Episode 505 and 506 Articles Delayed

Hi Everyone.

I just wanted to let my subscribers and those great people who appreciate Tucker’s Hole that due to unforeseen life circumstances, the articles for “Dead Freight” and “Buyout” will be a bit delayed.  ”Dead Freight” is almost done, but I just haven’t had the time to finish it off.

Rest assured that I will get these two articles out as soon as I can, so you can enjoy them before this coming Sunday’s episode.

My apologies to those of you who have been anxiously waiting,

Cheers

Nick “C.R.”

Episode 504 – “Fifty-One”

Fifty – One

Bad Ass Quote of the Week

“All I can do is wait.  That’s it, that’s the only good option.  Hold on, bide my time, and wait”… <Wait for what, what are you waiting for? – Walt> …”For the cancer to come back.” – Skyler White

Thoughts on “Fifty-One”

Vince Gilligan and the writers have some fun with the loyal Baddicts as this episode opens – a final farewell to Walt’s Pontiac Aztek.  Walt and Junior are picking up the car from the garage where it has been repaired after Walt and Hank’s accident in “Crawl Space“.  Good cracks by Benny the body shop owner about “At least it wasn’t the windshield this time”, “Fern Green – interesting tint”, and “People like to joke but, I really, really like this car.”

He echoes the sentiment of Lucy, the waitress in the opening scene of “Live Free or Die“, when he says “Nothing beats free”.

Walt picks up the Heisenhat from inside the Aztek, and sells the car to Benny.  In a great music montage (“Bonfire” by Knife Party)  Walt arrives home with a brand new Chrysler 300 SRT, and Junior with a Dodge Challenger.   Heisenberg don’t drive no Aztek… and Junior don’t drive  no PT Loser!

Lydia (on a conference call in her office in Houston) is still flustered and stressed out (wearing unmatching shoes).  Mike gives her 30 seconds warning that she is going to receive visitors…the DEA.  How was Mike able to give her this warning, and why only 30 seconds ahead?  If he has a mole inside the DEA, why didn’t they provide more warning?  Yes, I saw the little nod that Gomez gave to Lydia, but it looked to me that he was merely acknowledging being introduced by Hank.   More likely, Mike has someone inside the Houston Madrigal Electromotive office keeping an eye on things.  It’s not likely to be the warehouse manager who is arrested (otherwise he would have made tracks), so perhaps one of the nosy secretaries outside Lydia’s office?

Episode 503 – “Hazard Pay”

Hazard Pay

Bad Ass Quote of the Week

“Just because you shoot Jesse James, don’t make you Jesse James.” – Mike Ehrmantraut

Thoughts on “Hazard Pay”

A lawyer arrives at a prison and checks in to visit his client, and has Mike in tow as his “paralegal”.  No matter how natty Mike looks in his grey suit, he just doesn’t look like a paralegal to me!  We see that they have come to visit Dennis, the manager of the laundry which was above the super lab.  As Dennis sits down,  Mike checks outside the window of the meeting room to ensure no one is looking in, and the lawyer puts in his headphones to listen to some music – definitely trying to provide himself with some “plausible deniability”.

Dennis stands up as Mike turns to him, and Mike asks him if he’s heard what happened to Chow.  Dennis heard that he skipped town.  Mike informs him that Chow is dead but that it wasn’t him, wasn’t a message, wasn’t payback, but a mistake by a third-party who’s since been dealt with.  He also tells Dennis that his deal with Fring is still in place.  Dennis explains that he is keeping his mouth shut, that he is doing his time like he’s supposed to and that he isn’t a rat.  The feds have taken away his “hazard pay”, he is worried about money for the support of his family, and losing his pay wasn’t part of the deal.   The feds picked up another one of the guys the day before and he is certain that one of them is going to flip and inform to the DEA.

Episode 502 – “Madrigal”

Madrigal

Bad Ass Quote of the Week

“Nobody’s going to find you Lydia.” – Mike Ehrmantraut

Thoughts on “Madrigal”

A man (the head of Madrigal Electromotive’s Restaurant Division – Peter Schuler) is sitting in a very clean testing kitchen, sampling new dipping sauces prepared by a rather nervous looking group of food chemists.  As Schuler robotically tries each sample, he maintains a morose expression, and offers no comments to the increasingly bewildered looking staff.  His secretary arrives to tell him that “those men have returned, three of them this time” and wish to see him.  Schuler thanks her and dismisses her, along with the chemists, and goes on eating tater tots without trying the dipping sauces.

I am sure that the day after this episode aired, a lot of Baddicts went out and mixed up a batch of the food chemists’ most interesting dipping sauce – “Franch” – half French Dressing and half Ranch.  I”m predicting this will be a “must” for any Breaking Bad finale party!

Schuler then walks through a lobby displaying the corporate logo Madrigal Elektromotoren (we are at the corporate headquarters in Hanover, Germany), and past the logos of various restaurants owned by the company.  The Los Pollos Hermanos logo is being removed, and he pauses to watch it go.

