Breaking Bad: Season 5: PART II - The Thread

@obcdexter: I'm sure he's referencing their original backstab, I remember vague details about it but they did cover what the Schwartz couple did to him in an episode:

Both of them offered to buy Walter's shares of Grey Matter's stock and Walt, being very stressed for money at the moment, took the offer. Soon afterwards they made some huge announcement based on Walter's lifework and the stock value for the company skyrocketed, leaving Walter with nothing to show for it.

Love Todd, man. That guy is great.

Fuck Walter Jr, man. I don't care that he thinks Walt killed Hank. The way all his love for his father just vanishes and turns into hatred is completely out of character for that guy. He told his father to just die. He shouted it in a public environment. What the fuck kind of nonsense is that?

Walt dies... And then wakes up and says "Maybe I shouldn't start cooking meth." Then fade to black.

Breakingbad Wikia

"It was my hard work. My research. And you and Elliott made millions off it."― Walt arguing about Gray Matter.

""Then, Walt says, “something happened… I’m not going to go into detail…for personal reasons” he took a buyout of his third of the business for $5,000. Now, Walt explains, the company is worth $2.16 billion. He checks the valuation every week, torturing himself about how cheaply he sold his “potential” and his "kids’ birthright.”"

It is the root of the problems that started this show.

@grissefar: The kind of nonsense where the last confrontation with your father was him going ballistic, having a tussle involving a knife with your mother, kidnapping your baby sister, and disappearing for three months with everybody around you all but confirming that your father is the man everybody says he is.

We know that Skyler likely knows that Walt's final call was a very convincing attempt to minimize the legal blowback on her, but as we've seen this episode, things are still pretty shaky for her legally. We don't know if she's attempted to explain this to Walt Jr. at any point, so all Walt Jr. knows at this point is that his dad's a notorious drug kingpin and that, if not directly, he likely had something to do with Hank's murder.

That would be my guess for his current state of mind when it comes to his dad. I mean, he is a teenager and all.

I'm not going to read the spoiler tags (thanks for including those by the way).

I agree that she might not have found the strength or moment to explain everything to Walt Jr. because it is way too crazy right now with the death of Hank, the abduction of his little sister and police everywhere.

Not really. The basic gist of the Gray Matter storyline, as relied by bits and pieces of the conversation between Walt and Gretchen in "Peekaboo" and an interview with actress Jessica Hecht, where she spoke about the backstory she was given by Vince Gilligan, is: Walt was together with her, her father and her brothers during a Fourth of July weekend and they had dinner; something happened between him and her father that hurt Walt's pride, after which Walt suddenly decided to literally pack his bags without saying a word and bail on Gretchen and the company.

@grissefar: Let's look at the timeline here:
- The kid learns that his father is a meth kingpin.
- His mother knew about it and was possibly abused into this, which is the obvious implication from the call where Walt directly insults her and threatens her.
- He learns that his uncle Hank, who has been a close parental figure to him over the past year, has been killed and possibly by Walt himself.
- He sees that his mother is distressed enough by his behaviour to grab a knife and slash at him.
- He sees him wrestle her to the ground.
- He witnesses Walt steal Holly and drive the fuck away.
- He realizes that his dad essentially manipulated him into siding against his own mother.
- His mother has to face prosecution because Walt refused to give himself up.

Yeah, completely out of character.

You could call them that, but they really are the force that drove Walter into the meth game and ultimately the main villains to Walter. Perhaps he won't extract revenge on those two but rather the Nazi's for using his stuff. And that will symbolize how much Walter has changed. That he no longer will just roll over and die when people are, in his mind, taking his "product".

Oh, the one where his mother pulled the knife when his dad tried to get them away? It doesn't matter, that guy has way too much love for his father to do a stupid 180 like this, even if he assumes the worst in every situation. It's way too unbelievable.

I love it when shows remember past occurrences; only the best ones do.

If that's what's killing it for some people, they must not have been paying very good attention to the rest of the series.

JR believes that Walt killed his Uncle Hank, who he idolized, and terrorized his mom. That alone is enough to believe he would turn on him, not to mention the countless other horrible things he is being accused of.

so vince's final hint was "Woodworking"

woodworking, wood chipper, you all do the math

So what are people's impressions of the time frame Walt spent in New Hampshire? It's still winter, but Walt's hair is considerably grown in, so it can't be 1 month right? So 3 months maybe?

At most, he should be angry and distrustful but giving his father the benefit of the doubt. He goes straight to pure hatred, even knowing Walts intentions, which is completely out of character.

Man, Jesse's actions in this episode are really going to hurt his chances at getting more Ben and Jerry's ice cream in the future.

