Breaking Bad Season 4 Review

This guy was a... Man, he was a real character.

He seems unique. Let me show you something. Give

it here. Right here at the top, it says... To

W .W. My star, my perfect silence. W .W. I mean,

who do you figure that is? Woodrow Wilson Willy

Wonka Walter White You got me Hello and welcome

to remote control. This is another season pass

episode. We're going to be breaking bad once

again I am of course Steve's you and Mike joining

me is Ryan and even full Berkeley. Hello, sir.

Yeah Yay season four. Oh Boy season four Probably

the best of the seasons. I was gonna say yeah,

honestly, it's probably the best of the of the

show honestly, yeah So in terms of overall ratings

and everything else, it's the highest rated season

of television ever. And not by a little either.

As a 96 on Metacritic and other. It's not just

a Rotten Tomatoes like positive sort of thing.

It's the fact that its rating is. The you know,

the lowest people are giving it to like a nine

point five out of ten in most cases. So It did

pretty well. Yeah, I mean this this season is

is very very well done There's only one part

I didn't really like about it and Already hits

on it at an earlier episode. I mean the random

Kleptomania to try to give Marie something to

do sort of reappears Aside from that like so

I mean I've already talked about it now so hell

with it. I mentioned it when we go through it

aside from that this is insanely like tight season

in terms of what's happening and The Everything

sort of being intertwined really well Yeah it's

funny cuz we didn't uh... i don't even remember

talking about its last time but i mean uh...

when we ended last season jesse had gale at gunpoint

well and goes up yet and the gun goes off in

the season ends yeah we fade to black immediately

you know pick up where it left off and i was

i almost wish even though i said i needed a break

from the series is like i've said in the last

three podcasts that we did on this used to be

in the right mindset in the right time frame

and that kind of stuff to watch this for me i

have to be in the right mindset to want to watch

this series because it is that hard -hitting

kind of tell us about it to you like yeah field

i'd always needed a break and stuff when i watch

because i usually watched it on uh... dvd Until

the last season I started watching The episodes

of the shield as it aired. I did the same with

breaking bad. Actually. I found it late Shields

issue was it was on obscure times In Canada and

I didn't like it watching it here because the

network that showed it Edited it quite heavily

the The absolute worst was the finale of the

shield where they took out half an hour to make

it fit into the hour, like the normal hour time

frame. That's what I love about FX and some of

the specifically FX, but that's what I love about

them. They have series that if it's a finale,

whether it's series or season or premiere, they

don't give a crap about the because and you know,

This is going to tie back into Breaking Bad eventually,

folks, but let's face it, the shield, well, right,

but I'm saying the shield was, I remember this,

this was 15 fucking years ago at this point.

Oh, we're a month off. But anyway, 15 years ago

last month, this, the shield gave FX the chutzpah.

Go on with other that was their original first

very first original series they went on to do

damages and Americans and sons of anarchy and

everything else that they have but the shield

was what kickstarted all of that and Throughout

the shield seven seasons and out out of FX's

other original series that allowed them to do

a 90 minute episode or something like that because

they were not they they were not conformed to

the 60 minute time limit of CBS ABC NBC Fox etc

etc etc it's very rare unless it's a two hour

episode it's very rare I see a 90 minute episode

on any of the big regular broadcast networks

Let's be it's really rare on those on the other

networks. Oh, yeah Yeah, it's become common.

Anyway, absolutely AMC is not a huge fan of it.

I know like Vince Gilligan said that you know,

it was a bit of a battle Yeah, but you know every

once in a while they were able to go over normally

and of course the finale was much longer and

Yeah, fun fact FX. I think it was the same year

debuted rescue me which is like one of the only

shows that oh God like it depressed me so much.

I had so much trouble Fighting my way through

that there were two I think this series was a

different network. I think it was TNT the other

series I want to mention but there were two series

at the time that were coming up was rescue me

on FX and I think men of a certain age was on

TNT or something and It's one of those things

where every time I would see an ad for those,

both of them depressed me because of the guys

that they had in Men of Certain Age. It was Raymond.

It was Andre Brower and two other guys. And then

what's his name? Dennis Leary was the lead in

Rescue Me. But every time I saw ads for either

one of those shows, I'm just like... Don't think

I'll ever watch them because the ads just depressed

me so much Yeah, rescue me is on a whole other

level. I mean out of nowhere, you know the youngest

child gets hit by a drunk driver killing him

and Yeah, it was the show was already set in

the shadow of 9 -eleven Yeah, it was a real feel

-good story Yeah, not really, no. So, Breaking

Bad Season 4, yeah, it really did do well, and

I... I was confused. Since you already brought

it up, let's just get it out of the way, because

I don't want it to sound like a broken record

later of, I hate Marie. I hate Marie. I hate

Marie! Like a lot in the last seat. I mean we'll

get into that yeah, we'll get into that part

But this one that but yeah when they actually

have her as a character and don't try to do these

stupid things or silly things where they try

to give her ticks and Stuff in the main story

because she doesn't necessarily need that she's

an important enough character without that Yeah,

she didn't need these sort of weird personality

ticks that they tried to give her Yeah, and then

the bad thing about the the shoplifting addiction

that she has is that she is now turned into a

home invader technically not necessarily a true

home invasion person, but It's one of the maniac.

Yeah And I was like, why are you at first I didn't

get it because they were they were showing us

it in a different light I didn't get it at first.

I'm like, why is she going to all of these houses?

