Breaking Bad Season 3 Review

interrupt our scheduled programming to bring

you this breaking news. Hello and welcome to

Remote Control here on the Geekcast Radio Network

and This Week in Geek and this is the 11th season

pass episode. I am of course TF2 and Mike and

joining me is Ryan and Ivan Flo Merkley. Hello

sir. Hello. And we're gonna be Breaking Bad for

the final time for a while. We are going to finish

Breaking Bad. We are gonna finish season 4 and

season 5 but... Man, this show, you need to be

in the right mindset to watch this show, people.

It takes a lot out of ya. I think I marathoned

the first eight and a half episodes, and then

I had to, like, wait three days before I watched

the rest of the eighth episode through the thirteenth.

Actually, no. I watched the rest of the eighth

through the... 11th, and then I took two more

days, and then I watched 12 and 13. Oh my god.

So we're here to talk about season 3. Season

3 is far superior to season 2, I think. Yeah,

3 is when it really started hitting its stride.

Yep. Absolutely, so in this one we've got 13

episodes as per usual for season 3 some of the

Casts we've got some cast additions here Obviously

Jonathan Banks as Mike. He's pretty much on the

main roster at this point Yeah, much more regular

at least yeah, obviously Gus is on the main roster

as well We've got The Salamanca characters, we've

got Daniel Moncada as Lionel Salamanca. Obviously

Mark Margolis is back as T .O. I was surprised

to see Badger and Skinny Pete this season. I

thought Badger was still out in California somewhere

cooling off. I was really surprised to see them.

Part of it was a flashback figure, you know The

whole point of the season for a couple of the

characters specifically Hank was tracking down

the RV So they start the season off with giving

us a you know Jesse's side of getting the RV

which we didn't see in the very beginning part

of the series Yes, well, it's like here. Here's

the money go get it done and we see this whole

party with with Jesse and the money and the strip

club and everything else which I thought was

pretty interesting that they We just assumed

yeah, I like we just assumed that Jesse went

paid the people to get the thing and that's obviously

not what happened We've got Danny tre you as

Tertuga Another one that I was surprised to see

again, and again, this is the season of flashbacks,

folks, because we get the RV flashback, and then

we get the flashback of Jesse and Jane going

to the museum. I was like, I was not expecting.

I'm like, hey, it's Jane. What's she doing here?

No, she's not alive. Yeah, I know, obviously.

uh... did you have a favorite new character that

uh... was introduced this season uh... i mean

i love the twins they're only the most memorable

i would think we also got you know that excellent

introduction to them and the season that's pretty

iconic as i mean that drawing of heisenberg quote

-unquote when it's you know kind of a really

not great picture of a blank face that's become

me in t -shirts and everything else but there's

a pretty iconic opening sequence everybody you

know dragging themselves towards this area apparently

by the way it is actually real the process of

Dragging yourself. I think if I remember right

it's to Something that you desire in their case

it was to find the person who had killed Yeah,

a member of their family and yeah, just It was

a weird sequence. I remember the first time I

ever saw it, I thought, man, what am I watching?

Is this the same show? Yeah, that's - Did I accidentally

click on the wrong thing on Netflix? Did I accidentally

look at twin - Did I actually go to Twin Peaks

instead of Albuquerque? Like, what the hell?

I knew I should have taken that left coin at

Albuquerque. But it worked. Oh yeah. It was definitely

a good tone setter. I also like that, you know,

this is the most straightforward we've had in

terms of an opening. Like there's no time stuff

going on. There's no telling things out of order.

Yeah. Well, yeah, in the opener, you're right.

You're right. Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, in terms

of the overall season, too, there's certainly

flashbacks and that kind of thing. We have some

major ones later on, too. But for the most part,

it's pretty straightforward. And that was kind

of nice. Yeah, absolutely. So we've got we've

got all these cat what really surprised me with

some of the characters was specifically to When

they did a flashback for him and the brothers

Yep, I was like wait I was like that was pretty

friggin cool. I thought that was pretty awesome

Cuz I was not expecting a flashback from the

old man to see him slightly younger and actually

able to get up out of the chair Yeah, and see

If speak which to this point, you know, he's

been completely unable to yeah And of course

as the show goes on he's not able to either but

right, right I'm just saying that yeah now we

know, you know at one point he was All right,

and yes something happened and He's now confined

to a wheelchair, so yeah so Starting out with

the first episode some of my notes include Well

now Walt money fires are not good and wedding

the cash won't work either yeah I'm really wondering

at that point like in the very first part of

this episode what his state of mind is with this

because What is he okay? You know I mentioned

this last season I love his Sequence where he

seemingly is trying to In his head while still

talking to everybody in the gymnasium at his

school he's trying to like justify everything

I mean there's part of him that knows everything

that happened is his fault and you know in addition

to that he's dealing with he's he's going home

to an empty house you know Skyler's gone with

the kids and just you know she's waiting for

him to leave and I don't know I can't He just

This season is the season that like and I guess

it last episode You know, I reserve the right

to change my mind about when I want to Fully,

you know discredit Walt and not even this is

the season that his true evil nature Really like

that whole thing in the gym. My note about the

gym scene was he's just heartless Some guilt

left at this point and You know this season has

the episode where really it's the last time he

displays any real remorse for anything Yeah,

and that's it. Yeah, just I don't know. I loved

that scene by the way like as an actor I really

thought that sequence in the gymnasium though

is when Think that's when I really fell in love

with Cranston's portrayal of Walter because he

you really see every side of him just briefly

You know, there is a side of him that feels bad.

