Breaking Backtime Season 1: Pillow Talk

It's the summer television hiatus. The Americans, Game Of Thrones, and Mad Men are done for the season. There is nothing to watch now except for the often frustrating New York Yankees. But there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Breaking Bad returns in 37 days and AMC is re-running every episode in order.

So it gives die-hard viewers a chance to re-live the situation from the beginning, and watch in amazement as the story and characters develop so drastically.

In the show's fifth-ever episode "Gray Matter," we realize why we love the show so much - it's the writing. There is a scene that is dramatic as (almost) any in the series, where an intervention is staged with five people in the White family living room.

There's no meth, no death, and the roles of Saul, Mike, and Gus haven't been introduced. It's one episode before Tuco and the unveiling of "Heisenberg." Walt even has hair. The scene is 11 minutes of talk only, and it starts with Skyler White clenching "the talking pillow."

The intervention is for Walt to undergo a debilitating and expensive chemotherapy treatment for his terminal lung cancer, which he is trying desperately to evade. Everyone takes their turn with the pillow and the words are raw and real. Skyler is indignant that Walt fight for his life for the sake of his family, and she gets into a shouting match with her sister, who insists that Walter has the right to make his own choice.

Walt sits quietly while those around him bicker, which is a metaphor for the whole process. Until he is forced to seize the pillow and speak for himself.

"These doctors, taking about surviving - one year, two years - like it's the only thing that matters. Well what good is it to just survive if I am too sick to work? To enjoy a meal? To make love? For what time I have left I want to live in my own house. I want to sleep in my own bed. I'm not going to choke down 30, 40 pills and lose my hair and lie around too tired to get up, so nauseated I can't even move my head..."

Walt made his stand and made his choice. I choose not to do it. At this point in Walt's mind he had left the meth business behind, having just pocketed a mere few thousand bucks with only a couple of bodies in his wake.

But the next morning he wakes up, hugs his wife and reconsiders. And if you know anything about Walt's character, even just 5 episodes in, he isn't going to take any handouts. He is going to make sure that he is responsible for his treatment and that his family is taken care of.

In the closing scene he appears back in Jesse Pinkman's driveway, "Wanna cook?" That's the moment that Walter White really breaks bad...for good.

"Gray Matter" originally aired February 24, 2008.

Baracking Bad Part 2: What Will 51 Bring?

Yesterday the President officially became middle-aged, a fifty-something. Tonight's Breaking Bad is titled "Fifty One," for Walter White's birthday (Bryan Cranston is actually 56). Which means that even though the show is on Season 5, Episode 4, it's only been one year since the series began on Walt's 50th birthday.

The President has sprouted a few gray hairs with the weight of the world on his shoulders and all, but he's got it easy compared to Walt.

****CAUTION - SPOILERS****

In one year of calendar time, Walt learned he had terminal lung cancer, became a crystal meth guru, missed the birth of his daughter, killed several people, hired the coolest shady lawyer ever, had his wife have an affair with her boss and leave him, killed his partner's junkie girlfriend, had a plane crash in his backyard, got his DEA agent brother-in-law shot, saw a man get his throat cut in front of him, bought a car wash, poisoned a kid, and blew up the biggest drug kingpin in the southwest.

I'm sure I'm missing something but that's the gist of it.

Season 5 opens up with a flash-forward. Walt is 52 now and his hair is back. He's obviously been on his own for some time and returns home to New Mexico to buy an assault weapon. So what happens in the next year? How could Walt break any worse?

Walt has gone from sympathetic wimp, to fledgling amateur criminal to mastermind to sociopath. His character is beyond redemption, and he'll need to be taken down. Many have tried already, but have been outwitted. Tuco was a maniac. Jane was conniving and desperate. Gus was a machine. But they all had weaknesses. So who will put an end to Heisenberg?

Mike? No. While he's a badass, he's not a top dog. He needs Walt more than ever. Walt's troubling idea of business still provides the money necessary to keep Mike's family, and his guys "whole."

Skyler? Likely not. She may wind up shooting him in a panic, but she has invested too much guilt and too many lies in what's happened already. She thought she had a stomach for the business, but money laundering was as far as she could go. She's on the verge of a breakdown after yelling SHUT UP at her sister Marie, 14 times in a row. She's constantly at war with her conscience, a problem Walt doesn't have.

Hank? Don't think so. He may be forced in a situation to put the collar on Walt, but he'll never make him the target because he just won't see him like that. He's been minutes away from cracking the elusive Heisenberg on several tries, and has continually just missed.

Jesse? That's got to be it. Jesse has been too clean and straight-laced since his heroic turn in Mexico. He's been a perfect, don't-rock-the-boat partner for Walt in the newest chapter of their endeavor.

The show's first junkie crook is the most likable character in the cast. You wouldn't say he knows right from wrong, but wrong from really wrong.

And now that he's not using and not screwing up, what does he get for his efforts? He gets manipulated into ending a happy relationship, and a not-too-subtle threat from his partner about knowing his place.

If Jesse ever finds out about Walt's role in Jane's death, or in Brock's poisoning, it's going to be World War III.

He's not as steely or strong-willed as Walt, but he has Mike's trust. And unlike Walt, he has friends that are loyal.

The pieces are on the chessboard. The king will eventually go down. He may not be killed, he may not be captured, but he will most certainly be forced out.

And that's what will cause Walt's "sabbatical," and a return home with a machine gun for one final showdown. Which will most certainly have more drama than election night.

Baracking Bad Part 1: What Will 51 Bring?

