Breaking Bad Season 5 Thread

I, for one, appreciate the Skyler character and Anna Gunn. I think she fits the show. ... So here's what I don't understand. Do the Skyler haters not like:

a) The character of Skyler because of how she treats Walt and other things she does? (hate the character ... ooh, she just makes me so mad)
b) The character of Skyler because she doesn't fit the show? (hate the writing ... want more Walt-Jesse, Walt-Gus, Walt-Hank; less Walt-Skyler)
c) Anna Gunn's portrayal of Skyler (hate the acting)
d) All of the above

If you hate the character, yet the part fits into the storyline, advances the plot, helps you understand the motivations of others around her, etc., then that's fine. I'd say the part and Gunn are doing their job. TV, movies, books, etc., are full of characters we love to hate. ... But that's different than hating that the character's appearance on screen or how an actor plays the part.

Those are three very different things, and I'm not sure enough people distinguish their dislike of Skyler based on one of those things, which leaves me confused about why people don't seem to like her.

As for Marie/Betsy Brandt, I don't think she's a horrible actor. She's a supporting character with only a few scenes and even fewer really important ones. I thought she nailed it last week in the confrontation with Skyler. But Brandt's also in a show with some great, great actors. Cranston, Paul, Banks, Esposito, Odenkirk and now Norris showing his chops -- perhaps her work just appears subpar by comparison.

 

I used to not understand the Skylar hate. Then, when someone mentioned this handjob scene, I thought I was going nuts, because I surely would have remembered a scene like that. Turns out Gilligan removed that scene from the first episode and it's not on the Netflix episode now. (I was with the show from pretty much the beginning but saw the first episode after that scene was taken out). So, I wonder if the pro-Skylar/anti-Skylar camps can be pretty much divided into those who were introduced to her with that scene vs. those who were not.

FWIW, my Breaking Bad pet peeve (and I love the show like I haven't loved anything on TV since the heyday of The Sopranos), is this whole "Walt never cared about Jesse/Mike cared about Jesse" crap. Um, no, Walt could have stayed out of it, let Jesse get shot by the drug dealers he was going after (as Mike told him to in his great monologue in "Half Measures") and been just fine. Now, further developments might show that those actions dealt more with control than with concern, but I think the truest interpretation of that sequence is that Walt cared/cares for Jesse and Mike, up to that point, thought he was a useless junkie. So why doesn't Walt tell Jesse any of this when Jesse keeps throwing Mike in Walt's face?
That being said, great show.

 

You sound like you know the que. I was trying to remember the name of the Mexican place in Albuquerque that was a converted bowling alley. Ate there a number of years ago and it was crazy good. Any help?

 

Gilligan didn't remove it. AMC did, to make the episode 48 minutes instead of 58 on reruns.

And I watched the show on Netflix and hadn't seen that scene until two weeks ago, when I read about it and borrowed a coworker's DVD to see the full pilot.

 

There's a place called Sadies that used to be inside a bowling alley. It's possibly my favorite Mexican restaurant in the city. The main restaurant is located on Fourth Street and they now have three other locations.

 

It's not that Walt doesn't care about Jesse or Skyler or the kids or even Hank and Marie. It's that he doesn't care about any of them or anything quite as much as he cares about his own pride.

 

Fair enough. I still think that scene is the main divide between the awful-Skylar vs. OK-Skylar camps. Thanks for correction on AMC and not Gilligan, you are correct.

 

I think the distinction is important because Vince Gilligan deciding to remove it would have shown some remorse for his early portrayal of Skyler.

But as I said, I disliked Skyler from the beginning before seeing that scene.

 

But he was the subject of one of the best lines, when Hank referred to Walt Jr. as "Emo McGee".

 

This week's deus ex machina ... the threatening-looking bald guy in the Plaza!

Second place goes to Hank following Jesse to Walt's house, though that's at least somewhat plausible.

I figured the show would pit Jesse vs. Walt. It's as it should be, I just wish it would take some sounder routes to get there.

 

You don't think that Jesse would look for anyone who looked remotely threatening and think they might be working for Walt?

I think Gilligan has handled the first four episodes as well as possible. I definitely think the show has issues, but you also seem to be seeking them out at times even when they're not there, Bubbler.

 

I thought it was Walt leaving messages on Jesse's Hello Kitty cell phone.