"Breaking Bad" Filming Locations - Season 5a

This post is the sixth of seven posts regarding "Breaking Bad" filming locations.

This post focuses on Season 5a filming locations (2012). It is subject to updates, generally about weekly.

Links to these seven "Breaking Bad" Filming Location posts are as follows:

Part 0 - List of Filming Locations
Part 1 - Season 1
Part 2 - Season 2
Part 3 - Season 3
Part 4 - Season 4
Part 5 - Season 5a
Part 6 - Season 5b

I have also written an essay regarding the opening scenes: History, And The Opening Scenes Of "Breaking Bad".

I had posted a number of AMC videos, but there is some kind of problem rendering those videos, so in this update I've included just links for those.

Let me know if you have any problems or questions. E-Mail address: mvaldez@sierraresearch.com

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Check out OldeSaultie's Google maps of "Breaking Bad" filming location sites: the best maps on the Web!

Season One locations
Season Two locations
Season Three locations
Season Four locations
Season Five locations

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"Breaking Bad" - Season 5, Episode 8 "Gliding Over All"

The erotic allure of power! Lydia even uses the advertising slogan of the Trojan Vibrations Twister - "You'll blow their hair back!" - to devastating effect!

"Gliding Over All", by Walt Whitman:

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.

I'm continually intrigued by how "Breaking Bad" parallels Navajo origination legend (with Lydia cast as Spider Woman and Walt and Jesse as the Twins, helping them rid the Earth of Monsters). But as with all parallels, it's not exact: Walt is now more monstrous than any Monster he ever dealt with. BrBa is like Navajo legend as interpreted by Mafiosi.

There is an excellent book regarding the Navajo (also known as the Diné), portions of which are available online by Google Books for purchase: Spider Woman Walks This Land: Traditional Cultural Properties And The Navajo, by Kelli Carmean.

Quoting from specific passages below:

It is said that long, long ago, Monsters roamed the Fifth World and fed upon the five-fingered Earth Surface People, today called the Navajo. ....

It was in their time of greatest need that Changing Woman, impregnated by the Sun, gave birth to the Twins. Seeking to help their people by killing the Monsters, the Twins set off on a journey to visit their father and request his aid. Soon, they met Spider Woman, a small and often overlooked creature, but one with great power. Spider Woman helped the Twins by teaching them protective prayers and by giving them hoops tied with sacred life feathers, the power-filled plumes plucked from living eagles. ....

And who are the people being saved in "Breaking Bad"? The families, and the children: Flynn, Holly, and Lydia's daughter too. Very much in accordance with traditional Sicilian ways. Navajo legend, as interpreted by Mafiosi! And who are the Monsters? So many of them! The drug lords, and their henchmen!

Spider Women later also assists two women emissaries of the Navajo to learn the art of weaving (Marie & Skyler?) - once again, to assist their people.

And the Twins did eventually rid the Earth of Monsters. But at what cost?

-----

In any event, regarding locations, a few places stand out:

• Railroad crossing (Lomas at the railroad, looking west);
• Reverse sunset (Unser Blvd. NW, under the power line intersection, just north of I-40: 35.105916, -106.730296);
• Motel Hacienda (6214 Central Ave. SW).

The restaurant appears to be Grove Café & Market, 600 Central Ave. SE. This location is just one block away from where my friend Bruce lived until only last year! Still, never having been in that place, I didn't recognize it on TV.

Interesting that they used film footage from airports outside of New Mexico. "Breaking Bad" almost never uses film footage from outside the Albuquerque area, but to convey international reach, it's certainly an acceptable use here. The jumbo jet takeoff is probably at LAX, in Los Angeles, California.

AMC's video on filming the prison scene.

-----

And to sign out from the first half of Season 5, here is MGMT's "Time To Pretend." This song was playing at the pool gathering just prior to Hank's discovery of who his brother-in-law really is:

Lyrics:

MGMT
Time To Pretend lyrics

Songwriters: ANDREW VANWYNGARDEN, BEN GOLDWASSER

I'm feeling rough, I'm feeling raw, I'm in the prime of my life.
Let's make some music, make some money, find some models for wives.
I'll move to Paris, shoot some heroin, and fuck with the stars.
You man the island and the cocaine and the elegant cars.

This is our decision, to live fast and die young.
We've got the vision, now let's have some fun.
Yeah, it's overwhelming, but what else can we do.
Get jobs in offices, and wake up for the morning commute.

Forget about our mothers and our friends
We're fated to pretend
To pretend
We're fated to pretend
To pretend

I'll miss the playgrounds and the animals and digging up worms
I'll miss the comfort of my mother and the weight of the world
I'll miss my sister, miss my father, miss my dog and my home
Yeah, I'll miss the boredom and the freedom and the time spent alone.

There's really nothing, nothing we can do
Love must be forgotten, life can always start up anew.
The models will have children, we'll get a divorce
We'll find some more models, everything must run it's course.

We'll choke on our vomit and that will be the end
We were fated to pretend
To pretend
We're fated to pretend
To pretend

Yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah

Image by tosgos at deviantart.com.


"Breaking Bad" - Season 5, Episode 7 "Say My Name"

Technically they were on San Felipe Pueblo land, but near the boundary with Santa Ana Pueblo land, for the final scene - about here: (35.380657°, -106.505815°)

I was in this general area (a couple of miles away from the final scene) in August, 2010. Driving around, I kept having the sensation I had been here before. Maybe I was confusing it with a trip through Peña Blanca when I was a kid.

