Breaking Bad : Abiquiu

In Abiquiu (pronounced abba-cue), Skyler hatches a plan to launder money, Walt is invited to dinner with Gus, Hank treads a painful road to recovery and Jesse gets a shot at avenging Combo's murder.

'Til now, I still don't see the significance of the title, Abiquiu. It's a place in Mexico with beautiful sunsets, that much I gained from Google, but how it is related to the episode, I'm still pretty much on a blank slate. Abiquiu pales in comparison to last week's Fly (which involves Walt and Jesse hunting down a fly in their lab), but to be fair, most of the episodes do. Fly simply flew to the top, with the portrayal of Walt at his most vulnerable moment, where he divulges his deepest, darkest secrets to Jesse. I never wrote a review because it was too good to be destroyed by my unworthy hands.

As Hank suffers through his physical therapy (courtesy of  Skyler and Walt), Marie stands strong beside him, encouraging Hank every step of the way. However, when Marie wants him to continue therapy at home, Hank snaps, thinking that she's forcing him out of the hospital due to financial difficulties. He insists that Marie get rid of the hospital bed she has installed in his bedroom, because he didn't want to bring the hospital back to where he lived.

Skyler, concerned about the apparent illegitimacy of Walt's money, insists on meeting the person who is providing the money laundering service to ensure that the whole process is watertight and will not inflict any damage on Hank and Marie in any way. So Walt takes her to Saul, which results in a hilarious exchange between the two. Saul tries to explain the process to Skyler the way he did with Jesse (this time using pencils and a bottle of sweets instead), but Skyler coldly informs him that as a bookkeeper, she knew everything about money laundering.

Saul proposes that Walt invest his money in something called 'Laser Tag', a funfair with lasers, thinking that as a scientist, Walt would love anything science-related, hence the lasers. Skyler tells him that it would be extremely far-fetched for Walt to invest in anything like that, and insists that Walt buy the car wash place he worked at for the past four years, because that would seem more like him. Through this, Skyler shows how well she knows Walt, compared to Saul who sees Walt as a mere scientist who loves lasers.

Without Skyler present, Saul explains the complicated role of a person called a 'danny', who owns the place and does what he is asked to without asking questions. With the car wash, they had no 'dannies' available, because it was extremely hard to find a person trustworthy enough. When Walt relates this to Skyler, she volunteers for the job, saying that as a bookkeeper, she is more than qualified. And they aren't actually divorced, she only wanted Walt to think so, so they could never testify against each other in court. Walt is shocked by the revelation, but finally relents. Looks like Skyler is following in Ted's footsteps!

At his weekly addicts meeting, Jesse discovers that Badger and Skinny P aren't selling much of his smuggled meth, and gets pissed off. Badger explains that trying to destroy people who genuinely wanted to change was like shooting a baby in the face, and frankly, I agree, although Jesse doesn't. So he decides to demonstrate how heartless he could be by trying to get close to one of the newer addicts and selling her some meth. However, he ended up deeper than he imagined he would, when he fell for her.

Jesse's plans to sell his new girlfriend meth falls apart even further when he discovers that she has a 5-year-old son, Brock. Jesse has seen enough of what stoned parents could do to their children (think 'ATM Skank') and doesn't want to destroy the little kid's life for some extra cash. Then she reveals that she has a younger brother who fell in with the bad crowd, and murdered somebody. She doesn't want Brock to end up that way. With further digging, Jesse discovers that the person her brother murdered was Combo.

So Jesse goes on a recon mission to find out the truth for himself, by purchasing some meth from the kid. After seeing the two druggies in the car (and losing 300 bucks), Jesse has found out enough. He leaves, wth malice burning in his eyes. Looks like he's going to go after them on his own, so watch out Jesse. You're gonna get your ass kicked again, and this time Walt won't be there to save you.

While working in the lab, Walt gets a call. It turns out to be an invitation from Gus to dine at his house. Walt approaches the entire thing cautiously, up to the part where Gus hands him a knife and requests for his assistance in preparing the meal. As usual, Gus is unfathomable (he reminds me of a more cheerful version of Ben in Lost) and he tells Walt that he would like to give hime some advice. "Don't make the same mistake twice." He says this without batting an eye, and leaves me wondering, what is he talking about? Is it Jesse's thieving havits, or Skyler's involvement, or financing Hank's therapy, or something else entirely?

That's the end of the episode. With two more remaining, I can only wonder how all these seemingly unrelated events would culminate towards an explosive ending. However, here I would like to point out something interesting I just realised about some of the scenes in Breaking Bad, in particular Walt's dinner scenes with his family.