Like I didn't actually notice her stealing anything

i was paying more attention to what stories she

was trying to spend for a fact one of the same

realtors appears in better coleslaw uh... sweet

the uh... in the show this is the white lady

series and the series in that one of uh... the

continuity is astoundingly good like they are

the same nurses in better coleslaw that appeared

in breaking bad well that's because they pay

a lot of attention to that install is the prequel

series to this yes i know i know but i mean the

fact that they bother to get the same extras

and that kind of thing is amazing to me most

shows wouldn't bother with that uh... anyway

anyway uh... all right so breaking bad season

four Box cutter. Why'd they name the episode

this again? Oh, yeah Well, see originally I when

I first was when I was first was watching the

episode I thought it was because Gail was in

there cutting the boxes and then I realized later

I'm like, oh, no, that's not why Well, it is

I mean kind of it's the same box cutter presumably

so yeah, I mean we open with We find out that

Jesse did indeed kill Gail. And during Gus holding

Walt and Jesse, Victor, who I think we mentioned

a few times last time around, but anyway, Victor,

one of Gus's sort of right -hand men, that kind

of thing, starts cooking. Essentially they're

gonna show that, you know, hey I can do this

you know or I can be a more important you know

part of all of this and you can get rid of these

two idiots that are causing you trouble etc etc

and Gus slits his throat with a box cutter in

a very disturbing scene so yes one of my favorite

sort of behind -the -scenes stories regarding

Breaking Bad is the sequence that was used was

the first one they shot And they ended up using

it even though the blood packs on Victor went

the wrong way Like Gus wasn't supposed to get

covered with blood or anything like that. Sorry

Giancarlo Esposito the actor The blood packs

didn't work properly but they filmed it anyway

and Giancarlo Esposito is the one that ad -libbed

the scene with Gus, you know calmly wiping the

blood off And putting the towel down Etc. Etc.

So that whole thing was basically an accident

and they ended up using that because they thought

it was the most sort of main character and it

showed, you know how calm Gus was even though

he Killed the person gruesomely. Yeah But I really

liked that scene and I find it really interesting

that it was completely by accident and Because

the actor understood the character Maybe even

better than the writers did at the time Yeah,

one of my notes after this happened was More

so because of his calmness than anything else

not necessarily I mean the act in itself of him

killing Victor was crazy But just the calmness

afterward my note was good Gus is fucking crazy,

and I'm going to be saying that a lot more but

this is the exact opposite of Walter Walter is

the emotional one who reacts uh... in an emotional

way where is gus is really restrained and controlled

i would say he's great like between the two of

them especially he's the same one he is but i'm

saying it's you know they always say it's the

quiet chicks you gotta watch out for i guess

but i mean alternatively I mean in the end we

find out that Gus was the good one like he was

the better option of the two of them as disturbing

as yeah that is I mean Gus was not in favor of

granted it was an accident but in any case you

know Gus wasn't in favor of child killing for

example whereas you know later on well it's pretty

much okay with it Yeah, that's I remember I said

last time that my choice of when I choose not

to Believe in Walt anymore. It probably will

change like my my cutoff point for Walt was what

was it it was season Yeah, it was season two

with with Jane or something. Yeah. Yeah. No,

that's Soon as I see that lily of the valley

plant Really started to dislike Walt at this

point Yeah, and I outright started to I was getting

really close to just hating him in season 5 when

he you know goes on the Rant to Jesse that you

know I'm a father I hated you know drew sharp

being killed etc etc and then he starts whistling

as soon as Jesse is leaving yeah showing that

yet he didn't care at all he didn't control jesse

he didn't get to in this season uh... alia a

lot and the funny thing is i'm gonna say this

now more so than then later after watching all

thirteen of these episodes at the end of the

thirteenth episode after gust dies spoilers for

anybody that doesn't know i will talk about how

it is related yeah but i'm saying you know uh...

after gust dies i'm like okay where the hell

do they cause i this is my second attempted a

watch through the series and i you know i was

pretty negative of of it on on the first watch

through a number of years ago again said and

after gust dies And how the season ends, I don't

remember, outside of the series finale, I remember

nothing from season five. I have no clue, what

the hell. This is something we talk about a lot

on nerd news or places when we talk about comics.

And that is, when there's a big event in comics,

one of the things that's annoying nowadays, especially

with Marvel, Is there's just another event. There's

no time afterwards to absorb anything or see

You know how these big events changes anything

for anybody. They just go straight into the next

event Breaking Bad season 5 is the opposite of

that as it's basically a denouement to This giant

event of Walter winning Yeah Even says, you know

in the series I won at the end of yeah this season

And yeah, I mean when he I mean going back to

when he's not winning Yeah, no, yeah, so I mean

Walt and Jesse are rightfully so essentially

for lack of a better term scared shitless because

they just watch guts Calmly murder one of his

guys as an example And yeah, I mean out of this

we go pretty much straight into the next episode

too cuz Walter goes and buys a gun Another note

by the way, the same illegal weapons dealers

used in this series Repeatedly and again in Better

Call Saul as well more nice continuity, you know

and anyway Gus has had enough of Walter because

Walt Sorry, Walt. Gus and Mike both realize that

Walt's kind of a loose cannon and not a good

guy to have around. Yeah. And yeah, Mike's not

stupid. No. I don't think it's in this episode.

