Breaking Bad - General Discussion

[Simon Boccanegra]

18 minutes ago, nodorothyparker said:

confirming once and for all that both Walt and Lydia did die no matter what convoluted workarounds some have offered up online for either to still be alive somehow

I think the last word we heard on Lydia was that she was in critical condition and was not expected to survive. So, with a golden opportunity to shut that door, they allowed her still to be breathing, on her own or with mechanical assistance, in the Gilliganverse. Anyone who's been coming up with survival scenarios for her (I didn't even know that was a thing) could still be at it. 

Edited October 14, 2019 by Simon Boccanegra

[tennisgurl]

Yeah, Epilogues Bitch!

I was so thrilled to get to spend some more time with Jesse and see him find peace after everything he went through. Jesse was always my favorite BB character, and even when he made terrible choices and mistakes, I always felt like he was essentially a good person, and rooted for him to get his life together, so I was happy to see him getting a fresh start. Yeah we were told that Jesse got to Alaska and was doing well, but I really wanted to see it actually happening. 

It was great seeing so many familiar faces, like Skinny Pete and Badger as awesome pals when Jesse needs them and the comic relief we all needed (although I do wish we had seen them telling Jesse about their tenure as fake assassins!) plus Ed the disappear guy, Jesse's parents, and even Mike, Jane, and Walk himself in flashbacks. It was bittersweet seeing Robert Forster here after his death, but I am glad that we got to see him one last time and got to be a part of this. 

I loved all of the flashbacks, especially the one between a younger Walter and Jesse, before Walt really Broke Bad and went from a mostly positive parental figure to Jesse as more of a teen to an abusive parental substitute to an increasingly broken and bitter older Jesse. Aaron Paul really nailed the energy of the young Jesse we first met, which is especially impressive considering how great he was throughout as an older badly hurt Jesse. I figured that Walk would show up, but I still squeed when he showed up, and I love that Jesse, despite everything that happened, was able to still remember Walt with some fondness. 

Glad to see that Todd is still the same creepy ass sociopath as always. The scene where he was just casually talking about how he murdered his poor house keeper and then when he got Jesse to give him the gun by just offering him pizza were so disturbing. Todd is so casually sociopathic and Jesse is so mentally broken, its truly scary to see. Todd is a sort of classic sociopath, superficially charming and pleasant, but utterly empty inside and lacking in real understanding of morality and empathy. He understands that when people cry they are upset, and he should deal with it, but he has no real idea why.

Just a lovely send off to this part of the BB verse.

[Simon Boccanegra]

There's nothing good about the way Robert Forster died, aside from his presumably being kept comfortable as the inevitable approached, but I think he'd be happy with the timing here. His last film work was released the very day he died, people were seeing it when he was on their minds, and it was a quality project in which he was good. A lot of actors would take that scenario, and it's especially fitting for someone who, in a 50+-year career, really experienced the extremes of a working actor's ups and downs.  He had a promising start, then a woeful lull of having to take any direct-to-video trash he could get, and then the right director remembered and valued him and he got Jackie Brown. He was never far from the cool kids' table after that. 

I think my favorite performance from the last 20 years of his career was his sad-eyed, thoroughly decent Sheriff Frank Truman on the Twin Peaks continuation, but The Disappearer was quintessential Forster too, and I loved his scenes in El Camino. How often do you get to be made happy, even to smile or laugh at the appearance of someone you were just sad over? Movies can be like visits from friendly ghosts. 

Edited October 14, 2019 by Simon Boccanegra

[shapeshifter]

4 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

…Yeah we were told that Jesse got to Alaska and was doing well, but I really wanted to see it actually happening. 

It was great seeing so many familiar faces, like Skinny Pete and Badger as awesome pals when Jesse needs them and the comic relief we all needed (although I do wish we had seen them telling Jesse about their tenure as fake assassins!) plus Ed the disappear guy,…

This post makes me want to see a sequel in which Ed has “retired” and the new “vacuum cleaner” person has a technically upgraded operation that fools facial recognition software and so allows Skinny Pete and Badger to join Jesse in Alaska (after entrepreneurial exploits have endangered their lives from more deadly criminals). A kinder, gentler, fluffier sequel. 

Not that I wasn’t okay with this epilogue, which, as is VG’s style, skirted around but never wandered into Tarantino-esque gratuitous violence. 

[Bryce Lynch]

8 hours ago, Simon Boccanegra said:

I think the last word we heard on Lydia was that she was in critical condition and was not expected to survive. So, with a golden opportunity to shut that door, they allowed her still to be breathing, on her own or with mechanical assistance, in the Gilliganverse. Anyone who's been coming up with survival scenarios for her (I didn't even know that was a thing) could still be at it. 

I think we are supposed to assume that LRQ dies.  I believe on BB Walt said thag the ricin would take a few days to kill.

The radio report would have been a couple of days after Walt poisoned her, so we shouldn't expect her to be dead yet 

[Bryce Lynch]

I thought El Camino, was OK but not great.