Don't you think the above image is a triptych?

From Wikipedia : A triptych (pronounced /ˈtrɪptɪk/ TRIP-tik, from the Greek τρίπτυχο, from tri- "three" + ptychē "fold") is a work of art (usually a panel painting) which is divided into three sections, or three carved panels which are hinged together and folded. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all multi-panel works. The middle panel is typically the largest and it is flanked by two smaller related works, although there are triptychs of equal-sized panels.

The two panels on either sides are usually related to each other by the middle one ,in this case, Walt and Skyler are connected by Walter Jr. Interesting how Vince Gilligan inserts scenes like these into his work, which most people would fail to notice. It shows how great a writer he is, and how Breaking Bad has deeper meanings than what we see on screen (think 'Fly').

Well, another week to wait before the penultimate episode. With the ending of 24, Lost and House, I'm left with only Breaking Bad to entertain myself with. I'm not complaining though, Breaking Bad completely defeats two of the above in terms of writing. I'm still catching up on old Malcolm in the Middle episodes, just to see how versatile Bryan Cranston is!

Breaking Bad in Comics!

Sugarland on Good Morning America

“Jimmy Kimmel Live: Aloha to Lost” Alternate Endings

Brooks & Dunn : The Last Rodeo

Shrek Forever After (Movie Review)

Yesterday, I went to catch the newest installment of the Shrek movies, Shrek Forever After. Knowing very well that it is a children's movie, I decided to let go and just enjoy the movie, no matter how ridiculous or annoying it becomes. Because of that, I actually enjoyed the movie, but there's still one problem with it. The whole thing moves too fast!

In the final chapter of Shrek's life, he's living happily with his wife, Fiona and three children in their home. However, Shrek finds the life monotonous and repetitive. People treat him like a joke and are no longer scared of him. He longs for the days back when people ran away from him and he could simply walk into a village and everyone runs away.

After destroying his children's birthday party and having a huge fight with Fiona, Shrek meets the evil Rumpelstiltskin, who tells him that he can have it all back if he could just sacrifice one day of his life. Shrek agrees, and Rumpelstiltskin takes away the day he was born. Which means he never existed. Which means he never resued Fiona. Which means he never met Donkey, Puss of Ginger.

After having fun scaring villagers shitless, he suddenly gets captured by witches and taken to Rumpel's castle, who is now King of Far, Far Away after the king and queen signed over their kingdom to him so that Fiona could be rescued. On his way there, Shrek meets Donkey, who doesn't recognise him. They escape the castle together, and Shrek formulates a plan to overturn Rumpel's curse. He must share 'true love's kiss' with Fiona before sunset, or his old life will be gone forever, and him with it.

So Shrek looks for Fiona, and to his horror, she's the leader of an ogre revolution hidden in the jungle. And she doesn't recognise him at all. His attempts to kiss her are cringe-worthy. The funniest scenes are probably those with Puss. He actually ate the Gingerbread Man! Even as a very fat cat, Antonio Banderas still manages to make Puss sound.... heroic, somehow? He retains his raspy voice, though he does look a helluva cuter now.

After an ambush fails, all the ogres are captured except Fiona and Shrek, and Puss and Donkey. Rumpel promises anyone who can get Shrek anything he wants, so Shrek turns himself in in return for the ogres' release. After the deal, he finds out that Fiona did the exact same thing, so they're both prisoners. Then the other ogres break in, together with Donkey and Puss to save the day. Shrek and Fiona kiss, and everything is restored to normal.

It's a pretty normal kiddie feature, but fun if you ignore all the discrepancies that pop up everywhere. And some scenes get pretty annoying too, if you watch it for too long. And of course, the fact that Shrek took less than 24 hours to woo a warrior princess doesn't make sense. And Donkey wooing the dragon was hilarious! Certain scenes make the movie worth it, though if you're the sceptical kind, better not watch it.

Shrek Forever After is not especially good (the first one is still by far the best Shrek movie ever) but it's entertaining if you have a load on your mind and want to forget all about it. Shrek gives you an hour of good-hearted laughter, and I needed it, so maybe that was why I enjoyed something that I would've hated otherwise. It made me forget certain things for a while, with its ridiculousness, and I would like to thank Shrek for that.

Glee : Dream On

Dream On is exactly what the title implies. Dream on, but your dreams will never come true. That's what Bryan Ryan, Will's friend from high school tells the Glee Club. And how true that is! Most of our dreams will never be realised, but somehow we are still dumb enough to pursue them and hope that they will come true, and when they don't, we feel so terribly disappointed. Some advice, guys, don't hope, it'll crush you.