I think it's later. There's a scene where Mike

has to give Gus an update in his car. vice versa

dust is might be updated or something or other

and just looks at him and says you have questions

i do but i know better not to ask uh... the whole

yeah mike is i'd really liked a lot of money

is one of my favorite characters and jonathan

banks is a terrific actor anyway yeah i mean

in the second episode to mean in the end Mike

beats up Walt instead of pairing up with him

which is the option Walter gives him that you

know he basically insinuates that well you know

what you know you and me we're both in trouble

Gus could get rid of us no I mean Mike's smart

enough to know that's not what's happening and

he's smart enough to know that Gus is a lot of

things, but he's not gonna make an emotional

and erratic Decision yeah, and suddenly shoot

him in his car almost by accident just cuz he

gets annoyed. Oh wait The other things that are

happening in season 4 episode 2 is that Skylar

in the car wash that happens Jesse's three -day

-long party and more because Jesse's partying

is back and That's right. Yeah, and Jesse makes

me ecstatic because he plays an awful lot of

nine -inch nails These scenes for the next few

episodes, which is great. Yeah, if you ever want

to make me really happy I mean talk about combining

two of my favorite things. But anyway, yeah,

that's right. I forgot This is the start of Jesse's

bender in season two or season two, episode two

of season four. I mean, that's the other difference

too, right? I mean, Jesse just goes into this

complete spiral from killing Gale. He feels miserable

about it. Walt's kind of reaction is to see how

he can use it. Oh yeah, and Walt uses that fork.

Jesse's downward spiral is just so depressing.

we're pressing that in these first episodes yes

it was weird for me when i watched it and i realized

that i was now kind of rooting for jesse i didn't

really like it early on he was like the scumbag

annoying dumb drug dealer you know any change

so much that actually felt bad for here and i

wanted him to you know come out of it and be

okay and i was sort of happy when you know Walt

kind of broke him out of it at the time like

when I was watching it I wasn't didn't realize

that you know what a terrible person Walt is

and then he wasn't doing it for Jesse at all

he was doing it for himself yeah so with episode

three this is open house because yeah and I mean

this is where Skyler convinces Walt to buy the

the car wash car wash uh... that we should say

this is the same car wash used to work at yet

bogged on makes an appearance actually which

is pretty amusing it is uh... yet more kind of

goods uh... good continuity uh... actually become

a favorite moments even though uh... so this

is the episode with marie's club to mania in

the open houses uh... which black uh... and we

have more a lot more jesse party into the point

that he just like starts throwing money around

uh... but one of my favorite moments this is

also the episode where hank finds uh... the copy

of the notebook in jail in gales' apartment uh...

the one that adds like two w w or no sir wall

kept that that was a gift to walter this was

uh... the notebook so this was the notebook of

uh... gales' uh... notes on the stuff yeah on

how to cook math there we go but it's in there

though uh... yeah well then the two w w is in

the notebook because the notebook as well yeah

put it there yet he gets later on we'll get to

the episode but yeah uh... what's the fifth episode

which is one of my favorite ones this season

sorry uh... see this episode is it's the marie

stuff that brings it down it's like yeah you're

right there is stuff in here that i enjoy but

i'm sorry it's the and it's not against betsy

brad the actors at all it's not against her It's

the character. The character is more boring than

watching molasses dry. I mean... I just don't

know, yeah, my... I just don't know why they

felt the need to try to give her something. I

don't think it necessarily added to her. If anything,

it took away from the character, so... Oh, well.

In episode four, we have bullet points. Yep.

So... I don't know. All right. So this is the

one where Skyler comes up with the brilliant

plan that they won all the money to buy the car

wash from gambling because Walt is a brilliant

sort of card counter. Not one for better ideas.

No. They're no light for them is Hank at this

point is colossally He's obsessed. Yeah, he's

for obsessed. Yeah the Heisenberg who it was

that kind of thing and at this point he thinks

it's Gail, but he hasn't quite Finished off or

wrapped a bow on the case. That's Soon enough

but That's the next episode we'll get into that

but right now he believes you know Gail was the

Probably the one behind it. He's just completely

sort of enamored with that idea I believe it

comes up later, but he's not actually even doing

this for he's still on medical leave from the

DEA because of Yeah, everything else season yeah

uh... so this is just his own personal crusade

that he needs to find out who you know heisenberg

is uh... in jesse's downward spiral continues

into uh... jeez i don't know it's tough the next

episode might be my favorite uh... one but what's

important from this one is uh... jesse loses

a whole ton of his money and you know Mike goes

to Gus and says that, you know, uh -oh, you know,

Jesse's obviously a problem. And another sign

that Gus is with it is when you watch the scene,

you're expected to think, uh -oh, you know, Gus

is gonna have him killed, that kind of thing.

And that's not what happens in the next episode.

Yeah, no. Gus actually seems to want to sort

of help Jesse. Yeah, and Mike legitimately wants

to help him as well. Yeah, I mean we've seen

that since day one of season two when Mike had

to come in and clean up for Jane. So, you know,

Mike has always been on Jesse's side and I think

at this point Gus realizes, like you said earlier,

that Jesse is more of a lost soul. He needs direction.