Then he's trying to tell this story that you

know nobody in the gym listening can make sense

of Because he's sort of partially admitting that

it's his fault, but he's trying to say you know

oh these things happen Yeah, let's not blame

the people involved You know it just It's just

so awkward too. It's very awkward I still Still

cannot stand Marie at this point. Her and Skyler's

interaction and characters as sister, it's an

utter lack of believability for me. Every time

the two of them interact, and they try to show

us that they are actually related to one another,

I'm like, these are two strange women to each

other. I don't get it, and I just... Then later

in the season Marie gets on my nerves again even

more in the hospital. That was just Is it because

they're minerals? David you had to say minerals

now as I can think of is Randall animal mineral

or vegetable Like we didn't see Walt and Skyler

getting a divorce coming we knew that was coming

What I liked about close to the end of this episode

is the character change -up the character differences

in Walt and Jesse Their scenes at the end of

this episode. Oh my god like complete 180 for

the two of them like Jesse wants revenge for

for combo he wants to get those guys yeah and

obviously by the end of the season uh... it's

consumed him beyond the point of because jesse

this season to jesse's moral code is on display

and as he starts to shift and actually become

kind of the morality for the season so i mean

you know combo was killed and he was killed by

Child and we find out you know, this is I think

I'm pretty sure this is the first season where

Jesse's kind of soft spot for kids Comes back

again. I mean we saw yeah, we saw it in season

one briefly with the the kid with the junkie

parents We saw it then yeah in season. I think

that was season two Okay in season one it was

more his brother earth's yes younger brother

he wanted to help him and so he you know takes

the hit from is not very good parents and gets

itself kicked out again just to protect his younger

brother but yeah we see it yet again and to a

certain extent it's definitely a It's a weakness

in this season because that combined with combo.

I mean we'll get into it later on Yeah, yeah,

he nearly gets himself killed tonight Well again,

and I'll bring this up as we go through these

episodes the thing of it is is as I said here

We see a complete character switch with the two

of them Yeah, and then we'll see another switch

later with the two of them where it almost goes

back to the way it was Like, Walt is trying to

save Jesse from doing something... Walt is all

over the place when it comes to he and Jesse's

friendship, business relationship, whatever the

hell you want to call it, but normally Walt is

out to control Jesse any way he can. Normally

Walt is using Jesse any way he can. But in this

season, Walt looks at it and says... You you're

not a killer. You're not that person so Walt

at this point Not right now as we're talking

about episode one, but in this season of the

show He's pretty much willing to do anything

to make sure that Jesse isn't the one That does

the worst shit of the world, you know the worst

shit in the world Yeah, I mean we'll get into

it. Let's just go with episode by episode. Well.

Yeah, I know I know I'm just saying that's the

beginning of Yeah, I have something to add at

a specific point this way Okay You know the second

episode of the season is Walter still trying

to kind of Adjust again, and yeah, you're right.

I mean they continue kind of he and Jesse continue

kind of shifting We also get our first appearance

of Saul I believe in the second episode When

he returns because he just wants the Saul wants

the money to come back again. Yeah Walter at

this point still has no intention of cooking

meth again Yeah, but I mean It's again, it's

weird because he actually is showing some level

of remorse He's already lost his family at this

point, etc, etc, but I Don't know he's still

a... is he a really bad guy at that point in

the season? I don't know. Episode 2, no. Episode

2, no. By the time Episode 8, 9, and 10 roll

around, yes, he's a bad guy. In 2, he continues

to kind of lose control. He had to blow up with

the police officer, which is stupid for a variety

of reasons. especially when you know you're a

meth kingpin yeah I like the side angle in this

episode about Jesse going to buy his old house

yeah the secret that I'm not a big fan of his

parents because I think they're judgmental obviously

who seemingly didn't help him but anyway yeah

I liked that Like Jesse's arc the whole season

at this I mean it gets a little dark there at

the end But like I said, we'll talk about it

as we go through these but I like Jesse's arc

this whole season because he number one gets

clean number two goes and does anonymous buy

of his old house and doesn't even tell his parents

until he actually has the keys goes in and shuts

the door in their face yeah which is great yeah

it was it was um as we get more through through

episode two here the family dynamic with the

whites is just the whites and the Schraders is

just crazy weird in this episode It's just so

nuts I Mean the traders know something is going

on They don't really know what and berea is Not

somebody who can let's not knowing something

go, you know, she's got to know everything going

on with everybody she's nosy is what i'm trying

to say she's a she's a uh... desperate housewife

of alpaca yeah hank is pretty consumed with his

work trying to track down this heisenberg yeah

and so yeah i mean he doesn't have a whole lot

of time to help you know his brother -in -law

with all this crazy stuff that's going on with

them so Yeah As episode 3 episode 2 kind of comes

to an end here Mike rules that there's no Anytime

that guy's on on screen. I absolutely love it.

Oh, yeah great character that came out of nowhere

for them. Yep, and Holy shit, we found out Mike

doesn't work for Saul Mike works for Gus. Yeah

And Walter has no clue how close to death he

was That whole scene with him in the shower and

the two brothers in the house. Oh my god See

and that's the thing. I think the I feel like

they learned from season I was gonna get into

this later get into it now because the that sequence

was great, too, but the thing that they do really

well this season is tension and If you remember,

we were talking about the episode with Tuco where

Walt and Jesse are kidnapped and spending time

stuck in the cabin with him. Right. That whole

scene, it's really uncomfortable and you're just

waiting for Tuco to snap and kill Walt and Jesse.

Because it feels like it's inevitable and that

kind of thing. And there's this tension that

you can't turn away. You just want to watch it.

And it's something they seem to have learned

because They use it really well this season and

yeah, that was a great the twins are set up so

well in this It's the skull head shoes But seriously

though These two actors whoever they are You

put some white dreadlocks on them. I swear they're

the twins from matrix reloaded Yeah, they're

actually scary and yeah, that's true Episode

3 we kick it off with Tortuga's death Yep, so

there's that Which man talk about characters.

I wasn't expecting to see flashbacks of uh -huh

Yeah, like I said, this is all that season 3.

I know most everyone cringes when they hear the

term flashback Yeah, you know but Breaking bad

does it great does it very well in 13 episodes.

