Breaking Bad - Season 3 - Page 3

Cranston's wordless reaction to IFT alone, deserves an emmy.


Skyler really despises Walt now. It's more than just the actual "drug manufacturer" revelation. Walt/Heisenberg is obviously not the man she married. The first two seasons can be seen on one level, as a woman basically falling out of love with her husband. That marriage was fucked even before Skyler consciously knew everything. The second cell phone just brought everything Skyler was feeling intuitively, to the surface.

The darkest aspect of the show is the fact that the "Heisenberg persona" is the REAL Walt. The Walt before the cancer was the the "repressed version". It's funny (in a sad/tragic way), that it was he that Skyler fell in love with.

“Walt, is that you?”

I think it's more likely that Skylar gets it. Then Walt's secret is safe... and he'll have to keep from killing himself to take care of the baby.

Honestly at this point in Walt's evolution I think it would be better drama if nobody got killed. Skylar fucks Ted, Walt fucks (or tries to fuck) the hot teacher; eventually he's going to end up hating Skylar and wanting nothing to do with her. It's all part of the process of shedding everything he was before and becoming a completely different person, with completely different reasons for doing what he does.

No, Skylar must die. She must die RIGHT NOW.. or at the very least, she needs a good ass kicking.

Best bitch in TV history? Affirmative.

Man, was I the only one that flinched at that shot from below of Tortuga getting hit by the machete? Jesus. And I don't mean for the - very limited - gore: the way the body reacted to the blow was eerie to say the least.

Now that was a big "Don't worry for The Walking Dead, fellas" sign.

That's just what I was saying last week! I see why people draw the connecting line to Mad Men from The Sopranos, but this show is the first to deliver the black, black comedy as consistently as that show did.

I was thinking the pizza would stay on the roof, all rotting and metaphorical and shit, all season long. I'm a little disappointed to see it go. Loved to see Trejo again. They gave him two really memorable send-offs now. I cackled like a madman about five seconds after Skyler's line, when the title sunk in.

This season is going as strong as the last, which I wasn't sure was possible. Here's hoping that Gus or Saul don't get offed too soon.

Why?

The things Walt has done are unconscionable, but Skylar has always been this controlling, overbearing bitch. Before his cancer Walt seemed to be the type of guy that just let things happen, and after what he's gone through he wants some control. He wants some things his way, as he believes he's earned it with blood. Skylar is definitely a power top though and is never going submit. Thus their relationship was pretty much doomed the day Walt thought "maybe I can."

What? Skyler's not domineering. She just wants her husband to be honest with her. And that he not make crystal meth.

That fucking cunt.

For sure! Although, to be fair, I don't think I've ever laughed out loud as often or as hard at so many scenes of show that isn't a "comedy" than I did with The Sopranos.

Also, as things have gotten even darker and heavier on the show (and I can only see it getting worse), the humor hasn't really been there, and while the season has been brilliant they really could use more of it. Not having Walt and Jesse together has been part of the reason, though a big factor is just the nature of the storyline right now. Saul and Hank have had some good moments so far though.

I know. Like, how the fuck can it keep being this good?

Season 2 somehow was way better than 1, and now Season 3 has been superb too.

I hope not. Both are fantastic characters.

Mainly because of "I.F.T."

Skylar seems to think she's better than Walt when she's just as bad - helping Ted cover-up the fraud he committed. I'm glad the calling the cops because he's "trespassing" bullshit backfired on her ass. If you're going to try and blackmail someone, have the balls to follow through.

Yeah, calling the cops on Walt would have also destroyed her family.

Yeah, all that's worse than being a killer who makes drugs that hurts people and lied to his family for a long time and then manipulated everyone into going "Poor Walt! Leave him alone, he just beat cancer!" Skylar is a fucking champ to have held up as well as she has.

That fucking cunt.

Lotta weird misogyny concerning the character of Skylar, and weirdly, Lilah on Dexter, when their men are so much worse and deserve everything bad that comes to them. Was Carmela Soprano as hated(Though, she was pretty bad, but her man was much worse)?

I thought Skylar fucking Ted was as much about hurting Walt as he had hurt her as it was about control (and the two are, in many ways, intertwined).

I don't really have beef with Skylar though, seems like a decent gal. There's definitely some weird misogyny going on here.

