Breaking Bad, Anyone?

[Supa Scoopa]

Mike and Gus - takin' care of business.

[kevin]

Shady badass move #31: Ending a conversation and then cracking the flip phone in half with your bare hands.

[angryrobot]

Gus is fighting very hard to become my favorite supporting character (a position currently held by Saul). That guy is a scheming mastermind. It just hit me that in addition to taking care of all his problems in one fell swoop, one of those problems being taken care of was also the fact that Walt's brother-in-law is a DEA agent... even if Hank did survive. What a great episode!

Oh, and that shot of the Cleaner in the hospital after the cousin died? Goddamn brilliance.

Gus was always a bad ass, check out his reaction to someone just stepping on his sneaker back in the 80's:

[Medibot]

Sue 'em now!

http://www.bettercallsaul.com/

[A Shot Glass of Humor]

What a great episode last night! Seeing Gus just manipulate everything his way... aside from Walt, he is the best character on that show... you find yourself giddy when he just continues to scam the DEA and other law enforcement folks. I just about lost it when I saw both Walt and Gus just casually discussing the drug business with cops/DEA/etc just casually around them.

Overall, Walt Jr.'s speech about the DEA agents was well timed and that scene where Walt tries to fix the table, just a small scene that represents so much, great stuff. If there are any downsides, I just expected the cousins to last longer on the show. The fact that they were shown in the first scene of the premiere had me think they would bookend the season, But that's what Gilligan and company are all about defying expectations. Also, anyone else feel like Jesse's sort of reverting back to himself, he seemed a little too upbeat, drumming around in that huge lab, I figured he was all dark and angry now and was just going along with this deal for the 1.5 million.

[Umlaut]

Does anybody else think there's a good possibility Walt may sell Gus out to the DEA to save his ass? I say this because of how next week's previews looked, though I know those things are most often used for misdirection...

[Umlaut]

Well, here's Anna Gunn's Emmy submission episode.

Seriously, the way the character pulled that all out of her ass was masterful. Also, a great Bob appearance.

Jesse is such a collosal moron. And I was so sympathetic to him a few weeks ago when Walt was being a dick to him.

[KeithTalent]

That Walt/Gus scene was really something.

I was hoping this season would have a MacGyver-style chemistry trick (because I'm a child) but Walt just being all smart as hell is equally good.

[Jouster]

ASTers should take note - Bob O. is on the new Breaking Bad Insider podcast (here for now, will show up in the podcast feed eventually).

[funxnotdead]

[Teaflax]

What got me in this one were all the subtle cues; Hank pretending to have feeling in his legs; Skyler's boss shifting his demeanor when Marie shows her face; Walt being momentarily proud of a gambling system he hasn't devised; Walt almost expecting Skyler to come back to him just before her final line and walkaway. All amazing, amazing stuff but so underplayed and unflagged that it really requires the viewer to pay attention. There's no lazy screenwriting shorthand to signal these things, just strong performances from some great actors.

Not as intense an episode as the three preceding it, but fully satisfying nonetheless. I will miss it hugely when this season is over.

[Supa Scoopa]

Los Pollos Hermanos, Inc., is a registered trademark of Madrigal Electromotive, GmbH.

[Newt Floss]

ASTers should take note - Bob O. is on the new Breaking Bad Insider podcast (here for now, will show up in the podcast feed eventually).

The "Kafkaesque" one?

[nadsat droog]

I saw Ted in a fertilizer commercial the other day.

[Jouster]

The "Kafkaesque" one?

Yeah, 309.

[Jouster]

Great, great episode tonight. I doubt the producers knew ahead of time that this episode would be airing against the "Lost" finale, but this one seemed like particularly appropriate counter-programming. Rian Johnson's work was stellar, and the acting and editing was also top-notch (more so than usual, even). Beautiful.

[WhoWantsPie]

Walt's monologue about the perfect moment for him to die : fuck me was that great.

[KeithTalent]

My heart was pounding during multiple moments of an episode where "nothing happened." Unbelievable.

[funnyclown]

It's weird. I watched the first 25 or so episodes in, like, 5 days, and then the three I've been able to watch as they air have been relatively very slow. Still totally gripping, but it's just odd since the way they packed so much into every episode was what really amazed me about the show. Still, though, this show is insanely consistent in its quality.

[Teaflax]

Yeah, for a slow, dialogue-heavy theater-like episode, it was often as gripping as anything they've done before this season.

I'm speechless, to be honest.

Oh, but one odd thing: the fly that bounced off of Jesse's shoe was obviously plastic. That both surprised and annoyed me.