Now, I know intellectually that this notable landmark (pictured above) is the core of an extinct volcano. Nevertheless, when I was a kid, my father told me it was a monster that had been frozen into stone. No matter what anyone says, for me, it will always be a monster frozen into stone. Or, alternatively, Mike's expression, frozen into stone.

North of Santa Ana, I crossed the ditch into agricultural fields, lost the pavement, started travelling a dirt road, and kept heading north.

For centuries, the Pueblo Indians have been fiercely-protective of their way of life, and remarkably resistant to changes imposed from the outside. They have kept their grazing lands and cottonwood groves free from most of the real estate development that has marred the Albuquerque area. 150 years ago, most of the Rio Grande Valley in Albuquerque looked a lot like the expansive groves portrayed in "Breaking Bad". It came as a surprise to me that Santa Ana Pueblo has been working so closely with "Breaking Bad" over the years. And now again! (And San Felipe Pueblo too.)

A magnificent alfalfa field!

Driving around, I startled what appeared to be a colony of Gunnison's Prairie Dogs.

Below is AMC's video on Mike crossing the River Styx.

(35.370617°, -106.512221°)
I’m thinking this might be the site where Mike tosses his arms into a hole in the ground. On Google Earth you can even see a tiny spot that might be the hole cover! It’s interesting: this site is on Santa Ana Indian Pueblo land, but the final scene point is on San Felipe Indian Pueblo land. It demonstrates that “Breaking Bad” is working very closely with both Indian Pueblos, and has good relations with both. In addition, these sites are as remote from the inhabited areas of the Pueblos as it’s possible to get and still be on Pueblo land. I’m sure that a minimal disturbance of the inhabitants was part of the package for permission to use the land.

Last of the three houses Marie visits on her kleptomaniac journey (Season 4, Episode 3, "Open House"). 8503 La Sala Grande, NE.

This site reappears in Season 5 - it's adjacent to La Palomita Park (with playground) where Mike is forced to abandon granddaughter Kaylee (Season 5, episode 7, "Say My Name"). The house is visible in the background.

"Breaking Bad" - Season 5, Episode 6 "Buyout"

"Buyout" reminded me, not of an Albuquerque story, but of a Sacramento story. I have an often-homeless friend named 'Joe the Plumber', who, just like "Breaking Bad's" Todd, is prone to coming up with perfectly tactless eulogies.

For example, in 2002, when Ferguson the Cat died (from old age), I proceeded to start digging a grave near the back alley. Joe the Plumber came along, and, despite raw knuckles from a fist fight the previous evening amongst the homeless folks over by the railroad, Joe insisted on helping dig Ferguson's grave.

We were at a loss for words as we tamped the cat's body into the grave. Joe finally piped up: "Shit happens." Just like Todd!

"Shit happens" now appears to be the default American eulogy for living entities for whom one does not really care. Last year, when Cinnamon the Chihuahua died (from parvo), Joe the Plumber had some advice:

J.: I told my co-worker that I had brought you a Chihuahua. He said there he read in the paper that someone in Yolo County was offering $1,000.00 for the return of a White Chihuahua. I told him I should take your Chihuahua, paint it white, and claim the reward.

M.: We could dig the Chihuahua up, paint it white, put a little sombrero on him, and both claim the reward.

J.: Make a little sign: "Yo quiero Taco Bell!"

M.: Brilliant!

I am surprised Hank hasn't suggested something like this for the Cousins.

My attention was riveted by Jesse's lightning T-shirt. New Mexico hosts lightning research at Langmuir Labs (New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology), atop the Magdalena Mountains, not far from Socorro, NM.

Is Jesse's T-Shirt related to Langmuir Labs? Or is Jesse's wear a more-generic T-Shirt available through the Discovery Channel, or the Nature Store?

"Breaking Bad" - Season 5, Episode 5 "Dead Freight"

The opening scenes were filmed in the chaotic off-road motorcycle area not far from “Q” Studios. They seem to start on the north side of Tijeras Arroyo, heading SW, and jump, ending up – not sure – but but probably staying in the same general area. (35.021705°, -106.615063°) In any event, it’s Albuquerque.

Ironically, the landscape around Albuquerque is too tough to support tarantulas. (But you probably CAN find tarantulas near Lamy, near the railroad location – more rain; more supportive to large spiders.)

That basement location looks great. I wonder where it is?

Regarding the trestle, I think "OldeSaultie" is correct: that’s the spot! (35.498826, -105.916656)

I was wondering; is “Breaking Bad” going to get all mystical on us? When Lydia points to the place in McKinley County where the radio dead zone is, she points very close to Pueblo Pintado, an important outlier of the Chaco Canyon archaeological site, where the Anasazi once lived, and their most-important religious site. There are other important sites to the Navajo nearby too, like Red Mountain. And La Fajada Butte isn’t very far away either: probably the most notable archaeo-astronomical site in the American West! I visited there once, when it was still open to the public.

I was flipping out! Are we going to get all quasi-spiritual as we approach the end of the TV series? Are we going to mash up our tribal, Mexican, and Anglo criminal roots into some kind of sky-blue spiritual mush? Will Spider Woman lead us all out of the Fifth World at the end of the 16th episode? Is Lydia, Spider Woman? How can that be? Who is Lydia, anyway? Or, for that matter, who is anyone else in the TV series? It would be so out-of-character for “Breaking Bad” to get mystical (or is it?), and it makes my head hurt. I better go back to figuring out locations....

