Podcast Episode 35: Finally Finishing Felina: The Breaking Bad Finale

Every week David and Mike will break down and dissect an episode from the final eight episodes of Breaking Bad.

In this week's episode David and Mike break down the eighth and final episode of the final season called "Felina" which originally aired on September 29th 2013.

Spoilers for anyone not caught up.



To listen to our past episodes you can listen on iTunes or at our YouTube page.

"Felina" Fantasy: One Fan's Crazy, Epic Prediction For How the Breaking Bad Series Finale Ends

via drafthouse.com

by Mike Ladue

I say “Felina,” you say "finale", let’s call the whole thing right now: No matter what happens in Sunday’s Breaking Bad series-ender, Vince Gilligan’s tragic tale of a man consumed by pride will rank among the greatest dramas of all time. There’s a lot of pressure on these final 75 minutes, snowballing as rabid fans continue to catch up via marathon Netflix/AMC sessions, harboring extreme feelings on the fates of Walt, Skyler, Jesse and the rest of Albuquerque’s dark and twistiest. But lets be real: it’ll be perfect.

That is, of course, if Gilligan and co. somehow came up with the same final episode as I did. On the Dual Redundancy podcast for "Granite State," my co-host Dave and I shared ours and listeners' predictions for the finale, mysteriously titled "Felina." You can listen to those here, but why bother -- the answers to all your questions (Does Walt die, and if so, how? What's the significance behind Marie and the color purple? Who's on the receiving end of Walt's ricin?) are laid out below.

Note for those treading lightly: THIS IS NOT A SPOILER FOR THE FINALE. Hell, it's mostly half-baked, hair-brained ideas that would probably never crack 75 pages of script, and it's written in an outline-ish form with little-to-no dialogue. But it satisfies many of the outstanding anxieties I have going into the finale and pays off some integral themes/motifs/character arcs from the past five seasons.

So here's my prediction, written in the name of family, or science, or getting screwed out of Gray Matter, or finally finishing that Star Trek spec. But mostly out of love and respect for the most brilliant show I've ever seen. 

Without further ado:

"FELINA"(Fantasy)

Todd jams to an ‘80s classic (“The Final Countdown”, maybe?) as he pulls into the Nazi compound. It's dark, so he doesn’t notice – or at least doesn’t acknowledge – the car tailing him. Inside is Walter Lambert (formerly White), face frozen in hate, plotting his revenge. He takes inventory of his belongings – M60, ricin, big black barrel. Perfect.

We see a montage of Jesse cooking meth, going through the same old motions. He looks like a zombie, his eyes dead, his actions sluggish. The picture of Andrea and Brock has been torn, leaving only Brock’s half. Todd enters and watches over Jesse from afar, smiling. He brushes his hand along the glass jar that holds his (formerly Drew Sharp’s) tarantula. The glass keeps him from any intimacy with the bug, a visual representation of Todd’s sociopathic tendencies.

Todd praises Jesse on his latest batch, which cools on a nearby counter. Jesse actively ignores Todd’s existence. A door opens, revealing Uncle Jack and Lydia, who have been expecting Todd for their latest meeting. Todd joins them in the other room, leaving Jesse alone on his leash.

Or so he thinks. Walt arrives, one index finger pressed to his lips, the other hovering on the trigger of the M60. Jesse is dumbfounded, until he realizes, of course Mr. White is here. It’s hell, after all. They don’t talk.

Walt rolls his barrel, slowly and creakily, into the lab. Jesse and Walt keep eagle eyes on the conference room door. Walt stops near the meth and turns it upright, producing an echoing THUD.

The clamor behind the door dies down. Walt rushes to free Jesse – he can’t. Instead he hands him the M60 and bolts. Startled, Jesse watches as the doors open and Nazis with guns raised start piling out. Jesse opens fire, Scarface style, taking them down.

In the melee, Uncle Jack shoots Jesse in the arm, causing him to drop his gun. Walt saves the day by taking down Jack with the gun of a fallen Nazi. The brawl breaks out again, and Walt frees Jesse by shooting at his binding rope. Todd chases down Jesse, who smashes the psychotic freak in the head with the tarantula jar. He makes Todd’s death tortuous.

The dust clears. The Nazis are dead. Walt’s barrel is overturned, and mysteriously empty. From the wreckage emerges Lydia, hands up. Jesse aims to kill, but Walt stops him. She can live, and take her meth, as a condolence for her trauma. She’s aghast, but she lugs the meth and leaves.

Immediately, Walt and Jesse turn their guns on each other. They air their drama, discuss Jane, Andrea and the fall of the empire. He drops a bombshell on Jesse: he took the ricin. He’s ready to die, the cancer isn’t killing him fast enough, but this gives him a few days to say his goodbyes before he goes. He wanted to make things right with Jesse, then see his family, and die in peace. No more bloodshed.

Jesse agrees. At Walt’s behest, he goes to Brock, giving the boy the biggest hug. He’s going to keep the boy safe. He promises.

The next morning, Walt finds Skyler’s new house based on Ed’s info. There don’t appear to be any cops watching the place. In the car he practices what he’ll say, but can’t come up with anything substantial. At last he heads up to the front door and barges in.

The family is seated to breakfast – Skyler, Flynn, Holly… and Ted Beneke, Sky’s former boss and sometimes lover. He’s in a wheelchair after his “shakedown” by Huell and Kuby. They see Walt as Carol saw Walt… a monster. Skyler instinctively presses a panic button, which Walt notices. He came with good intentions but rages at Skyler over Ted’s presence. He flings wads of cash from his pockets, forcing them to accept his hard-earned money. Holly cries. Flynn gets up and whacks Walt with his crutches, fuming with hate. He chases Walt outside and gets into his car – he’s going to run Walt down. Walt sprints back to his car, coughing the whole way, as Flynn pulls out of the driveway and guns it towards his father.

CUT TO: Marie, absent-mindedly driving her own car. Her eyes linger a bit too long on a picture of her and Hank affixed to her rear view mirror, and – CRASH. She and Flynn collide, both narrowly missing Walt. Walt rushes to the car to pull his son from the wreckage – he’s already gone, as evidenced by his half-charred face (mirroring Gustavo Fring and the pink Teddy Bear). Flynn is dead.

Marie stumbles from her car and Walt attacks. He chokes her and forces her to the ground. She struggles, kicking and clawing at his body. He suffocates her until she turns a deep shade of purple.

Skyler arrives and sees the damage and destruction. She lunges at Walt, who puts up no fight, but the two just… hold each other up. They weep. They’re exhausted from all the battling and lying and death. They mourn their son and their family, which is irreparably destroyed. The sirens wail in the distance, and she tells him she won’t rat him out. She pressed it because of Flynn. She found Marie like this. It’s just time for Walt to go.

