What’d you all think of Sunday’s episode, “Buried”? I’m not going to bother recapping everything from every episode. It’s a little pointless when there’s so many recaps out there that are so much more well written then mine. A few spoilery thoughts after the jump.
I had a whole prediction post typed up and ready to go, but Sunday’s episode has made me rethink one major thing: Skyler will not be an innocent victim or casualty of Walt. Her meeting with Hank in the diner ended with her making a scene and running out. Her conflict with Marie ended with a near kidnapping. Perhaps it was the revelation of his cancer returning, but I can't help but feel that Skyler is going to stand by Walt from this point out. At least for awhile.I think Skyler now sees Hank and Marie as adversaries as much as Walter does - which is why I was so surprised that he told Saul he won’t send Hank to Belize because he’s family. I wonder if once Skyler and Walt are on the same page if he’ll change that line of thinking.
Meanwhile Jesse didn’t speak the entire episode. So far the second half of season five hasn’t given us enough Jesse. I’m thinking that is going to change next episode. I’m pretty sure Jesse is going to spill the beans and work with Hank to build a case against Walt. Why wouldn’t he? I’m sure they can make a pretty sweet bargain that keeps Jesse away from hard jail time and brings down Heisenberg. It would also relieve so much of the guilt Jesse feels.
I'll be reworking my prediction a little and posting it soon. In the meantime I'll tell you this: I'm pretty sure that Ricin is going in the Schraederbrau.
I think it's interesting and also a testament to the brilliance of the show that just last week we are all on the side of Hank as the one righteous man left standing, and now that viewpoint has been completely muddled. It would seem that Hank is more interested in "winning" (i.e., getting Walter locked up before his cancer kills him) than in seeing justice served, no matter the illegality or collateral damage.
ReplyDeleteIt's an interesting flip with Walter, who initially had somewhat altruistic motives (setting his family up before he died) that were obscured by his all-encompassing compulsion to defeat his competition. And just as our sympathy for Hank starts to wane, Walter's impulse to protect and provide for his family has returned to the forefront.
Also interesting that in the early seasons Marie was caught shoplifting, and in this episode she literally tries to steal Skyler's baby. It just goes to show that there are no wasted frames in this show, which is why that ricin is absolutely coming into play. This makes me think that other seemingly mundane details - the remote control car shown in conspicuous closeup in the first two episodes , for example - will also figure into the end of the show.
Also, you need to get a Breaking Bad dead pool going.
ReplyDeleteIt's that thing, where seemingly mundane details turn into something greater, that makes me feel so certain the ricin is going into the beer. There was mention of his homebrew operation in last year's finale, and while Hanks scouring the Heisenberg files, we get a nice close up of his "Schraederbrau" logo (which I think AMC is offering t-shirts of).
ReplyDeleteBack to your first statement, I actually disagree (though of course not with the brilliance of the show). I'm still on the side of Hank, I think. I think he truly feels like he's been oblivious and is embarrassed, and he knows that he has to build the best case possible before turning it over to the DEA. He's probably right, he'll become the butt of his colleagues jokes. But also, once he turns over the case, he won't get a second chance. There's no way he'd be allowed to continue to work on a case against his brother in law. He's already been involved too much, and there’s already waaaaay too much conflict of interest. He's got to have everything rock solid, or it's all for nothing. I do think he wants to "win" but I don't necessarily think it's only for his ego's sake, but because he wants to do what is right, and he doesn't want to mess that up.
I also doubt Walter is on course to fully redeem himself in any capacity. In fact, I’d be really disappointed if he was. We’ve spent five seasons watching him grow into the villain he is, it would feel like a cop-out, in the same way the church ending of LOST felt like a cop out. At least that’s my line of thinking. In the same way the hero may waiver a little bit on the hero’s journey, the villain should do the same.
And a Breaking Bad deadpool is a great idea. I’ll have to try and figure out the logistics of that. Any suggestions or input would be great. Though I’ll say...I personally don’t think as many people will die as most people seem to.
