Breaking Bad - Season 5 (AMC) (2 Viewers)

[Ronald Epstein]

Travis,

I am sort of putting the final season of THE WIRE on a long hold.

I saw the first 2-3 episodes and found I really didn't like this season. What turned me
off was the introduction of the Newspaper staff.

Of course, this probably the way I felt about the first few episodes of every season
I have watched of anything until the story really gets into gear.

In any case, I am going to be traveling over the next week or two and then I have a
major hardware review to do that will take about a week.

I don't expect to resume THE WIRE until mid November. But, when I do, I plan to
get it all done in about a day.

Glad to hear the final season gets better and that I am in store for a great finale.

 

[TravisR]

Travis,

I am sort of putting the final season of THE WIRE on a long hold.

I saw the first 2-3 episodes and found I really didn't like this season. What turned me
off was the introduction of the Newspaper staff.

I love to whine about the media so the newspaper storyline was right up my alley. That being said, I've seen a number of folks that hated the story but they also usually say how much they really liked the finale. I'd say more about what I liked about the finale but it would be spoiler-ish so I'll just leave it at that.

 

[ScottH]

Being only a few days beyond the Breaking Bad finale, I think it's unfair to judge, but as of this minute, I think I would say the FINALE of the 'The Wire' was slightly better than the 'Breaking Bad' finale. Probably the only other finale I would put ahead of Breaking Bad as of right now is 'Six Feet Under'. But who knows what I will think a year from now. I will say that as a whole I don't think either of those shows were better than Breaking Bad. Another point worth making is I think the whole finale thing with serialized shows is way overblown. I mean, are we to judge a series that in most cases told a story for 50+ episodes, based on the last 40-60 minutes? As has already been said, the finale of Breaking Bad started with Ozymandias in my eyes. In that sense, I don't think there was a better finale. As for Lost, I wasn't a fan of the way it ended, I watched every episode and thought it was decent for network TV, but didn't quite get what all the fuss was about. But I actually have a new respect for Lindelof after reading his post, and I kind of feel sorry for him now since it sounds like he's still taking abuse from fans for that finale. And in no way was he admitting he fucked up the ending. It sounded to me like he's just trying to get the annoying fans off his back. As I said, I didn't care for the way it ended, but good for him for sticking to his guns. Shame on the fans who still give him crap for it. I really wonder what is wrong with people. One other thing about the final season of The Wire...I really liked the newspaper story line. The slight issue I had with that season was:

Spoiler

The "made up" serial killer.

 

[Charlie Campisi]

Scott, I was going to respond to Ron's and Travis's discussion on season 5 of The Wire, but you covered my exact feelings. Worst of the 5 seasons IMO, but the finale was excellent. And I didn't like the season for the same reason you didn't. Where was the drama in that storyline?

I also agree that the BB finale started with Ozymandias, just as it will for the millions of people who will watch this for the first time online or on Blu-Ray and churn through the episodes in rapid fashion. I can just imagine the people who watch an episode or two after putting the kids to bed and start Ozymandias at 11p. No way they get to bed before 2a!

 

[TravisR]

Being only a few days beyond the Breaking Bad finale, I think it's unfair to judge, but as of this minute, I think I would say the FINALE of the 'The Wire' was slightly better than the 'Breaking Bad' finale. Probably the only other finale I would put ahead of Breaking Bad as of right now is 'Six Feet Under'. But who knows what I will think a year from now. I will say that as a whole I don't think either of those shows were better than Breaking Bad.

The finale of Six Feet Under (and Lost) both pack a helluva emotional punch. Personally, I cared more about the characters on Lost than Six Feet Under so I enjoy the Lost finale more but SFU is still excellent. The finale to The Wire manages to satisfyingly wrap up a tale about an entire city without feeling cramped or like they're shoe horning characters in. While it hasn't really been brought up, the finale to The Shield is ruthlessly brutal but I think I'd say that's the best finale that I've seen because it just goes for the jugular and isn't afraid to be horrific. I was 'scared' that Breaking Bad's ending would be as rough as The Shield's and when it wasn't, I ended up finding BB's ending to be oddly positive.

Another point worth making is I think the whole finale thing with serialized shows is way overblown. I mean, are we to judge a series that in most cases told a story for 50+ episodes, based on the last 40-60 minutes?

Yeah, as the saying goes, it's the journey- not the destination- that matters.

One other thing about the final season of The Wire...I really liked the newspaper story line. The slight issue I had with that season was:

Spoiler

The "made up" serial killer.

