Breaking Bad

Before I discuss the season premiere, here is the scoop I got from the Breaking Bad panel at Comic-Con (full report and awesome pictures to follow):

• The season premiere will be one of the funniest episodes, and not violent like last year’s
• The opening segment will say a lot and yet leave you with a lot of questions. Have patience – all will be revealed. From the teaser we saw, it looks like Future!Walt putting something in a trunk.
• You will likely lose any remaining sympathy you might have had for Walt this season – he’s in full bad-guy mode now
• The season feels “creepy,” with Aaron Paul comparing it to last season’s “Crawl Space” episode in tone
• We’ll have some more Skinny Pete and Badger and Grey Matter
• Madrigal Electromotive and Germany will be featured this season
• Episode 5 is the opposite of a bottle episode, with them actually filming outside of Albuquerque for once

OK, now on with the premiere! This is a good way to end my San Diego vacation.

Walter is “celebrating” his 52nd birthday at Denny’s and has a full beard and head of hair. He also has a New Hampshire driver’s license under the name Lambert. He meets the guy that sold him his gun last season in the bathroom and makes a money-for-keys exchange. The keys open a car with a big ass gun in the trunk. End of teaser.

Now we pick up just where we left off last season. Walt’s cleaning up all the bomb-making materials from his kitchen and putting the Lily of the Valley in his trunk. Skyler and the kids come home and Skyler says she’s scared of Walt. Walter suddenly stands up, as if realizing he forgot to clean up something, and says, “Oh shit.”

Hank joins the DEA in the ruins of the Superlab. He sees the remnants of a camera. Oh god, next up is Gus’s laptop....

Mike’s feeding chickens down in Mexico when the doctor breaks the news that Gus is dead. Mike goes speeding up the road as Walter and Jesse drive down to meet him. Jesse steps out between them to prevent Mike from shooting Walter. Mike: “What is it with you guys?” LOL. Walter wants Mike to help clean up the video situation and get rid of all records. They rush to the restaurant to get the laptop, but the cops are already bagging it. Dagger!

Mike puts in a call to the cops, pretending to be a Postal Inspector, tracking down that laptop. Yep, they’ve got it. “We’re boned.” Mike’s ready to skip town, but Walter insists on trying to get into the police evidence room. Jesse suggests a giant magnet to grab the laptop. Cute, honey, but how about using a magnet to erase the hard drive instead? They visit the junkyard and pay the dude a buttload for the magnet that picks up cars. They run a test at the junkyard and determine the amperage and distance they’re going to need. Jesse yells triumphantly: “Yeah, bitch! Magnets!”

Saul visits Skyler at the car wash to tell her that Ted had an accident – so the asshole’s not dead after all. She goes to visit him in the hospital, where he is bald and with a halo brace thing on his head. So broke his neck then. Ted hasn’t told on her or Saul’s guys. He says he’ll never breathe a word about the situation, he just wants his family to be cared for. Skyler: “Good.”

Mike helps Jesse and Walter break into the lot next to the police building so they can park their U-Haul loaded with magnets alongside the outer wall of the evidence room. Everything starts flying off the shelves. Walter turns the magnets up so high that it causes the truck to tip over, so they have to ditch it. That won’t be good, but Walt claims it’s all untraceable. Mike wants to know how he’s supposed to believe it’s all done and going to be OK. Walt: “Because I said so.” Shit, this man is in CHARGE!

In the magnet ruckus, another piece of Gus’s evidence was damaged – a picture of him and his dead BF, which, now that it’s been damaged, reveals what looks like maybe an address in the Cayman Islands.

Walter visits Saul, pissed that he and Skyler did this whole Ted thing without his input, giving away most of his money to a man who had been sleeping with his wife. Saul says they’re done. Walter walks right up to him, nose-to-nose, and says, “We’re done when I say we’re done.” Alright, Walter, now you’re just being an asshole. To further prove that point, he goes home, hugs Skyler, and says, “I forgive you.” Oh, that’s rich.