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this is pretty neat. short read.
Knowable wrote:A Real Drug Crime Investigator Finally Got Around To Watching Breaking Bad. Here’s What He Thought Of The Show

Breaking Bad was an amazing show. Whether you watched it or not, you were probably inundated with episode to episode recaps from everyone following it. With a plot line so intense, it was hard not to gush over every detail with other viewers.

But what happens when someone who belongs to that real life world - someone who deals with this stuff day after day, watches the show?

Thanks to Bob Cooke, a former private investigator for super labs, much like the one Walter and Jesse worked at, we can have the inside scoop on how realistic it actually was.


My kids have been telling for years to watch this show because of my background. I'm only half way into season 2 by way of NetFlix. I've investigated over 100 "Super Labs" and their organizations in California. Super labs are by definition capable of producing 10 pounds, or more, in a cook cycle. A cook cycle usually can be completed in 36 hours or less.

Like anything else made in Hollywood, cop shows are full of inaccuracies. But this show actually isn't too far off. Sponsors want to make money so they can make whatever changes they want.

1. The Drug Creation Process
The most significant error I see so far is when the "chemists" started using P2P (phenyl-2-propanone) when they couldn't find pseudo ephedrine. Sure, the qualitative test may show that it is 80-90% pure. But the users don't care for this old-school biker method. The P2P method is the old stinky meth that everyone remembers smelled like dirty socks when it was produced back in the 70's. Even when cleaned up and converted to "Ice" at 90% it lacks the "kick" like the pseudo method. Users refer to the pseudo and red phosphorus as like jet fuel in comparison. I've seen cases where 10 pounds and more of crystal meth was returned to the broker because the client base didn't like the "high" when used.

2. The Mexican Drug Cartel
The Mexico based cartels created the newer methamphetamine using pseudo ephedrine and red phosphorous over 25 years ago and took control of the meth trade. It exploded in California and our state became the "source nation" for methamphetamine. Even though smaller states like Missouri might have 900-2400 meth lab incidents, in a year, California produced more in one Super Lab than all 2400 of theirs.

3. The Lab Equipment
Now with constraints and regulations on the sale of pseudo ephedrine these clandestine labs have changed their recipes. It is common for teams of "smurfs" to go from store to store buying all the pseudo ephedrine they are legally allowed and sell them to a middleman with a connection to a lab operator. It is also very difficult to purchase the lab equipment that you see on this series. The large round bottom flasks, condensing columns and funnels are difficult to purchase because of federal and state regulations.

4. The Violence
As far as the violence goes I don't think they are exaggerating a bit. Violence in Mexico has grown exponentially with the growth and sales of the methamphetamine industry. Mexico labs are producing sometimes a thousand pounds in a cycle. Their biggest problem is getting it across the border.

In conclusion? It's pretty darn good. I'm trying to catch up with the series on the weekends. Now that I'm no longer working major organized crime I can watch it on TV.

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klimov wrote:Better Call Saul
Did you ever get around to watching Breaking Bad?
This is a snakeskin jacket. And for me it's a symbol of my individuality and my belief in personal freedom.

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klimov wrote:Nah. It's the Cain and Abel lawyer stuff that I like, not the somewhat tedious old guy and drug dealers subplot, so not convinced I'd get on with Breaking Bad.
:roflmao: :roflmao:

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Breaking Bad is waaaaay better than Saul. We stopped watching actually, feeling more and more like a directionless retread.
"I'm like a dog chasing cars, I wouldn't know what to do if I caught one. . . . I'm not a schemer. I just do things."

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Alexhead wrote:Breaking Bad is waaaaay better than Saul. We stopped watching actually, feeling more and more like a directionless retread.
wow, i don't get that. i'm loving saul.

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TC wrote:
Alexhead wrote:Breaking Bad is waaaaay better than Saul. We stopped watching actually, feeling more and more like a directionless retread.
wow, i don't get that. i'm loving saul.
The two shouldn't necessarily be compared, even if it's tempting. The tone of the shows is totally different. But I do really like Saul (mostly because of stellar casting) and the way they've managed to make it into it's own thing, separate from BB.

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yeah, i should clarify - BB is obviously way better than saul. saul is great, however. if someone said i could only have one, BB without question. but saul stands on its own just fine and is highly enjoyable.

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klimov wrote:I guess I might have to try it sometime. But if it's all gangs and drugs then I'm switching it off, yawn.
It's all gangs and drugs, with a little family drama now and then, usually because of gangs or drugs.
Just cut them up like regular chickens

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klimov wrote:So how is that better than Saul and not just a massive tiresome cliche? I mean I had already assumed that the tedious drugs sideplot in Saul is a sop to Breaking Bad fans.
Oh BB is anything but a cliche. Just watch it.

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Variety wrote:‘Breaking Bad’ Movie in the Works With Series Creator Vince Gilligan

“Breaking Bad” may have had its finale in 2013, but Variety has confirmed that series creator Vince Gilligan is working on a new film with ties to the beloved series.

Gilligan is working on a two-hour film, though whether it’s destined for multiplexes or television is unclear.

Details are sparse, with no information on what shape the movie would take — a prequel like “Better Call Saul” or something else — or whether any of “Breaking Bad’s” stars will return. The Albuquerque Journal includes a logline stating the film “tracks the escape of a kidnapped man and his quest for freedom.”