Walt goes. He drives away, narrowly avoiding the police cars responding to the accident. But he has nowhere to go. From his pocket he discovers a purple candy ball. Quizzical at first, he pops it in his mouth and drives on.

Following one last beautiful time-lapse, Lydia sits down at a meeting with Madrigal executives. She’s been rushed in and is unprepared for the meeting. Is there something wrong with the product? They turn on the TV – hundreds of drug addicts across Europe have died in the last few days after consuming Blue meth.  The meth, they say, has been contaminated. They couldn’t give the stuff away at this point and decide to cut their losses in the meth game and focus on other Madrigal subsidiaries. Lydia’s position, she’s told, has been terminated, and as the meeting door closes she panics and tries to escape. She doesn’t.

Jesse has Badger and Skinny Pete over child-proofing his house and playing with Brock. Jesse reads through the newspaper and turns to the obituary section. We don’t see the article, but Jesse’s reads it with trepidation. He needs them to watch over Brock for a while. He has some errands to run.

Jesse arrives at Walt’s dilapidated home. He examines the wreckage, but draws his gun. He heads to the laundry room and looks down the crawl space – there he finds Walter White. Walt emerges. Jesse saw on the TV that blue meth was killing people, and deduced Walt filled his black barrel with liquid ricin and laced Lydia’s last batch in the chaos of the gunfight. Walt admits it – the product dies with him.

But, Jesse pushes, Walt didn’t take the ricin. He read in the obituary section of the paper today – Gretchen and Elliot Schwarz were found dead of mysterious causes. He saved the original ricin for them, right? Walt won’t comment on them but is adamant he took the ricin for himself. Jesse is in disbelief and holds the gun to Walt’s head. This time, he’s finishing the job.

Suddenly, Walt starts coughing. The cough persists, and gets more and more violent. Walt can’t breathe. Jesse steps back to watch him suffer.

Is it the cancer that's finally killing him? Is it the ricin? Is it the purple candy ball, planted in his pocket ever so smoothly by Marie, her dying act after experimenting with poisoning food?

Ultimately, Walt crumbles to the floor. He tilts his head to look beneath the laundry machine. Under there, somehow, is the Teddy bear’s eye staring back at him. He closes his eyes.

Is he dead? Maybe, but once Jesse shoots him in the chest, he definitely is. His eyes startle back open, but the light is gone. Walter White is dead, and the cause of death is everything he had coming to him. Jesse feels nothing.

Time for one last montage: Jesse heads back to the car to retrieve the fruits of his errands, plastic bins and hydrochloric acid. He lifts Walt's body into the tub in slow-motion and pours in the acid, giving the scene almost religious connotations.  His body burns and bubbles, safely within the confines of the bin. Jesse has learned something.

Jesse snaps the bin shut and drops it down the crawl space. The final shot of the series is a trick shot, the opposite of Walt’s maniacal laugh facing up the crawl space. It’s Jesse, looking down, as the camera sinks deeper and deeper. Jesse shakes his head, utters one last line, and closes off the entrance to the crawl space, effectively cutting to black.

The line is, of course: “Bitch.”

**FINALE DAY UPDATE: Skyler has started writing the "tell-all" book about Walt's escapades and her position as a battered, captive wife. She ends up becoming a multi-millionaire, using Walt's deeds to propel her to success and fortune he himself could never provide. Not sure how they'll fit that in, maybe as a coda or a deleted scene. 

What did you think? Anything sound plausible? Anything I missed, or messed up, or am crazy to think would ever happen? Share your own predictions in the comments and be sure to listen out for the final Dual Redundancy Breaking Bad podcast, coming sometime next week!

Podcast Episode 34: Traveling to the "Granite State" with Mr. Magorium

Every week David and Mike will break down and dissect an episode from the final eight episodes of Breaking Bad.

In this week's episode David and Mike break down episode seven of the final season called "Granite State" which originally aired on September 22nd 2013.

Spoilers for anyone not caught up.



To listen to our past episodes you can listen on iTunes or at our YouTube page.

Podcast Episode 33: The Kings of Podcasts Overthrow "Ozymandias"

Every week David and Mike will break down and dissect an episode from the final eight episodes of Breaking Bad.

In this week's episode David and Mike break down episode six of the final season called "Ozymandias" which originally aired on September 15th 2013.

Spoilers for anyone not caught up.



To listen to our past episodes you can listen on iTunes or at our YouTube page.

Podcast Episode 31: Cowardly Hiding from the "To'hajiilee" Shootout

Every week David and Mike will break down and dissect an episode from the final eight episodes of Breaking Bad.

In this week's episode David and Mike look at the fifth episode of the final season called "To'hajiilee" which originally aired on September 8th 2013.

Spoilers for anyone not caught up.



To listen to our past episodes you can listen on iTunes or at our YouTube page.

Podcast Episode 30: Breaking Down "Rabid Dog" Free Willy Style

Every week David and Mike will break down and dissect an episode from the final eight episodes of Breaking Bad.

In this week's episode David and Mike look at the fourth episode of the final season called "Rabid Dog" which originally aired on September 1st 2013.

Spoilers for anyone not caught up.



To listen to our past episodes you can listen on iTunes or at our YouTube page.

Podcast Episode 29: "Confessions" of Our Love for Breaking Bad and Guacamole

Every week David and Mike will break down and dissect an episode from the final eight episodes of Breaking Bad.

In this week's episode David and Mike look at the third episode of the final season called "Confessions" which originally aired on August 25th 2013.

Spoilers for anyone not caught up.



To listen to our past episodes you can listen on iTunes or at our YouTube page.

Podcast Episode 28: "Buried" Under Another (Breaking) Bad Podcast

Every week David and Mike will break down and dissect an episode from the final eight episodes of Breaking Bad.

In this week's episode David and Mike look at the second episode of the final season called "Buried" which originally aired on August 18th 2013.

Spoilers for anyone not caught up.

 

To listen to our first episode where we discuss "Blood Money" click here.

Podcast Episode 27: A (Breaking) Bad Podcast Premiere

Every week David and Mike will break down and dissect an episode from the final eight episodes of Breaking Bad.

In this week's episode David and Mike look at the final season premiere titled "Blood Money" which originally aired on August 11th 2013.

Emmy Voter: Lead Actor Drama Series

Emmy Voter marathon continues with...

Drama Lead Actor!

Hugh Bonneville as Robert Crawley in Downton Abbey
Submission: "Episode 7"
A.K.A. The One Where... Season finale, where Robert must testify against Bates and finds out about Mary's Season 1 scandal.

Steve Buscemi as Nucky Thompson in Boardwalk Empire
Submission: "Two Boats and a Lifegaurd"
A.K.A. The One Where... Nucky's father dies and he must go to the funeral. He gives up his treasurer position and control of the town to the Darmodys, and is plagued by a recurring dream.

