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sarea
I have had SUCH a shitty couple of days that I totally caved on Breaking Bad and have watched as much of it as I could. I'm on S04E10, Salud, the most recent episode that aired. Now I have to wait week to week like everyone else. ><
This may be the only show I watch where my primary ship is not a romantic one at all, but is the father/son one between Walt and Jesse. I know, it sounds really weird, but I LOVE IT. Except they never really give it to us. Kind of like when Mulder and Scully only touch each other's cheek or something. It's never really been overt. You know they give a shit about each other, but how much of that is due to circumstance and how much of it is due to real feeling, is hard to say.
Like when Jesse killed Gale, that was to save Walt, sure, but it was just as important that he do it to save himself. Most of the things they've done for each other have had an element of self interest, too. Sometimes, like when Walt was trying to convince Gus not to kill Jesse because Walt needed him, it's a little more there, but it could also be attributed to other motivations, like guilt, or friendship, or a sense of duty, or whatever. And there was the time when Walt was talking to Jane's dad; he likens Jesse to a nephew. Then there's the fact that Jesse insists on calling Walt "Mr. White," never his first name -- which could be a throwback to his high school days, but after all they've been through, that excuse is rather thin. It's more that Walt is a father figure to him, and you don't call your dad by his first name, so Jesse uses the most appropriate form of respect that's available to him.
But in 'Salud,' for the first time that I can remember, they overtly made the father/son parallel. Walter's professional life and his personal life are kept extremely distinct on this show. Jesse and Skyler have only met the one time (that I remember), and Walt Jr. and Jesse have never shared a scene. Walt's been careful to never, ever mention Jesse to anyone in his family. In some ways this has been very disappointing, because given Jesse's importance in Walt's life, it seemed to me that he deserved to be acknowledged to other important people in Walt's life. And because he wasn't, it always kind of felt like Walt didn't really think of Jesse as being all that important to him, especially because -- as I've mentioned before -- he seems to have no qualms about getting Jesse into all sorts of scrapes, forces him to do terrible things, and is generally the Worst Role Model Ever. Yet I'm starting to reconsider that a bit. Walter likes the Walter he's become, the Walter that Jesse knows (and who's been introduced to Skyler only recently). So the fact that he does this stuff with/to Jesse... is actually a sign of respect. He doesn't mollycoddle Jesse the way he does with Skyler and Walt Jr. He's molding Jesse to be the son of Powerful!Walt, whereas Walt Jr. is the son of PansyAss!Walt -- a person Walt no longer likes or wants to be.
Anyway, when Walt Jr. visits Walt the day after Walt and Jesse get into fisticuffs, Walt is groggy and emotionally overcome. When Walt Jr. asks who Walt got into a fight with, Walt tears up and talks about how he made a mistake. The "shipper" in me hoped he meant that he made a mistake wrt how he treated Jesse, how this all came about and he regretted his actions... but the realist in me thought it was more likely that he meant he was sorry for what he's potentially put his family through due to the mistake of trusting Jesse. It's damn hard to tell. But then! Walt (half asleep) asks Walt Jr. if he likes his new car, and when the latter says a reluctant yes, Walt says, "That's good, Jesse." !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SO. MANY. HEART. EYES. He was thinking about Jesse! His regrets were about Jesse (in a good way). HE CALLED HIS OWN SON BY JESSE'S NAME. OMG. I totally squealed.
OK, the one thing I didn't like about the episode, but that I loved at the same time, is how much it cements Jesse's relationship with Gus and Mike. :/ After the row he had with Walt, he doesn't need any more reasons to side with the others. Of course, he still blames Walt for what happened with Gale, so the break was happening all along. I just wonder how they're going to repair that relationship, as I think they have to do. Anyway, I also loved it because Jesse has been such a zombie this season, I really like seeing him do stuff/matter.
Next season is the final season, so there's a lot of ground to cover in terms of how everything is going to work out. I can't even begin to guess where they want to go with it. I certainly don't expect it to end all OBHF, with Walt getting out of the biz with his millions, adopting Jesse, who's clean and who then goes off to college with Walt Jr., while Skyler, Walt, and baby Holly stand on the porch wave goodbye, and Hank and Marie never guess the truth... but I don't know that they want to end it all terrible and give Walt cancer again, and/or leave us with a PSA "meth is bad news" message, either. I mean, the show is dark and deals with serious, real issues... but it's also about hope and empowerment.
My secret guilty pleasure wish? Which will more likely play out in fanfic than on the show, LOL, because it's both MORE terrible than what they could possibly be planning, and yet also more schmoopy? Somehow, Walt, Skyler, Walt Jr., Hank, and Marie all get killed (by Gus, by some cartel, whatever) -- so Jesse has to take baby Holly on the run. That would be SO CUTE. He'd raise her as his daughter, because he's always been good with kids, and it would also end his relationship with Walt on a happy note, because of course he'd only be doing it at first because she's Walt's daughter, before he grew to of course love her for herself. <3 Haha. Of course, if this actually happened on the show, it'd have to just end with Jesse taking the baby away from her dead family and going on the run, but you know.
Seriously, I can't be the only one watching this brilliant show. I knowcorianderstem watches it, but she's probably in Ireland by now. Anyone else? Seriously? Bueller?
Holy shit, S4 has a score of 96 on Metacritic. By comparison, other shows I enjoy: Friday Night Lights S5, 82; Sons of Anarchy S4, 81; Justified S1, 81; Game of Thrones S1, 79; Dexter S4, 79; Merlin S1, 59; Vampire Diaries S1, 50.
Just saw an ad for a series called Homeland. I am SO THERE for that! Claire Danes! Damien Lewis! Morena Baccarin! Mandy Patinkin! Co-created by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa! Hmm apparently it doesn't start until Oct. 2, but the first episode was aired online. Just need to find it and see if it's any good...
