337 replies to this topic

[TWoP Pembleton]

Walt and Jesse seek out an unlikely partner for a new business venture. The DEA follows up new leads in its investigation.

[blahface]

So what were your thoughts on the episode...?

[peeayebee]

Outstanding. I'm not sure what my favorite scene was. I loved the interrogation scene with Hank and Mike. Just fascinating. How can I be rooting for both of them?

I also loved the scene with Mike and Lydia. She was hilarious -- all cloak-and-dagger, asking for ridiculous things from the diner waitress.

And -- boy oh boy -- the scene where Jesse breaks down as he laments how he had turned on "Mr White" unreasonably. Break my heart! And then awful, evil Walt is all "There there." Fantastic.

Mike sneaking up on the other assassin was perfect.

Oh, and the opening at Madrigal Hdqts was terrific. Love the taste-testing that Schuler was doing, without even tasting. A sauce called "Franch." Hee.

Poor Skyler. You can see her skin crawl whenever Walt gets close.

[Cuppiediva]

Where is everybody?

[Puds38]

Walt has gone full on Heisenburg, an it's downright creepy! I knew as soon as hank said Mike was the only one who hadn't touched that money he would have to partner up with Jesse & Walt. Nice touch the Pollos Hermanos sign being removed from the Madrigal factory. I felt sorry for Skylar. I bet she wishes she had left Walt when she had the chance. Now she's living her own personal version of "Sleeping with the Enemy".

[clack]

And -- boy oh boy -- the scene where Jesse breaks down as he laments how he had turned on "Mr White" unreasonably. Break my heart! And then awful, evil Walt is all "There there."

I don't know. I thought I saw some Walt facial expressions there -- of self-disgust, maybe?

[Cerpintaxt815]

Great Mike centric episode. Loved his trick with the peephole, such a Mike move. As soon as the DEA started seizing the money I knew Mike would have to join up with Walt and Jesse in order to pay off all these people (and also take care of his own granddaughter)

God Walt is such a prick in the beginning of the ep manipulating Jesse like that. And a great performance from Aaron Paul there, is it just me or does he kick it up a notch every season?

Walt's behavior to Skylar is just so creepy, and it really seems like its going to build to something; what is Skylar going to do?

Edited by Cerpintaxt815, Jul 22, 2012 @ 10:57 PM.

[MKG]

Huge dose of Mike in this episode and it was truly great.

My "Merkert is the DEA mole alert" is at an all time high. That look Hank gave right before commercially break, well that says it all in my opinion.

[Rickster]

Surprised Walt's name wasn't on a Cayman account. Maybe because he was a temporary employee?

Nice to see the old Mike back this episode. This Lydia seems interesting. I assumed she was going to be a Madrigal corporate type, but she seems pretty connected to Gus's business.

I don't think there has ever been a show that so expertly provokes tension and anxiety in the viewer.

Edited by Rickster, Jul 22, 2012 @ 11:07 PM.

[peachbeserk]

Could Lydia actually be Gus' wife, and the little girl his child? It would make sense that she might live separately from him for security purposes, and she didn't seem all that shocked when asking Mike who might have killed Gus. Her lack of horror and outrage might come from knowing the dangers inherent in Gus' lifestyle and from having detailed knowledge of his operations. Having the nanny teach the little girl Spanish would be a nod to Gus' Chilean roots.

[pomme de divan]

Herr Schuller must have really hated the Franch dressing.

Anyone else here clench up when Mike started walking towards Chows front door?
Dear Mr Gilligan: a Mike spinoff show, please.
(was Mike watching the Caine Mutiny on TV?)

Mike not shooting Lydia? Half Measure

Mike has checked in and Skyler has checked out.

Omg-great episode. Too much to process. Must watch encore.

[Vinny Vidi Vici]

I liked learning more about Mike but I still can't figure out if he's in trouble, totally untouchable, concerned about anything, or the boss of everything. In any event, he's the spookiest spook who ever spooked.

Aaron Paul was fucking awesome in this episode. The "I almost shot you" scene was mesmerizing. For a second there I was thinking that Jesse was remembering that he'd checked the Roomba that morning or something and was realizing that Mr. White had duped him.

The Madrigal suicide by defibrillator - I had no idea that was possible. I remember an incident about a hot tub accident in Florida concerning one of these but, holy Jesus. Also, why was the flushing toilet water red? Was it blood or a reflection from lights? If it was blood I don't really want to think very hard about how it got there.

I loved the "it was happening right under my nose" speech by the outgoing chief. Wonderful foreshadowing. Poor Hank.

