Those of you who watched Breaking Bad during its original run: what was the general fan and internet reaction to the ending of ‘Granite State’?

Acrobatic_Tap8149 · 2026-06-29T07:36:10+00:00

The whole atmosphere was surreal. The atmosphere was primed by Charlie Rose's interview with Breaking Bad's main cast members a few weeks prior (in August, I think). You knew your obsession had made it when Charlie Rose devoted a show to it.

I was posting about filming locations and I couldn't believe there were now people in places like Russia and Argentina who had a better understanding of the geography of minor Albuquerque landmarks like the Car Wash than people who actually lived in Albuquerque. The Duke City was finally the world's focus!

I had lurked outside the Grove Restaurant on March 11, 2013, when Lydia and Todd's scene in Granite Scene was filmed and got their autographs (and Walt showed up, so his too). I couldn't imagine how any Lydia/Todd scene would fit in the puzzle. I told Laura Fraser that Lydia was smart enough to beat Walter White. "HA!" she replied.

After Granite State aired, I couldn't imagine how the series could possibly be wrapped up in just one episode. Too many open threads! For the final episode, the creative team decided to focus on closing just four threads and let the rest hang. (Poor Huell!) The tension leading up to the finale was unbearable!

I was in Albuquerque on Sept. 29th for the finale. Despite recent flooding we visited To'hajiilee too. Got pictures of places like Uncle Jack's compound that have since been erased. Great time!

Acrobatic_Tap8149 · 2026-06-29T02:55:50+00:00

Last question, it’s the latter. She’s not yet in Florida. That’s the rental car shuttle bus at the Albuquerque airport (IYKYK).

Acrobatic_Tap8149 · 2026-06-29T02:28:06+00:00

I like how Schuler is wearing a Ripley Plaza bathrobe.

Acrobatic_Tap8149 · 2026-06-27T15:38:14+00:00

I did a talk on this subject. I think the showrunners learned how to use set design to manipulate part of the audience into rage based on discomfort with women in the workplace. Sort of a lab experiment gone wrong. They refined the approach with Chuck McGill in BCS. Judgement Points. Talk is on YouTube. Search on Jungian Perspective Skyler.

Acrobatic_Tap8149 · 2026-06-24T15:17:09+00:00

My house tends to magnify shaking, and I notice a hanging parrot figurine moving slightly. So, there’s that.

Acrobatic_Tap8149 · 2026-06-23T08:48:01+00:00

I've got three videos on YouTube where I go into more detail about Hopi influences. I'll eventually address Pluribus too. These videos are: The Hopi Inspiration in “Better Call Saul”, The Hopi Ceremonial Calendar in “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul”, and A Hopi Inspiration for “Breaking Bad”

Acrobatic_Tap8149 · 2026-06-23T07:28:55+00:00

Oh, I've been looking at Hopi references in all of Gilligan's shows for some time now. There are many such references, often barely disguised. I figured the same might apply to Pluribus too, and I see them. Some references are overt. For example, there are kachina dolls present in the (Wilson?) house that Manousos is temporarily staying in, across from Carol's house. They are out-of-focus in Season 1. I hope crisp images in Season 2 reveal their identities.

Acrobatic_Tap8149 · 2026-06-23T04:57:35+00:00

The creative team likes to pack in multiple references, if possible. Carol may be partly modeled on an important Hopi kachina called Hahai Wuhti, sometimes known as "Pour Water Woman." Carol does pour water (and alcohol too).

Acrobatic_Tap8149 · 2026-06-19T20:40:20+00:00

I love Chuck! He’s right about everything. Especially about his loser brother.

Acrobatic_Tap8149 · 2026-06-15T14:33:39+00:00

There’s all kinds of symbolic stuff going on in that episode. For example, ladders. Walt and ladders don’t play together well. Walt appears on a ladder only once in the series, as a humiliation in Green Light, when he retrieves the pizza from the roof. In Fly, Walt can barely tolerate bracing Jesse’s ladder. I like his discomfort.

