The Breaking Bad Season 4 Thread [Potential Spoilers Within]!

[Puffin]

Hopefully I'm not the only one here who is totally obsessed with BrBa. C'mon, I know you guys are lurking out there... Somewhere. Post so I don't feel like a loner. If you haven't watched Breaking Bad before, it's about a chemistry teacher turned drug manufacturer - crystal meth, specifically. Both lead actors have won at least one Emmy each, and earned it! Writing is very sharp, dark humor, and there are some pretty intense and moving episodes. It's my favourite show and possibly the best show on TV right now. Anyways, season 4 starts July 17th, 2011! The premier is titled "Box Cutter". In the meantime, here's a (really funny) minisode. And some articles/links on S4 (potential spoilers, read with caution)... http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/10/ma...-bad.html?_r=1 Breaking Bad - Inside Breaking Bad: A Look At Season 4 – AMC Breaking Bad - Breaking Bad Extended Season 4 Trailer – AMC And character photos for S4 + other cool stuff! Wow. I don't know about you, but I'm stoked.

[Eonnn]

Holy Crap? No one? Wow. I only just started watching this show and its fan-frakkin-tastic! I'm totally hooked and its very addictive to watch. Each episode leaves you craving more! I'm almost up to season 3, I watched the entire first season in one night.

[tommo]

Awesome! I was wondering when it would come back on. Tomorrow! YAY!

[Puffin]

Yay, there's life in this thread! Eonnn; it's an awesome show, isn't it? I almost didn't bother seeing it because of the subject matter and content, but my dad said "sit your butt down on this couch and watch the pilot." Needless to say, I stayed on that couch and watched all the other episodes. |P tommo; yeah, I'm so excited! xD

[spookyfox]

I should rewatch seasons 1-3 but I'm lazy. I didn't know it started tomorrow, thanks for the reminder!

[Puffin]

I've been rewatching them for the past few months - mostly when I had nothing to do, but hey. Better than nothing. And, was that an insane premiere or what? O_O

[Darkmatters]

Damn I missed it!! I mean, I was sitting there watching Iron Man for like the 12th time and suddenly realized it was on, so I switched to AMC and it was almost over. Didn't want to see the end first, so I just walked away. It'll be downloading soon on my iTunes season pass, so I'll watch it when it comes in. Couldn't resist watching a little bit though, and it looks just as amazing as it's always been. Hard to get over how much older everybody looks that they did in season 1, isn't it? I guess that's the problem with these amazing "premium" cable shows, where they take like 2 years between seasons. You end up with fantastic episodes... better than movies for the most part, but it just takes so LOOOOONG waiting for the next season!!

[Darkmatters]

Ack!!! It STILL isn't up for download on iTunes, and it's like 2:30 in the morning now!! But as I recall, it usually goes up around 3 or so. They showed it twice more on tv, so now I've seen the last half but still not the beginning (something to look forward to when it downloads... hey, I gotta get my money's worth SOMEHOW, right? It seems WRONG to just watch it free on TV when I have a season pass... So to alleviate my anxiety while I wait (and to keep from wearing out the buttons on my keyboard from checking at iTunes every few minutes... ) I'll write a bit in here about the special meaning this show has for me. When the show first came on, my mom had just learned she had a terrible respiratory condition called COPD. It came upon her quite suddenly... it was like one day she was extremely healthy (for being in her mid-to-late 70's!) and suddenly she was almost an invalid, emaciated and looking much much older and she needed oxygen all the time. And, as with Walt's lung cancer, COPD is a death sentence.. once you learn you have it, life expectancy is only a couple of years at best, with quality of life declining steadily. Also, after returning home from many tests and procedures in various hospitals, she decided she wanted to get some weed to try to take the edge off the constant pain. This was really weird and unexpected to everybody who knew her... she really was never the kind of person to try something like pot! She did try it once and then never talked about it again, and I didn't ask because I could tell she hated the experience of being high - she couldn't stand the idea of not being in control. AAANYway, to cut to the chase, one day I was in the car with her and she started talking about the first episode of Breaking Bad. I had seen the commercials for it (of course... how could anyone miss them?) but didn't know what to think of this strange looking guy in a green shirt and underwear running around in the desert... didn't seem like anything I wanted to see. But she told me the entire episode, and she obviously thought it was great. That night it was on again and I watched it and thus began my addiction to the best show ever made. I'm sure she felt a kinship with Walt... at an advanced age suddenly discovering a chronic and lethal health condition that changed her life... and "breaking bad" as it were (suddenly becoming a stoner in her freaking 70's!!! ). And after that we'd both watch the show and then talk about it. This was one of the few things we could ever really share together in a positive way, as we didn't get along very well and normally if we were in the same room for more than a few minutes we'd end up arguing terribly. But thanks to this show, we were able to share some good times together toward the end of her life. She passed away last year, and I can't help but think that if the 4th season was about to start then, she would have held on a bit longer to be able to watch another few episodes!! Ok, sorry to write a novel in here, and sorry it's so full of misery and grief!! But it also has its moments of strange beauty, just like the show does. Now, it's back to checking iTunes every few minutes again...

