@avclub-ff6023e3011fc2f3d90eb466c0d428a3:disqus: I didn't mean "cynical" in the insulting sense, but in the all-doubting one. Just so we're clear on that.

No, both you and the previous poster are absolutely correct, I wrote exactly the opposite of what I meant. I blame Hank, as I was in mourning while revising.

@jwood:disqus: This is both to you and to those who don't realize we know each other, and I usually take a week to process your comments then answer via email. So, this is an excellent comment, and I will try to remember to post my response here tomorrow instead of just sending it via email.

@avclub-c30343a1440179e636180d9092ba9db3:disqus: "Does the graffiti reveal really qualify as a jump cut?"

If you want to be really cynical about it, you can go anti-auteur and claim that none of it is on purpose, it's just the product of training: because these directors have spent a lifetime soaking in American film conventions, and their entire career reproducing them, they don't fully recognize what they're doing, they…

@Beast_of_man:disqus: I agree, as I hate infodumps. Ironically, I wrote about this years ago in response to someone or other who might be familiar around these parts:

@avclub-4daa3db355ef2b0e64b472968cb70f0d:disqus: "The best techniques and effects are the ones you don't notice because you're too busy being sucked in to the story."

That may be a long time coming, but I'll keep it in mind.

Every morning I look in the mirror and think the same damn thing.

@avclub-410987637793620466d1b0732bd7ed6d:disqus: I'm not sure. I'm already headbutting against the limitations of fair-use, so I don't know whether I can actually get away with embedding videos. The only reason I can use as many screen captures as I do in the first place is that this is billed as an educational…

Yes, "Granite State" makes it clear that "Heisenberg" ain't exactly a mysterious figure anymore, but when I originally wrote this, I didn't know that. But in the intervening weeks, yes, I do think Gilligan wanted people to wonder who wrote that — otherwise he wouldn't have bifurcated the plot as he had between…

@avclub-a70b90ac4dd557918e5a1c5cb19399ec:disqus, in all honesty, at this point I think Walter Jr. did it, but I don't have any evidence of it. I'd actually finished a previous version of this column a few weeks ago, but I'd posited that the episode demonstrates that Hank did it. I still think that's true — that this…

The next installment is Halloween-themed, and will, I assure you, address the vital role of an editor in the creation and maintenance of pace.

I'll be discussing all those things — including auteur theory and its limitations — as the series progresses, but for now I'll just say that we're starting slow for a reason. So far I've covered "frame" and "focus," but I assure you, once we're in the thick of it, we'll discuss the collaborative effort that goes into…

Next Thursday. We'd scheduled one for this week but, um, how about we'll just say that "Ozymandias" emptied a few bagfuls of wrenches into its works?

@avclub-7e1ce4ce3124fd9ecc13a151afcff11b:disqus: I refuse, on principle, to take your advice. (By which I mean, "Thanks.")

It depends on the theme of the course. If I'm teaching Breaking Bad, there's a subtext of "representation of drug culture," so I'd start with something like Dazed and Confused. When I taught Game of Thrones, the subject was "high fantasy," so I started with Lord of the Rings. As for why you can reply to some comments…

No need to apologize! And I hope you don't think I was trying to brush you off by asking you to email. I really would like to pick your brain. (Hell, I'm working on this thing on Breaking Bad for…something or other I'm writing, and have a question I'm certain you could answer.)

And has the benefit of being true. Wait, did I say "benefit"? That's not the right word at all…

Settle down, settle down, I think you just lost half the class.