Bryan Cranston as Walter White in Breaking Bad
Submission: "Crawl Space"
A.K.A. The One Where... Walt is tazed and brought before Gus after accidentally accompanying Hank to the laundromat, where Gus threatens to kill his family. Walt tries to check out of the drug game and change the family's identities by calling Saul's contact, but he comes up short for money after Skyler paid off Ted's bills. He ends the episode laughing maniacally in the crawl space.

Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan in Dexter
Submission: "Nebraska"
A.K.A. The One Where... Dexter flees with his subconscious dead brother Brian to Nebraska to confront Jonah Mitchell, who he believes killed the rest of the Mitchell clan in the name of the Trinity Killer. Along the way, Dexter acts out by having sex with a gas station employee, shooting a gun and killing a pot dealer among his crops. Dex lets Jonah live and abandons Brian to return to his normal life.

Jon Hamm as Don Draper in Mad Men
Submission: "The Other Woman"
A.K.A The One Where... Don struggles with the Jaguar pitch and refuses the company allow Joan to sell herself out. What he doesn't know is that she does so anyway, after his rousing pitch session. Also, after treating Peggy like garbage, he must deal with her resignation from SCDP.

Damian Lewis as Sgt. Nick Brody in Homeland
Submission: "Marine One"
A.K.A. The One Where... Brody's plan comes together in the season finale. where he has the opportunity to take out the morally tainted Vice President, but is talked down by his daughter. In the end, he makes a new plan and gives some closure to his affair with Carrie.

Notes: Bonneville is out of his league here, as the overlong episode doesn't showcase his strengths. Hall is so uncharacteristic of the character in this episode it made me uncomfortable. Buscemi submitted well but doesn't pack enough punch- he's still only half a gangster at this point, and he should have submitted the finale. Hamm did some great work, especially with the kiss, but this is not a winning episode.

Verdict: It's a tie for me between Cranston and Lewis, and either winning would be fantastic. I think "Crawl Space" was the best dramatic episode of TV in the season, but "Marine One" should not be counted out. However, over the course of the season, Cranston did more amazing work than Lewis. Cranston has won this award three times before, so we'll see if the streak continues or if Lewis is given a shot at gold.

HOW MY BALLOT WOULD LOOK:

WINNER: Bryan Cranston
RUNNER-UP: Damian Lewis
3: Jon Hamm
4: Steve Buscemi
5: Michael C. Hall
6. Hugh Bonneville

TV Review: Breaking Bad 5x08: "Gliding Over All"

Walt's downfall isn't going to be attributed to his ego spilling over, or his wife's immense fear, or any of his cronies buckling under pressure and calling the cops. It's because of some light bathroom reading Hank perused through while going #2 in the White bathroom.


Holy crap.

This episode was a stunning achievement of storytelling. Gilligan and co. disposed of the 10 potential whistleblowers in cinematic fashion, calling back to Walt's new watch in a scene that felt straight out of The Godfather or Goodfellas. We got a three month time jump, which felt honest to the story and relieving to get fresh takes on everyone. Plus, the new baby they got for Holly was freaking adorable.

None of my "bold predictions" I made came true tonight, which isn't too disappointing because they were more geared towards the next season. In fact, Breaking Bad is the type of show where it feels good to be wrong. Spoilers must be avoided like the plague, as any clue to where the show heads next feels like you're taking the TV equivalent of performance enhancing drugs. Being on the West Coast, staying off of Twitter and Facebook while the East enjoys and comments on the twists and turns gives a satisfaction similar to pledging celibacy until marriage or not eating all day before Thanksgiving dinner: you know you're in for something beyond words when the moment finally comes.

I wish I had put more weight into the Whitman book, especially given that the title of the episode, "Gliding Over All", is the title of one of Whitman's poems. It goes:

GLIDING o'er all, through all

Through Nature, Time and Space

As a ship on the waters advancing,

The voyage of the soul--not life alone

Death, many deaths I'll sing.

Walter sang many deaths tonight during the simultaneous killing of the imprisoned Fring associates. There are many more deaths awaiting him, including, I suspect, his own. 

At first I was surprised to see Walt retire so quickly, but it all made sense in a way that was true to the character. Walt said he was in the empire business, making a product as American as Coca Cola. He started off as a small business owner struggling to peddle his product, but he found success and achieved the American dream of having what he wanted, more money than he could spend in 10 lifetimes. But, like so many Americans before him, everything he wanted didn't bring him any happiness. In his mind he had a vision for what his life would be like as a rich meth lord, but by becoming the best, he destroyed any competition and things became boring. 

So he chose between the American ideals: Live Free or Die. He picked to live free, because it no longer seemed like he would die as a meth cook. This is because, I suspect, his killer has returned- the cancer. As he exited the rest room, he saw the paper towel dispenser he punched back when he was told his cancer had decreased and he was getting better. After this visit, he smiled and moved along. Was he merely reminiscing on how far he had come and what a fool he had been back then? Or did he finally have some relief to his conscience, knowing death was slowly creeping back into his body?

His visit with Jesse was nice, but it also reminded me how little Aaron Paul had to do this season. There's no great Emmy tape for him here, while Cranston has a few possibilities, Anna Gunn has the pool/fight episode and even Jonathan Banks could compete with a couple episodes. But Paul was severely underutilized, aside from getting to yell "Yeah, Bitch- Magnets!". 

Their back-and-forth was awkward. The men had been through so much together, but in the end, they're just like any coworkers who can't find common ground when they leave the office. Remember that RV? And that time we got stuck in the desert? Walt misses the craziness of those times, as does Jesse, who is falling asleep on his couch with nothing to do. Before Walt goes he mentions "I left you something", referring to bags of money on the front porch. Jesse takes them in and has an emotional breakdown, most likely due to the fact he was prepared to shoot Mr. White with a gun he grabbed when he saw him at the door. Jesse is still living in fear, because he can't not. Mike knew he couldn't just get out of the drug game. His mind is in it.

So where do we go from here? We still have 9 months to go before we see Walt's 52nd birthday from the teaser of this season. How will Hank handle knowing his geeky brother in law is really the biggest, baddest drug lord in history? Will the loose ends from previous seasons, like Jane's death or the ricin in the outlet, come back into play? I hope so. I should probably stop speculating about this show, one because it will drive me crazy while I wait for the next year, but two because I'm sure my predictions will be wrong, and it may be more fun to strap in while Vince Gilligan does Walter White-style donuts with out emotions and expectations. 

