#brgo 1x02

[heisenbergchronicles]

#Breaking Good Companion for 1x02: Some of Urula Coyote's stills that were made for Jesse's MyShout page.

[heisenbergchronicles]

#Breaking Good Companion for 1x02: Walt does crush the confession tape from 1x01. This is a popular misconception/oversight.

[heisenbergchronicles]

Breaking Good Companion: 1x02 - Cat's in the Bag... rewatch This week A.Ron and Jim discuss crust being cut, coins being flipped. babies being ultrasounded, and buckets being presumably shat in. Here's my collection of links and notes for deep dive enjoyment (sorry it's so late): 

Mentioned on podcast:

Director: This was the first of 8 episodes that Adam Bernstein directed for Breaking Bad. It's the second most of any director, after Michelle MacLaren. Bernstein made an early career in music videos (notably "Baby Got Back" for Sir Mix-a-Lot) then went on to direct for a ton of fantastic TV shows, most recently earning an Emmy nom this year for Fargo's pilot, "The Crocodile's Dilemma." He is married to actress Jessica Hecht, who plays BrBa's Gretchen Schwartz (introduced in Walt's flashback in 1x03, which was also directed by Bernstein).

Fun Factoid: The episode titles for 1x02 & 1x03 share the quote "The Cats in the Bag... and the Bags in the River" from the movie Sweet Smell of Success (1957). It is one of Vince's favorite movies ever made. In the 'Whats in A Name' inside Breaking Bad Feature, Vince says, in his opinion, it has the most amount of quotable dialogue in any movie. It's not currently available on Netflix, but is available to rent on Amazon. Also see: From Mr. Chips To Scarface: The 10 Essential Films For Any Fan Of 'Breaking Bad'

A.Ron mentions that Walt does destroy the confession tape from 1x01 out in the desert. Here's the evidence. 

Jesse's infamous MyShout Page. MILF's Yo! It's not actually a live web page on the Internet, like Walt's cancer donation page. But the image of the page is everywhere. A few factoids: The myShout.US domain is owned by Sony Pictures, who owns and distributes BrBa. Jui Ryo Ki Kung-Fu is not a real type of martial art. Jesse's web page is the first mention of his band, TwaüghtHammër. Here is the hilarious minisode they mentioned. Keep an eye out for S2's infamous pink teddy bear. BrBa's still photographer, Ursula Coyote, took a bunch of pics for this page. Check them out in the Season 1 gallery of promo pics, toward the bottom. Several don't appear on the page, so it's kinda like a batch of deleted extras.

Jim raises a point he saw on Reddit: How can Skyler find Jesse's "Cap'n Cook" MyShout page so easily but the DEA doesn't know what "Cap'n Cook" looks like? This didn't jump out at me when I watched it, but does kinda make the DEA look like dopes.

A.Ron mentions that Krazy 8 looks like a zombie when he stumbles down the street away from Jesse's house. Could this be more evidence in the BrBa is The Walking Dead prequel theory?

They make mention of the fantastic work by music supervisor Thomas Golubic. He held that position for the entire run of the show, and is the man responsible for bringing on Dave Porter. Golubic holds this role for many of AMC's recent shows, including The Walking Dead, TURN, Halt and Catch Fire and The Killing. You might want to check out his Reddit AMA, or this interview, or this one. Sharp guy. 

The MythBusters Breaking Bad Special aired Aug. 12, 2013 and sought to test two myths, one focusing on this episode: Can concentrated hydrofluoric acid in a bathtub completely destroy a human body and eat a hole through the tub and the bathroom floor below it. Answer: Not even close. A fun episode. View it here.

Goofs: What they didn't debunk on MythBusters and maybe should have is that Jesse's masks and gloves when handling the acid in the bathtub wouldn't have been enough to keep him safe. He would likely would have suffered extreme lung and eye damage from just standing there.

A.Ron & Jim are still shaking heads at the critics who dinged it for "slow-pacing" (e.g. Alan Sepinwall). But Donna Bowman over the A.V. Club seemed very bullish on this ep: "The joy of Breaking Bad continues to lie in Cranston's hair-pulling reactions and attempts to apply buffer logic to tweaker situations." I agree with the Baldies - the pacing is perfectly fine. 

R.J. Mitte and cerebal palsy: RJ's CP is not as severe as Walt Jr.'s (e.g. he doesn't need braces to walk), and that almost kept him from being cast in the role. Vince Gilligan was very close to an actor in college with much more advanced CP, who eventually died, but was so inspirational to him, he wanted to add that element into the show as a tribute. Vince told Mitte, “When I first wrote Walt, Jr., I intended to have a person with the disability play this character." After 5 auditions, Mitte finally "charmed" his way into the part. "It took a little bit of convincing, as at first Vince thought I was actually too able-bodied,’ R.J. says, explaining how he ‘regressed’ to his early days with CP by using crutches again and staying up late so grogginess would thicken his voice. (1, 2)

Additional 1x02 notes & goodies:

Cinematography duties for this episode and the remainder of Season 1 were held by Reynaldo Villalobos. He primarily works in movies, and has broad range of work from dramas (A Bronx Tale) to comedies (Risky Business, Not Another Teen Movie). Perhaps his background in comedy helped land the gig.

Breaking Bad Observations for 1x02. Aria Mohtadi's in-depth visual analysis cleverly dissects clues, and provides a comprehensive look at callbacks and parallels that reference the pilot throughout the show's run. Always an enjoyable read. 

You can find a ton of fan art, gifs, callbacks, locations and factoids in our rewatch project for 1x02 from last year. I'll be reblogging some of my faves separately.

More info:

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– Companion by Shayne Bowman, Heisenberg Chronicles