Back to the show, Will's rival, Bryan turns up and tells the Glee kids their dreams will not come true. He wants to shut down the Glee club, but Will takes him out for a drink, they sing a song together and Will convinces him to audition for a play. He decides not to cut Glee Club. On the audition day, they sing a a duet, and Bryan is so obviously better than will that it's ridiculous when Will gets the role. Hey, people, if you want to do this storyline, get someone who can't sing, will ya? Neil Patrick Harris is a very bad choice. Anyway, when Will gets the part, Bryan decides to cut Glee Club. So Will gives the part to him. And he decides not to cut Glee Club. Honestly, how indecisive can he be?

Artie's dream turns out to be dancing, and Tina decides to help him fulfil it, even though it is obviously impossible. Artie tries to stand up using cerebral palsy crutches, but fails. Like duh, of course! Tina does some research and finds treatment methods, not realising that they are all still in the experimental process. When they are finally usable, Artie would probably be dead and buried in his wheelchair. so he gives up his dream, and they kiss, blah blah blah.

Rachel's dream turns out to be....surprise! Finding her mummy! I never expected Rachel to be the sentimental kind, more of the "I wanna be a star!"  kind, you know. But she wants to find her mother, and Jesse decides to help her. But it's not entirely his decision, it's what he's supposed to do. Actually, the coach of Vocal Adrenaline is.... IDINA MENZEL!!!!!!! Oooops, I mean she's Rachel's mum, but the other one's more interesting. Anyway, she sent Jesse to seduce Rachel and bring her home to mama. Which didn't make sense at all.

Firstly, you send your lead singer to bring home your daughter? Won't that cripple your own group? Secondly, why does he have to seduce her? Thirdly, there are so many guys she can call. Why Jesse? The whole thing is rather ridiculous. She gets Jesse to give Rachel a tape with her singing 'I Dreamed A Dream' which was supposed to 'explain it all'. Didn't explain much to me.

Next week is GAGA! Yeah, the cast will be singing Lady Gaga's songs, whihc includes Poker Face by Idina Menzel and Bad Romance by Chris Colfer. This is gonna be fun! Hopefully it'll distract me from the terrible storyline.

Lost : What They Died For

The penultimate episode. I expected it to be great. But frankly it just confused me more. In fact, I actually like 'Across the Sea' more than this, although most people would feel otherwise. The ending kinda spoiled this for me. When Smokey said he wanted to blow up the island, I just went "Huh?". Usually at the end of Lost it "WOW!" or "WTF!", but with 'What They Died For', it was just a grunt of confusion.

This episode picks up immediately where 'The Candidate' left off, after the four remaining Losties manage to swim to safety on the beach. Jack sews up Kate while she starts becoming emotional about Ji Yeon, Jin and Sun's daughter who is now an orphan. Wonder if she'll pull and Aaron and do the same thing to Ji Yeon. Kate seems to have suddenly developed maternal instincts. Maybe it's because of Aaron but before this I usually see Kate as the girl who can't choose between two guys. She's definitely less annoying now. And she's out for blood. Smokey blood.

While heading over to Smokey's island, Hurley meets little Jacob, who grabs the bag of his own ashes and runs away. Hurley follows, but by the time he catches up, Jacob has started a fire, poured his ashes in and grown up. Looks like Hurley ran really slowly! Anyway, Jacob told him to bring the other three Losties to him. When Hurley finally did that, it was dark already (it was morning before). They gather around and Hurley realised that everyone could see Jacob. Jacob explained about what they died for (Jin, Sun and Sayid) but I didn't really get it. He didn't elaborate much.

Then he told them that one of them must take over form him as the protector of the island. Jack, the new man of faith, immediately volunteers and Jacob initiates the rite his mother did all those years ago, this time with river water because he no longer had the wine. The other three watch on as Jack drinks the water, and Jacob exclaims, "You're like me now."

On the other island, Ben, Miles and Richard finally reappear after so many episodes. They're heading for the Others' camp, but I seriously wonder what took them so long. They arrive and Ben shows them his secret room where he keeps the dynamite (same place as the entrance to Smokey hole). However, Widmore and Zoe arrive, and the two groups confront each other. Widmore tells Zoe to grab some equiptment form the boat, but on the way there, she sees Smokey, and runs back.

