Breaking Bad - Season 5, Part 1 - Sundays on AMC

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No, because this perfectly sets up something different for the final half. Walt is out, and now the cat and mouse game begins. Starting it anytime sooner, would interfere with Walt's rise to power.
Proves the point. The writers are more concerned with fitting important events into whatever specific episode they thematically need to appear in with very little regard to plausibility. You can make an arguement that they should be doing this, in any case: fuck AMC.
Of course, but why would any other scenario be more plausible? The point is he finds the book, does it matter if he's on the toilet or flicking through Walt's book case?
Because it wouldn't be a shameless attempt at moving forward a plot point they've just been heavily stalling for the last seven episodes.
 
The first part of the inscription is there because Gale is an eccentric lovable dude who made a little joke giving a present to the other "WW" he admires.

Also, no, Hank figuring it out by seeing a video of Walt on a computer he found would have been the easiest dumbest way possible.

You're right, Hank is a bad detective.
 
I actually would consider the plane crash in season 2 somewhat close to a "deus ex machina moment" and it's for that reason that that's my least favorite segment of the series.

This revelation flowed just fine.
Was everyone waiting from the start of the show for this event? Was it nearly avoided multiple times in order to stall it for the season 2 finale?
 
How was this paused for 7 episodes? Hank almost lost his job hunting for Heisenberg. It's not like barely saw Hank for the entire season, and now he suddenly found the book, without trying.
 
The book really does fit looking back on it. The entire season is Walt tying up lose ends - fucking up the laptop, killing Mike, his guys, the kid, ending the meth business entirely, sending Jesse on his merry way with his money...and the last thing that fucks him over himself. After the series has been blessing him for 5 seasons with all sorts of coincidences to protect him and keep him in the game, reality fucks him just when he's out.
 
Who will leave such an evidence lying there in the bathroom that serves anybody who visits the house, including his wife's sister's husband who is the head of the DEA. The both know about the notebook and the dedication written by Gale, but Walter doesn't mind leaving a book with the same style of dedication signed by the initials of a drug-cooker.

I agree Vince gave Hank a major gift, total dumb luck. I would have rather Hank get tipped to Walt another way. This just seems sloppy and rushed.

Maybe it's supposed to show that no matter how ruthless, calculated, and smart Walt's is his own hubris is the only thing that can take him down?
 
It's like you guys watch every episode so myopically and out of context.
 
Proves the point. The writers are more concerned with fitting important events into whatever specific episode they thematically need to appear in with very little regard to plausibility. You can make an arguement that they should be doing this, in any case: fuck AMC.Because it wouldn't be a shameless attempt at moving forward a plot point they've just been heavily stalling for the last seven episodes.

I hope you're trolling because pretty much every word in here is ridiculous. I'm not even going to bother explaining why.
 
What the hell are you even talking about?

I just find it laughable that people are so engrossed in feeling surprised when they watch TV that someone figuring something out by doing their job is somehow less dramatic than just stumbling on it.

You all need to watch Columbo or something.
 
I liked the toilet revelation only part that annoyed me was pausing my tv getting out of bed to read the screen only to have it read by hank when I un-paused.
 
It would be engrossing if Walt left loose ends all over the place, like Mike, who eventually got cornered by the DEA.

Walt didn't though. The pathetic bastard was smart about everything he did, and covered it all up sufficiently. It only made sense that he was his own demise at the end.
 
I liked the toilet revelation only part that annoyed me was pausing my tv getting out of bed to read the screen only to have it read by hank when I un-paused.

He didn't read the note in the book did he? I thought the voice-over was just the audio from the flashback.
 
I just find it laughable that people are so engrossed in feeling surprised when they watch TV that someone figuring something out by doing their job is somehow less dramatic than just stumbling on it.

You all need to watch Columbo or something.

Breaking Bad isn't a police procedural.

Hank's role hunting Heisenberg for many seasons and then eventually just finding him through policework is the least interesting option.

I'll say it again: there need to be scenes where Hank suspects Walt but does not know for sure. That will be good drama. And then he can go on to confirm Walt's guilt through police work....
 
If Hank found a video of Walt just....Walting around in the superlab, how the hell would you spend 8 episodes to wrap it up? Do you really think the DEA is that incompetent? They would tighten the noose around Walt in no time.

With this, it becomes a more personal matter, with the dilemma of taking down the family of his sister in law and the provider for his medical expenses. Plus, the ramifications of what could happen to him since he'd be investigating without the DEA knowing, and he could be seen as a conspirator.
 