Here's AMC's video on working with trains....



A Kid And His Tarantulas

Teen, spiders break into Breaking Bad


People are touchingly concerned about him:

It's shocking, disturbing and going viral, and the episode's big stars are a young boy and a trio of tarantulas, all of them local. Chris Webb, 15, is from Rio Rancho and plays a kid riding his bike around the mesa collecting tarantulas in scenes shot south of Santa Fe. He also witnesses some shenanigans involving the stars of the show about a high school chemistry teacher turned methamphetamine kingpin.

...Webb says working with Breaking Bad cast and crew was great.

...What was new for him was acting with a trio of female Chilean rose hair tarantulas named Dierdre, Patty and Pepper. The spiders were trained by Chris Lim from Clark's Pet Emporium. Lim says the Breaking Bad directors originally wanted the classic big black tarantulas. But he convinced them to use the Chilean spiders because they are more docile and look more like the types of tarantulas found in New Mexico.

...He also had to get them used to having a big, black camera lens pointed at them. One of the arachnid actors--Pepper--actually went home with Webb as a gift.

Bryan Cranston Transforms Into Walter White

Presto, change-o!

Breaking Bad Filmed At Octopus Car Wash Today (June 6, 2012)

E. from Albuquerque sent a note:

Hi Marc, Today, June 6 2012 around 4pm, I drove past the Octopus car wash and noticed something looked different. And yes, I do cruise past there frequently hoping for signs of Breaking Bad and for the second time in about 2 years I was rewarded. I don't live too far from there so it's no bother. I confess I also drive past the White residence, which is not far from the car wash and Taco Sal which is just across the street. The car wash had a sign out stating they were closed. There were some big trucks coming and going. Some Octopus car wash employees were standing out front and when customers drove up wanting to get a car wash the employees would go up to their cars, talk to them and then give something, a piece of paper. Didn't seem right, the car wash shouldn't be closed on a Wednesday afternoon, it wasn't raining, it never rains here. So I drove up to one of the employees and he told they were closed for filming and gave me a one dollar off coupon for my next car wash. I asked him if it was Breaking Bad that was filming there and he said yes. He told me I just missed the actors, Anna Gunn and Bryan Cranston, they had left around 3pm. Darn my rotten luck!! I would have loved to catch a glimpse of them. He said the actors spent some time sitting outside and were very friendly to the Octopus staff.

... He said he told the actors that there is an app for finding Breaking Bad filming locations and also a tour of the locations in Albuquerque. That's news to me.

...Thanks for all the Breaking Bad info and pictures on your blogspot. I am so enthralled with Breaking Bad I have to rein myself in sometimes, don't wanna worry my friends too much.

I replied (in part):

You're not alone with your Breaking Bad obsession! I'm surprised how often polite conversation with strangers soon turns to Zafiro Añejo, and similar dark matters. I think the Breaking Bad obsession is particularly hard on those who live in Albuquerque. As one of my commenters wrote:

I live in Albuquerque....about 3 blocks from Walt's house. Walk by there everyday with the dogs. I was so curious where a lot of these locations were. I am just obsessed with this show.

The obsession for those who live nearby must be incredible: a hunger bordering on pain!

On Monday, June 11, M. responded regarding the app speculation:

In case you didn't find the app for filming locations, actually a website, its On Location Vactions. Lists filming around the country. For past few months there have been listings daily for breaking bad locations. Also indicates when in studio.

I reply:

That actually makes sense to me, that the rumor might refer to a Web Site that could be associated with an app. "On Location Vacations" makes a lot of sense as that particular Web Site. I refer to it occasionally, but since I live in Sacramento, CA, it doesn't make as much sense for me to follow it as closely as someone who lives in ABQ might. For example, On Location Vacations has a Facebook page and a Twitter page, both of which can be associated with apps.

Most of what On Location Vacations seems to feature are not filming locations, per se, but on-location base camps, at which the actors assemble first before heading into the neighborhoods.

For example, in previous seasons the area around the intersection of Phoenix & Wyoming has been listed as a frequent OLV base camp for Breaking Bad, but to my knowledge has never actually been used on camera.

Tours Of Breaking Bad Sites

I occasionally get forlorn E-Mail messages from Breaking Bad fans stranded in Albuquerque who need, or would really like, personalized tours of Breaking Bad sites. I wouldn't mind giving tours such as this, but unfortunately I live in Sacramento, California, so am not usually in a position to do so myself. It wouldn't surprise me in the least to know that some people are giving such tours, even if informally.

I am aware that the folks at Albuquerque Trolley do give tours of Albuquerque sites that appear on film and TV, including popular Breaking Bad sites. By all means, give these guys a call!

On Friday, June 29, 2012, E. from Albuquerque wrote with some important information regarding a new tour offered by ABQ Trolley, just for "Breaking Bad":

Hello Marc, KOB-TV Albuquerque aired an interesting BrBa report yesterday, thought you might be interested. You can find it at kob.com.

Fantastic! That is great news!


Facebook Group

(July, 2012) There is now a Facebook group dedicated to unofficial Breaking Bad tours. It operates much like a club, and can be found here.


The Freakier Breaking Bad Gets, The More Accurate It Becomes

The paradoxes of BrBa (h/t, Kate):

So it’s somewhat surprising that in depicting the mechanics of the meth business, “Breaking Bad” is so notably realistic. I spent the past six months interviewing drug traffickers and D.E.A. agents for an article about the business side of a Mexican drug cartel, and, having been an ardent fan of “Breaking Bad,” I was startled by how much the show gets right.