This may be the only show I watch where my primary ship is not a romantic one at all, but is the father/son one between Walt and Jesse. I know, it sounds really weird, but I LOVE IT. Except they never really give it to us. Kind of like when Mulder and Scully only touch each other's cheek or something. It's never really been overt. You know they give a shit about each other, but how much of that is due to circumstance and how much of it is due to real feeling, is hard to say.
Like when Jesse killed Gale, that was to save Walt, sure, but it was just as important that he do it to save himself. Most of the things they've done for each other have had an element of self interest, too. Sometimes, like when Walt was trying to convince Gus not to kill Jesse because Walt needed him, it's a little more there, but it could also be attributed to other motivations, like guilt, or friendship, or a sense of duty, or whatever. And there was the time when Walt was talking to Jane's dad; he likens Jesse to a nephew. Then there's the fact that Jesse insists on calling Walt "Mr. White," never his first name -- which could be a throwback to his high school days, but after all they've been through, that excuse is rather thin. It's more that Walt is a father figure to him, and you don't call your dad by his first name, so Jesse uses the most appropriate form of respect that's available to him.
But in 'Salud,' for the first time that I can remember, they overtly made the father/son parallel. Walter's professional life and his personal life are kept extremely distinct on this show. Jesse and Skyler have only met the one time (that I remember), and Walt Jr. and Jesse have never shared a scene. Walt's been careful to never, ever mention Jesse to anyone in his family. In some ways this has been very disappointing, because given Jesse's importance in Walt's life, it seemed to me that he deserved to be acknowledged to other important people in Walt's life. And because he wasn't, it always kind of felt like Walt didn't really think of Jesse as being all that important to him, especially because -- as I've mentioned before -- he seems to have no qualms about getting Jesse into all sorts of scrapes, forces him to do terrible things, and is generally the Worst Role Model Ever. Yet I'm starting to reconsider that a bit. Walter likes the Walter he's become, the Walter that Jesse knows (and who's been introduced to Skyler only recently). So the fact that he does this stuff with/to Jesse... is actually a sign of respect. He doesn't mollycoddle Jesse the way he does with Skyler and Walt Jr. He's molding Jesse to be the son of Powerful!Walt, whereas Walt Jr. is the son of PansyAss!Walt -- a person Walt no longer likes or wants to be.
Anyway, when Walt Jr. visits Walt the day after Walt and Jesse get into fisticuffs, Walt is groggy and emotionally overcome. When Walt Jr. asks who Walt got into a fight with, Walt tears up and talks about how he made a mistake. The "shipper" in me hoped he meant that he made a mistake wrt how he treated Jesse, how this all came about and he regretted his actions... but the realist in me thought it was more likely that he meant he was sorry for what he's potentially put his family through due to the mistake of trusting Jesse. It's damn hard to tell. But then! Walt (half asleep) asks Walt Jr. if he likes his new car, and when the latter says a reluctant yes, Walt says, "That's good, Jesse." !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SO. MANY. HEART. EYES. He was thinking about Jesse! His regrets were about Jesse (in a good way). HE CALLED HIS OWN SON BY JESSE'S NAME. OMG. I totally squealed.
OK, the one thing I didn't like about the episode, but that I loved at the same time, is how much it cements Jesse's relationship with Gus and Mike. :/ After the row he had with Walt, he doesn't need any more reasons to side with the others. Of course, he still blames Walt for what happened with Gale, so the break was happening all along. I just wonder how they're going to repair that relationship, as I think they have to do. Anyway, I also loved it because Jesse has been such a zombie this season, I really like seeing him do stuff/matter.
Next season is the final season, so there's a lot of ground to cover in terms of how everything is going to work out. I can't even begin to guess where they want to go with it. I certainly don't expect it to end all OBHF, with Walt getting out of the biz with his millions, adopting Jesse, who's clean and who then goes off to college with Walt Jr., while Skyler, Walt, and baby Holly stand on the porch wave goodbye, and Hank and Marie never guess the truth... but I don't know that they want to end it all terrible and give Walt cancer again, and/or leave us with a PSA "meth is bad news" message, either. I mean, the show is dark and deals with serious, real issues... but it's also about hope and empowerment.
My secret guilty pleasure wish? Which will more likely play out in fanfic than on the show, LOL, because it's both MORE terrible than what they could possibly be planning, and yet also more schmoopy? Somehow, Walt, Skyler, Walt Jr., Hank, and Marie all get killed (by Gus, by some cartel, whatever) -- so Jesse has to take baby Holly on the run. That would be SO CUTE. He'd raise her as his daughter, because he's always been good with kids, and it would also end his relationship with Walt on a happy note, because of course he'd only be doing it at first because she's Walt's daughter, before he grew to of course love her for herself. <3 Haha. Of course, if this actually happened on the show, it'd have to just end with Jesse taking the baby away from her dead family and going on the run, but you know.
Seriously, I can't be the only one watching this brilliant show. I know
corianderstem watches it, but she's probably in Ireland by now. Anyone else? Seriously? Bueller?Holy shit, S4 has a score of 96 on Metacritic. By comparison, other shows I enjoy: Friday Night Lights S5, 82; Sons of Anarchy S4, 81; Justified S1, 81; Game of Thrones S1, 79; Dexter S4, 79; Merlin S1, 59; Vampire Diaries S1, 50.
Just saw an ad for a series called Homeland. I am SO THERE for that! Claire Danes! Damien Lewis! Morena Baccarin! Mandy Patinkin! Co-created by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa! Hmm apparently it doesn't start until Oct. 2, but the first episode was aired online. Just need to find it and see if it's any good...