They've managed to Fill in every story gap that

we may have had for season one and season two

So absolutely, let's see what else here for episode

three Well, I mean Jesse's moved back and he

wants to get back to cooking math and Walter

still not in a place just because I Mean yes

Yeah, I don't know. We don't know where Walter's

at in terms of his head. Well, is it just me

or is Walt with his daughter in his arms kind

of creepy? Oh yeah, Walt is super creepy. Oh

my god. And then Jesse, when he's at his house,

because he's got the house back as we already

said, all he wants is Jane and he keeps calling

her voicemail over and over and over again until

obviously the number gets disconnected. the ending

to this one has a new family dynamic but instead

of being weird it's just creepy as all hell the

ending to this episode I was like what the fuck

am I watching who the fuck are these weird -ass

people This show, this show is nuts. But it's

good nuts. There's sort of a groundedness to

it all, so. Uh huh. I mean. You know, we find

out that, so this was the point, too, where we

find out that, you know, talking about Walt being

creepy, we'll get some super creepy stuff with

him a little later, but it's because, you know,

Skyler sleeps with Ted at this point. The family

dynamic is busted up big time, so I mean, she

tells Walt at the end of season, or season, at

the end of episode three, episode four, who knows

to confront said it goes to his work yeah uh...

man and luckily you know mike intervenes again

so we get some more mike luckily and what i mean

walter the only thing was it was a break was

the damn part is I mean, we're talking about

awkward Walt moments. There's quite a few, but

that was another one. That was one. And then

after that scene, it's where he is attacking

Saul. Like, wow, Walt, you're just really going

off the deep end. You know, we've got three scenes

in a row here where Walt, we see his character

go more and more evil. breaking the potted plant

attacking soul and then nearly sexually molesting

the school with the the the fellows who have

no that's exactly what it was a little later

when i said a little later so he gets creepier

and yeah because you know he's trying to get

back at skylar so i'm gonna sleep with somebody

i work with and a whole week channel does he

come off like a so creepy and You know, Jesse

meets him and wants him to get back to work with

him, but... I don't know. Oh, yeah, you're right.

Walt's still... I don't know. Again, I don't

know where Walt has gone. I don't think we're

gonna know. Like, Walt is just pure evil at this

point. There is no turning back for Walt. Yes,

he doesn't want to cook yet. He's not at that

point, even though Jesse wants to cook, because

Jesse wants to make the money and all that, but...

Once Walt gets back to the point of wanting to

cook, the dude is just pure fucking evil. That's

all there is to it. It just really is. The other

big thing in this episode was Hank, after it

looked like he was going to leave, he was going

to transfer back, that kind of thing. he gets

a lead again uh... because jesse tried to exchange

math for gas yeah uh... which kids you know don't

do that uh... you know you're you're you're jesse

anyway and i love how he's he's basically trying

to come on this check it's just oh my god Before

we get to Hank trying to figure out the angles

of the ATM camera, right after the Skylar and

Ted scene, the dude's name was Mel. My first

thought was Mel blank? What the hell? And I love

Saul. Oh no, we're close. Well, hi there. I love

Saul. Jesse again at first when he was season

one dumb Jesse I really hated him using the term

bitch but where's the other half bitch like just

when he's going off against Walt I think that's

just great Jesse's use of the word bitch is excellent

it is yes Just the way different way he different

inflections he uses on it the word is a horrible

word obviously But just the way that this character

you know he makes it So we you know you mentioned

earlier about Hank and his storyline he does

not want to go to Texas no at all no and to the

point of Without you know this lead which in

the end he's right to follow up on right, but

without this lead I really wonder what would

have happened. I still don't think he would have

gone because yeah, he really doesn't want to

go and Yeah, he's still dealing with PTSD Heavily

and we see and then it's in the next episode

too. That is what I'm just getting into it. But

yeah is but Marie Is concerned with him and we

see that in the next episode because she's figured

out that there's something He's not all there.

He's hurting pretty badly So, you know decides

to cook math, I mean that's the most notable

part of the yeah, so we get to Yeah, so season

3 episode 5 we get the opening with the flashback

to how they got the RV uh... we get the continuation

of the rift between walton jesse and the rift

the rift opens up like the grand fucking canyons

and i mean it's a lot of the first time to which

is a great but yeah yeah we see the super lab

uh... so hanks investigation continues so i mean

that's why we saw the flashback to the rv is

right the episode hank links the two of them

links the rv to the meth cooking and to jesse

yeah absolutely so we see the new lab we get

another marine moment oh we get the marine moment

before we see the new lab but when she is talking

to skyler on the phone because she's babysitting

uh oh god what's the daughter's name no it's

not harley it's uh oh holly okay yes holly that's

my cat i know right uh yes so in the scene where

bari is babysitting she's trying to pay attention

to holly and trying to pay attention to skyler

and she fails at both and everything she is saying

to skyler just comes off as like like mrs bait's

hotel type creepiness to me i don't The more

and more I see of Marie the less and less I care

for the character And she's not even annoying

anymore again all the characters that I felt

were annoying in the first two seasons They've

kind of gone creepy at this point And it's just

weird So Skyler finds the finds the money and

goes the attorney and all that stuff happens.

The episode ends with Jesse and Combo, which

I thought was great. I really thought that was

nice. I thought that was a nice little ending

for the episode. Jesse's not a, you know, we'll

get into this probably later, as in next season

or so. He's not a bad guy. He genuinely cares

about people. Mm -hmm and that kind of thing

and we see it again with a little later this

year, too We've got Andrea and her brother That

Jesse absolutely loves Yeah Yeah for Jesse so

anyway Jesse is like look by the way we get one

of my absolute favorite uses of the word bitch

in episode 6 This is my own private domicile

and I will not be harassed bitch that's when

uh... when jesse and walter in the uh... which

was another one of those in the rv which is another

one of those great uh... tension building scenes

because we're just waiting for anke to you know

i stand and learn everything else and then how

by the way how they keep them out that's low

for a while when you know he calls the hospital

and uses the Uses Sol's secretary. Yeah, well

uses Marie. Yeah being seriously injured or yeah

to Get Hank to go away. Yeah, that that was very

very again showing the fact that Walt is pure

evil incarnate at this point He's getting worse.

I mean, this is a family member that he's done

this Bitch now Hanks rough Episode continues

because I mean unbeknownst to him the cousins

find out that Hank is the one that killed to

go So we know that's not gonna go very well and

I mean Gus wants Walter alive at this point Yeah,

and so yeah, he sticks them on on poor Hank.