My biggest problem was that I thought the characters made some ridiculous, unrealistic choices.

1) No way Jesse doesn't kill Todd in the desert.  He would have seen it as his only hope for escape from the hell he was in.  Plus, Todd had murdered Andrea in front of him (not to mention Drew Sharp.), so he would want revenge.

With Jack and the Nazis off water skiing he would have had plenty of time to getaway and all sorts of options.

He could have gone back to Todd's to take his encyclopedia cash.  Or he could have gone back to the compound to search for Jack's cash.

He definitely could have warned Brock's grandmother or the police about the threat to him, and could have called tipped the police off about the Nazi compound, the meth lab and the cash, and told them that they killed all the prisoners and Hank and Gomie.  

That was a ridiculous scene, IMO.

2) I don't buy that Ed would base his decision of whether or not to disappear Jesse on $1,800.   He would have either have told him to go to hell because he stood him up the first time, and was breaking the protocol this time, or would have either done it for the $125K for for the $248,200. 

The call to the police was also silly.  Jesse was totally right that it made no sense, as Jesse could have exposed his whole operation and made him an accessory to numerous Walter White murders.   Once the Feds knew who to look for, I'm sure they could have traced Walt's NH cabin back to Ed.  

3) The gunfight was kind of silly.  Maybe you could blame it on the  cocaine, but that was a crazy choice by the welder.  

4) Would Jesse really have risked breaking into his parents' house knowing it would be watched, when he could have followed the welder's advice an bought a gun?    I did love the the safe combo was Jake's birthday.  When the old one didn't work, I was saying, "Try Jake's birthday!"

The things I did like were:

1) Badger and Skinny Pete.  They were comedy gold the whole time they were on screen.  I was surprised to see how smart Skinny Pete (who doesn't know how to spell "Streat") could be in a tight spot. 

2) While there was a bit to much of him (both in screen time and weight), Todd's friendly sociopath character was fascinating.  

It did raise one question though.  Todd is an almost perfectly rational, but amoral creature when it comes to deciding who to kill.  Given that, why did he urge Jack not to kill Walt and why did he refuse to kill Skyler for Lydia, and instead just scared her?

I guess you could chalk it up to the deep respect he had for Walt, but it seems a bit out of character.  

[ByTor]

11 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

(Jesse Plemons) gained the weight for a movie role

I just noticed that he is in the upcoming The Irishman (I'm sooo excited for that, I'm from the same area as Russell Bufalino and LOVE mafia stories), I wonder if that was the role he needed to gain weight for.

10 hours ago, nodorothyparker said:

there had been a time when they genuinely cared about each other.

I always liked on the show that even when Jesse was calling Walt an asshole, he still referred to him as Mr. White.

[DoctorAtomic]

I also think no one in the Alaska town might care enough to do a search on Jessie either. He's got a back story and that might be enough. 

[Kel Varnsen]

4 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

I also think no one in the Alaska town might care enough to do a search on Jessie either. He's got a back story and that might be enough. 

Yeah Jesse in Alaska didn't really bother me. I mean he was only a person of interest in the Walt kills nazis story. I would have to think it would be minimum a week between his escape and his arrival in Alaska. By then the story is probably completely out of the news cycle. Combine that with his new back story and  new ID and I don't think anyone would care.

Jesse also has a shitload of money. I mean Jesse's third of Todd's money was close to half a million (250 each for two vacuum guy trips and he almost had enough for both). If he got the money from both welding guys he would have around a million dollars to live off, half of that if he just took the money from the first guy.

Edited October 14, 2019 by Kel Varnsen

[DoctorAtomic]

Assuming the plan worked, they might be looking for him in Mexico anyway. 

[TVFan17]

I wondered if Lydia ever knew that Todd had a creepy Todd-Lydia snow globe in his apartment.  (Really, who knew that Todd was a snow globe collector?)  She clearly knew he was completely smitten with her on the series, but I am guessing that we are to assume that she never let him "date" her or anything.  However, she seemed to be at ease with Todd when Walt confronted them in the diner and Walt poisoned her.   In other words, she didn't seem to be extremely uncomfortable with Todd.

So if Todd's love for her was unrequited, I wonder if Lydia would have been flattered or frightened by Todd's snow globe featuring her.  Did she even know that he used a song with her name in it as his phone's ringtone?   We'll never know.

Edited October 14, 2019 by TVFan17

[PeterPirate]

Robert Forster's death reminded me that Richard Jordan acted in Gettysburg knowing he was dying of brain cancer.  Plus, his character was mortally wounded.  

VG doesn't leave bread crumbs out for nothing.  Lydia's going to survive, and she's going to track down Jesse because she needs a new cook.  That snow globe is the tell.  

Edited October 14, 2019 by PeterPirate

[shapeshifter]

22 minutes ago, TVFan17 said:

I wondered if Lydia ever knew that Todd had a creepy Todd-Lydia snow globe in his apartment.  (Really, who knew that Todd was a snow globe collector?)

