Sunday, December 23, 2012

Breaking Bad- Titles and Meanings

It's safe to say that nothing in Breaking Bad is coincidental- including the episode titles. While the meaning to most of the episode titles are made clear by the end of said episode, there were a handful that forced me to resort to Google. Here are some of my favorites:
  • Cancer Man (Season 1 episode 4)- This is the episode where Walt finds out he has Cancer. Simple enough. It turns out that Cancer Man is also a tie to a character on The X-Files, Smoking Man- also referred to as Cancer Man. Vince Gilligan was the co-executive producer on the X-Files, and that's actually where Vince met Bryan Cranston, when Cranston appeared on the show.
  • Caballo Sin Nombre (Season 3 episode 2)- My seven years of spanish classes finally paid off- I actually was able to translate the title on my own. It means horse with no name. Horse with no name is the name of the song that Walt is singing along to in the opener. 
  • I See You (Season 3 episode 8)- Throughout the episode, Walt makes various attempts to outsmart Gus (which proves impossible). I think I See You is meant to shed light on the fact that Walt is being watched by Gus every waking second, and to try and outsmart him would only backfire. Also, I See You is a play on words- I See You = ICU, as in Intensive Care Unit. Hank spends the entirety of the episode in the ICU.
  • Gliding Over All (season 5 episode 8)- Gliding Over All is a poem by Walt Whitman. Walt Whitman is obviously  important to this episode, as a book of his work turns out to be the reason why Walt will have some major 'splaining to  do.    
 GLIDING o'er all, through all,
Through Nature, Time, and Space,
As a ship on the waters advancing,
The voyage of the soul--not life alone,
Death, many deaths I'll sing. 
While the poem shares many themes with the series, I wonder if it's also Gilligan's way of foreshadowing the final season. "Death, many deaths I'll sing."
  • IFT (Season 3 episode 3)- My personal favorite. IFT= I Fucked Ted.

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