This is a rough episode without really knowing

what's going on. Yeah, I mean episode 6 is the

start of, you know, as I said earlier like episode

2 and 3 where we see the start of the rift between

Walt and Jesse and then episode 6 pretty much

takes the entire show to a whole new level with

every part of the story. And it's just getting

so damn good. And as I said, when we did the

very first episode of this Breaking Bad spotlight

here on remote control, I was going to get over

my whole thing about, oh, why is this parent

cooking meth and everything else? Because at

this point, it's... My reservations about it

was like, you know, because I, as I said in the

very first episode that we did, you know, I was

a dare kid, you know, drug abuse, resistance,

education, damn it. And it's just one of those

things. But now it's like Walt is so far gone

that it doesn't even matter. And I almost think,

now did they mention to this point or is it mentioned

later in season three that he's in remission

or was that season two? No season three, okay

I don't know if it's happened yet because what

I found interesting for the through the first

six episodes was that Walt is doing all this

evil evil crap and they don't even mention that

he's still sick and He doesn't even have the

cough anymore either in the the first like he

doesn't have those moments anymore so far In

season three through the first six episodes where

he either breaks down and coughs for 20 minutes

or what he doesn't have that at all anymore so

Yeah, it's signs. I mean, this is all deliberate.

It was signs that he is getting better and improving

but Also, I mean to be fair again going into

remission that sort of thing doesn't mean he's

rid of it. I mean I know but I'm Just adding

to that that yeah, he's still he still has cancer

but the cancer is in remission and I Didn't I

wasn't sure if they were going to ever because

we've seen how evil won't gets and we're only

we've only Discussed through the first six of

the 13 episodes here. So My thinking was did

they and I don't you know I'm not trying to insult

the writing team or Vince Gilligan or anybody

that would Worked on the show, but my thought

was because sometimes this happens in television

did they forget that he has cancer and then obviously

not because Obviously not because they bring

up the whole remission thing later. Yeah, no

that was intentional and I mean I Wonder too

if this part of the story I said this before

that The entire story of Breaking Bad is that

Walt was the cancer. And we see his horrible

effect on the lives of everyone around him. And

I'm curious if it's intentional that as he does

more and more terrible things, we see him not

showing the signs of cancer so much. Because

he is the cancer. More and more heavily. Yeah

some things that I've always wondered You know

you flash, you know for us you take us and flashback

to season one When I you can you'll correct me

if I'm wrong on this but I think you had said

at one point in the season one episode that Walt

is technically supposed to be the protagonist

of the series at least in the first season. Yeah,

it seems that way, you know and You know, in

the first season, Jesse is supposedly supposed

to be the antagonist. By the third season, that's

completely flipped, and Jesse is the protagonist

of the entire series at this point. Yeah, Jesse's

just like a scumbaggy drug dealer. He's not very

likable. But he has a conscience, and he has

qualities that are likable. He's not going to

sell to kids. Yeah, and he sort of slowly gains

more of a conscience, and of course, Walter loses

his. Yeah, pretty much. Assuming he had one in

the first place, but back to Jesse. Yeah. So

we mentioned Hank's rough episodes. Well, Jesse

has a rough one here as he gets the crap beat

out of him in episode seven. By Hank. Yeah. And

this is the episode where it was the old man,

Teo. as a younger version of himself with the

two bros. Like, I was not expecting him to...

No, I was confused by it initially, and then

I realized, oh man, this is... Yeah. No, I remember

how I felt watching that. That was another one

of those moments where I thought, oh wow, you

know, this is... Did I turn on the wrong show?

I mean, obviously not, but it just... So after

Hank attacks Jesse... We get that traditional

show hospital scene But Jesse's attitude towards

Walt. I it's so refreshing. I love it. He's just

going off on him I just he's standing up for

himself against you know, he's not gonna let

Walter just use him and then at the end of it

You're my free pass bitch I mean the obvious

other thing to take away from this episode is

Hank because I mean we finally see the cousins

You know, they jump on Hank gets an anonymous

call which I Remember wanting it and thinking,

you know, well Gus called Call brothers. Yeah

to tip him off because he doesn't Really? Well,

he doesn't like the cousins Which is all accurate

and just yeah oh man so breaking bad doesn't

have a whole lot of pure sort of action or fight

scenes but when they do it man it was that was

exciting the that was very excited attack on

Hank and it was well done they don't turn him

into a super duper action hero who can you know

take him on with both hands or anything I mean

he barely survives by the skin of his teeth And

I mean, luckily, he got ahold of the gun at the

end. Yeah. Yeah. Hank Schrader is not Walker

Texas Ranger here, folks. No. No, and I mean,

luckily, he was able to use his vehicle as a

weapon as well. Oh, my god. I remember. That

was a number of times. Number of times, yeah.

Which leads to of course in the next episode

we open with Jesse's leaving the hospital and

Hank gets admitted uh -huh, and I have to say

this if they this was When was this this was?

