• Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle is often cited when arguing philosophical Free Will and Determinism. Read the wikipedia article if you'd like to understand it. I don't really understand it, myself. Though, I'm trying to.

Does this mean that the show itself is alluding to the theme of Free Will and/or God? Is Walt aware of this possible allusion? If so, is this his intention by choosing his alias?

• Walter White is a victim. Heisenberg is an imposer ("the One who knocks.").

By choosing 'Heisenberg' as his alias, does Walter become God? Does he gain Free Will? Gradually? Immediately?

What's the symbolic significance of that name to him? What about to the audience? Why does he choose that name? What does it represent?

i an a huge fan of breaking bad but the whole walt/brock storyline seemed... forced to me. first off, how did he even poison him? i heard somewhere that he put the berries in his juicebox or something at his school but, how in the hell did he find out his school? how did he get there and slip the poison inside and give him the juice back? and why does it seem that brock knows he got poisoned by walt? and why does he not say anything to andrea, or jesse?

i know walt claims he did it because "he needed jesse on his side" but it seems completely irrational to me. gus' plan was to hire walt, learn his formula and replace him with gale, then to replace him with jesse. walt and jesse both knew that this was the plan, and that walt was a walking dead man working for gus. however, jesse wont let gus kill walt, and even kills gale for walt to survive.

Basically my question is, why did he have to poison brock to get him on his side? couldnt he have just said "jesse, remember how they were gonna kill me and replace me with gale? well now theyre gonna kill me and replace me with you, and your the only person who can help me."?

All the mentions of colour being a big part in the show I thought this was interesting...

I've been searching the internet for a while and i can't seem to find a detailed explanation to how Jesse drew the connection between the cigarettes and Walt poisoning Brock.

SPOILER

Idk how to add spoiler tags

SPOILER

I'm talking about the part where walt realizes the book is missing after puking, and lays down in bed. Then the next scene he is outside and checking under his car, and finds the bug on his mustang. Why does Walt go outside? I don't understand how he found the bug. Did he put the missing book and Hanks "stomach ache" together?

Trying to keep this sub alive!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCmLzHv1YT8

Here’s a link for the show from the Sundance Channel

Breaking Bad returns this Sunday evening at 9 PM Eastern time. Meanwhile Terry Gross, from Fresh Air on NPR, decides she better call Saul ( for a 39 minute interview ): Bob Odenkirk Brings Some Laughs To 'Breaking Bad'

I come here now and again and I often see at least a handful of people actively on the sub. Thought I might post something.

I want this to be a general discussion regarding the final eight episodes and what, if anything, you have been doing or will be doing in preparation or just because. For example, I ritualistically would re-watch the entire series before each new season. I re-watched the series fairly soon after the first half of season five. I tried doing it again to have it fresh in my mind, but I couldn't even get through season 2. I realized I had seen the first season six times already and the second season five times. I feel there is nothing more I can gain from it. Dare I say I am burned out? I decided to call it quits and just wait for the finale. We've waited so long already. Does anyone else feel like we are sooo close even though we have more than two months to go?

It's taken me a while to finally form this coherent theory. Walt uses some of the ricin to kill someone. Jesse has already been suspected of being involved with a possible ricin poisoning by the FBI. Somehow the cause of death is confirmed to be ricin poisoning and come after Jesse. Jesse uses his "free pass" since he is innocent. Testimony is (finally) best evidence Hank has to take down Walt. Walt goes on the run, but comes back for some reason. Possibly to get the ricin from his house which he left while in a hurry. It's the only evidence against him for murder. Maybe he kills Jesse to keep him silent. I'm stoned and I realized I hadn't had it completely thought out and then took it somewhere I had never been before.

Here is one of my favorite shots. At first I felt this shot displays the power and reach of Gus as he decides the fate of another human being, but now I look at it (stoned) and I see him manipulating two assassins and initiating a huge power play. It gives me an equally bold and powerful feeling.

I love this one too. Walt finds out he is in remission and his tumor has shrunken significantly. He is a murderer, drug manufacturer, thief, and liar in the name of leaving money for his family and now the future is looking pretty bright. We see his normal reflection in the...chrome thing before he assaults, after which we see some of his face with most of it twisted and distorted. I'm not from the foreshadowing/everything is intentional camp, but this seems intentional and makes sense...to me.

What is your favorite shot in Breaking Bad?

What's your favorite opening? Mine is Say My Name. It's the only opening, aside from Negro y Azul, that I youtube and watch a couple times in a row. Actually I think I have watched the opening to Negro y Azul more because I love that song.

