conversely, I did happen to like how the Jesse versus Gale scene played out. Jesse
would likely be under an immense psychological pressure about what he
was about to do that he likely wouldn't be able to say anything, and
what would words be to Gale at that point anyway? Although I am
surprised Jesse didn't apologize or give him a brief
this-is-the-only-way speech. I do like how the writer's had Gale's
character not recognize Jesse at first, just thinking it was a robbery,
and then the uh-oh moment where he realizes what is happening. I think
Jesse's face told the story. Of all the out-of-this-world actors on the
show, Aaron Paul out does them all in Season Three. Maybe that is part
of why I enjoy the show so much: I loathe bad acting (I can not stomach
the first Star Wars for even a minute now), and the show has never had a weakly acted part.
CS: One of my favorite podcasts is the Hollywood Prospectus podcast on
the Grantland network. They particularly love to rip on The Killing and
they once said in an episode that if The Killing had Lester Freamon on
the case that the show would have been over half way through the first
episode.
SE: I particularly enjoyed Walt's reaction to the possibility of being offed
by Mike and Victor. He has already talked about the "perfect time" for
him to pass on, where his family will be safe and have money for the
future. Well, if he just lets Mike put one in his skull, it is
reasonable to believe that his family will have plenty of money and will
still remember him in a good light. But people don't always act the way
they say will act. Do you know what choice you would make in that
situation? No one can really know until it happens. I took an Ethics
class last semester and was tickled when a freshmen gal said that she
would rather die than have a pig organ put in her body that could save
her life. If she was actually put in that situation, I know what side I
am betting she would choose. I imagine one realizes all the family
members that will miss you, and all the life you might have left to
live to learn more about the mysterious world, and the attitude changes
real quick. Add children that depend on you to the scenario, and I damn
well know the answer to the question. Our minds and bodies are not
programmed to give up easily.
CS: The more people I meet younger than me, the less faith I have in
the fate of humanity. As you know, I majored in an Engineering field,
but I also have a minor in Communications, and I could not believe how
clueless 90% of communication students are to how the world actually
works. I know for a fact that I wouldn't even hesitate to have a pig
organ installed in me. As for the Walt situations, I'd probably fight to
survive, but not sure I'd actually have the stones to order the
execution of someone else.
So there we have it for Season Three. If you ask me, it goes on the Rushmore
of best seasons ever. It begins with Mexican twin assassins sneaking
across the border and ends with the desperate assassination of a
Libertarian chemist. The third season of Breaking Bad runs you through
the figurative car wash, then Walt decides to buy one. We get to witness
Walter White slipping further into the recesses of the seedy underbelly
of American society all while dragging down everyone he comes across.
Walt continues to cook his world class meth for the sake of his family,
yet continues to manage to make his family's life more and more
difficult because of his actions and associations. As a viewer, you start to think
the show has peaked, that the show can't continue to up the
stakes, yet somehow it does.
Ever dream of spending 4 days in a broke-down RV cooking methamphetamine in the middle of a sweltering desert? That's where we left off with Breaking Bad. Walt and Jesse whip up 41 pounds worth as Walt plans his exit strategy, only to find out that his cancer is nearly gone and has become operable which will force him to live with his actions for awhile longer. Saul introduces the crew to the chicken fryer, Gustavo Fring, who eventually agrees to pay $1.2 million for the batch, causing Walt to miss his daughter's birth. Jesse finds the dark spoon of heroin through his conniving girlfriend Jane, and she threatens to blackmail Walt. After a random chance meeting in a bar with Jane's dad, Walt decides to console his partner Jesse. He finds Jesse and Jane incapacitated from the obligatory "last time" shot of heroin. Jane begins to choke and Walt chooses his own protection over Jane's life. Bad, bad things happen following Jane's death.
Stan Earnest: The latter half of Season Two brings us the mysterious Volvo-driving, mustard-button-up-wearing chicken man by the name of Gustavo Fring, so very calm, calculated, demure. What was your poker read on the first appearance of Gus?
