My essay Whatever happened to Danny Torrance? is now up at FEARNet. Check it out. It has a link to the full video of Stephen King’s appearance at George Mason University, where he reads from Dr. Sleep.
I’ve been slowly getting caught up on TV shows that I recorded when we were away on vacation. Since my wife and I have been watching Breaking Bad from the beginning, I decided to wait and watch the three episodes on the DVR until we caught up. Over the course of four nights we watched twelve episodes of the fourth season. What a great way to watch a show. I think I appreciate it a lot more when I see it in condensed form. Given the short seasons and the long gap between them, I found at the beginning of Season 3 that I barely even remembered who Gale Boetticher was. Now, having rewatched the first three seasons in short order and then plowing through the fourth, I have a much greater appreciation for all the nuances of the show.
For some reason, I thought last Sunday’s episode was the season finale. When we got to the end of it, with Walt on the parking garage roof, I thought that was an odd way to leave things. Then we saw the previews for next week. A little more breathing room. Maybe we’ll get to find out just why Gus suspected something was wrong with his car. And what the repercussions will be vis-a-vis Dead Ted. (I noticed him tripping over that carpet earlier in the episode and wondered at the time what the point of that was.)
I love the show’s subtle moments. Gus standing by the pool discreetly taking a pill that turned out to be some sort of prophylactic. The machinations and the intrigue: Gus presumably manipulating Jesse to the point where he’s about to shoot Walt. Skyler handing over the money to Ted which causes a crisis when Walt needs that cash so they can disappear. (I knew the disappearer would factor into things in the future, but I didn’t expect it to happen that way.)
I also love the way certain characters step up to the plate when necessary. Mike has always been a favorite, but when Jesse stood his ground against the arrogant chemist in Mexico, he gained my admiration. And the 1/16th of a millimeter of a grin from Mike and the 1/64th of a millimeter from Gus spoke volumes.
I keep waiting for Hector’s head to explode like that guy on Scanners, but it never happens. I’m expecting an explosive finale. Maybe that’s when he’ll burst.