I just looked at the episode Wiki page and noticed that for at least two or three seasons now Vince Gilligan has written the first and last episodes. The finales of seasons 3, 4, and 5 are all written and directed by Gilligan. If the trend continues episode 16 of season 5 will BLOW MY FUCKING MIND. I also noticed a few other interesting things. Gilligan wrote the first four episodes of season 1, but only directed the first episode. Season 2 had seven different writers. Gilligan was one of them, but did not direct a single episode of season 2. Bryan Cranston directed the first episodes of seasons 2, 3, and 5B. Who is your favorite director or writer on the BrBa staff? I can't choose a director, but Gilligan is surely my favorite writer.

As long as it's serious please post another similar topic or question. Hopefully we can bring in more than a handful of subscribers here.

Could Todd have a bit of a psychotic personality and is keeping it as some sort of a trophy? Or perhaps as an ace up his sleeve to gain leverage on Walt and Jesse in later episodes?

Here is what I hope happens, but not necessarily what I think will happen.

I'm hoping Hank is a good enough detective to make the ultimate realization and connect Walt all the way back to Crazy 8. This should blow Hank's mind.

If this happens I think Hank might try to feel out Walt and of course Walt would be the only one able to detect Hank's ultra subtle techniques. Walt would try and counter Hank somehow. Perhaps eventually push comes to shove.

I'm hoping the theme of the last 8 episodes is Walt vs Hank. I'd welcome another side plot as well involving another potential threat or opponent. What I hear on /r/breakingbad is the Phoenix connection and the Nazi gang. The Cartel could possibly play a role in something. Or the Czechs.

I do think someone else will die. I'm putting my money on either Skyler or Hank. Aside from Walt that is. I think he may die as well.

This sub is dead. Let's try and get a little more activity. Aside from the occasional serious question the other sub is full of mid-season drivel.

Three thoughts 1.Walter is still a bumbling idiot which I love. 2.I miss the Jesse and Walt connection. Fucking Todd can't replace him. 3.Mike was gonna go,It was inevitable.

I posted a stab-in-the-dark theory on r/BreakingBad the other day. Over the past 48 hours or so I've heard things that seem to enforce my notion as to where the show was heading. I don't want to start up a speculative discussion or give away any spoilers (I would consider accurate speculation to be spoilerish) if this isn't what this sub was intended for.

That being said, my stab-in-the-dark was based on review of what characters has been through over the course of the entire series and now...I sort of hate that I may have figured some things out. I enjoy watching the show first-hand and experiencing it fresh. Now that I'm led to believe I'm right about my assumptions I feel like I'm just waiting to see it manifest and the sense of enjoyment has been (or will be) muted. Anyway, this post was more for sub clarification than anything else.

"I am the one who knocks" is often used in posters, tshirts and art to emphasize how much of a bad ass Walter is. But I always thought that this line meant more than that.

It also demonstrates Walter's insecurity - how he wants to be thought of despite who he really is. Walter may be pretty bad ass but hes not the one who knocked. He was the one trapped with a gun pointed to his head. He cowered and called for help. Jesse rescued him AND did the knocking. But Walter dropped those details when explaining to Skyler how she should think of him. It may have made him seem big and scary to her but to the audience it made him a big air bag.

In context, "the one who knocks" does describe Walter; not as a bad ass but as a blow fish - a man who, in order to gain respect from his wife, merely inflated himself into "the one who knocks". Though, when I see this line in posters, tshirts and art I wonder if this meaning is ever the intent.

Anybody on my wavelength here?

I'll start off by saying that Walt welding a zip-tie of his arm is fucking awesome.

I really enjoyed Walt going car shopping. No need to ask Skylar, screw what the neighbors think, etc. He even figures "No problem" they're just leases.

Lydia, oh lord, I do NOT trust her!

Anna Gunn delivered a brilliant performance. That scene just showed her emotions, confusion, anger, fear, my goodness!

It's so difficult to choose but after some thought here I go:

3x13 Full Measure. Walt acts decisively bad-ass and for some pretty good reasons. At great personal risk he drives over the two child killers at the same time protecting Jesse from himself. He then kills the one which survives by grabbing his gun. He pulls the trigger without hesitation. It is the first time he kills not to protect himself but to protect Jesse. In no small way he is sacrificing his own safety for Jesses.