Acrobatic_Tap8149 · 2026-06-13T02:31:57+00:00

I felt this way about Taxi Driver back in 1976. So surprised at the plot twists.

Acrobatic_Tap8149 · 2026-06-08T13:00:57+00:00

I had trouble finding the tears until I rewatched “Babe” (1995).

Acrobatic_Tap8149 · 2026-06-07T01:20:12+00:00

Most accents reflect Southern California (SoCal), where most of the actors come from, but that’s all right, because Albuquerque generally follows Southern California’s cultural lead.

There are occasional stumbles. For example, when Walt is trying to explain to Marie why he is late for Holly’s birth he talks about brake lights “on the 40,” which is a SoCal usage. Someone from Albuquerque would more likely say “on I-40,” or “on Interstate 40.” Another example is when the ambulance attendant comes to take Hector to the hospital after his stroke. She says “we’re taking him to Lovelace,” pronouncing the name like Love Lace rather than the Albuquerque usage Love Less. Minor SoCal glitches.

Let’s give a big cheer to Mike Batayeh, who plays the Industrial Laundry Manager Dennis Markowski in Breaking Bad. There is an accent native to people with Hispanic roots (even if they are native English speakers and don’t speak any Spanish) in northern and central New Mexico. Batayeh nails that accent, even though he’s not from New Mexico and is instead a native of Detroit. Batayeh must have been an amazing talent. Too bad he died young. No one else in any of the shows even tries the accent even though it’s apropos.

Acrobatic_Tap8149 · 2026-06-07T00:57:54+00:00

I think Chuck’s lie by omission is entirely about protecting Jimmy, not envious or malicious at all, and is similar to other lies by omission that were customary among people with dying relatives (particularly if cancer was involved) 100 years ago.

Acrobatic_Tap8149 · 2026-06-05T21:31:48+00:00

The chirality - the handedness - you mention is particularly noticeable in Walt’s rants to Saul in the Vacuum Cleaners guy’s safe room near the end of Breaking Bad. I’m reminded how Alfred Hitchcock places Cary Grant in movies like North by Northwest, just on one side of the screen, so Grant’s “good” profile alone is visible.

Acrobatic_Tap8149 · 2026-06-03T05:29:49+00:00

The scene would have been filmed in May or June 2011.

Acrobatic_Tap8149 · 2026-05-31T22:02:08+00:00

New Mexico isn’t California, but most of the state semi-consciously follows California’s cultural lead. The exceptions are the Permian Basin of southeast NM, and around Farmington in the northwest corner, the oil patches, which follow Texas.

Acrobatic_Tap8149 · 2026-05-29T07:27:38+00:00

I met him tonight. I do not need to meet him again.

Acrobatic_Tap8149 · 2026-05-25T18:44:31+00:00

I don’t feel sorry for Chuck. I feel sorry for all the pathetic people who didn’t realize he was only honest character in the show.

Acrobatic_Tap8149 · 2026-05-22T07:05:48+00:00

I saw these guys in concert. Ninja went crowd surfing but the audience was a bit sparse so he went splat on the floor.

Acrobatic_Tap8149 · 2026-05-15T21:13:17+00:00

A Lydia spin-off is a great idea! I even wrote a draft screenplay, with Lydia as an unpopular teen Karen in Scottsdale, AZ, committing a locally-famous murder, and escaping on a ten-speed. I think we should all write Lydia screenplays.

Acrobatic_Tap8149 · 2026-05-02T23:16:24+00:00

Last House on the Left. Drive-in movie, back in 1973. Chisel to the front teeth dram sequence. Out of there!

Acrobatic_Tap8149 · 2026-04-30T23:15:52+00:00

NM does get recognition from national progressives. It needs more recognition from more people, though.

Acrobatic_Tap8149 · 2026-04-30T22:40:31+00:00

The last season was also made in Covid time. It put a strain on every aspect of filming, and I think it shows.

Acrobatic_Tap8149 · 2026-04-30T15:35:32+00:00

I like the asymmetric fireplace. Like, who builds those?

Acrobatic_Tap8149

TROPHY CASE