Raw Data: Felina - Part 1

Breaking Bad series finale "Felina"
Episode 5-16

Written and directed by series creator Vince Gilligan

Part 1 - Redemptions

The previous seven episodes have been a rapidly rising action to the show's ultimate climax and resolution, a literal rush with fast moving cars, big guns firing and lots of yelling.  "Felina" chronicles the deliberate movements of Walt to settle all family business, as befitting a series finale.

Walt's at his lowest in Granite State, living in a cabin apart from society which he dare not contact for fear of being arrested.  His life as Heisenberg is completely exposed and his wife and son reject him for it.  His partner ratted him out to the law, and his brother-in-law, whom Hank cares for despite being arrested by him, is killed as an indirect result of Walt's activities.  All this so Walt could earn $80 million.  Except most of that $80 million is out of Walt's reach.  And the (relatively) little money he does have left, he cannot get to due to the above mentioned law or the above mentioned rejection by his wife and son.  Even after getting out of the game and bumbling around as car wash Joe for a few months, Walt can't shake what he has wrought.  If anything, getting out of the game only dulled his senses, making him less sharp than when he was Heisenberg, and unable to wriggle out of his final debacle.  Reflecting on this, and finally reaching out to his son, this very smart many finally realizes all this.  Walt is in disbelief that it's all for nothing, that all his efforts for his family tore his family apart and can do nothing to repair them.

Soooooooooo.....


He knows he has little time left.  So he has three objectives.

• get the money to his family, like he planned
• make peace with his family
• get revenge

 If he can accomplish these three things then he can die with a sense of satisfaction.

Maybe Walt has the epiphany of realizing his own faults as he watches Charlie Rose.  Maybe Charlie Rose is only the inspiration for how to accomplish Goal 1.  Either way, it sets him on the final journey.  Walt is starting from the lowest point possible, both in terms of disadvantage and in terms of what his character has become, so he can only gain/redeem from here.

When Walt becomes conscious of what he is, a man who wanted to be a drug kingpin for his own sense of accomplishment, and not to benefit his family as he kept telling himself, he almost ascends to a higher plane of existence.   Walt had put the Heisenberg hat on to hopefully experience that persona one last time.  But by the time he's back to Albuquerque, he's not wearing the hat.  To say he is a man with nothing to lose is too simplistic.  He still has goals he wants to accomplish.  And now, armed with finally being sentient about what he is, he has become some sort of uber-Heisenberg.

Uber-Heisenberg is incredibly soft spoken.  He does not raise his voice, instead speaking softly, but even more intimidatingly.  UH is willing to let his enemies think less of him, in order to gain more later on (allowing opinions Heisenberg would never have tolerated).  And he's able to connect with his wife again by not lying for what may be the second time in the entire show.  And he's able to not lie to her because he's no longer lying to himself about his motives.

UH waltzes into Elliot and Gretchen's house without the slightest bit of sweat or even urgency.  He disarms Elliot with a word.  UH does these things without a weapon in hand and wholly on his reputation.  Knowing that Grey Matter has much to lose, including their lives, UH extorts them into getting the cash to Junior, bluffing his way through the threat of a hit if they do not comply (Regular Heisenberg could lie but not bluff).  UH is able to do this because 1) the vehicle for delivery is plausible but only because 2) UH has reached the conclusion that if he is truly going to do anything for his family (which he has not yet) he needs to be far removed from any credit.  Remember back when Junior set up the Web site and Saul laundered the money through there, Walt was still upset because he wasn't getting credit for earning the money.  UH is finally at peace regarding credit, so he can deliver the money via Grey Matter.  And maybe there is some bonus in there for Walt knowing it's getting to Junior because of his complete and utter domination of the Schwartzes.  They may be rich but they have to do what he says.  Turns out, he was the brains of the operation.

Goal 1 accomplished.

Skyler and Walt were at their lowest when the lies were at their worst and most obvious.  That's when she went to Ted and that's when she kicked a recovering Walt out of the house.  As she became more complicit in the meth business, their relationship actually started to recover and was practically normal by the time Walt got out of the game (on her advice).  The point is it wasn't the meth but the lying that drove them apart.

Because UH is finally aware of his motivations, he can admit them to Skyler and they reconcile as much as can be expected, with Walt providing Hank and Gomie's resting place as penance.

Finally, Walt needs revenge.  It may or may not be more satisfactory than Goals 1 and 2, but is a different kind of satisfaction, and maybe one felt more viscerally by the viewers.

Not long ago, Walt sat in a dingy hotel room engineering prison hits and a hit on his former partner with a group of Nazis.  And you had to think, how did we get here, where a high school chemistry teacher is working hand in hand with the worst of the worst to do the worst things.

Having taken out his opposition, some worthier than others, at every level of the meth game, then conquering the international market, and currently on the run from the law (who, in reality, are the good guys) the only group left opposing Walt are Lydia and Uncle Jack & Co. who, since Todd's introduction last year, have been exactly what they seem to be, psychos with no redeeming qualities.