...[I]n a clandestine industry, having a quality product isn’t enough. You need distribution. Selling drugs on the street is a risky job, and generally falls to the most dispensable folks, in this case Pinkman’s knucklehead associates Badger, Skinny P, and the portly, mohawked Combo (R.I.P.).

... As Walter’s business grows, his needs outstrip the limited abilities of his sales force. This is a constant problem for drug runners. I spoke with one longtime trafficker who told me that a recurring liability in any scheme is the inclusion of some friend or cousin who invariably turns out to be a drunk or a junkie.

...“We need a proper infrastructure,” Walter eventually concludes—a buffer that will insulate them from the dangers of the street. (“Layered,” is how Pinkman characterizes this arrangement. “Like nachos.”) For help in this regard, they turn to Saul Goodman (J.D., University of American Samoa), no mere criminal lawyer, Pinkman points out, but a criminal lawyer.

... But believe me when I tell you that I have met lawyers like this. It takes a special brew of amorality and pluck to represent a drug lord, and Saul is an only slightly exaggerated version of some very real attorneys who ply our Southwest border. By Season 4, Walter is earning seven million dollars a year, and how to launder large amounts of money is a perennial challenge for narcotics professionals.

... So when Walter’s wife Skyler suggests buying the car wash where he used to work, she definitely has the right idea.

...Saul also introduces Walter to Gus Fring, the brilliantly realized and also surprisingly realistic meth-king proprietor of the Los Pollos Hermanos chicken chain. Flashy drug dealers in the Scarface mode make for enjoyable movie villains, but in real life they don’t tend to last long in the business. Quiet businessmen like Gus, on the other hand, often thrive.

...The one feature in the show that is most glaringly off is the gleaming subterranean mega-lab that Gus constructs for Walter. To be sure, labs like these exist—just not in the United States. One major challenge for any meth producer, which gets scant attention on the show, is how to source adequate precursor chemicals, which are heavily regulated in the States. In real life, it would be impractical to undertake the sort of industrial-scale production that Walter does (two hundred pounds a week) inside this country, because of the difficulty of acquiring the necessary chemicals.

...Otherwise, the show’s portrayal of Mexican cartels is devastatingly accurate. It has been suggested that Vince Gilligan has a sick mind, but nothing he could dream up, even the unfortunate fate of Tortuga, can rival the creative barbarism of the cartels.

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New Season 5 Filming Locations


Northeast Heights Locations (E. of Wyoming, W. of Juan Tabo, S. of Osuna)

Skyler, Skyler, look north, towards Colorado....

Even though I disagreed with his analysis, I liked Matthew Yglesias' open take on Episode 4:

Honestly, my sneaking suspicion is that the lack of big-league sports franchises in Albuquerque, N.M., is the root cause of Walt’s derangement.

Speaking of deranged—Skyler, Skyler, Skyler! It seemed to me that we were supposed to read that walk into the pool as a calculated effort. And yet if she’s pulling herself together for the sake of calculation, I’m not sure she’s really doing it right. I hate to take the sociopathic meth dealer’s side in a domestic dispute, but if Skyler felt that Walt’s post-Fring attitude didn’t adequately consider the risks to their children, she should have just said so plainly. Instead she visited Ted in the hospital, then fell into a dayslong depression during which she was totally noncommunicative with her husband. Then she drops an atom bomb into the family dynamic with a cry-for-help suicide attempt. It’s just not a great way to raise marital issues. So maybe it wasn’t calculated? Maybe she really is overwhelmed and can’t take it anymore? But when Walt confronted her directly, suddenly the nonresponsiveness was gone. I was puzzled, but I loved the scene with the bacon—a gem that more than justified the fast-forward that opened the season.

On to less psychically distressing speculative topics! Where do we think that Lydia and the Madrigal warehouse facility are located? Fresno, Calif.; Kansas City, Mo.; and Houston are all about a 14-hour drive from Albuquerque. My money’s on Houston, which is something of a chemical industry hub; one of the legitimate uses of methylamine is making methylpyrrolidone, which is used in hydrocarbon extraction and processing. Houston stuff, in other words.

I’m not so worried the DEA will go off the scent without Hank to ride herd. The case seems almost trivially easy to crack at this point. The DEA just needs to get around to actually following Mike, instead of discussing the desirability of surveilling him behind closed doors.

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Actually, Sacramento, CA is about 900 miles from Albuquerque, so maybe I'm the source of the methylamine. But Houston is just as, if not more, likely than northern California as the source location of chemicals, imported or otherwise. Plus, Skyler's dilemma is much, much deeper than just a marital issue. Family squabbles are trivially easy to solve compared to this.

La Palomita Park.

Last of the three houses Marie visits on her kleptomaniac journey (Season 4, Episode 3, "Open House"). 8503 La Sala Grande, NE. This site reappears in Season 5 - it's adjacent to La Palomita Park (with playground) where Mike is forced to abandon granddaughter Kaylee (Season 5, episode 7, "Say My Name"). The house is visible in the background.

Something is fishy at Cradock Marine Bank. Charter Bank, 2130 Eubank Boulevard NE. According to Vince Gilligan on Season 5 Breaking Bad podcast, the Cradock Marine Bank is a callback his TV series, "The X Files". (According to "OldeSaultie", this is the bank that Agent Mulder keeps her checking account).