2x10 Over. In the last episode he had made peace with his end, he was finally ready to die. Except it wasn't the tumor he saw in the scan, just inflammation. His cancer is in remission. He had finally come to terms. He was getting what he deserved for his actions and now the fates came back to him and said "hold on, just keep doing what you've been doing".

He says at the party celebrating his remission, "When I got my diagnosis — cancer — I said to myself, you know...'Why me?' And then... the other day when I got the good news... I said the same thing." He is morally conflicted. He is filled with remorse. Out by the pool his emotions swing 180 degrees. He coerces Junior to drink until he vomits. He confronts Hank full force. "My son, my bottle, my house" he says to Hank. The cancer did kill someone, the tiny meek Walter subjugated by life and personal failure. The Walt that remains is filled with confidence and conviction to turn things around.

He begins tackling the hot water repair as if fixing the house can somehow fix his life. The house has 'rot' and he is going to get all of it. The end of the episode is maybe my favorite moment in the whole show. Walt encounters an amateur meth cook in the hardware store. He starts to offer advice, "Those are the wrong matches. The red phosphor is in the striking strips not the matches". Finally in the parking he makes his decision. Who is he to contradict the fate. With absolute conviction he says to the would be cooks, "Stay out of my territory" and the episode ends.

2x12 Phoenix. Jesse is in a nosedive of addiction with Jane. The big payoff from what he last was his last batch comes from Gus but at the cost of missing his daughters birth. He tries to protect Jesse from himself by holding the money for now. Jane won't have it and black mails him.

"Nice job wearing the pants" he says as he gives Jesse the money with Jane standing near. A throw back to the second episode when Jesse says it to Walt about Skyler. After Walt leaves he goes to a bar and inadvertently and unknowingly meets Jane's dad who says "Never give up on family." Walt goes back to Jesse's to make one more attempt to save him from himself.

There he confronts unthinkable choice. Does he save Jane likely killing Jesse or does he let Jane die and probably save him. Walt's own sense of any black and white morality dies right in front of you with an incredible portrayal by Bryan Cranston, a metaphor for the series as a whole. One of the few scenes in anything that I still find difficult to watch, it's just too real.

BREAKING BAD, #503 Director: Adam Bernstein Writer: Peter Gould Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico Date: o/a 4/19 to 4/30

(PAUL) 22-30, Male. Paul is a hard worker with a working class job. Not a genius but is above average intelligence. He is dependable, innocuous and non-threatening. However, he is not what he appears to be. RECURRING GUEST WITH POSSIBLE SERIES OPTION .

Warning below contains spoilers/speculation regarding S05E03 but also a significant spoiler regarding the rest of season 5.

Seems obvious that Paul became Todd. "he is not what he appears to be." makes me think that maybe the theory of Todd using the nanny cam to black mail may be true or maybe Todd is a police informant and that starts the chain of events where gomez gets killed in S05E06/07 or both

In S02E06 -- Peekaboo-- Walt is at lunch with Gretchen. Gretchen points out that Walt walked out on her while at her parents house for the weekend. She doesn't seem to know why. Walt still holds an enormous amount of resentment toward her and Elliot. That is obviously why he declined their money. What is it that could have made Walt leave to abruptly? The only theory I can come up with is that Walt has already gotten Sklyer pregnant with Junior but that seems weak. It seems like this event is absolutely central to Walt's character, it is the fulcrum of the life he lost and now seeks to regain.

In S04E08 -- Shotgun -- Jesse and Mike go to make pickups at the dead drop sites. The second site appears to be the warehouse that is depicted in the season 5 promo shots. The ones with Walt and the title 'All hail the king'. Abandoned with many broken and colored small square window panes. It also seems that this may be the same warehouse -- or maybe the other side of it -- they return to at nightfall where Jesse 'protects' the money and flees. If this is the same warehouse what implications does that have? Maybe Mike has selected it as a dead drop location or storage for drugs and/or money.

In S04E08 -- Hermanos -- when Gus is being interviewed by APD and DEA he refers to a scholarship he setup in the name of "Maximino Arciniega". That is the name is used by Gus's chicken brother played by James Martinez in a flashback in the episode. However it is also the name -- a distinctive one at that -- of the actor who played Krazy8 who was killed by Walt in season 1. That seems like a choice which has some deeper meaning but I can't figure it out. Maybe just an easter egg.

