Look, I don't work for TV.com because I have Nostradamus-like powers to predict what's coming up on Desperate Housewives. I'm a TV fan just like you. And though I sometimes have the privilege to screen new TV episodes before they air, I'm just as in the dark as you are about what's going to happen in the finale of Breaking Bad this Sunday (CAN'T. WAIT.).
But that doesn't mean I can't throw my guesses out there willy-nilly. You know me, always hoisting myself up like a piñata so you can beat me with the Stick of Embarrassment when I'm wrong. So let's get this lively discussion started, shall we?
First off, I'd just like to say that you guys are killing it in the comments. Many of you have shared great insights; I'm, like, totally proud of you guys. Breaking Bad's fourth season has been particularly great—I covered the show last year, too, and the discussion was much more subdued. Either this season is generating more interest, or people are finally coming around to what is without a doubt the best show currently on television, and possibly in the history of the medium. Yeah, I said it. At the very least, Breaking Bad belongs in the same sentence as The Wire, The Sopranos, and Kid Nation.
Anyway, since perusing your comments on the story I wrote about "End Times," I've had a complete change of heart regarding the events of the episode. Basically, I suggested that we could immediately rule out Jesse and Walter as potential Brock-poisoners. But I wasn't so sure Gus could've done it, either. In retrospect, I realized that I took the easy way out by praising the ambiguity of the situation. I still think that vagueness of it all is amazing, but where's the fun in not picking a side? So I've decided on a position, which I will now try to articulate here:
Walter Jr. poisoned Brock.
No, no, no. Obviously not. But I am fully on board with the theory that Walter did. I'll try and explain, but @Hungry_Homer111 (who was a champion commenter on my Lost stories, what's up buddy!) laid it out pretty well and had me convinced. Now, please allow me to tweak his theory a bit.
We know that the scene where Walter spun his gun was significant. It pointed to Walter twice, and then on the final spin it pointed toward the plant—which was obscured by Walter's bald noggin until the camera tracked around it. Clearly, the the plant was significant. I don't think it was a Castor Oil plant (Castor Oil plants are used to make the poison Ricin), but seeing it was enough to jog Walter's memory and inspire him to devise his breakingest baddest plan yet. One in which he'd risk a kid's life to win his chess match with Gus.
Jesse has always been the key to the Gus vs. Walt Battle Royale. Whoever has Jesse on his side has the advantage, and Walt figured out how to exploit Jesse's weakness for children, particularly those he's connected to. And the way to do that was to make Jesse believe that Gus poisoned Brock. Remember, both Walter and Gus have shown a knack for poisoning people, those sneaky fools. Be a man! Use a gun! Or your fists! But I digress...
After Walt's gun pointed toward the plant, I'm guessing that Walt put in a call to Saul (Better call Saul!) and explained that he could get rid of Gus if Saul could help. I like the theory that Jesse (and many of you) suggested, with Huell (Saul's burly bodyguard) planting a fresh pack of cigs in Jesse's jacket during his aggressive frisk. If you slow down the frisking scene frame by frame (which I nerdily did), you can't actually see it happen. But you can see Huell pay particularly close attention to Jesse's left jacket pocket. Here's the search in slo-mo, if you want to take a close look at it:
Later, when Jesse smoked a cigarette outside the hospital, we didn't see which pocket he took the cigarettes from, but the pack was in his left hand... leading me to believe Jesse keeps his smokes in his left pocket. Who reaches into his right pocket with his left hand? Have you ever done that? Right hand's full of groceries, but your house keys are in your right pocket? It's awkward! I should know! I do it every frickin' time I come home from the store! There was also a scene where Jesse bolted for the hospital after receiving a phone call from Andrea (right after he visited Saul), and as he leaves, the camera momentarily focused on the jacket as Jesse picked it up. I don't think that was accidental. Vince Gilligan wanted us to be thinking about that jacket.
