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"Breaking Bad" - Season 2 - Sundays on AMC

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Suburban Cowboy said:
...are we facing any sort of account-based punishment for admitting to watching this material?
I can't guarantee anything, but in the past for other tv shows it hasn't been a problem.
 

Diseased Yak

Gold Member
Much like Mad Men, I'm just now catching up on this show, I finished up Season 1 last night. And, much like Mad Men, how in the blue fuck does AMC keep churning out these beyond awesome shows?!?

HOLY SHIT this show is awesome. I simply cannot believe Cranston's performance. He deserves everyone else's Emmys. Just take all of them in a dump truck and dump'em on his lawn. The man is a god. I love the Walt character. The show has so many layers. The clepto SIL, the DEA BIL who has no problems smoking Cubans but is rabidly anti-weed. The loser meth-head ex-student partner. Tuco. Fucking TUCO!

Wow, what a show!

Starting S2 tonight...
 

Mike M

Nick N
The fulminated mercury scene last season was freakin' awesome.

I longed for an animated gif avatar of that scene...
 
Just watched the season premiere. So damn great. Cranston is just PERFECT in this role.

This show has some really superbly written black comedy, which isn't surprising coming from Vince Gilligan. The reactions of Walt and Jesse to Tuco being insanely unpredictable were priceless.

Mike M said:
The fulminated mercury scene last season was freakin' awesome.

I longed for an animated gif avatar of that scene...
Haha yes! So badass.
 

Silkworm

Member
I too will add my praise of this show. I watched all of season 1 in one straight sit through this past Sunday, since I finally got access to AMC On Demand which had the entire season 1 available. And then I was able to watch Season 2's first episode after that mini-marathon. Woo! I love this show. :) It's so well condensed story-wise, no extraneous drivel, with one episode driving into the other. But it sucks now that I'll have to wait each week to catch each new episode. Oh well, perhaps I should buy the DVD of the 1st season to rewatch it, since I'm sure there's stuff I missed the first go around. :)
 

Anton668

Member
So I missed the second epi. How long till it's up on AMC.com?

Also, I just started watching, anywhere I could find season 1 online?
 

joshcryer

it's ok, you're all right now
OH MY GOD @ preair

OMFG!! No sleep for me (stayed up all night doing stupid shit).

edit: nm I need mah sleep. I hope this thread is 10 pages when I get back. :p
 
Anton668 said:
Also, I just started watching, anywhere I could find season 1 online?
People did a quick search last week and we couldn't find anything like Hulu or AMCtv.com that was streaming them. The dvds are out now.
 

Vlad

Member
ItAintEasyBeinCheesy said:
So the pre-air is it Ep 2 and 3, looking now and they both seem to be up. Both legit? mininov............. ??

Yup, they're the episodes.

And they're awesome.
 

joshcryer

it's ok, you're all right now
I may or may not have seen episodes 2 or 3 but if I had I would probably say it remains to be and forever shall be one of the greatest shows on TV.

And if I did I would watch it on the AMC website 3 times back to back so that it gets hits (I did that to the first episode of season 2, the quality of the AMC show is definitely good enough for my analog TV).

Brilliant.
 
I thought the first season got bogged down with the dead body and the live hostage in the basement. And the way they dealt with the body was damn gruesome. I actually felt squeamish during those scenes.

I much preferred it when the show focussed on the two cooking and selling meth and just hanging together.
 

AlkalineSolo

Neo Member
just saw S2 ep2. wow!!!! that interrogation scene w/ tuco and his relative was extremely intense. i can't remember being that on the edge of my seat since 'the shield'.
 
Suburban Cowboy said:
Hal could have easily explained himself to Hank imo. Just say Tuco came for Jessi and Jessi led him to Hal

Yeah, I thought so too, he could have come up with any number of stories. It would have been bad if Jesse told hank a different version of the story later though.
 

Drahcir

Member
The thing I absolutely love about season 2 so far is that the show keeps you on the edge of your seat with very minimal dialogue. It's so visual and cinematic. The whole scene with Theo trying to
rat out Walt after he put the poisoned drugs into Tuco's burrito
was just genious. As if it needed to be said, but this show continues to amaze.
 

M3wThr33

Banned
I don't know what to think. Yeah, they could have revealed themselves, but that becomes not just messy with Hank, but also with the DEA, and that's more shit than they can handle right now.
 

hateradio

The Most Dangerous Yes Man
That episode was awesome, I really like the intros to the show where they show you the end and you kinda watch how it got there.
 

Core407

Banned
The two leaked episodes were FUCKING BRILLIANT. I was on the edge of my seat through the whole damn episodes. So many amazing things this show does.
 

Mike M

Nick N
I don't think it's so cut and dry that Jessie and Walter could have revealed themselves to Hank and come up with a cover story. Hank already knows that whomever is cooking up meth has extensive chemistry knowledge and little street smarts, and that a ton of glassware was missing from Walt's department at the school. When he shows up kidnapped by a known drug runner, it's not that hard to piece together no matter what story they could have concocted on the spot.