And now I'm wondering if someone associated with BrBa stumbled upon the Lydia &Todd snow globe on some fan memorabilia website, and if Vince & co. thought it was something Todd would have made.  

[Bryce Lynch]

6 hours ago, Kel Varnsen said:

Yeah Jesse in Alaska didn't really bother me. I mean he was only a person of interest in the Walt kills nazis story. I would have to think it would be minimum a week between his escape and his arrival in Alaska. By then the story is probably completely out of the news cycle. Combine that with his new back story and  new ID and I don't think anyone would care.

Jesse also has a shitload of money. I mean Jesse's third of Todd's money was close to half a million (250 each for two vacuum guy trips and he almost had enough for both). If he got the money from both welding guys he would have around a million dollars to live off, half of that if he just took the money from the first guy.

I think he one of the 2 welder's thirds of the take.  So he would have had about $250K left to bring to Alaska.  

That would be plenty to go to college for Sports Medicine or Business.  Or maybe he became a bush pilot, like he fantasized about with Jane in season 2.   I imagine there is a lot more demand for them in Alaska than in New Zealand.  

[Kel Varnsen]

9 minutes ago, Bryce Lynch said:

I think he one of the 2 welder's thirds of the take.  So he would have had about $250K left to bring to Alaska.  

Each guy had about $500,000. Jesse's 1/3 was almost enough to pay for 2 get away trips at $250,000 each (he was $1800 short).

[TVFan17]

5 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

And now I'm wondering if someone associated with BrBa stumbled upon the Lydia &Todd snow globe on some fan memorabilia website, and if Vince & co. thought it was something Todd would have made.  

You never know.  I can see something like that happening.  I like that idea!  lol

We learned a lot about Todd's strangeness and his eating habits in this movie, and yet... so many questions remain about him (for me).   Did he only have canned foods on hand and nothing else?  Maybe he did not eat any actual meals in his apartment because he was usually with his uncle and the gang?    Did he actually like the canned soups, or did he just not have enough time to shop for and prepare something better?  Why not frozen meals instead of canned?  

Oh, Todd, you're such an enigma!  lol

Also... just thinking aloud... what ended up happening to the poor tarantula (who didn't ask to be held prisoner by Todd and involved in his life of crime)?  Did someone come in and let it out, or did it just eventually die?

[Bryce Lynch]

18 minutes ago, PeterPirate said:

Robert Forster's death reminded that Richard Jordan acted in Gettysburg knowing he was dying of brain cancer.  Plus, his character was mortally wounded.  

VG doesn't leave bread crumbs out for nothing.  Lydia's going to survive, and she's going to track down Jesse because she needs a new cook.  That snow globe is the tell.  

Lydia is toast.  Walt and Jesse discussed that it would take days for the victim to die from ricin poisoning.  Since this takes place in Day 1 and Day 2 (I think) after she drank the ricin laced tea, Lydia is right on schedule for her "trip to Belize".   

At least Kiira won't find her dead or think Mommy abandoned her, as she would have if Mike had killed her when he should have.  

[Bryce Lynch]

2 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Assuming the plan worked, they might be looking for him in Mexico anyway. 

Skinny Pete's misdirection plan, plus the note to Brock  postmarked from Mexico City should convince the Feds that Jesse is hiding in Mexico.   They probably figure he started cooking for another cartel and are waiting for blue meth to reappear.   

That said, if they reported it,  Jesse robbing his parents gun safe, instead of buying a gun at the Dog House, might have made the Feds realize that Jesse really wasn't in Skinny Pete's car, they found abandoned near the border.     But, I'm assuming they didn't report it.  They probably wouldn't even find out until Mr. Pinkman heard a bump in the night or wanted to go to the range.  And they both looked more like safe queens than guns he would take to the range, so he might not discover them missing for years. 

Edited October 14, 2019 by Bryce Lynch

[Bryce Lynch]

On 10/11/2019 at 4:52 PM, Armchair Critic said:

The more I think of it I wondered why the welder 

  Hide contents

who was acting like the fake cop, I wonder why he even split the money with Jesse to begin with. I realize they couldn't shoot a gun in the apartment because of the nosy neighbor but I was surprised he let Jesse walk away with it. When they showed his truck I was trying to remember when he was on the show, but his scenes were added to this.

The best part for me was the polite sociopath Todd and his love for 70's easy listening music. He calmly talked about killing his housekeeper who he said was nice so Jesse realized it would be nothing for him to kill Jesse too.

I think the welder did what he did for exactly the reasons Jesse sold to him.  It would be noisy and messy to do otherwise and would have greatly increased his chances of getting caught.  

[Bryce Lynch]

11 minutes ago, Kel Varnsen said:

Each guy had about $500,000. Jesse's 1/3 was almost enough to pay for 2 get away trips at $250,000 each (he was $1800 short).