Jesse put two and two together, freaked out, and headed over to Walt's to confront him. Which is exactly what Walt wanted Jesse to do. Walt told Jesse his sob story in order to plant the seed that Gus was behind everything, and Jesse pointed the gun (probably unloaded?) at Walt. At which point Walt masterfully let Jesse scream out his accusations, then deflected the blame toward Gus. Walt dared Jesse to shoot him, the final piece in his (Walt's) acting performance of a lifetime, and finished convincing Jesse that Gus is their common enemy.
Walt's car bomb plan was obviously botched, leaving the final hour of this season completely up in the air. But that's for the writers to handle. And I think it's going to be the last time we see Giancarlo Esposito in this role, as Gus is gonna get it.
Admittedly, there are a few holes in my cigarette theory. How did Saul know how many cigarettes Jesse had smoked? Did Jesse really not smoke a cigarette between going to Saul's and going to the hospital? I don't know, man!
The incredible thing is, one can easily make a convincing argument that Gus poisoned Brock. In fact, the situation is so cloudy that someone could probably convince me Brock just ate some week-old Pollos Hermanos macaroni salad. But the future of the series is what has me convinced it was Walt.
This season is, as we've all been saying all along, the season that Walt goes full-on Heisenberg. And what better way to go H-bomb than for him to put a child's life in danger and lie to Jesse all so he can take out Gus, who is basically Walter a few years from now? It's the moment we've all been waiting for, the moment that will make it impossible to doubt that Walter has truly broken bad and embraced his inner Heisenberg. And I see Walter letting Gus know that he defeated him before he finishes him off.
With that arc complete, Season 5 will focus on Walter being the baddest motherf***er on the block, his agonizing fall from power, and ultimately, his death as a broken, ruined man. Once Walt becomes the antagonist, Hank will become his chief rival, and just to make this preposterous prediction even more nutso, Jesse will take over the Heisenberg mantle that was passed down from Gus onto Walter. At least, that's my guess... it's probably wrong.
We still have the finale to go, but is it safe to say that this season has been Breaking Bad's best? Personally, I think the series keeps getting better and better, and that's insane because I LOVED Season 1. Which means I super-love Season 4. What do you think?
Additional Notes:
– I stand by what I said about "End Times" being a step down in quality from the previous episodes, and here's why: "End Times" is really the first part of a two-part episode, whereas the others were complete stories. Once we get a look at the finale, the quality of "End Times" might rise in hindsight, and probably will. Until then, it's an incomplete chapter. It's still amazing though!
– @Aldoros23: No live-Tweeting for me! Especially when I'm going to be glued to my TV for the finale. I'd be happy to live-Tweet something stupid like Whitney, though!
– No matter what happens in the finale, I just want to say it's been a blast! What show will we all get together to chat about once Breaking Bad is over? Sons of Anarchy? Fringe? Last Man Standing? Or will we all just curl up in the fetal position with a bad case of post-Breaking Bad depression?
Follow TV.com writer Tim Surette on Twitter: @TimAtTVDotCom
The only reason i would not think that Walk would poison the child is the whole reason for theshow is to provide for his own and since he would have no idea if jesse would find out the kid was poisoned in time to save him i doubt he would have done it. But if walt knew jesse would find out in time to save him then yes walt may have done it then but only if that was the case.
Gus def is on him last legs in the show i think as he has been around to long and is getting to powerful and crazy.
If gus has someone on inside i would vote for hanks friend that did the search at the laundry:) why i would choose him is that he took an extra long look at spot where the way down to basement is when he was searching to see if it safely hidden:)moreless
we all know that gus has someone on the inside due to the trailer for this weeks episode - its probably hank. This show likes to shock us, that would be shocking! Gus did save his life.
I think it might've been Walter who poisoned Brock (brilliant plan!), but I hope it wasn't because if Jesse found out it would ruin their relationship. They couldn't come back from that. That would be even worse than if Jesse found out Walt could've saved Jane.... So for the sake of their relationship I do very much hope Gus did it
@ Tim
You forgot to mention the Cartel ( whatever is left of it ) having videotapes of Jesse cooking meth. And Gus ,most likely, alsohas Videos of Walt and Jesse cooking meth in large Quantities at the superlab hank is about to find. Also when Ted was beeing forced to pay the IRS he made it clear that he "cant" pay his bills. Maybe he allready had an arrangement with someone else? Maybe he made a deal to Handover Skylare and Walt to the IRS? Wil all that surface in the finale or will it have to wait untill next season?