On Lydia: Walt feigned a much more severe illness than he had to make Lydia and Todd drop their guards.  Being UH allowed him to let someone think less of him, whereas Heisenberg would do everything he could to make his opposition think he is at his strongest.  The ploy is the opening salvo in UH's final Batman Gambit*. 

* Another one was guessing Gus would go see Tio

Walt, I think, placed the ricin at the table he knew Lydia would sit at.  He doesn't appear to switch it after sitting.  Notably, there is only one bag of Stevia at the table she sits at and Walt notes her being a creature of habit.  He admitted how he got the date and time but did not share that he got the meeting all the way down to the table she's select.

On Jack: Walt required the utility they possessed but viewers attained no empathy for these characters.  They then enslaved Jesse, the character everyone was still rooting for, too boot.  So putting Walt in opposition to these guys give the viewers a reason to hope he succeeds.  Walt knows they're going to kill him and manages to set his car up with the gun and the Tinker Toys, positioning the trunk so it aims at the blockhouse.  While Walt didn't initially intend to save Jesse, he ultimately did after seeing what Jack and Todd had done to him.

And with a gutshot, UH is able to simultaneously beat the law and the cancer.

Was Walt redeemed?  I would say Walt was redeemed to the maximum extent possible. 

Coming later, random episode observations and comparisons to the most recent biggest television finale event.

Acres of Diamonds - BE

Boardwalk Empire episode 4-03 "Acres of Diamonds"

Written by series creator and former Sopranos writer Terrence Winter

Directed by Allen Coulter.  I'll just pick one of the many awesome television episodes he's had a hand in.  The Sopranos - 'University"

• I wonder if "Nucky in the bowler" figure is supposed to be their version of the Don Draper silhouette or a call to The Son of Man
• I would say, despite Steve McQueen's presence, the remake of Thomas Crown is superior to the original
• Acres of Diamonds is the speech the students listen to at Temple 
• The content of which seemingly has more to do with Narcisse and Chalky than Mini Thompson
• Funny to see crime discussed so candidly before wire taps and such.  Hoover would change that
• If only business in the real world was conducted in four minute scenes.  
• A few old timey prhases
• See you in the funny papers
• Like fun!
• Skeeter, young, ambitious and scam-my reminds me of Nathan Israel from Luck...an awesome character on an awesome show
• I thought this character was going to feature more prominently and not simply a vehicle to show Nucky's ability to sniff out a scam prior to him passing on the deal with the hillbilly
•  Mini Thompson looks a lot like Lyle Lovett with that hair
• He also exaggerated a bit about Henry being his friend.  He just wants to get in with the cool kid
• Henry is a bit of a ridiculous after-school-show-type bully and I can't imagine any scenario where this loser go to the top of the cool kid pyramid
•  Gillian sees a rich man, successful in business, but indecisive personally, and an opportunity to insert herself.  He has no idea what a hot mess she is
• Call back to NotJimmy's hometown
• Stranger approaching her about NotJimmy (which was a bit too convenient, but whatever)
• Passing out or dazed long enough in the bathroom on heroin for her ice cream to melt
• They've been slowly introducing heroin for a while.  Two significant scenes involving it, with Gillian and with Narcisse/Purnsley
• And Lucky and Lansky are no where to be found in this episode
• Michael K. Williams channels The Wire stating shit flows downhill. 
• When Richard was in the barn I thought they were going to fade into a flashback
• Oh no!  A woman singing!  The music scenes on this show go on too long and ruin !
• Oh wait, this isn't Treme?  Okay, it's fine then.
• When Lyle Lovett and company are drinking in the basement I thought about how hilarious that adults would probably hate their music and be like "These kids, bah humbug!  And their new timey music!" 
• The end song sounded like Eddie Cantor or the guy who plays Eddie Cantor on this show. 
• Sir Not Appearing in this Episode
• Van Alden/Mueller
• Margarent AGAIN
• Eli
• Lucky and Lansky
• Capone, Torrio, O'Bannion and the rest of the Outfit
• Bodycount - 3 (12 for the season)
• Billings thug - Richard in the barnwith the (hidden up the sleeve) knife
• Billings - Richard's sister Emma with the shotgun in the barn IN THE FAAAAAAAACE
• HillbillyTucker - Nucky's dumbidiot land deal friend McCoy with the machete in the bedroom IN THE FAAAAAAAACE
• Where did that machete come from? Jesus!  How did he get enough separation between him and Tucker to grab A MACHETE and DRIVE THE MACHETE INTO HIS FAAAAAAAAAAAAACE
• The tight camera on McCoy and his dazed manner meant something was up.  Maybe McCoy can weekend at Bernie's this with Nucky.  Probably not because we saw how savvy Nucky is earlier with Skeeter

Narcisse comments, out of Chalky's earshot, that Chalky is still seeking the approval of white people (that would be very important.......to you) contrasting with Narcisse who sits with AR and has no problem conveying his displeasure with a perceived insult.  In that meeting with AR, I think Narcisses wants to do just that in order to get across a larger point (beyond the perceived insult) that Narcisse isn't the type of person to stand for insults, actual or imagined.  Later, he sees an opportunity with Purnsley (not unlike how Gillian saw one with Mr. Piggly Wiggly)and inserts himself as another option for Purns.  Purns mentions he was never friends with Chalky. True, considering they met in jail where Chalky had him beat up for mouthing off.
 