Episode Grade: A-

Season 5 Grade: 90.00 (A-)

Episode MVP: Vince Gilligan

Original Airdate: 09/02/2012

TV Review: Breaking Bad 5x05: "Dead Freight"

ML- Last week ended with Walt vowing "there's no stopping this train." This week involved Walt and co. literally stopping a train. Is this a commentary on Walt's plans being parasitic and/or self-destructive? Or is it just some blatant Hell on Wheels cross-promotion? I'll have to let you decide, because I'm too busy reminiscing about Friday Night Lights.

It's funny- In the season 2 premiere of FNL, Landry (played by Jesse Plemons, aka Todd the other train robber) killed a man, in what became the show's worst-received storyline in the show's worst-received season. But on Breaking Bad, Todd killing a child makes this episode even better, and continues the streak of awesome episodes this season.

There's on more parallel that stood out that I want to mention before getting to the actual recap- Jesse mentioned their heist was reminiscent of Jesse James. Earlier this season, Mike warned Walt that just because you killed Jesse James (Gus Fring), it doesn't make you Jesse James. So is Walt merely the coward Robert Ford, or is he a genuine Jesse James? And if so, who will be his Robert Ford? According to Wikipedia, Robert Ford was staying in James' home at the time he killed the infamous outlaw. Is that Skyler? Flynn? BABY HOLLY?!?!

Okay, enough pondering without reaching any definite conclusions. The episode began with a cold open of cool POV bike shots as a kid made his way through the desert searching for something. He stopped when he found it- a tarantula, which he let crawl all over his hand before he put it in a jar and took it with him on his way. We'd never seen this kid before, so I was mighty confused as to who he was or what part he played. And, to be honest, I forgot about him in the hustle and bustle that followed, which is exactly what the producers wanted.

Walt visited Hank at his new office, showing off his new watch and throwing Skyler under the bus in an emotional breakdown designed to coerce Hank into leaving the room to comfort him. Once Hank left the room, Walt quickly bugged Hank's computer, as well as a picture of Hank and Marie. Nothing is sacred to Walt, especially family. Hank enters just seconds too late, but comforts Walt that the night is darkest just before the dawn.

I bet Lydia was hoping that was the case for her. Mike, Walt and Jesse cuffed her to a table and forced her to memorize a script and repeat it to Hank without crying, panicking or otherwise warning him of her state of danger. If she does, Mike repeats, he will pull out his pistol and shoot her in the head.

She tells Hank she noticed the GPS tracker on a barrel of methylamine and wondered if he had anything to do with it. Of course, this was so Mike could prove his theory that Lydia herself planted the tracker. Hank didn't know anything about it and told her to keep it quiet.

Mike had heard enough. He was ready to shoot her in the head with his pistol, despite Lydia and Jesse's claims of her innocence. Walt voted with Mike, however, to kill her, after Mike comments that "everyone sounds like Meryl Streep with a gun to their head" (callback to Walt's lie to Jesse last season?).

Fortunately for her, Walt's bug kept working as Hank called the Houston DEA, who confirmed that they had tagged all of the methylamine. This marks another instance where Jesse was right over Walt. Mike still wanted Lydia dead, knowing she'd turn a gun or badge on them the first chance that she got. She had a plan, however, to lead them to an ocean of methylamine. I have a bad feeing for Mike that letting Lydia live so long will in fact lead to his downfall.

Lydia asks Walt to swear on his children that she won't be harmed. I could be wrong, but I didn't hear him make this deal. Instead, she spelled out a hyper-elaborate plan of a train heist:

A freight train with industrial chemicals passes across the country, and when it gets to a remote 3-mile area with no cell service or way for the train's two engineers to contact their home plant, they'd strike, like Jesse James.

How would they know which car was right? Lydia would get the manifest that morning. Also, she'd expect to be paid- something neither Walt nor Mike was down with. How would they deal with witnesses? As Mike points out, there are two types of heists: the ones where you get away, and the ones where you leave witnesses. Jesse had the answer for this one- what if they didn't even know the methylamine was stolen?

This whole plot was well-constructed by the writers but a little too well-constructed to be fully believable, or fully satisfying. More on that later.

Hank and Marie played parents, giving baby Holly boob milk (none of that soy crap) and calling Walter Jr./Flynn "Emo McGee". So, basically, these kids are going to be screwed up no matter who raises them. Flynn hears them talking crap and wants to go home.

But enough about them, let's get to the heist. They bury two tanks in the dirt after measuring the distance to the bridge. One tank Todd fills with water, the other is meant for methylamine. The plan, which is expositionally explained to the unknowing noob of the plot acting as the audience, is to replace the methylamine they take with water, in a proportionally weighted manner so that when the train is weighed at its destination, there will be no way of knowing anything was taken.

Walt and Jesse make it clear to Todd that nobody can ever know about this heist. Nobody. What they intend to be a threat is a deadly contract that comes up again at the end of the episode.

Flynn freaks that he has to leave and wants a reason for being kicked out of his own house. Walt pulls the old "We're your parents and we say so" card, and that is that. He tries to find solace in his decision with Skyler, who wants nothing to do with him. She's a hostage, not his wife, but she will continue to launder his money and be whatever he asks as long as the children aren't there when the evil catches up to them. To this, I think he agrees, and informs her of his lie he told Hank about her shrink.

Then she notices his rolled up sleeves and sand-crusted arms. Burying bodies?, she boldly asks. He responds just as bluntly. Robbing a train.

BOLD BREAKING BAD PREDICTION: Skyler's plan to keep Flynn and Holly safe by leaving them at Hank and Marie's may actually backfire and put them in danger when Hank is targeted by one of Lydia's men and/or Mike.

The plan goes off for a while without a hitch. Lydia calls in the car. An accomplices blocks the tracks. Mike stays on lookout. When the train arrives, Todd climbs to the top and Jesse gets underneath. Walt stays by the tanks to make sure they get their 1,000 gallons. Things go swimmingly for a while.

That's my main problem with this episode- there was never a doubt in my mind that they would succeed. Where is the drama if we don't doubt our main characters will succeed? The arrival of the other car that pushes the broken-down car out of the way was a good "uh-oh" moment, but still, the episode was so well crafted that there was no way it would fail.

That doesn't mean it was all bad. By this point, Walt, Jesse and Mike are pros, and we need to see them  at their prime a bit. I just mean from a storytelling sense, there could have been less certainty in the plan, is all.

But they do succeed, naturally, at the last second. They celebrate with "Yeah, bitch"es and high fives. All until they notice the problem- the kid on the bike from earlier in the episode saw the whole thing.

Here, what I had planned on grading a B+ episode all came together. Todd, under the orders of letting nobody know anything about the heist, pulls out a gun and shoots the kid. Dead.

Children are not safe in this Breaking Bad universe. Flynn and Holly, watch your backs. Do not doubt a mother's instinct.

