Breaking Bad Round Table: "Buried"

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Breaking Bad played family feud last night, as Hank and Marie both now know Walt's secret and it's safe to say the days of backyard barbecues between the Whites and the Schraders have come to an end.

Did Skyler make the right call is standing by her murderous man? What call should Jesse now make? In this edition of the TV Fanatic Round Table, staffers Matt Richenthal, Steve Marsi, Jim Halterman and Dan Forcella gather around to discuss this topics and more...

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What was your favorite scene from the episode?
Matt: I'll interchange most fetal-position-inducing for "favorite" and say when Marie tries to take baby Hannah. Just a harrowing, well-acted, intense scene where you can see both sides and where you legitimately have no idea what will happen.

Jim: So hard to choose, but I'll go with the diner scene with Skylar and Hank. We're seeing so many moments that we've been dying to witness for years, so watching Hank grill Skylar - along with the layers of their family bond be pulled - just fantastic stuff! It was also great to see Jesse Plemons again (Landry!!)

Steve: Saul unscrupulously suggesting Walt send Hank on a "trip to Belize" because it's "worth discussing" a "strategy that's been effective" in the past … then seamlessly pivoting to the next option in typical Saul fashion when Walt bristles at the idea.

Dan: I have to agree with Steve on this one.  Saul was fantastic in that scene.

Should Skyler turn on Walt?
Matt: Probably. She's right that they can likely get away with it by remaining quiet, but isn't she basically choosing money over family? Talk to a lawyer, get immunity, give up the husband and the case. Keep Hank and Marie, Sky.

Jim: I don't think so. She's invested and when he collapsed in the bathroom she proved she's there to stay.

Steve: Maybe, but that ship sailed the moment she started laundering the money, and especially knowing that Walt did quit the business, she won't turn on her kids' father. If being cornered by Hank and Marie in the same day didn't break her, I don't see it happening now.

Dan: Should Skylar have turned on Walt immediately? Should she have laundered his money for him? Should she turn on him now? I don't have the answers to these questions.  Should she have been completely stone-faced and told Hank to go eff himself after his long spiel?  Absolutely, yes, she should have.

Should Jesse turn on Walt?
Matt: Of course. From Jesse's point of view? Where his life is at the moment? The guilt, the stress, the depression, the anxiety? I see no reason to remain loyal to Walt, certainly, and based on his reaction during last week's return episode to Walt claiming Mike is alive, I'd wager Heisenberg-like levels of cash that Jesse will, indeed, turn.

Jim: Should he? No. Will he? Remains to be seen. Jesse has shown that mentally he can't take much more, so if anyone is going to turn on Walt, it makes most sense to be him. Plus, Jesse and Walt have had so little screen time lately that getting them back together - even for a showdown - would be gold!

Steve: I don't think anyone wants that, but we're running out of time and the signs point to it, don't they? His guilty conscience has gotten the best of him before, but now he has even fewer reasons to trust Walt and even more to get off his chest. I'm legitimately excited to see what happens when Hank walks into that room.

Dan: In all honesty, yes. I love Walt to death as a viewer, but if I were in Jesse's shoes, and could get anything out of turning on this monster, I would.

The flash forwards: Pro or con?
Matt: Mostly pro. I have no doubt the show will deliver on them, I've just started to wonder if they remove some suspense. Take Walt making that offer to Skyler about turning himself in. Even before the words were out of his mouth, we knew that's not how this would wrap up. Trust me: I'm dying to know all about Mr. Lambert and his machine gun and the Ricin and how poor Carol found out about Heisenberg, I'm just thinking we're sometimes better off not knowing that certain options are already off the table.

Jim: Pro! Even if they don't all make sense yet, I trust in Vince Gilligan and his team that they definitely will pay off.

Steve: Since the show has employed them throughout its run as intriguing teases rather than major plot spoiling devices, I have complete faith that the conclusion will be true to form.

Dan: I am definitely not Pro-Flash Forward. After the pilot, it was all downhill from there...merely a failed attempt at jumping on Lost's recent success.

How long would it take you to dig a hole in the dessert into which you could deposit millions of dollars?
Matt: A very long time. I was unclear why Walt didn't bury the van instead. Surely there's some cave or something nearby where he could have ensured the entire vehicle was out of reach and out of sight. Then again, I may have see Back to the Future III too many times.

Jim: First of all, I would've chosen a spot in the shade! Come on, Walt! But I'd say digging into that hard dirt would take a long time.

Steve: Maybe a little less time than it took Walt, given his age and physical condition? But still a long time and Herculean effort for any one person. On a side note, the lotto ticket post-it note substitute of the coordinates? Well played, Heisenberg.

Dan: Obviously you have seen my God-like physique. Under an hour. No big deal.

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