Breaking bad breaking bad this was One minute

was May 2nd 2010 that this aired so this air

to two years after a certain movie came out If

they didn't have Aaron Eckhart playing Harvey

Dent Two -Face in The Dark Knight, Jesse could

have done it, because, oh my god, I swear, as

soon as I saw Jesse in episode eight here, I'm

like, damn, dude, you're really marking up for

the role of Two -Face, aren't you? Because, oh

my god, the way his face looks when he's out

in the wheelchair, I'm like, damn, Harvey Dent

wannabe. Sometimes you live long enough to see

yourself become the villain, bitch. I really

want Aaron Paul to do that line now. Oh my god,

that would be so hilarious. So this episode,

I didn't have a whole lot of notes for episode

8, but Hank gets the hospital clean to life and

finally Marie actually has character depth until

it goes away later. And money laundry with Jesse

Well, I mean Jesse has to yeah, it's trying to

work without Walt at this point And yeah, he's

you know Walter spending more and more time away

With Hank at the hospital cuz yet again Walt

has some idea that oh crap I'm responsible for

this which he is This was also the one you mentioned

this I think last time we recorded This is also

the episode where you have the sequence With

one of the cousins in the hospital who gets up,

you know while they're working on him and he

crawls towards Walter Yeah You know, leaving

a trail of blood behind from his... Yeah. ...correct

lower half. Yeah, that was... Oh, yeah! That

wasn't creepy or... That was very creepy. Scary

at all. Yeah, that was very creepy. That was,

yeah. Oh my god, this is... The whole thing with

Hank's flowers in episode 8, that just... Episode

9 I have three notes for episode 9 Jesus Walt

Jesse peddling to the group and gambling really

Gambling really come on But seriously Jesse peddling

to the group. That's not You went eight episodes

Jesse where I was really rooting for you and

then you kind of backslid just a little bit there

Yeah, I mean there's that and ends I don't know

what's up with Walters, you know, trying to give

Gus some freebie meth. That's how this sort of

starts, right? Yeah. Well, if we're going to

make so much extra, I'm going to do zone with

it. Yeah. Oh, boy. Yeah. Now, when we get to

episode 10, you're going to have to sing episodes

10 praises because I lost my shit with episode

10. I have two notes. I have two notes here.

They wrote a whole episode about dealing with

a fly. Really? I do like, and I do admit this,

this is great acting on Krantz's part in the

very beginning, but I just cannot take this episode

seriously. Go ahead. So first of all, it should

be noted, this is one of two episodes that Rian

Johnson directed, and the second one is, sorry,

three episodes. The last one he did was Ozymandias,

which is one of the final episodes, but it's

also one of the absolute best hours of television

I've ever watched in my entire life. He's really

good and he's directing episode 8 of Star Wars

His stock rose big -time after Breaking Bad Right

and a lot of that is because he directed the

episodes that either a lot happens in or really

different Well, this is a really different episode

very different, you know, and I understand that

this is a super polarizing episode There's an

awful lot of people that hate it. There's a lot

of people that love it. I like it because It

really shows all of the changes in Walter in

one episode where He this is the last time he

tries to Show any sort of remorse and he comes

really close to telling debt telling Jesse that

he witnessed her death and that yeah, you know,

he could have done something but doesn't yeah,

and so I liked that Walter is really losing control

and he's trying to control the one thing he can,

which is his lab and contamination and his work.

And this is kind of the last bit of Walt in a

lot of ways. He's pretty much Heisenberg after

this for good. Yep, I know I liked that. I loved

the tension of I honestly thought Walter was

gonna tell Jesse about Jane Yeah, I yeah I Obviously

he does later, but yeah and then the other Important

thing to note from this is Jesse cooks without

Walt. Yeah for the first time in a long time.

Yeah and he's really good at it but of course

Walter being Walter is never gonna never gonna

yeah exactly which is more of his control um

it's more of Walter's control yeah telling him

that like well your stuff is crap you can't do

this without me well the thing of it is is it's

more of Walt's control but it's more of Jesse

character Jesse's character Who has learned the

past to see like when we first met Jesse there

was no chemically pure Meth it was the traditional

way to make meth and everything else and in a

house no masks no nothing whatever else and now

we're at a point where they're in this giant

underground lab with all these machines and everything

proper to do it right to do it the Walt way and

and Jesse is doing that and yet Walt just can't

even fathom that Jesse could do this on his own

without him. Then I mean again you know part

of control as well as Walt is Walt needs to be

the best at it yeah and then yeah just He needs

to be the best he wants to control Jesse and

then Jesse is desperate for The approval he never

had you know a good father figure He's desperate

for the approval of somebody who is his father

figure Which you know, unfortunately for him

right now is Walt. Yeah By the time episode 11

begins. Hey look, it's Jesse and Jane. Oh Damn

it I think it's interesting to see Badger and

Pete back, and it's interesting to see them be

the conscious. Jesse wants to sell to the group,

and the reason why he wants to do that is because

on the streets ain't nothing selling. And the

fact that you have Badger and Pete being the

consciousness of the three of them. Because again,

you flash back to season one or season two, neither

one of those characters could have been the conscience

back then. Yeah, I mean, Gus at this point controls

the streets, which is why this stuff's not selling.

Yeah. And you know combo the last time he was

out there selling he got killed so can't imagine

badger and skitty Pete by the way are super eager

to Try to sell in any area that Gus's people

are for obvious reasons Yeah, I don't know it

is Jesse He makes some bad decisions here Walter

continue, you know Walt has some bad decisions

as he lets I Mean he let Skyler Get involved

with the business the money laundering part.

Yeah. Yeah, and it should be noted that again

partially from guilt cuz Skyler also at this

point knows everything about Walt's activities

She is guilty about Hank because she's aware.

It's because of Walter as Walter is aware. It's

because of him so they're paying for the bills

of Yeah, because Hank's insurance will cover

everything right And so yeah, they continue to

become more involved in episode 11 She I really

liked any time she interacted with Saul. Oh yeah.

Because she's one of the only characters who

sees right through all of his kind of flim flam

BS. And so it was actually kind of fun any time

they did interact. And then Saul's basically

scared of her because, yeah, she can see right

through him. But yeah, they get... Salt tries

to come up with all the ideas for money laundering

which to be fair Skyler's right. They're pretty

much all terrible. Yeah I like her idea of the

car wash was the best one, but What was it? Oh,

yeah, one of his was the laser tag. Yeah of met

money laundering through laser tag funny i think

the other reason that this point in this episode

of this for this was part of the story the season

i think the other reason why he brought up the

laser tag was because jesse was on the run that's

right here and he had to find a way to get one

jesse back together and that was you know that

was one of the reasons why they went to the latest

attack uh... Find I Find a lot of stuff about

season 3 weird I've already said this multiple

times another weird scene for me was the scene

at Gus's house I Was not expecting like Gus is

supposed to be this this mysterious benefactor

he's you know it he's not supposed to be a traditional

character a traditional evil character in the

sense of you go to the guy's house have dinner

with him gases just really put together that

there's nothing he he's doing the same stuff

walter does but uh... man i'd just i don't know

how to say this properly but there's just There's

not a maliciousness or evil to him. He just kind

of does it, you know quietly He doesn't need

a lot of Attention or to be the best or whatever.

