Breaking Bad: Meth Madness

Breaking Bad:

"Seven Thirty-Seven"

Yea! I'm glad this show is back; it's so flipping awesome. I watched and loved it last year (but never got around to blogging about it for some reason). Bryan Cranston winning the Best Actor in a Drama category at the Emmys was definitely one of the highlights of the awards ceremony for me (the others being Zeljko Ivanek winning Best Supporting Actor for Damages and Mad Men taking Best Drama. I also think that Aaron Paul deserved a nomination.). Geez, cable dramas are good.

In fact, I wonder if Breaking Bad isn't overall the best show on television (Steven King thinks it is). It certainly has got to be in the top five. It's amazing how quickly it can go from being completely devastating one second to absolutely hilarious the next and then right back to devastating. I mean, this show is grim. There's no way to deny that, but it also includes these moments of comic genius that break the tension for one quick beat. One I remember in particular was when Walt told Jesse that they'd need an eye-wash station in the RV where they were going to cook meth. I mean, does it get more high school chemistry teacher than that? It's these moments of unexpected, dark humor that keep us viewers from exploding from the stress or running screaming from the room.

This particular episode, however, was more terrifying that humorous (although that "rice 'n beans" joke was hysterical). Like seriously terrifying. As in, I'm a little scared to go to bed tonight, and Tuco doesn't know what I live. And that stuffed bear is going to haunt me. Holy crap.

Highlights and observations:

• Oh my gosh. That is easily the creepiest looking stuffed animal I have ever scene. That thing is terrifying.
• Oh, yeah, I forgot about the blue meth. (Wait, of course I forgot about it--this show hasn't been on for a freaking year.)
• After an impressive display of mental math, Walt figures out that he needs to leave his family $737,000 to take care of their major future needs. That amounts to eleven more weeks of cooking meth and eleven more drug deals with Tuco, which Walt decides is "definitely doable."
• One minute later, Tuco comes back because the guy he just beat up is now dead. He expects Walt to fix it, but come on: he's a science teacher, not a doctor! This is one crazy-ass drug deal. Tuco is beyond nuts. Eleven more drug deals with Tuco is suddenly not seeming "doable" at all.
• I like their green nursery.
• Well, I can understand why Jesse might think that he needs a gun to make it through 11 more Tuco deals, but I don't think it's going to help.
• Walt: "This is conjecture."
• Jesse: "Are you basing that on that he's got like a normal healthy brain or something?"
• Wow, Walt and Jesse have gotten themselves into several "him or us" scenarios in a pretty short amount of time.
• How much Splenda can Marie drink in her coffee? And, holy crap, she just ran over the poor kid's remote control car! She is hanging on by a thread.
• Hank: "Try rolling it, morons! It's a barrel! It rolls!"
• Holy effing heck, that's Tuco's car at Walt's house!
• Ha! Skyler hung up on her sister! (I can't say that I blame her.)
• Jesse: "Don't we, like, double our chances...mathematically?"
• Walt: "I have a better idea: beans. Caster beans. ...We're going to process them into ricin."
  Jesse: "Rice 'n beans."
• Ohhhh, I forgot about the tiara incident.
• Maybe Hank will look the other way if he finds out about Walt's drug dealing since he looks the other way on his wife's shoplifting.
• Hank: "We've got to be understanding. We've got to support the shit out of her."
• I think Jesse is too involved with this ricin making. I wouldn't really trust that job to him.
• Walt: "How much salesmanship to we really need? That degenerate snorts anything he gets his hands on."
• Oh my gosh--I thought Hank blew up Walt's house or something since he called with the flashing police lights behind him. I totally fell for that fake out.
• Ack! Tuco killed the big guy (Gonzo) too?
• Who takes a picture of two murder victims and sends it to his brother-in-law?
• Lock the door after you enter the house, Walt!
• Don't leave the money and the gun on the floor of the nursery in a diaper box!
• Wow, Hank and the other police people are jerks! Taking pictures with themselves and dead people? Ugh.
• OMFG. Tuco's in the back seat of Jesse's car! AHHHHHHHHHH--and that's the end of the episode! Since I'm watching this a couple weeks late, I do already have the next episode on tape and I want to watch it, but I don't think I'd be able to handle another hour of this right now. I think I'd better give myself some time to recover. I hope Walt and Jesse will be ok. Especially Jesse--I love that kid.
• So what the hell was up with that pink stuffed bear, anyway?

(photo: amctv.com)

Damages: Just for a Thrill

Damages is back! Damages is back! Damages is back!
It's about 9:40 p.m. EST, so the show is not even on yet, but I'm so excited that I am starting my blog now just so I can talk about it. Damages!

There was a time when I never thought I'd see the day that this show would be back on the air. It's been, what, about 15 months now? And, frankly, I can't remember much about what happened in season 1. To be fair, I don't think we really knew what was going on at the time though, so I guess there's some consolation in that.

Here's what I can recall: Patty tried to kill Ellen...Ray was awesome but he killed himself...Jenny Garth's husband/Carlisle Cullen was hit by a car...there was this sketchy, bearded fellow who broke into Ellen's apartment and tampered with something...Frobisher was bleeding to death in a field...Patty's kid was creepy...Patty cried over a grave in a cemetery...Jimmy Cooper let Patty kick him around a lot and his name is not on the door of the law practice...Ellen's kindly old mentor guy turned out to be evil (I think)...Katie lived a life of narcotics and intercourse...

