Breaking Bad Review: Buyout

                             

                           "Everybody Wins" - Walter White

Boy oh boy things can go from high to low very quickly in the world of breaking bad.  Up until the very end of last weeks episode, things were going as well as they could go for a meth empire.  With one trigger pull last week however, things began to descend into familiar territory for Jesse Pinkman and Walter White.  And while i look forward to seeing just how bad things are going to get, to see what exactly drives Mr. White to need an alias and a machine gun one year from now, this is the first episode this season to really feel like it was cramped by the 8 episode format.

That's not to say i disliked the episode.  On the contrary, i loved many parts of the episode.  I loved the opening montage, with no words, showing just how good this group of people has become of disposing bodies; a skill that they wish they never had to use.  I also loved the scene at the White household, with not only Jesse being allowed in, but even staying for dinner and trying to make conversation with Skyler.  The scenes between Anna Gunn and Aaron Paul have been VERY few and far between, but i can imagine an alternate sitcom that pairs the two of them as some wacky mother son duo.  I loved Walter White as a modern day spy, working his way out of being restrained by Mike.  Heck we even got a Saul Goodman sighting, which i always love.  All these things were pretty good, but in the end the episode seemed bloated and haphazardly put together.

First, the beginning scenes with the fallout of Todd shooting the child.  I feel like they brushed over the reactions too quickly.  We've seen how Jesse Pinkman reacts to death or harm to child.  It normally would send him in to a tailspin..  The show has done Pinkman in a tailspin quite a bit, so i understand not wanting to go back to that well again, it just seems like something more could have been done.  I also feel like they jumped to the "I'm out" decision too quickly.  I can see it from Mike's perspective.  They established that these tails were not going to drop off of Mike anytime soon., despite Saul Goodman's best efforts at, well, being Saul Goodman.  But Jesse? As far as Jesse knows, Walter has been by his side the whole time, through thick and thin.  He does not know about Jane, or Brock.  I feel like there should have been more discussion between the two before Pinkman even brought up the idea of getting out of the Meth game

In a normal 13 episode season, all these things could have been spread out between multiple episodes.  There is still a lot of questions to answer.  What will come of the investigation of the missing child?  Will Todd become an even bigger wild card?  What exactly does Walter White have up his sleeve?  What kind of suit will Saul Goodman where next?  We still don't know if this season will have your typical cliff hanger ending that all season finales do or if it will just end on a normal Breaking Bad episode and just pick up next season.  Right now the latter seems to be the case.  All we know long term is that in a year, Walter White is going to have to no be Walter White, and he is going to have to purchase a heavy duty machine gun.

An entertaining episode for sure, just not one that is on par with some of the best Breaking Bad episodes.

NFL Predictions: NFC North

The preseason is underway and with comes hundreds and hundreds of expert predictions that will be rendered meaningless by November.  So why not throw my opinion into the mix?  I did things a little differently.  Instead of assigning arbitrary records to every team and picking favorites, i went through every game, week by week and picked the winner and then put together every teams record that way.  Lets start with the NFC North

                                                                                          Reunited an it feels so good!

Minnesota Vikings 3-13 (2011 record: 3-13)

Christian Ponder had an average debut season last year, but didn't really show me anything to be optimistic about.  I frankly think the team looked better behind the explosiveness of Joe Webb.  Adrian Peterson is usually as solid as they come but how will he rebound from ACL surgery? While adding rookie Tight End Kyle Rudolph is an upgrade on offense, there is little else to be thrilled about in the passing game, unless the inconsistency of Percy Harvin is turned around.  On the defensive side of the ball, Chad Greenway and Jared Allen are nice names, but this defense is way to susceptible to the big play to compete in this division

Detroit Lions 9-7 (2011 record 10-6)

There is no question the lions will continue to be a powerhouse in the passing game as long as Calvin Johnson is catching passes.  The thing people forget is that a year ago this time, not one person would have bet on Matt Stafford playing a full season.  So after one season, we now need to assume that it is a given?  I think Stafford misses a couple games at some point and the Lions will struggle in those games.  The defense showed us last year that they can be very good but they also showed us they can be very immature.  A small step back for the Lions is to be expected 

Chicago Bears 12-4 (2011 record 8-8)

Go ahead and call me a homer if you would like.  While people may see a team that was 8-8 last year, i see a team that was cruising along until their 2 best players on Offense got hurt.  Jay Cutler is back, is healthy and now has his favorite pro receiver (Brandon Marshall) and his favorite pro coach (Jeremy Bates) to go along with his favorite college receiver (Earl Bennett).  Gone is the idiotic Martz offense.  Gone is the idiotic philosophies of Jerry Angelo.  Sure the defense is another year older, and the Brian Urlacher surgery has me a little worried, but the schedule is easy and the Offense should be explosive.

Green Bay Packers 13-3 (2011 record 15-1)

Last year, the Packers were content just running teams death on Offense that defense didn't matter.  An then the New York Giants came calling in the playoffs.  The showed teams that there is a way to slow down the great Aaron Rodgers.  Which is why, while i think they will still won the division, reaching that 15-1 mark again is going to be a long shot.  The offense could be even better, with Aaron Rogers, Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb all with another year under their belt, and with the late signing of Cedric Benson.  Like last year though, if the Packers are going to have problems, it is going to be with the secondary.  With Charles Woodson moving to safety, it will be interesting to see who can step up at Corner for this team.


Offensive Player of the year:  Aaron Rodgers

Defensive Player of the year: Julius Peppers
Most Intriguing player:  Brandon Marshall
Most Intriguing rookie: Kyle Rudolph