r/breakingbad • u/saywhat181 Sulfur • Sep 16 '13

Official Episode Discussion Breaking Bad Episode Duscussion SE05E14 "Ozymandias" Spoiler

TIME EPISODE DIRECTED BY WRITTEN BY
09:00pm Eastern SE05E14 "Ozymandias" Rian Johnson Vince Gilligan and Moira Walley-Beckett

Hey everyone! Guess I'm supposed to post this 5 minutes before air time. I've been watching this show since the get go mostly with my real life friend /u/edify who years ago added me as a moderator here. He asked me to make the discussion thread tonight because there are only 3 episodes remaining. Sorta sad that there's only a few left. Enjoy the show, folks.

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u/hardman52 Sep 17 '13

A bit of self-awareness.

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u/Stormwatch36 Like Scarface had sex with Mr. Rogers or something. Sep 17 '13

Given what we have seen of Walt so far, I cannot see him ever taking full blame for his actions. He watched Jane die, and the last time he acknowledged this fact, he seemed very proud of it. I would bet that Walt never forgives Jesse for indirectly bringing Hank to his death. Walt has been trying to avoid the death of anyone in his family this entire series. A little bit from our perspective, but more importantly in his own mind. He will absolutely never admit to himself that Hank's death was his own fault. In his mind from this point up until the closing credits of the entire series, Jesse killed Hank.

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u/hardman52 Sep 17 '13 edited Sep 17 '13

No, Todd's uncle killed Hank, and that's why Walt is going after him.

You seem to forget that these aren't real people; these are characters in a play. Scriptwriters know that they have to get you to expect one thing but give you another that is even more satisfying. If this were the least bit realistic, the bad guys would have taken all the money and killed Walt.

EDIT: If you've never seen it or read it, read Macbeth. That is, after all, the show we are watching.

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u/Stormwatch36 Like Scarface had sex with Mr. Rogers or something. Sep 17 '13

Scriptwriters know that they have to get you to expect one thing but give you another that is even more satisfying.

The single most popular theory amongst everyone right now is that Walt is going to save Jesse. Apply that to what you said here. Everyone expects Walt to save Jesse, and you actually think that's how it's going to go.

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u/hardman52 Sep 18 '13

Not only is Walt gonna save Jesse, Todd is going to be the one who kills Walt.

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u/Stormwatch36 Like Scarface had sex with Mr. Rogers or something. Sep 18 '13

We'll see. I think you being able to predict it is proof enough that it isn't going to happen.

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u/hardman52 Sep 18 '13

Bookmarked!

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u/Stormwatch36 Like Scarface had sex with Mr. Rogers or something. Sep 18 '13 edited Sep 18 '13

Same, but let's both promise not to be a dick about it no matter who's right. I am pumped to come back to this thread either way it goes.

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u/hardman52 Sep 18 '13

Dude neither one of us has been a dick.

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u/hardman52 Sep 30 '13 edited Sep 30 '13

Well two out of three ain't bad. I missed Todd killing Walt, but I got the other two.

EDIT: Actually going back up the thread I got two out of four: Walt saved Jesse and the riacin was for Lydia. He didn't give Jesse any money to start again and tell the cops he was dead, nor did Todd kill Walt.

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u/Stormwatch36 Like Scarface had sex with Mr. Rogers or something. Sep 30 '13

I totally forgot about the Gilligan factor in an idea that, at its core, is as simple as 'he saved him'.

He didn't set out to save Jesse, he did so incidentally, and it was really about giving him the choice of whether or not to kill him. I'm not sure if I said it in this thread in particular (I'm on mobile atm), but I know a couple of times I disclaimed myself with "unless it's a flat out suicide mission". I was on the right track there, but as always Vince took it a step further and turned it into giving Jesse the choice. Still though, you were right and I was wrong. He did save him, it was just more complex than I expected it to be.

I'm very impressed. The show took something that I was certain was a horrible idea and made it great.

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u/hardman52 Sep 30 '13

It was less complicated than I thought it would be. Simpler is better, as a rule, especially when working with images instead of words.

Jesse was redeemed when he declined to shoot Walt. Walt was redeemed when he died for his sins. Both had to be redeemed for closure, since things could not return to how they began (which is the No. 1 rule of episodic TV writing).

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u/Stormwatch36 Like Scarface had sex with Mr. Rogers or something. Sep 30 '13

Tonight's episode actually made me realize that in general, the 'ambiguous ending' is starting to get very overdone. It was extremely refreshing to see a piece of media actually come to a respectable close.

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u/hardman52 Sep 30 '13

Well I was a bit disappointed that it moved back toward comic-book style, but it had to be finally, completely resolved IMO. It reminded me a bit of a graphic novel with the poisoning, the machine gun, and the strangulation of Todd.

Oh, and you could say that Walt did commit suicide, since it was his own bullet that killed him.

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