Cried like a b!tch. Hit WAY too close to home. LOL. Funny thing is, now look to this as a sounding board for future options. LOL. Better be good.

WHY DID AMC CENSOR THIS EPISODE? I NEED ANSWERS!!!

I loved the episode im followin the series closely. wat i have noticed is the DEA's closing in on the "new players" on the block. and with elliot's new partner into the mix its gonna be interesting to see how this story unfolds. already to many ties are untied. if it were me... love the show. but why was it uncensored this week. is this a new thingy. cuz it sucks. i truely believe it takes away from the adult theme and the characters.lets face it... people curse! and before this censorship i was sucked into this program because of its sense of realism. now i feel like im watchin... a program. hope it doesnt turn me off. i dout it. i love the writting.

I completely forgot this. I think it is !!! (Chk Chk Chk) but what is the song that starts playing when they start unloading the Cold medicine?

Thought it was a little slow. There were some thought provoking aspects to it, but excluding the last 10 min., it fell short of previous episodes. By no means am I jumping off the band wagon. I'm sure next week it is going to get alot more exciting. Keep up the good work.

Any more than 6 episodes to be aired??? anyone know?

the show gets better and better. i hope there's more seasons -- great writing and acting and everything.

Some may think that the episode was slow but I disagree entirely. The little things like realization of cancer and not wanting help from Elliot and his wife is exactly the type of thing that would drive a straight edge man to do something as drastic as this. And one of the biggest statements I think was made with the "choice" discussion. Going from no choices in life to what he will become in the future and the drive to not be a failure is why this will be such a convincing story. I absolutely loved it!

@McCreamy: Check out our interview with Vince Gilligan where he addresses bleeping lines:

http://blogs.amctv.com/breaking-bad/2008/02/qa-vince-gillig.php

I think he makes some good points.

@deene622--The first season is seven episodes long--no word YET on season 2.

I loved the episode. Touching scenes with Walt discussing why he didn't want to get the treatment. Hilarious scenes with Jesse and his new "Partner" in the motor home. It was funny how Jesse kept refering to Walt as his a-hole ex partner but he was very serious in getting the chemistry right to have his meth with clear crystals and not cloudy. I have a feeling the next two episodes are going to be real downers. the thing I dont' get is that Walt just went through a crazy ordeal in dealing with the deaths of both Emilio and Krazy 8 and now he is ready to step back into that seedy underworld in cooking again. Pride or no pride, he had a chance to get his treatment paid for by his ex partner but chooses to do something morally reprehensible instead in order to keep his pride. Even though there is a chance he could get caught, go to jail and then really embarrass his family. but I guess that is what makes the show intriguing.

I found this episode really gut-wrenching, made even more so by the fact that I've been through a similar situation in recent months. But I'm sure there are others here who have been through it, too, so I don't want to focus on that.

I saw this episode as many views through another's eyes. Jesse gets a view of his previous behavior by watching the antics of Badger. Walt sees himself through Skyler's eyes when he wakes up without her.

There was also a lot more outright rage from Walt than we've ever seen before. He's barely holding himself together at the party and afterward is furious with Skyler for revealing his illness. It makes me wonder what is beneath the surface in the relationship between Walt and Elliott.

Again the writing was great and the acting is nuts.
These people are having a ball working together and try to do their best at it ... maybe even trying to impress each other with quality ...

Good stuff as always, the storyline is logical and sound.

Adult TV written by adults for adults :)

Idont know i mean i still find every episode to be real life similarities,and all the stuff they show on every episode can happen(does happen)in real life,but thats my personal opinion,but i wounder if we could see 2 episodes peek week,nstead of one,because that would allow it to move further along and to see the episodes faster.

While I'd have to say the pacing of this episode was slower and much quieter than those before it I honest didn't mind that and feel that it fit perfectly at this particular time in the story.

To me it was this needed quiet isolated moment of normalacy amidst the madness.

Everyone trying to cope with what is happening around them like normal people would do in the situations that they're all facing.