"Take care and God Bless!"

One left of Breaking Bad

Guys, there is only one episode left of Talking Bad!

But seriously, forks...


I did not initially like Breaking Bad.

Fortunately, I picked it up on DVD through Season Three and caught up just in time to start Season Four, immediately following when Jesse shoots Gale in the face.  IN THE FAAAAACE!!!!!

But I really did not like it at first.  In fact, I stopped watching after a few episodes.  But when I heard the opinions of people who I respect say it improves, I gave it another shot and actually started from the beginning again.

I'm not a fan of shows where the main character has a big secret.  To clarify, a secret the audience is aware of.  The character spends all his time and energy keeping that secret and there's little plot beyond narrowly getting caught during his latest adventure.  If the secret is also kept from the audience as well as the other characters, that is a different, more interesting story as in Mad Men.  Even after the audience discovers his secret in Nixon v Kennedy, the premise of the show is not how Don hides his secret from his family, but still focuses on life in the 1960s.  His family finding out is almost ancillary to the rest of the show.  The result of Betty finding out is that it puts Don in a new situation and also helps continue to tell the story of life in the 1960s.*
 
* It's important to say "life in the" and not simply "the 60s" because in that case you get a terrible television move like The 70s

 Walt spent a lot of time frantically hiding things from Skyler and company.  His lies started small (I buy weed from Jesse) and got bigger (the fugue state) until he spilled the beans about his second cell phone.  The "hiding a secret" schtick reached its worst when Walt was hiding in the RV from Hank, saved only by the Junk Yard Guy lawyering him to safety.

This for me is when the show finally kicked into gear.  Skyler became complict in Walt's shenanigans which was important just for the fact that he didnt have to hide things anymore.  But the organized crime aspect of the show was brought in. The additions of criminal lawyer Saul Goodman and Chicken Man Gus Fring allowed a whole new level of crime drama.  Suddenly, there was crime to be had across the border and across the ocean.  The operation was huge and Gustavo's outfit was able to introduce henchmen at will.

By this time, Walt had gone so far around the bend toward Scarface that even when the organized crime aspect was blown away in "Face Off", the power vacuum and the criminal element of Todd's extended family was more the enough to keep the show going strong or even stronger...much better than the "hope my wife doesn't find out" plotline.

Stories like that are inherently limiting.  The only way shows can survive is to re-boot the show, take it to another setting and blow the cover off the hidden identity (Alias, Homeland).  If they become like The Riches and did and focus of the gypsies past rather than how they can adapt and move forward in new surroundings, they don't stand a chance.

Breaking Bad broke free of that, both discarding the secrecy of his double life and expanding the universe and changing the setting. 

Always Sunny made the best 'Wire' joke of all

In "The Gang Tries Desperately Win an Award", Always Sunny takes down the Emmys four days before they air.  Not bothering to conceal any frustration or veil the reference to the Academy of Television Arts & Science., they instead focus on the curious fascination ATAS has with set up/punchlines, rapport and lighting and do so in the disturbed and foul manner Always Sunny perfected over the last nine years.

More than the slights offered via the Middle America theme song, non-threatening pretty girl or the harsh lighting, one item stood out as commentary on the Emmy process.

Standing in solidarity with another Emmy perennial snubee*, the episode includes another appearance by Chad L. Coleman (Cutty from The Wire) and a comment about not wanting to be too black. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is how you make a joke about The Wire, by subtly incorporating your knowledge about the show (and their being slighted when it came award time... likely due in part to the East Coast, minority heavy cast) into the context of the plot in order to make a point.  Not by referencing The Wire ("This is just like The Wire!"  "blah blah blah, Omar!") and letting the reference itself stand as the joke.**  Simply mentioning The Wire to let other people know that you are smart and know it exists is not enough to be funny.

* They did receive two writing nominations for 3-11 "Middle Ground" ("Get on with it moth-") and "-30-" the series finale.


** Looking at you Happy Endings.  Or whatever other shows  exist as the physical manifestation of Stuff White People Like

In the end, the proprietors of Paddy's drive the demo out of the bar in a way that epitomizes the show and where it exists in relation to the mainstream...by spitting on them.

Raw Data: Granite State

Breaking Bad episode 5-15 (#7 this year) "Granite State"

Written and directed by Peter Gould who also pulled double duty on "Problem Dog" a few years ago.