But seriously though, what a great episode. I don't really want to think how this show's going to end, but it'll probably be the most intense 75 minutes I've had to endure through watching television.

Once we realize it's possible for a 3-bedroom suburban house built in the past 50+ years to only have one bathroom and the only way to get to it is through the master bedroom, it's time to stop worrying about the details.

I'd imagine Andrea's death would've gotten people more riled up. "Sure, I'll just leave a stranger stand between me and my son as I leave the front door to my house wide open in the middle of the night. What? You want me to continue looking at a suspicious-looking vehicle 50 yards away in the dark and not turn around even though you aren't giving me any real assurance that my ex-boyfriend is in the van? Okay! I hope nothing bad is going to happen, lol."

Oh well. R.I.P. Andrea.

I think y'all are crazy for thinking that Walt's going to waltz into Grey Matter HQ and mow down Elliot and Gretchen with an M60. No matter how cold publicly denouncing Walt on television was, he's not stupid enough to think that killing those two in cold blood would be an appropriate response. Not only would he make himself out to be more of a public menace, but it would just further go to solidify what Elliot said on TV this last episode. I'm fairly certain he'll draw attention to how integral his role in GM was and destroy the company via public association to himself, thus destroying Elliot and Gretchen's lives, rather than outright killing them, if that subplot is even addressed next episode at all. I have a feeling it won't be, but that's just me.

At most, he should be angry and distrustful but giving his father the benefit of the doubt. He goes straight to pure hatred, even knowing Walts intentions, which is completely out of character.

Andrea would have died even if she didn't open the door. I don't think she was reckless in any way. It was a threat hanging over Jesse ever since he got captured. She was a nice girl, trusting and she stayed that way until the end. Todd can appear very harmless, and that's partly how he likes to portray himself to others.

Yes, straight to pure hatred...after 3 months. What a sudden change in character!

@grissefar: Jr. has no reason to give him the benefit of the doubt considering the news has been stacking the evidence against Walt for months and most of it is true. Skylar also has to keep up the lie that Walt has been terrorizing the family. So of course he's gonna believe his mother. Walt isn't going to deny the accusations either, for Skylar's sake. So I do think it is perfectly within character. He's not just gonna go "Oh you killed Uncle Hank, bombed a nursing home, and sold drugs for the sake of the family. I guess I'll hear you out."

Walt is going after the Nazis now that he knows they kept Jesse to cook for them. I think that ricen pill might go to the Gray Matter owner, maybe not. Either way, it'll end better than Dexter.

I keep seeing people say this, but I really doubt that this is what will happen. Walt wouldn't kill someone he use to be so close to just because they aren't being truthful about how much involvement he had with GreyMatter. I think the ricen will be for Lydia. They've made such a big deal all season about the exact kind of tea she drinks.

So if it was your dad, you wouldn't even give him a second of doubt? Not even hear him out for a second when he is clearly grieving? Not even be a little bit curious as to his perspective in the whole mess? Wow you people are psychos, man.

@grissefar: Hey, I'm just saying that he's perfectly justified to be pissed at his dad. Maybe he regrets what he says to his dad later but after abandoning them and running away for months, leaving the family in tatters, he's probably got a few things to get off his chest. It's not some crazy out of character disconnect for him to have reacted that way. Just because he didn't react the way you wanted him to doesn't make it poor writing, people have reacted to much less shitty situations in much worse ways.

@grissefar: When I was eight, my father did something so reprehensible, I wanted nothing to do with him ever again. He wasn't a good father but a guy I thought was cool, playing guitar in a band and shit. From that day on I wished he just died and I'm annoyed and surprised that he's still alive. What is psycho about that? The more you trust someone the harder that trust breaks. His mother keeps telling me that he had a reason for what he did. So? Doesn't undo a thing. And what he did wasn't even close to being a drug kingpin who destroyed lives including the ones of his family. What's Walt even going to say other than "oh, but I did it all for you!!!! I wanted to leave you this filthy blood money when I'm dead."

I would give sympathy if I also didn't know that my father had been lying to me about literally everything for more than a year. You don't even know who that person is anymore, why would you continue to trust them or believe them about anything?

Also re: "a second of doubt" Jr does give Walt a second of doubt; He listens when Walt tells him not to alert Carmen to the fact that it isn't is aunt. I guess what really pushes jr over the edge is that Walt is till trying to justify himself to jr, refusing to give up the delusion that he is morally in credit.

But even so, you have to remember that not only did Walt Jr idolise Hank, he was also firmly on Hank's side of the whole drug war thing (I'm thinking mostly of how stoked he was about Hank shooting Tuco).

Also: I love Lydia's "seen too many movies" public meeting schtick. Someone needs to tell her that two people at different tables talking back-to-back looks way more suspect.