Upper Northeast Heights Locations (E. of Juan Tabo)

(no new locations offered with this update)


Northeast Heights Locations (N. Of Osuna)

(no new locations offered with this update)



Lower Northeast Heights Locations (W. of Wyoming), & Lomas Blvd. Corridor

Tented House I, 2600 Morrow Rd. NE (Season 5, episode 3, "Hazard Pay"). Across the street from the park.

Downtown - Business Core

Central Avenue, Looking west from RR overpass, (Season 5, episode 1, "Live Free Or Die"). Time lapse 1.

Albuquerque Hyatt Hotel, 330 Tijeras NW (Season 5, episode 1, "Live Free Or Die"). Time lapse 3.

Albuquerque Hyatt Hotel, 330 Tijeras NW (Season 5, episode 1, "Live Free Or Die"). Time lapse 3.

Jailhouse, Regional Correctional Center, 415 Roma St. NW (Season 5, episode 3, "Hazard Pay"). Mike fortifies Dennis' resistance to the DEA. Ostensibly, Metropolitan Detention Center (or MDC, which actually exists at 100 Deputy Dean Miera Dr. SW, far to the southwest of Albuquerque), but this isn't that site.

Parking garage (rooftop level). Silver & 4th St. SW (Season 5, episode 6, "Buyout"). Saul buys Mike 24 hours.

Under twin overpass, Commercial St. NE: Marquette Ave. & Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. NE (Season 5, episode 7, "Say My Name"). Mike calls Saul for help, and gets Walt" (35.086616ø, -106.645793ø).

Railroad crossing, Lomas Blvd. at the Railroad; looking west (Season 5, episode 8, "Gliding Over All"). Time lapse (2)

Disc-It, 900 First St. NW (Season 5, episode 5, "Dead Freight").  From west side. Lydia's interrogation site in warehouse basement. (Apparently a real basement too!)

Disc-It, 900 First St. NW (Season 5, episode 5, "Dead Freight").  From west side. Lydia's interrogation site in warehouse basement.

Disc-It, 900 First St. NW (Season 5, episode 5, "Dead Freight").  From east side. Lydia's interrogation site in warehouse basement.

Disc-It, 900 First St. NW (Season 5, episode 5, "Dead Freight"). Lydia's interrogation site in warehouse basement.

A blue bar is present, stretched across this wall as televised on Breaking Bad, but it is absent in this picture. Nevertheless, older Google Earth pictures show the blue bar. Thus, this wall may have been painted recently.

Downtown West, and Central Avenue West

Motel Hacienda, 6214 Central Ave. SW (Season 5, episode 8, "Gliding Over All"). Walt conspires on Jailhouse murders.

Near Old Town, Huning Castle & ABQ Country Club

(no new locations offered with this update)


Barelas & San Jose Neighborhood Locations

(no new locations offered with this update)


Huning Highlands/ Martineztown Locations

Chow's home - 306 Edith Blvd SE (Season 5, episode 2, "Madrigal"). Chow and Chris meet a sad end.

Mike's House, 204 Edith Blvd. NE (Season 5, episode 2, "Madrigal"). Walt and Jesse pitch a plan to Mike.

It's interesting that Mike's house is only a stone's throw from the old Albuquerque Public Library building, on the NW corner of Central & Edith.

Around 1972, back in high school, after the morning double-session at overcrowded West Mesa High School, I used to like to hike down to Central Avenue, then catch a bus to the Library, to read, and to drift among the stacks. Sometimes, I'd eat a hot dog across the street, at Pup and Taco. That was before the Library moved into its new building downtown.

These days at the old library, they feature Special Collections, particularly for the Hispanic Genealogical Research Center (HGRC).

What makes Hispanic genealogy interesting as a subject is that the Spanish settlers of northern New Mexico (aptly named something like the 'Mountain Mule People' by the Apache) lived in semi-isolation for such a long time (and live so even a bit today), that you have a semi-coherent group of only about half a million, or a million, people marrying and remarrying within set parameters over numerous generations. In genealogy, coherence is a good thing!

For example, in HGRC's July 2012 issue of its quarterly journal "Herencia", I see an article by a 'Sena', featuring lots of connections with the 'Valdez' family. There are lots of Valdezes and Senas in my family too, but the author's Valdezes and Senas lived in different places than Tecolote and Santa Fe, where my family comes from. A statistical-mechanical parallel to northern NM genealogy would be an ensemble of states. Many different realizations, even if you try and limit the variables! Interesting to consider all this, and very civilized too.

Who knew a killer lives only a block away?

Mike under Surveillance, Martineztown Park, Edith & Roma NE (Season 5, episode 6, "Buyout"). Mike's feeling annoyed and trapped.

Restaurant, Grove Cafe & Market, 600 Central Ave. SE. (Season 5, episode 8, "Gliding Over All"). Walt & Lydia form a partnership. Also part of Crystal Blue Persuasion montage (scenes 14,18,23). This location is just one block away from where my friend Bruce lived until only last year! Still, never having been in that place, I didn't recognize it on TV.

Grove Cafe & Market is across the street from America's Best Value Inn.

The Farmer's Salad is perfect for disguising that little trace of ricin!

Visible in the background of the Grove Cafe & Market scenes is Bhava Yoga Studio.

University Locations, & Near Presbyterian Hospital



Nice seeing the Denny's (across Central Ave. from UNM) again!

Lydia's House, 1105 Marquette Pl. NE.