more so than he is flying off the handle in a

loose can like walt is the enemy jesse's control

of all and unfortunately walt knows that as well

too yeah uh... they only know i'm gonna bring

up for episode four before we go to episode five

was on the family stuff here when they were also

around the table and stuff like that wasn't as

awkward as it usually is for me okay Love the

scene and we'll get to it. I absolutely adore

the Episode five Family scene, but we'll get

to that in a second I mean five we've basically

I loved episode five which is shotgun and it's

called that because that's what You will first

of all, I mean this is the one Mike tells Walter

that You know Jesse's fine. This is Walt kind

of I think figuring out that Gus is starting

to move Jesse against him Or at the very least

just move guess Jesse to his side and actually,

you know be somewhat of a guardian to him Yeah,

and anyway, I should also note too that Skyler

asks Walt to move back in again but anyway The

bulk of what I really loved in this was the Jesse

Mike stuff So Mike takes Jesse on their sort

of collection runs will say To get you know money

money. Yeah, different sales and that kind of

thing But it's I don't know there's something

with the two of them. They've got a really good

chemistry. Yeah, it's more of i'm not sure if

it is father and son kind again here but it's

it's simply something similar to that sir it's

funny cuz they're doing stuff that's kind of

being illegal whatever you want to call it like

it's not you know wholesome but there's something

wholesome about it's like you know you know it

feels better than anything you know waltz and

jesse did together If that makes any sense like

I think it comes across that Mike You know Mike

probably wouldn't bat an eye if Gus told him

to kill Jesse But I don't think he wants to Yeah,

no, you know, yeah, there's certain things with

yeah, there's certain things with Mike that you

know, he will follow an order but there are certain

orders he probably doesn't agree with but let

us earlier he knows better not to voice his disagreement

so uh... the other part of this episode that

i loved was the dinner waltz drinks a little

too much and when what hank you know mentions

that's Gail was a genius and this great cook

Walt can't take it and it's not the first time

his ego gets him into trouble Obviously, we've

discussed a few others. Yes, this is one of the

worst because honestly like the case is basically

over and Walt points him in the direction that

you know Gail couldn't possibly have done this

on his own. He was copying somebody Now the bright

side I guess for Walt if you want to call it

that is He finds the Los Polos Hermanos napkin

And that points him towards Gus as we see in

the next few episodes he investigates him Going

so far as to like get his fingerprints when he's

not paying attention and having Walt like put

a tracker on Gus's That was stupid as shit. I'm

sorry that was one of the dumbest things of this

episode as much as I love shotguns a much later

episode anyway, oh Okay, no no that wasn't this

one. I'm just alright. Yeah, they're just saying

like That's what it leads to because yeah, keep

his big fat mouth shut and You know granted he's

been drinking and that's not the first time that

this has gone poorly for him but I think even

if he hadn't he would have done the same thing

he's got a giant ego and They hinted at you know

that cost him something with gray matter way

before breaking bed started and You know, it's

got him into trouble in the past. But yeah, this

is A really bad move by Walt. Yeah, this whole

family scene... But it's not out of character.

No, it's not out of character. It's just a bad

move. The whole family scene in Shotgun reminds

me of the scene from Season 2 when he's trying

to get Junior to drink. When they're having a

pool party. This is the same thing, kind of,

but it's just Walt doing the drinking. it's wall

because he is drinking and he's thinking all

this crap and he's just wanting to just break

out of his shell and say everybody on the kingpin

or whatever else nobody to know he's the smartest

but he has to get caught yeah it's the same you

know a lot of criminals this is one of the things

that trips them up You know you want everybody

to know hey, I'm the mastermind I got away with

it, but alternatively you don't want to spend

the rest of your life in prison so It wasn't

until the point of Mike and Jesse on their very

final run when the two cars came up and the guy

with the shotgun... it wasn't until I... because

I realized when I looked at the episode title,

I'm like, okay, shotgun, technically that means

passenger side, you know, somebody in the passenger

side. That's mostly what it's... Yeah, and then

when I saw the actual shotgun with the guy, and

I'm like, oh, okay, double meaning, there we

go. As mentioned, of course, we find out that,

you know, it was all set up by Mike and Gus to...

test jesse you know and not maybe not just to

test them maybe as well to kind of break him

out of his shell make him feel useful again so

little bit of both things but yeah absolutely

shot shotgun might be my second favorite episode

of the season it's tough for me there's a couple

other really good ones that will get to soon

enough uh... but for that that point yeah we've

run into cornered which is kind of a lot of cornered

is Walt getting beaten down for doing a lot of

dumb stuff lately including you know basically

getting berated for what he told Hank the night

before and then you know he goes out and buys

Walt Jr. a new car Was half waiting I was half

waiting for it to transform and in part as soon

as I saw that it was a dot It's a challenger

But as soon as I saw that it was a dodge and

I'm like the first thing I thought of was that

old 1994 Viper TV series that NBC tried to launch

But yeah, so Walt gets Walt jr. Gets a car I

like the Dodge challengers and the chargers,

but I I'm sorry, red with black pinstripe, that

is the ugliest color combination. I don't know,

it could've done worse, anyway. Could've, yeah.

So, not some of Walt's best stuff. However, some

of Brian Cranston's best stuff, this is the episode

that contains the amazing I Am The One Who Knocks

speech. mhm uh... which is phenomenal and i think

to a certain extent skyler starting to figure

out that uh... waltz he's a bad dude yeah and

that yeah he's not a good guy uh... there's not

a huge amount yeah a lot of this episode is fallout

with waltz not to mention him going to jesse

And trying to convince him that you know Gus

is using him and trying to use Jesse to get to

him Which is not what's actually happening Jesse

is legitimately proving himself useful to Mike

and Gus in this in this episode and in the previous

one You know, they legitimately want him as part

of the group. They don't want Walt Yeah, and

you know reasons why they don't want Walt well,

let's see There's the stuff last episode as it

would be a good reason and then you know in this

one Yeah, his speech to Skyler where he just

kind of One of the things I liked in this I don't

I have no idea if it was Cranston that did it

or if it was written into the script But you'll

notice that as Walt goes through the I'm the

one who knocks speech Before he goes to it. He

takes off his shirt Mm -hmm as if he's gonna

like the over shirt. It's as if he has to do

some sort of like physical transformation to

become Heisenberg or to let that out of himself

still because with Heisenberg he you know wears

the hat That yeah, he still needs like something

sort of physical to bring it out of him which

i think was deliberate and then in season five

for example he's just heisenberg all the time

well yeah because we're at a point and again

i don't remember this a lot but i do remember

once the season five promotional stuff started

happening the ads and things like that he was

always in the heisenberg get up because at that

point he had fully transformed from the timid

Chemistry teacher we saw in season one too, and

they had all the awesome remember my name promos

And that would be a big theme in the season because

I mean he even has the line say my name To Declan

and his drug -running crew, but anyway, that's

a year off I really liked cornered because it's

a very character driven episode pretty much just

focusing on walls with a little bit of Jesse

But it works because Cranston's really good in

this like this might be that his best work of

the series in this season Later on in crawl space.

