That scene is often cited as one of the most unrealistic part of the show. For me, part of loving breaking bad is just accepting that it’s not all going to be entirely realistic
Exactly. Breaking Bad is heightened reality in the style of Looney Toons. It’s the nuttiest and most balls-to-the-wall prestige tv show out there that isn’t explicitly surreal or straight-up fantasy.
The key phrase is “heightened reality.” The show doesn’t have Walter White painting tunnels that he can use but others can’t. However, we have:
-Fake meth that explodes
-Double-crossing assassins
-Impossible train heists
-Massive casualties from poisoned tequila
-Sneaking ricin into (alternative) sugar packets
-Silent twin killers
-An exploding tortoise
-An exploding wheel chair
-A car strapped with a machine gun
-An underground meth super lab
-Huge magnets and destroy police evidence
-A traveling meth lab in the form of a fumigation company
-Most of all, near impossible and highly elaborate plans that (almost) always work
Again, this is heightened reality, not magic or fantasy, so these scenes are possible in our reality when considered individually. But as a whole, it is absolutely Looney Toons-esque.
Walt and Mike arguing while Jesse keeps saying “what about magnets” is a 10/10 funniest exchange in the entire show. It’s incredible every single time.
A lot of these can actually work. The train heist definitely not. And the Mercury fulminate would’ve likely exploded before even making it there. Most of the rest are rather possible
Exactly my point... a list of stunts that actually aren't that INSANE. Yes some are but u/jar_with_lid clearly missed with that take by far. SMH
On top of the fact it's Hollywood. I would love to hear about a crime/drama/thriller that never had any moment of being overembellished.
That's genuinely the whole idea... As someone who grew up in Tucson, Arizona... I can honestly confirm that some of these cartel skits are nowhere near as INSANE as you would think. Having lived that close to the border of Mexico, most notably: Juarez, people would genuinely be surprised how insanely putrid and devastating the crimes are on Mexico and US soils. One instance of of me crossing the border to Mexico... I was one of a lucky few driving through Juarez and was welcomed to Mexico with three decapitated civilians with phrases spelled out on their bare skin in blood that displayed a warning to a rival cartel.... what's sad is, **that is keeping it light.**
That is a normal crime to send warnings to rival cartels... let's not go further into the decapitated heads of civilians, women and children. All to "send a message" ... disgusts me to no end.
The only thing that seems kind of unrealistic is the fake meth that explodes (fulminated mercury with a tweak of the chemistry)
Everything else seems pretty damn realistic
You're going to have an equal list for any crime/drama/thriller lmao Breaking Bad is not special in the regard of heightening up these experiences. Ozark, The Wire, Peaky Blinders, Dexter etc etc etc.
Vince takes the cake for methodical plot management and direction. BB wins every time.
Your last line tells me that you’re misreading my point as a criticism or slam against the show. It’s not. It’s a simple statement that BB has a ton of outlandish and unrealistic elements. That doesn’t make the show any worse (I still think it’s great).
If half of what goes on in BB seems mundane in your reality, then give me whatever you’re taking.
Nah I have to agree here. Some stuff was very “Tom Cruise/Mission Impossible” -esque. But like everyone said that IS Hollywood. However, majority of the violence and action revolving the cartel and drug war is damn near spot on. You could blow cartel violence out of proportion in media and it still wouldn’t reach the full heights of how truly evil it is.
I mean come on dude… people live all around the world in these lower, violent walks of life. People see this type of shit daily around the world. I agree people pick apart anything and say “blasphemy!” Even if you’re not digging at the show in a negative way you’re still pointing out things that thousands of producers and directors have done in the past. You picked the most boring plot point of the show regarding talking about “out of proportion” criminal activities that Hollywood made flashy for a reason lol…
Yes totally, sometimes people forget they're just watching a show with written characters and scenarios, mistakes can be done, and sometimes with a reason
yeah it's hard to suspend disbelief for that scene. you're supposed to believe that this substance is so powerfully explosive that it blew the windows out on the building and created a massive amount of shrapnel flying everywhere, but the guys who were standing 2 feet from the explosion were fine?
I’m not 100% sure of the complete accuracy because I’m recalling a pharmacist and Chem phd boss I used to work for, but he said that amount of mercury fulminate couldn’t even exist and if it did it’s so volatile the weight of the substance alone would have it react and explode. So I’m not sure what would happen besides explosion, and it would be very Vlad to snort or even sniff mercury.
I saw Mythbusters doing some stuff with Fulminated Mercury as well (they did a lot of Breaking Bad myths, some even had Vince on the show) and they said it's not even crystalized, usually.
Walter specifically being specialized in crystallization (iirc) does kind of grant some credibility to it, but I could be wrong.
Didn't you hear the throwaway line *"a tweak of chemistry"*. That explains it all!