• I was wondering what the vacuum guy was going to look like.  I figured they'd cast a Jonathan Banks/Mike Ehrmantraut-type person again as in a guy with old man strength.
• I don't think they ever give the character a name, which would make sense.  Saul said previously he doesn't know the guy, he just has the number
• I'm betting the character as some sort of Vietnam war service background
• Maybe they'll tell us on Conan tonigh, but I doubt it.  Too small a thing to focus on.
• The credit doesn't appear on Robert Forster's IMDB page but I wouldn't be surprised if they were keeping it quiet on purpose
• But I remember him from The Descendants, specifically, punching that kid in the face
• So we'll call him Mr. Forster out of respect for his old man strength
• Mr Forster takes Saul's photo and it all feels a lot like the end of Homeland last season
• Saul is so deflated.  This season he's been the opposite of his boisterous and loud self, with the colorful pocket squares and such.  Everyone is simply beaten down.
• Saul's still offering counsel, good counsel, as Walt's consigliere.  
• These last few episodes, and this is punctuated by the flashback they had to Walt and Jesse's first cook, but you have to take notice about how different the show and characters are now
• Did you think the show would take us to a bunch of Nazis watching a video of DEA evidence?
• On that, Todd smiles a bit, proud of his handy work with the kid from "Dead Freight"
• Todd is liable to fall into that trap of always wanting more.  Like the money doesn't matter and is just a way to keep score at how successful they are
• Be careful or you'll be like that girl at the end of The Last Crusade trying to grab the grail instead of taking Indy's other hand.
•  Walt still gives his family as his excuse for everything.  It's to the point where he's so far gone he can't see what the reality is.  After all, it's not a lie if you believe it. 
• So far his family is 1) Dead 2) facing trial 3) widowed 
• I think it is safe to go with the initial thought and say the BFG is meant for Jack and company
• Maybe Walt saves Jesse is some sort of partial redemption?
• After Jesse survived the shootout at To'hajiilee, I wondered if he wasn't killed there he's not going to get killed.  
•  Skyler, wearing her whites or cream colors, is utterly drained when talking to the U.S. Attorney.  
• We don't even need to hear what he said.  Or anything about her public defender.  Just looking at that scene tells you what you need to know
• Todd cleans himself up and puts on a shirt with buttons and a color for Lydia!  He's even drinking tea to share her interests
• Walt hasn't been Heisenberg this year.  He hasn't put on the black hat yet.  Until now.  So maybe Walt is going to be able to step into those shoes again, even if it's a crazy suicide mission to get even with Jack
• Jesse pulls off a Walter White-esque escape plan
• They tend to pass time quickly in late season episodes and is the only time they do so.  Like immediately before Skyler kicked out Walt, or as they moved things along in "Gliding Over it All"
• Dimple Pinch does not seem to be a particularly pricey or praised brand of scotch
• Or maybe Walt's going to gun down Grey Matter.
• We know his pride and his missed opportunity and unrealized potential are huge motivators for why he does what he does
• His hubris reaches new heights when he tries to bully Saul into continuing.  Until he's literally brought to his knees
• The comment that he had "virtually nothing to do" with the company could kill him faster than the cancer.  Or maybe he will anger the cancer out of him.  Both are entirely plausible and either way it re-charges him.
•  I'm unclear if Walt was going to turn himself into the DEA, or if he planned on misdirecting them the whole time.

The scene where Walt gets treatment from Mr. Forster is interesting.  Walt hasn't had any human contact, and maybe walked to that gate every day with the intention of leaving but could never bring himself to do so.  He grouses at first at the cabin about a $50,000 Costco run, but Mr. Forster's next visit, he's ready to hand him stacks for a couple hours time.  Considering Walt's aversion to spending too much money (such as paying off Mike's guys to stay quiet) and that he quickly accedes to his demand of only one hour it's easy to see how broken Walt is.

Walt hasn't trusted anyone in a long time.  Mr. Forster offers him the cut.  The cut is both practical and an etiquette thing.  It reduces the opportunity to cheat and also puts everything above board simply to make everyone comfortable.  In a non-money game it literally means nothing, but is just one of those things you do when playing cards.  Walt who was not very happy with Mr. Forster doing what was necessary, declines to cut the cards.  Later on, even his attempt to send Junior and Skyler some cash fails.  He's broken to the point of knowing nothing he does matters and there's no changing it. 

Breaking Bad cast on Conan

Two episodes to go, so where better to get ready for the finale than on Conan? 

The cast will appear on Monday's Conan in advance of the final episode. 

Conan and Andy have mentioned Breaking Bad in almost every recent show, and have long been fans of it.  Conan even conducted an interview with the cast a while back, which I mentioned in an old post.

Set the DVR for TBS on Monday at 11:00.  If you're like me, that conflicts with The Daily Show and Olbermann, so figure out how to record one of the repeats one of of those shows later that night.  Gotta get the Hoppah!

Resignation - BE

Boardwalk Empire Episode 4-02 "Resignation"

Written by Howard Korder, from last week, and Dennis Lehane, the Massachusetts novelist (Gone Baby Gone, Mystic River) who was drafted into television writing on The Wire.  One of the raesons that show was so good was because they pulled from crime authors like him and George Pellecanos.  Lehane wrote "Dead Soldiers" from Season Three, which included that wake at the bar for Det. Cole (who in real life was played by the recently passed executive producer Robert F. Colesberry.  The scene includes an eloquent eulogy from Landsman.