"A major character will almost certainly be off'd"
Why? With season 5 being the finish to a masterpiece, why would any of the main characters NEED to be removed? For the VIEWERS ? I don't think so. While death could lead one of the leads to being pushed over the edge, so could the mere iminate threat. All of the deaths so far have been ancillary characters unneeded for the storyline intensity. Face-Off to me indicates more intanglements. Hank/Walt, Hank/Gus, Gus/Jesse, Jesse/Andrea, Jesse/Walt, Walt/Skyler, Skyler/IRS, they are all strands in the web. Why unravel any part of the tapestry now??
Or it could just be a bloodbath. But I don't think so....
Thoughts about season finale-
-Walt did try to poison the kid and used Saul to poison him cause ONLY Saul knew where the Kid lived. He also did that trick with Jesse which everyone is commenting about. "Poison" would not be the right word to use because maybe Walt only wanted to aggravate things so that his plan comes into action. Saul is known to bring people out of dirty situations. That will also explain the suspicion of Gus at the parking lot.
-Gus most probably will die.
-Without Gus, next season would probably be about Heisenberg (Walt) vs DEA (Hank).
-In the end, Walt would die from cancer. The thing that started the series would end it.
Nice to see, most of my prediction turned out to be correct... Except the cancer thing.... That would turn out to be true next season...
It is actually sad to be right about breaking bad and not be surprised.
Well, my predictions are that Walt will be put in a position where he has to shoot Steven Gomez. Hank or Walt Jr. will find out the truth about Walt. Skylar will shoot someone. Marie is killed by Gus. Jessie runs.
Skyler is going die tonight. You read it here first. It was either her or Marie. And if the writers were going to kill Marie this season, they probably would have given her more screen time and a larger story line...like-uh oh, Skyler?
If any of the women dies it should be Marie. Skyler is awesome and so smart. If Marie dies it would also aggrivate Hank and that would be a big factor of next season if it's Walt vs DEA (Hank).
"Skyler is so smart." Are we watching the same show?!
Skylermustdie.com
Nuff said. About frackin high time too. Unless the writers check their balls out before sitting down to bring it to paper. I do have a pen, if you need a line or two to that end...
Final thoughts before said finale---
Walt did it. That would also explains Gus' Jedi mind- trick...he figured it out. Smart dude... I would also like to believe that Brock won't die. or at least, if he did, Walter would be surprised, as that was not his intention. As for who's a goner?
-can't be Walt
-won't be Jesse
-possibly Gus, but that's most obvious,
-Marie's barely been on screen this season, so.... maybe??
-heal Hank only to kill him off? that would be too cruel...
-Walt Jr? na...
that leaves us with.....drum roll please
Yay go Tim :-)
you put the pieces together.
Btw, Smokers usually don't count their cigarettes. If my box was missing 6 cigarettes I would just assume I smoke too much.
NOOOO! i cant go a whole 9 months without my breaking bad! Who else is for the idea that there should be a 10-part finale??
When does season 5 start?
not sure but judging from the premier dates of the past seasons we might have to wait for about 14 months. i guess you cant rush perfection
I cannot say I think this was the best season of Breaking Bad, and I have watched the series from day one. Whatever season it was when Walt let Jesse's girlfriend choke to death on her own vomit while he watched, that was the best season IMO. And that brings up a matter that might support Walt poisoning the child. Walt has done so many evil things since he broke bad, but it seems to be there are a few truly horrifying moments that define him, such as the one I mentioned. In the end Walt does what he needs to do to survive. No matter how much further it takes him into an evil place from which there is no return. That is the price he pays for all he has gained financially and in the discovery that he not a Milquetoast after all. He's gone down a road from which there is no return, and this season he took Skyler with him. At first I didn't like that subplot, but I get it now. That said, like all great TV antiheroes, like Tony Soprano, Dexter Morgan, and Walt, in spite of their badness, we like them. I think it's because they play by their own rules, and who among us doesn't envy that, at least in theory.moreless
OMG, minute 31 of the Salud episode. That's when the bug on Walts glasses makes the first appearance. Walt Jr. didn't call his mom, but being worried about his dad, I bet he called Hank. Hank fixed the glasses. Hank planted the bug. Hank is onto Walt. It's been a long con, like Salon's Seitz speculated.
please explain the 'bug on walts glasses'. iv watched the episodes but didnt see any bug on walts glasses.