The Journal also reports the title as “Greenbriar,” though whether that’s the final title is in the air as well. Production in the Duke City is scheduled to begin mid-November through early February, according to the Journal.

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/film wrote:Exclusive: The ‘Breaking Bad’ Movie Will Be a Sequel Following Jesse After the Series Finale, Aaron Paul to Return

Over the course of five incredible seasons, Breaking Bad put its cast of characters through the wringer. But no one suffered quite like Aaron Paul‘s Jesse Pinkman, the meth-dealing loser who lost everything (and everyone) that mattered to him simply because he was unfortunate enough to enter the orbit of Walter White.

And his suffering isn’t over yet. /Film has learned that the newly announced Breaking Bad movie will be a sequel set after the events of the series finale, following Jesse as he blazes a trail away from that horrifying finale.

Last night, we learned that series creator Vince Gilligan was writing and executive producing a Breaking Bad movie, although it is unknown if he will also direct. It was also suggested that this will be a television movie, as it is being make through Gilligan’s deal with Sony TV, who produced the original show (which aired on AMC). There was even the briefest of brief loglines: the movie would “[track] the escape of a kidnapped man and his quest for freedom.”

And yes, Breaking Bad fans, you put two and two together correctly: we have confirmed that the kidnapped man is Jesse Pinkman and the movie will follow his escape from Albuquerque following the bloody events of the series finale. Naturally, Aaron Paul is set to reprise the role, which won him three Emmy awards for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.

Spoilers for Breaking Bad‘s final episode are strewn throughout the rest of this article like the bodies of Heisenberg’s enemies.

In the final season of Breaking Bad, Jesse was abducted and held captive by a group of neo-Nazi scumbags, who forced him to cook Heisenberg’s blue meth recipe while Walter White himself absconded to the wilderness to die lonely and rich. Chained in a dark room and tormented, Jesse made an unsuccessful escape attempt and was forced to watch as Andrea (the woman he had fallen for) was executed for his actions. It only ended when Walter – ego recharged by guilt, rage, and the desire to reclaim his dark legacy – arrived and science-murdered the Nazi crew with a remote control machine gun. After strangling his chief tormenter Todd and sparing Mr. White, Jesse drove into the night, overcome with manic joy and panic, all told through Aaron Paul’s stunning and heartbreaking screams of rage and laughter.

Jesse had escaped, but he wasn’t really free. His story was intentionally left wide open, a big question mark for a character who often made the wrong decision at every fork in the road. And now, it looks like Gilligan is going to bring some closure to the poor man. Maybe.

Shortly after the finale aired, Gilligan spitballed what could happen to Jesse next. Does this suggest what the movie could be about? We shall see:

My personal feeling is that he got away. But the most likely thing, as negative as this sounds, is that they’re going to find this kid’s fingerprints all over this lab and they’re going to find him within a day or a week or a month. And he’s still going to be on the hook for the murder of two federal agents. But yeah, even though that’s the most likely outcome, the way I see it is that he got away and got to Alaska, changed his name, and had a new life. You want that for the kid. He deserves it.

This won’t be the first time Gilligan has expanded the Breaking Bad universe. The prequel series Better Call Saul recently ended its fourth critically-acclaimed season, proving that there is still plenty of untapped potential in this world. A film sequel suggests Gilligan only wants to expand and deepen the Breaking Bad universe, which would sound like a terrible idea if Better Call Saul hadn’t already proven that this can be done so well. And while Aaron Paul hasn’t been wanting for work, he’s yet to find a post-Breaking Bad role that has fit him quite as well as Jesse Pinkman. Giving him a chance to revisit this character once more feels right.

No title or release date has been set for the Breaking Bad movie just yet, but production is expected to begin in New Mexico soon.
fuck yeah.

i thought i posted in here, guess not - we re-watched all of BB earlier this year. it's soooo good. so much more fun to watch immediately rather than waiting forever between seasons. this makes perfect sense.

also, this most recent season of better call saul was great.

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Yahoo wrote:Breaking Bad Movie Starring Aaron Paul Lands at Netflix and AMC — Report

It’s happening, bitch: The Breaking Bad movie is coming to a streaming service near you.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Aaron Paul is poised to reprise his role as Walter White portégé Jesse Pinkman in a follow-up to the Emmy-winning drama. The feature-length sequel will first debut on Netflix (which holds the streaming rights to the original five seasons, as well as prequel series Better Call Saul), then get a second window on AMC.

Penned by original series creator Vince Gilligan, the script centers on “the escape of a kidnapped man and his quest for freedom.” As BB fans will recall, Jesse’s journey ended after he broke free from Jack’s compound in the September 2013 series finale (read recap).

The as-yet-untitled film went into production in Albuquerque in mid-November, according to the New Mexico Film Office. Gilligan is producing alongside fellow Breaking Bad vets Mark Johnson and Melissa Bernstein, and is on board to direct.

Back in November, Bryan Cranston confirmed the existence of a Breaking Bad movie on The Dan Patrick Show. He said it was unclear whether the late Walter White would appear in the film, but he’d “absolutely” do it if Gilligan asked him.

Following Breaking Bad, Paul went on to star in Hulu’s mystical cult drama The Path, which was cancelled after three seasons back in April. He is currently attached to two more TV series, having previously joined the cast of Westworld Season 3, as well as the forthcoming Apple drama Are You Sleeping.