Episode Grade: A-
Episode MVP: Aaron Paul (not an Emmy-caliber episode for him, but the best he's had thus far)
Original Airdate: 8/12/2012

TV Review: Breaking Bad 5x04: "51"

ML- I think its time we addressed the "Skyler Problem".

In seasons 1 and 2 I hated Skyler White. She was annoying, intrusive and ruining all the fun we wanted Walter to have as he got deeper and deeper into the drug game.

Then S.F.T.

Since then, I've seen Skyler in a whole new light, and I think that's because I've grown to love and respect Anna Gunn as an actress. The scene last season where she discussed her "bullet points" with Walt on his fake gambling addiction is one of my favorites the show has ever done. She's knocking it out of the park acting-wise, playing a character who just sucks all of the fun out of the room.

But I don't hate her. I see tweets from people who can't stand her, and try to respond in ways that will help change their minds. She made some bad decisions to follow Walt down this path, sure: remember when she went to the four corners and flipped her coin to decide her fate, then kept flipping when she didn't get what she wanted? She has nobody to blame but herself.

That being said, look at what she's living with. Walter is a jerk to her and a genuine monster of a person. The fight scene, which I think could sell-out theaters as a one-act play, showed just how scared she is and the lengths she will go to protect her children, something Walt vowed to do as well. Yes, she can be annoying and boring and bitchy and hypocritical. But she may be the only hope of bringing down Walter White.

Then again, she may not have to do anything at all. Hank and the DEA made progress sniffing out more Madrigal employees, causing Lydia to panic and call Mike requesting help. Her guy, Ron, is no longer available to drive the trucks. Mike says he'll send a new guy.

The guy was Jesse, who she skeptically lets into the warehouse to grab the methylamine. There's a problem, though- they spot a substance on the bottom of the barrel that Lydia recognizes as a GPS tracker. Jesse reports back to Mike and Walt, empty-handed, but Mike is suspicious that no other barrels were checked and suspects Lydia is pulling the wool over their eyes and trying to dissociate from Mike and their deal. Mike vows to take her out, Jesse votes against it, and Walter refuses to let anything stop them from cooking.

Walt didn't have a very good pre-birthday. It started off fine- he and his son went to get the Pontiac fixed up and decided to lease some hot new sports cars. He and Walter, Jr. pulled up into the driveway in style, but Walter, Jr. wasn't too keen on his car choice. So in a brilliant, wordless scene, the father and son pulled up again, this time Jr. in a different car. It seemed like a dream sequence, which was the perfect feel to give a sense of Walter's reckless, idealistic mindset.

After dinner, Walter explains to Skyler that he only leased the cars in an attempt to cover his tracks. SHe asks if he's back at cooking, and he mentions he has to make up for the $600,000 she gave Ted. She then suggests boarding school for Walter, Jr. The kids, she feels, need a new environment.

Walter disagrees. And that's that. And he wants a big birthday party. With chocolate cake and chocolate frosting.

And life is good. Because he says it is.

The next morning he gets his bacon on his eggs, a White family tradition that confirms the 1-year gap between current events and the flash-forward we saw as the season's teaser. With all of the crap that occurred over these 4.5 seasons fitting into 1 year, it's hard to imagine how much can change within another year.

Hank has been spot on about Gus and his crew every step of the way, and he is offered a promotion to give up his day-to-days (Fring case included) for a better-paying, more political job. he takes it, but I don't think he's done with the Fring case just yet.

Walt leaves Jesse early at work because he expects a big birthday party. He opens the door to the house and his face drops- it's just his son on the couch, not a room full of people praising the ground he walks on. Skyler invited Hank and Marie, cooked some meat and potatoes, and even ordered the chocolate cake. It's hard to believe Walt really expected her to throw anything major together, but again, he is blinded by his idealism and own ego.

The second best scene of the night goes to Marie and Hank in the car as she pulls a classic example of refusing to tell someone a secret while promptly giving everything away. It is a great, funny moment for her character and its nice to see she and Hank bond after all of their animosity last season. It involved infidelity, that's all she was going to say. But not Walt.

As Walt reminisced on his journey and how things have fallen into pace for him, Skyler lingers by the edge of the pool, staring into the water. He asks her to remember his first week of chemo, and she does, painfully. Instead of doing so, she'd rather wade into the cold water and nearly drown herself.

The pool has been a major force in Breaking Bad, after the events of the plane crash in season 2 and the cartel member's death last year (different pool, but still). For our characters, the pools may represent drowning, being enclosed and trapped. It's from the pool that the one-eyed bear is plucked, a symbol of Walt's descent to breaking bad.

Here, Skyler uses the badness as an empowerment opportunity. She has Marie ask Walt if she can take the kids, as it may be better for them than to be around their suicidal mom. Skyler descends and puts herself into danger to protect the kids, just like Walt. And when Walt confronts her, in the best scene of the season thus far, it's clear that the danger she's putting herself through is being with him. He tries claiming there is no danger, Gus was the danger, and she quickly retorts that at one point he proclaimed "I am the danger." To whom is he dangerous to now with Gus gone?

He grills her on her grand scheme here to pick it apart with his own honed skill of finding flaws in plans. She wants the kids away so they don't have to be around the family business of making meth and lying to everyone. She can't have them around while he makes rationalizations and shrugs off dealing drugs and killing people as "shit happens".

She says she'll hurt herself again if she has to so the kids can stay away longer. He counters that he'll put her in a facility where she'll need inpatient care. She says she'll bruise her neck and eye and blame it on Walt beating her after discovering her affair. But does she want to drag Ted deeper into things and paint Walt as a wife beater to their children? Walt is quick to see all of the negative paths her actions take and doesn't give her an ounce of room to think or even breathe.

Unable to handle his interrogation anymore she cracks. She has no brilliant plan. She can't go to the cops and she can't keep him out of the house or even out of her bed. She does have one failsafe, though: wait until his cancer comes back to kill him. Let him self-destruct, as a result of both the cancerous tumors and his darkened soul and bad decisions.

This time metaphor pops up again when Jesse gives Walt a present- a new watch. In the very next scene, a loud ticking can be heard from Skyler's room. Walt's time is running out, and everyone knows it. He tells her that the watch was a gift from someone who just weeks ago wanted him dead, and he can turn Skyler back to his corner. Not seeing Gunn's face for this scene worked well, because we got everything we needed to by her body language. Just lights up a cigarette, as if perhaps some smoke will make its way into his lungs and, if she's lucky, knock the first domino.

Now we're halfway through with the season. It's hard to believe, but 8 episodes goes a lot quicker than 13. Where do you think the show is going in its final episodes? Will Hank make the connections to Walt? Will Mike kill Lydia, and if so will he get caught? Will Skyler go to the cops and report what she knows? And will Jesse finally get an episode where he has a lot to do? Please, writers, give him something to work with! Leave your predictions in the comments.