The bug is on the bridge of his glasses. You see it most clearly in the final shot of End Times. http://i56.tinypic.com/kcclnd.png
hahahaha definitely just a normal piece of the glasses. it is the metal bit that holds the nose pieces in place. on all glasses.
well my glasses are bugged too :-) this a standard part but I would have liked the idea with Walt being bugged, I am certain he is not.
well my glasses are bugged too :-) this a standard part but I would have liked the idea with Walt being bugged, I am certain he is not.
post BB depression for me :-(
did anyone else see the big bodyguard actually stick his hand in his own pocket after searching Jesse? It's there!
This one tips the scales(for me) to Gus being responsible for Brock's sickness. What tipped off Tyrus that Jesse was at the hospital?? Tyrus, who normally has been Walt's flea, just happens to show up for Jesse ??? I don't think so. I think Gus put Tyrus on Jesse after getting Brock hospitalized. Whether by illness or payroll(I still think Andrea could be Gus' plant), Gus is responsible.
If Walt left his place to poison Brock, TYRUS(who SHOULD have been tracking Walt) would have followed him, told Gus, and Gus would have EXPOSED Walt to Jesse!!!
and Brock's mother would have seen him also, right? (well, she would have seen him visiting with some excuses, whatever) and wouldn't she tell Jesse? "Hey, your friend came by today"... or something? Or anybody else for that matter...
I don't think that the boy was poisoned by anybody. It's probably something he ate. But it's a hell of a good play by the writers.
We're into "who shot J.R." again!
But hey, this is Gilligan's highland... Sunday, we're all gonna go: "WHAT!!!"
Whatever happens, I know the downfall of Gus is not going to be a simple one. The man has been in business for 20 years. He knows how to one up his enemies. But of course, that was all before he met Heisenburg.
Honestly, I hope the Walt poisoning Brock theory is wrong because that probably will be what happens. Kudos to the people who predicted it, but now I am expecting it lol. No surpise and that sucks. Oh, well, Im sure the finale will still be b***ing.
I'm in the exact same boat lol. It is pretty brilliant but now I'm totally expecting it, but hey, this season has been mind blowing, still is pretty genius even though a lot of people thought of it...excluding me.
what about the time that ricin needs to take effect, have we factored it in.
The genius thing is that if Walt really did it, there is a possibility that he poisoned Brock with something else, that Brock will be okay and that the notion that Walt poisoned him will become an overlying tension to be exposed. Jesse not knowing or disagreeing with Walt's plan. If he didn't know Walt did it, even if Barack or Brock whatever gets better then it becomes another secret between the two just like Walt letting Jane die
I've seen comments from Mr. Cranston about the season finale, and he says it'll come down to the last scene, the last shot, where we viewers will see (and hopefully figure out) who poisoned Brock. Some bloggers say the plant pictured above is one that causes "poison-like" symptoms so it may be possible Walt's behind it.
As for this: "And I think it's going to be the last time we see Giancarlo Esposito in this role, as Gus is gonna get it." While Hank and the DEA were the original antagonists in Season 1, Gus has proven to be Walt's rival, therefore he will survive into the next and final season. I don't see Gus dying this Sunday, and the boys spend all of next season ducking from the DEA.
WOW. So, before reading this, I was completely convinced it was Gus who poisoned Brock. I assumed that after Jesse told him if anything 'final happened to Mr. White' there were going to be problems. And Gus replied, there will be 'an appropriate response'. So, I figured Gus was like, hmmm if I can't kill Walter White to get Jesse's attention maybe I will poison the kid... seeing as Jesse never explicitly ruled that out. And, Gus didn't blink when Jesse said that Brock was poisoned.
