It was kind of a shitty season ender but the LA Times article made me like it better.
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It was kind of a shitty season ender but the LA Times article made me like it better.
Trains. Inertia. Todd is still cooking and Walt is still involved and just hiding it better.Quote:
Originally Posted by dave is ok
And: my initial instinct was right. Hank is stopping the train.
This episode was terrible. Worst of the season, by far.
I really got the sense that this was a filler episode. Like Vince Gilligan had told all the story he wanted to tell in the first eight or so episodes, and then edited this one together because he was contractually obligated to turn in 16.
There's gonna be spoilers in here, so don't flip your shit.
How the fuck is Walt able to kill NINE PEOPLE in lockup within the span of what? One shift change? It's tough enough to kill one dude in jail, let alone nine people within a very short span of time.
And how the fuck did all nine of these people end up in the same lockup? And how did they magically produce the connections necessary to kill all nine of them? Yeah, yeah, I remember Todd's uncle. But I thought Todd's uncle was in prison, not what appears to be the local county jail. I can believe that someone with prison connections might have some jail hookups here and there (especially if Todd's uncle is affiliated with a national organization like Aryan Brotherhood). But Walt suddenly having the juice to whack nine guys with Michael Corleone-like ease just smacks too much of screenwriter's contrivance for me to swallow. Plus it cheapens the significance of the amazing heists they spent the entire fifth season planning (and dealing with the ramifications of).
Assuming all nine of these guys were locked up, the chances of them all being locked up in the same facility in Albuquerque are very, very, low -- especially given the low priority the NM US Attorney had given to the Fring case.
Todd in general I think was way too quick in filling in Jesse's spot. Again, I think it really cheapens the importance of Jesse's role, and betrays a schizophrenia on the part of the writers: on the one hand, they spent a huge amount of time building up the relationship between Jesse and Walt, and then on the other hand Todd just slips right into Jesse's role without missing a beat.
And then the final scene. We already know about the epigraph in the Leaves of Grass book. Hell, Hank already knew about it. Now that he's been reminded of it, so what? He still isn't any closer to nailing Walt. He still has no case.
C-. In a season full of A episodes, this one really stands out, and not in a good way.
I wasn't a huge fan of this episode.
But... this episode was cut over a period of 3 months. Plenty of time to for Todd to cook meth with Walt and learn.
They do at least acknowledge that this is a ridiculously complicated matter to coordinate. They tell him it can't be done at first. Of course, it may be convenient that they gloss over the planning itself, but they at least say it's a big operation.Quote:
Originally Posted by sleeve
They didn't, they were in 3 different lockups.Quote:
And how the fuck did all nine of these people end up in the same lockup?
Did you miss the scene with his uncle? He's not in prison. The implication is that he's deeply connected to the Aryan Brotherhood.Quote:
And how did they magically produce the connections necessary to kill all nine of them? Yeah, yeah, I remember Todd's uncle. But I thought Todd's uncle was in prison, not what appears to be the local county jail.
I don't think hank did know about it. Hank knew of a note to WW in Gale's notebook, not an epigraph in a book that Walt owns. Two totally different things.Quote:
And then the final scene. We already know about the epigraph in the Leaves of Grass book. Hell, Hank already knew about it. Now that he's been reminded of it, so what? He still isn't any closer to nailing Walt. He still has no case.
And the point is not that Hank has a case, it's that he's finally made the connection in his head. He knows Walt's secret, and the next season will be about him trying to build that case.
I don't think all 9 guys were in the same lockup, they talk about 3 different locations when discussing it. Pretty sure they meant 3 different places, not just buildings of the same prison. I'm sure Walt paid a good chunk of cash to get it done.
Todd stepping in isn't a reach. Brains wise, he was in the same spot as Jesse at the beginning, Walt taught him everything and memorized it from repetition. Like drew said, that cooking montage was over a few months where they cooked 3-5 times every week. Walt needed help cooking and that's what Todd was doing, him killing the kid showed he was all in. There is no schizophrenia from the writers here. The physical use of Jesse was just switched to Todd. The relationship between Walt and Jesse boiled over. Jesse couldn't take the stress anymore and finally managed to bail out after being told the same shit by Walt whenever someone was killed. Did you miss the part where Jesse had a gun? There is no trust anymore. Jesse is so afraid he thinks he had to arm himself for protection. Walts behavior scared Skylar to he point of getting the kids out of the house. Walts behavior scared Jesse to the point where he thought he'd be killed to be silenced.
"Now that Hank is reminded of it, so what?" Exactly. Hank has always been the threat of the authorities and now he has a new trail to exhaust. We've seen it more than once, Hank is pretty obsessive and relentless. He's got more than a few questions that would come from this ("Where did he really get the money for chemo AND my hospital bills?" "He's a fucking chemist!"). I find it hard to believe Walt is completely out too, but what we're left with is some interesting avenues.
From that LA Times write up:
"Since they’ve proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that, yes, they could take this once seemingly good man and open up the cacophonous pit of bitter resentment at the center of his soul until it might seem as if that man had been all used up, it became ever more important that the creative voices behind the show have something else to say beyond just, “Hey, we’ve all got this darkness inside of us,” or “Crime doesn’t pay,” or some other pat moral."
In the news report Walt is watching afterwards they clearly say "3 different correctional facilities" as well. They weren't all in the same lockup.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rumpy
We agree! I was writing all that before I saw your post.
After I posted that, I read the AV Club writeup which mentioned that. So, my bad. 3 different lockups. Still way too complicated to orchestrate on that short a timetable.Quote:
Originally Posted by Frogacuda
I saw that. Doesn't make the planning any less of a logistical nightmare.Quote:
Did you miss the scene with his uncle? He's not in prison. The implication is that he's deeply connected to the Aryan Brotherhood.
I'm sorry, I thought it was a fair resolution to this season (Say My Name was clearly the climax) and it solidified my hunch the hellhanks are coming next year.