He just goes about his business You know, he

doesn't like the cartel for reasons that at this

point. We're not hopefully aware of Yeah, I don't

know it's yeah, I mean I liked I like Gus. I

think we all know why I used the past tense with

him. There's something about him that he's scary

at the same time because he is all business and

that kind of thing. He's basically the complete

opposite of Walter. He's very controlled. He's

very business -like. He's in control of everything

at all times. And he just exudes that kind of

presence. Yeah, he does. And Walt exudes kind

of the opposite, and he's rarely in control.

He just kind of rolls with the punches really

well. Yeah. I don't know, yeah. The dinner scene

worked well. The scene worked well, but just

the fact of going to Gus' house... Like I said

before, he's not a character... The way this

show is set up, Gus is supposed to be this...

I can't believe I have to make this joke, but

he's supposed to be this international man of

mystery. You know? We don't need to see the inside

of Austin Powers' house, people. I'm okay with

it. I feel like it added something to him to

do this and then it did in addition to that.

I mean you get So you go home with Gus here and

he gives Walter some advice Which of course Walt

doesn't take no and then that it ties in well

to the next episode Because Mike very much gives

Walt's The same advice. Yeah, pretty similar

advice. Walt does actually sort of take Mike's

advice, but obviously in the wrong direction.

Yeah. Because instead of taking it and deciding,

yeah, you know what, I'm going to work for Gus,

be a better employee, that kind of thing. Instead,

he goes the absolute other direction, as we talk

about. you know it again it's waltz ego he knows

better than gus he knows better than anybody's

here and uh... you so it is so to well i thought

had an interesting to start to it that that was

really cool star of episode twelve uh... i'm

really in that kid more and more thankfully jesse's

doing some gum showing the kid on the bike or

some loss This is when, yeah, you know, Tomas

is Andrea's brother. Andrea is somebody he met

at rehab and has kind of hit it off with... Oh

god, I hate... Alright, so, spoiler alert, I

hate talking about Andrea because her fate just

gutted me. I wasn't expecting it at all, mostly

because... Even I thought this show couldn't

be that evil, but sure enough, it was. Yeah,

it was. Oh, God. I mean, she just gets shot in

the back of the head and drops like a sack of

potatoes out of nowhere. I hate it anyway So

yeah, I didn't like the kid either by the way,

there was part of me that was like, oh man Hope

Jesse puts out a hit on that kid But no, I mean

it's Gus's fault and actually, you know again

going back to what I was saying about guts that

he's in control that kind of thing So we get

the meeting You know Jesse's kind of laying down

the line and Gus I think is legitimately unhappy

when he finds out they were using kids Like again,

I don't think Gus is Gus is a better person than

I think Walter is, despite the fact, you know,

he's still an evil drug lord. Gus is an evil

drug lord, but Gus is an evil drug lord with

standards. Yeah. No, you're right. Like, there's

all these controls and these things in place,

and there are these lines that I don't think

Gus would cross that Walter does. Yeah, absolutely

and yeah, it just though that whole meeting I

came away with you know more respect for for

Gus Yeah, and thinking like oh, you know Gus

is you know a scumbag Scumbag drug dealer, but

he's not so bad. Yeah We go back to the lab now

they have said before in this season They wonder

if Gus has the place bugged whether it's camera

bugged. We don't see the cameras yet Well, that'll

happen eventually in later. But what I'm saying

is this is the start of them Walton Jesse wondering

if the place is bugged so Jesse's like you need

to go get a beer with me and Also, there's no

way I'm going to get a beer with you. You need

to come get a drink with because jesse wants

to tell him something and that's where we get

the revelation of combo and and everything else

and jesse's plan to enact the revenge rise in

part two really seriously come on jesse you're

smarter than this dude brison brison whatever

it's good stuff no it's just shut it off every

morning shut up it's delicious you're you're

an ass dude i try yeah i mean yeah we get all

this so i mean jesse finds out that they're gonna

kill the kid which is interesting uh... cuz i

don't just what There's a lot of child -killing

in this show. Yeah, there is. What can I say?

Yeah, it's not good at all. Oh, man. So before

we get to the explosive, to say the least, finale,

Hank is out of hospital. Oh, was this the episode

or is it episode 13? This was episode 12 is when

he got out, right? I thought so, yeah. Okay,

cuz... uh... this is another one where it's like

all my god i thought so but i mean i watched

it and he had this is the episode where he gets

out he gets out of the hospital but he gets out

of the hospital basically on a bet from his wife

and this is another one of those seeds are like

she's going just way too far like he's completely

uncomfortable with this and uh... i'd just wow

If you ever want to get a guy to do anything,

a handjob is a great incentive. Oh, yeah, that

was weird. That was really weird. Again, though,

it did everything that the writers intended the

scene to. Yeah. And the actors all thought it

was hilarious, so... So we get... You know, the

situation with Walt and Gus and Jesse and all

that, you know, and the whole gang thing and

Gus's workers, the whole thing blows up even

more with Tomas's death. And then, you know,

Walt has to kill the two drug dealers that were

working for Gus because Jesse's gonna actually

go kill them. and what and this is what i was

talking about earlier where wall does everything

he possibly can to save jesse from doing these

horrible things and wall once again runs over

some of his car i don't think jesse's doing this

out of a desire for jesse was really good i don't

think what's doing it out of his desire to help

jesse i think that that's just Don't know he

is I It's still he wants to control Jesse. I

think to a certain extent I think he's worried

about getting found out and that kind of thing

and I Don't know if at this point he's looking

to stick it to guts Or not. I certainly think

it's possible uh... but you know i mentioned

that the show doesn't do a lot of action sequences

this is a a quick one but holy cow i was not

expecting at all i mean the as tech just comes

out of nowhere absolutely plows over the guys

which uh... man if you're interested in stunts

and coordination and that sort of thing they

should listen to the podcast for this episode

as they go into detail about it and be holy cow

did they do a great work when you do kind of

scene by scene if you've got the blu -rays or

if you're watching it digitally it's great stunt

work because it looks really good especially

for a fairly low budget television show and geez

I mean Walt in this scene so he plows over The

two guys and then he just kind of like what you

know gets out of his car takes one of the guns

and shoots the Other the guy who survived in

the head. Yeah shoots the guy in the head turns

Jesse run run Those are great. I mean try to

watch that episode and not watch the next one

immediately after I only started season 4 episode

1 just so I could have it pulled up in my Netflix

queue immediately. And I've watched through a

portion of it, so I'm not going to talk too much

about it here, obviously, because we'll do our

season 4 thing in a little while. But yeah, the

ending to episode 12... Run it's like oh my god,

and then we get I took normally I take notes

every episode I don't know what it was about

episode 13 of season 3. I took no notes It's

not that that's a bad thing, but I guess I was

just enjoying the episode for what it was 12

and 13 you know half measure and then full measure

obviously References to Mike's story to Walter.