Maybe it's supposed to show that no matter how ruthless, calculated, and smart Walt's is his own hubris is the only thing that can take him down?

This is exactly what I believe Vince was going for. Up until this point they have shown all of the things Walt has done "right" to keep himself from getting caught. His ego finally got the better of him, keeping a book from a "fan".
 
Breaking Bad isn't a police procedural.

Hank's role hunting Heisenberg for many seasons and then eventually just finding him through policework is the least interesting option.

I'll say it again: there need to be scenes where Hank suspects Walt but does not know for sure. That will be good drama. And then he can go on to confirm Walt's guilt through police work....

Columbo wasn't a police procedural either. It was about the characters and how they develop over the course of the case.

We've already had the scenes of Hank suspecting Walt. They were tense. Hank was always one step away from discovering Walt was Heisenberg for more than a season. That tension is gone now, down the shitter. It's just kind of anticlimactic for them to pull that at the end of the final scene of the penultimate season. It's almost as if they want us to think more about what COULD BE COMING than what's actually happened.
 
I liked the toilet revelation only part that annoyed me was pausing my tv getting out of bed to read the screen only to have it read by hank when I un-paused.

Hank was reading the first note from the flashback.

The note in the book just said "It was an honor working with you"
 
I just find it laughable that people are so engrossed in feeling surprised when they watch TV that someone figuring something out by doing their job is somehow less dramatic than just stumbling on it.

You all need to watch Columbo or something.

I think it's for more interesting for Hank for it to be that way. Over 5 seasons he's gotten tantalisingly close to solving his Heisenburg mystery. He failed.

Now, he finds out that it was right under his nose all along. That alone is going to tear him apart. The fact that he finally got his answer because the man he's been chasing was sloppy and not because he figured it all out is also going to weigh him down. Furthermore he found it out on the fucking toilet. Hank is going to be totally crushed, how he handles it is going to be far more interesting from a viewer standpoint now.
 
I don't think Hank ever thought Walt is a suspect. What made the scenes so tense was Hank unknowingly almost finding out it was him, and Walt desperately trying to find a way around.

e.g. planting the bug, Gale notebook scene, superlab drive etc.
 
This is exactly what I believe Vince was going for. Up until this point they have shown all of the things Walt has done "right" to keep himself from getting caught. His ego finally got the better of him, keeping a book from a "fan".
Or that every criminal slips up at some point, as Hank said about Mike.
 
I don't think Hank ever thought Walt is a suspect. What made the scenes so tense was Hank unknowingly almost finding out it was him, and Walt desperately trying to find a way around.

e.g. planting the bug, Gale notebook scene, superlab drive etc.

The only one that seemed like maybe he's thinking about something to me was when the ASAC was fired for working with Gus, and he said that he had no idea; that the mastermind was under his nose the whole time.

Hank seemed pretty deep in thought.
 
I think it's for more interesting for Hank for it to be that way. Over 5 seasons he's gotten tantalisingly close to solving his Heisenburg mystery. He failed.

Now, he finds out that it was right under his nose all along. That alone is going to tear him apart. The fact that he finally got his answer because the man he's been chasing was sloppy and not because he figured it all out is also going to weigh him down. Furthermore he found it out on the fucking toilet. Hank is going to be totally crushed, how he handles it is going to be far more interesting from a viewer standpoint now.
It's hard to call the coincidences purposefully "tantalizing" when there are clear examples of straight up contrivance like the S3 cousins shootout or Walt's plan in the S4 finale.
 
Columbo wasn't a police procedural either. It was about the characters and how they develop over the course of the case.

We've already had the scenes of Hank suspecting Walt. They were tense. Hank was always one step away from discovering Walt was Heisenberg for more than a season. That tension is gone now, down the shitter. It's just kind of anticlimactic for them to pull that at the end of the final scene of the penultimate season. It's almost as if they want us to think more about what COULD BE COMING than what's actually happened.

We've never had the moments where Hank actually knows, and is fishing for guilt, motivation, etc. I want to see how he deals with the issue of Skylar. Should she be informed? Does she already know? How does he deal with the kids?

This sets up a lot of interesting scenes where Hank is suspicious and poking at the foundation of the White household for all kinds of dirt.


You don't think he suspected Walt at all? Are you serious? They showed a flashback in the very last episode where Hank was noticeably suspicious.

