Breaking Bad - Season 5 (AMC) (1 Viewer)

[DaveF]

It was an amazing show. I watched every episode of Season 1, unsure if I'd watch the next one. By the end, I was hooked despite the depressing tone. It has the strongest multi-season story I've seen in a show, and one of the best, most satisfying conclusions. It shows what happens when the show runner is allowed to execute to a plan, and not have to artificially stretch to milk a success for the network, or be cut short and not be able to fulfill all the promises. Incredibly, it didn't really sag, and had minimal apparent course corrections and dropped plot lines.Is it the best show on TV. Possibly. Arguably. But I don't think so. Why? Because I can't easily recommend it, even to my wife. It is too depressing, too horrible. It's not actually that violent -- Revolution and Black List I think are more violent and they're on network TV. But Breaking Bad's violence matters. It defines the characters: it's frightening. When I suggest it to a friend, it's with a litany of caveats. My favorite, best shows, I recklessly recommend to everyone (and boggle when they don't watch )Amazing show. Glad I got to see all of it; especially in a compressed fashion.

 

[DaveF]

Some other scattered thoughts from my FB conversation on the showI'm intrigued by the view that Breaking Bad is a morality play, as I'm not fully convinced it is. Or, I'm convinced it's not fully a morality play. But I can't say why without spoiling the show.A good while back I watched a PBS show about TV shows, storytelling, etc. Stephen Bochco, I think, said something to the effect, "The story is in the consequences. A character getting shot isn't interesting. How they behave after being shot is." I've grown to appreciate that aspect of good TV over the years. And that is a defining aspect of Breaking Bad. The story was in the consequences. Actions had consequences, and Walter and Jesse and Skylar lived those out. Good and bad.

 

[Paul D G]

I finished the series the other day and just caught up reading this tread.

I'm too lazy to check my earlier post but I had initially waved this show off due to the dad from Malcolm playing a drug dealer didn't sound appealing. Once it caught on with the public and I became interested I still didn't watch because I knew I'd have to watch from the beginning.

Finally got around to it and wow! That was crazy fantastic! There wasn't a clunker in the entire series.

What fascinated me was watching what started as a goofy Buddy show devolve into a nightmare. Walter, the loser science teacher becoming a megalomaniac. It was amazing watching it slowly unfold. And everything ended Right. The way we'd want and expect it to. It was perfect.

I only really have a couple discussion worthy comments to add:

- I was expecting Madrigal to be the front for some massive drug empire and Gus was only a small part of it and they were coming after Walt. I didn't quite get it about the guy killing himself in the bathroom, I expected this to become a bigger thing. I'll have to read up on that on the BB Wiki.

- Maybe it was just me, but when Skyler was having the baby I was pondering her relationship with Ted. I wasn't sure if they'd had sex or he just hit on her. Then he showed up after the baby was born and I was convinced it was his kid. Maybe too soap opera-y of a thought. I fully expected Walt to find out and his new-found power come to the fore to wipe him out.

- Jesse, man. I really felt bad for him. Meeting Mr White was the worst thing to ever happen to him. No good came of it. Only a year of death, destruction, and misery. I really wanted Walt to say something like "I sorry this happened to you. I never would have wished for this." Death is a far better fate than being beaten and enslaved.

So, now what? I guess I'll have to start watching The Wire.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

So, now what? I guess I'll have to start watching The Wire.

You will find The Wire equally satisfying.
Spent a week of my vacation, more than 8 hours a day, watching
the entire season last year.
Was well worth it. The Wire is one of the best series ever made.

 

[TravisR]

Yeah, they're very different shows and it's not a contest but I'd say that The Wire is an even better show than Breaking Bad.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Yeah, they're very different shows and it's not a contest but I'd say that The Wire is an even better show than Breaking Bad.

It's sort of hard to believe, but yes, I think The Wire is a better show than Breaking Bad.

What's really sad is that the HBO show won no Emmy (or most other major) awards whatsoever
during its run despite it being one of the most groundbreaking shows of its time.

I think you are in for a real ride with The Wire. I miss the show already.

 

[ScottH]

I think you are in for a real ride with The Wire. I miss the show already.

Already??? The show's been off the air for over 6 years! Hard to believe, isn't it? I know what you mean though...

 

[SamT]

Finally got around to it and wow! That was crazy fantastic! There wasn't a clunker in the entire series.

Yes there was. The fly episode!

 

[TravisR]

Already??? The show's been off the air for over 6 years! Hard to believe, isn't it? I know what you mean though...