Now, after reading this, I think it quite possible that Walt poisoned Brock. However, if he did I think he becomes a lot less sympathetic. It is one thing to run over two gangsters with a mini-van to save your partner's life, but another thing to bring a child into the mix.
But then again, who maniacally laughs when they have a gun pointed at their face? This could be the turning point for Heisenberg, however, if he did do it makes me lose a lot of respect for Walt.moreless
Walt let Jane die, that was the beginning of the decent.
He did... but she was a meth addict who brought the possibility of over dosing on herself and was in control of her own actions, while Brock is just a small child who didn't do anything to deserve being poisoned. In my mind they are two different situations. Whoever it turns out to be who poisoned Brock, Sunday is going to be EPIC.
I agree that, in one way, I'd lose a lot of respect for Walt if it happened. For somebody to use a kid like that, and also hurt somebody close to a person who they're supposed to be friends/partners with would make him a lot less sympathetic in people's eyes. Though that would be the point, and a big part of the series is to show, under what cercumstances can somebody be pushed to cross lines they never thought they'd be able to cross, so it would certainly fit with the show's themes. That being said, I made a post a few weeks back saying that Walt was so far away from becoming Heisenberg, because he let his fear and need for an adrenaline rush guide his actions, without thinking things through logically. If this theory turns out to be right, this and his plan to escape in the previous episode seem to point to Walt finally developing that combination of bad-ass action and logic that it would take to become Heisenberg. Of course, neither plan went as planned, which shows he has some things to learn before he gets there. Specifically, he has to account for every possibility, no matter how unlikely (the missing money), and consider the mindset of everybody involved (not just focusing on what Jesse would do when he found out about the cigarette and heard Walt's explanation, but also consider Gus' thought process after hearing about the kid being poisoned). So I'd respect him more in terms of his progression towards the smart bad-ass that Heisenberg should be.moreless
We still don't know if he is poisoned by the Ricin, both Jesse and Walt know that Gus has them under surveillence, what if this is all a ruse to get to Gus? we don't see every text Jesse and Walt send to each other.
Um... I'm still stuck on the part about The Wire, The Sopranos, and Kid Nation being the best shows ever. I think not.
What are the best shows, then?
I'm glad to hear that I, and other people who agree with the Walt theory, convinced you. Though I've been thinking, since I posted in the last article, about the great atmosphere of paranoia the writers have created this season. Between the characters' own paranoia (especially Walt's), fact that everybody's facing threats from so many sides (especially Gus and Walt), and the vagueness of some key plot elements this season (most notably Gus' intentions for most of the season, and this poisoning), it's easy to get caught up in the paranoia that the writers have set up so well. That's why it's easy to at least accept the possibility my theory will be wrong, and look so foolish in hindsight, although I'm standing firmly on my theory. I've also got to say that, while I don't really buy into the "Brock took the poison by himself" theory, given the paranoia surrounding the season, I think it would be a great statement if the writers went that route. Either way, I'm very excited to see where they take things in the next episode.moreless
Come on, tell me I'm not the only one believing into the "Paranoia Theory" (read my initial comment at the bottom of this section).
"I had the cigarette this morning and the last time I saw Brock was last night. There's no way Brock could have taken it." -- Jesse to Walt.
FYI: Ricin
If ingested, symptoms may be delayed by up to 36 hours but commonly begin within 24 hours. These include a burning sensation in mouth and throat, abdominal pain, purging and bloody diarrhea. Within several days there is severe dehydration, a drop in blood pressure and a decrease in urine. Unless treated, death can be expected to occur within 35 days; if victims have not succumbed after this time, they often recover.
The lethal dose in adults is considered to be 4 to 8 seeds.
Toxicity varies among animal species: 4 seeds will kill a rabbit, 5 a sheep, 6 an ox or horse, 7 a pig, and 11 a dog. Ducks have shown substantial resistance to the seeds: it takes an average of 80 to kill them.
https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/List_of_poisonous_plants