Everyone freaks out. Miles runs away into the jungle. Widmore and Zoe hide in the closet. Ben and Richard take a walk outside to meet Smokey. Well, bad idea for Richard 'cause he got flung away into the trees. Smokey (Locke form) appeared, and asked Ben for his help to kill the remaining candidates. Ben agrees, and even reveals Widmore's location. He lets Locke in, who kills Zoe and asks Widmore about inforation regarding the purpose of his arrival on the island in exchange for Penny's life. 

Widmore tells Smokey, and Ben shoots him, refusing to allow Widmore to save his daughter. but Smokey already got what he wanted. They head for the well, but Desmond has escaped. Smokey doesn't seem pissed though. He calmly tells Ben that he will get Desmond to destroy the island. This is the part where I got confused. First he wants to get off, now he wants to blow the whole place to kingdom come?

In the sideways world, Desmond visits the school again, presumably to send Locke back to the hospital by crashing into him again so that he could get the surgery to cure his legs. Weird plan. Wonder how many times he plans to run Locke down. By that time, Locke wouldn't need the surgery anymore, because he'd be dead! However, Ben interferes, and gets beaten up by Desmond. Ben suddenly recalls the scene of Desmond beating the crap out of him when he tried to kill Penny. Later, when he meets Locke, Ben tells him that the man wanted him to 'let go'. Being who he is, Locke understands immediately and returns to the hospital to look for Jack.

Meanwhile, Ben leaves the school and runs into Alex, who insists on sending him home because he only had one arm left and couldn't drive. She leads him to her car where her mother, who turns out to be Rousseau, is waiting. She invites him for dinner, and he complies. At their house, Rousseau tells Ben that Alex's father is dead an he is the closest thing she ever had to a father. Ben actually cried here, which was rather sweet. And it looks like he's falling for her, so Alex is gonna get a daddy soon!

In Jack's home, he, David and Claire are living together happily. David has a concert recital that night that he wants Jack to go to. Suddenly, Jack gets a call telling him that his father's body has been found and he had to go claim it later. But it turns out to be Desmond making that call. Then, Desmond turns himself in to Sawyer and Miles at the police station so that he could meet Kate and Sayid in prison. 

While they were transferred, Desmond tells them of his plan to escape and they agree. Turns out it was Ana Lucia driving and she's a very dirty cop. Hurley turns up with an envelope of money and Ana Lucia sets them all free. Desmond hands Kate a dress and told her that they had a concert to go to (presumably David's). Sayid went with Hurley to an unknown destination. When Hurley asks Desmond about Ana Lucia, he says that she isn't ready yet.

That's all we got from the peultimate episode of Lost. I hope that the rest of our questions will be answered soon. But one thing I realised. Desmond is trying to give everyone a happy ending. He runs over Locke so that he'll get the surgery and be able to walk Helen down the aisle. He brings Kate too the concert so that she'll meet Jack and they'll fall in love. He deflects Kate from her adoption agency's meeting so that she meets with Ilana and finally Jack. He tells Hurley to believe in Libby and he does, so that they'll fall in love. Still not sure what he's doing with Sayid, and he never did anything for Sun and Jin, so I've no idea where those three are going. But on the whole, looks like everyone's getting a happy ending, off-island. What happens to those on the island? OMG, I can't wait to find out!

EW's Special Edition "The End of Lost" Covers

Last Friday, EW released a special ediiton of their magazine in time with the end of Lost, which happens next week. 11 different covers, each featuring one of the main characters in the show (excluding the one above, which features all) have been published. I got my copy at a local bookstore, so it was the one above. Wish I could've gotten the Locke cover (or even the Sun one) instead. This one is all about Sawyer (catering to the female masses) and I don't even like his character. Sigh, can't find any other elsewhere so I'll have to be contented with my copy. But here're snapshots of the remaining 10 so that you guys can see them, if you haven't succeded in buying them, like me. (My two choice covers are larger than the rest)

RJ Mitte on the Shocking Breaking Bad Season 3 Finale and Beyond!

Need You Now - Lady Antebellum (Sims Version)

Lady Antebellum recently recorded a version of their hit song, Need You Now for The Sims. However, it's in Sims Language, whatever that is and I can't make head or tail of the lyrics. It's still pretty cool though. Watch the video and you'll see.

House : Help Me

And the end is here. What must be one of the best seasons of House ever in my opinion is finally coming to an end. Wrapping up with just 21 episodes, the finale is undeniably better than last season's, but I still think the finale of season 4 is the best of them all. In this episode, House faces his inner demons, and finally realises why he can never be happy. We are given an insight into why House became such a nasty person, and how he actually regretted keeping his leg instead of cutting it off because it made his life hell. It left him alone, unwanted and unloved.