Episode Grade: A- (4 in a row! I nearly went with an A but there wasn't enough "oomph", aside from the fight.)
Episode MVP: Anna Gunn
Original Airdate: 08/05/2012

TV Review: Breaking Bad 5x03: "Hazard Pay"

ML- I watched and took notes on this week's Breaking Bad as it aired on Sunday, but due to technical difficulties and sheer exhaustion I was unable to get to this review until Tuesday night. Unfortunately for everyone, I'm now pretty removed from the episode to give my clearest insights, so I'll be adding in the usual plot recap with some musings on television in general.

It's been said that it it possible to make a perfect film, but not a perfect TV series. Look at Lost- season one was damn near perfect, but the show stalled and faltered much over the next five years until reaching a polarizing finale (which I happened to love). A film can be shot in a matter of a few weeks, while TV series take years, which leaves plenty of time for bad stuff to happen likes kids getting older, actors getting into legal trouble or audiences getting bored.

For my money, Breaking Bad is a perfect television show. Since the beginning, it hasn't seemed to quiver at the reaction of the audience, or the Nielsen ratings, or the conventions of dramatic storytelling.  It truly feels like one long, thrilling movie (can it be that this whole series has only taken place over one year so far? Bonkers). While I haven't seen The Wire or The Sopranos or The West Wing, so those critically lauded shows may in fact be perfect as well, but Breaking Bad is the only one I've seen to stick to its guns and offer an uncompromising, high-quality view throughout every episode of every season.

Mad Men is a close second, because, for better or worse, the tone has shifted drastically since the beginning of the show. Yes, it's because the time the show is set in has changed, but comparing season 1 episodes to season 5 is like comparing Walt's meth to Gale's: quality is high, but the small differences are influential.

Other high-quality shows like Six Feet Under and Friday Night Lights suffered some shaky plot lines and seasons, and comedies like Arrested Development, Community and even Seinfeld all had some episodes that missed the mark. I, too, feel that creating consistent comedy is harder than creating consistent drama, because it's hard to find humor that appeals to the full spectrum of audiences. But that's for another completely unrelated TV Review.

Hold on, Skyler White has something to say:

Well I guess I'll keep my thoughts about TV to myself then....

... yeah right no way. I can't stay away from talking about this show, and if you're reading this, I bet you can't either. So let's cut the chit-chat and dive into the episode:

We started with Mike posing as a paralegal to get one-on-one time with the men on Lydia's list. So far, everyone has proved loyal, but since the feds have seized their hazard pay, rats could begin to emerge. These people have families they need to protect, just like Walt, Jesse and Mike.

Walt moves his things back into the apartment and lingers on a copy of what appeared to be "Leaves of Grass" by Walt Whitman, who has come up many times in the past on this show, most memorably when Hank sniffed out Gale's "W.W." obsession in the journal and Walt pinned it on Whitman. From what I saw on "Leaves of Grass", Whitman was writing it up until he died. Is this a foreboding sign for our Walt? Can we even call him "our" Walt anymore?

Saul isn't too keen on turning the three amigos into four with Mike's addition, but they hit the road to find a new place to cook. After a few less-than-stellar locales, they come across the old laser tag place, where Walt finds his inspiration. He doesn't want to cook there, but rather sees something that gives him the idea: They'll take over houses being fumigated and set up temporary labs that will be broken down by the time the house is finished. Brilliance.

Jesse gets Skinny Pete and Badger in on it, as they buy cases for hauling musical equipment that really will carry the lab parts. Saul has an in with people who can get into the houses, one of them being Jesse Plemons (Landry Clarke of Friday Night Lights). The plan comes together, and their new venture, Vamonos Pests, works like a charm.

That is, until payday arrives. Mike divides up the fat stacks of cash, and Walt is pissed to see his hard-earned share be depleted into the hazard pay accounts. This isn't how he wants to run things, but Mike doesn't care. Just because he shot Jesse James, he lectures, doesn't make Walt the next Jesse James. Walt is constantly trying to stop being the nerdy physics professor with cancer (which he didn't actually deny having to Marie), so the comparisons to the late Gus Fring still irk him. He feels he is entitled to all the power and intimidation that Gus earned over many years of dominance in the drug game. It's been less than a year for Walter.

They're making less than they did with Fring, Walt complains. Jesse shows him the bright side, though: they put out much less product to get proportionally more money. A "bigger piece of the pie". Walt wants the whole pie, and reminds Jesse about what happened to Gus' peon Victor when he "flew too close to the sun". Was this directed towards Mike, Jesse or both? Walt is wild with power right now- power he doesn't really even have.

Jesse broke things off with Andrea this week after a talk with Mr. White about secrets. He planned on sticking with her for the long haul until Walter reminded him how he'd have to live with the secrets of what he does and did (like killing Gale) forever. Secrets, Walt explains, create barriers between people, and soon everything you've done is a part of you. By this definition, Walt and Jesse are becoming some bad dudes, and only one of them seems happy about it.

Walt's interaction with Brock at Jesse's house was just perfect. There was a tangible barrier in that room- we got to see Walt bond with Jr. and Holly like a normal middle-aged man (over Scarface, not planned to coincide with AMC mob week or anything) but with this boy he was shut down, or rather, shut in on himself with all of the horrible things he'd done.

The one horrible thing he did this week that I absolutely loved was his handling of Marie. Skyler gets the MVP award this week for saying what the audience has been dying to shout for years now: SHUT UP!  BOLD BREAKING BAD PREDICTION: Someone will strangle Marie, killing her, shutting her up and turning her face purple. You heard it here first!

Marie goes to Walt to meddle some more and find out what got Skyler all upset about him. He uses her break of character as a punishment and tells Marie about the I.F.T. affair, one again making himself look like the good guy and Skyler the villain. Skyler knows the truth, however, if her shell-shocked face during the shooting scene in Scarface was any indication. My confidence in my prediction about her going to the police is strengthened this week. And Walt, like Tony Montana, is going to go down guns blazing.

Episode Grade: A-
Episode MVP: Anna Gunn
Original Airdate: 7/29/2012

TV Review: Breaking Bad 5x02: "Madrigal"

ML- Mike is the type of person who thrives in the shadows, never divulging too much information, always observing and reacting rather than actually acting. Getting an episode that almost entirely revolved around him tonight was a treat that helped set the stage as Walt, Jesse and Mike continue to "go forward" in Gus' absence.

Last week's episode needed to tie up the loose ends Walt and Jesse left behind in the lab, while this week put the players into position for the endgame. We got some perspective into the grand scheme of Gus' operations, and intimate looks into Walt and Skyler's current relationship and Mike's real duties. All in all, this was another great episode of television.