Yeah, which again anytime we added backstory

to Mike He's such a good character loved hearing

from him and everything and You know, he's another

one that a lot of the well I mean a lot of the

extra characters saw Mike Gus they all work really

well and we enjoy anytime we see him and so Heading

into episode 13, one of the characters we haven't

mentioned at all is Gale, who was added to replace

Walter. No, he was added to replace Jesse. Well,

originally, but he ends up replacing Walt. And,

you know, so Walter has killed the two dealers.

In retaliation for Jesse was gonna kill them

for killing Tomas. Doriandria still has Brock,

so I mean, she's got other kids around. No, anyway.

Oh, dude! That one's her kid, at least. That's

just not... Oh, her brother. His brother was

a bad seed, anyway. So, Jesse at this point is

a wanted man. Yep. And Gus wants Gus has had

enough of Walter I I'm really curious if I don't

think Gus would have had Jesse killed I'm really

curious about that I Think he Gus is a smart

enough guy to know that Walt's at the heart of

this I also think Mike at this point already

kind of has a soft spot for jesse we see more

of that next season yeah i think mike's soft

spot for jesse started when he cleaned up the

apartment after james death that was the beginning

of obviously that was my debut but as you're

right as as mike and jesse go through mike's

fatherly grandfatherly type attitude towards

the kid yeah it gets better yeah and so Yeah,

here we've got, because of all this, Walter has

Jesse holding Gale at gunpoint, because Walt

knows Gale is the replacement for him. And so

long as Gale is alive, there's the possibility

that Walt gets just replaced. Well, that didn't

really happen No, I mean the way the episode

with the gunshot kind of fades to black All I

can think of is who shot Gale we shot well, yeah,

we saw Jesse but I So yeah season three Wow This

is when everything started to Come together for

the show and I mean, you know Bryan Cranston

Won yet another award for and he was amazing

in this year. Although having said that I'd say

he was actually better in season four We'll get

to that when it happens Well, yeah, but I think

the reason why he gets better in season four

and then obviously season five is again the character

depths of the hell that the writers and the creators

for a wall i mean they basically throw him in

the fires of hell as far as his character goes

because he is as i've said already in this podcast

he is basically you want card at this point yet

and it seems like all leads come together though

i mean suggest the interest in uh... they're

in paul uh... one You know best supporting actor

in a drama series for the first time here and

he was you know I don't know when the series

opened if you had told me that Aaron Paul would

win awards and that the character would have

You know an insane story arc and a lot of depth

to him. I would have said you're nuts But no

this series really put it together and then we

have Giancarlo Esposito as Gus who just knocked

it out of the park as well too because there's

just something you know he has everything to

him he seems so controlled and everything else

one thing i forgot to mention is because of that

he just seems so creepy at the same time especially

when he's angry oh yeah so reserved and there's

something so much scarier about a guy who you

know is angry enough to kill you but he's still

talking to you calmly versus just yelling at

you Yep. It's pretty much everybody's best. Everybody

starts hitting their stride here. Oh yeah, absolutely.

And Dean Norris too, as Hank. They give him an

awful lot more to do and he continues his path

of, he's got the PTSD from seeing everybody killed.

in el Paso. He's got his investigation on Walt,

or on Heisenberg, I should say. This was the

season I thought Walt started doing the whole

WW thing. Because this was the season... Wasn't

there part of this season where they mentioned

Walt Whitman? Yeah, this was the... Yeah. then

that's where well that's where i thought was

good it's one of its gift from gale that's right

that's what it is it's got the to my you know

bright light my shining star w w that's right

as a reference to walled with men but of course

the notice to walter white and uh... See, this

time I almost used the actor name. Hank has the

discussion with Walter White and he does the

whole, you got me. And of course we as the audience

know that yeah, that's actually accurate. Yeah,

that's actually accurate. And doesn't that game

continue on into season four with the WW? Doesn't

Walt kind of throw that in Hank's face? a bit

but of course it's season five where it becomes

really important where he finds the book because

again Walt is an egomaniac Walt has a tendency

to keep things from everybody he kills yeah and

you know there was that from from Gale Poor Gail

Gail was an odd character too should quickly

talk about him and that is just that he was an

odd sort man He seemed really cheerful with the

whole Cooking math that yeah, you know what?

He reminds me of this is gonna be so sad, but

you're gonna you're gonna like this I think it's

gonna be sad. It's probably gonna make you eye

roll and everything else But he reminds me of

a slightly skinnier version of bumbo From 2004's

Punisher Because he's in there singing the damn

songs and that's what bumpo did in Thomas Jane's

Punisher the opera stuff fair enough Season 3

overall, I really really enjoyed it. I enjoyed

exploring further on Jesse's character side I

don't really like seeing Walt become this evil

incarnate bastard, but I know that's where the

whole series is going. It's obvious at this point,

but it's just one of those things where... Again,

going back to season one, this is a high school

chemistry teacher who has to start cooking meth

because he's got cancer. you kind of feel bad

for the guy uh... but once he gets into that

world and you know so feel bad for his family

to uh... you mentioned yeah that yes and that's

another thing we didn't really mention was uh...

what art well now i'm doing the actor name thing

uh... wall jr uh... i love the fact that he ignores

his mom and that one episode just really ignores

her yet and he is completely innocent in all

of this like we have all this stuff terrible

stuff going on one of the water is a hundred

percent innocent because uh... you know he doesn't

know you will and will junior at this point is

pretty much an adult in terms of a lot of things

And he's never let in on anything that's going

on. And Skyler becomes complicit in all complicit

in all this as well. And yeah, he's just I feel

bad for him. And you're right. It's not enjoyable

to see Walt on this path. But, you know, sort

of before I say it again, part of this story

is, you know, did was Walt always this bad person?