To say nothing of the fact that after the ordeal they'd just gone through they probably weren't really in the right frame of mind to come up with a good cover story, the fact that Walt wouldn't sell out Jessie, the fact that even if Walt *did* sell out Jessie, Jessie would rat on him in a second, etc. etc.
 

Core407

Banned
Mike M said:
I don't think it's so cut and dry that Jessie and Walter could have revealed themselves to Hank and come up with a cover story. Hank already knows that whomever is cooking up meth has extensive chemistry knowledge and little street smarts, and that a ton of glassware was missing from Walt's department at the school. When he shows up kidnapped by a known drug runner, it's not that hard to piece together no matter what story they could have concocted on the spot.

To say nothing of the fact that after the ordeal they'd just gone through they probably weren't really in the right frame of mind to come up with a good cover story, the fact that Walt wouldn't sell out Jessie, the fact that even if Walt *did* sell out Jessie, Jessie would rat on him in a second, etc. etc.

I'm going to spoiler my predictions so here goes...
I think that Hank will start investigating and just put two and two together. Things like Pinkman's car being found in the same proximity of where Walter was discovered, the whole "old school meth cooking" method, all the stuff missing, etc. At first I thought Hank was just a worthless character but after the shootout, it's obvious he's intelligent and knows what he is doing job-wise so I wouldn't be surprised if he figures it out. He already knows Walter has a secret when they found out about the 2nd cell phone. Of course the story could do a 180 and Walter can tell his wife the whole story and she'll just help cover up the whole cell phone thing. The show seems to drop a bunch of things infront of you and point to something that will happen and then just flip it on you. Like when Walter left the money and gun in the baby diapers box. I assumed it would be discovered and then you get the scene with Walter Jr being right next to the box but he just walks away.
 

daw840

Member
Core407 said:
I'm going to spoiler my predictions so here goes...
I think that Hank will start investigating and just put two and two together. Things like Pinkman's car being found in the same proximity of where Walter was discovered, the whole "old school meth cooking" method, all the stuff missing, etc. At first I thought Hank was just a worthless character but after the shootout, it's obvious he's intelligent and knows what he is doing job-wise so I wouldn't be surprised if he figures it out. He already knows Walter has a secret when they found out about the 2nd cell phone. Of course the story could do a 180 and Walter can tell his wife the whole story and she'll just help cover up the whole cell phone thing. The show seems to drop a bunch of things infront of you and point to something that will happen and then just flip it on you. Like when Walter left the money and gun in the baby diapers box. I assumed it would be discovered and then you get the scene with Walter Jr being right next to the box but he just walks away.

This is pretty acurate as to how the show has progressed thus far. What I am worried about is the show not running more than 3 good seasons. Then getting renewed because it's making money and grasping at crazy straws. It just doesn't seem like it can go much further than 3 seasons, IMHO.
 

pinkbunny

Member
Ah, finally found the season 2 thread! Tonight's episode was very much a cleaning up of all the madness from last week. Hank's scenes with Walt always make my heart race-- is he genuinely concerned or extremely suspicious of Walt's story? We're so used to seeing Hank bust balls, it's strange to see his softer side.

It doesn't seem like everything has been wrapped up in a neat little package. Skylar's wife-intuition is maxing out, even Walt. Jr. is looking at his dad funny. From the previews for next week, Skylar's getting way too close to the secret.

I just introduced my friend to the show, he watched the first episode and was bothered by Jesse Pinkman's jackass-ness. As we find out, Jesse is more than just a jackass. At this point, he might be the only voice of reason keeping Walt from becoming Tony Montana.
 

Vlad

Member
pinkbunny said:
Ah, finally found the season 2 thread! Tonight's episode was very much a cleaning up of all the madness from last week. Hank's scenes with Walt always make my heart race-- is he genuinely concerned or extremely suspicious of Walt's story? We're so used to seeing Hank bust balls, it's strange to see his softer side.

I think at this point, he's still in a state of subconscious denial that Walt could be involved in any of this. The evidence is there, but he's probably known Walt for years (I don't think we know exactly how long him and Marie have been together), and until relatively recently in the show's timeline, there isn't anyway way that Walt would have been involved. I'm sure that the blinders will come off eventually, though.

It doesn't seem like everything has been wrapped up in a neat little package. Skylar's wife-intuition is maxing out, even Walt. Jr. is looking at his dad funny. From the previews for next week, Skylar's getting way too close to the secret.

I didn't catch the previews, but it really does look like things are going to get rather strained with Walt's home life. Skylar turning away from him at the end of this episode, her admission in the premier that Walt Jr. disappears for long stretches at a time, etc. I wonder if it'll turn out to be a situation where Walt's actions to protect his family end up tearing it apart.

I just introduced my friend to the show, he watched the first episode and was bothered by Jesse Pinkman's jackass-ness. As we find out, Jesse is more than just a jackass. At this point, he might be the only voice of reason keeping Walt from becoming Tony Montana.

Indeed. I don't quite know where Jesse stands at this point, though. His "you still want to cook?" to Walt over the phone was him being surprised that Walt was still interested, but I couldn't tell if Jesse himself was interested any more. He definitely still seems shaken after the Tuco ordeal, and once again he tried reaching out to his family.