The episode is titled "Madrigal" after Madrigal Electromotive, the parent company of Los Pollos Hermanos and many other businesses headed by a man named Mr. Schuler. Mr. Schuler wasn't long for this world, however, once he realized the police were onto him and his illegal dealings. He calmly snuck into the washroom with the AED and electrocuted himself.

I noticed as he died that he landed face-down, and I wondered if perhaps the position the characters in this show die in has any meaning. The only ones I can think of that died face-up are Spooge, Jane and Gale, who were all (mostly) innocent in terms of Walt's treachery. Others, like Combo, Gus and Schuler died face-down. If someone would like to look into other Breaking Bad death scenes and see if there are any interesting patterns, I'd love to know what you find!

The loose end of the ricin cigarette was also finally tied up tonight, as Walt flushed the original and planted a salt-filled counterfeit inside Jesse's roomba. There's got to be some meaning here with Walt and cleanliness- he worked at a car wash, which gets rid of dirt. Tonight, he hid his dirty deed in a vacuum cleaner and cemented his plans with Mike while washing dishes. He's become a master of getting the dirt off of his hands.

After finding the planted cigarette, Jesse breaks down, so convincingly that I nearly made Aaron Paul my episode MVP for that scene alone. He beats up on himself, asking how he could be so stupid, and Walt tries to comfort him by massaging his shoulders. The force which he uses, however, only made me more tense watching it play out. One day Walt is going to slip up and spill everything to Jesse. My guess is Season 5 Episode 8, the mid-season cliff-hanger.

"Poppop" Mike was pulled from his regular life to talk with Walt and Jesse about starting business up again. He politely declined, calling Walt a ticking time-bomb and saying he had no intention being around for the "boom". Now that he has joined with Walt, I think Mike's fate has been sealed- he will in fact be around for that boom, and probably will suffer because of it.

I don't believe there are any coincidences on this show, and therefore I think it's fascinating how Hank has taken up the same walking style as Walter, Jr. after the accident. This signifies the connection between them as innocents and Walt's own disconnect from his son. Perhaps the only reason we ever see Walter, Jr. is while he's eating breakfast is because that's the only thing Walt can bond with him over. Their lives are so separate and different that breakfast is the only thing they share. Maybe.

Hank's boss takes the hit for mishandling the Fring case, and he admits that he spent so much time with Gus without ever realizing there was a drug lord right under his nose. This isn't meant to be subtle, and it's meant to show how blind Hank is- for now. He's absolutely going to catch on in the coming episodes, and I love that I have no idea how he'll handle that information.

Mike gets a visit from a woman in the diner, Lydia, who nervously asks him who killed Gus. She gives him a list of 11 names of people who could connect them both to the workings of Gus and Madrigal and urged him, in not so many words, to kill them. Mike declined, believing them all to be true to their word. She worried about someone named Chow, but Mike wasn't having any of it.

We were treated to a simple but profound shot of Walt rousing Skyler from bed without us getting a good look at either of their faces. The intimacy and emotion that the face conveys is absent, leaving us just with bodies going through motions, obviously with little true love for one another.

Mike runs into Chow before his own meeting with the DEA, and Chow seems nervous. Mike handles Hank perfectly and assumes the upper hand in the interrogation, and nearly leaves unscathed before Hank brings up the bank account with $2 million Gus had created for his granddaughter Kaylee. According to Hank, that money will all be gone unless Mike can give some information about Gus and the lab. Mike declines.

The three businessmen meet with Saul to discuss the next steps- Saul suggests no more RVs, and Jesse is upset, seeing as how the "Crystal Ship" was good for them. Their biggest problem is in precursor- getting the supplies to make the meth. According to Jesse, there's no methylamine on the market, which Walt doesn't believe. Saul is incredulous that they plan on cooking again- after a man wins $10 million in the lotto, he doesn't buy a ticket the next day. Walt counters by saying he hasn't won anything, he's $40,000 in debt. There's no stopping yet.

Mike and Kaylee play Hungry Hungry Hippos when Chow calls and asks him to come talk, all the while with a gun pointed to his head. Mike obliges, but is onto the assassin and fools him by putting one of Kaylee's gyrating toys against the peephole. Inside, Chow is dead, and Mike finds out that Lydia hired this guy to kill off the 11 names on the list for 10 grand each, plus 30 grand for Mike. Mike responds by shooting him, dead.

He hunts down Lydia and holds a gun to her head inside her house. She begs for her life, then not to let her daughter see her be shot in the head, then not to have her body removed so the girl doesn't think she abandoned her. Mike cannot bring himself to kill her, however, and instead uses her connections to get the methylamine for Walt's upcoming cook. He then calls Walt and says he's in and ready to move forward.

A happy Walt climbs into bed with Skyler, who doesn't want anything to do with him. He kisses her and acts romantic, explaining they do what they do for good reasons, and there's no better reason for family. It's clear Walt doesn't believe that anymore, but that doesn't mean it isn't true for others. Marie did as much as she could to help Hank recover; Jesse was great to Brock, despite him not being family. Walt is so blind that he thinks he's still acting in the family's best interests, when really, he can't do any more than serve them breakfast.

Episode Grade: A-
Episode MVP: Jonathan Banks
Original AirdateL 7/22/2012

Mike's Emmy Nomination Predictions & Wishlist!

ML- Hundreds of thousands of hours of TV aired this past year, and when you filter out the Big Bang Theory reruns, anything ending in :Miami, :LA, or :NY and everything made fun of on The Soup, you're left with the contenders for the 2012 Primetime Emmy Awards.

But not all the contenders will make the cut come Thursday morning when Nick Offerman and Kerry Washington announce this year's nominees. So who's a lock for a nom, who's teetering on the edge and who can sleep in without bothering to act humbled? Keep reading to find out, in my annual Emmy Nomination Predictionpalooza!

Contenders are listed from Most-Least likely, and the percentages represent my confidence in hearing their names read as nominees. This doesn't necessarily mean the person in first place is my pick to win it all, just most likely to get into the nominations pool. I've also included my suggestions for episode submissions and some dream nominees I'd love to see get a shot at the gold.

