Breaking Bad: S5, Episode 14 (Ozymandias) - Patreon Version
Added 2025-02-12 17:00:14 +0000 UTC
Comments
Gale=Problem Dog. Jesse=Rabid Dog. Now Walt is a Stray Dog. Oh look, we even have a stray dog crossing the street as the van drives away.
Tim Martin
2025-02-24 00:11:53 +0000 UTCthe episode commentary is what sparked this thought in my head
Justin
2025-02-15 05:00:03 +0000 UTCI always saw the dog as symbolism for Walt leaving Jesse behind/alive instead of putting him down (like Old Yeller), and how that half measure could have unforeseen consequences. I just listened to the episode commentary and the lead writer specifically says it was added to "pay off our 'problem dog' theme". Walt wouldn't be the problem dog in this scenario.
GhostCat
2025-02-14 07:05:13 +0000 UTCGreat quotes! Yeah, I like going back to wiki pages for major movies and shows to see how they were received at the time by professional critics, and then reading the original linked articles. Since I've re-watched this countless times via YouTube creators, I'll throw in some quotes from other reactors: "I have no idea what I expected, but it was like... 10x(!) whatever I expected. They didn't stop; they just didn't stop at all..." "Literally just the amount of things that happened this episode... Hank dies; Walt tells Jesse about Jane; Junior finds out; Jesse ends up cooking with Todd like a fucking animal... prisoner(!); Walter kidnaps his child; and then [the phone call] to save Skyler... Only one of those things would be too much for for me to handle, and they did it all in one episode. I literally don't know how they just did this." "That's probably the hardest episode I've ever had to watch. Holly's acting cues were spot on, she *tore* me apart.... this is probably the most *fucked up* episode of the whole show." "I can't believe the change in these characters in this show, from start to finish -- I just can't believe it. I've never, ever seen development like this, you just wouldn't think it [possible]. And to think we thought we had it bad when he bumped into Tuco..." "This is an INSANE show // I cannot believe what we just watched. What did we just witness?... Yeah, that was the most stressful hour of television I've ever seen." "This episode was something else. Something else. Like holy shit. Like from a writing perspective, brilliant, but... that's, that's as dark as it can get." "Man, what is this doing to me? I'm so broken. I don't even know, I don't even know what I want at this point. Can I even emotion anymore? Dear lord. I feel like to recover from this, I've got to just stare at blank space for about 5 hours. That's where I'm at. (After a jump cut of staring) Um, right, sorry. Je-sus. Wrap this up I guess, I don't even know what to say." "What a masterclass from Bryan Cranston right there. What absolute performance, what a powerhouse ... the raw pain, the raw emotion, him trying to put on that persona and then it pans to him and just him breaking down, shaking, shaking with the pain of it, the sorrow. You see it all. The way he tries to talk and he can't. God." And simply because the same words have been said by several different reactors, usually while crying from watching Skyler run down the street with blood on her arms: "[W] The fuck is this episode???"
Dan
2025-02-13 04:35:39 +0000 UTCdefinitely worth it to go on youtube and find Bryan Cranston's reading of it
Nathan Jasper, the Artist Formerly Known as Primary
2025-02-13 02:51:06 +0000 UTCHere is a link to the poem Ozymandias by Shelley. It describes Walt’s fall from power perfectly. The writers always have such great titles but I think this one is the best: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46565/ozymandias
Bill B.
2025-02-13 01:10:45 +0000 UTCI understand that, thank you.. it was just stated that everything is Walt’s fault.. not everything is on Walt. A theme of the show is choices and how everyone makes their own and how that affects them personally and everyone around them
Derwin Riley
2025-02-12 23:31:35 +0000 UTCBottom line is Jesse ratted out Walt to Hank and Steve and worked with them to get Walt caught.,,,,,hence, the "coward" statement. I think thats why Walt hates him, not because Hank died. Biggest mistake Jesse made in the entire show was not getting in that van with the disappearer when he had the chance. Everything went straight downhill from that moment on.
Mantis
2025-02-12 23:09:56 +0000 UTCWatching your reactions to this brutal episode took me back to when it first aired. I've compiled a sampling of how TV critics described the episode after watching it in September of 2013: "Whatever can be said about tonight's "Breaking Bad," whatever words can be written, they won't do justice to this hour of television, which is without a doubt the hardest episode of TV I've ever watched." "Every time you thought things couldn't get worse, they did. Every time you thought the lowest point had been reached, it hadn't been. There was more. It kept coming. It kept finding new ways to be mind-bendingly, soul-churningly devastating." "I didn’t imagine “Breaking Bad” could top the final sequence of last week’s episode for tension and power and ability to induce a state of complete, nauseous panic. I was wrong. “Ozymandias” is one of the very best episodes of this great, cruel show, but also one of the most sickening." "I hope you watched “Ozymandias” with someone you loved. First of all, because I watched it alone... and holy bejeezus in a fire truck, that was a rough ride to take solo. If the end of last week’s episode was a thousand-bullet fusillade, this one was like feeling every one of those bullets hit. It was relentless, intense, excruciating — and amazing." "Last night's episode of Breaking Bad, the never-more-aptly titled 'Ozymandias', is already being talked about as one of the best episodes of TV ever made. In a show famous for its elaborate set-ups to incredible pay-offs, there wasn't a spare second in 45 relentless minutes of pure reckoning." "It’s been a long time since a television episode shook me to the core and left me catatonic. ‘Ozymandias’ is the masterful product of 5 seasons of planning, timing and precision rolled into 45 minutes of pure ecstasy (or Meth if you will)." "If there has been a more devastating hour of television, I've never seen it."