Directed by Alik Sakharov, oftten director of photography for Game of Thrones and Sopranos

• Kelly McDonald is second billed and still has not appeared in an episode
• Time check!
• The only "resignation" I recall is Harry Daugherty's (the uber corrupt A.G.), announced in the paper, which puts us at April 6, 1924
• Which means some liberties are taken with the Chicago storyline, considering Frank Capone died in real life that week
• No surprise seeing J. Edgar make an appearance
•  After Richard murders the population of the Midwest, he cannot shoot his dog
• This is one of those moments where I'm thinking, Boardwalk is a good but not great show
• This episode follows the current cable formula of introducing the new seasonal villains in the first two episodes, while also introducing existing characters to new surroundings (Eddie, Richard)
• I imagine that will happen for Margaret next week
• At the current pace, this season is going to either last for 30 episodes or have some intense action from episode 8-13, Justified style)
• Clearly responding to my comment last week, Nucky, sitting in with Chalky's meeting, actually says he is just helping out a friend
• Chalky's leadership internship is going relatively well until he loses his find and threatens Narcisse about sixteen times
• Chalky has to already be hot from the head rub earlier in the episode. 
• More on Chalky, the question of him being able to read rises again
• Body count - 3 (9 for the season)
• Mrs. Pastor (the doctor's henchman on the side of the road, with the rope)
• The loan officer (Unknown but probably the guy who contracted Richard to do it, in his office, with the revolver)
• Dog (Richard's sister in the yard with the pistol)

"Take care and God bless!"

Raw Data: Election Night - Part 2

Episode 2-09
"Election Night Part 2"

This is the season finale to Season Two.

Written by Aaron Sorkin

Directed by Alan Poul, one of the shows executive producer, directing his third episode this season

Somewhat surprised Sorkin did not direct an episode this season.  He is supposedly gearing up to direct "The Politician" which is a movie he is adapting about John Edwards' fall.

• Saying "The Great State of..." is a lot like saying the "Fightin' ...." for whatever Congressional district
• Maggie, who looks a lot like that Kristen Wigg character from SNL, "found" this quote that got fed to her
• The debate had about how to proceed on Petreaus was pretty interesting.  It happened fast, which is I imagine how these decisions need to happen in real life.  There's not always the benefit of hindsight.  It was a rational and logical decision making process
• A source of conflict we haven't seen explored is between Jim and Will with Mac in the middle, but this episode sets that up nicely to take place next season
• A bunch of relationships no one cares about coming together in the finale is pretty much what happened at the end of Studio 60
• Maggie Cut! Her! Own! Hair!
• This puts her at the intellectual level of the four year old neighbor kid who got hold of the clippers.
• If Will were within earshot of Don's rant about ironing clothes while wearing them he, as a former pitcher, may have shared an anecdote about Braves pitcher John Smoltz
• This girl at the part is hilarious and obviously just joshin' with Lisa.  You can tell by the way she talks down to her and says she's joking.  Isn't that the best?
• Treating the waiter poorly is oen of those 'kick the dog' moments
• Nice reminder from Will about the bias of objectivity, probably the central point to this whole show
• Larry Deltagamma doesn't appear in this episode either, but everyone (Charlie, Leona, Reese, etc) agrees he is the worst, but only because Reese and Leona have likely not met Maggie 

So that caps a second, improved, season of Newsroom.  We saw the show gain steam in the later episodes of Season One, and it carried over well into Season Two.  The lawsuit has to carry into the next season, I imagine, even though the actor who plays Larry Deltagamma, like the actor who played Bob Benson on Mad Men, will be busy on his soon to be cancelled sitcom.  But they can likely play out the scene with little or minimal involvement from that character.  At the very least they will need to tell us the outcome via exposition.  While this episode ends on an optimistic note for the news team, it's possible to have some reverberating affects for the characters from the lawsuit, as I could not imagine them winning outright.

With no election, and Genoa done with, I'm wondering what will be the common thread throughout next season.  Even Season One did not have a clear theme throughout it, much of how the news team behaved, including their preference for facts and journalism, was in reaction to the Tea Party.  Season Two was maybe Sorkin's first attempt to tie an entire season together by a single storyline*

* You could argue the Bartlet re-election runs most of Season Three and into Season Four.  But the best example of a continued story is probably episodes 2-17 "The Stackhouse Filibuster" through 2-22 "Two Cathedrals" and the build up to the MS breaking.  That is only six episodes though.

I mentioned this above, but the show is set up for some major conflicts between Jim and Will next season.  It will be interesting to see Will having a friend, besides Charlie.  There is always the possibility of Charlie becoming a raging alcoholic.  Will and Mac and Don and Sloane will obviously have troubles.  If you are not Coach and Mrs. Coach you cannot be a happy television couple.

Raw Data: Ozymandias

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Sunday Night Television

My dad used to go to pro wrestling, as in WWF.  He's say you can go to a baseball or hockey game...it may be a good game or a lousy one, a close one or a blow out, and your team may win or lose.  Nothing's guaranteed.  But when you go see pro wrestling, you're guaranteed a good show.

Why someone would watch a Sunday Night Football game with no stake it in, rather than Breaking Bad baffles me.

"Ozymandias" thoughts manana.

New York Sour - BE

"New York Sour"
Written by Howard Korder who also wrote next week's episode

Directed by the always badass Tim Van Patten

Previously on Boardwalk Empire, a complete sociopath showed up in the premiere and predictably left thirteen episodes later.