BEST DRAMA SERIES

1. Mad Men, AMC (100%) Season 5
Tape A: Far Away Places & At the Codfish Bar
Tape B: Lady Lazarus & The Other Woman
Tape C: Commissions and Fees & The Phantom

2. Homeland, SHOWTIME (95%) Season 1
Tape A: Pilot & The Weekend
Tape B: Blind Spot & Representative Brody
Tape C: The Vest & Marine One

3. Breaking Bad, AMC (90%) Season 4
Tape A: Box Cutter & Problem Dog
Tape B: Hermanos & Salud
Tape C: End Times & Face Off

4. Downton Abbey, PBS (80%) Season 2
Tape A: Episode 1 & Episode 5
Tape B: Episode 6 & Episode 7
Tape C: Episode 8 & Christmas Special

5. Game of Thrones, HBO (65%) Season 2
Tape A: The North Remembers & What Is Dead May Never Die
Tape B: The Old Gods and the New & A Man Without Honor
Tape C: Blackwater & Valar Morghulis

And the Final Slot will go to either:
6. Boardwalk Empire, HBO Season 2
or
7. The Good Wife, CBS Season 3


BEST DRAMA ACTOR

1. Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad (100%) Crawl Space
2. Jon Hamm, Mad Men (95%) The Phantom
3. Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire (90%) To The Lost
4. Kelsey Grammer, Boss (80%) Listen
5. Timothy Olyphant, Justified (75%) Slaughterhouse

And the Final Slot will go to either:
6. Damian Lewis, Homeland
or
7. Hugh Laurie, House

BEST DRAMA ACTRESS

1. Claire Danes, Homeland (100%) The Weekend
2. Julianna Marguiles, The Good Wife (95%) Blue Ribbon Panel
3. Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men (90%) The Other Woman
4. Glenn Close, Damages (80%) Failure Is Lonely
5. Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: SVU (55%) Father's Shadow

And the Final Slot will go to either:
6. Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer
or
7. Emmy Rossum, Shameless

BEST DRAMA SUPPORTING ACTOR

1. Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad (100%) End Times
2. John Slattery, Mad Men (95%) Far Away Places
3. Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones (90%) Blackwater
4. Giancarlo Esposito, Breaking Bad (80%) Hermanos
5. Mandy Patinkin, Homeland (65%) Blind Spot

And the Final Slot will go to either
6. Neal McDonough, Justified
or
7. Alan Cumming, The Good Wife

BEST DRAMA SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1. Christina Hendricks, Mad Men (100%) The Other Woman
2. Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey (95%) Episode Three
3. Christine Baranski, The Good Wife (80%) Gloves Come Off
4. Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife (75%) Bitcoin for Dummies
5. Anna Gunn, Breaking Bad (60%) Bullet Points

And the Final Slot will go to either
6. Kelly Macdonald, Boardwalk Empire
or
7. Morena Baccarin, Homeland

5 DREAM DRAMA NOMINEES

Lena Headey, Game of Thrones in Supporting Actress over Christine Baranski
Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey in Lead Actress over Mariska Hargitay
Jessica Pare, Mad Men in Lead Actress over Sedgwick/Rossum
Michael Pitt, Boardwalk Empire in Supporting Actor over Mandy Patinkin
Lisa Edelstein, The Good Wife in Guest Actress

Top 8 Drama Writing Episodes

The Weekend, Homeland

Crawl Space, Breaking Bad

Commissions and Fees, Mad Men

Episode 7 Christmas, Downton Abbey

Blackwater, Game of Thrones

Signal 30, Mad Men

Under God's Power She Flourishes, Boardwalk Empire

Box Cutter, Breaking Bad

BEST COMEDY SERIES

1. Modern Family, ABC (100%) Season 3

Tape A: Phil On Wire & Punkin Chunkin

Tape B: Lifetime Supply & Aunt Mommy

Tape C: Election Day & Baby On Board

2. 30 Rock, NBC (95%) Season 6

Tape A: Dance Like Nobody's Watching & Leap Day

Tape B: Kidnapped By Danger & Live From Studio 6H

Tape C: The Return of Avery Jessup & What Will Happen to the Gang Next Year?

3. Parks and Recreation, NBC (90%) Season 4

Tape A: Born & Raised & The Trial of Leslie Knope

Tape B: Citizen Knope & The Comeback Kid

Tape C: The Debate & Win, Lose or Draw

4. Curb Your Enthusiasm, HBO (80%) Season 8

Tape A: The Safe House & The Palestinian Chicken

Tape B: The Hero & The Bi-Sexual

Tape C: Mister Softee & The Bi-Sexual

5. The Big Bang Theory, CBS (70%) Season 5

Tape A: The Her Garden Germinator & The 21-Second Excitation

Tape B: The Justice League Recombination & The Engagement Reaction

Tape C: The Love Car Displacement & The Agreement Dissection

And the Final Slot will go to either:

6. Louie, F/X Season 2

or

7. New Girl, FOX Season 1

BEST COMEDY ACTOR

1. Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory (100%) The Werewolf Transformation

2. Louis CK, Louie (90%) Country Drive

3. Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm (85%) The Palestinian Chicken

4. Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock (80%) Live From Studio 6H

5. Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men (75%) Frodo's Headshot

And the Final Slot will go to either:

6. Johnny Galecki, The Big Bang Theory

or

7. Don Cheadle, House of Lies

BEST COMEDY ACTRESS

1. Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation (100%) Win, Lose or Draw

2. Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep (95%) Tears

3. Tina Fey, 30 Rock (80%) The Tuxedo Begins

4. Zooey Deschanel, New Girl (75%) Pilot

5. Lena Dunham, Girls (55%) The Return

And the Final Slot will go to either:

6. Laura Linney, The Big C

or

7. Laura Dern, Enlightened

BEST COMEDY SUPPORTING ACTOR

1. Ty Burrell, Modern Family (100%) Lifetime Supply

2. Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family (95%) Treehouse

3. Ed O'Neill, Modern Family (90%) Disneyland

4. Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family (80%) Leap Day

5. Nick Offerman, Parks and Recreation (65%) Pawnee Rangers

And the Final Slot will go to either

6. Max Greenfield, New Girl

or

7. Chris Colfer, Glee

BEST COMEDY SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1. Julie Bowen, Modern Family (100%) Little Bo Bleep

2. Sofia Vergara, Modern Family (95%) Tableau Vivant

3. Kristin Wiig, Saturday Night Live (80%) Mick Jagger

4. Betty White, Hot in Cleveland (75%) Happy Fat

5. Jane Krakowski, 30 Rock (60%) Dance Like Nobody's Watching

And the Final Slot will go to either

6. Chloris Leachman, Raising Hope

or

7. Kathryn Joosten, Desperate Housewives

5 DREAM COMEDY NOMINEES

Joel McHale, Community in Lead Actor over Jon Cryer

Gillian Jacobs, Community in Supporting Actress over Betty White

Damon Wayans, Jr., Happy Endings in Supporting Actor over Eric Stonestreet

Chris Pratt, Parks and Recreation in Supporting Actor over Ed O'Neill

Doup Stanhope, Louie in Guest Actor

Top 8 Comedy Writing Episodes

Remedial Chaos Theory, Community

Pilot, Girls

Win, Lose or Draw, Parks and Recreation

Tears, Veep

Kidnapped By Danger, 30 Rock

Aunt Mommy, Modern Family

Pregnant, Louie

Pilot, New Girl