"To Lisa and Lucas. Here's to a new chapter. Best, Greg."

House finally gives Cuddy the presnet he's been meaning to give her all along; her great grandfather's book. She became really awkward when she accepted it, but House thinks that it's because she was surprised he knew about their moving in together. It was actually something a lot bigger, but House would only find out about it later, because Cuddy could not bring herself to tell him just then. Instead, she tells him about a crane accident and sends House to the scene.

Arriving at the scene, House proceeds to rob a broken vending machine, but is interrupted by the sound of someone banging on the pipe. He realises that there's someone buried in the rubble and informs the rescue team, but they couldn't find anything. In the end, House decides to look for himself, and moves aside some of the rubble before crawling in. He emerges into an open space, and finds the source of the sound he heard. It was a woman, with her legs trapped underneath the weight of the entire building.

House leaves the patient underground, even though she begs him not to, and goes to bother Cuddy, questioning her about her awkwardness when receiving his gift. Cuddy finally admits that she was surprised because she initially thought that House gave her an 'engagement' present. House is stunned, and disappointed. Returning underground, he chats with the woman, and she makes him promise not to amputate her leg, whatever happens. House promises, to screw with Cuddy.

After two hours, when the possibility of Crush Syndrome became more and more persistent, Cuddy tries to encourage the patient to cooperate by letting them amputate, but she refuses, telling them that House had promised her. She leaves them, and House tries to use an oxygen pump to lift up the rubble on top of her, with the help of a search and rescue worker. However, the building collapses further, injuring House. The patient is still trapped, but now she has a collapsed lung.

Cuddy chides House for disagreing with her, saying that he was not acting in the best interests of the patient just because she told him that she was marrying Lucas. House argues, but Cuddy shuts him up when she tells him that she's done with him. Feeling remorseful, House crawls back down the tunnel to the woman and for the very first time, tells the story of why he became a cranky cripple.

A few years back, House had a blood blot in his leg, and had to have his leg amputated. Being House, he refused, telling them to perform a risky operation on him instead. It almost killed him, but it worked partly. He had his leg, but it will be in constant pain forever because the doctor cut out a lot of the muscles in it. Because of the incident, House became who he is today, nasty, angry, and alone. House admits that he regretted his decision back then, and he would have rather lost his leg than to lose himself. He begs the patient to not make the same mistake and she finally complies. 

I find this scene to be one of the best throughout this season, because it shows House as a vulnerable man, just like all of us. He finally realises the reason for his unhappiness, and it wasn't through therapy, but through reflection. All his friends are moving on, both Cuddy and Wilson are with the ones they love, leaving him with no more friends. House is truly alone, and this makes him reminisce on his past mistakes, and what made him who he is today.

After amputating the patient's leg, House gets into the ambulance transporting her to te hospital, tgether with her husband and a paramedic. Halfway there, she seizes, because of a fat embolism trapped in her bloodstream. Unable to do anything, House could only watch in despair as she suffocates to death. Wehn the ambulance arrives, Foreman opens he door, to find all three of them sitting silently inside. The woman was already dead. House then realises that even though he had done everything right, he cannot save everyone. He blames himself for her death, even though there was nothing he could do.

Back at the hospital, Thirteen had arrived late for work, but she assures Taub that everything was fine. However, later he finds her in House's office, with a letter in her hand. She tells Taub that she's asking for some time off, which she clearly needs. This means that something is seriously wrong with Thirteen, but she refuses to tell anyone about it. Is her disease finally hitting her full force?

House returns to his house, broken and remorseful, hating himself and his past. He walks to the bathroom, smashes the mirror and behind it, there's a secret stash of Vicodin. House reaches for the bottles and slumps down to the floor, on top of bits of broken mirror, but he appears not to notice. House sighs, before unscrewing the cap and pouring out two pills onto the palm of his hand. Just as he was about to swallow the pills, House notices that he isn't alone. Cuddy was there.

Cuddy tells House that she called of the engagement. Even though she really wanted to move on with her life, deep inside, she still loves House. And she doesn't know why. House doesn't either, telling her that he's 'the most screwed-up person in the world'. She clearly doesn't mind, and they kiss.This scene was so clearly reminiscent of the last season that I initially thought House was hallucinating again. But apparently he wasn't because h hadn't taken the pills yet. He drops the Vicodin on the ground, and takes Cuddy into his arms.

Looks like House finally got a happy ending, but how long will it last? Will he change for the better, because now he has a reason for happiness again? Well, we'll see next year, in the seventh season of House.