Craig Scholes: Slow down there, turbo. We haven't even covered the epic episode where Walt and Jesse get stranded in the New Mexican desert for a couple days, and Walt crafts a battery McGyver-style out of a sponge, some Doublemint, and a tennis racket. I also can't imagine how Walt didn't even tell his own Mom about his impending lung doom.
Cranston as Walter of Arabia
SE: I thought it was a watermelon, an ice pick, and a snorkel. It does seem as though AMC tends to have series with writers that throw a character-building episode in once a season. Most shows totally derail the series doing it [*points finger at The Killing*]. Breaking Bad does it right. We need to know the time Walt and Jesse put in together, the time that is missing in the White household. That episode also answers some questions about Walt's genius, which helps sell the fact that Walt's cooking skills are the best around. I want to know what the hell they were going to do if the RV didn't start? That is how most criminals get busted: lack of planning.
CS: When we were kicking around the idea of writing about a show and I threw out the idea of thrashing a bad show, I had The Killing in mind. That show is so bad. The RV-stranded-in-the-desert episode is also the one we find out that Walt is in remission and that his cancer has shrunk by 80%. Walt and Jesse spent four days in the desert on the brink of death and cook an ungodly amount of blue heaven, which Walt figures will net them roughly $672,000. In all honesty, there aren't many things I wouldn't do to earn $672 grand over the course of four days, and this is where I think the real genius of the show comes in. Where do you draw your line? You are a family man. I’m not gonna lie, I have actually weighed the pros and cons of doing what Walt does. Of course, my list weighs much more heavily on the con side mainly because I am so risk averse, and I do not have the mad Chemistry skills that Walt has, so perhaps I'll just start brewing my own beer instead.
SE: It would be awfully hard for me to dissect The Killing. I wanted to like The Killing so
much, but every twist just kept making less and less sense. It really is hard to explain why The Killing went so badly (I've yet to even contemplate touching the second season), but I am much better at explaining why Breaking Bad goes so well. There was a chance at one point in time for The Killing to transcend the whodunit genre, but they just kept running in circles. The first couple of episodes of that show were haunting though. I know Weeds would be a fun one to look at just because it is so frustrating. There are places where it is clear the show needs to go to be great, but Jenji Kohan seems perfectly fine staying put, floundering in mediocrity while ratings remain high. Which brings us back to the "4 Days Out" episode of Breaking
Bad. A lot more happens in the last half of Season Two than I remember from the first viewing. Remember, I watched eight episodes in a row during that stretch, a mad case of what-happens-next syndrome. "4 Days Out" refocuses the show on the how and why Walt has ended up in this place he is at, a man nearing the end, just looking for a way to provide his family with the money to survive without him. He has lied and even killed his way to this point to keep his vision of his family's future intact, and that is what I love about Breaking Bad; it makes the viewer really question what steps could, would, or should be taken in those situations. Would a real-life Walt take those steps? Most shows never touch on those concepts: the contingencies of life. As a psychology major, I've researched many phenomena of human behavior, and one of those intricacies that people often don't realize is how differently they can--or are able to--act from their "version of self" given a certain
situation. Would you shock someone to death if a scientist told you to? Surely, nearly 100% would say no, but Google the words "Milgram experiment," and you might question your assumptions about yourself. Which is the pickle of the entire show: can Mr. Chips really become Scarface?
So, when Walt finds himself riddled with lung cancer, back against the bricks, he cooks meth for money. He starts the trail of lies and deceit. He "breaks bad" for the sake of good, and finds out that--regardless of intent--there are extensive, dire consequences. Walt isn't morally confounded by any means. He knows what he has done, and that is why one of the all-time genius scenes of the show is when Walt finds out that his cancer is better and that he might live for much longer. Upon hearing the magnificent news, he destroys a mirror image of himself in the hospital restroom. Whereas, when he decimated Tuco's lair, he was in full-on Heisenberg mode, and he let out a menacing growl of glee. In the restroom scene, we see Walter White, the chemistry
teacher, the family man, the consummate professional, and that person may admire Heisenberg's gusto, but he hates what Heisenberg has done. Pure genius, I tell ya.