He's also amazing But I crawl space was was crazy

good So if problem dog is the next episode Again,

like all of these episodes spin right out of

the other that's why I'm not necessarily stopping

a lot But yeah, no, that's fine. This is the

episode where Walt puts together the ricin in

a cigarette of Jesse's which is important as

well actually actually yeah it is very important

but actually the what happened was Walt made

it and then Jesse was the one to hide because

he was like hiding somewhere on you you know

so Jesse is the one that takes out the cigarette

pack and he unpacks part of the cigarette puts

the ricin in there packs it back in and puts

it up facing upward in back in the back uh...

wall wants to see the killed us and jesse does

not uh... obviously uh... so there that's the

big sort of thing uh... jesse returns to twelve

steps as he continues getting better and this

is also uh... it is a really get better well

well he's basically comes clean all of them and

says only here to sell you math Yeah, well I

do think he legitimately is trying to come to

terms at least to some extent with the things

he's done I mean he tells the story Yeah, the

problem dog story, which is obviously meant to

be him, but yeah Yeah, and the thing with Jesse

and Walt is There's a clear dividing line between

the two characters Walt jesse's sort of willing

to do whatever it takes but there's certain things

that he has a lot of uh... yet he will feel bad

but there was too far for him though i honestly

don't think you would do it again you know i

think after killing gail he realized he wasn't

just on the edge anymore he was falling off the

fucking clif and i think that's why he did obviously

that's why he had the the weeks and weeks of

parties and things like that, and then he's now

going back to the AA stuff and whatever else

and all of that. So Jesse's character arc, again,

evolves him to look more like a protagonist to

us, whereas Walt's de -evolves him to the point

where we just outright hate the guy. Well, yeah,

Jesse becomes the show's moral compass, even

though he's done a lot of terrible things. But

again, for example, through the rest of the series,

Jesse only commits homicide one more time. And

I'm going to be blunt. He does it to somebody

who, like, man, I don't blame him. Like, I was

cheering when he did it. I mean, Todd is so horrible.

And Todd is the exact opposite of Jesse. in that

he will do all those bad things but feels nothing.

You know, he doesn't mind at all. He doesn't

feel good or bad. Actually, he looks back at

some of it and goes like, oh yeah, those were

good times. Hey, remember when I shot that kid

for you? That was great. Man, we were such good

friends. Like, that's exactly how he views it,

because he, oh, he's just, but. Here I mean,

yeah, Jesse's he's still I think coming out of

his complete sort of downward spiral And yeah

slowly trying to recover but yeah, he's still

trying to do stuff for Gus And then the only

other thing to note from this episode is Hank's

investigation continues. This is the one where

he gets Gus's fingerprints So, I mean, you know,

we obviously know that he's After Gus and thinks

he was involved with Gail being killed There's

you know Victor is a missing person, but they

were really tied to that in I believe so yeah

Absolutely, and then with episode 8 we get us

Gus's backstory yay Yeah, the only thing I don't

like about this one is when they do the flashback

to the cartel kingpin and at the end of it he's

like the only reason yeah well they they allude

to the fact that Gus isn't who he says he is

or he know you know the lawyer says he knows

that who he really is and we never really get

any closure out of that i don't think unless

it happens later in season five which probably

doesn't discuss is dead at that point there's

a situation that goss was some sort of general

or something like that yeah uh... also i mean

not They don't make it implicit here, but it's

pretty clear. Gus's friend, quote unquote, Max,

was his lover. So I mean, Gus was also gay, but

they don't spell it out. And yeah, I mean, they

kill, in that flashback, Hector and co -kill,

well, Hector's the one that actually kills Max,

but it's on Labdio's orders. Yeah, because he

nods to him. We don't see Hector. We see Hector

in the scene because he went and did something

else, got something else, or whatever else, or

he went to go get glasses for whatever it was.

And then we see Don Aladio nodding to him. We

see Hector one last time. We don't actually see

him until after the gunshot killing Max. Yeah.

Yeah, I mean I love how that is that is paced

out I think that is very very good I like seeing

the the sequence after I mean it's set right

after the death of the two nephews when they

tried to kill Hank and we get a flashback of

Gus visiting To at the nursing home to tell him

like oh hey by the way your nephews are both

dead you piece of crap like yeah, you know Gus

so This obviously sets up the finale, but I mean,

Tio is Gus's only weakness. Or sorry, Hector

is the only one who he wants absolutely dead

and embarrassed and everything else. He still

has emotions over that and wants him to suffer.

So we see that. In the present day, Is this the

one? No, sorry the present. Yeah, this is it

in the present day. This is the one with the

tracking device And Walter is desperately trying

to get Jesse to poison Gus, you know, but yeah,

it's Not a lot of present -day stuff. I was I

enjoyed it. I liked seeing Gus's backstory. I'm

okay with not knowing some of the stuff in this.

I'm okay that we never found out what happened

at Grey Matter with Walt. I'll be okay if we

don't find out necessarily what happens to Gus,

because I don't feel like it was important to

Breaking Bad. Now, will we find out in Better

Call Saul? We may very well. Yeah. The thing

of it here in season four of Breaking Bad, you're

right. Honestly, I had, by this point in the

series, I had completely forgotten about Grey

Matter because they haven't really mentioned

Elliot and what's -her -name. gretchen yeah they

haven't mentioned them in a long time years they

have to reappear in the finale but that's the

next time yeah and that's fine i'm i'm saying

to this point though unless it's specifically

spelling i had completely like i know that's

part of walter's past and all of that but it's

like i'd completely almost forgotten about it

uh... but you know Hermanos was a really, really

good episode. Like you said, seeing Gus's backstory,

not necessarily seeing everything, even though

I nitpick the fact that we don't really find

out, you know, who we really... I mean, like

you said, it alludes to that he's some sort of

general or something, and it's alright. I just

wish there was something, like an afternote or

like a behind -the -scenes video somewhere, like

an episode of Talking Bad or something where...