There was a total of about $750,000.  Actually $720,000 I think.  The cash was all in bands of $5,000 and it was packed 12 high, 4 across and 3 deep (I froze the screen and counted).   There were 144 bands of $5,000 making it $720,000.   

Ed's disappaerings cost $125,000 each.  He was charging Jesse $125,000 for his no show, and $125,000 for the current trip.   

Jesse was $1,800 short.  He had $240,000 of Todd's "cold cash", plus $8,200 from Skinny Pete and Badger  They must have bought a lot of weed and video games with the other $1,800 of the $10,000 Walt gave them for their "sniper" duty, in Felina.  

[ByTor]

Thanks a lot, Todd, now I can't get that damn Dr. Hook song out of my head!

[Soobs]

11 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

I also think no one in the Alaska town might care enough to do a search on Jessie either. He's got a back story and that might be enough. 

If you've ever watched the ID show Ice Cold Killers you know this is very true.

[TVFan17]

I watched El Camino again, and I actually liked it even more than I did the first time.  I was tired when I first watched it the other night, so I wanted to see it again when I was more alert.    I can't get enough of that Jesse-Walt scene.  I laughed out loud when Walt was coughing and Jesse got up to start hitting him on the back (to help him), causing Walt to flail his arms at Jesse to get him to stop.  lol

I can't say that I am not curious to know what Jesse will be up to in Alaska, and what kind of life he will make for himself.  But since I don't think there are necessarily any plans for another movie at this point, then I will just have to assume that he does something productive and stays out of trouble.

I was so glad when that annoying Kandy Welding guy got taken down by Jesse, but again I laughed out loud at the other random guy huddled against the wall, protectively holding his tray (or was it a mirror?) of cocaine (or whatever drug he was snorting).

And, oh how I would love to know what kinds of things Ed the Disappearer was up to even just 5 or 10 years earlier, and would have loved to hear how he got into that line of work.   I always figured that he would eventually end up on Better Call Saul at some point because...

Spoiler

...I can think of one specific character on Better Call Saul who probably needs to take his dad and disappear.

 But, alas... unless Robert Forster secretly filmed some scenes for Better Call Saul's next season (airing in 2020), then an appearance from Ed is not to be.

Edited October 15, 2019 by TVFan17

[Artymouse]

I was blown away by Aaron Paul's performance in this. Jesse has always been my favorite BB character, and I worried that he would be killed off in the last few episodes of BB. So I was a little nervous about watching El Camino, because I didn't want him to die.

Overall, I thought it was a satisfying epilogue to the story. But what an amazing performance by Paul. I'm curious as to whether he might be eligible for an Oscar nomination, since the film will be shown in theaters. I think it would be well deserved.

I loved the scenes with Skinny Pete and Badger, and Skinny giving Jesse his beanie was poignant. I could have done with a little less Todd -- he really creeps me out. The diner scene with Walt and Jesse was very cool.

If VG ever revisits the Jesse story in Alaska, I would love to see Jesse getting therapy for his PTSD. It's going to take some time for him to recover from his ordeal, and doctor-patient confidentiality would allow him to tell his story without repercussions. And scenes of Jesse in counseling could be both entertaining and moving.

[ByTor]

1 hour ago, Artymouse said:

I could have done with a little less Todd -- he really creeps me out.

That reminds me of another things he did in the movie that freaked me out...when he did that horn-pulling motion when the truck passed him.  Just creepy how he is both child-like and psychotic at the same time.

[PeterPirate]

This discussion takes me back to the last moments of Breaking Bad.  (This is the Breaking Bad thread, right?)  Walt could have just set off the machine gun the second he walked in the room, without baiting Jack into bringing in Jesse.   I suppose that could be interpreted as a tactical move to make sure all of the Nazis were in the line of fire.  Still, I like to think Walt did that to save Jesse.  He did tackle Jesse before setting of the fireworks, after all.   

And then there's Todd.  When the bullets stopped flying, he didn't do anything, he didn't try to defend himself, or even just run away.  He just stood there, with his back turned.  Maybe someone with knowledge of psychology could explain that.  

[Bryce Lynch]

1 hour ago, ByTor said:

That reminds me of another things he did in the movie that freaked me out...when he did that horn-pulling motion when the truck passed him.  Just creepy how he is both child-like and psychotic at the same time.

What I find so creepy and fascinating about Todd, is, that despite casually  committing so many horrible crimes, he seems to have no ill will towards anyone.  He kills because his victims are in his way, and neither enjoys it or feels any remorse.  

The most interesting thing I learned in his El Camino scenes that not only did he not hate Jesse, he really, really liked him.  He seems to like just about everybody, in fact.  Of course that wouldn't stop him for torturing Jesse or killing his loved ones, to keep him in line. 

I wonder if people like Todd really exist, of if Gilligan and Gould came up with a new kind of mental illness.   