CS: I struggled through The Killing to the end, HATED the way it ended, and pretty much refuse
to watch Season Two. I've also never even seen a minute of Weeds.
I kinda think Walt had his fit of rage, because he realized he was going to have to live with the things he had done. At first he was like, "Fuck it, Im dying," but now he's like, "Holy Shit, I've done a lot of Bad, how am I going to live with this?"
Moving on, nothing says, "Life is good, and fuck cancer!" like the song Dance Hall Days by Wang Chung. What a fantastic remission party. Did your old man ever let you drink before you were of age? My dad slipped me a beer once when I was maybe 16, and I remember being repulsed by it. Of
course, it was Bud Light... How awesome would that party have been if Hank and Walt
actually broke into fisticuffs? I can't imagine how badly Hank would have
killed Walt.
SE: My parents drank Busch heavy, not exactly the world's greatest beverage. I didn't touch a drop of
alcohol 'til I was 18; I was really focused on that permanent record BS in prep for college. I do remember using a can to cook beer brats at 2:00 a.m. when I was like 14. When I did have a few, I think my parents were relieved that I was "normal," which is why I love the Walt, Jr. tequila debacle. It was one of the few times Walt, Sr. has showed his hand to Hank. Of all the coincidences that involve Walt, that may be the one time Hank looks back and sees Walt in a different light. Walt's so pissed he isn't as cool as Hank in "Flynn's" eyes that he pulls the old if-you-are-gonna-smoke-you-are-smoking-a-whole-box-of-cigars routine. I can't think of a more embarrassing scene. Oh wait, I once tried to order a beer at age 18 while eating with my parents and their friends at a Red Lobster and was carded and denied. What a brash idiot I fancied myself.
CS: I wouldn't want to play Walt in a game of chicken, that's for damn sure. I love how Walt changing
the water heater turns into an all day event. It went just like the last time I changed a bathroom faucet: a small fix that turned into a four-day debacle where I changed everything but the actual sink. Episode Ten ("Over") has one of my favorite scenes in the entire run of the show too. When Walt chastises the guy in the hardware store for buying the wrong matches. It's absolutely hilarious to me, continuing to scold him for buying it all in one location. This also reminds me of a situation I had whilst working at Home Depot. Some college kids came in looking for a funnel and some plastic hose. By the time they left, I sold the splitters, ball valves, and about 12 feet of 1/2" tubing. They were well on their way to making the most epic beer bong conceivable.
Heisenberg, if he were in Baltimore. And not white.
CS: The scene where Combo gets gunned down slinging rock reminds me a little of a minor pizza delivery incident of mine. The town I am from has a sketchy apartment complex where Pizza Hut doesn't deliver; however, the pizza joint I worked for did deliver there. This apartment complex had speed bumps everywhere, and one night when leaving this little kid on a bicycle rides up and demands me to give him money. I tell him no, and he gets really agitated, responding with a very agitated: "GIVE ME SOME MONEY!" I started to speed off and yelled back: "Ask your dad when he gets out of prison!" In hindsight, the kid could have shot me. Having said all of that, having children gang bangers is a pretty fucked up business plan.
SE: Time for talk of the Chicken Man. Bring it.
CS: Yep, Gus is awesome. Next topic.
SE: Ok, I deserved that. You know, Gus doesn't appear much in Season Two now that I am re-caught-up. Before we get into the last two episodes where all hell is let loose, I want to touch on something I have never thought about: from the first day working for Beneke, was Skyler planning on replacing Walt when he finally succumbed to the cancer? And Jane snubs Jesse in front of her dad, but once money and drugs are involved, she gets heavy-handed with the process. I am now seeing an interesting dichotomy between Skyler and Jane, or more so the show's depiction of women's interaction with criminal men.
CS: I don't think Skyler started taking a fancy to Beneke until she found out he was single. She doesn't seem like the home wrecker type. Jane, on the other hand, kind of had her hand forced when her dad walked in on her and Jesse. I really liked Jane. I would have liked to have seen her character more. It's funny, if Jane's dad hadn't told Walt to not give up on them, Jane would probably still be alive, not that Walt did much to prevent Jane from choking to death on her John
Bonham-colada. Having never done any illegal drugs, doing heroin looks like it's a lot of work.