Giancarlo was on there and maybe he maybe Vince

would allow him to tell what what the rest of

the backstory was or something but Okay, I'm

saying if he did yeah They hadn't actually written

it out. I mean we'll see again. We'll see like

I think there's a decent chance that Breaking

Bad goes into earth breaking bad better call

Saul goes into it Yeah So Episode 9 is called

bug and I'm like, oh no, I'm not another fly

in the lab, but obviously season 3 but anyway,

yeah, yeah this Although we do kind of slow down

here, but the the gist of this is Hank finding

out where the super lab is yes i know the super

lab is and then we have to bring ted back in

the have some sort of story there uh... well

i mean that was you know the reason for that

becomes clear in crawlspace they need a reason

why all this could use the money to yet get away

or to you know hire somebody to kill god sir

whatever yeah uh... but yet uh... ted benakir

uh... bennett key shows up again uh... i didn't

like that i don't know i haven't liked it since

the first time i saw him whenever it was late

in the whole the whole subplot for skylar and

marie for skylar unless it's directly related

to waltz most of her subplots honestly kinda

suck because they really only one i think you

know is that there This was set back when we

still thought maybe Walt was a protagonist or

at least he had some Yeah good left in him that

kind of thing like we still felt something for

him But now when he reappears You know, they're

both kind of scumbags since Obviously Walt is

worse. I mean You know, there is committing adultery,

which is bad, and then there's, you know, committing

multiple homicides. Which is probably worse.

It's even worse, yeah. I'm gonna go ahead and

say, yeah, it's probably worse. But yeah, I mean,

you know, they introduce him essentially as a

reason why Walt doesn't have money two episodes

from now. And yeah, I mean... Cuz the IRS auditing

him well that was set up. I mean he was stealing

money way back. Yeah So I mean at least they

set up for this like it wasn't It didn't come

out of left field But no it it didn't but what

I mean about like oh god Ted is back It's the

same thing as oh god. They're doing more stuff

with Marie like look at this point in the series

To me, it's all about Walton Jesse and how it

each affects their lives, and I'm sorry. Ted

Benike, at this point in the series, should not

really be affecting their lives at all. I think

Skyler's still a huge part of it, especially

since, you know, she's still married to Walt,

and obviously the fallout between them. Shapes

the last few episodes of the series Completely.

Yeah. Anyway, the other stuff to note from this

one too is Gus Gives into the cartel and asks

for a meeting with them Yep, and oh, yeah, right.

This is also the episode with the really sad

fights between Walt and Jesse It's like watching

moments. Walt doesn't trust him, and Jesse doesn't

trust Walt. Jesse, by the way, is the one that's

right in this. Obviously, yeah. For all his faults,

Jesse wouldn't have allowed Walter to get killed.

He wouldn't have allowed us to have him killed

or anything like that. Again, you know the rest

like what comes out of this and what comes out

of this series is on Walter You know, he's got

more than enough money. He's basically paranoid

about you know, Gus killing him Yeah, and Hank

is really not on Walter's trail either No, you

know all of this is spun out of his needs to

control things and his needs to Be the kingpin

and his need to win And the thing with the fight

between the two of them, it's like if Moe and

Larry got into a battle with each other, or Moe

and Shemp got into an actual fist fight. It's

like what? One of the things I like about this

series though is Walt's not an action hero. At

no point do they go completely unrealistic and

Walter slugs his way out of a scenario. And that

was one of my fears with the finale as well when

he's got a 60 caliber, which I'm a big guy. I

can't hold a 60 caliber. The Punisher can hold

one, but he's a fictional character. They're

meant to be mounted. And I remember, you know,

when the finale was coming, like, oh, man, what's

he going to do with the 60 cal? And then, you

know, luckily, Walter Sciences is way out. But

it would have been so silly if he, you know,

runs in and shoots people with it and you know

i mean even at full strength waltz not strong

enough to lift something like that and this fight

is horribly pathetic because neither guy is a

fighter i mean jesse is a drug addict and yeah

walter's an old man suffering from cancer so

i love can you walk Get the fuck out of here

and never come back But I love that line can

you breathe Get out don't ever fucking come back.

I love that. I thought that was so great Being

a really good episode yeah, I did and the next

one has one of my favorite sequences period uh...

which is i'll just get right to it uh... gus

poisoning the cartel so i mean this was his plan

he poisons himself in the end but the plan was

that you know he poisons the cartel jesse is

there because jesse is a recovering addict so

he's got a plausible excuse to say oh yeah he

doesn't drink and you know jesse and mike then

are okay and they have a shootout with the Now

dying cartel people yeah and are able to kind

of finish them off and this was you know Gus's

plan all along I Just really like that. It's

a great. It's also a solid action sequence That

wasn't you know, holy unrealistic because I mean

they don't have a shootout and not get injured

But you know Mike takes a bullet. Yeah, I was

like, oh man poor Mike damn I remember after

the finale thinking, like, oh, is Mike going

to be a loose end or what? But then in the first

episode of season five, he's a part of it. So

I was happy that they don't just have him shot

and you forget about him. But I mean, that's

it for him this season. I remember, I swear I

remember more of Jesse being in Mexico. like

was there ever is like a uh... a montage scene

of him constantly cooking for the cartel or there

was an obviously now i know that there wasn't

because he's traded to them uh... yeah in in

this episode and He you know tries to show them,

but of course they don't know not all of them

speak English Yeah, and he was shown With them

or talk to them. I think in a previous episode.