I am going to try to tag real life "spoilers" in blue.  These are historical facts which may or may not factor in the show that have not already occurred in the show's timeline.

• Eddie is making his way along a bit slower, but he's alive folks!
• The Richard Harrow Murder Tour '24 has reached a Midwest swing where he takes out two guys at a rest stop in Warsaw, IN.  
• I'm unclear on Richard's victims and what earned them their fate, but maybe I am not supposed to know
• Warsaw appears to be on Route 30, the third longest in the country which begins in AC ending in Oregon
• Based on the references to Missouri, Cicero, Chicago, Milwaukee and other rust belt locations it sounds like this season may focus heavily on the Midwest, giving them their own storylines rather than simply in reaction to activities in AC
• The Vaudeville scenes, always strong in the past, continue to be strong here
•  Body count - 6
• Guy 1 in Warsaw (Richard with the knife in the parking lot)
• Guy 2 in Warsaw (Richard with the pistol in the parking lot)
• Franklin Warren, president of something (Richard with the pistol in the office)
• FBI guy who played a crackhead in the Sopranos ("Otis" with the booby trap in the garage)
• I was thinking it was nice they expand some of the characters already introduced rather than only rely on Season Four introductions.  Then he bit it
• Otis (Warren Knox near the garage with the pistol )
• Dickie Paster (Pursley in the bedroom with the broken bottle.  A billion times in the neck.)
• Not sure if Purs was originally planned to expand into Chalky's right hand.  His first scene seemed like he'd be a throwaway character.
• Lansky and Luciano are on the outs but each teamed up with a benefactor, AR and Joe the Boss
• Chalky is annoyed but not belligerent with Purs.  He's more like "You did the hole, Purs" and Purs is like "I don't give a fuck, what is this the first hole I dug?"
• Seems like a low level meeting for Nuck, but maybe it's just cause he's so close with Chalky
• In ideal Boardwalk world, Chalky gets a ton of screentime this season, finally
• Time check
• Woodrow Wilson died February 3, 1924
• Was a Republican year in national elections with the GOP taking the House (added to majority), Senate (took control) and White House (Coolidge elected as incumbent following Harding's death) but we are about nine months from that
• J. Edgar Hoover is appointed head of the Bureau of Investigation
• Warren Knox Verbal Kints everyone. 
• He was just enough of a rube that I didn't think it was excessive
• The most by the book Chechov's gun I've seen in a while
• Maybe Nucky takes a sabbatical to Florida
• I guess we'll spend a bunch of time on an Al Capone inferiority complex
• Torrio eventually hands off control to Capone, peacefully, if you are wondering
• Sir Not Appearing in this Film
• Van Alden/George Mueller/whatever name he's going by, and his hilarious weird cadence
• Margaret and her amazing hair
• Jeffrey Wright, the focal point of all the previews for this season 

"Take care and God bless!"

Raw Data: Election Night - Part I

Thoughts and observations for episode 2-08 "Election Night Part I"

Written by Aaron Sorkin

Directed by Jason Ensler who also did a post-Sorkin episode of West Wing.

• Ugh.  Couldn't they make it "ACN 2012 Election Coverage" instead of putting "ACN" and "Election" together to make their titles start with "ACNE"
• Mac looks awful, for her
• Old Will, pre-Yosemite?! Will would not have cared enough about the show or the people who work there to appoint himself director of morale
• Did they bring the funny?
• "I'm sorry we don't meet your East Cost intellectual standards (of facts)"
• "What'd I do?" - Elliot
• Elliot was as incredulous as Huel was in Breaking Bad.  He didn't do anything to anyone and couldn't believe his treatment here
• Speaking of Elliot, it was great to see him walk into their mathematical center for calling races and show how dumb that is.  Nothing like calling attention to the basic facts of what someone says or does to show how dumb it is, like how Will was repeating some of the GOP candidates quotes verbatim to show how ridiculous they sound.  Sorkin didn't comment on the media here, he just showed one of the dumb things cable news does, and looking at it through this lens, it's easier to say "wow, that is dumb"
•  Again Elliot, walking around before the camera cuts to hime and then getting caught on camera with his back turned.  He was very Phil Dunphy-esque in this episode
• "My mom says I can't" - Reese
• Maggie, who lets her kid watch his iPad at full volume while you wait in the doctor's office, is somehow among those who would resign in wake of Genoa.  When Mac does not rate high enough to fire in making an example, what in the world make's it worth mentioning some random incompetent associate producer?
• Barely a mention of Harry Alabama, except for now Don's being sued.  Don was the most upset at Harry directly for the doctored tape so it would make sense Harry would target him for a recommendation
• Don calls him a sociopath.  Unfortunately, some of the best evidence of Harry being a sociopath is Harry setting up Don like this
• Maggie, submarine screen door installer/user, is somehow able to insult Jim with impunity
• Will's comeback to Taylor of not letting her "float an allegation then pretend it's universally agreed upon"  Excellent.  Don't accept the false premise.
• I wonder if ACN is going to be handcuffed about Petreaus like they were about Benghazi.
• The energy in the newsroom before the polls close is something Studio 60 could never match because the stakes were never high enough.