[Bryce Lynch]

19 minutes ago, PeterPirate said:

This discussion takes me back to the last moments of Breaking Bad.  (This is the Breaking Bad thread, right?)  Walt could have just set off the machine gun the second he walked in the room, without baiting Jack into bringing in Jesse.   I suppose that could be interpreted as a tactical move to make sure all of the Nazis were in the line of fire.  Still, I like to think Walt did that to save Jesse.  He did tackle Jesse before setting of the fireworks, after all.   

And then there's Todd.  When the bullets stopped flying, he didn't do anything, he didn't try to defend himself, or even just run away.  He just stood there, with his back turned.  Maybe someone with knowledge of psychology could explain that.  

The way I took the machine gun scene, Walt originally wanted to kill Jesse, along with the Nazis.  Jesse had betrayed him and though he betrayed him to Hank, it led to Hank's death.  

When Walt heard the blue meth was being produced, I think he assumed that Jack double crossed him and made a deal with Jesse to cook for him.  

When he saw Jesse's condition and his chains, he realized that Jesse was a tortured prisoner, not a partner and called an audible and decided to spare him.

As for Todd, I think he was shocked and couldn't conceive of the idea that Walt was responsible for the M60 or that he and Jesse were now on the same side.  His last words were "Jesus, Mr. White" as he looked out the window, trying to understand what had just happened.  

[Artymouse]

26 minutes ago, Bryce Lynch said:

When he saw Jesse's condition and his chains, he realized that Jesse was a tortured prisoner, not a partner and called an audible and decided to spare him.

I agree. I think his initial plan was to kill Jesse along with everyone else. I haven't watched the finale in a while, but I seem to recall Walt hearing about that blue meth was still out there, and assuming that Jesse was profiting from what Walt perceived as his genius work (much like he saw Gretchen and Elliott as profiting from his work with Gray Matter).

So I wonder if there's a real person out there who functions like the vacuum guy, helping criminals disappear from the old lives and create new identities. And then I started pondering about what Ed Galbraith did with all that money. I wonder if he was creating a nest egg for a grandchild the way Mike Ehrmantraut was trying to do for Kaylee.

[Bryce Lynch]

9 minutes ago, Artymouse said:

I agree. I think his initial plan was to kill Jesse along with everyone else. I haven't watched the finale in a while, but I seem to recall Walt hearing about that blue meth was still out there, and assuming that Jesse was profiting from what Walt perceived as his genius work (much like he saw Gretchen and Elliott as profiting from his work with Gray Matter).

So I wonder if there's a real person out there who functions like the vacuum guy, helping criminals disappear from the old lives and create new identities. And then I started pondering about what Ed Galbraith did with all that money. I wonder if he was creating a nest egg for a grandchild the way Mike Ehrmantraut was trying to do for Kaylee.

Great question about real life Ed the Disappearers.  I'd imagine there are some people in the line of work.    

I was also wondering why Ed would take Jesse's job and be so obsessed with getting the full $250K, after he made so much off of Walt, over the past year.   

It crossed my mind that maybe he was counting on "inheriting" the nearly $10 million that Walt had in the cabin, once Walt finally died of cancer, and now that Walt had just returned and killed the Nazis, he realized he wasn't getting it.   

[ByTor]

10 minutes ago, Bryce Lynch said:

I was also wondering why Ed would take Jesse's job and be so obsessed with getting the full $250K, after he made so much off of Walt, over the past year. 

Maybe, like Walt, he didn't know when enough was enough.

[PeterPirate]

53 minutes ago, Artymouse said:

I agree. I think his initial plan was to kill Jesse along with everyone else. I haven't watched the finale in a while, but I seem to recall Walt hearing about that blue meth was still out there, and assuming that Jesse was profiting from what Walt perceived as his genius work (much like he saw Gretchen and Elliott as profiting from his work with Gray Matter).

To each their own, of course.  Walt learned about the new batches of blue meth from Skinny Pete and Badger right after the laser caper they played on Gretchen and Elliot.  But they also thought Jesse was in Alaska.  So I think Walt figured out that Jesse was alive and making meth, but not free enough to meet up with his friends.  

[shapeshifter]

42 minutes ago, ByTor said:

53 minutes ago, Bryce Lynch said:

I was also wondering why Ed would take Jesse's job and be so obsessed with getting the full $250K, after he made so much off of Walt, over the past year. 

Maybe, like Walt, he didn't know when enough was enough.

As someone who obsesses about spending my pennies, I probably gave too much thought to the Ed-Jesse non-transaction and later transaction.

Mostly I figured that

1. The $125K had to cover a lot of expenses, bribes, etc., as well as perhaps funding medical expenses and college bills for Ed's friends and relatives, so his profit margin was probably no where near that amount.
   It might have been close to $18K, and he probably had to pay out around $100K the last time.⭐
    
2. The "no backsies" rule was integral to his not getting caught and sent to serve life in prison, so, since Jesse had flaked once before, he needed to be sure that Jesse wouldn't do it again, and causing Jesse to have to sleep on it (yeah, right; I know) would serve to convince both of them that Jesse was all in this time.