Episode 501 – “Live Free Or Die”

Live Free or Die

Bad Ass Quote of the Week

“Son of a bitch.  Son of a Bitch!  Get outta my way kid!   Let him talk… I am done listening to this asshole talk.  Now get outta my way.” - Mike Ehrmantraut

Thoughts on “Live Free or Die”

The long wait is over, and the new season begins with a flash forward.  On to a paper placemat with an ad entitled “rethinking refreshment” a breakfast plate of eggs, hash browns and bacon is served.   No, it’s not a Walt Jr. scene!  We see Walter White’s hands appear and break the bacon slices in half, forming the number 52 out of them over the breakfast.  The waitress asks. “What happened there?”

Walt says, “It’s my birthday.”

This is a call back to Episode 101, when Walt is greeted by Skyler with a similar breakfast on his 50′th birthday, the number laid out in veggie bacon.  At least he got real bacon this time!

Walt looks completely different.  In addition to a very haggard expression, he has a full head of hair, a full beard and heavily framed glasses.  He is wearing a military style coat.

Season 5 Premiere Week

Breaking Bad Season 5

Hello all Baddicts out there! The premiere of the first episode of Season 5 (or Season 5 A as many are calling it) is only a week away!  I know you are already probably brimming over with excitement!  Here are some things to keep the anticipation building, keep you occupied while you wait, and to get you all ready for the premiere.  In case you are not aware (which I doubt) Episode 501 – “Live Free or Die” will debut on Jul 15, 2012 at 10 pm EDT on AMC. Set your alarm clocks now!

Vince Gilligan and the producers of Breaking Bad have been extremely secretive in preparing this season, stepping up security on the set, and sharing very little in terms of previews and sneak peeks. Aaron Paul discusses this in his interview on the Nerdist Podcast.  I personally try to avoid all sneak peeks as I prefer to watch each episode as “fresh” as possible – then I will gobble up all the extras after I’ve seen it.  I’ll leave it up to you as to whether you check out some of the links I include in this article, and I will try to indicate what level of “spoilers” to expect if you choose to view them.

Why Was Tucker Digging a Hole? What Was Jesse Digging a Hole For? Meth Head Digging a Hole

Tucker’s Hole

Well, I didn’t think I needed to write this article, but Tucker’s Hole gets at least one view a day and sometimes many more hits from people doing an internet search on the questions posed in the title above,  or some version of those questions.   While I thought that what Jesse did (and Tucker followed) was self-evident, apparently has many people confused, and they are looking for a deeper answer.  Since this site is named for this scene, I will attempt to provide a comprehensive answer for you.

The scene in question occurs in Episode 406  ”Cornered”, where Mike and Jesse find themselves outside of the house of “some guys” who have obtained some of Gus / Walt / Jesse’s blue meth from the Mexican Cartel’s theft earlier in the episode.  The Cartel is trying to send a message to Gus through this theft, and Mike has been sent to recover the meth.   Mike tells Jesse that the people in the house they are watching are both users of the product as well as dealing it.   The are also most likely armed.  Mike favours staking out the house, waiting for one of the people to come outside, asking a few questions and getting their property back.  Jesse, of course, does not want to sit in a car staking out a house all day, and favours more direct action.

Season 5 Official Poster Released

Breaking Bad Season 5 Poster

The official poster for Season 5 of Breaking Bad was released today.  How exciting is this?!?!  Only 41 days left to wait!!

Open Questions and Issues for Season 5 to Tackle

Breaking Bad Creator Vince Gilligan

Well, as we enter the month of March we are at the lowest point of the valley between Breaking Bad seasons.  The good news is that Vince Gilligan and the great writers of the show have been back in the writers’ room for a few months now, working hard on the final season of the show.  Only four and a half months or so until we get to see the fruits of their labour, and enjoy the bittersweet taste of saying our 16 episode goodbye to this masterpiece of television.

Of course, after four seasons of the show, there are a number of open-ended questions that need to be answered, and some issues that need resolution.   Knowing how meticulous the writing team is on this show, I am sure they are considering all the angles.   I’ve gone over the episode summaries myself and compiled a list of all the items I could identify that are open to be resolved in Season 5.  Some are fairly minor points, while some loom quite large over the situation we were left with at the end of Season 4.  I don’t expect that we will receive answers to everything, although I would be willing to bet that the writers have given them all some thought.

Here are all the questions and issues I have been able to identify from the first four seasons.

Episode 413 – “Face Off”

Hector Faces Off

Bad Ass Quote of the Week

“I know you despise me.  And I know how badly you want to see me dead.  But I”m willing to bet that I know a man whom you hate even more.  I’m offering you an opportunity for revenge.”  -  Walter White to Tio Hector Salamanca

Thoughts on “Face Off”

After the departure of Gus and his henchmen from the hospital parking garage, the episode opens with Walt racing to disarm and remove his car bomb.  For some reason he doesn’t seem to be concerned about being observed by anyone as he runs and almost dives under Gus’ car.  In typical “Walt can’t get a break” fashion, the flashlight he holds in his mouth to see the bomb flickers on and off.  He then proceeds into the hospital to speak with Jesse – clutching the bomb hidden in a diaper bag.  The magnetic bomb sticks to the door of an elevator in amusing fashion, but also highlights the lack of caution Walt is demonstrating.  I have to assume that Walt must have observed Gus leave the hospital, and therefore does not fear accidentally meeting him inside.