August 11th isn’t too far away now. In fact, it’s almost here, which means we’ll finally be treated to the final 8 episodes of AMC’s Breaking Bad. Though plot details have been kept tightly under wraps, creator Vince Gilligan showed off the first episode’s pre-title cold open a few days ago at Comic-Con.
/Film was in attendance at the panel and they’ve provided a detailed description of what was shown. Of course, there are minor spoilers but if you’re ok with that, then check it out below.
The show starts with close-ups on a few kids skateboarding. It’s all in extreme close-ups and then it pulls back. They’re in Walt’s pool. Pull back again and we see the entire White residence completely boarded up and surrounded by a fence with “Warning” signs on it. Something very, very bad happened here. It’s been condemned.
A familiar car pulls up and out steps Walter White, in a full beard just like the mysterious first scene of last season. He gets out of the car, goes into the trunk and pulls out a tire-iron. But we see a massive M-16 in there too. He uses the iron to squeeze through the fence and then pry open his door.
Now Walt’s inside his old house and it’s barren. Desolate. Nothing on the floor or walls except some debris. With one exception. The word “Heisenberg” is painted across one of the walls in huge block letters. Walt looks at it quietly, then hears the skateboarding. He peers through some blinds and surveys the kids. Then, he slowly walks up the hallway and the camera gives us glimpses of some of Walt’s hiding places: Under the floor, in the vent. Finally he walks into the bedroom, takes out a quarter and looses up an electrical socket. The socket where he hid the ricin.
He takes out the ricin and walks back to the car. There, his neighbor spots him . She has a bag of groceries but is frozen. She’s petrified to see Walt standing there, in the flesh. Why? We don’t know. But Walt says, “Hi Carol.” And she drops the bag of groceries in shock. Then the familiar music and title. Breaking Bad.
Sounds pretty intriguing but given that it’s only one scene, and the pre-title scene at that, we’re unsure of how it will play into the overall plot. It’s clear though that something big has happened in Walter White’s life and we have no doubt that Gilligan and his writers have an explosive season in store for us.
In addition to the above spoilers, we also have a new countdown trailer for the upcoming season, which is a greatest hits montage of sorts. It acts as a brief recap as well, showing off some of the highlights from the past five years.
Breaking Bad debuts on Sunday August 11th at 9PM. Will you be watching?