Where was it? inside of him and that kind of

thing and i think i honestly at this point after

seeing three seasons of this show now i don't

know i don't remember if season four or season

five we get a flashback to gray matter days i

know we kind of had a flashback to gray matter

stuff with with gretchen and season one things

like that but Going from where we meet Walt in

Season 1 to where Walt is now at the end of Season

3... Honestly, I think it's just the circumstances

that have made him evil. The circumstances of

the situation and the fact that he loves having

the power. He loves being in that controlling...

as it was i don't think if he was having the

power and that's what helped him to this though

i think it's just because he didn't have that

power before right mostly was in him the whole

time it's just it's a combination of the two

things uh... uh... well like i said you know

the very beginning of this were supposed to root

for this guy and then all the all the shit happens

yeah now there is no more rooting for walter

white's now and again it's one of the things

i loved about this show is that everyone's points

not only where you know they give up on walls

being a half decent human being uh... and then

the i think everyone's interpretation of how

bad was waltz when did wall you know when what

was waltz legitimately a bad person it was he

always like this did he always have this in a

blah blah blah all that stuff's just open for

interpretation and they never try to answer it

and i'm okay with that like yeah they didn't

have a flashback where walt you know starts twiddling

his fingers mr bern style and goes you know well

if i ever had the chance to cook meth and have

children killed i would totally do it you know

um Oh god. I can so see Gale being Walt Smithers.

Season 3 overall, I'm gonna give it a 4. I thought

it was very well acted, very well written. There

were only a couple of minor things that I didn't

really like about it, but what I enjoyed most

out of season 3 was Jesse's character arc. What

about you it's a five out of five I Just too

many there are definitely issues with the season.

Like my point is not that everything was perfect.

It wasn't Yeah, but man, I don't know that you

could have asked for better performances from

the majority of the actors. Oh, yeah like Yeah,

I mentioned the big three Esposito Paul and Cranston

I feel like they elevate it beyond Even the writing

which I thought was really good and then you've

got other guys I didn't really mention like Bob

Odenkirk continues to be a joy to watch as Saul

Goodman Yeah, and then I liked that Skyler, you

know once she found out in the end she becomes

complicit and gets into the business and I thought

that when they gave And a gun more to do and

actually let her not be in the dark about everything

I really liked her as well. Yeah But man, yes,

she starts going down the dark path here But

having said that, you know, again, this is something

we'll get into later. I don't think she was prepared

with how bad things were going to get. No, I

don't think she was either. Yeah, she was not

ready for how bad her husband has gotten and

had no idea. And I mean, how could you? Yeah.

And we'll once we get to that point, we're going

to explore how I don't want to say a sham, but

how much of a dissolution their marriage became

like look they got divorced we get it but you

know this season he basically says I'm moving

back into the house you know and they work out

this whole deal and that's why I made notes earlier

when we're talking about the episodes is how

the family dynamic has gone from really weird

to really frigging creepy yeah uh... yeah there's

uh... and so did just briefly jump ahead to and

mean all of waltz family stuff in season five

is terrible all uh... he's awful and he's any

you so you said it this season to there's something

really creepy anytime you see walter holding

holly here there's something about it that I

guess for us as the audience, a lot of that's

because we know all these terrible things he's

done, and he's literally holding an innocent.

Maybe if he had hugged Walt Junior or something,

we'd feel the same way, because I said earlier,

Walt Junior's innocent in this too. Maybe that's

part of it, that when he's holding Holly, he's

holding somebody completely innocent, but we

as the audience know your life's ruined. There's

something unsettling about this show and you

Mentioned it earlier. You've got to be in the

right mindset. I had that same sort of thing

with the shield as well The difference was the

shield I was watching pretty much as it came

out Yeah, I can't remember when I started watching

it I want to say season two or so and so I watched

season one and I binged that because I needed

to see what was next But I felt icky after watching

them That's how I felt with Breaking Bad as well

that I needed to know what happened next so I

would blow through them, but man I'd feel so

Part of me would go to work and talk to the guys

about episodes because everybody there was watching

them and watched it live everything else the

other part of me though was just I need to take

a shower and think about something yeah here's

the thing folks we've been the wires another

one it's not super pleasant to watch but there's

something really appealing about that at the

same time here's the thing folks we've been doing

Breaking Bad for the last three and a half weeks

I need a break from breaking bad. I like the

show. I've done a complete 180 turnaround. There

are certain aspects of the show I don't like,

but it's not as annoying to me as it once was.

And again, I think on my part, it's more of when

something is so in my face, I would rather just

walk away and discover it on my own years down

the line, which we're doing now. But as I said

earlier, as you just said, this show, you need

to be in the right mindset to watch it. I've

been watching this show for the last three and

a half weeks. I need a break. So coming up on

Remote Control, we're going to do a couple of

take five episodes where we talk about a new

series, whichever new series that might be. And

we talk about the first five episodes of it.

So we're going to do that. Then we'll come back

and finish off Breaking Bad with season four

and five. And after that, who knows? Maybe Ryan

and I will Head to the barn and discover what

the hell is going on in Farmington. You never

know So that's just coming up here on remote

control. Where can the people get in contact

with you online, sir? At night beat for the love

of God anyone who ever wants to talk about breaking

bad. Just go ahead and do so full disclosure

again, I Went to comic -con and Yeah, three years

ago I went as Walter White I shaved my head which

by the way is great. I wish somebody had told

me forever ago that it feels Man when you have

no hair feels great. So anyway, you should have

asked me but yeah the best part of That was going

to comic -con and everybody recognizing Who I

was there as because I had the the yellow jumpsuit

that he cooked meth in a very cheap Version of

it which worked perfectly and then again a very

cheap sort of gas mask makeup Right, and yeah,

it works perfectly but everybody talked to me

about breaking bad the entire time and it was

wonderful It was a great day You can find me

on Twitter at TFG one Mike you can follow at

geek cast radio And this at this week in geek

for all the other network updates for either

website Tune in next time when we will find out

who is gonna fight over the remote control Run

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