Breaking Bad

[BigHouseUSA]

No

Not sure if it's because I don't care for Star Trek, or because it was just pointless. Everything we needed from that scene we got within 30 seconds, the rest was just pointless. Just another scene where the writers try to overindulge the fans with things we've responded positively

[Palooza]

No

Not sure if it's because I don't care for Star Trek, or because it was just pointless. Everything we needed from that scene we got within 30 seconds, the rest was just pointless. Just another scene where the writers try to overindulge the fans with things we've responded positively

http://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/comments/1k7oj2/spoiler_the_discussion_between_badger_and_skinny/

When Badger is telling Skinny Pete about the theory that when you use the teletransporter in Star Trek, you are actually dying and having a carbon copy made on the other side, it's more than just babbling. It is actually a long-argued and deeply philosophical question that has relations to philosophers like Derek Parfit and John Locke, and moreover, it's a conversation directly addressing the central point of Breaking Bad as a show:
How much can someone change before he is something else entirely?
I'm not a philosophy major so I apologize if I don't explain all this adequately. I studied and read about this theory back in college and was reminded when the show addressed it. Anyway, let's start with the theory itself.
The theory that Badger is discussing is Derek Parfit's teletransporter theory. It has to do with the following thought experiment:
"Suppose that you enter a cubicle in which, when you press a button, a scanner records the states of all the cells in your brain and body, destroying both while doing so. This information is then transmitted at the speed of light to some other planet, where a replicator produces a perfect organic copy of you. Since the brain of your Replica is exactly like yours, it will seem to remember living your life up to the moment when you pressed the button, its character will be just like yours, and it will be in every other way psychologically continuous with you. Are you sure the person on the other side is you?"
Essentially, the question poses the idea that "you" aren't being transported at all, and instead, you're just dying. A copy of you is made on the other side, but it's not you.
Going back to the episode itself, we can now see that Badger's mindless babble actually holds deeply significant meaning to the show. As you are transported to your new destination, are you simply going there, or is something more morbid happening?
I think this is also a commentary on Walter White. So many people have said that this show is about his descent into becoming the truly vile Heisenberg, and how bit by bit, whoever Walter White was at the beginning of the show has ceased to exist. As Walter White has transported to his new destination as Heisenberg, has he simply gone there? Is he Walter White AS Heisenberg? Or has something more morbid happened? Is Walter White dead?
I really am not stupid enough to think I really unwrapped the whole significance of the scene and the allusion to philosophy to the show. Hopefully this was as thought-provoking to you guys as it was for me and someone will be able to shed more light on it all. Thanks for reading.

also - http://www.vulture.com/2013/08/break...-animated.html

Vince Gilligan had been telling the story of a pie-eating contest gone wrong aboard the Enterprise to the writers of Breaking Bad for as long as writer Peter Gould can remember. “Since probably the first season,” laughed Gould, the author of last night’s season-5.5 opener, “Blood Money.” When it came time to give Badger another stoned (and yet amazingly coherent!) speech, Gould says he asked to borrow Gilligan’s Star Trek fan fiction, which involved an ill-fated Chekov and the gross misuse of the transporter. “We talk about Greek tragedy in the writers’ room, but there are a lot of geeks, so there’s a lot of geek tragedy, too,” Gould said.

Badger’s Star Trek pitch (fact-checked by a Trek expert here) was dreamed up early in the writing of this last half of the season, when Gould and fellow Breaking Bad writer Gennifer Hutchison got into it over the true operational nature of the Trek transporter. The debate between Badger and Skinny Pete over how it works was lifted straight from their conversation. Gould, who said he was “a real Trekkie” as a kid, said he was the Skinny Pete in the argument: “I don’t want to go on a transporter because it’s essentially taking you apart and putting you back together. But Genni made a pretty good argument that that would mean there were literally 100 Captain Kirks.” He decided their debate (which no one won) was a natural way to get Gilligan’s gory lesson in transporter abuse on the show. “It would be the ultimate diet, really. Eat anything you want, and then Scotty beams it out of your stomach,” Gould said. “But like with great technology, there are terrible things that can go wrong.”

Matt Jones and Charles Baker, who play Badger and Skinny Pete, described themselves as “moderate” Star Trek fans, but admitted some of the story went over their heads. “I didn’t know what the f*ck a tulaberry was,” Jones said.

[stevsta]

http://www.reddit.com/r/breakingbad/...er_and_skinny/



also - http://www.vulture.com/2013/08/break...-animated.html

I actually remember hearing about the whole dying when you are transported thing on some star trek behind the science shit

[MrBill]

Badger's Star Trek script was pretty awesome, can we all agree?

[MVPete]

[JayDizzle]

I need to watch this entire series but YouTube makes it EASY to cherry pick.

[NAHSTE]

Pretty crazy theory that I saw in the AV comments ...

1. Walt often adopts a mannerism of his victims after he kills them (removing crust from bread like Krazy 8, dressing/acting like Gus, using Mike's drink order, etc.)
2. In the S5 premiere we see him arranging his bacon to spell out 52, the age of his birthday
3. ... which is what Skyler used to do on his birthday



So is Walt gonna kill Skyler?

[Palooza]

Pretty crazy theory that I saw in the AV comments ...

1. Walt often adopts a mannerism of his victims after he kills them (removing crust from bread like Krazy 8, dressing/acting like Gus, using Mike's drink order, etc.)
2. In the S5 premiere we see him arranging his bacon to spell out 52, the age of his birthday
3. ... which is what Skyler used to do on his birthday



So is Walt gonna kill Skyler?

this theory is all over the internet, you're lookin like maynard right now

[NAHSTE]

this theory is all over the internet, you're lookin like maynard right now

I put it here so maynard would be in on it.

[Palooza]

I put it here so maynard would be in on it.

In all seriousness, it's an awesome theory. Wearing Jesse's jacket is hopefully not a part of that, but who knows. Part of the Jesse theory is that Walter tips the waitress in the S5a premiere a $100 bill, a gracious donation (gracious especially if you are asking Mr. Pink) much like Jesse tossing stacks of hunnits at houses like a newspaper boy.

[Maynard]

this theory is all over the internet, you're lookin like maynard right now

I put it here so maynard would be in on it.

In all seriousness, it's an awesome theory.

the take away here is that Palooza and Nasty have Maynard envy and that Maynard is awesome!

now have a nice day

[cf24]

I watched three seasons of this in one week(after work) and one weekend in order to watch the final episodes. I am glad I did.

[CCBrink]

I need to watch this entire series but YouTube makes it EASY to cherry pick.

This scene is nothing without knowing what made him say all that.

[Champ]

[Ravin]

There is a ton of audition tapes on youtube. Skylar, Hank, Marie, and I think Junior. Interesting seeing them read the lines. I think the Hank one is the closest to the real show.