I just caught up with this yesterday and today. I really liked the flashbacks to when Gus was younger and just starting out. Not sure why the kingpin killed the chemist and not him.
Am I the only one that had an image of Bryan Cranston freaking out on Malcolm in the Middle when Walter had his breakdown at the end of "Crawl Space"?
This series definitely receives my stamp of approval, but I gotta say, it moves along pretty slowly if you aren't able to plow through 4-5 episodes a day (which I am ). Almost halfway through season four now. Just finished the one where Hank is looking through the Gale crime scene photos and wondering why a healthy organic food-type would eat fried chicken.
I caught back up yesterday. Damn it's f'n good. I can't even guess how this season is going to end but my prediction for the series wrap up is that Walt's cancer comes back with a vengeance as Gus is closing in on him and he has to turn to Hank for help. Hank takes down the drug ring and Walt dies in the last episode, either guns blazing while taking out Gus himself despite being very ill or by the cancer. Right now I think this stands as the best show on TV currently running. Boardwalk Empire is pretty good too but I like Breaking Bad just a little bit more.
[spoilers] I'm thinking Gus just has a "one with the Force" level of survival instinct. That's why I don't think this ploy to lure him out to the rest home is going to work. *Note that I'm only part way through that last episode. Couldn't quite finish it on my lunch break. "If I ever get anal polyps, I'll know what to name them." "S-U-C-K M-Y.." "F-U-C-" And how fucking bad does Hank's wife need to be fucking strangled? Holy shit. [/spoilers]
Great episode!! It started off sort of quiet, but then... fuck me, it was awesome. [spoilers]So was anyone else thinking "No fucking way, how the hell can he still be ali... holy fuck.... half his fucking face is gone!!" And the way Walter set up Gus, pure genius on his part. He used the only person that was still alive that Gus had a vendetta against to kill him. For someone who was able to remain emotionless and cold throughout his appearance, to have his need to gloat to Hector as his downfall. Loved Hank's line of "Well, at least he didn't shit himself this time." Hilarious!! I think Walt's cancer is coming back, and Mike will probably be the new 'villian'. Excellent acting again from Bryan Cranston... still hard to believe he played the likable, goofy Hal on Malcolm in the Middle. [/spoilers]
Awesome episode. Still, I have to question the final scene. I think it's a small bit like "jumping the shark" there. It makes no sense whatsoever with the flowers in Walt's garden.
LOOOOOOVEEEEEDDDD the final scene. That was just pure freakin' brilliance right there. This series is right up there with the Wire for my all time fav. Glad they are going out next season - I'll miss the hell out of it but this is a show that absolutely demands a structured plotted ending instead of the constant 'well, let's just try to get one more season out of it' approach that we see so often.
[spoilers] Holy shit that was gruesome with Gus! Now, we're not really supposed to believe that Walt poisoned that little kid with flowers from his back yard, are we? [/spoilers]
[spoilers]I think we are, in the previous episode he was sitting by the pool starring off to something. Then we find out that Brock was poisoned by the Lilly of the Valley, which is the same plant Walt had in the pot. He set up Brock with the Lilly berries to make it look like he was poisoned by the Ricin. Jesse was searched by Huell, enough opportunity for Huell to take the Ricin cigarette and make it look like Brock got the Ricin. Also, Saul brought candy to Brock after Huell searched Jesse, the Lilly poison was probably on the candy. The Lilly poison can be treated, the Ricin not so much. So by making it look like Gus poisoned Brock, Walt got Jesse to ally with him. And Walt definitely intelligent enough to know that Ricin can't be treated, will the Lilly can.[/spoilers]
If you have NetFlix, Malcolm in the Middle is streaming on NetFlix along with Breaking Bad. So you can watch both shows and see what an amazing actor he really is. Best scene from the season finale. [spoilers][wyt=Best Scene]Pyam5ajZE-0[/wyt][/spoilers]
[spoilers]It occurs to me that the speculated "final showdown" of this series may very well not be Hank and Walt. Hank's just obsessive about his job, and while he will feel massively betrayed and humiliated to find out about Walt's "hobby," he's not the one with the most reasons to kill Walt. That person is Jesse. All that has to happen is Jesse finding out about Walt standing there and watching his woman drown in her own vomit. If Walt really did poison the kid to maneuver Jesse into helping him kill Gus, that's just the icing on the cake, though I don't know who might be able to clue him in about that. But who might've seen the girlfriend's death go down? Well, we haven't seen Mike in awhile, have we? He might have an axe to grind, what with his boss being killified. All it would take is one of those scenes this show likes to drop on you, where another angle fleshes out a past event. Mike watching through a window or something.[/spoilers]
Really, really great season finale in a series that has had several of them. I agree with Tex: I like Boardwalk Empire a lot, but Breaking Bad is better.
[SPOILERS] I just remembered, Skylar hasn't been told that her old boss fell and died while Saul's goon's were getting him to write that check to the IRS, was she? I guess there's still some fallout coming from that, too. [/spoilers]
God, that was brilliant! [spoilers] Early in Ep. 12, right after his family's been whisked away by DEA, Walt's sitting in the backyard spinning the snubnose. The first couple of times it comes to a stop pointing at himself, but on the last spin it comes to rest pointing away from Walt. The viewpoint slides forward of Walt to get a look at what the gun's pointing at: The flower pot. That's all you see of the flower pot until the closing seconds of Ep. 13. I still don't know how Walt poisoned Brock, or when he lifted the ricin off Jesse. That was some serious mind-fuck, though. What a great show!!! [/spoilers]
[spoilers] And it's very interesting how you want Gus to win against the cartel, but at the same time you want Walt to beat Gus. I find that good cable shows really play with your values like that. [/spoilers]
Netflix is now streaming seasons 1-3. Amazon's got season 4 streaming for 1.99/ep. (SD 16:9, 2.99 for HD).
I just finished episode 13! No way they'll be able to top that. Are they seriously going to go another season? The death of Gus was the perfect ending. The only thing I would've liked to see was Walt putting on that black hat to end the season.
I finally got around to finishing up season 4 tonight. Wow. Epic ending. They are on a roll with season finales. Walt really crossed the line for good now that he's poisoned a small child and risked the life of his innocent neighbor to clear his house. I agree with you guys who said the final showdown will be with Jesse. Mike is of course a wild card and so is the cancer and Hank. They can go a lot of directions with this but one thing I don't think we'll see is Walt winning in the end. He'll either die or go to prison, my money is on death. Not sure if it will be cancer or Jesse though.
FYI, for those of you who are interested and don't/can't NetFlix it, AMC is apparently starting the whole series over again this Sunday. My daughter loves the series, but missed out on most of Season 1 and about half of Season 2, so my DVR will be set. After next year, hopefully they'll release a boxed BluRay set with all five seasons.
For some reason, AMC stopped showing ^those^ reruns after about four or five episodes. The good news is that early next Monday morning (around 1am CST, 18 June), they're starting the series over again from the pilot, running two, three, or even four episodes a night leading up to the fifth season premiere in a few weeks.