Who was that paranoid woman in the restaurant? And why would she think that eleven sudden deaths would raise less questions than a couple of suicides? Or is she just afraid someone will talk?

This is the first episode where I felt sorry for Skyler. She was only in a couple of scenes but they were so powerful, especially the end. I think her only hope now is to get Stockholm Syndrome.

[gottagettalife]

Have we seen Lydia before? I can't remember her if we have. Who is she and what is her connection to Gus?

[Rickster]

We haven't seen Lydia before. Her casting was one of the spoilers for this season.

I really doubt she's Gus's wife. Gus would never share the details of his operation with someone like his wife, if he had one.

[Libby1975]

Surprised Walt's name wasn't on a Cayman account. Maybe because he was a temporary employee?

That's a really good point, however once we remember just how often Walt dealt with actual currency, it might explain the lack of a Cayman account. One way or another he was getting enough Benjamins from somewhere to stuff that crawl space.

It was interesting to see Hank and Mike face off in the interrogation room like that. They are both such badasses and so good at their lines of work. Wonder what dramatic event led to the end of Mike's police career in Philly? His trick with the stuffed pig was perfect. In contrast Lydia's actions made it almost a sure thing the waitress would remember her (similar to Walt in the premiere episode) and her "oh Dwayne, fancy seeing you here" prevarication was ridiculous, especially once Mike called the waitress by name, indicating that he was a regular. He cracks me up.

[Fisher King]

Mike not shooting Lydia? Half Measure.

That's exactly what it was. I like Mike but I think he is asking for trouble by not going full measure on her.

Glad that Hank's investigation is already into the Cayman business.

We may have witnessed Aaron Paul's next Emmy entry.

And with Walt hiding the Ricin behind the electrical plate ---- that won't end well.

[wrxfanatic]

My willing suspension of disbelief is on the ropes. How is Mike going to do business now that Hank is on to him? All Hank has to do is follow him around. And isn't Mike the prime suspect in the double murder? Not to mention the fact that Hank also knows the names of the remaining 10 guys on Mike's team. Plus, that business of "right under my nose." Hank's spider sense should be tingling. Who does he know who is a master chemist and recently pulled $800,000 out of thin air to buy a car wash? Hank should be able to wrap this up in one episode.

[bagatelle1]

At first I was in total agreement with Saul and that was to consider themselves lottery winners and run. But now that everyone's money is confiscated, it's a whole different ballgame. I know Mike needs Lydia for the methalymine, but I still wouldn't trust her. She's so desperate and she was able to convince one of Mike's guys to take the money and kill him.

[pomme de divan]

Im pretty sure that Skyler didn't speak the entire episode.

So many great scenes/ monologues from Jesses "I almost shot you" to Walts "this feeling (shock horror revulsion) will pass" to the showdown between Hank & Mike. A+

Good call on Lydia possibly being Gus' wife.

I have suspected that Mekert was the dirty cop. Now Hank does too.

And yes, why was there no Cayman account in Walts name? Puzzling.

So Hank took a sneak peek at Gus' laptop & found nothing? Yeah right.

[Libby1975]

Aaron Paul was fucking awesome in this episode. The "I almost shot you" scene was mesmerizing. For a second there I was thinking that Jesse was remembering that he'd checked the Roomba that morning or something and was realizing that Mr. White had duped him.

I completely agree regarding his wrenching "I almost shot you", and as it happens I had exactly the same thought process to do with him thinking Mr. White had duped him and was slowly coming around to realizing the truth.

[Irlandesa]

My "Merkert is the DEA mole alert" is at an all time high. That look Hank gave right before commercially break, well that says it all in my opinion.

"The" mole? What mole? What in the past four seasons am I forgetting that suggests that there's a mole?

I loved the "it was happening right under my nose" speech by the outgoing chief. Wonderful foreshadowing. Poor Hank.

I felt that was a tad on the heavy handed side. Not bad just a little too obvious.

Have we seen Lydia before? I can't remember her if we have. Who is she and what is her connection to Gus?

We haven't and that is the question. I suppose she could be his wife but I didn't get the feeling that she was particularly grief stricken, just that she was very paranoid it was all about to come down.

I preferred last week's episode to this. I appreciated that today was set up for the final season but the Walter/Jesse and Walter/Skyler scenes were far more effective. Aaron Paul was wonderful in capturing almost the child like quality over almost killing "Mr. White." That was brilliant but hard to watch. And once again the show ends on a very creepy scene between Skyler and Walt. "It gets easier." Shudder.

And did anyone else feel a bit creeped out that they ended the show with Walt continuing to kiss Skyler? I normally wouldn't think anything of it but she was clearly not receptive and I remember the kitchen scene from Season 2.