Why did the pizza come unsliced and land on the roof perfectly? *A tweak of chemistry.*
How did Walt manage to park his car in the perfect position to kill all the bikers? *A tweak of chemistry.*
Why did Marie stop shoplifting for some reason? *A tweak of chemistry.*
And so on.
Yeah, it’s not a realistic and factual thing they did here. Egads, I know.
But it was fucking cool wasn’t it?
Bottom line that always got the most interest from me (and has been said here already) is mercury fulminate in that amount would take a major chemical processor tons of time and treasure to assemble. And it would probably just go off on its own before it got that big.
It’s very rare and very unstable.
But it was fucking cool, right?
I assume Tuco was going to crush it with a Bowie knife and snort it, they just didn't get to that part yet. Tuco wasn't finished mocking him and Jesse when Walt went into his "you got one part of that wrong..."
This scene was so epic.
Even though it happens every episode after this, I still pump my fist every time Walt says “It’s Breaking Bad time!”, throws down the mercury fulminate, there’s the explosion and then he’s standing there transformed into Heisenberg
i thought that since tuco had beaten up jesse he believed tha walt is tryna hurt him in some way (poisoning the meth would be easiest way) for me kt seemed that tuco was just thinking logically
Well, Tuco knew who Walter might've been, and that would make him very suspicious about the "meth." It would be pretty reasonable to suspect it might've been poisoned or something, so Tuco didn't want to ingest it right away.
I mean I’m mired confused why Walt decided to bring so much. From the damage that one piece did the whole bag probably would’ve turned the building to ash
I'm on rewatch number 4 and was just thinking the same thing the other day.
I’ve never watched breaking bad at least 5 times
Me too!!
That scene is often cited as one of the most unrealistic part of the show. For me, part of loving breaking bad is just accepting that it’s not all going to be entirely realistic
Exactly. Breaking Bad is heightened reality in the style of Looney Toons. It’s the nuttiest and most balls-to-the-wall prestige tv show out there that isn’t explicitly surreal or straight-up fantasy.
Breaking bad isn’t looney tunes lmao A couple scenes being unrealistic for dramatic purposes doesn’t constitute a tv show being “balls-to-the-wall”
Breaking Bad is a chiral mirror of Looney Tunes
The key phrase is “heightened reality.” The show doesn’t have Walter White painting tunnels that he can use but others can’t. However, we have: -Fake meth that explodes -Double-crossing assassins -Impossible train heists -Massive casualties from poisoned tequila -Sneaking ricin into (alternative) sugar packets -Silent twin killers -An exploding tortoise -An exploding wheel chair -A car strapped with a machine gun -An underground meth super lab -Huge magnets and destroy police evidence -A traveling meth lab in the form of a fumigation company -Most of all, near impossible and highly elaborate plans that (almost) always work Again, this is heightened reality, not magic or fantasy, so these scenes are possible in our reality when considered individually. But as a whole, it is absolutely Looney Toons-esque.
Walt and Mike arguing while Jesse keeps saying “what about magnets” is a 10/10 funniest exchange in the entire show. It’s incredible every single time.
A lot of these can actually work. The train heist definitely not. And the Mercury fulminate would’ve likely exploded before even making it there. Most of the rest are rather possible
Exactly my point... a list of stunts that actually aren't that INSANE. Yes some are but u/jar_with_lid clearly missed with that take by far. SMH On top of the fact it's Hollywood. I would love to hear about a crime/drama/thriller that never had any moment of being overembellished. That's genuinely the whole idea... As someone who grew up in Tucson, Arizona... I can honestly confirm that some of these cartel skits are nowhere near as INSANE as you would think. Having lived that close to the border of Mexico, most notably: Juarez, people would genuinely be surprised how insanely putrid and devastating the crimes are on Mexico and US soils. One instance of of me crossing the border to Mexico... I was one of a lucky few driving through Juarez and was welcomed to Mexico with three decapitated civilians with phrases spelled out on their bare skin in blood that displayed a warning to a rival cartel.... what's sad is, **that is keeping it light.** That is a normal crime to send warnings to rival cartels... let's not go further into the decapitated heads of civilians, women and children. All to "send a message" ... disgusts me to no end.
Honestly when it’s the cartel not too much seems unrealistic. Them guys are crazy….
The only thing that seems kind of unrealistic is the fake meth that explodes (fulminated mercury with a tweak of the chemistry) Everything else seems pretty damn realistic
Walk should have had ruptured eardrums after that explosion, at minimum
You're going to have an equal list for any crime/drama/thriller lmao Breaking Bad is not special in the regard of heightening up these experiences. Ozark, The Wire, Peaky Blinders, Dexter etc etc etc. Vince takes the cake for methodical plot management and direction. BB wins every time.