Yeah, but yeah, there was some stuff And then

there's quite a bit more in this one before the

close of the episode which is the shootouts and

then obviously other shootout I love the doctor

The end he's like, you know, hello. This guy

needs help. This guy signs my paycheck. Yeah

And I mean, you know, he does save Mike obviously,

but you know, yeah Gus is good for Jesse Mike

is the priority but yeah Gus is the priority

for everybody in the organization and probably

for Mike too. I mean Mike knew What he was getting

into? Yeah I do what I do like about this and

we've been slowly talking about the slow turnaround

for Jesse and him getting better what I love

about it is when he's before the the drinks and

the poisoning and all that when he is sitting

there and the chick comes up and gives like he's

very reluctant for the cigar like I love that

he's shown to be resisting the temptations of

what he knows he'll He'll downward spiral into

yeah, or at least he's smart enough at this point

to know its possibility And yeah stay away from

it Not because he knows it's poisoned but because

yeah But yeah Yeah The final three episodes are

amazing. Yeah, I mean they go right into the

other so I mean the next episode is crawlspace

Which is amazing. So I mean he he sorry Gus recovers

and Again, you know going back to something I

said earlier the one of the first things is Jesse

tells Gus don't kill Walter like Like he realizes,

or Jesse realizes, when Gus is telling him you

can run the lab on your own, he knows that that

means he can get rid of Walt. And so he tells

him, no, don't kill him. So again, Jesse was

more loyal to Walt than Walt ever is to him.

Walter doesn't deserve any of what Jesse gives

to him. but yeah here he goes to bat for him

and this is the episode where there's a fair

amount here I mean Walter drives Hank out to

the laundry but he gets in an accident on the

way obviously deliberately and anyway in the

end we have the oh man just a great finale to

the episode when Walt goes to get the money so

that the whole family can disappear and he just

has the crazy breakdown and he just starts laughing

to see it's gone because skyler sent the uh...

six hundred thousand since it's said and so you

know as the money needs right now and the rest

is being laundered so yeah uh... and i love that

scene i just uh... it was When you see somebody

laugh in a movie or television show It's not

always believable. And when you see somebody

do like the crazy laughter It's even tougher

to pull off. But man does he pull it off here.

I mean, yeah, he does I was horrified with him

basically while he was doing it like Boy, yeah,

I don't know. I was Really impressed with him

in this one. Yeah I pretty much I took a screen

cap of the final like right before it goes to

black of the of the floor Where it shows Walt

in the in the frame of the of the floor and all

that Yeah, and my thing of it was Walt is really

gone loony -toony at this point because really

seriously he is He's way out there because of

them and I had honestly completely forgotten

He still had money in in in this in in the house

in the in the crawlspace Yeah, I had completely

forgotten about because we've only really seen

this season about laundering the money and Saul

keeps part of Jesse's money in his safe at his

office and this that the other thing or the else

I had thought that they would have completely

gotten rid of the money at the house, but uh...

sense to you keep it there in case you have to

see and for us a little bit it got used so i

mean the last two episodes uh... storm in together

here are amazing but anyway uh... so in the previous

episodes there was a tip that the cartels looking

to kill hank and so hank and marie are in DEA

protection, and Skyler, Walt Jr., and Holly all

get into protection. But I mean, Walter's kind

of on the run trying to figure out what the heck

to do. So Jesse finds the rice and vial is missing

just after getting a call that ... From Andrea

who we haven't seen in a bit Who Jesse had dated

he gets the call from Andrea that? Brock her

son is in critical condition with a bunch of

like symptoms that are similar to the early warning

signs of ricin poisoning Yeah, and you know Walt

goes to Jesse basically telling him that like

oh, you know Gus poison Brock obviously which

I mean at the time when I was watching it I thought

like this doesn't make sense I thought it would

be kind of silly if Gus did well it turns out

we get the resolution at the next episode but

anyway in the end Walter goes to put a car bomb

on Gus's car but Gus sensing something's wrong

and not being an idiot Evades and gets away.

Yeah, and Walt's like who what did you say? What

did you tell him? He must know something And

then we open with I mean this time, you know,

Jesse's being questioned about how he knew that

Brock had been poisoned. Yeah, which yeah, like

Obviously, they'd be a little Curious how exactly

he knew And so in the end everybody realizes,

you know, the only thing that seems to make Gus

vulnerable or come out of his shell is when he

visits Hector at the nursing home. And good lord,

I mean, in terms of television history, the last

few scenes in this episode are amazing. We get,

you know, the obvious one, which is Gus's death,

thanks to Hector and Walt. You know, we gotta

talk about this, because I forgot how much of

a death this was. It was great. I knew, I knew,

I knew what it was as soon as I remember seeing

the episode title. I knew what it was, I knew

what was going to happen. I just forgot, and

I, I, yeah, I have not, I have not, I screen

capped it. Where he turns right before he falls,

but I have not put it on Facebook yet because

I know it's gonna freak half the people on my

friends list out But it's one of those things

where My note about it was Nick Cage and John

Travolta eat your hearts out So I mean I loved

the tie adjustment yeah, the other thing I loved

is the makeup work on it so The person who did

makeup for Breaking Bad would go on and do the

makeup for The Walking Dead. And one of the things

with Gus, if you look really closely too, his

missing eye actually twitches as if it's there.