Yeah, I'm not arguing that they have flipped "good"/"bad" roles, but there was definitely a subtle shift in sympathies and character motivation in that episode. It does appear that Hank is mostly concerned with defeating Walter/Heisenberg HIMSELF, rather than locking up a criminal who has directly or indirectly caused hundreds of deaths by any means necessary.
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ReplyDeleteI agree that Hank is fairly bent on seeing Walter go down, as its been main objective for the past year or more. Maybe it's clouding his judgment, but honestly isn't locking Walt up JUSTICE in its most pure sense? Just because Walt is apparently dying of cancer and won't serve jailtime (or won't live to serve jailtime) doesn't mean he gets a...get out of jail free card.
My thought now is that the ricin is meant for Jesse. I agree, I think Hank will manipulate him into spilling the beans and turning over Walt as a way for Jesse to redeem his guilty conscience. And the M60? That's meant for the Chileans, or the Czechs. Probably the Chileans...as Gus's origin has been left mysteriously unrevealed.
Amazing episode. I especially liked the beginning with Walt hastily ringing Skyler only to find that Hank was doing the same. Then a race home! Awesome.
My point is that Hank is definitely crossing over into some sketchy ethical territory. As we have seen with Walter, that can be a slippery slope, no matter what your original intentions were.
ReplyDeleteAt first, Hank attempts to wrench a potentially extralegal confession out of Skyler while consciously denying her right to an attorney, her right to not incriminate herself or her husband, etc. When that fails, he immediately tells Skyler's sister in another naked and vaguely un-Constitutional attempt at manipulating a confession out of her. And he withholds information from the police officers interrogating Jesse in order to get him alone.
But hey, I guess I'm the only person left who cares about the Constitution, no big deal.
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ReplyDeleteHaha. Man. It's weird, everything you're saying is somewhat true, yet I still think Hank is justified in what he's doing. I didn't see his meeting with Skylar as an attempt to get a confession out of her, I think he truly thought she was the victim, and that she felt like the victim, and he was trying to protect her. Hence the confusion when she didn't want to cooperate. He didn't seem angry or frustrated, as I would expect Hank would if it were any other suspect he was shaking down for a confession. Instead he seemed confused and hurt, like he was thinking "I don't understand! He's a monster! How can you still want to protect him!" I'm not saying what he was doing didn't break all kind of protocol (and I guess the Constitution) but I don't think his motivation for doing it that way was selfish. I don't know. Just my take. I still have the episode on my DVR so I'll try and watch that scene again.
ReplyDeleteThen when Marie confronts Skylar, her doesn't come in and try to gang up and intimidate her. He waits outside, until Marie signals there's something wrong, and even then he does the right thing and tells Marie not be a kidnapper. I really think he thought Marie would be able to talk sense into her sister.
All I know is my sympathies haven't really shifted and I still think Hank is the good guy here, and I hope he comes out on top. I still think Hank's motivations are the safety of his family (Marie, Skylar and the kids), justice for Walt, THEN his ego/being the guy that catches Heisenberg, in that order. And though Walt's motivations seem to have shifted back to family and away from power and money, I don't buy it.
Now, there's no defending his methods to getting to Jesse. But those detectives were the worst, right? And what did they even arrest him for? Littering? (I know, I'm sure it was probably something to do with driving his car into a public park, and it's not like the dude's wrap sheet doesn't make him suspicious.)
Ben, I don't think it's Gus's dudes. I feel like his origin was pretty well explained through flashbacks, especially in season 4, episode 8 "Hermanos." I don't think there was much love left in this world for Gus Fring, and no ones looking to avenge him.
ReplyDeleteAt this point he should worry about the Czechs, and to a greater degree Todd's Aryan uncle and his buddies.
Gus's partner was killed by the Cartel, and they told Gus basically, "The only reason you're not dead to is that we know who you are." Doesn't that imply that he comes from some powerful/connected people? And his origin was still mysterious indeed! Nobody knows about his past. 2 cents.
DeleteWhere's the recap?
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid to post it because I think you were maybe right about Hank.
ReplyDeleteI'm kidding. I'll try and get something up soon. Maybe just a placeholder for now. Definitely interested in some thoughts, maybe doing a little back peddling.
I'm just curious to see how you'll trample all over the Constitution this week.
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