I dunno if the show started with a strong theme, at least it didn't display one.  At first it was just a deep-black comedy about Hapless Schmo and Meth-head Robin deciding to get into the drug biz, immediately getting in way over their heads and the hijinks ensued.   Underpants, bathtubs full of Hispanic Cherry Slush and so on.

But for the past several seasons the show  clearly has been unfolding a classic tragedy, with a theme about how ego and obsession can drive you to greatness but can also be your downfall something something something.

The Salon article overreached by trying to make Walt represent all white men everywhere - but I certainly agree the character of Walt specifically has become a cautionary example of what happens when you decide to take by force what the world "owes you" but failed to deliver.

I could give Gilligan the benefit of the doubt and say those early wacky episodes were just to get a greenlight, and the master plan was always there, but I rather suspect it was an organic process of figuring out what the show was.

Meh, don't worry about it.   I'm not that into movies, really.

Good luck tomorrow!   Win an Oscar!

Aha.    Clues clues clues.

Hmm.  Doesn't seem right to me.  I think Walt truly doesn't care about the meth business anymore.   

Okay, I could maybe buy it if his cancer has reached the point where he's got a very short time left and he wants to settle that score while he still can.   But the plotting of the show has been so solid all along that that seems... thin.

This is what's called the "pregnant moment" in storytelling - i.e. why is this happening NOW?   You don't just have a character get up one random day and go on a killing spree - you give the character a solid, compelling reason to do it.   Something new about today that wasn't there yesterday.

I think Walt's back because of a specific threat to the family, and I think it's something that only just happened.  Obviously it'll involve the Bros and Jesse somehow but I bet it's something more specific than just Walt deciding this would be a good week to come home and kill them.

Where we are as of now, Walt's best way to protect the family is to stay gone.  Something's overridden that, even though him coming back puts his family in danger again.  So there must be a bigger danger that's arrived.

Walt's reasons for wanting Jesse dead are all pretty much invalid now.    He has no personal grudge against Jesse and never did - any more than he hated (or even knew the names of) all those murdered jailhouse witnesses.    Walt's actions toward Jesse have always been driven by Jesse's usefulness and/or threat to Walt at any given moment.

So at first he hired the Nazis to kill Jesse because Jesse was working with Hank to bring Walt down.  Then he was willing to let the Nazis execute Jesse in exchange for letting Hank live, but that was never going to happen.  So then he gladly let the Nazis take Jesse so Walt himself could walk away, go get his family and escape.   Except - Walt's own family screwed up that plan by refusing to run away with him.   

So now Walt's lost everything... but there's also no potential harm to Walt if Jesse lives.  The house of cards has already collapsed.  So I don't think Walt's come all the way back to do harm to Jesse.  I think in some twisted Walt-logic way, it may be the opposite.

For Walt "good" has always been anything pro-Walt's-family, and "bad" is anything that threatens Walt's family.   Returning Holly and giving Skyler an alibi are pro-family, and completely in character for him. 

Even the most evil villain thinks they're the hero of their personal story - Walt certainly thinks that.   Whether or not we outsiders see him as redeemable is our own business.

I do think returning Holly was partly because Walt realized she would be better off (for now) with Skyler... but also because Walt would be better off making his escape without an infant to have to care for.

Also:

Saw someone mention this in the chat, so I immediately opened iTunes and rented it.  Ha, first! Lame! Hitler!

Nothing particularly notable about the style or construction of the doc itself - not that there had to be.  It's well made and there's absolutely nothing wrong with it.   

The point is the material, which - if you're into magic in general or Ricky Jay in particular - is fascinating and fun.  Especially the huge doses of archival footage.  If you've always wanted to see a nine-year-old Ricky Jay awkwardly pull a dove out of a tube on live television, this is your movie.

The big revelation for me personally was all the clips of Jay doing television in the '70s, when he was rocking the "hippie magician" look with long hair and beard.    I suddenly realized I'd seen a lot of those performances and liked that guy - I just never realized until I saw the doc that that guy was also Ricky Jay.

Anyway, if you want to see a lot of neato card tricks and get a glimpse into the world of people who are really really serious about stage magic - dive in.

So - based off that review I gave this one a watch tonight, and Stories We Tell gets a thumbs up from me as well.  It is really quite something. 

The story itself is a mindblower, but the movie about the story is also a fascinating construct - Sarah Polley is sort of the central character and yet presents herself as just another one of the participants... even as we also watch her directing the doc... it's a hell of a high wire act and yet it totally works. 

And then in the last third the whole thing loops back on itself and becomes recursive... I don't think I've ever seen anything like it.   If this one is ever a candidate for a Documentality episode, I volunteer to be there.

Well, Farscape was 17 years after Dark Crystal, and in those 17 years the Creature Shop did Labyrinth, the Dinosaurs tv show, the Ninja Turtles movies and a slew of other things.  I dunno how much there was left to prove by the time they got to Farscape. 

And even Dark Crystal was pretty much universally acknowledged as a great technical and design achievement for the Creature Shop and Brian Froud etc... it just didn't catch on with audiences.   For me, I remember the coffee-table books were far more interesting than the movie itself.

In the wide shots pretty much every character becomes a costume character -  I know the Skeksis, the Garthim and the Landstriders were all people in suits.  Gelflings too, I imagine, though I barely remember them.

I think the main difference between the closeup Skeksis and the wide shot Skeksis was that in the closeups the puppeteers didn't have to be in that backbreaking crouched position.

Another clue for my theory that we're headed for a "last cook" that will echo the very first one...