I like how they show scenes and episodes that contrast with previous episodes to show how far they've evolved.

Twice now, Jesse has been the brains of the operation who comes up with the genius plan while Walt and Mike bicker like children. He thought of the magnet a few episodes ago and the came up with the train heist. He volunteered to put up the extra cash when Mike & Walt were *****ing at each other about the hazard pay. He's become the ultimate team player and has matured in ways we could've never predicted 2 seasons ago.

This episode reminded me of when Walt & Jesse robbed that warehouse to steal a barrell of methlamine a few seasons ago. What a cluster-F that was! They've evolved from the Keystone Kops to a well-oiled machine as witnessed in this episode (until numbnuts killed that kid, of course).

The previews for next week looked chilling. Walt is into "empire building".

But how can a kid on a motorcycle simply disappear without causing a great investigation and much publicity?

Also, how did the duplicate the security metal tags on the railcar? Or did they care?

Walt Jr getting hooked on the blue meth would be fitting.

That episode was the bomb yo

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Twice now, Jesse has been the brains of the operation who comes up with the genius plan while Walt and Mike bicker like children.

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Truth

the promo poster is a riff on this classic image, IMO



Couple that with Walt LOVING scarface with Walt Jr, and I think you can probably figure out how this is going too end. Hell, Walt even got his own "little friend" in episode one.

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But how can a kid on a motorcycle simply disappear without causing a great investigation and much publicity?

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Again, it is like the movie Heat. Once they killed all the armored car guards, it was all downhill. Same with this situation. Missing kid, loose cannon "partner" with dirt on them, watered down chemical...too many pieces that can come together to paint a picture.

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But how can a kid on a motorcycle simply disappear without causing a great investigation and much publicity?

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I'm sure there will be a big search, but a kid out in the desert like that is going to leave the theory on what happened to him wide open. They would have to be smart about it and cover his bike tracks though.

Another thing I always get a kick out of is Jessie yelling "*****" all the time. And after the successful heist I was waiting for it. I was not dissapointed.

[This message has been edited by TheDino (edited 8/13/2012 9:26a).]

two things i found as unbelievable, but am willing to set aside b/c the show is so good:

- the train stopping in time to not hit the truck. There's no way that train would have been able to stop before hitting the truck

- the engineers not hearing the noise from the pump. They are in the middle of the desert and sound travels. Those things are not quiet.

and as someone else pointed out, Walt's fingerprints are all over those tapping devices. Maybe he is planning on going back to remove them, but keeping them in place would be very valuable.

Chilling episode. They got our hearts racing with the excitement of the train heist, then pulled the rug out from under us with the gunshot.

I can't believe Skyler didn't lure Flynn out of his room with breakfast, though.

Things have been going way too smoothly between Walt and Jesse. I just can't see this continuing for much longer. I would be surprised if Walt's apathy towards the killing of this kid causes a pretty big rift between him and Jesse, who will obviously be pretty shaken up by it.

How long will that methylamine last? A couple of cooks? That seemed like only a one time plan to get some methylamine, what about when it runs out?

That was enough to last them a long time. How long, I don't know.

[This message has been edited by Unthought known (edited 8/13/2012 9:59a).]

They stole 20 barrels worth (1000 gals). Don't know how many barrels they used at Gus's, but there were only a handful on site at even given point in time.

the amount they pulled from that train was equal to 200 barrels. They had been operating on 50 gallon drums.

00, you need to visit with Paul Ryan.

I'm pretty sure it was 20 fifty gallon drums worth.

I'm pretty sure that will last them quite a few cooks.

too many zeros...whatever.

One thing I noticed was how they are getting less careful with the purity of their materials. Walt chased a fly for an entire episode and now he's spilling dirt into the container with his key ingredient.

Wow

Another thought I have is how will they get their new chemicals back to ABQ? Will they dig up the tank and haul it back? Or have to keep coming back out to the desert when they need some more?

They don't want to keep trecking back out there to the scene of the child murder. I imagine the murder investigation will be taking place out there.

Maybe they'll move the tank to that abandoned warehouse from the promo poster.

well, i don't think they expected a murder when they planned it. they did it this way to avoid murdering the engineers.

second, it'll be a while before anyone knows where to even investigate. The kid has to be missing for 24 hours or more, then reported missing, then they start tracking down where he was.

they'll still have a lot of cover up to do out there. get the tanks out, cover all tracks, and make it look like the ground was never dug up. Not going to be easy.

I like how walt used hanks perception of him as a "weak" man against him to plant the bugs. Also in the past I think it would have actually made walt cry that skylar didnt love him anymore. But now those tears were only a front to take care of business.



[This message has been edited by Drifter. (edited 8/13/2012 10:49a).]

Does anyone else think Walt and Lydia are going to end up working together to get rid of Mike? He seemed pretty interested in her attempted hit on Mike

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I didn't expect Todd to kill that kid at all. Totally caught me off guard. I noticed they didn't show Walt's reaction, only Jesse's.

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I backed up the DVR several times trying to watch Walt. He is stone-faced as Todd pulls out his gun. My wife thought that Walt might not've been watching Todd and might not've realized he was pulling out a gun. But Walt is blurred in the background when the gun fires, and he doesn't seem to jump at the sound at all. It's a little ambiguous and I might be looking too closely. But it seemed to me like Walt was either in shock, with it all happening too quickly for him to react, or he was indifferent.

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wonder how they'd have handled it if the methylamine car hadn't been immediately over the bridge. Would they have put the barricade further up or down the tracks to compensate? They found out at 2am, and the tanks were stationary.

