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I love how Hank changes from the initial perception of him (which I think is strongly informed by how Walt apparently feels about him) - he appears to be a goofy loudmouth who thinks he's a badass but is just a joke, but as the show goes on it comes out how much of his swagger is to cover up his very human fear. Part of it comes from his idea of what masculinity should be, part of it is a coping mechanism, all of it is a front because at the end of the day he's a middle-aged man in a rocky, childless marriage, unable to communicate with or even face up to the problems of his neurotic wife, both of them desperately trying to keep up appearances (he's far closer to Walt than either of them would ever think). And it's that which makes him so interesting, because when poo poo really does down - confronting Tuco, going down to El Paso, attacked by the twins etc - you see that his fear doesn't prevent him from doing his job/what is right. When he finds Tortuga's head on the tortoise he freaks out and the others mock him for it, but when it explodes and people are lying around bleeding and dying and he's terrified he still rushes about doing his best to save people. He puts on this act of being macho and feels like he is a fraud for doing it, but it's his actions during crisis/fear that really make him stand out as a real hero. His final scene plays this out too, and ironically he doesn't seem at all scared when it happens because now he seems to realize it's over and that gives him the calm he needs. His comment to Walt is about as good a closing line as you can get, and it really says something that his fate has such impact considering what a boor he appeared to be in the first episode. Basically I really dig Hank!
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Jul 15, 2016 01:59
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| # ¿ May 17, 2024 14:26 |
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syscall girl posted:rocky you say? 
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Jul 15, 2016 02:51
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I have to admit that even to this day I'm not entirely sure what the extent of Walt's contribution to Gray Matter actually was. I've seen frequent references to Gretchen and Elliot profiting off of Walt's work and that's certainly the impression Walt gives but the few times it's actually directly addressed on the show Walt's take on things is challenged. Gretchen is appalled when Walt claims that, reminding him that HE left the company (and her) and seeming bewildered by the notion that he thinks they stole/used his work. When they appear on that TV show in the final season (and this may be purely PR spin) they insist that the extent of Walt's contribution was the creation of the name of the company, and all the breakthroughs made at the company were developed by Elliot and the people he employed - Walt COULD have been a gigantic part of that, the equal of Elliot in every way, but he walked away before they could really get started. Plus we get a very brief flashback post-leaving Gray Matter where we learn that Walt was working at the Los Alamos labs and making very good money, and he's very much the controlling, somewhat egotistical guy we see him develop into (he feels like the more dominant partner to Skyler). I do get the feeling that Walt had a long history of feeling unappreciated/superior to everybody around him, and after he dumped Gretchen and sold his shares in Gray Matter he kinda assumed they would flop without him, and when they succeeded he angrily justified it as they MUST have made use of his research (plus Elliot stole HIS girl!). I imagine his ego caused issues at Los Alamos too and he burned enough bridges that he was reduced to having to work as a Chemistry teacher at a High School (or maybe he was just so stubborn that his pride insisted he take that job rather than go hat in hand to another company) and then the years basically cowed him to the point that he's the pathetic sadsack we see at the start of season 1 - his lung cancer gives him the freedom/excuse he needs to "break bad" and it ends up exacerbating all those old ego/pride problems that hosed things up for him in his youth to the point that he becomes the Meth Kingpin of New Mexico.
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Jul 18, 2016 23:36
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Harold Stassen posted:I think Gretchen and Elliot minimizing his involvement with Grey Matter was purely about optics- he was confirmed to be Heisenberg at that point. Had he died before it was revealed- and if anyone were to ask them- I'm sure they would've given an accurate appraisal of his contributions. Or Elliot's birthday party in S1, for example. They're bigging him up to get him to accept their payment for his treatment. It's been awhile since I watched it so I don't recall the exact wording, but I think in season 2 Gretchen meets with Walt about him lying to Skyler and Walt has a little outburst about how Gray Matter built its fortune on his research and she looks aghast and says something like,"You can't really believe that, can you?" - just the very concept seemed completely out of left field to her. Their TV interview post the Heisenberg outing does feel like they're in damage control mode and perhaps overstating how little a role he had in their lives, but I do think that Walt either deliberately misleads (or genuinely believes) that he played a far bigger part in Gray Matter's success than he actually did. Not that he wasn't brilliant or capable of contributing if he had stuck around, but that he can't accept the notion that they were not only successful without him but WILDLY successful.
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Jul 19, 2016 00:52
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In that Jane scene, I remember Walt seeing her choking and making an instinctual move to help her before stopping and reconsidering (if she dies then it removes the obstacle between him and Jesse) then just standing and watching her choke to death. To be fair he does seem to agonize over it, but he still (from what I remember) makes the conscious choice to let her die.
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Jul 19, 2016 08:27
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BiggerBoat posted:I started Better Call Saul last night and it's really good. Is there a thread on that show or should we talk about it here? I really dig that show, and I think season 2 is even better than the first, I'd enjoy hearing your thoughts on it as you go through it.
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Jul 25, 2016 00:14
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BiggerBoat posted:Also, Micheal McKean as the weirdo cell phone paranoid dude. I haven't been able to figure out the deal with him and his former law firm; like what he did, why he's on leave and how Saul happens to be representing him and sleeping on his couch. It probably gives nothing away to say he's loving amazing in this show, if only because it's Michael McKean and he's ALWAYS loving amazing. The dynamic between him and Jimmy is incredible.
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Jul 25, 2016 00:59
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Blind Melon posted:I completely disagree with this being informed by how Walt feels about him. The first scene we see with Hank he is being a straight up rear end in a top hat. He takes Walt's drink to deliver his birthday toast, drops a series of at best backhanded compliments, and leaves Walt holding the gun he was uncomfortable with. Fair enough, it's been awhile since I rewatched it and I remembered thinking Hank was initially just the kind of brash, in-your-face kind of guy who laughs at his own jokes and can be a bit much to be around, especially for somebody who seems as contained/repressed as Walt. But maybe I'm letting my own thoughts on both characters as they developed across the seasons color my perception.
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Jul 25, 2016 06:54
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Last Chance posted:Her heart didn't stop or something, she choked on her own vomit... That wouldn't have happened if she continued to lay on her side, which is common junkie knowledge Yeah, she even tells Jesse that the first time they try heroin from memory, telling him how to lie on the bed so that he doesn't choke if he was to vomit.
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Jul 25, 2016 23:40
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The Shield is excellent, even though it kind of sits in an awkward halfway point between 1990s network drama and 2000s cable drama. I think it would be a very different show if it had been made a few years later but even if some of the writing/plotting feels a little clumsy by comparison to what we see nowadays I still think the characterization is strong enough to make it a great show. The four members of the Strike Team (including Ronnie, who starts slow) are all utterly fascinating characters.
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Jul 26, 2016 23:25
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| # ¿ May 17, 2024 14:26 |
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Secular Humanist posted:Ah ok that explains a lot about her delivery of lines. And it's honestly not that bad it's just very noticeable amidst all the otherwise amazing acting. It's weird because when Breaking Bad first started I didn't think I'd ever be able to see him as anything other than Hal (a character I loving loved) and he quickly changed my mind there. I think the dude is just an incredible actor and if he plays a character for any length of time you're going to end up fully embracing/accepting him in that role instead of being focused on his prior ones.
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Aug 6, 2016 00:28
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