Yeah, Walt destroyed her world in such a way that she needed that kind of release and a way to feel good enough about herself to deal with the situation. Everything was taken from her by Walt, the man she knew and her son blames her for everything now. Geez, its a miracle she didn't self-destruct.

I'll agree that Skylar doesn't deserve the level of hate she seems to be getting, but I still think her fall is a part of this story. Also, I'm back and forth on exactly how bad the manufacture of meth is on Walt's part. Don't get me wrong, it's a fucked up drug and if it didn't exist that would be ideal. At the same time, isn't him manufacturing a form of it without all the bullshit filler chemicals a safer route for the junkies to go then (for instance) hitting off crap like Jesse used to make? The meth is going to be there regardless, at least Walt understands the chemicals and isn't mixing in household detergents or some shit.

A lot of my friends keep calling Skylar a bitch and I don't get it. She just found out her husband and father of her two kids is a Meth Dealer, and knowing that Skylar is a pretty down to earth girl (she freaked out when she found out her sister was shop lifting for gods sake) the head space she has been in this season is pretty understandable.
Having said that, can't help but think that the Ted Fucking is going to turn out really, really badly for her.

I imagine if all a person thinks about Skylar is that she's a bitch, it must have robbed the "I fucked Ted" line of some of its essential awesomeness. So I really feel sorry for those people.

Also, I'm guessing she needed some kind of reason, any reason, for him to finally come around and agree on a divorce. Fucking her boss might do the trick.

Kinda, but I can see this being used by Walt as yet another of his excuses/rationalizations that buffer him between the reality of what he is doing and his sense of victimized entitlement.

I think what we're seeing here w/ regards to people's reactions to Skylar is the psychological attachment to the protagonist. The first two seasons made it very easy to identify with Walt, and Skylar was little more than a hurdle in his path. We wanted Walt to succeed and get away with it, so the woman trying to uncover his plots was an antagonist. We saw the show through his eyes, and our sympathy lied with him.

Now in season 3, we're seeing Walt act in a completely reprehensible and unsympathetic manner. His refusal to be honest with anyone about what he's done and who he has hurt is extremely difficult to watch. But Walt is still the protagonist, so when Skylar treats him gruffly, to some people she's treating them gruffly.

But imagine if Sky was the protagonist, what this show would be like (and this season, that shouldn't be too hard). Walt is a criminal, a liar, a betrayer, a killer. His wife wanted nothing more than to know him, and he never gave her that, even when caught in his lies. Now she's being forced to live with this dark shadow of a stranger and accept the onus of being the villain to her son. In a show where she was the protagonist, "I fucked Ted" would elicit cheers.

Odenkirk has genuinely surprised me with this character. He simultaneously skirts the lines of incompetence, ruthlessness, ignorance, sleaze and insight all at once.

Also, this:

True enough. And that's only taking into account the manufacture of his drugs and not the other reprehensible things he's done by getting involved in the business in the first place. I just tend to think the manufacture of the drugs is kind of one of his lesser evils at this point.

Oh yeah!!!!

http://www.savewalterwhite.com/

He's already used the "I'm just a cook" excuse, and the truth of the matter is that he hasn't been just a cook since the first season. A cook doesn't make major deals with people like Gus. Walt is a player now.

I think you have to be pretty dim emotionally if you watched the first two seasons and never saw it through Skyler's eyes. Yes, the big pull in the series was that as crazy as Walt's secret life was, we could primally identify with his character's drive (cancer, death, "all for his family"). But part of what made those domestic scenes excruciating (in a good way), was Skyler's torment was completely justified. In a "real world way".

So hard core empathizing with Walt....definitely. I mean it's Bryan fuckin' Cranston. But if you completely block out empathy for Skyler, something is wrong with you emotionally. Or you hate women.


And season 3 is obviously going out of it's way about making no bones about Walt being a bad guy. He may be in denial about it for now (although I think IFT and other things is gonna end that facade), but the Walt speaking in the school gym is a bit of a sociopath.

Walt trying to seduce the principal went about as smoothly as I had envisioned.

Don't know what I liked more from Odenkirk in this one. The box of neck braces or "dirty damp in deep."

