Posted on 09/10/2013 11:21:52 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
Last night's Breaking Bad left off in the middle of a gunfight, with Gomez and Hank trying to fend off two cars' worth of Todd's Nazi family. Gomez had a shotgun; Jack and Kenny each had some kind of assault weapon. But there were Hank and Todd, each with a handgun. Bang, bang, bang. It was just the most recent instance of Todd mirroring another character. We've seen him be like Walt, we've seen him mirror Jesse, and then last night we saw him mirror both Skyler and Hank. For a very late addition to the cast, Todd sure has become important.
Early on, Todd was a mirror for Mike. In his first appearance — as part of the Vamanos extermination front — Todd spotted a nanny cam in the house Walt and Jesse were about to use as a onetime cook site. It was an instance of Mike-style attention to detail (think of Mike cleaning up Jesse's apartment when Jane died), with the same kind of modest presence that disguises an intense dark side. Two episodes later, in "Dead Freight," Todd works seamlessly alongside Jesse and Walt, pulling off the great methylamine heist of '12. And then in one of the show's most striking scenes, Todd pulls out a gun and kills a child.
But dirtbike-riding, tarantula-trapping Drew Sharp is not the first kid to be shot on Breaking Bad. There was Tomás Cantillo back in season three, who was shot and killed in "Half Measures," presumably at Gus's behest. If Todd and Gus ever crossed paths, we didn't see it, but when he killed Drew Sharp, it was a total Gus move. At that point, Jesse thought Gus had poisoned Brock — so in Jesse's eyes, that was another Gus-style transgression. But Walt knew better; in his eyes, Todd was making a Walt-like move, and in its own sick way, that was flattering. Not unlike the Salamancas, Todd has an important professional criminal relationship with his uncle. Not a lot of solid father-son relationships on Breaking Bad! This is why so many characters seek out authoritative male approval and attention!
Since then, Todd's bounced between Jesse and Walt. He's a protégé — so he's Jesse. But he's very precise and committed — so he's Walt. He doesn't have a natural aptitude for meth-cooking — so he's Jesse. But boy, is he ever applying himself — back to Walt. When he helped Walt dispose of Mike's body, he channeled Saul: I don't need or want a full explanation; let's just get the dirty work over with. In this season's "Buried," Todd leads a blindfolded Lydia through a maze of corpses that she refuses to see or acknowledge, which is more or less how Walt led Sklyer through the first few seasons of the show. Denial's a hell of a thing.
So we've seen Todd channel the bad guys. But he's channeled the good guys, too. (Good being a relative term here; it's Breaking Bad, after all.) When he sat at breakfast bragging to his uncle Jake and associate Kenny about the train heist, he sounded just like a season one Hank bragging about his DEA busts; mostly telling the truth, leaving out the unsavory parts, and basking in the adoration of a rapt audience.
Todd's even able to echo parts of Skyler's story lines. Breaking Bad is a surprisingly desexualized show. Usually in this antihero genre that Walter White gets lumped in with, we see a tremendous amount of womanizing: We saw it from Tony Soprano, from Don Draper, from Vic Mackey. And often shows that have this much violence — say, Game of Thrones or Dexter — have a lot of sex and nudity to go along with it. Not so Breaking Bad. There's very little tenderness, very few loving relationships, and almost no eroticism. But then there was Todd's charged conversation with Lydia and his wistful examination of the lipstick stain she left on his These Colors Don't Run mug, and suddenly things were as sensual as they'd ever been. The only other time we've seen anything that overtly sexual was Skyler singing "Happy Birthday" to Ted, just before they rekindled their affair. And the way Todd cradled the mug felt like a direct callback to Skyler at the end of "Fifty-One," when she sat in the living room, ashing her cigarette into an Area 51 mug.
We see Hank in Todd, we Skyler in Todd, we even see Marie's perky telephone demeanor maybe sort of in Todd. We see parts of Walt and Gus and Mike and Jesse in Todd. And what they all add up to — Todd himself — is someone pretty awful. Oh, he's devoted, he's easy to work with, and he even seems to be enjoying himself at least some of the time. But Todd's also maybe a psychopath, or at least he's someone detached enough from the experiences of life that he's unfazed by murdering a child. He's a bad, bad guy. And with him, Breaking Bad is telling us that the bad side wins out — add up all the good things about the show's universe, and add up all the bad things, and guess what? The bad part wins. The dangerous part, the criminal part, the cold part, the cruel part — even when someone has goodness in them, when he or she is smart and passionate and reliable. Even then, the bad part is more powerful. Just ask Heisenberg.
the first time i saw the aa12 i wanted one. the semiauto drum shotgun. there’s almost no recoil on it as there’s a huge spring in there absorbing it. the thing - frame - is also made of stainless steel.
Then, I, sir, am a PROUD and childish retard.
Entertainment is a part of the human need set -- going back to stone-age man -- whether you find favor with it or not.
If you disagree that this series is entertaining, no worries, that is your opinion. Just wish you wouldn't find the need to try to control ours.
If you don't like that there are entertainment discussions on Free Republic, then you will need to be quite busy. There are threads about football, and baseball, and participatory sports, and music of every nature, and even other television shows and movies. Don't take it personally, we aren't trying to annoy you.
I take it you do not appreciate fiction in literature, poetry and so forth.
I see no practical use for it. A shotgun is a very short-range firearm.
I heart you Laz!
yes but you stay on target and have much better control, plus it’s’fast and the drums can hold 20-25 rounds without reloading. military has some rounds they can fire we can’t get that make it more devastating.
I think it all started to degenerate when Pinkman was stealing the meth and dealing it on the side. Then Gus’ dealers shot that kid who was Pinkman’s girlfriend’s little brother, and Walt killed the dealers and then used his leverage with Gus to protect Pinkman.
Right after that, Gus agreed to let Walt live as long as Gus got to pick his new assistant, and he brought Gale back to steal Walt’s formula so he could get rid of him.
Jesse is an arrested state of development, with several faults including the two you name, I’m thinking around ten or eleven years old emotionally. Whatever the reasons may be, this is not evil in a child, but in an adult his type of selfishness and “what have you done for me lately” is a pathology.
His decision not to lie about attacking Jesse is one of the few times we really see any nobility in his character. Most of the time he is mean-spirited, venial, and borderline abusive.
Although I agree the teary phone call could be bait, and they may escape yet. But, to actually believe Hank could survive as exposed as he was at the start of gunfire, disbelief has got to be not just “suspended,” but hung, drawn and quartered.
Gawd I cannot wait until 2014 when new pics of me will emerge. I look totally different now... diabetes under control, weight loss, more muscled. Hewwww I looked like hell then.
Yeah, but the oil portrait in the attic is still pretty rough...
Lol. You’re on! :)
possibly. another guy suggested jesse may drive walt’s car away with or without hank and gomez. if they get mowed down he may just drive off, if they are alive he may drive the car behind the suburban and get gomez/hank in and drive off. one or both may be injured by then..
that Would be hilarious
omg if you would like that you’re one sick bastard. :-)
see, walt will be on waterskis, jumping the shark pen, and makes it but crashes, and we see walt jr shouting dad!’ and then he morphs into frankie munoz - malcolm - shouting dad! and he wakes up in bed, and there ya go...
i think we’d all hunt down vince and seriously wedgie him. :-)
Are you sure Gomez didn’t take the keys to Walt’s car??
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.