But I'm thinking there must have been more to the story...

Yea--now it's about 9:58 EST, and it's almost starting!!! My hopes for season 2: Katie comes back. Ellen kicks some serious ass.

Damages: "I Lied, Too"

The play-by-play:

• Oh no, are we going commercial-free again for the premiere? I should have gone to the bathroom before this started. I didn't learn my lesson from the pilot.
• Who did have David killed? Do we know for sure it was Frobisher, or is that just what Ellen thinks? I don't remember if we found that out or not. I think it had to do with the sketchy, bearded guy.
• This opening monologue by New Ellen is scaring the hell out of me...and I kinda love it.
• Do civil litigation lawyers really go on Regis and Kelly? Maybe if they win a $2 billion settlement.
• Sam Arseno. (I feel like I should write down the names of everyone who is mentioned to try to avoid confusion later.)
• Patty's hair looks flippin' awesome.
• Ahhh! Theme song, how I've missed you!
• How long has poor Frobisher been in this field? He better rally because Ted Danson can win that Emmy now that Zeljko Ivanek (Ray Fiske) isn't around to take it away (BTW, Zeljko taking winning that award was the highlight of the Emmys. It was very well deserved.)
• Ellen was in the cabin? Wearing a hunting vest? Ahh, it's ok, it's just as "revenge fantasy."
• Pete!
• That's kind of a tiny conference table these bigwigs are sitting around.
• Wow, Rose Byrne kind of sounds like January Jones. I thought I was listening to Betty Draper there for a second. Weird.
• Sam Arseno: "In the '80s, we all did shit like that."
• Wait, did Sam's story even pertain to this situation? Or did he just want to brag about once having a girl under his desk?
• Patty: "There are a lot of clowns under the big top."
• Daniel Purcell.
• Ooh, dark fingernails are acceptable for high powered lawyers.
• Yeah, this infant mortality/HMO thing has Patty written all over it. Nice work, FBI.
• Hmm, this guy at grief support counseling (Wes Krulik) is a real keeper, what with his head-kicking story. Ahh, it's ok, he's just describing a "revenge fantasy." I keep falling for those.
• Patty's creepy kid!
• Patty has a lot more guilt about this attempting-to-kill-Ellen thing than I would have expected.
• He he he, did Patty set Lily Arseno up for this drug bust? Of course she did.
• You know who would fit in with Patty? Blair Waldorf. They are cut from the same cloth.
• Is Patty's hair suddenly substantially longer? Was it just more flipped up before, or have we time jumped?
• Hmm, how does Patty know this Daniel fellow, and why is this situation so awkward? I'm guessing it has something to do with the girl in the grave. Maybe?
• Oh, Wes knows the exact date and the day of the week that his girlfriend's killer is going to get out of jail. Poor guy.
• Ray! Ahhhh! Hallucination Ray!!! Ray!!! "Hungry children ain't going to cut it." Ahaha. Holy crap, I love Ray Fiske. I hope the Damages people got Zeljko to more guest appearances. I want to see more of Hallucination Ray!
• He he, I knew "Mrs. Frobisher" was going to be Ellen. But is this just a "revenge fantasy"? Hmm, no, this one looks real.
  
• Yep, Arseno, your daughter was set up. What I can't believe is that you haven't figured out who set her up. Come on.
• This Arseno guy really is a delight. Everything he says turns into a metaphor involving genitalia...
• It's nice that mother and son Hughes are in cahoots now.
• The back of Ellen's cocktail dress is stunning.
• The girl in the grave was Patty's daughter (who was stillborn). Did we know that for sure, or was that just a guess?
• Ok, Patty, I thought we were telling the truth now. Guess not. The person in your apartment was not looking for you. We're not buying it. Does Patty know Ellen's working with the FBI?
• Oh dear, Daniel's wife is dead. I thought he was dropping the case; why'd they kill her now? It will just makes him come after them. (Like when Patty killed Katie's dog so she'd get involved in the Frobisher case.)
• Whoever Ellen's talking to in the flash forward (the present?) is being very silent. (Do they have tape over their mouth?)
• Ellen: "Well, it's ok. I lied, too." (bang, bang)
  

So, what is the name of the song that Ellen is listening to? Well, after a quick Google search of the lyrics, I can tell Ellen what she can't remember: the name of the song is "Just for a Thrill." Tell me that doesn't mean something. (Here are the full lyrics for your analyzing pleasure.)

What I loved most about this episode was that it was fun to see all of these characters again. It was like a reunion, seeing Tom (Jimmy Cooper), Frobisher, Ray, Pete, David, etc. I was even excited to see Patty's creepy kid. The last time all these people tangled turned into such a horrible mess that we can only imagine what they'll do to each other this time.

Well, all in all, I'm not as blown away and exhilarated as I was after the pilot episode and at other points during last season, but I'm definitely on board for this new chapter and intrigued to see how it all goes down. Team Ellen!

(photo: Damages/FX)