What people will be upset about
Everyone being so eager and righteous to sacrifice themselves for the good of the network and their journalistic honor.  Taking responsibility?  Well, it is fiction.  And it could easily run off the rails and sound preachy.  But I think two things hold it back.  One is Leona's spite.  She wants to do the honorable thing with regarding to Harry Alabama, but I think she is motivated more by spite than anything.  Second is that I think Mac is more depressed than anything about Genoa.  She's concerned about her credibility and her name and how she's ever going to be taken seriously again.  Understandably, it's difficult to come into work each day and continue to report the news, which includes Genoa unfortunately.

When Sorkin's characters are upset or depresed, they have a tendency to become singularly focused on a seemingly unrelated item.  In SportsNight, Jeremy focuses on a lost sailboat in "The Sword of Orion" when he's dealing with the revelation of his father's longtime affair.  Here, Mac wants to correct her Wikipedia page with regard to the college she attended.  The pajama people will no doubt get upset and claim this as another example of Sorkin, screenwriter of The Social Network, hating the Internet.  Mac and Neil are dealing with an obstinate Wikipedia editor who adheres to the policy of not accepting information from the subject of an article.

There is some liberty taken with this policy but arguing on the Internet is not the point*.  The point is that Mac is incredibly blue about Genoa and also following Charlies speech on getting it right mistakes weight ten times more heavily than normal.  In this case, it is seemingly an easy mistake to fix, and she's unable to do it.  The toothpaste cannot go back in the tube on Genoa either.  Think back to Will bailing Neil out of jail.  Will went on a rant about the problems he was facing, and how he wanted to fix just one so he was going after the easiest one**.  So before the Internet cries foul on this, think about the higher purpose to this storyline.

* Sorkin got a lot of criticism for the LemonLyman.com story in "The U.S. Poet Laureate" when he tries to post to an Internet message about about himself.  Josh winds up looking foolish for the whole thing, so I don't understand how it's not viewed as funny and good natured following his own Internet message board incident. 

** Jed Bartlet, helpless against a few things like a brewing storm in "The State Dinner", goes ahead and forces the Teamsters Union and management to come to an agreement.

Raw Data: To'hajiilee

Thoughts and observations for Breaking Bad episode 5-13 (the fifth this year) "To'hajiilee".  Three episodes remain in the series.

 Written by George Mastras, producer and writer of the Emmy nominated episode "Dead Freight"

Directed by Michelle MacLaren, who recently directed "Buried"

Last week in the comments, I mentioned how Walt has lost a step and no longer inhabits his Heisenberg persona.  He's made sloppy, arrogant, emotional mistakes to lead him to where he is, with Hank on his trail.  Now in "To'hajiilee" he makes a few more egregious errors that bring him to the convergence at the episode's conclusion.

When he's barreling toward his money at full speed and gives his confession on the phone it's because he got angry at Jessie.  Rather than talk him out of it like he usually does, he falls victim to his emotion and loses his mind on Jessie, in the course of which he gives a full confession naming murders all the way back to Crazy 8.  He calls Jesse "stupid" which he has never done.  But here he's underestimating both Hank and Jesse, never surmising, or even thinking about, them working together let alone the possibility they could outsmart him.  He lets a "look over there"distraction get the best of him, never hesitating.  Would Heisenberg have picked up on the dirt not matching?  Hank even rubbed that bit in.  Walt bulled through the ruse as fast as he bulled his car down into the dessert.  Hank meanwhile doesn't balk for a second at Walt's attempt with Brock's mother.

Walt always told Jesse "apply yourself" rather than verbally beat him down for his poor grades.  He said the same thing to Todd during those early cooks.  For whatever potential he didn't realize in his research and missing out on Grey Matter, he was clearly an excellent teacher able to focus his chemistry brilliance with teaching, which is a wholly separate skill.  Walt lost control of that here and gave up everything.  I imagine the reason Walt was so well able to manipulate people came from the same well of talent that he pulled from for his teaching ability.  Walt's no longer teaching (despite a promise to Jack for one last cook) and is no longer able to manipulate and control Jesse because the skills he uses in both cases are not as sharp as before.

• POV bingo - meth cooking surface.  First shot of the episode
• The more Walt relies on these crazy white supremacists, the worse off Walt is.
• Obviously Walt survives, given the flash forward
• No clue
• if Walt and Jesse's conversation was recorded
• if Walt and Jesse's conversation was legally recorded
• if a recorded conversation between them would be admissible
•  Walt doesn't bare his soul to Hank in defeat.  He doesn't point out the money. He doesn't confess.  Still looking for a way out, not willing to close that door
• As I watched I wondered if Walt contemplated suicide at that moment but now that I think about it, he wouldn't.  I do think his life flashed before his eyes and he decided he's going to continue to not admit anything and try to find a way out, much calmer than he was when on the phone with Jesse
• Walt maintains Jesse is not a "rat" but in fact "family".  Such close family he wants him killed
• Unfortunately, Jesse is ratting to Hank as they speak
• The plotting is so tight at this point they're overlapping scenes. 
• It is kind of funny to have Walt's ominous call at last week's end responded to by Todd with almost a sing-song "Okay sure"