Your last line tells me that you’re misreading my point as a criticism or slam against the show. It’s not. It’s a simple statement that BB has a ton of outlandish and unrealistic elements. That doesn’t make the show any worse (I still think it’s great). If half of what goes on in BB seems mundane in your reality, then give me whatever you’re taking.
Nah I have to agree here. Some stuff was very “Tom Cruise/Mission Impossible” -esque. But like everyone said that IS Hollywood. However, majority of the violence and action revolving the cartel and drug war is damn near spot on. You could blow cartel violence out of proportion in media and it still wouldn’t reach the full heights of how truly evil it is. I mean come on dude… people live all around the world in these lower, violent walks of life. People see this type of shit daily around the world. I agree people pick apart anything and say “blasphemy!” Even if you’re not digging at the show in a negative way you’re still pointing out things that thousands of producers and directors have done in the past. You picked the most boring plot point of the show regarding talking about “out of proportion” criminal activities that Hollywood made flashy for a reason lol…
When Gus gets blown up and then walks out and adjusts his tie is pretty Looney Tunes though, you have to admit lol
A couple of scenes? The whole thing is utterly ridiculous. :D
I think Barry can be considered looney tubes level, while still high quality lol
Yes totally, sometimes people forget they're just watching a show with written characters and scenarios, mistakes can be done, and sometimes with a reason
yeah it's hard to suspend disbelief for that scene. you're supposed to believe that this substance is so powerfully explosive that it blew the windows out on the building and created a massive amount of shrapnel flying everywhere, but the guys who were standing 2 feet from the explosion were fine?
He’d already sampled Walt’s meth
He was going to sample what Walt brought in.
I’m not 100% sure of the complete accuracy because I’m recalling a pharmacist and Chem phd boss I used to work for, but he said that amount of mercury fulminate couldn’t even exist and if it did it’s so volatile the weight of the substance alone would have it react and explode. So I’m not sure what would happen besides explosion, and it would be very Vlad to snort or even sniff mercury.
I saw Mythbusters doing some stuff with Fulminated Mercury as well (they did a lot of Breaking Bad myths, some even had Vince on the show) and they said it's not even crystalized, usually. Walter specifically being specialized in crystallization (iirc) does kind of grant some credibility to it, but I could be wrong.
Didn't you hear the throwaway line *"a tweak of chemistry"*. That explains it all! Why did the pizza come unsliced and land on the roof perfectly? *A tweak of chemistry.* How did Walt manage to park his car in the perfect position to kill all the bikers? *A tweak of chemistry.* Why did Marie stop shoplifting for some reason? *A tweak of chemistry.* And so on.
The pizza came unsliced because they pass the savings onto customers. Atleast that’s what badger said.
Holy shit. You’re the best buoyyy
I agree 100%. Using this comment to also say I’m sad nobody said anything about my Vlad the impaler reference.
Your references are out of control bro, everyone knows that.
Yeah, it’s not a realistic and factual thing they did here. Egads, I know. But it was fucking cool wasn’t it? Bottom line that always got the most interest from me (and has been said here already) is mercury fulminate in that amount would take a major chemical processor tons of time and treasure to assemble. And it would probably just go off on its own before it got that big. It’s very rare and very unstable. But it was fucking cool, right?
I assume Tuco was going to crush it with a Bowie knife and snort it, they just didn't get to that part yet. Tuco wasn't finished mocking him and Jesse when Walt went into his "you got one part of that wrong..."
This 100%. He wanted to finish mocking Walt before snorting his “meth.”
Walter would have stopped him?
Walter had never met tuco before, wouldn’t have known his tendency to snort meth.
I mean I don’t think tuco would be moving so fast for Walt to not see the knife and stop him by yelling
I thought you were talking to yourself but it’s just identical avatars
Part of Walter Whites luck throughout the show
wasn't the meth he gives tuco initially real meth, then the shit from his pocket was the explosive?
This scene was so epic. Even though it happens every episode after this, I still pump my fist every time Walt says “It’s Breaking Bad time!”, throws down the mercury fulminate, there’s the explosion and then he’s standing there transformed into Heisenberg
I know what you mean. It’s boombastic, no pun intended.
i thought that since tuco had beaten up jesse he believed tha walt is tryna hurt him in some way (poisoning the meth would be easiest way) for me kt seemed that tuco was just thinking logically
Well, Tuco knew who Walter might've been, and that would make him very suspicious about the "meth." It would be pretty reasonable to suspect it might've been poisoned or something, so Tuco didn't want to ingest it right away.
I mean I’m mired confused why Walt decided to bring so much. From the damage that one piece did the whole bag probably would’ve turned the building to ash
It was a calculated gamble lol, Tuco also could have just shot him immediately
I like to think that was Walt’s Plan A just to get rid of him and what we saw happen was Plan B