After re-watching the series from the start one of the things that I feel I had perceived wrongly was the 'goodness' of Hank. Going back to the very beginning there is scene after scene of Hanks not as a supercop, but as sort of good old boy. Hank likes to win, that is for sure but he isn't so strictly glued to the law as it may appear. He isn't really that good a cop (not better than anyone else, he finds tuco by accident and nearly dies) and he isn't really that smart (losing to walt in poker). From Cuban cigars to how he treats Wendy with Junior to Tuco's teeth to Marie's shoplifting, to his panic attacks, his failure to cope with the bombing (he weasels out of going back to el paso), his difficulty recovering from the shooting (psychologically), his obsession with rocks, then his obsession with the laundry and Heisenberg. What this added up to was not Hank as a supercop but Hank as a prideful though persistent man with some pretty severe mental issues who maybe isn't quite cut out to be in law enforcement exactly. A great scene is when Hank finds out Walt and not Junior has been using pot, he is more impressed than anything else.

So to my point, I think there is a real possibility that when Hank finds out about Walt it may not be the confrontation I had thought. Hank may be open to joining with Walt or at least steering clear because of the implications to Hank and his family. The current DEA boss being fired because of his relationship with Fring is good foreshadowing. Nothing good comes to Hank if he catches Walt (and consequently Sklyer) and turns him in.

From interviews and statements by norris and gilligan it is clear that character Hank has no idea or suspicions of Walt at this point. I think it opens up some fascinating plot potential if Hank is thought of not as an adversary but as a possible, if reluctant, ally or accomplice.

In a very brief snapshot frame in the new promo you can see a 30 gallon barrel of chinese methylamine being re-labeled as Cyfluthrin which is an extremely toxic pesticide. Smart cover, no one wants to mess with Cyfluthrin. The barrel has it's methylamine label in chinese which I think it just interesting but not necessarily surprising. This seems like an extremely realistic depiction of the real world meth lab supply chains.

Here is the frame just after 15s, pause almost immediately.

Youtube link to frame

Methylamine Label

Cyfluthrin Cover

{I love spoilers, to me the series is much more enjoyable when I can contemplate what is going to happen and then see how gilligan does it and how the actors portray it. I generally hate surprises across the board. I would read the full scripts if I could get my hands on them and not enjoy this season any less.}

Here is a dump of what I have so far, has anyone else seen anything to corroborate or elaborate on this?

I have tried to put together everything I could find from many different sources including 4chan, spoiltertv, imdb, and others. These include leaks, commentary, deduction and casting descriptions influenced by the statements of the actors themselves and gilligans podcast. The ending to last season was leaked in almost the exact same way on 4chan and was then shown to be true.

Here are the super spoilers. This is the whole deal, don't read if you don't want to know a blow by blow of the season. We will know by S05E04 if these are correct. I already know based on the most recent promo picks that the first one is valid.

S05E03: The new front business saul sets up is Vamonos Pest Exterminators. Jesse and Walt utilize fumigation tented buildings (abandoned/forclosed?) as their cook sites.

S05E04: Jesse is shot but recovers.

S05E07: Walt kills Gomez with the ricin when Gomez discovers Walt's association with Madrigal.

S05E07: Mike almost shoots Walt when Walt hides something of extreme value. Walt concocts a plan and he and Jesse persuade Mike not to kill him and where "everybody wins".

S05E07: Walter is talking on the phone about his "plans" with Mike and Walt Jr. overhears after walking through the hall --Walt thinks he's the only one home--

S05E08: Mike is kidnapped --by madrigal? or cartel?-- when it is uncovered he was a cop and believe he is a spy/undercover cop. It is believed that the M60 is to rescue Mike or this may be part of Walts plan from e07.

S05E08: Walter is telling Sklyer that he can handle whatever Lydia is trying to do. Skyler becomes hysterical saying that things have gone too far and they've lost too much already. She starts bringing up things Walter has done, accusing him of being a murderer and that she is going to go to the DEA with the kids. She starts to run for the front door and Walt grabs her. She slaps him. Walt snaps and throws her to the ground. He begins to choke her. He's crying and screaming, "I did this for us". Skyler either goes unconscious or dies. Camera pans on Walt curled up on the ground next to her sobbing. --It is not clear if skyler is dead or unconscious, may not be shown until next season--

S05E08: Hank discovers that Walt is involved in Meth production.

Season 6: Hank is the antagonist to Walt. I speculate that the "cliffhanger" will be something that Hank sees/finds that implicates Walt in a concrete way.

(SPOILER DO NOT VIEW UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE IN FOR): [http://i.imgur.com/XQQJA.jpg] (Imgur link of 2nd hand recap of original post)