Yeah, that's much more likely. I would to see him kill his ex-partner though lol.

If you're wondering how a quantum leaping Saul Goodman would fare and just how Ted Beneke plays into all this, the Breaking Bad Power Rankings have all of these answers and more!

http://gunningham.wordpress.com/2013/09/24/breaking-bad-power-rankings-granite-state/

Regarding the ricin: Could the pill be for Walt himself? Say he's caught by the Feds, and the pill's small enough to go undetected during an initial body search. Walt slips it into glass of water he's given in the interrogation room. He's smart enough to find some way to administer it to himself (could he just swallow the contents dry?). The whole series has been about control or lack thereof. Walt being able to dictate the terms of his own death would be the last bit of control (and dignity) he has on this mortal coil.

I really hope that the ricin pill is for Jesse. He is a rabid dog at this point and really of no use to anyone but it would be interesting to see Walt allow his "true son" to pass from his current tortured existence in relative painlessness.

@grissefar: Hearing him out would be doing him a favor, make him feel like he's earned a sense of redemption and that I've gotten over whatever damage he's done to even want to hear his side of the story. Jr. doesn't want to give Walt any kind of validation because there is nothing he can say to justify the damage Walt has done. Hearing Walt's side of the story would suggest that there is something to justify it, but there isn't.

Walt's grieving? Boo fucking hoo says Jr. Hank's dead, Marie is widowed and in protective custody, Skylar is under threat of imprisonment and has to work a cab and take care of Holly cause Walt isn't there, their house is being auctioned off and Jr.'s now known as the son of a criminal and murderer. As far as Jr. knows, Walt could be hanging out in Belize with his drug money living it up in hiding. And he should give Walt the benefit of the doubt because he feels bad for causing those things? No way, Jr. didn't get to tell Walt how he felt for months, so when he finally gets a chance to talk to Walt, of course he's gonna blow up on him.

Think of it this way, if someone cheated on you and said they feel really bad about it, would you give a shit that they felt bad about it or care about why they did it?

@jaycrockett: You're drastically underestimating how long a New England winter can last.

Also, why would Walt Jr continue to keep using the last name "White" when it's said that Skyler had been using her maiden name by that point?

Hope ricin's for Lydia. Hope M60+ is for Todd and the Nazis, Walt dying in the process. Leaving Jesse with 60 million, if he doesn't commit suicide.

My theory is he's definitely pissed at Gretchen and her husband, and I hope we get to see some interaction between them. But the big-ass machine gun is definitely for the neo-nazis. The ricin... maybe it's a backup, maybe it's a red herring, maybe it's for himself. I don't know if Walt has realized Jesse is still alive. He heard about the blue meth still being seen in the area, and he knew that Todd wasn't up to snuff based on Lydia asking him to come back and Uncle Jack saying he'd have to cook for them when they whacked Jesse, so I suppose it is possible, but at this point I think he's burned his connections to Jesse, and wouldn't come back specifically for him.

However that wouldn't stop Walt from feeling something for the poor mutilated guy if he did see him trapped in that prison. At this point I'm really just wondering what Jesse will do. I can foresee Walt taking out most/all of the neo-nazis and rescue Jesse, only for Jesse to ultimately be the one to kill him. It wouldn't exactly be a happy ending for Jesse after all he's been through, but I could still see Jesse repaying Walt for rescuing him by offing him to prevent a lengthy trial or whatever.

But there's gotta be something more to Walts plan than an M60 or whatever. He's going up against 6 or 7 pretty tough guys, and he's seen what they're capable of. I'm not sure a out and out shootout is exactly what we'll get.

@patoday: Why would he use her maiden name ? It's not his name. Besides, he's not living with her so there's probably not enough of a connection between them to warrant him switching. I doubt I would change my name in that situation.

@sqrabbit: I figure Jesse would be the one to kill Walt. Then leave it all to take care of Brock.

Man Todd went from some doofy scrub to main event level heel. Never would've imagined it. He just nails that creepy vibe perfectly. Can't get a read on that guy.

Yes. Plenty of people do. You monster.

I just hope Jesse makes it out alive and happy. This shit is so heavy

They could also have their phone out and pretend they're talking to someone else? That was the thing this episode that stuck out for me.

Saw an interview with Lydia speaking in her natural Scottish accent. I had absolutely no idea she was from Scotland

@probablytuna: you are smarter than Lydia. It does stick out, but I think it's intentional. We're supposed to think that it's super dumb (especially remembering the way Mike reacted to it in the first (?) episode of the season)

Oh no! What about Huell? Is he still in that room? Is he dead? I WANT HUELL TO BE OK!

@meaninoflife42: That's who the ricin is for.