As far as being the voice of reason, I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that Walt, for the most part, has nothing to lose. As long as he keeps his family insulated from everything, the worst that's going to happen to him is that he'll get killed by someone they're working with or he'll go to prison for the rest of his short life. It seems like that to him, it's a reasonable gamble to take at this point. Jesse, on the other hand, might not be willing to take the same sorts of risks from now on.
 
Was a pretty good episode, though it kind of comes down from the high of the last two. Which is to be expected.

The only thing that bugged me about this one was Walt sneaking out of and back into the hospital. Possible? Yeah, I suppose, but probably not likely. Especially not when they had him in there for wandering naked through a supermarket.
 

harSon

Banned
Spectral Glider said:
Was a pretty good episode, though it kind of comes down from the high of the last two. Which is to be expected.

The only thing that bugged me about this one was Walt sneaking out of and back into the hospital. Possible? Yeah, I suppose, but probably not likely. Especially not when they had him in there for wandering naked through a supermarket.

I was annoyed at the fact that they didn't brush for any finger prints at Tuco's house
 

daw840

Member
harSon said:
I was annoyed at the fact that they didn't brush for any finger prints at Tuco's house

This bothered me immensely, but that would have just ended the show really. How would they get out of that one? It would have, at the very least, ended Jesse's role on the show. His fingerprints are definitely on record with the police, but Walt's prints may not have even been on record...
 
harSon said:
I was annoyed at the fact that they didn't brush for any finger prints at Tuco's house

Yeah, not to mention the signs of a struggle outside and the extra footprints. And I have to watch the scene again, but did Tuco give Walt back his wallet and stuff?
 

daw840

Member
Spectral Glider said:
Yeah, not to mention the signs of a struggle outside and the extra footprints. And I have to watch the scene again, but did Tuco give Walt back his wallet and stuff?

I believe that he did give him back his wallet. IIRC...
 

op_ivy

Fallen Xbot (cannot continue gaining levels in this class)
i want a gif of tio shitting himself. i love that guy, like jesse, i freaked out when i saw them wheel him in
 

Vlad

Member
Valkyr Junkie said:
They made it sound that way, but Walt did tell his shrink he would be dead in 18 months.

Actually, the doctors had just said that it hadn't metastasized to his brain. Basically, that means that it hasn't spread beyond his lungs at that particular point, so it couldn't have caused his fugue state. That doesn't mean that it's in remission, though.
 

Javaman

Member
Mike M said:
The fulminated mercury scene last season was freakin' awesome.

I longed for an animated gif avatar of that scene...

There was a cool interview with the F/X coordinator on A&E...
http://blogs.amctv.com/breaking-bad/2008/03/qa-with-special.php

Q. One scene that you worked on that really stands out is Walt's confrontation with Tuco. Can you explain your input there?

A. In the scene, Walt throws a piece of fulminated mercury into the ground and that creates the explosion that blows out the windows and stuns Tuco and his henchmen long enough to give Walt the upper hand. The way the scene is shot, we see Walt throw the crystal of fulminated mercury at the ground inside. Then we cut outside for the filming of most of the actual explosion. We had to wrestle with the size of the explosion and how big we could make it. Of course if it's too big it won't be plausible that the people inside the building will have survived, but if it's too small there's really not much to it dramatically.

Q. How do you film something like that?

A. The art of what we do is in using as little force as possible in order to create as big an effect as we can. It's safer and it's more fun. It also lets us work more effectively with Vince [Gilligan]. On the day of the shoot, Vince isn't the kind of guy that will want to go bigger with the effects, he just gets more clever. On this particular day, he came up with the idea of filming the blast from below, with a camera that would get obstructed by flying debris. If I'd gone bigger we couldn't have pulled that off.

Instead of creating one big blast, what we did was create four smaller ones that would happen very quickly and in a very precise order so that we'd achieve the effect of one big explosion. Each one was placed on its own circuit. In the first circuit a squib broke the glass in the windows and it also released the cables that we were using to hold the air conditioners in place. So the air conditioners weren't blown out of the room, they were really just dropped when the circuit released those cables.

The second circuit consisted of lifters and a pair of mortars set up behind the windows that shot wet sand and about two and a half gallons of tempered glass through the window. This creates the effect of the glass exploding out and it also gets the air conditioners moving a little bit faster. The third circuit fired our debris mortars. They're set up behind pieces of balsa wood, which we'd angled up against the windows. They also held in place some ceiling tiles, which we like to use because they burn very easily and create a nice smoky effect, but at the same time they're light and are not going to hurt anyone. Once the third circuit fires, all the debris is catapulted out the window by the blast. The fourth circuit consists of a magnesium flash, it's a lot like the flash of a camera. Normally we'd have started the process with the flash, but in this case the windows were painted black so we'd never have seen it.

So the blast happens in this four part process, but all the parts happen in such quick succession that they seem to happen nearly instantaneously. What we didn't know when we were planning it out was that Vince would come up with the idea of shooting the blast from directly below such that the camera would get obliterated by the debris. Since we set the shot up so that it would happen in stages anyway we were able to make the adjustment and pull it off.
 
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