• The Crazy 8 murder was possibly the roughest to watch because it was the most personal.  Walt had to get his hands dirty as opposed to using a car or bomb.
• Those almost seem small compared to how big the operation got.  But Crazy 8 and others represented points where Walt crossed into new territory
• Even after all that, Walt still has to cook for another guy.
• Who actually put the Jesse murder into perspective for Walt, as much as he didnt want to hear it about the "angry non-rat" (regardless of what he was in reality)
• Todd wondering about the quality of his coffee is funny.  He cooks all this meth using science then a Mr. Coffee after
• Remember Gale's uber coffee machine?  Even Walt was impressed
•  The blue meth which Tuco originally gave a WTF to has become the best brand in the world, and is now preferred
• There was some imitation blue meth for a period of time, right?
• I thought the blue came from Walt manufacturing his own Pseudophedrine?
• Originally thought they'd get Walt from something with the dirt and the odometer but it's better for the characters that they outsmart him and force a mistake
• The scene brough back a lot of past episodes, like Hank stepping out in the dessert to shoot Tuco, or Walt and Jesse's first cook
• Maybe Walt's BFG is meant for Jack & Co.?
• Huel went down quick, but as I mentioned before, sometimes we accept these jumps in order to move things along
• Jesse did shoot Gale in the face.  He's not sharing that with Hank, so he's still liable for it.  It can be thrown in his face at any time and put him away as long as Walt would be.
• Next week is "Ozymandias"

Have an A-1 Day!

Raw Data: Rabid Dog

Thoughts and observations for Breaking Bad episode 5-12 (the fourth of this half season) "Rabid Dog".  Four episodes remain in the series.  The title brings to mind "Problem Dog" from the fourth season where Jesse tells the NA group a story about a "problem dog" (Gale) he had to put down.  "Rabid Dog" has similarities except now Jesse is about to be put down rather than put down the dog in question.  Breaking Bad loves to play with the episode titles, like "The Cat's in the Bag..."  "...and the Bag's in the River" or "737" "Down" "Over" "ABQ" or "Kafkaesque" and "Fly" or "Fly" and Bug".  This one seems to have the plots linked more closely.

Written and directed by Sam Catlin, longtime producer on the show and writer of episodes like "Hermanos", "Fifty One" and "Crawl Space".

• Skyler's hesitancy to make the fake confession video comes up again when she refers to that "awful" video.  But the fact remains she's chosen her husband and abandoned her sister.  On Talking Bad they stated the tones of her clothes match Walt's to represent being on his team. Apparent when they went to Guapo's to meet Hank and Marie
• And that the light earthy tones also represent her being drained.  Very apparent at the car wash when she's so dazed she gives a customer incorrect change
• While Jesse never gave his permission to Gus to whack Walt, he's now working with Hank, the law, to bring Walt down.  Snitching would go against his ethos but it appears from the final scenes that he's going to try to bring Walt down on his own terms, not Hank's.
• When the twins attacked Hank, Marie was upset at the ASAC for making Hank surrender his weapon following his suspension for beating up Jesse.  Marie turned on Skyler when it became apparent their operation had something to do with Hank's attack.  Now Marie is serving coffee to the kid who played a part in Hank's suspension and surrendering his weapon
• Walt storms his house, gun drawn, with all the flair of a guy who is basing his approach on movies where he saw something like this.
• Walt's lies get worse and worse.  Not even close to believable.
• Even Junior can tell he's lying.  He doesn't come up with the correct answer but he knows the one Walt is giving is wrong
• Walt is more than glad to have a better lie supplied to him
• RJ Mitte does a great job in his few scenes.  Junior may be the only innocent character left.  I see lots of discussion about when to stop rooting for Walt.  To be honest, I'm indifferent but I am more concerned with avoiding harm to players like Junior and Jesse.  
• Harming Jesse would alienate even the most stringent Walt supporters, if there are any left.  Generally the debate ranges from Jane to Brock to Mike to where viewers stop rooting for Walt
• The episode feels like a slight change of pace from the previous three.
• Walt's conspiculously in his underwear again
• I keep mentioning this becaeuse in the first seasons they make a conscious effort to make Walt as pathetic looking as possible, with an "impotent" mustache, love handles and underwear.  Now that he's out of the game, he's bumbling around again, passing out and giving terribly unconvincing lies
• I'm not sure Walt is Heisenberg anymore
•  That doesn't stop him from lecturing Skyler about how she doesn't understand the finer points of his ridiculous meth business. God, Skyler, you're so stupid
•  Hank is so eager to take Walt down it may hinder him.  He's willing to sacrifice Jesse so don't think any of these scenes between them aren't just Hank using him as a piece to get what he wants.  Hank may wind up manipulating Jesse as Walt did.  Or trying to.  Based on how the meeting went it doesn't seem like Hank will be able to control Jesse as Walt did
• "He's the devil" echoing "You're the devil" from "Blood Money"
• Badger manages to be hilarious even when off screen "For five hours all he talked about was Babylon 5".  I think the best jokes are the ones where you say, "yep, that character definitely would say that"