psychoblast
Bluelighter
This was the best show on television its first two seasons. The jury is still out on the third season. The first three episodes were all dealing with transitioning the characters to a new dynamic, and it got pretty tedious. I mean, I think they were good episodes, just so much less bang than we came to expect from prior seasons, when every episode had something that made you say "WTF?!"
This last episode had a bit of that bang again, so I liked it more and I hope they get back to the kind of intensity they had the first two seasons. I recognize you cannot necessary keep that kind of intensity going during every episode, season after season, so I am going to bear with it.
I like my fiction to be realistic, so I was a bit bothered by the chemistry aspect -- why do they need Walt the chemistry teacher if they have access to amazing lab grade equipment and guys with chemistry majors? Why is this supposedly cautious drug kingpin dealing with Walt and all his baggage? The best explanation I can think of would be that Walt has developed a completely original and new formula that this guy things will help him expand his market share or something. I mean, there was the episode where Walt said he was using a formula that did not need a bunch of sudafed, and they stole a barrell of some alternative substance.
Anyway, recognizing that it is not a "real" explanation, it would still be plausible, within the fiction of the story world, if Walt had come up with an awesome and improved formula for crystal meth that needs a high skill level to produce, but is worth it. As for Jesse's ability to produce a passable product, I do not think that signifies it is an easy formula, but rather indicates that Jesse is actually very bright and absorbed a lot of knowledge from Walt (and Walt, being a teacher, was likely good at transferring know-how to Jesse).
The above explanation is what I choose to believe even though the writers have not been 100% clear about it, and even if it is not what they intend, simply because it allows me to enjoy the show more.
What really screwed up my enjoyment of the last episode was the notion that Walt -- this incredibly responsible, careful, thorough, meticulous genius -- never thought, "Gee, maybe I should tell Saul to tell Jesse he is being watched by the DEA so he does not go to the RV." I mean, what is the use of having the incredible luck of learning that your former partner in crime is under police surveillance IF YOU DO NOT FUCKING TELL YOUR PARTNER!! That is such a huge gaping hole in the plot, given that they are trying to portray Walt as this ultra-smart, ultra-responsible drug dealer, that I simply cannot believe it. It was a bone-head move by the writers. They could have gotten to the same ultimate situation (them in the RV with Hank outside) with another approach more consistent with the characters.
Equally as bad was the way they supposedly got out of that situation. I do not believe for a second that that would have worked. Since when do DEA agents not have partners? Why wouldn't Hank have called for back up the second he saw the RV? He could have had agents there to baby sit the thing while he went to the hospital to check on his wife.
And Walt and Jesse just stand around watching the RV get crushed -- they have no idea if Hank called for authorities to come to that location, or how long it would be until Hank discovered the ruse (he could have tried calling his wife's phone the second he drove off, or she could have called him).
Anyway, I guess I do think the writers have gotten intellectually lazy. I'm not going to threaten to stop watching, but it does disappoint me. I hope future episodes are better.
~psychoblast~
This last episode had a bit of that bang again, so I liked it more and I hope they get back to the kind of intensity they had the first two seasons. I recognize you cannot necessary keep that kind of intensity going during every episode, season after season, so I am going to bear with it.
I like my fiction to be realistic, so I was a bit bothered by the chemistry aspect -- why do they need Walt the chemistry teacher if they have access to amazing lab grade equipment and guys with chemistry majors? Why is this supposedly cautious drug kingpin dealing with Walt and all his baggage? The best explanation I can think of would be that Walt has developed a completely original and new formula that this guy things will help him expand his market share or something. I mean, there was the episode where Walt said he was using a formula that did not need a bunch of sudafed, and they stole a barrell of some alternative substance.
Anyway, recognizing that it is not a "real" explanation, it would still be plausible, within the fiction of the story world, if Walt had come up with an awesome and improved formula for crystal meth that needs a high skill level to produce, but is worth it. As for Jesse's ability to produce a passable product, I do not think that signifies it is an easy formula, but rather indicates that Jesse is actually very bright and absorbed a lot of knowledge from Walt (and Walt, being a teacher, was likely good at transferring know-how to Jesse).
The above explanation is what I choose to believe even though the writers have not been 100% clear about it, and even if it is not what they intend, simply because it allows me to enjoy the show more.
What really screwed up my enjoyment of the last episode was the notion that Walt -- this incredibly responsible, careful, thorough, meticulous genius -- never thought, "Gee, maybe I should tell Saul to tell Jesse he is being watched by the DEA so he does not go to the RV." I mean, what is the use of having the incredible luck of learning that your former partner in crime is under police surveillance IF YOU DO NOT FUCKING TELL YOUR PARTNER!! That is such a huge gaping hole in the plot, given that they are trying to portray Walt as this ultra-smart, ultra-responsible drug dealer, that I simply cannot believe it. It was a bone-head move by the writers. They could have gotten to the same ultimate situation (them in the RV with Hank outside) with another approach more consistent with the characters.
Equally as bad was the way they supposedly got out of that situation. I do not believe for a second that that would have worked. Since when do DEA agents not have partners? Why wouldn't Hank have called for back up the second he saw the RV? He could have had agents there to baby sit the thing while he went to the hospital to check on his wife.
And Walt and Jesse just stand around watching the RV get crushed -- they have no idea if Hank called for authorities to come to that location, or how long it would be until Hank discovered the ruse (he could have tried calling his wife's phone the second he drove off, or she could have called him).
Anyway, I guess I do think the writers have gotten intellectually lazy. I'm not going to threaten to stop watching, but it does disappoint me. I hope future episodes are better.
~psychoblast~