icekaps
2025-02-12 20:02:42 +0000 UTCI love that the dog was a paid actor 😉
MarisoL
2025-02-12 19:25:35 +0000 UTCRemember when Walt said to name a price, that anything could be negotiable? Well he absolutely couldn't with Jack or Skyler. Also give baby Holly an Emmy!
MarisoL
2025-02-12 19:24:38 +0000 UTCI'm so glad Jordan noticed the incongruence between Walt's crying and his menacing voice to figure out the phone call. Lots of reactors miss those details, which is disappointing because of how good Bryan Cranston's performance really is. People always run to the comments to correct the facts, but it's really worth re-watching the scene in context for the subtle back-and-forth cues between Skyler and Walt. You'll notice, for example, that Walt gives a long pause while he waits for Skyer to catch on. She looks around the room to see if anyone else is noticing what's going on, and when she feels safe, she says, "I'm sorry" as a message to Walt that she's in the clear and she understands what he's doing. And then Walt looks relieved because he can continue with his charade, knowing it's working and completing the skit. But it hurts him, which is why he struggles through it. While many first-time viewers think Walt is at his most sadistic here, it's ironically the most compassionate he's been in a while. It's such a tough episode, though, that a handful of entertainment critics said that they couldn't even watch it a second time for their write-ups -- per their normal professional routine -- because they weren't emotionally ready for it. There's a reason it's still listed as 10/10 on IMDb after 11 years and 239,000 votes (highest rating on the site and second-highest vote count ever).
Dan
2025-02-12 18:46:03 +0000 UTCA 10/10 is fairly easy to do on the short term, but yeah, Ozymandias is the only one to remain 10/10 after (...refresh webpage...) 239,000 votes. 239 thousand people voted and it's still a perfect 10. There was a time when it went down to 9.9 from fans of other shows trying to win the top spot by downvoting competitors, but Ozy has been, and is still, the reigning champ for almost 12 years.
Dan
2025-02-12 18:32:25 +0000 UTCSuch a fantastic episode, and as always a great reaction! Jordan nailed it! The phone call was a deliberate attempt to shift any blame away from Skyler and on to him. If you ignore what Walt's saying and focus on his body language, you can really tell that he's breaking down. Two additional things . . . first I would recommend you check out the teaser trailer for this episode. It's a dramatic reading by Bryan Cranston of the poem "Ozymandias" that this episode is named after. Also, if you look closely at the scene where Walt is rolling the barrel through the desert, you can see Walt's pair of pants from the pilot episode laying on the ground.
thethesaxman23
2025-02-12 18:20:46 +0000 UTCOne of my favorite episodes of television ever. I'll tell you what, it was brutal having to wait a week between each episode when this first aired. Love your reactions - so intelligent and astute, unlike some reactors who completely misinterpret the characters on this show. When you're done, I highly recommend watching Most Difficult Decisions Made On Breaking Bad - Writer's Room Reunion on YouTube. It gives great insight into their intent with several characters and scenes.
Mic
2025-02-12 18:20:12 +0000 UTCIt is Jesse’s fault too.. he isnt an innocent person who did nothing to lead here.
Derwin Riley
2025-02-12 18:17:26 +0000 UTCnever mind just got to the bit where you figured it out haha
Felix Parsonson
2025-02-12 17:54:45 +0000 UTCthe reason he said what he said over the phone call was because he was aware the police were there and he was trying to make Skyler look innocent
Felix Parsonson
2025-02-12 17:52:27 +0000 UTCWalt dug Hank's grave. Literally!
N.T. Stars
2025-02-12 17:37:09 +0000 UTCThe only real episode on imdb with a 10/10 rating. Interesting fact about the chess game being played at the fire station- the board was intentionally set up so that it would be impossible for the WHITE side to win. We’ve had a 'problem dog' (Gale), a 'rabid dog' (Jesse), now Walt is the stray dog. (When Jesse was playing the game Rage at the beginning of 'Problem Dog' 0407, there is an Easter egg on the wall as he is going down the stairs. The graffiti on the wall spells 'Gale'.) As we get that final shot of Walt riding away, it's also followed by an actual stray dog crossing the street behind him.
Justin
2025-02-12 17:26:23 +0000 UTCAnd here we go! Just barely finished the intro... the only thing worse than Marie finding out about Hank is Marie NOT finding out about Hank :'((((( So gut wrenching
Dan
2025-02-12 17:24:27 +0000 UTCMy name is Ozymandius King of Kings Look upon my works Ye mighty and despair
Nathan Jasper, the Artist Formerly Known as Primary
2025-02-12 17:09:13 +0000 UTC