This site was fascinating and challenging to identify. I looked at the city views in the background of that scene, and the reflections off the windows, using previous BrBa time lapses as guides, namely:

• View of Downtown, TriCore Reference Laboratories, (Season 3, episode 8, "I See You"); and,
• City Montage, Rooftop near Total Community Care, (Season 4, episode 6,"Cornered").

For the direct view, there is a panorama, from left to right, of what used to be called St. Joseph’s Hospital (old building and new), but now is called Lovelace Medical Center. Then there is the green glow of downtown's Wells Fargo Building, which has been surgically removed by the AMC people in the direct view (probably because it is too distracting) and so is therefore invisible in the scene, but is still present in the view reflected off the windows as Lydia walks down the hallway to where Mike is hiding. Then, there is the columned Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court building, at 401 Lomas Blvd. I-25 lies in the foreground, but is virtually invisible.

In the views reflected off the glass, both the glows of the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court building and the greenish Wells Fargo building are evident. The only building that is correctly-situated for these views to work out is located at 1105 Marquette Pl. NE.

On TV, it looks like a Bauhaus-y glass box kind of place, with nice art. That neighborhood between I-25 and UNM has always been an academic bastion, and despite the building’s modernism, that kind of arty place is in keeping with the neighborhood.

Left: Brick-red Encino Terrace looks even redder in the light of the setting sun. Viewed from the southwest in this picture.

Encino Terrace was glimpsed from the north in the panorama visible from the window of Lydia Rodarte-Quayle's Madrigal Electromotive (Houston) office.

Lydia's office appears to be in Scott Kienzle Law Offices, 1011 Las Lomas Rd. (Season 5, episode 4, "Fifty-One"). Lydia, and her mis-matched shoes!

Encino Terrace, as seen from Scott Kienzle Law Offices.

Hank & Marie drive to Walt & Skyler's home. Drive's first part is eastbound on Sigma Chi Rd. NE., then a turn one block south of University Blvd. NE, to Las Lomas Rd. NE. Second part of the drive features a turn towards Spruce Park, towards the west, onto Las Lomas Road at University Blvd. NE (Season 5, episode 4, "Fifty-One").

It may be that the scene listed in my Wish List:

ABQ Street, Residential street (Season 3, Episode 12, "Half Measures"). Walt & Flynn drive here.

Is the same stretch road as:

Hank & Marie drive to Walt & Skyler's, Drive's 1st part EB on Sigma Chi Rd. NE. (Season 5, episode 4, "Fifty-One"). Marie spills the beans about Skyler.

There are certain similarities between the scenes, but there is also a garage in the later scene, at the residence just east of 1201 Sigma Chi Rd., that is not present in the first scene, so confirmation is not complete. It may fit, however, if the garage is new.


Nob Hill Locations

(no new locations offered in this update)


Central Avenue East Locations

This bold sign is a telling picture of life these days in the United States, where well-armed maniacs massacre helpless civilians almost every week. This sign is just across the street from Loyola's Restaurant, where, among other events, Mike and Lydia rendezvous (Season 5, episode 2, "Madrigal"). You can see the mural while Mike rebukes Lydia for her panic.

Mike:

"My guys are solid. I vetted them with great care. And Fring made sure they were well-compensated in the event of a situation such as this. They're paid to stand up to the heat and keep their mouth shut. No matter what. And they will."

(no new locations offered in this update)



South Valley Locations (W. of River)

Auto Repair Shop, El Gallo Llantera & Automotive, 843 Isleta Blvd. SW (Season 5, episode 4, "Fifty-One"). Walt sells the Aztec for $50.00.

South Valley Locations (E. of River)

Old Joe's Salvage Yard (2), Ace Metals, 5711 Broadway Blvd. SE, (Season 5, episode 1, "Live Free Or Die").

Here's the link for AMC's video on the making of the magnet scene.

Access to that particular junk yard is hard to get. It's like a Bermuda Triangle of junk!

Southeast Heights Locations

Tortilla Making Facility, Foods of New Mexico Distributors, 3041 University Blvd. SE (Season 5, episode 3, "Hazard Pay"). Subject to surprise inspections, this place was deemed unsuitable by Walt for the new enterprise.

Vamonos Pest Control, 2010 Ridgecrest Dr. SE (Season 5, episode 3, "Hazard Pay"). Experts with dangerous chemicals. Vamonos Pest Control has a Facebook page. It's also fun to give them a call and listen to their Answering Machine (Call: 505-243-6204). The Facebook Page lists 505-503-4455 as the number for Vamonos Pest Control, but that number is for the law offices of Saul Goodman.

Near "Q" Studios

Near-collision. Possibly near Season 3 Truck-blow-up site (Season 5, episode 1, "Live Free Or Die"). Mike meets up again with Walt & Jesse.

Motorcycle offroad area (Season 5, episode 5, "Dead Freight"). Offroad biker finds a tarantula. (35.021705°, -106.615063°)

Meeting between Mike, Jesse, and Declan from Phoenix (Season 5, episode 6, "Buyout"). The soil is seriously disturbed here at this eerie place. (34.977306°, -106.638677°)


"Q" Studios

(no new locations offered with this update)


The Big I, and (semi-industrial) I-25 Corridor, North

The Big-I, Looking south from about (35.107774ø, -106.630090ø) - (Season 5, episode 1, "Live Free Or Die"). Time lapse 2.

Cardboard Box Making Facility, Fed Ex Ground Warehouse, 4511 Paseo del Norte NE (Season 5, episode 3, "Hazard Pay"). According to Walt, steam and salt make this place unsuitable for the new meth-making enterprise.