[Darkmatters]

... Am I the only one who's seen it yet? Lol or did my heavy duty post just freak everybody out too much? Again, sorry about that... I guess I'm too new to be posting deep stuff like that to a bunch of strangers. So, to make up for it, Ill start the convo about S4E1: Spoiler for spoiler: So, now both Walt and Jessie are cold blooded killers who have taken a life when their own wasn't directly threatened. Taking irreversible steps along the road to being hardened criminals and drug kingpins. And each has also proven his loyalty to the other... Jessie committed cold-blooded murder to save Walt, and of course Walt laid his own life on the line to save Jessie's. They seem to have progressed to a much deeper relationship... from the cagey old guy thinking "Damn junkie punk" and the brash kid thinking "boring old dude" to actually caring about each other and developing a master/apprentice relationship. Actually scratch that... it's now progressed beyond master/apprentice to a partnership of mutual respect. I had a sudden premonition while watching this episode... I know what I'd do later in the season if I was writing it. I'd have the inevitable showdown between Walt and Gustavo, with Mike there as Gus's strongarm man/bodyguard as usual, and at the crucial moment, when Gus orders him to shoot walt, instead he shoots Gus. Then tells Walt he thought Gus was too cold-blooded and dangerous and would rather work for Walt. And of course, Walt then takes over the lab and related distribution network created by Gus. That's what I'd do anyway. If I was writing it. Spoiler for Spoiler: Ya gotta LOVE Skyler's resourcefulness in getting into Walt's house!! She always seemed like this shrinking violet, prissy woman, but we did see that resourcefulness in action when she almost got arrested for returning the tiara that her sister had shoplifted. In her own way, she might be as tough and able to get things done as Walt is becoming, but handles it in a very different way.... without resorting to committing crime herself (though she did manipulate the poor locksmith into a felony). Go Sky!! Are she and Walt on their way to being the new Bonnie and Clyde? One of the really great things they're doing on the show is the way so many characters represent different aspects of Walt's character, or how he might end up. Many of the bald characters in particular. They've drawn a distinct parallel between Walt and Mike - as we recently saw that Mike is divorced and shares custody of his daughter with his wife, and has a great rapport with the daughter (apparently not so much with the wife?). And of course Gus is almost Walt taken to another level of ruthlessness... even more meticulous and methodical than Walt himself is, but a bit too reptilian and heartless... we wouldn't want to see Walt end up like that! I have 2 blog entries on Breaking Bad, one abut the writing and one about the cinematography. ... Anybody else see it/care to discuss?

[tommo]

PUT YOUR POST IN SPOILER TAGS DUDE! Yeah I've seen it now. IMO it was a little slow. The first and last episodes of every season HAVE to be dramatic otherwise a lot of people aren't going to bother with the next season/episode. I liked it. But I fear a lot of people will not. Sorry your mum couldn't see it

[Darkmatters]

Whoah settle down there!! I didn't really spoil anything.. well, the one rather small thing, so I did put tags around it. But otherwise I spoiled nothing. ***EDIT*** Ok, I added another spoiler tag at the beginning in case anybody missed the ending of season 3. What's left contains nothing remotely spoiler-esque AFAICT. Yeah, it wasn't one of the more action-packed episodes, it was one of the more dramatic ones. I do agree though, now that you brought it up, a season opener should be packed with thrills and spills. Or at least begin that way. Still though, the fans who are hooked on the show appreciate the slow dramatic stuff as much as the action I think. Both are so excellently done.

[Taosaur]

What struck me is that most of this episode could have taken place in just about any conventional crime drama. A lot of the fish-out-of-water / odd-couple dynamics that defined the show in earlier seasons have faded at this point, as Walt and Jesse (and even, to a lesser extent, Skyler) become more a part of the world of organized crime in which they operate. Most vestiges of Walt's 'noble purpose' in entering that world have faded, too--yeah, he still has to provide for his family, but at this point he's in it for the money as much as any other criminal. I wasn't disappointed--thematically, the fact that everyone in Walt's life gets drawn ever deeper into this world, to the point that it starts to seem like where they belong, is kind of the point. I watched the whole series in one go over a few weeks, until I was caught up about halfway through last season, but haven't re-watched any of it in the break, so even with the episode being slow, it was amazing being reminded in just about every scene of all the insane shit each one of these characters has done and been through. The series has covered so much ground, and it doesn't have the arbitrary feel of something like 24 or, often, Lost; it all shows in the characters, and has changed them and how they relate to each other. I imagine just about everyone watching is in it for the characters, so I don't see how it could hurt the show starting the season off slow. Hell, I needed something that pace just to process and get caught up.

