RANDOM THOUGHTS:
Happy Columbus Day 2011! Actually, that's not what I mean. What I really mean is Happy Columbus Day to everyone who had a day off today (schools, the gub'nment). For the rest of you, I'm just going to wish you a happy Monday, and move on.
The following were on my mind between Monday, October 3rd to Monday, October 10th:
- As I'm sure you already know by now, "Breaking Bad" wrapped up its fourth season last night. As I did with every "Mad Men" season finale, here is the list of all of my thoughts about the episode, the season, and the show at this point as a whole. Obviously, a lot of spoilers are involved:
1. In the hours since the finale, my opinion of the final scene with Gus walking out of the blown up old folks room, half of his body destroyed, adjusting his clip-on tie (really?) and then falling on the ground to his death. At first, I thought it was too over-the-top. I thought "All right, I get it. He's a major bad ass that can charge toward a gun without getting shot and figure out car bombs from a mile away. Does he really need to go out extremely bad ass?" Eventually, though, I realized that this is just the way he needs to go. After all, Gustavo Fring is one of the greatest antagonists in television history, a villain that can be ruthless, shrewd, cunning, and careful all at the same time. That exit, plus the great CGI of his Harvey Dent-esque two face, was about as proper of an exit that one character should get.
2. One opinion that hasn't changed since the finale: the scene before the explosion where it focused on Gus walking to Tio's hospital room. Just a beautiful scene with a great spaghetti western feel to it, and the soundtrack to his slow walk ("Goodbye" by Apparat) just added to the feeling of impending doom that Fring was about to meet.
3. Speaking of Gus' final scene, I have to credit the show for once again building some fantastic tension and suspense in the moments during the explosion, from the ear-splitting chair squeak as Gus was pushing it towards Tio to the camera slowly directing the viewer toward the bomb's position. Vince Gilligan really is the modern day Alfred Hitchcock in that regards.
4. So, it looks like Walter White was the one who poisoned Brock after all (but with the Lily of the Vallet plant, not ricin). According to series creator Vince Gilligan, it happened with Walt giving the berries to Brock while Huell took the ricined up cigarette from Jesse in last week's episode to make Jesse think that Gus took it (because, in Walt's words, "Who do you know who's allowed children to be murdered? Gus."). While I don't necessary buy his explanation as a whole (the timeline seems really off and it raises a lot of question of how Huell was able to give the pack of cigarettes back to Jesse, or when Walt had time to give the berries to Brock), I'm not going to worry about it. The show has been so wonderfully done up until this point that they get a pass from me for the many flaws behind the explanation.
5. I'm glad that the show included the final shot of the camera zooming up to the Lily of the Valley in Walt's backyard. It now eliminates any future speculation or debate by fans of whether or not he actually did it (even though it seems pretty straightforward to me, thanks in large part to the scene where Walt twirls the gun last episode or the look that Jesse gave to Walt in the parking lot as if he knew everything that the man did), like the debate that lasted throughout the break between seasons 3 to 4 as to whether Jesse did, in fact, shoot Gale.
6. Also, as someone who couldn't imagine Walt poisoning Brock (I had it as one my three main explanations, but as the weakest of the three), I want to tip my hat to those that got it right. I guess I was one of the few people watching the show with a naive belief a man who already killed dozens of people beforehand (directly and indirectly) would still have some moral fiber in him that he wouldn't poison a child. It wasn't until the scene where Walt actually made his elderly woman neighbor go down to his house so he could see if there was any henchman that this naive feeling completely vanished, and I knew that the scenario of Walt doing the poisoning was the most plausible.
7. "Breaking Bad" is one of the few shows on television where they give you a title for an episode like "Face Off," make you believe that one thing is going to happen (Walt vs. Gus in a final showdown) only to completely realize that the meaning of it was something completely different (the explosion literally tearing Gus' face off).
8. R.I.P. Tio Salamaca. You may have been an evil psychopath, but at least you went out on your own terms, something that I don't think will happen to Walt.
9. Also, R.I.P. to the Gus Fring Super Lab. Truly one of the coolest and best-looking sets to any TV show that I've ever seen.
10. No Mike in this season's last two episodes. Should be interesting to see what he ends up doing in season five. Will he exact revenge on Gus? Will he start working for Walt? He's the show's ultimate wild card, one that I just know the show's writers is going to have fun deciding his direction.