So Hank took a sneak peek at Gus' laptop & found nothing? Yeah right.

He said he got a glimpse of it and it was encrypted. He said he wasn't even sure if they would have been able to get much out of it anyway (because of the encryption.)

Edited by Irlandesa, Jul 22, 2012 @ 11:22 PM.

[slinkywarrior]

The Madrigal suicide by defibrillator - I had no idea that was possible.

An AED only shocks after determining that a person's heart is in v-fib or v-tach. Without both pads on the chest, it wouldn't be possible to determine the heart's rhythm and therefore it wouldn't have delivered a shock. That being said, I loved the scene and chuckled at the toilet flushing afterwards.

[Blue32]

Something cracked me up about hearing the words "Cajun Kick-Ass" pronounced with a German accent. Although now I'm craving fried chicken. Hee. (How great was the music in that opening scene? The music was also fantastic during the "Walt and Jesse search for the ricin cigarette" scene, as was the editing.)

I just about lost it when I saw the Roomba during the sequence where Walt and Jesse are ransacking Jesse's place and Walt's WTF expression when he noticed it: "What the hell is that?". Maybe Roombas are just inherently amusing.

When Jesse cries, I cry with him. I just can't stand it. No, Jesse! Don't cry!

Something about Mike's granddaughter's drawing of her "Pop-pop"--where he's drawn as dressed in head-to-toe black--cracked me up.

I loved Hank's expression when his now-ex boss said about Gus, "He was somebody else completely, right in front of me, right under my nose." Yes! Yes!

Loved this quote of Mike's: "Here in the real world, we don't kill 11 people as some kind of prophylactic measure."

How fantastic was Jonathan Banks in this episode? The look on his face after he killed Chow's killer.

Edited by Blue32, Jul 22, 2012 @ 11:34 PM.

[wrxfanatic]

Merket definitely is dirty. Hank doesn't know, but we do, that one of Gus's moves is to have dinner with people he does business with.

[Amester0120]

Was I the only one distracted by the actress playing Lydia's accent? I'm not sure where she's from but I spent most of her scenes trying to figure out if it was intentional or not.

And I felt bad from Mike that Walter and Jesse's magnet tricked messed up his granddaughter's trust fund. And the laptop was encrypted anyway.

Edited by Amester0120, Jul 22, 2012 @ 11:26 PM.

[shockey80te]

Surprised Walt's name wasn't on a Cayman account. Maybe because he was a temporary employee?

Based on the way they were paid (cash every 2 weeks), there's no reason to think there was an account set up for Walt and Jesse. Also, I think those two were the least likely to need "retirement plans" as they were the most likely to get killed if things went south.

I thought it was an excellent ep, especially the Mike and Hank interrogation scene.

Even though Mike wanted the money for his granddaughter, I'm surprised he kept the woman alive. She's one helluva loose end. He better hope Walt doesn't find out. I'm getting tired of Mike's comments about how Jesse needs to wise up and cut Walt loose (no matter how true they are) because he's dangerous. He didn't see Gus that way, yet Jesse's last interaction with that group involved abduction and being handcuffed to the lab equipment. When Mike told Chris to sit next to Chow, I wondered aloud if Chow was still "there"? Parts of him were there and everywhere.

I'm sick of Walt's mindfucking of Jesse. To sit there and be full of shit as Jesse genuinely worried about losing the Ricin is another new low.

I'm not even sure what's going on with Skylar now. I would think she'd be amped to go to work to avoid being around Walt. I guess the combo of fear and depression have overcome her.

[WmDeKooning]

Oh, and the opening at Madrigal Hdqts was terrific. Love the taste-testing that Schuler was doing, without even tasting.

RIP Herr Schuler.
We hardly knew ye, in fact we didn't know you at all, you were only on-screen for about 4-5mins.

I liked the scene myself as a non-German speaker, I still love to hear the language.

I think it's really going to go sideways with Mike not shooting Lydia.

RIP Mr Chow. You got shot in the hand and didn't forget it.

[wrxfanatic]

Germany is too far away. Lydia has to be the Madrigal liaison.

[dingojoe]

Not an expert, but I didn't think the DEA could get info on Cayman or Swiss bank accounts.

Don't know if everyone gets the same commercials, but in my market Obama is running the ad about Romney and his Cayman and other foreign accounts. Thought that was kind of funny.

[Blue32]

Was I the only one distracted by the actress playing Lydia's accent? I'm not sure where she's from but I spent most of her scenes trying to figure out if it was intentional or not.

I think it was on Alan Sepinwall's ep review that he mentioned that Lydia is played by Laura Fraser, who is Scottish.