Even the episodes which are just mostly set up are impossibly good. Great plan from Pollo to suck Walter back in. I can't help but feel like Walter's bald look is going to result in a really bad ending for the fixer though.

This was the funniest episode the show has had in a long time, and, other than Walt's Pizza Toss (yes, it has entered the realm of a proper noun), it was the first time that I've really laughed with the show all season.

That being said, I get the feeling that Walt is about to unleash some terrible shit, the Fixer is awesome and I don't want him to ever leave the show. Skylar has a fucking sweet body, and Saul is the skeeviest dude ever. Also, Gus's play to get Walt back... brilliant. And Hank... oh, Hank. I'm really curious as to where that is going.

I enjoyed the Constitution as his office wallpaper.

It's a credit to this show that you genuinely couldn't tell what Hank's answer about El Paso was going to be. They've spent so much time blurring the line between who Hank thought he was and who he really is, and Hank seems the least capable of figuring out the difference. Him flying to El Paso just to show everybody how badass he thinks he is could have easily happened. Looking back though, that choice was made when the blue meth showed up again and he had an "out" at the airport.

Margolis attempted suicide, yet failed, which tells me they're setting up his return down the road.

The opening with Jesse and the cashier was chilling. Aaron Paul has nailed Jesse's transformation this year.

between the Margolis attempted suicide and Saul's lawsuit for the flight victim families, i like how they maintain the universe of the show, as opposed to soldiering on each episode as if the crash never happened.

that principal seduction scene was painful to watch.

Skylar's a bitch, anyone arguing otherwise hasn't been paying attention. That being said, Walt deserved it.

Great episode, fucking Jesse man. Even when clean he's a fucking moron!

Great Hank episode.

I love how we first experience Walt's reaction to IFT from the perspective of Saul and the fixer. Hilarious.

I also forgot about Walt trying to rain some morality down on the fixer. Great scene with the fixer completely unphased by the whole thing, and it never even dawning on Walt that his moral high ground has all washed away.

The Fixer's knowledge that he essentially saved Walt's life made their exchange priceless. Really enjoying Banks in this role.

Was delighted at how juvenile the argument between Walt and Jesse got in the parking lot.

"Eat me!"

"Anytime, loser!"

I missed something:

How did Hank know to talk to the gas station girl?

In a season brimming with papalable possibilities, I think Jesse might be the most interesting. Between the shouting match with Walt, and the poster advertisement with him holding a gun; I think Jesse is going to lash out at Walt in a devestating way.

Wonder if he's going to some how connect that Walt's failure to aid Jane is what did her in. The way Walt is letting himself go, I can see him slipping that bit of infomation out without even thinking about it. Walt has been so careless this season.

The junkie that Hank interrogated got the meth off a guy (with an M-name) who used to work at the gas station. That guy presumably got it off the girl working at the gas station.

Weird.

I went to bettercallsaul.com, and the testimonial video clips from Badger and Wendy(the methed out hooker Jesse banged, and Hank took Walt Jr. to see)were taken down due to "use of term violation".

EDIT: I think they were all taken down.

CHUD's resident sociopath thinks Skylar is a bitch. I rest my case.

I'm sorry, where is the baby while she's fucking Ted?

Ted by the way, who also is commiting illegal acts, whom she forgave in an act of coming back to the company and then helped him come up with ways to hide the money better.

Let's also not forget the intervention, the purpose of which was to get what SHE wanted. Remember how she held out on sex until Walt agreed? Remember how she manipulated Walt into going to Elliots party, then talked to Elliot behind Walt's back and got him to offer a job to help with the costs?

Not presumably. The girl told Hank that she tried it once, didn't like it and then gave it to Matt (the M name guy) who worked at the station at the time. Sounds like he got high and got fired. All fairly impressive detective work from Hank.

Did the interrogated meth head say that M-Name worked at that gas station?

Also: this show has become an interesting barometer in regards to what's acceptable and isn't. A lot of people seem to put aside Walt's meth manufacturing despite the show detailing, in deep depth, how it's crippling to society- yet throw all sorts of red flags with Skylar cheating on Walt. Just goes to show how great the gender divide is.

I like that once Skylar cheated, she immediantly let Walt knew. Most shows would drag a plotline like that on for a couple of seasons. So kudos to Breaking Bad for cutting to the chase.