___________________________________

⭐Does anyone recall whether Ed got paid when Jesse flaked in the episode that aired 6-ish years ago? Because if Ed did get paid, then only #2 above would apply.

[DoctorAtomic]

1 hour ago, ByTor said:

Maybe, like Walt, he didn't know when enough was enough.

It's the principle. No half measures. Word can't get around that Ed is giving anyone a break even for $1800.

And, as pointed out, there's a lot of logistics - forged documents, paying off officials, etc. Buying cars. 

[shapeshifter]

12 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Word can't get around that Ed is giving anyone a break even for $1800.

Yes. That was my first thought too. 

[Artymouse]

1 hour ago, PeterPirate said:

To each their own, of course.  Walt learned about the new batches of blue meth from Skinny Pete and Badger right after the laser caper they played on Gretchen and Elliot.  But they also thought Jesse was in Alaska.  So I think Walt figured out that Jesse was alive and making meth, but not free enough to meet up with his friends.  

Like I said, it’s been a while since I saw the last run of episodes, so I’d forgotten what Skinny and Badger told Walt. So you may be right. I still think he intended to kill Jesse until he realized Jesse was being kept prisoner, but I guess I need to rewatch the final season.

[ByTor]

1 hour ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Word can't get around that Ed is giving anyone a break even for $1800.

Good point.

[dwmarch]

I enjoyed the movie and didn't take issue with the appearance of the actors, especially bearing in mind that it has been a while since the show. However, I did notice that Jesse was noticeably smarter than he was ever shown to be on BB. On the show, Jesse never met a bad choice he didn't like and tended to deal with things by calling them "bitch". El Camino's Jesse, after snapping out of his PTSD is quick on his feet, innovative and tactical in his problem-solving approaches. Maybe he only acted like a dummy on the show because that was what everyone told him he was and it took being locked in a cage for him to realize that he wasn't dumb after all. In any case, he certainly got a level up in smarts in the movie.

I also find myself wondering if this might be a backdoor pilot for Breaking Bad: Alaska. Nah, nobody up there likes meth.

[suomi]

Quote

Todd isn’t the first murderer Jesse Plemons has played (Killer Landry from Friday Night Lights waves hello), but it’s still startling to see how convincing he can be as this utterly remorseless, dead-eyed goober. What was fascinating about Todd on the original show, and what’s even more unsettling now, is how his fundamental polite blandness doesn’t seem in conflict with his willingness to kill everyone that could cause him the slightest bit of trouble. He’s not someone who gets pleasure out of killing, or talking about killing; it just never occurs to him that there are other ways to solve problems. 

 

Quote

Based on what Better Call Saul has shown us of Cinnabon Gene’s life, Jesse’s time in Alaska may be isolated and paranoid. But it’s still a better ending than Walt and almost every other major Breaking Bad character got.

And it’s what we want for him. Jesse’s far from sinless, but there was a fundamentally innocent quality to him at the start of the series that slipped away slowly but surely through his association with Walt. He did bad things, but most of them were at the behest of his narcissistic, megalomaniacal partner. He deserved so much better than what happened to him over the course of the series, and if El Camino doesn’t provide a perfect ending, it’s as good as he or we could have hoped for when he was down in that cage, believing he would never get out.

Quote

Finally, in one of the time-lapse montages of Albuquerque, we see the primary Los Pollos Hermanos location, which has now been rebranded as a Twister’s — what the restaurant has always been called in real life.

https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-recaps/el-camino-breaking-bad-movie-recap-895354/

[Ottis]

It was good to see everyone again, but also, El Camino was indulgent. While sociopath Todd was no doubt fun for the show to return to, those flashbacks weren't necessary (the show contrived to make them important by tying in Todd's hidden money and Jesse's attempt to find it, but there were 100 other ways to go) and we already knew what happened to the people in them, so meh.

Meanwhile, just about every "current" scene with Jesse took forever to unfold. This is BB's pacing at times, but it seemed constant in El Camino.

The genius of BB has always been attention to detail around how seemingly small actions or events become much larger in meaning, and there was a lot of that here. This works when it plays for humor (Skinny Pete and Badger) or meaning (Old Joe scanning the El Camino for LoJack). Other times it just seems pointless.

I most enjoyed the "previously" segment, walking us through BB. So many awesome moments and memories. 

Aaron Paul's head is a lot more round than I remember.

[shapeshifter]

11 hours ago, Ottis said:

Aaron Paul's head is a lot more round than I remember.

Heh. Fat Matt Damon serves also as a distraction from Jesse's rounder face, which was evident in later BrBa episodes after Aaron Paul married and presumably began eating regular meals.

***

18 hours ago, suomi said:

Quote

Finally, in one of the time-lapse montages of Albuquerque, we see the primary Los Pollos Hermanos location, which has now been rebranded as a Twister’s — what the restaurant has always been called in real life.

https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-recaps/el-camino-breaking-bad-movie-recap-895354/

I looked in vain for the chicken logo and the ghost of Gus.