It's really well done makeup to the point that

it's really disturbing. Yeah, and yeah, I mean

Gus dies we get the great montage of Jesse and

Walt destroying the super lab Which they actually

did they like set it on this set and everything

on fire in real life Oh, wow, they did that.

I did not achieve yet to achieve that so that's

awesome Yeah. That's why it looks so good in

the show. A lot of the fire stuff in this show

was actually done. They did an awful lot of practical

effects in this. There's very little computer

work on the show. It really shows. I thought

at the time... I thought the whole play... I

mean, I know in the story they set it up to be

a controlled thing. to only destroy the lab and

keep the laundry, but I really thought that the

whole place was gonna go up. Yeah. Oh, and I

should note too, the absolute final shot of the

season is the panning towards the lily of the

valley, which we discover that's what Brock was

poisoned by. And we find a, you know, potted

plant of it in Walter's backyard at the end of

the season. So yeah, Walter poisoned Brock, which...

What a great guy. I mean, no, if not at all.

So one of the other debates I've had with a few

people too, as in the end, I mean, I really think

that Walt wouldn't really have cared if Brock

died from it. Like he was taking a legitimate

chance that Jesse would figure it out or somebody

would figure it out and save him. But yeah, he

was okay with, you know, poisoning the kid and

taking chances with that. Yeah. Not good, Walt.

Not good at all. So next time we do one of these

for season five it's gonna be really interesting

because like I said I do not remember a damn

thing other than the finale from season five

I do a lot of yeah now a lot of we have you watched

it more than I have so a lot of people don't

are not as big fans of season five I loved it

because again, I love seeing the after effects

of big things and If Breaking Bad had ended on

season four, which apparently was a possibility

at one point, it, I don't know, it probably would

have been okay, but I much prefer being able

to see what happens. I think if it would have

ended on season four with the Lily of the Valley,

that would have been a... It would have been

a resolution, but it also it would have been

a resolution and a cliffhanger at the same time

because we don't really get closure to any of

these characters by the end of the fourth season

we don't really know like what what's gonna happen

to them with them you know what's gonna happen

a wall junior what's gonna happen a holly and

what's gonna happen a skyler hank and marie we

don't see any of that because that's just not

where the end of the fourth season was going

Having a fifth season and I'm surprised that

the fifth season is three more episodes than

most of the others I'm really surprised that

there were 16 episodes in season 5 Because normally

when you wrap at least what I've seen from certain

television shows when you're wrapping something

up for a series You know you take Oh, what's

that show? That HBO thing that everybody loves.

Game of Thrones. No, Game of Thrones. Now, Sopranos

is a little bit better, but not in quality, but

in how they ended. Anyway, either way, what I'm

saying is that Game of Thrones isn't over yet,

so it's hard to say. Well, Game of Thrones only

has, what, six episodes left that are gonna happen

or something? Six episodes per season. It ends

up being 12. Okay. Well, I'm saying that it...

normally when you do legal this is going to be

the last season and we're gonna in the series

off well it's not normally the standard order

of thirteen or twenty two or whatever in some

cases eight yeah and there's definitely sort

of the mid -season finale to this yeah As well

as one of the things I really appreciated is

they just get straight into it. I mean the first

episode concludes with Hank telling Walter he

knows who he is. That he's figured it all out

and Walter you know threatens him. And yeah just.

I liked too that there was an awful you know

when Walter killed Gus. He didn't just destroy

you know one person he took apart like an entire

Empire and there's an awful lot of fallouts with

that and that plagues him through the season

and Then the other thing that hurts him Walter

is who he decides to pair up with Yeah, we'll

get to that next time around you know, pairing

up with a bunch of trump voters was a really

bad idea oh god, but season four season four

might be my favorite even though i have certain

things i don't like about season four i don't

have the consistent disdain i've had for the

other i like certain things of the first three

seasons but for the most part season four is

my favorite at this point I think for most people,

yeah, it would be. Season 4, if I was ever to

go back and re -watch the series again, which

I probably won't, Season 4 would probably be

the one season I would start with. Maybe the

end of Season 3 going into Season 4. If you've

never watched the show before, I wouldn't recommend

starting with season four. Well, obviously. Obviously.

Yeah, no, I'm saying as someone who has watched

the show two different times now, because when

I first watched it, I was... Watching through

I think it was on Netflix at the point and it

was through the fourth season because the fifth

season was still kind of airing and Like you,

you know you would said earlier about how you

were ended up watching it as it would air I tried

watching it as it aired but I I don't know what

was going on back then I had too much other TV

stuff I had to watch So yeah, but now season

four Honestly, I gotta give it a five out of

five. I mean there like I said, there are a few

nagging things but I think Gus's face being blown

off puts anything Marie tries to do to shame

It was one of the best sort of television moments

and it's one of those that people Years from

now are probably gonna remember still as well

Mmm. I was very iconic like the imagery and everything

else was perfectly done. So Yeah, I mean I gave

season three a five out of five. So obviously

I have to give four or five out of five Yeah

All right folks so next time we've got Breaking

Bad season five and after that I have no idea

what we're gonna do here in remote control uh...

we'll go the other way and review arrow season

four so i can give something a one or lower actually

there's a plan for that you're on the side he's

going on to put into a night together for that

uh... i'll see you know i'm not running that

it's something we've done a lot of their blood

and uh... yeah i i'll talk to you about that

later but uh... see a breaking bad season for

real one more to go so that'll happen in a couple

weeks come on back to remote control for that

work of the people find you online sir at night

the on twitter yes uh... i'm getting to say that

i remember the last time that you forgot this

time uh... i'm at the issue and mike on twitter

you can also follow at the cast radio at this

weekend geek on twitter as well uh... just next

time for breaking bad season five and after that

who knows we will uh... catch next time we will

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