Mark Margolis as Uncle Tio
And sometimes, there are not words.
This week, I’ve completed the posts for episodes 507 and 508 over at Rewatch Breaking Bad, though the posts will not publish until mid-July.
These episodes were the last ones my very excellent work friend got to see. Cancer stole her from us in early 2013, just a few months before season 5b, as they called it, began to air.
Oh, how she loved this show. I think she loved it even more than I did, which is saying a LOT. Sometimes, in the wee hours of the night when we were working together, we would speculate, posit theories, imagine the most insane and crazy storylines, and consider the vastness of the Breaking Bad universe.
We would talk about the show that existed, moments that happened, what our favourite scenes and lines were. The two of us could speak many of the lines out loud from memory. I knew exactly which lines to say to her which would leave her giggling, and she knew which lines to say for me.
I remember one time when the phones were quiet, we spoke for an uninterrupted by phone calls hour, just about the clouds in some scenes, and the weather in Albuquerque, and how it always seemed to put on a show, for the show. We talked about how Albuquerque had become a character of the show and how it gave the show such a unique look.
I also remember we talked about Mark Margolis and how amazing his acting was, because his character Uncle Tio was unable to speak but you saw everything you needed to know in his eyes, and he had this bell that he would ring.
We both loved the character of Mike, especially the scene that began with him shorting out electricity with helium balloons. We talked about a spin off show that could involve him. There had already been some talk about a spin off on the podcasts – which we had both listened to.
We both loved Jesse as a character. We loved where season four had taken his character. We loved his involvement in the major capers of season 5a. We also loved his outfits.
The final eight episodes were so perfect, she would have loved every single minute of them. She would have loved to discuss each episode with me. How much I would have loved to discuss them with her!
How deeply thrilled she would have been to see Better Call Saul, the spin off show that appeared after Breaking Bad ended. She would have particularly loved the Mike Centric episode – Five-O – which will hopefully land Jonathan Banks a nomination for best supporting actor when the Emmy nominations are announced on July 16th, and hopefully he will win his first Emmy award at the 67th Emmy Awards due to be held in September this year.
My friend is greatly missed, by me, and by many others who adored her.
A good friend is just such a warm place.
She was an incredible role model to me, and to all of us at our work place. :)
How terribly sad and cruel cancer is! I’m glad that you have the memories with your friend and that you think of her when you watch the show. New Mexico has been on my bucket list for a LONG time. I hope to make it there in the next couple of years.
Margaret – if you are going to go, you need to watch Breaking Bad in full first, if you have not already seen it. :) There are so many fantastic locations used in the show. They do a Breaking Bad tour, and the house which was featured as the home of Walt and Skyler has seen visitors from all over the world. The people who own the house are so lovely and often approach visitors. They’ve had a few too many people throw Pizza on their roof, though. Vince Gilligan is very upset with the people who keep doing this! Not Cool, plus, it is a waste of pizza!
If I were going to visit there, I would take them some Tim Tams and Australian Afternoon Tea as a gift. ;)
I love Tim Tams! They were my go to snack in Korea. :)
Tim Tams are truly the awesome :) My excellent friend loved them hugely and we would eat them every single shift. She and I both loved the dark chocolate flavour best, but the Salted Caramel ones had not been released then, or else we would have been eating those I think.. ;)
Cancer is an indiscriminate killer, taking the best of people too soon.
So Breaking Bad is finished now? I’ll keep a watch out for when the entire box set is available, then I can have a BBfest.
River – it is finished. I bought the final season DVD a little while ago, the final season(s) have a lot of extras, commentary tracks which is awesome. :)
This was a truly brilliant show. I think it takes brilliant writing and acting (and everything else) to create such complex characters and make them sympathetic no matter how rotten they become (or are to start with). So glad your friend got to enjoy some of it with you and hope you will have sweet memories of her always.
Mitchell – it also takes a heck of a lot of teamwork. The official podcasts – I link to them on the episodes at Rewatch Breaking Bad from where they started which was season 2 -were fantastic because they gave fans of the show an insight into what was going on behind the scenes. Plus, the entire team were pretty funny people so they were highly entertaining. :)
If fans of the show listen to only one podcast, it should be the one for the season 2 finale where there is a tale of a rented camera that went on a very interesting journey as a surprise to everyone.. :) She and I laughed for hours over that podcast.. :)