SE: The first time I saw the scene where Walt lets Jane die I thought I was done. It was a turning point for me. I had been rooting for Walt's adventures all along, waiting for him to break full-on bad and planned to celebrate the occasion. When it finally happened, I was disgusted. Gilligan and Co. really threw the ole Wakefield knuckleball there. It was at that point that further contemplation was required. It was only after that episode that I fully understood the purpose of the show and developed an admiration for the art of episodic fiction, hearkening Dickensian times.
Where The Killing just drags the viewer along, meandering to some unknown end point, throwing in filler episodes in order to snag the commercial money for the magical 13 episode season, Breaking Bad understands those premises and looks to work within them and around them. I've read some Vince Gilligan interviews, and I like his style. He seems humbly cryptic. He knows that the outside constraints of episodic TV are the money made from commercials and DVD sales. He also knows
his television show isn't like other shows, it has a set beginning point and a set end point; and it's up to him to steer around the iceberg, to make Breaking Bad believable and unbelievable at the same time. He has a story to tell, bit by bit, with the premise that a the viewer has to be thrown a bone once in a while. The Killing doesn't seem to get that point. The Breaking Bad writers don't toy with filler episodes; if it doesn't fit it gets chucked. Is Walt going to really, really break bad? Well then, watch Walt let this woman die, and then watch some airplanes explode. You like that? The writers are just having fun with us in Season Two.
CS: How pissed were you when you found out how anti-climatic the teddy bear was? In the outside world, it's a bigger deal. Within Walt's smaller world--the world that matters--it really is pretty minor. One thing that is common among AMC shows is that you are just waiting for the bad thing to happen. Mad Men has me trained to just dread what might happen next. With Breaking Bad, I was expecting that teddy bear to be a gift of his new born and that the whole family had been gunned down by a Mexican cartel with the tattered remains of that bear being the only thing that survived. Obviously that didn't happen. The Killing is just a trainwreck all the way around. Who gives a shit about finding out who killed a character you never got to know, a character that the more you find out about, the more you don't like?
SE: I know I just got done doing what the Wolfman advised adamantly against in Pulp Fiction; but, to the contrary, I will say I was initially disappointed in the ending of Season Two. A lot of zaniness went into the setup. I love the boldness to foreshadow the end of Season Two in the first scene of the season. That was ballsy: Who was in the body bags? Walt and Skyler? Somebody Walt killed? But what really was up with the pink bear? But the surprise ended up not really being a surprise. And then there were the coded titles of the episodes that eventually spelled out: 737 down over ABQ.
The Wolf of Albuquerque
I am trying to recall my original feelings at the end of Season Two. I remember being a little let down in the same vein that several seasons of Weeds had done to me, tapping the iPod near the end, realizing not enough time remained for a reasonable conclusion, being left in need-more-now mode. A lot of time was spent seeking the reason for the plane crash, for the intertwined web in which Walt found himself speaking candidly with Jane's father, wondering if the writers wanted us to believe that Walt is literally creating the reality he lives in or that he exists in that reality solely out of circumstance. Is he going to find out that he created this mess, the terror he has--in a weird way--both intentionally and inadvertently caused? Then Season Three arrived and turned Breaking Bad from "my show" into the best damn show on television.
CS: HOT DAMN! Sweet segue action. I wanted to compare Mike to the Wolf in Pulp Fiction. I guess we don't actually know his name is Mike yet (but his name is Mike). Mike didn't have to give instructions on how to clean brain matter off the interior of a Chevy Nova, but he does serve the same purpose of cleaning up a precarious situation.
I'd say Season Two is my least favorite of the seasons, and that's probably because of how much stuff could really just be cut out without affecting the story; however, one of my favorite scenes is in the next season, referencing the airplane crash. I still really like Season Two though. It's just not as good as the others. Especially Season Three, which is my favorite season by far. Season Three of Breaking Bad is probably second only to Season Four of Dexter with Trinity.
