Breaking bad, you watching it?

[Thrifty Version II]

If Jesse blows up the meth lab and takes out Todd and a portion of Jack's gang along with himself, that's good enough. 

I kinda feel like they've foreshadowed Jesse using chemistry to kill the Nazis, both when they had that flashback from their first cook where Walt was trying to explain the process and when the Nazis were cavalier about wearing their masks.

Definitely.  They writing staff at Breaking Bad are like Native Americans--they use every part of the show.  They never show anything that doesn't either connect to something earlier or pay off later.

I can't stop thinking about Walt's phone call with his son.  Best scene in the entire episode.  "Why aren't you dead yet?" was such a great line delivered with such power, and so crushing to Walt.  Walt's been driven mad by isolation and regret, and the one person he's doing it all for rubs salt in the wound.  The man is a piece of shit and is getting what he deserves¹, but there's so much pathos in the scene it's hard not to feel at least some temporary pity. 

¹One may be tempted to feel sorry for Walt after he caused Hank's death, or feel special enmity for Todd after he killed Andrea... but I keep remembering that Walt killed Mike entirely out of spite, orchestrated the deaths of 10 other witnesses, and was prepared to kill Lydia (a single mother).

[Thrifty Version II]

I just got back from my trip to the future, and man.... what a finale.  You guys won't believe it.  I certainly never expected Carmen to leap out of nowhere and shoot Walt like that.

[goflyblind]

I just got back from my trip to the future, and man.... what a finale.  You guys won't believe it.  I certainly never expected Carmen to leap out of nowhere and shoot Walt like that.

no means no.

[gbeenie]

I was speechless during this episode. Oddly enough, I miss Gomez the most. I knew Hank was done for as he struggled to reach Gomez' gun and the Aryans quickly closed the distance. The irony of Marie telling Skyler how things were going to play out (wearing black!) , Walt's new low (Jane.) , Walt Jr. protecting his mother. After all that is said and done, it's Todd's demeanor that makes my skin crawl.

Todd is pretty creepy. Really sweet and innocent on the outside, but capable of doing horrible things without feeling bad about it. But the big thing is that he never shows malice. He just goes about the horrible things in his sweet, innocent, disconnected way.  He's turned out to be an interesting character.

Yeah. Todd really frustrates me, because I just CANNOT wrap my head around that guy. One minute he comes across as a sweet, sensitive kid, and in the next, he's a stone killer. His puppy-dog affection for Lydia only scrambles my brain further.

[gbeenie]

That whole episode of Conan is great, and a must-see for BB fans.

[Johnny Unusual]

Whatever happened to that eye?  I thought it would follow him through the series, but I think it disappeared before season 5.

[gbeenie]

Man, this episode. F me in the A.


In no particular order:

Walt's wrathful side is a tin-toy, and that Charlie Rose interview with Gretchen and Elliot is a massive twist of the key. wurwolf is exactly right: However big and out-of-control a rolling snowball Walt's ego has become, it's clear that Grey Matter is the pebble at the center of it.

Fucking Todd. However, the murder of Andrea leads to a tantalizing possibility: After this, might Jesse willingly join forces with Walt in his assault on TFFS (Todd's Fucked-up Family Situation)?

What other show would have the cajones to get Robert Forster, and then save him for the last two episodes?

RJ Mitte does not get enough credit for his acting. That phone call was gut-wrenching, and that's squarely on Mitte's shoulders.

One thing that became clear in its absence of being mentioned: Given Skyler's financial difficulties months later, it appears that the situation between Skyler and Marie has NOT improved.


Stupid calendar. y u no b Sunday yet? (we're getting pizza with "crazy bread")

[Johnny Unusual]

What other show would have the cajones to get Robert Forster, and then save him for the last two episodes?

This.  Forever this.

[Johnny Unusual]

Pinkman and the Brain...

[Kete]

Walter White may be fictional. But the $80 million profit he turned by selling meth in less than a year is a very realistic sum for a true-life drug kingpin.

It's not until the last season of Breaking Bad that viewers learn just how much cash their favorite meth-making anti-hero has accumulated by cooking crank. The $80 million is a staggering sum for less than a year's worth of work.

But experts say that pallet full of cash portrayed in the show is realistic, given the economics of the meth trade.

"The show has a lot of reality to it," said Ralph Weisheit, a professor of criminal justice at Illinois State and an author of the book, "Methamphetamine: Its History, Pharmacology and Treatment." "It clearly employs consultants who know a lot of about the business," he added.
The story of a quiet high school chemistry teacher who built a crystal methamphetamine empire will air its series finale on Sunday, amid strong ratings for AMC Networks and even stronger buzz.

Walt's fortune is built on the premise that he's selling his meth at the modest price of about $60 a gram. That's spelled out in the fifth season episode "Hazard Pay," when Walt and his partners sell a 50 pound batch of their high quality blue meth for $1,379,560, after the commission that goes to street dealers.

According to Weisheit, $60 a gram "is not at all unreasonable, especially for meth of a very high quality."

"The price of meth varies wildly from one part of the country to another, and from one time a year to another, depending on supplies," he added. "It can go from $50 a gram to $150 a gram. It makes oil prices look stable."

It's a long way from $60 for a gram of meth to the seven, 55-gallon drums of cash Walt has holding $80 million. But the volumes of meth on the show are enough to produce that mountain of cash. And the demand for the product is strong enough that Walt could move that much meth in less than a year, especially given his empire's expansion into eastern Europe this season.

Walt was able to make such a large volume of meth because he and his partners stole 1,000 gallons of the industrial chemical methylamine from a train. After the heist, Walt's partners want to sell the chemical for $15,000 a gallon, instead of cooking it up into meth and selling it.
On the black market, that's a reasonable price for the chemical, says Weisheit.
Related: My home was a former meth lab

But Walt argues that if he cooks the methylamine, he and his partners can make far more money - somewhere between $300 million and $370 million. Using the retail price of $60 a gram, that means they'd have to sell between 11,000 and 13,500 pounds of meth.

And as it turns out, the 1,000 gallons of methylamine they stole would produce anywhere from 10,000 to 13,000 pounds of very pure meth, according to Steve Preisler, a chemist who wrote the book "Secrets of Methamphetamine Manufacture" while serving time in prison on meth charges.
Walt cooks almost 400 gallons of the methylamine before deciding to quit the business. He agrees to pay another drug dealer a 35% cut of his sales in return for handling the distribution.

That would net Walt between $78 million to $96 million in profit, or enough to fill those seven 55-gallon drums with cash.

[wurwolf]

Stupid calendar. y u no b Sunday yet? (we're getting pizza with "crazy bread")

This is something that has to happen in our house on Sunday night.

[The Lurker]

[eegah]

Stupid calendar. y u no b Sunday yet? (we're getting pizza with "crazy bread")

This is something that has to happen in our house on Sunday night.

Make sure to get it unsliced.

[goflyblind]

Stupid calendar. y u no b Sunday yet? (we're getting pizza with "crazy bread")

This is something that has to happen in our house on Sunday night.

Make sure to get it unsliced.

and get a second one in case your throwing arm isn't up to snuff.

[Sugar Ray Dodge]

Tell me, why should I feel bad for Skyler for taking all of Walt's heat after she pulled a knife on him and forced him out of his own house?