Well, she did look really sad, but the CGI mouth was just awful.

[edit: And also, acting? She's a baby. She's a prop with facial expressions.]

She's a prop with facial expressions

Hey, some of the noises are her too, surely? She's totes Mark Wahlberg equivalent.

I'm reading people saying that Walt took Holly only to ensure an Amber alert to make sure the cops would be listening in on the absolution of Skylar call, and that he'd never intended to try and keep her for any time.

Doesn't that take away from the impact of the "Mama" scene? I thought that was why he gave her back--he'd already planned the Skylar call, though.

Thoughts?

Huh, I hadn't thought about that. I think he just took her because, well, Skyler had turned his son against him so he was going to salvage his daughter...even though he didn't have too much longer to live. Abandoning her at a fire station was actually responsible parenting.

You never know with Walt, though. I don't think he knows why he does the things he does.

My guess is that he wasn't thinking much ahead of taking Holly -- it was sheer panic, to grab a bargaining chip.

But when he'd had time to cool down, and admit to himself that Holly needed her mom, and that he was putting his family in big heaps of trouble, he manned up.

I'm sure the Amber Alert helped his decision along, though.

My guess is that he wasn't thinking much ahead of taking Holly -- it was sheer panic, to grab a bargaining chip.

That was what I saw, though clearly by the time he made the phone call he knew about the Amber Alert and was depending on the call being recorded by the police.

Guesses as to what the sniper gear and ricin are for 8 months down the line? DH thinks he's going to free Jesse from the Nazi meth lab, and I wonder if the ricin is a suicide pill.

Walt (the character) has periods of thinking and planning as well as periods of acting in a panic. The man who took Holly is the same man who drove screaming into the desert toward his $$.

This is not a man who has his shit together.

Yeah, I think he changed his mind because of seeing Holly's distress.

Guesses as to what the sniper gear and ricin are for 8 months down the line? DH thinks he's going to free Jesse from the Nazi meth lab, and I wonder if the ricin is a suicide pill.

I've seen that theory, and I've also seen suggestions he's going to poison Lydia. I guess because she's the one who got Uncle Jack involved in the business, and now he's on a Hank vendetta? All the weaponry to free Jesse sounds about right, though. But then Jesse kills him. Right? Riiiiight?

Wait. There's a Nazi meth lab?