In this second of a three-part chat, TV Geek Army cohorts Eric (self-described “revered leader”) and Mike Proper discuss the return of Breaking Bad to AMC as well as “Box Cutter,” the fourth season premiere.
Mike: I agree that it's hard to say there's anything to gain from making predictions for a show like Breaking Bad, but it's still fun, so here's my wild prediction for Season Four.
Eric: Please go for it!
Mike: It has its holes for sure, but I'm expecting by the end of the season we're going to see two alliances formed. The first is between Walt and Mike and the second between Gus and Jesse.
Now before you laugh in my face, let me explain... Walt and Mike have always had a mutual respect, with a lot of it stemming from Walt taking Mike's "no half measures" speech to heart when he offed the two drug dealers in the penultimate third season episode. Even the extent Walt went to in having Gale killed to save his own life would seem to impress a professional like Mike.
And then, cut to "Box Cutter" and we see the overall shock and disbelief on Mike's face at Victor's murder at Gus' hand. Say what you will about Victor's mistake in being seen at Gale's apartment, but you can't argue he wasn't loyal. Mike might be thinking his own loyalty holds less merit with Gus than he may have previously thought.
Eric: That makes a lot of sense. And then Gale goes to Jesse to work around Walt, I'm guessing?
Mike: As for Jesse and Gus, that's more of a stretch because Gus hasn't really wanted anything to do with Jesse from the beginning, but Jesse understood Gus' violent actions in the premiere more than any other character. The new darker Jesse sees Gus as more of a (again, for lack of a better term) role model than Walt and wants to learn from his criminal experience, much like he gained a further education in meth cooking from Walt. And then, yes, I can see Gus almost needing Jesse later if my hypothetical Mike/Walt alliance comes to fruition.
Again, a lot of holes in my theory, but I just see the final arc of the series eventually leading to a confrontation between Jesse and Walt. And I think these potential alliances would be the start to that.
And of course when it doesn't come close to being true, I won't be remotely surprised either!
Eric: That's the fun of making predictions!
The biggest problem I see with Gale making inroads with Jesse is that the latter has the same problem Victor does in terms of not having enough expertise to run the Super Lab, as Alan Sepinwall calls it. But that doesn't mean it won't happen!
