Breaking Bad Season 5 Thread

I thought it was an unsubtle comparison to the meth business, including the branding talk

 

I think it might have been a subtle hint that the world of legit and illegal business isn't really all that different. I think overall though, the point of that scene was for Walt to see his family one last time as a peaceful unit before everything goes to hell.
It's my assumption that regardless of what happens at the end of this gunfight that Walt is on his own from now on and is unlikely to return to a normal life before becoming the guy we've seen in the flash forwards.

 

The next episode is entitled "Ozymandias," which is the title of a Shelley poem about the decline of a desert empire. Pretty self-explanatory.

The one after that (the penultimate episode of the series) is "Granite State," an obvious reference to New Hampshire, the home state of one "Mr. Lambert."

The finale is entitled "Felina," which is the name of the woman/love interest in Marty Robbins' "El Paso." In the song, the hero dies in the "badlands of New Mexico."

 

I thought she was trying to keep Walt Jr from going home or at least keep him where she could keep an eye on him until she heard that Jesse had been taken care of so was no longer a threat.

 

I think she was too but that long shot right before Walt heads up, the deliberate pause on Skylar and Walt Jr, led me to believe Walt won't see them again.

 

"AMC and Sony Pictures Television confirmed today that they have reached a licensing agreement for a spinoff of Vince Gilligan's landmark AMC/SPT series 'Breaking Bad.' As conceived, the new series is based on the show’s popular Saul Goodman character with the working title 'Better Call Saul.' Plans call for Saul to be a one-hour prequel that will focus on the evolution of the popular Saul Goodman character before he ever became Walter White’s lawyer."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/11/breaking-bad-spinoff-better-call-saul-prequel_n_3909001.html

 

If it's a prequel, does that mean we can assume he bites it?

 

Or that there's just more room to tell Saul's stories if you do it as a prequel. By the time this series ends, alive or dead, no one is going to be the same. In Saul's case, his lead investigator is dead, his bodyguard turned into a fat rat, he might be incarcerated for his dealings with Walt and Co. (and his role as an accomplice in several murders), or simply have his reputation shattered when his association with Albuquerque's biggest drug kingpin is revealed publicly.
Do it as a prequel and you can do whatever you want with him. As a bonus, you get to bring back Mike and Gus, and maybe even Jesse (it was his idea to hook up with Saul in the first place, meaning he'd likely had previous dealings with him).

 

I also think it depends on the direction they take the show. Saul has always been a bit of comic relief and if the show steers toward that direction, you've got to imagine he survives the finale if for no other reason than the fact that it'll be kind of hard to find humor watching a character you know is going to get it in the end.
If they want a serious drama akin to Breaking Bad itself, he very well might die but I don't think he's that important a character that going in this direction, ala the prequel route, is really necessary.
I'll watch it for the crazy antics he'd no doubt get into but I don't think I'd tune in to watch a serious character study of the man.

 

Does anyone else think this show has benefited greatly from flying under the radar, really, until this half season?
Even with all the Emmy wins it was overshadowed a bit by Mad Men, Walking Dead, Lost and even The Wire and Sopranos. It seems like by the time people started to truly discover Breaking Bad, it was hitting its stride in Season 4. New fans didn't have to endure some of the growing pains all shows go through early on. Gus Fring's death was a "holy shit" moment that made more people check it out, then the first half of Season 5 was an appetizer for the delicious main course we're getting now.
And, of course, the show has taken off like a rocket for the final episodes.

This show feels, to me, like a great indie band that's finally hitting it big. There was some critical buzz and a small, devoted audience; they had a minor hit or two that gained mainstream attention; then the monster hit that made them superstars.
It's an odd evolution, but I think the show is better for it. Unlike, say, Lost, Breaking Bad was never under the microscope and picked apart by a huge audience until it was in its final stages and at its best. It could chart its own course and not have to worry about what people would think until it was too late to change it. It also might have helped it wrap up when it should, and not stick around an extra season or two as a cash grab.

 

I don't think they'll dial it back too far in the way back machine. Still, I'd love for the show to trace Saul's "rise" to where he is. I have to think there is a juicy role for a "mentor-type" (Wendell Pierce, Ed Olmos, Joe Pantoliano, Hector Elizando) where Saul learns the tricks of the trade.

 

I discovered Breaking Bad and Mad Men about the same time a couple of years ago. Started with Mad Men; I had a weekend with nothing to do and decided to give it a try, binge-watched until I was current, then started looking for something else and did the same thing with Breaking Bad. Then I went with Sports Nite, then Big Bang Theory. I'm almost to the point where I hate waiting a week for a new show, although I'm discovering a week is better than several months, as with House of Cards.