I love that (big spoilers for The Wire)

Spoiler

McNulty shows his brains and balls in one grand display with the fake serial killer. Plus, I enjoy that when the 'killer' is murdering the homeless, no one gives a damn until McNulty comes up with some crazy angle that can get exploited by the media. And in the end, it's great to see him play the police and the media and they can't do anything about it.

That being said, I do know that many people criticize that storyline too.

 

[cafink]

I am assuming that the complete series box set will simply include the existing discs from the individual season sets, though I'd love to see a new version that corrects the subtitle issue on season 4.

 

[Joe_H]

I am assuming that the complete series box set will simply include the existing discs from the individual season sets, though I'd love to see a new version that corrects the subtitle issue on season 4.

Out of curiosity, what's the issue with it?

 

[TravisR]

Out of curiosity, what's the issue with it?

The subtitles didn't automatically activate on episodes with Spanish dialogue on the Blu-ray (the Gus flashback episode has probably a 10 minute scene entirely in Spanish). There's a fairly easy work around but it still shouldn't have happened.

EDIT: I posted the work around in a thread back when the disc came out because I knew I'd forget it. You have to "go into the pop-up menu, turn on the subtitles and then turn the subtitles off again, the subtitles should appear as intended for the Spanish dialogue." http://www.hometheaterforum.com/topic/315190-a-few-words-about™-breaking-bad-season-four-in-blu-ray/?p=3827347

 

[Tina_H_V]

One thing I thought I saw, if I may please digress, in the Breaking Bad finale, was when Walt removed his watch from his wrist and set it down atop the pay phone before the ABQ phase of his homecoming/going journey began. That reminded me of the beginning of Easy Rider, just as Captain America did the same thing with his watch, removing it from his wrist before setting off on his journey with Billy. If you will recall, early on in Season 2, when Jesse was riding his moped around town, after returning with Walt following their trip to Hector's hideaway with Tuco, there was another Easy Rider reference as well. Outside of the mini mart, the homeless guy there referred to Jesse as Captain America.

 

[cafink]

Vince Gilligan revealed on Talking Bad that the real, behind-the-scenes reason for the watch scene is that Walt didn't have a watch during the diner scene from the season premier, which was filmed before they'd worked out many of the later plot details.

 

[SamT]

... was when Walt removed his watch from his wrist and set it down atop the pay phone before the ABQ phase of his homecoming/going journey began.

And that was a terrible thing to do. Everything he did afterward was watch based! Going to the dinner, meeting the gang, all were on an exact hour.

 

[Hanson]

One thing about TV that's wholly unlike movies is that movies are meticulously planned. Many TV shows have no real path mapped out. I have read that the ST:TNG guys would write themselves into a corner for the season ending cliffhanger and then spend the off-season trying to figure out a solution.

The BrBa Insider podcast is fascinating for how much stuff was just made up as they went along. The M60 and ricin were introduced with no real idea of how they would be used, only that, in following the rule of Chekov's Gun, they would have to be used at some point. Part of the reason that Uncle Jack and the Neo-Nazis even existed was to create a group of villains that justified using the M60.

Gilligan's writing group was particularly adept at reaching back to past episodes and pulling out a small, rather insignificant details and using them as a springboard for a new plot device. In doing so, it made it look like they laid the seeds for it all along. In reality, it was all rather off the cuff.

 

[SamT]

Yes, only season 2 was planned all in advance. By the way, this is even better than Breaking Bad!

 

[TravisR]

Yes, only season 2 was planned all in advance.

I'm sure they've said but I bet that even that story was only planned as far as the broad stroke of Walt's actions being an indirect cause of a plane crash. Jane, her father, Walt letting her overdose, etc. was probably all made up as they went along in the season.

 

[SamT]

The overdose I don't think so. That's directly tied to the crash and the idea of Walt's actions.

 

[SamT]

I'm watching all the Talking Bad episodes, wisely I didn't watch any special features before the series ended. I was amazed that Bill Hader predicted, 2 episodes in advance, that the ricin was for Lydia. It was funny how Dean Norris' face went dead cold when he predicted it. I think Dean Norris knew.

I don't remember, has anyone here predicted correctly that the ricin was for Lydia? I'm just surprised at Bill Hader's guess because I didn't guess it and only got it when watching the final.

 

[Greg_S_H]

Josh figured it out beforehand. Once he said it and tied it to the Stevia, I knew it was right.

 

[ScottH]

And I think when Bill Hader said it, he was kind of joking around because of all of Lydia's references to Stevia.

 

[joshEH]

Just realized it's Sunday, and there's no Breaking Bad on tonight.

 

[TravisR]

I told a friend that Lydia was going to get the ricin but throughout the course of the episodes, I probably also said that Walt, Skyler, Jesse, Hank, Marie, Junior, Saul or Todd were going to get poisoned too.