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...which I dipped in in order to prepar for the rest of the season in five days.
1.) The scene at the end of 5.02., with Walt sliding into bed with Skyler, was originally even creepier and grosser. ( Spoilery explanation as to how ensues. )
2.) Speaking of 51, I had assumed that the strikingly beautiful shot of Skyler in the pool, eyes wide open, was accomplished by GCI trickery, but no such thing. Anna Gunn was actually in the swimming pool. In the night. With her eyes open. Closed between takes, because of the chlorine, and also she had an oxygen connection so she could breathe between takes - with closed eyes, and there was a steel cave to ensure her skirt was billowing the way the director wanted it to, but she really was under water for however long it took to get that shot. Also, the scriptwriter says the climactic argument scene between Walt and Skyler was directly inspired by the one between Michael and Kay Corleone in The Godfather II, which I can see. (If you're curious or don't quite remember anymore, the scene between Michael and Kay.) Which was by no means the only Godfather reference this season; Walter closing the garage door on Jesse in Gliding all over was the door being closed in Kay's face at the end of The Godfather I, and of course the montage of deaths in the same episode was inspired by the montage of Michael dealing with his enemies in The Godfather.) Has anyone ever done a "Michael Corleone and Walter White: Parallels and Contrasts" meta? Also: I had forgotten that the shot from my icon actually comes from 51, early on, when Walt is putting money on Skyler's dressing table in their bedroom. (The connotation of that gesture in that context didn't hit me until then, either.) And something I hadn't noticed either before, until Anna Gunn and the scriptwriter pointed it out, was that after the Schraders have arrived and we cut to the family sitting by the pool, we can see a few of Walt's birthday presents unwrapped on the table. (So he did get some other than Jesse's.) Including a mug saying "You Are Now Entering Area 51", which is either from Junior or Hank. In the final scene, when Walt returns to find Skyler smoking, she's using that very same mug as her ash tray, and the gesture of her putting her cigarette into it suddenly taks on a darkly hilarious significance, which is the kind of thing Breaking Bad does so well.
3.) In the audio commentary for The Buyout, in one of the scenes about Jesse's horror at ( something extremely spoilery ), the scriptwriter says something about Jesse having become the conscience of the show and Byran Cranston interestingly replies: "People keep saying that. I don't know. For me, it is Hank, not Jesse." The scriptwriter also says the dinner scene between Walt, Skyler and Jesse was her favourite thing to write on Breaking Bad and one of her all time favourite scenes on BB as well, which I totally understand. (The three actors agree as well.) Bryan Cranston teased Aaron Paul that he should pick this scene for his Emmy submission because it's essentially Jesse desperately monologuing . Watching said scene with the audio commentary on, which means Jesse's voice is drowned out, my attention was how his head and eyes really go in ping pong ball fashion between Skyler and Walt all the time. "You're like the kid of divorced parents", the scriptwriter said to Aaron Paul.
1.) The scene at the end of 5.02., with Walt sliding into bed with Skyler, was originally even creepier and grosser. ( Spoilery explanation as to how ensues. )
2.) Speaking of 51, I had assumed that the strikingly beautiful shot of Skyler in the pool, eyes wide open, was accomplished by GCI trickery, but no such thing. Anna Gunn was actually in the swimming pool. In the night. With her eyes open. Closed between takes, because of the chlorine, and also she had an oxygen connection so she could breathe between takes - with closed eyes, and there was a steel cave to ensure her skirt was billowing the way the director wanted it to, but she really was under water for however long it took to get that shot. Also, the scriptwriter says the climactic argument scene between Walt and Skyler was directly inspired by the one between Michael and Kay Corleone in The Godfather II, which I can see. (If you're curious or don't quite remember anymore, the scene between Michael and Kay.) Which was by no means the only Godfather reference this season; Walter closing the garage door on Jesse in Gliding all over was the door being closed in Kay's face at the end of The Godfather I, and of course the montage of deaths in the same episode was inspired by the montage of Michael dealing with his enemies in The Godfather.) Has anyone ever done a "Michael Corleone and Walter White: Parallels and Contrasts" meta? Also: I had forgotten that the shot from my icon actually comes from 51, early on, when Walt is putting money on Skyler's dressing table in their bedroom. (The connotation of that gesture in that context didn't hit me until then, either.) And something I hadn't noticed either before, until Anna Gunn and the scriptwriter pointed it out, was that after the Schraders have arrived and we cut to the family sitting by the pool, we can see a few of Walt's birthday presents unwrapped on the table. (So he did get some other than Jesse's.) Including a mug saying "You Are Now Entering Area 51", which is either from Junior or Hank. In the final scene, when Walt returns to find Skyler smoking, she's using that very same mug as her ash tray, and the gesture of her putting her cigarette into it suddenly taks on a darkly hilarious significance, which is the kind of thing Breaking Bad does so well.
3.) In the audio commentary for The Buyout, in one of the scenes about Jesse's horror at ( something extremely spoilery ), the scriptwriter says something about Jesse having become the conscience of the show and Byran Cranston interestingly replies: "People keep saying that. I don't know. For me, it is Hank, not Jesse." The scriptwriter also says the dinner scene between Walt, Skyler and Jesse was her favourite thing to write on Breaking Bad and one of her all time favourite scenes on BB as well, which I totally understand. (The three actors agree as well.) Bryan Cranston teased Aaron Paul that he should pick this scene for his Emmy submission because it's essentially Jesse desperately monologuing . Watching said scene with the audio commentary on, which means Jesse's voice is drowned out, my attention was how his head and eyes really go in ping pong ball fashion between Skyler and Walt all the time. "You're like the kid of divorced parents", the scriptwriter said to Aaron Paul.