But he was not even close to actually knowing. He had a moment of... "what if it was you? lol".
 
You don't think he suspected Walt at all? Are you serious? They showed a flashback in the very last episode where Hank was noticeably suspicious.
Seriously, what show have you been watching? Hank himself put Walt down as a pathetic old man who has reached his limit in life when Marie brought up the second cellphone/affair.

Hank literally has never suspected that Walt was Heisenberg. Literally.
 
You don't think he suspected Walt at all? Are you serious? They showed a flashback in the very last episode where Hank was noticeably suspicious.

No. The flashback had him mention Walt's name jokingly.

If he was even slightly suspicious of Walt, he would question some of his actions, even the stupid gambling story.
 
Seriously, what show have you been watching? Hank himself put Walt down as a pathetic old man who has reached his limit in life when Marie brought up the second cellphone/affair.

Hank literally has never suspected that Walt was Heisenberg. Literally.

You've obviously missed a lot of the nuanced gestures that Dean Norris has thrown in, then, because regardless of where Hank has ended up with Walt, there have been moments where he seemed intent on dragging Walt into the investigation to trip him up.

Yeah, he was joking in the flashback, but look at his face. Look at his face when the Madrigal employee is mentioned as being under their nose the whole time.

They're subtle visual clues, but we've been supposed to think Hank has seeds of doubt planted ages ago.

But you also hate Skyler, so...
 
If Hank found a video of Walt just....Walting around in the superlab, how the hell would you spend 8 episodes to wrap it up? Do you really think the DEA is that incompetent? They would tighten the noose around Walt in no time.

With this, it becomes a more personal matter, with the dilemma of taking down the family of his sister in law and the provider for his medical expenses. Plus, the ramifications of what could happen to him since he'd be investigating without the DEA knowing, and he could be seen as a conspirator.

Without a doubt plus the fact Hank trusted Walt on so many things even gave him a scope him. That is how he was always a step ahead.
 
You've obviously missed a lot of the nuanced gestures that Dean Norris has thrown in, then, because regardless of where Hank has ended up with Walt, there have been moments where he seemed intent on dragging Walt into the investigation to trip him up.

But you also hate Skyler, so...

Haha.


Haha. Their interactions have been about Walt acting like a wierdo, not about him thinking walt is Heisenberg.


Haha.
 
You've obviously missed a lot of the nuanced gestures that Dean Norris has thrown in, then, because regardless of where Hank has ended up with Walt, there have been moments where he seemed intent on dragging Walt into the investigation to trip him up.

But you also hate Skyler, so...

I know the gestures you speak of. I'd agree that Hank has had moments in his head where it's like "what if it was someone like Walt....? lol" But that's a huge difference from the revelation of "OH MY GOD It's HIM!"
 
I know the gestures you speak of. I'd agree that Hank has had moments in his head where it's like "what if it was someone like Walt....? lol" But that's a huge difference from the revelation of "OH MY GOD It's HIM!"

Well, yeah, that's the point. The "OH MY GOD it's HIM" part is what we just saw.
 
You've obviously missed a lot of the nuanced gestures that Dean Norris has thrown in, then, because regardless of where Hank has ended up with Walt, there have been moments where he seemed intent on dragging Walt into the investigation to trip him up.

Yeah, he was joking in the flashback, but look at his face. Look at his face when the Madrigal employee is mentioned as being under their nose the whole time.

They're subtle visual clues, but we've been supposed to think Hank has seeds of doubt planted ages ago.

But you also hate Skyler, so...

I can't think of any.
 
To be fair, by the end of this season Hank probably thought everyone was potentially Heisenberg. He probably had wet dreams finding him.
 
I can't think of any.

Part of the tension in every scene where Hank needed Walt to drag him out to the car wash and to Los Pollos was that we had JUST seen him question Walt as W.W. -- and the way he acted as though he was pushing Walt to go through with it for a reason.
 
You've obviously missed a lot of the nuanced gestures that Dean Norris has thrown in, then, because regardless of where Hank has ended up with Walt, there have been moments where he seemed intent on dragging Walt into the investigation to trip him up.

Yeah, he was joking in the flashback, but look at his face. Look at his face when the Madrigal employee is mentioned as being under their nose the whole time.

They're subtle visual clues, but we've been supposed to think Hank has seeds of doubt planted ages ago.

But you also hate Skyler, so...

Man, I think we have seen two different shows.
 
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