Also from the Rolling Stone article (by Alan Sepinwall !) :

Quote

Since seeing the movie, I spoke with Vince Gilligan (look for that interview here soon).

https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-recaps/el-camino-breaking-bad-movie-recap-895354/
--> https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-features/el-camino-breaking-bad-interview-vince-gilligan-interview-895479/ (dated yesterday)

Edited October 16, 2019 by shapeshifter

[benteen]

First off, RIP Robert Forster.  I was very sad to learn of his death the day after I saw this film.  I thought he was the best thing in his movie and Ed with Jesse in the store was great.  He did a great job and his performance in El Camino is a great final performance (though I read he has appearances in two other films that are pending).  One other note, the customer that he was helping before Jesse confronted him as played by Marla Gibbs.

On the movie itself, I thought it was good.  Was is necessary?  I would say not.  It didn't really add anything new and that's probably the biggest knock I have against it.  But I enjoyed it and I'm glad that they did that.

I liked this film a lot better than I liked The Deadwood Movie, which I found to disappointing.  The crew of the Breaking Bad movie didn't assume their fans had forgotten the show, unlike the crew of The Deadwood movie which wasted an enormous amount of time in their movie flashing back to clips from the previous seasons.  At least the flashbacks in The Breaking Bad movie were all new ones.  I found The Deadwood movie to be forgettable...will I feel the same way about El Camino?  We'll see.

Strong performances, particularly by Aaron Paul.  Loved getting to see the new Jesse/Walt scene (You were on stage when I got my diploma!) and Jesse/Walt.  Nice seeing Krysten Ritter turn up again.  As always, Gilligan does an amazing job shooting the New Mexico landscape.

Plemons was very good as well.  Gilligan said during an interview that Todd takes no joying in killing but will do so in a heartbeat.

Edited October 16, 2019 by benteen

[Bryce Lynch]

12 hours ago, suomi said:

Todd isn’t the first murderer Jesse Plemons has played (Killer Landry from Friday Night Lights waves hello), but it’s still startling to see how convincing he can be as this utterly remorseless, dead-eyed goober. W

Landry killing the rapist was ruled justifiable homicide  

It was 

On 10/14/2019 at 11:22 PM, TVFan17 said:

I watched El Camino again, and I actually liked it even more than I did the first time.  I was tired when I first watched it the other night, so I wanted to see it again when I was more alert.    I can't get enough of that Jesse-Walt scene.  I laughed out loud when Walt was coughing and Jesse got up to start hitting him on the back (to help him), causing Walt to flail his arms at Jesse to get him to stop.  lol

I can't say that I am not curious to know what Jesse will be up to in Alaska, and what kind of life he will make for himself.  But since I don't think there are necessarily any plans for another movie at this point, then I will just have to assume that he does something productive and stays out of trouble.

I was so glad when that annoying Kandy Welding guy got taken down by Jesse, but again I laughed out loud at the other random guy huddled against the wall, protectively holding his tray (or was it a mirror?) of cocaine (or whatever drug he was snorting).

And, oh how I would love to know what kinds of things Ed the Disappearer was up to even just 5 or 10 years earlier, and would have loved to hear how he got into that line of work.   I always figured that he would eventually end up on Better Call Saul at some point because...

  Hide contents

...I can think of one specific character on Better Call Saul who probably needs to take his dad and disappear.

 But, alas... unless Robert Forster secretly filmed some scenes for Better Call Saul's next season (airing in 2020), then an appearance from Ed is not to be.

I also laughed out loud at the Kandy Welding party guest protecting his mirror of cocaine throughout the gunfight and the rest of the drama.  

I would also love to know how Ed got into that line of work.  I imagine maybe he was an intelligence agent or something along those lines, in his earlier life.  I wonder if he was using an assumed identity himself.  

If Jesse ratted him out to the police, I wonder if he would have set himself up with a new identity and life before the police could get too him.  

Great point about 

Spoiler

Nacho and his Dad needing to be disappeared on BCS.  

Filming for Season 5 wrapped up in September, so perhaps Robert Forster made one last appearance as Ed on BCS.  

[DoctorAtomic]

One of the interesting facets of our times with all these streaming platforms is that not everything has to be necessary. 

[Quilt Fairy]

The thing that I noticed about Jesse was not only was his head bigger, his voice was much, much deeper.  That opening scene with Jesse and Mike along the river, no way is that a teenager, even though the script has Mike call him that specifically.   He raised it up a bit in the diner scene with Walt so that sounded more authentic, but most of the time he sounded like what he is, a 30-something guy, with a deep, husky voice.

A minor correction: the fee to disappear someone is $125K, not $250K.  Since Jesse was short the second $125K, his original take from Todd's refrigerator was probably about $240K.  

Is Todd's tarantula supposed to be the one the little boy had just captured when Todd shot him?