11. "Breaking Bad" season five: Scarface With All the Power. Can't wait!
12. What a fantastic season. The beginning was a bit of a slow build up in exposition, but the last seven or so episodes really made up for them as this show proved once again why they should be considered TV's best. As for how well I think the show will do come Emmys time, I see them getting some success, but not as much as I want them too. For example, the acting was so great this year that I think it should get at least six of them should get some kind of nomination (Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Dean Norris, Jonathan Banks, Giancarlo Esposito and Mark Margolis). However, in reality, I know that will probably get three at the most. Also, I don't think that there will be a single writing award nomination given to this program, even though it's almost always great. So, here they are in full:
a. Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series: Bryan Cranston
b. Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series: Aaron Paul
c. Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series: Giancarlo Esposito
d. Oustanding Drama Series
e. Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series: Vince Gilligan for this episode
f. Outstanding Cinematography: Michael Slovis
As to whether I believe this show will win the big one (Outstanding Drama), I think that next year is going to be their best chance yet. As far as I'm concerned, there are going to be only two other major contenders for this award: "Mad Men" and "Boardwalk Empire." Because "Mad Men" didn't win another award outside of Outstanding Drama this year, I think this shows that the voters are starting to get less impressed by them by the year. As for "Boardwalk," I'm not sure that the voters will give it to them once they finally watch the episodes that "Breaking Bad" gives to them for consideration. Either way, I will be rooting for this little show set in Albuquerque, New Mexico to win more than any other eleven months from now.
13. The bad news: no new episode of "Breaking Bad" until next summer. The good news: "Community," "Parks and Recreations," "Boardwalk Empire," "Mad Men," "Justified," "Game of Thrones" and "Louie" are all going to air in between that time, so I at least know that there will be quite a few shows on the air to help me pass the time.
And...that's about it. If you would like to hear opinions from people that are much better at discussing and breaking down the show while actually get paid to do it, just click on the links to these episode recaps from some of the best TV critics in the business:
HitFix.com's Alan Sepinwall
AV Club's Donna Bowman
Hollywood Reporter's Tim Goodman
AOL TV's Maureen Ryan
Vulture's Logan Hill
Todd VanDerWerff for the LA Times
TIME's James Poniewozik
Best Week Ever's Dan Hopper (for both insight and some laughs while you're at it)
Otherwise, let's move on to the rest of the RTs...
- Nyjer Morgan shouted "F*** yeah!" twice on live TV before talking to Sam Ryan after gave 5 of the Brewers divisional series game against the Diamondbacks. Never change, my man. Never change.
- The guy who directed yesterday's NLCS game 1 for TBS was trying too hard to be fancy. I get it, you guy have cameras located at the end of the Miller Park outfield bleachers. No need to cut to that ten times an hour.
- Kirsten Wiig should just retire all of her current "Saturday Night Live" characters permanently. Not only are they all basically the same annoying characters copied a dozen or so times with some slight chances, but everytime they have a sketch with one of the characters it just drags the rest of the show down entirely. Take last week's Ben Stiller episode as an example. For the first hour, it went fine. But then once the show decided to let Wiig take over, it just became dull to watch and completely unfunny. If this were a just world, it would be time for the writers to start working out new characters some some talented featured player Jay Pharaoh. Somehow, I find it very hard to believe that will happen.
- I'm really enjoying the new Showtime series "Homeland." With "Rubicon" now gone (may it R.I.P.), I have a feeling that this should be a nice replacement for my conspiracy-thriller drama fix.
- "I don't get why people care so much about the death of Steve Jobs. It's not like he did anything important.
Sent from my iPhone"
-The majority of people I know that criticized Jobs since his death last week.
- Is it possible that Terry Francona can replace Tim McCarver for the rest of the postseason? I've enjoyed his analysis more in two games than I've enjoyed McCarver's analysis in my ten years of being a baseball fan.
More random thoughts to come this Thursday, as I've officially decided to bring it back full time for the next 4-5 months. Until then, enjoy the start of your workweek!
Sincerely,
Your pal: mj15
If you have any opinions on today's post, or if you just have any suggestions or tips for my next blog entry, e-mail me at: mj1599@aol.com. Your e-mails are greatly appreciated.
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