[spookyfox]

I think it was more of a closure of the previous season than a proper start. It was good, but I miss seeing Walt being badass. And I fear the Hank sidestory might turn a little boring, but I hope not.

[Taosaur]

That last episode was brilliant. Let it be a lesson to you: Spoiler for spoiler: When starting a small crime syndicate, don't call yourselves "The Chicken Brothers." It makes me wonder whether Gus is strictly playing mind games and will remain all business, or might be moved by personal sympathies in his coming dealings with Walt and Jesse.

[Darkmatters]

Oh damn!! I DL'ed it monday morning and forgot to even watch it!! Going in now. Amazing episode! Ranks with the best. Hard to believe how well all the characters are fleshed out. The flashback alone was a great show!! I have to admit - as somebody mentioned earlier on this thread, the 1st few epis of the season weren't that great. In fact, for a while there I was starting to lose faith - I figured something had changed on the writing level and the excellence was lost. Until this season, I always felt that every scene had tons of subtext. Characters would be having conversations, but there was always a hidden meaning under everything. But that seemed to disappear for a few episodes this season - everything was just "on the nose". But the last few have been back up to the high standard again. It sucks that this will be the final season. (But then really - how much longer could it go?)

[Puffin]

Yes, it was probably the best episode of the season so far next to "Problem Dog"! I too found the season starting off rather sluggishly and was afraid that there was too much family quibbling. I was getting a bit tired of seeing Skyler. But I'm happy it's starting to pick up; I was especially impressed by Giancarlo Esposito's acting and how we're finally starting to see the history of the Cartel and Gus's affiliation with them. Anyways, I watched the episode once by myself, another time with my dad, and again with my mom (who also happens to be hooked on the show now...). They're actually doing 16 more episodes after season four ends; it's going to be split up into two seasons to make a total of six. I'm happy they have a set time to end the show now; stretching something like this out would spell disaster, especially because the main concept of the show revolves around character development. Oh, and here's something interesting I found about the VFX of "Fly". http://digitalcontentproducer.com/dc...527/index.html ^

[Firebat11]

Hmm, season four? I'll be sure to check this out.

[apsinvo]

Hmm, season four? I'll be sure to check this out. I absolutely love it. I was hooked from the beginning. I don't even know why, I'm just absolutely obsessed with it. Such a shame each series is so short. Any decent similar series?

[Darkmatters]

I don't know what made me think this was going to be the final season. Something I heard on a commercial for it - something like "Only ______ episodes left", but they probably meant in season 4. I must say, it was good to finally see Walt tinkering around with scientific stuff again - it's been a long time since he did any of that. I know he's a chemist and all, but it was cool when he cobbled together the cellphone bomb trigger device. And I just can't get over what a badass actor Aaron Paul is. Great future ahead of him.

[Puffin]

I saw that commercial too; it's definitely just of season 4. There will be a season 5 and 6, consisting of 8 episodes each. So my dad was watching the episode with me yesterday and when he saw Jesse poking the gun at Walt, he started cracking jokes and it totally ruined the mood of the scene. But Aaron Paul was totally amazing in it; I think he out-acted Bryan once again.

[Eonnn]

I heard they are stopping the show after season 6, you can be damned sure it will have an epic ending! my best guess is that walter will be killed. My favourite part of the series is when walter made the fulminated mercury "thats not crystal meth" and pegs it then theres a huge explosion. Total bad ass moment.

[Puffin]

I heard they are stopping the show after season 6, you can be damned sure it will have an epic ending! my best guess is that walter will be killed. My favourite part of the series is when walter made the fulminated mercury "thats not crystal meth" and pegs it then theres a huge explosion. Total bad ass moment. I loved that scene... Namely the slow-motion shot which is immediately juxtaposed by the exploding building.

[Original Poster]

Dammit should not have opened this thread. Spoiler remorse.

[spookyfox]

I was a bit dissapointed with the last half of season 3 and the first half of season 4, but this last few episodes have been so damn amazing.

[spookyfox]

I saw that commercial too; it's definitely just of season 4. There will be a season 5 and 6, consisting of 8 episodes each. So my dad was watching the episode with me yesterday and when he saw Jesse poking the gun at Walt, he started cracking jokes and it totally ruined the mood of the scene. But Aaron Paul was totally amazing in it; I think he out-acted Bryan once again. The 5th season will be the final I think.