But in the end, it seems, there is no normal to be had once you Break Bad.

Great stuff again.
Can't wait for the next one!

When Walt took the speaking pillow, I had this chill, thinking "this is the climax of the season." I don't know if Walk knew before he spoke what he meant.. probably he did. Maybe he hadn't expressed it to himself, or maybe he had. I can't really tell. But to recognize that he was finally making a choice, because it was his last chance to make one.. wow, powerful stuff.

I agree with most of you that this was a much-needed slower paced episode. There were a lot of question marks out there, and this did a great job in pointing us in the right direction.
On a side note, I'm really enjoying watching Aaron Paul. I have to be honest, I thought that he was "overacting" in the first episode, but it turns out that it was his character that I was having the issue with.
While he's not even in the same realm as her, he reminds me of Aida Turturro playing Janice Soprano. Janice made my skin crall, but it was because of Aida's fantastic acting.
Anywho... great show.

I was glad to see Walt finally say some of his
thoughts on his cancer. He has been walking
on eggs so he wouldn't upset his wife but I know
people (personally) that make the same choice
he did. They don't want to be sick and in hospitals
for their final months. He wants to go out in a
"blaze of glory" but it's also a chemist thing to him. He didn't get into Grey Matter for whatever reason but he's a good chemist that ended up as a
high school teacher. When that guy at the party
asked him what university he taught at, he let
the question trail off and didn't answer. He's not
proud to be a high school teacher but he
is proud of the fact that he can make good
crystal-"Let's cook".
This is a great show but I wonder how the writers will deal with Walts cancer when the show gets picked up for several more seasons, which it will, because it's so well written and acted. And popular.

I LOVE this show as the great drama it is - but I am increasingly getting the feeling that there are key portions of this story that aren't making it to the screen.

The pilot was shown initially without commercials and had a number of brief extra scenes that added enormously to the feel of the show and provided attachment to the characters - such as Walt exercizing in the nursery and seeing his Nobel-Prize team "attaboy" award, his student seeing him washing the car wheels, etc. These clips were gone in subsequent showings of the pilot with commercial breaks included.

Now I've read that the show was originally pitched to pay-per-view channels like Showtime and HBO where raw language is acceptable and see now that they've made it to air instead on AMC they're getting bleeped. If the eps past the pilot were filmed in adult language form for possible pay-channel broadcast, were they all filmed in without-commercial-break 57 minute forms as well? If so, there's a lot of loose ends I'd like tied up...

Like what did Walt do with the body? And where was Walt all night long just before he walked into his "intervention"? And how is guilt or remorse over being a murderer affecting him? And what changed his mind between making a stand with the talking pillow, and then changing his mind the next morning by waking in an empty bed? It's very jarring for there to be a huge scene with all characters ending on a strong speech by the protagonist and the very next words out of his mouth in the very next scene being a complete 180 degree change.

Somehow these periods of time should offer more key insights into his motivation to continue "cooking" despite offers of free med care and his motivation changing from money for Skyler after his death to money to cover his med care out of pride issues. By their absence in the storyline they are weakening the viewer's attachment to Walt. That is a much more important thing to maintain than for example extensive bonding scenes (two now!) between the son and the uncle.

This story is about Walt, and if you want a B storyline, about Jesse who has a nicely nuanced backstory as well. I've got to say, with this episode Walt seemed more like a chesspiece to be shuffled around the board as needed than the living, breathing man I've come to care about over the first four eps. To be honest, I've no longer got a clue what is motivating Walt to cook. Money for Skyler? Money so he can pay for his own med care and save his pride? A desire to use his knowledge to quickly create something scientifically cool like his buddy Elliot did like pure meth crystals even if they are evil? A desire to punish or destroy himself becasue of guilt over being a murderer?

One problem is that there is absolutely NOBODY for Walt to talk to, and most of his emotional growth is going on solely inside his own head. That can't be a very happy or comfortable place...but certainly an interesting and dramatic one. THAT'S what the key focus the viewer wants to learn about...what is Walt thinking?

