The Mailman Doesn't Have To Knock Even Once To Get Past That Fourth Wall

"Mexican Shootout", by Rich Kelly


I got a nice E-Mail:

Just wanted to drop a line to say thank you for taking the time to go past the front door and take those who delve further into Breaking Bad.

As a USPS mailman for all of 87106, 87108, 87102, 87105 and 87110 the last 3 years, I’ve been oh so close to when and where they film a large portion of scenes. Only up until about a year ago, I started to mention it to friends as not to ruin the opportunities that I had to literally walk right through police barricades, across barriers, and into businesses where they were shooting scenes in the back.

This show is incredibly great and those who do like it, just don’t like it….they are completely passionate about it. I’ve literally met a dozen people who didn’t know about it, given them all of season 1, and gotten a call a day or so later asking if I can get them S2. What other show makes their viewers do this kind of thing? Binge TV. LOL.

Anyhow, just wanted to really say hi, thank you for posting up your Blog for others outside of “The 505” to see and wish you all the luck in your future endeavors.

We’ll all be reading.

I replied:

Thank you! I am honored!

That’s amazing, being able to penetrate past that fourth wall, all as a part of official duties (reminds me of that scene with the mail lady in “Peekaboo”)!

I started watching Breaking Bad fairly late - at the beginning of Season 3 – but one of the first things that caught my eye was the hillside behind the Mesa Credit Union, where Walt withdraws his life savings to buy an RV. That hill was a favorite hiking destination when I was in high school, but unless I said something about it, no one would ever know. So, I started blogging about BrBa, knowing that other Burqueños must have plenty of stories of their own about other locations they were familiar with.

Interestingly, even though I could sense interest, the folks from Albuquerque that I knew seemed reluctant at first to get too involved. Part of it I think was that they were simply too close to the action, and that it was enough to go about the daily routine, but part of it was a gracious humility: even if they weren’t very familiar with the show itself, they sensed they had a good thing going and they didn’t want to spoil things by pushing too hard or interfering too much. So, apart from folks at ‘Duke City Fix’, and maybe a few other forums, it was up to partial outsiders to speak first. Regarding locations, “WallDruggie” (initially, a part-time ABQ resident from S. Dakota) posted her pictures first, then me, then “OldeSaultie” with his maps (strangely-enough, he’s from Virginia and has never been to ABQ, but by using Google Earth he knows the city’s streets better than most Burqueños).

Now that Season 5 is starting, and the show’s end is in sight, I think the reluctance of the Burqueños will melt away, as the celebratory rush begins.

Once again, thanks!