What's crazy and great is how many more people have seen the show now than watched it when it aired. Almost every show fades in terms of popularity as time goes by but fortunately, people found The Wire even if it was after it ended.

 

[Sam Posten]

The Wire -Season 1- Might have been as good or better than BB but no way did it hold its greatness and build on it to the end the way BB did for me.

 

[ScottH]

The final season of The Wire left a sliver of a bad taste in my mouth. It was good, and the finale was probably the best series finale ever, but there were parts of the final season that seemed out of character for the show to me. Spoilerized since apparently there are people out there that haven't seen it...

Spoiler

Specifically the pseudo-serial killer and the fact that it seemed to be a bit of an editorial on the newspaper industry at the time.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Already??? The show's been off the air for over 6 years!

Yes, but only watched it within the past year as indicated in my earlier post.

 

[Paul D G]

I had no problems with "Fly". I knew it was a bottle episode as soon as it started so I wasn't expecting much. But Walter's dope induced dialoge was gripping. Looking back tho... Walt told a story about.. what was it.. a opossum loose in the walls of his grandmother's house, how after it was killed she could still hear it and that's how they discovered her cancer. Then at the end of the epiode he saw the fly landing on the smoke dector. I took that as a sign of his pending madness - was the fly really there? They didn't really expand on that. His descent into the monster he became isn't quite the same thing.

 

[TravisR]

I had no problems with "Fly". I knew it was a bottle episode as soon as it started so I wasn't expecting much. But Walter's dope induced dialoge was gripping.

The scene where he was a hair away from telling Jesse that he let Jane die was as suspenseful as almost any life and death scene in the series. The episode is great because it's two amazing actors and nothing else. No explosions, no guns, no craziness- just acting and dialogue.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

The scene where he was a hair away from telling Jesse that he let Jane die was as suspenseful as almost any life and death scene in the series. The episode is great because it's two amazing actors and nothing else. No explosions, no guns, no craziness- just acting and dialogue.

Agreed. I love a good bottle show (some of my very favorite episodes of "Star Trek" and "Star Trek: The Next Generation" are bottle shows), and this one on BB was better than most, as I recall. Good mix of drama, black humor, fantastic acting, great direction from Rian ("Looper") Johnson too.

 

[DaveF]

- Jesse, man. I really felt bad for him. Meeting Mr White was the worst thing to ever happen to him. No good came of it. Only a year of death, destruction, and misery. I really wanted Walt to say something like "I sorry this happened to you. I never would have wished for this." Death is a far better fate than being beaten and enslaved.

There was some Dorian Gray in their story: Jesse absorbed much of Walt's pain. As Walt soared, Jesse was destroyed. Walt's penultimate freedom was paid for by Jesse's enslavement. And with Walt's death, Jesse was freed.That really took hold for me with Jane's death. And that theme made Jesse --a two bit, white trash, drug dealer --sympathetic.

 

[SamT]

AMC Renews 'Breaking Bad' Spinoff 'Better Call Saul,' Pushes Premiere to 2015

The Breaking Bad prequel spinoff has been renewed for a 13-episode second season, the cable network announced Thursday, bringing the total episode count to 23.

Originally slated to premiere in November, the debut of the hourlong drama has been pushed back to early 2015. The second season will follow in early 2016.

 

[SamT]

'Better Call Saul' Timeline to Overlap With 'Breaking Bad' for Meth-Cooking Cameos "That gives us the ability to bring back characters that were killed on 'Breaking Bad,'" said executive producer Peter Gould of the prequel starring Bob Odenkirk.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/better-call-saul-timeline-overlap-716029

 

[Sam Posten]

So excite:http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/press-tour-better-call-saul-live-blog-with-vince-gilligan-and-peter-gould?utm_content=buffer6d9e6&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

 

[TravisR]

I'm just happy that they're maintaining continuity with Saul actually being Irish (and with a different name) and I'm happy to see that with regards to bringing characters back that Peter Gould said that there's

Characters we love. Gus, there's so much more we have to say about that character... Having said that, we're trying to make something that stands on its own, that has an entertainent value that's not just seeing a series of old favorites, or 'Remember when?' It's not the series equivalent of a clip show.

Having Mike on the show makes sense but too many callbacks and the show becomes a cameo fest rather than a real show. I'd love to see Walt and Jesse again but beyond them walking by in the background, it doesn't make much sense for them to be in Saul's world before BB and it would just be there as a fun but gratuitous cameo more than anything else.