Madrigal Houston Warehouse. Sysco Warehouse, 601 Comanche Rd NE (Season 5, episode 4, "Fifty-One").

Storage Locker (Season 5, episode 8, "Gliding Over All"). Huge stack of cash!

Devon Self Storage
4801 San Mateo Blvd. NE

Devon Self-Storage, 4801 San Mateo NE.

Devon Self-Storage, 4801 San Mateo NE.

Devon Self-Storage, 4801 San Mateo NE.

North Valley Locations

(no new locations offered with this update)


Corrales Locations

(no new locations offered with this update)


Rio Rancho Locations

(no new locations offered with this update)


Northwest Albuquerque

Fortified Police Station, ABQ Northwest Area Command, 10401 Cibola Loop, NW (Season 5, episode 1, "Live Free Or Die").

This site is down the hill from a Honda dealership (Perfection Honda, 2603 American Road Southeast, Rio Rancho, NM)!

Well, kick me! This police station is a NEW facility. The concrete barely had time to dry before it was used on 'Breaking Bad'! This neighborhood isn’t far from where I grew up, but occupying the ground where Seven Bar Airport used to be located, it’s still all fairly-new. It’s all pretty foreign to me (I pine for the old airport). Both my sisters graduated from adjacent Cibola High School. My parents lived nearby briefly, but they soon decided to move away. For about 20 years, one of my sisters lived a mile or so west of this location.

This looks like the wall they brought the Big Magnet to!

Fence during nighttime drive (35.208344°, -106.661802°).

Fence for Vistas at Seven Bar Ranch Apartments, 10600 Cibola Loop NW.

View looking SE, although it does look odd in a night view. The cut in the curb isn’t there on Google Earth, but the repair work on the pavement is visible on the Google Earth aerial shot. What appears from the distance to be double bars above the gate in the distance are actually surfaces on the apartments on the other side of the gate, reflecting light.

I associate this neighborhood with madness. My father lost a bit of his grip on sanity in those apartments back in 1990. In World War II, my father was an artilleryman in Baker Battery, 666th Field Artillery Battalion, running and gunning with Generals Montgomery & Patton across northern Germany (Nathaniel Blumberg has written a powerful account of those uncertain days).

After the war, my father raised his family just north of here, in Corrales, but he always carried a trace of war-related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) associated with his service.

In 1990, my parents decided to retire to Vistas at Seven Bar Ranch. The combination of being uprooted by the move, plus Saddam Hussein’s surprise summertime invasion of Kuwait, triggered what appeared to be a PTSD-related event. We had to smuggle the rifle out of the apartment, so concerned we became, lest the upstairs neighbor, the woman with the noisy high heel shoes, have to dodge bullets fired through the floor, from below.

Ultimately, my parents moved out of Vistas at Seven Bar Ranch. It wasn't anyone's fault (except maybe Adolf Hitler's and Saddam Hussein's). Not the happiest of times. Illustrates just how fragile the mental health of war veterans can be.

As a society, we'll be dealing with PTSD related to the U.S. invasion of Iraq of 2003 for years and years; until 2050, and beyond. No more war.

There are more lighthearted examples of madness too from this neighborhood.

In 1980, I attended my sister's graduation ceremony from nearby Cibola High School. I expected the Class of 1980 would choose a perfect, contemporary graduation song that would best capture the spirit of their time. They chose "Free Bird" by Lynyrd Skynrd.

WTF? "Free Bird"? That song is from 1974, not 1980! If this wasn't an example of madness, I don't know what is!

The rest of the nighttime drive is still unclear. I’m thinking they are somewhere in the area, likely on Coors Blvd. (NM 448). The double green light visible in the background just after Walt says ‘Because I say so’ could be heading south, just south of Paseo del Norte, but not sure….

Guitar Showroom, Grandma's Music & Sound, 9310 Coors Blvd. NW (Season 5, episode 3, "Hazard Pay"). Skinny Pete plays Mozart! Who knew?

I talked to the folks at Grandma's Music, and asked them what their connection to BrBa is. The fellow explained that Cinematographer Michael Slovis is also an acoustic guitarist. They said BrBa ordered Vamonos Pest Control's big, custom-made rolling instrument cases through their auspices, and they also put together Jesse Pinkman's fancy stereo system. I said that system looks fake to me, but he said no, it is a perfectly-functional system. Who knew?

This 'Sneak Peek' AMC video for Season 5 was filmed at 10527 Box Canyon Place NW, which served as Tented House II (Season 5, episode 3, "Hazard Pay"). (35.201494°, -106.751956°)

According to this AMC video, they used two houses for this scene!

According to my nephew, who has a friend who lives in this house, this is 10538 Box Canyon Place NW (which seems to match what we can see in the video).

West Mesa Locations

Reverse sunset (Season 5, episode 8, "Gliding Over All"). Unser Blvd. NW, under the power line intersection, just north of I-40. (35.105916, -106.730296).

Southwest Albuquerque

Madrigal Headquarters in Hanover Germany, Atrisco Heritage Academy High School, 10800 Senator Dennis Chavez Blvd SW (Season 5, episode 2, "Madrigal").

Here's the link to AMC's video on the filming of the Madrigal Headquarters in Hanover, Germany scene.

I headed to Atrisco Heritage Academy High School, and secured permission to take only exterior photos.