@Bryce Lynch, you don't need to spoiler tag details from the movie.  

[Umbelina]

Lots of people are saying this movie was unnecessary, but I remember back when this series ended.  There were lots of debates about whether or not Jesse escaped jail, or death, and would actually make it away from this Walter White massive mess.

I'm pretty sure Vince said on the DVD he knew it was a long shot for Jesse to make it to freedom, but he hoped for that.  So did I, and I'm glad he did.

Would I rather have seen a bit more about his future and a little less Todd?  Probably, but honestly that's because Plemons is fantastic, and scary, and unpleasant to watch in his psychopath character.  (As I said in an earlier post, he definitely fits the definition of a psychopath more than a sociopath, so I'm sticking with that.)  

As far as actor changes?  It's just inevitable, and I don't care.  That said, Jesse lived through hell, endless torture and mistreatment by the Nazi's and Todd, his voice being deeper or him looking older actually fits with what he's been through (to me anyway.)  In the finale his voice was harsh and strangled/unused for so long.

I'd love it if his future in Alaska or elsewhere was explored later, away from meth, but with other issues obviously, to keep it interesting.  Or a complete flip around from tension and crime to more of a comedy/dramedy even, with the right supporting cast, it could work.  

[TVFan17]

1 hour ago, Quilt Fairy said:

@Bryce Lynch, you don't need to spoiler tag details from the movie.  

I think that Bryce Lynch's last spoiler tag was in response to something I said -- which was not about anything in the movie.  I spoiler tagged one portion of my comment because it was a bit of a spoilerish comment about something on Better Call Saul -- which I am not going to assume everyone watches.  Bryce Lynch replied to that with a spoiler tag.  So, again, it was something that was not in the movie, nor was it about anything in the Breaking Bad series, but rather on a different series.

It's just erring on the side of caution, in case someone has not watched Better Call Saul.

Edited October 16, 2019 by TVFan17

[Kel Varnsen]

On 10/15/2019 at 3:51 PM, shapeshifter said:

1. The $125K had to cover a lot of expenses, bribes, etc., as well as perhaps funding medical expenses and college bills for Ed's friends and relatives, so his profit margin was probably no where near that amount.
   It might have been close to $18K, and he probably had to pay out around $100K the last time.⭐

There is probably also some supply and demand and risk/reward type of stuff going on. If he is the only one who can make people disappear and his clients usually have money and are highly motivated he can charge whatever he wants. These is also huge risk as if he is caught he could be an accessory to his clients crimes.

On 10/15/2019 at 1:34 PM, Bryce Lynch said:

The most interesting thing I learned in his El Camino scenes that not only did he not hate Jesse, he really, really liked him.  He seems to like just about everybody, in fact.  Of course that wouldn't stop him for torturing Jesse or killing his loved ones, to keep him in line.

He really thought that Jesse was his buddy, you know the kind of friend you can get to help you move a dead body.

On 10/14/2019 at 4:30 PM, TVFan17 said:

We learned a lot about Todd's strangeness and his eating habits in this movie, and yet... so many questions remain about him (for me).   Did he only have canned foods on hand and nothing else?  Maybe he did not eat any actual meals in his apartment because he was usually with his uncle and the gang?    Did he actually like the canned soups, or did he just not have enough time to shop for and prepare something better?  Why not frozen meals instead of canned? 

The cans made me think that crazy/evil Nazi types who have a crime compound might also be survivalist types. 

On 10/14/2019 at 2:07 PM, DoctorAtomic said:

Assuming the plan worked, they might be looking for him in Mexico anyway. 

I have never been to Alaska, but I have spent a bunch of time in northern parts of Canada. If Alaska is anything like those places it would probably be a small number of cops covering huge areas. So as long as Jesse isn't actually causing trouble I can easily see the cops having bigger issues to deal with and not bothering him at all.

[TVFan17]

One thing I've always thought was fascinating is that Todd seems to be cut from a different cloth than his uncle and the Nazi gang.   Todd is just as much of a cold-blooded killer as they are, so he certainly inherited that particular family trait, but other than those shared murderous habits, Todd doesn't seem to fit in with those guys.  They have a different demeanor and personality type than what Todd has.   They are kind of loud, brash, crass and threatening.   They're not concerned with being polite or courteous.   Todd seems like an innocent lamb -- personality-wise -- compared to them. 

If they were not related, I would never even assume that Todd and Jack would be in the same orbit because they seem so different.  I wonder if Todd's parent -- whichever one is related to Uncle Jack, assuming there is an actual family connection and "uncle" is not just a nickname -- is more like Todd or more like Jack.

Edited October 16, 2019 by TVFan17

[PeterPirate]

All this talk about Todd shows what a great job Plemons did of bringing the creepy.  

Todd's fascination with Lydia and his general sociopathy have me thinking that he was subjected to some extra difficult upbringing.  "Young Todd" might make for a decent mini-series.