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This is purely a guess, but I think they would've waited a few days for the next train. They had measured 800 feet from the intersection to the bridge. They probably knew the length of each car. So, as of 2am, they had a good idea of where that tanker car would end up. If the tanker car wasn't going to end up on the bridge, the whole plan wouldn't work. The only thing to do in that case would be to wait for another train, hoping to eventually get one where the car would stop on the bridge.

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the train stopping in time to not hit the truck. There's no way that train would have been able to stop before hitting the truck

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Well, we weren't really given a clear indication of how far away that bend was or how fast the train was moving. But man, it was close. If the engineers hit the brakes a split second later, they've caused a huge train wreck. The ensuing investigation likely finds the tanks buried under the bridge.

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the engineers not hearing the noise from the pump. They are in the middle of the desert and sound travels. Those things are not quiet.

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I thought about this too. Jesse measured 800 feet from the intersection to the bridge. Not sure how well that little gasoline engine could be heard from 800 feet away.

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and as someone else pointed out, Walt's fingerprints are all over those tapping devices. Maybe he is planning on going back to remove them, but keeping them in place would be very valuable.

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Fingerprints or not, if Hank ever finds the bug in that picture, he'll know Walt put it there. Hank will not forget that Walt was handling that picture when he walked back into the room.

There won't be a murder investigation. It's just a kid going missing. Murder would be the last thing suspected (unless the cops find something)

Other more probable possibilities would be the kid running away, the kid getting lost and dying out in the desert, abduction, etc

My only nitpick in what was a fun episode was how quickly the decision on what to do with the engineer/conductor was made.

It was either kill them or pull of this complicated heist.

When one of them threw out the idea to just tie them up, it was completely tossed aside as "no witnesses". Jesse (I think) brought up wearing masks and for some reason that idea was just far too complicated -- much better to have this intricate scheme of pumps.

Stealing something and making a big commotion about it (with witnesses) wasn't a problem 3-4 weeks ago with the laptop at the police station... but suddenly it is now?

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It was either kill them or pull of this complicated heist.

When one of them threw out the idea to just tie them up, it was completely tossed aside as "no witnesses". Jesse (I think) brought up wearing masks and for some reason that idea was just far too complicated -- much better to have this intricate scheme of pumps.

Stealing something and making a big commotion about it (with witnesses) wasn't a problem 3-4 weeks ago with the laptop at the police station... but suddenly it is now?

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They just wanted to avoid a messy "stick-up" situation. Tieing people up, masks, etc. would not completely alleviate the risks.

Plus, the authorities would be notified sooner or later. And once they realize methylamine was taken, the DEA will likely get involved. They're already looking at Lydia. How many people at Madrigal have access to the train info? The plan they came up with was brilliant. Nobody will ever suspect the train was robbed.

The laptop deal was not the same situation at all. They didn't pull off a "stick-up" to erase the laptop. And there weren't any witnesses who saw them at all. They did leave behind a ton of physical evidence--Uhaul full of magnet and batteries. But what else could they do? It was the best solution to a very different problem.

I guess I'm stating the obvious, but the episode was one big kick in the teeth. So much preparation, stress, and barely executing an intricate plan to avoid confrontation and having to deal with the engineers as witnesses, all to end up with a boy witness who Todd executes.

The one thing I don't understand:
Were they pumping water into tanker car while simultaneously draining methylamine out of it? Weren't they diluting the methylamine that they were taking? I thought the idea was to take the methylamine out, and then replace it with water. That would dilute what was left in the tanker. Adding water as you draw it out will dilute what you're getting as well.

That tanker held 25k gallons (4% dilution rate Walt referenced) and they were stealing 1k. Given that they were draining from the bottom while filling from the top, I'd imagine any dilution would be minimal.


[This message has been edited by Ol Jock 99 (edited 8/13/2012 11:52a).]

any engineers/chemists care to weigh in on this one?

Yeah Walt said it was 4% dilution which the receiver would blame on China in a few weeks.

Oh, or maybe he said 1%, I forget.

1/24th of the Methylomene was taken, so around 4% diluted. You know what they say about those shifty Chinese Methylomene suppliers!

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I noticed they didn't show Walt's reaction, only Jesse's.

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I noticed this, too. I wonder if next episode, Walt will try to justify the killing of the kid to obtain the methylamine? Would be another step into Walt "Breaking Bad".

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I keep looking for something to start pulling at the strands of Jesse's mind re: Walt and how far he is willing to go (i.e. hurting children) to meet his ends. I am sure Walt's lack of a reaction as Todd pulled out the gun was not coincidental at all in the filming, but I wonder if Jesse will actually notice/call him out on it. In my mind, as the three men are standing there staring back at the onlooking kid, Walt's already realized in his head that the kid will have to be gotten rid of one way or another for them to be out of the woods. Deep in thought about this fact, he does not react to Todd pulling out the gun and for a nanosecond was probably relieved that someone else took care of it instead of Walt himself.

I imagine Walt will "come to his senses" quickly and get on the same page as Jesse, who is going to go crazy immediately. I believe Todd is a dead man.

GREAT episode though. So much suspense and I love it whenever Jesse spawns a great idea for the group.

[This message has been edited by Inspector Spacetime (edited 8/13/2012 12:04p).]

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That tanker held 25k gallons (4% dilution rate Walt referenced) and they were stealing 1k. Given that they were draining from the bottom while filling from the top, I'd imagine any dilution would be minimal.

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Good call. Even if the water you're adding is instantly well-mixed, then I guess the 1,000 gals you've pulled out is only about 2% diluted. (not diluted at all in the beginning, 4% diluted at the end = 2% diluted on average)
In reality, it's probably even less than 2% because you're pulling from the bottom and adding to the top.