In a delicious, ironic twist, President Obama's 51st birthday comes one day before Breaking Bad celebrates Walter White's same birthday with an episode titled "Fifty One." It's got to be a conspiracy, right? Something to do with Area 51?

Well there doesn't seem to be much mystery or secrecy about the man on the left and how he will spend his next year. It will almost certainly be in the same Residence, with the nation watching his girls grow up.

The Real Clear Politics poll composite has Obama a slim +3.0 over Romney, with the number weighed down by the outlying conservative Rasmussen daily intake. The networks have also gone all in on the notion that the presidential race is coming down to the wire - as they are invested in the 24-hour news cycle and blowouts are bad for business. It's interesting to see two non-partisan numbers pop up in the last month: Pew Research had Obama +10 this week, and Bloomberg recently had him +13.

But more significantly, Irish oddsmaker PaddyPower.com has the sitting President at 2/5.

InTrade markets have Obama at +17.5 (in a 100-point share). That's not the be-all and end-all. On this exact date 4 years ago Obama's InTrade lead on McCain was +22.2, before an amazing but short-lived comeback by the McCain/Palin ticket who took a brief lead in the polls and the InTrade markets that were lost for good on September 18, 2008.

And mathematical election guru Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight has Obama about to run away with it, with a 71% chance of winning. That's the same odds he forecasts for the president in Ohio, while seeing a 87% chance of winning Pennsylvania and an 88% chance of winning Michigan.

The electoral chances for Romney are described this morning by The Daily Beast's Michael Tomasky as "drawing an inside straight," and it's one where he'd likely need more than one card to fill it.

So rest easy on your birthday Mr. President. Hit 'em straight on the golf course, have your wife prepare you some sort of nutritionally sensible cake, crack open a beer and enjoy the Olympics.

Fifty One has a different meaning for me, so I'll throw on my Bernie Williams jersey and enjoy the Yankees/Ms game.

We'll take a look back at Walter White/Heisenberg's journey from 50 to 51, and try and map out the road to 52 (we know he'll get there), when Baracking Bad Part 2 continues...tomorrow.

Things Breaking Very Badly For Hank Schrader

The thing with the new modern drama is that the bad guys are often the good guys, and the good guys are lesser good guys.

I think about the dogged Agent Harris, always coming up short against Tony Soprano. Tony was the show's hero, but the Keystone cop feds were one step behind and hard to dislike.

Or master criminal Stringer Bell toying with the squad from The Wire for the better part of 3 seasons, until getting caught in the crosshairs of two more vicious criminals.

***CAUTION-SPOLIERS***

In the case of the new best-show-on-TV, Breaking Bad, DEA Agent Hank Schrader isn't a perfect character, but he is a top-notch investigator. Unfortunately, he can't close on the elusive "Heisenberg," the local meth kingpin - who just happens to be Walter White, his brother-in-law.

While Walt is the perfect anti-hero, Hank's personal drama has won us over as well.

Hank is the ultimate bad-ass fed, but is dealing with some post-traumatic stress after a Mexican drug cartel blew up his border task force. So now he's having panic attacks, general anxiety, and behaving very erratically. His professional life is in limbo, and he can't talk to anyone - including his wife - about it.

But he still has his instincts and is right on top of the mysterious RV, the Blue Sky meth, and ultimately Walt. But Walt has the jump on him, since he knows his enemy.

When Walt and Jesse are cornered in the rolling meth lab, Walt pulls a fast one (with a major assist from "Better Call" Saul Goodman), arranging a fake car accident involving Hank's wife, knowing it would pull Hank from the scene.

When Hank finds out its a ruse, he gets dragged down one step further toward his emotional basement.

Now not only is he aware of the problems in front of him. He doesn't even know about the relentless evil "Twin Reaper" who now have made it their mission to chop him into half-a-dozen pieces.

Breaking up is hard to do

This was the first Sunday Night after the Breaking Bad season finale. And while a fine Game 2 of the NBA Finals helped fill the void, the loss of my new favorite show hasn't really sunk in yet.

***CAUTION-SPOILERS***

While it hasn't sunk in for me yet, imaging being Walter White (Bryan Cranston).

You've beaten cancer. You've taken care of your family financially for the forseeable future. You've rescued Jesse (Aaron Paul), your "business" partner from an abyss of drug addiction and depression and set him up in a cushy recovery situation.

You've managed to evade law enforcement. This includes a dogged DEA bigwig who just so happens to be your brother-in-law who is actually looking for you (well your alias "Heisenberg" - named after a pioneer in quantum mechanics).

And most importantly you're still alive when so many that you've come into contact with are no longer.

So, you've won. Except that all the lies you've told your family to get to this point are being called...And your wife Skyler (Anna Gunn) says she's had enough and leaves you.

And as this all sinks in, Walt's property is bombarded by debris from an overhead plane crash...The result of a chain of events that he actually set in motion. Seems that everything's connected in the ABQ.

Now, we'll all miss the great characters unveiled in the second half of Season 2.

"Better Call" Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk, Mr. Show) - the sleazy, well-connected, brilliant criminal lawyer. Without Saul, Walt and Jesse would still be at each other's throats and more importantly, would still be broke.

Gustavo (Giancarlo Esposito from a million things, maybe best in Do The Right Thing) - the successful owner of Los Pollos Hermanos, a regional chain of Mexican chicken shacks, and community leader. He's also the largest crystal meth wholesaler in the Southwest.

Donald (John de Lancie, who was the comic antagoinst "Q" from Star Trek: TNG) - the grief-stricken air traffic controller who can't come to grips with his daughter's overdose, which yields tragic results.

I guess we'll see ya'll next season. It's a break that will seem too long.