The resolution of the first four episodes lets Walt get (from his point of view, he doesn't know about the DEA having the mask) an apparently clean getaway from double murder and a disasterous plunge into the meth trade. This ep gives him free med care. He turns his back on this second chance (a HUGE step - as big of one as going into meth cooking in the first place that took four eps to explain)...for what? What is he trying to accomplish now? With so little to go on, we as viewers just no longer know.

Please tell me there are extended version videos with extra scenes or extended length scripts that will eventually be put online to give me some addition insight into this. The initial setup of Breaking Bad was a truly inspired premise. I'm afraid, however, that the plot and show may now be doing a "breaking bad" of its own...

I've been watching the show and have been very impressed, but I think this episode took it to another level. The look on Walter's face after Walter Jr. called him a pussy was just so true and real. Give Bryan Cranston every award. I watched the episode one day after the completely underwhelming Oscars, and I have to say that this single episode was better than most of the stuff nominated for Oscars. The intervention scene was an example of flawless writing, acting, and directing.
P.S. I'm from Albuquerque and can identify most of the places, but I can't identify the school where Walter teaches. Could it be CNM/TVI? It certainly isn't my high school alma mater, Eldorado.

To rickyjames- Writers on this show are good but
if they explained everything neatly, would we keep
watching? The mystery of it and what will happen
and what Walt is thinking is why this show keeps
you on the edge of your seat.
The writers want you to come back for more and
that wouldn't happen if they wrapped everything
up neatly each episode-don't you think?
Besides, life is messy and uncertain; that's where
the fun is-not knowing what's next.

I'm with Old Bag. I actually go as far as avoiding the following week's trailer like the plague. Trailers often times answer any nagging questions that you may have had in regards to the episode that you just watched.
Take "24" for instance. I've actually watched an episode where a character gets shot, and you would assume that they were dead. But, sure enough, they're running around in the trailer at the very end of the episode.

Pamala- "There's no normal to be had once you Break Bad" LOL!!! Great line!
Comments from everyone- it is interesting to read all the different "takes" people have on this television show. It is fiction, sure, but it hits so close on what is going on out there in the real world, more so than any of those "reality shows" that my friends and co-workers are addicted to. And if you watched only the "Cops" -type programs, you'd think that only poor people do meth, speed, and crack. I have a client (rehab) who is a corporate lawyer. When he can't get crystal, he sends a flunky down to crack-town to buy him an 8 ball. He has this fear of sleep, that it is time wasted. He can't shut down or turn off, has to be "up" all the time. The drugs are robbing him of his sanity and health, and he knows it, but he can't seem to stop. It's pitiful. Strange, too- he doesn't smoke pot or cigarettes and is a very light drinker. Go figure.

I was fortunate enough to see a dvd of the pilot for this show about a year ago from someone I knew in the entertainment business. I was floored by how good it was and hoped to see more. It was uncensorored as I wish it could be now, its 2008 for christ's sake. This "show" should win an oscar. The acting and writing are unsurpassed.

I forgot to commend the directing as well because of the bottle of wine I just drank. If you watch Bb closely you'll see that every nuance is absolutely flawless. Better than anything that's ever been on HBO ect. Seriously this is the best TV show there has ever been and hope to see it win tons of awards and somehow continue although I believe that things must end badly for Walt and soon to complete the story in the excellent fashion that we have been treated to.

Old topic, but I just wanted to comment on it because I'm a new viewer. I find this episode to be probably my favorite of the series, I love the backstory/family stuff more then the criminal element of the show. I also really wanted to comment on the family meeting scene, It hit me like a ton of bricks. Everyone did an impecable job, the actors and writers. It was so realistic, Walt's reactions and facial expressions especially, they are indescribable to someone who hasn't seen the scene, It was some of the best acting I've seen. The look on his face after what Walt Jr said, and when he is telling Skyler his reasoning........wow..........just wow. Mr. Cranston props to you! You deserved every ounce of that emmy just for that scene, you did it perfectly. It almost brought me to tears, which is hard for TV or movies to do.