During discussion about BrBa I exclaimed that BrBa is the best TV show that has ever been aired. A student Admin Asst. explained that I was, sad to say, incorrect. 'Charmed' is the best TV show that has ever been aired. Since each of us had never seen the other's fave show, we couldn't resolve the imbroglio. All this time, I've been working under the assumption that Hank is Walt's nemesis on BrBa, but in reality, Shannen Doherty is.

Sandia And Manzano Mountain Locations

(no new locations offered in this update)


To'hajiilee Locations

(no new locations offered in this update)


Cabezon Locations

(no new locations offered in this update)


Locations Near Los Lunas And Belen

(no new locations offered in this update)


Locations Near San Ysidro, Santa Ana, San Felipe & Zia

Rio Grande River, Santa Ana Pueblo, approximate location (Season 2, episode 5, "Breakage"). Illegals find Tuco's grill (35.358692ø, -106.516228ø). Also, time lapse (1) (Season 5, episode 8, "Gliding Over All").

Firearms Disposal Pit, On Santa Ana Pueblo land, approximate location (Season 5, episode 7, "Say My Name"). Mike prepares his exit (35.370617ø, -106.512221ø).

I wanted to see if there is a lower stress path than the one followed recently by UBBFT to reach the site where Mike crosses the River Styx in BrBa. On the south side of Algodones, on the south side of the E-W ditch that cuts across the valley, there is a road that leads one close to the Rio Grande. I then hiked over to the site, crossing only two fences in the process. No challenges - lower stress!

First, you cross through a grove of cottonwood trees.

Mike's riverside stop, On San Felipe Pueblo land, approximate location (Season 5, episode 7, "Say My Name"). Mike crosses the River Styx (35.380657ø, -106.505815ø).

Bernalillo/Placitas Locations

(no new locations offered in this update)


Santa Fe & Lamy Locations

Railroad trestle & crossing, Spur Ranch Rd. at NM Southern Railway crossing, near Lamy, NM, south of Santa Fe (Season 5, episode 5, "Dead Freight). In the radio dead zone. (35.498826ø, -105.916656ø)

Looking west.

Santa Fe Southern Railway is a private company that only runs a single, 18-mile-long rail line, from Lamy to Santa Fe.

Here's the link to AMC's video on working with trains....

Looking east.

Looking south.

Looking north.

The tree behind which Mike hid. The houses in the distance were blocked from view by the dump truck.

Trestle.

Looking east from trestle, where AMC cleared land for the mock methylamine tank.

Trestle.

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Breaking Bad Has Deeply Philosophical Underpinnings

"Caution: Dust Storms May Exist".

This is one of my favorite New Mexico traffic signs (on Interstate 25, near Los Lunas). It's very philosophical. Like "Breaking Bad" is philosophical.

Dust storms may exist. Then again, they may not. How dusty does a dust storm have to get to be considered a dust storm? What criteria do you use? How do you know?

It's almost Kafkaesque. I need help from a greater mind than my own.

(Or, failing that, there is a new book on sale at Amazon.com that discusses the philosophical implications of "Breaking Bad"):

Can a person be transformed as the result of a few key life choices? Does everyone have the potential to be a ruthless criminal? How will we respond to the knowledge that we will be dead in six months? Is human life subject to laws as remorseless as chemical equations? When does injustice validate brutal retaliation? Why are drug addicts unsuitable for operating the illegal drug business? How can TV viewers remain loyal to a series where the hero becomes the villain? Does Heisenberg’s Principle of Uncertainty rule our destinies? In Breaking Bad and Philosophy, a hand-picked squad of professional thinkers investigate the crimes of Walter White, showing how this story relates to the major themes of philosophy and the major life decisions facing all of us.

Notes On Albuquerque Slang

Albuquerque is host to people from all over the United States, and the world. Nevertheless, a distinct accent is evident among residents, particularly people with a Hispanic background who grew up in Albuquerque, or anywhere else in northern New Mexico.

In "Breaking Bad", several characters have the accent (e.g., Steve Gomez and Krazy Eight stand out). Nevertheless, a Hispanic background is not sufficient by itself (e.g., Andrea Cantillo's and Tuco's NM accents aren't very strong, and may point to more diverse origins - California, for example?)

English speakers in Albuquerque tend to follow the speech examples of Southern California rather than Texas, the Midwest, the South, or the East Coast, but once again, that tendency is neither universal or slavish.

In a rare misstep for "Breaking Bad", in Season 2, episode 12 ("Phoenix") Walt apologizes on the phone to Marie for not attending the birth of his daughter because of a traffic jam "on the Forty" - a Southern Californian usage that isn't used often in New Mexico (an Albuquerque resident would say "on Interstate 40"). Nevertheless, with people's minds being so elastic, and all, there is no guarantee that Albuquerque residents won't adopt the Southern Californian usage eventually: maybe in a decade, or so.

Regarding the Albuquerque accent, there isn't a surer guide than Lynette! Can't get enough of her!

You start with your basic Northern New Mexico accent, and add a patina of urban sophistication for living in the ABQ (half of whose residents also hail from Española, or Taos, or Las Vegas, or Santa Fe) and this is what you get.

New Mexico appears to be a border zone in the famous "Coke", "Pop", or "Soda battle. There's a video called "Shit Navajos Say" that indicates they prefer "pop" out on the Rez.

Myself, growing up in Albuquerque, I remember using "Coke" as a child, but "soda" as an adult. If I live long enough, maybe I'll use "pop" as well!

Below, Lynette speaks with that special Albuquerque swagger.


Lynette explores a local corn maze.