Breaking Bad

[Anton Gramscescu]

Breaking Bad

And just, overall, too much redemption. Agree completely with (i think) JV's view that Ozymandias was really the final episode.

[Come along, Min]

Breaking Bad

@AG

I know what you're saying with those holes, but I think AB2 put it quite well on the page before. It certainly sums up how I feel about those sort of issues.

AB2 wrote: (to Toro)

Indeed, he may well not have banked on them frisking him for every single thing he had in his pockets, as opposed to just small arms. But if you want raw realism in this day and age, watch reality TV, and junk it after two minutes (as most of us will). And it was a stupendous ending, for all that I'm picking microscopic holes in it.

Part of the beauty of Breaking Bad was that it made the insane feel semi-plausible. If we saw that revolving-gun thing happen in a Michael Bay movie -- assuming we had bothered to watch a Michael Bay movie at all -- we'd laugh and see it as pure corn. It happened last night, and we were riveted and shocked for a minute or two. Most of us on this thread are males in their late 30s to early 60s. We've watched shitloads of dramas and actioners in our time, to varying extents. We reckon we've seen it all by this stage, from Al Pacino shooting Captain McCluskey in the face to ED-209 massacring Mr Kinney in the boardroom. And yet there is still room in the art form for something like that to knock the very breath out of us, and not for just ten seconds, but for a lot longer.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Breaking Bad

A good part of the show's skill was how it segued from total believability, in the early seasons, to almost Tarantinoesque hyperbole by the end. As I mentioned earlier, Gus Fring walking out of his office with half his face missing was a kind of tipping point. However, the characters remained absolutely believable and consistent throughout. For this type of production particularly, that is crucial.

LA Times interview with Gilligan on alternate endings.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Breaking Bad

Further thoughts from the ever-reliable Russell Smith in the Globe & Mail

"I watched the finale this week with the excitement of someone allowed to see the Great Pyramids or the Mona Lisa for the first time.

Reaction to that final episode has generally been good, which is surprising considering how easy it is to disappoint devoted fans with something that attempts a giant wrap-up, and given the limits of believability that must be pushed to satisfy these narrative demands. Satisfying is the word that has come up most often. It was satisfying because it provided a series of definitive endings, endings for every subplot, and those endings were unequivocal: Walt dies, as he has to; he gets money to his family, as he has to; he saves Jesse, as he has to; he admits his psychosis, as he has to; he kills off the neo-Nazi gang and the annoying Lydia, as we want him to. It’s not exactly plausible that all those things would happen, but we want them to, so they are satisfying. It’s not real, which is why it’s exciting...

...Verisimilitude was gloriously, spectacularly absent in that Breaking Bad finale. That ridiculous MacGyver-like spinning machine-gun contraption didn’t make sense on any level: Its magical ability to kill a half-dozen bad guys in one long burst was just silly, comic-book stuff...[But] in order to come up with a great ending – an ending that is, like the near-superpowers of Walter White, satisfying – you’re probably going to have to make something up, something that didn’t [or couldn't] actually happen."

[jason voorhees]

Breaking Bad

That LA Times article was great.

I actually would've loved to have seen the Saw contraption. But yes, at least with Walt Jr, they gave his greatest scenes for the end of the show. That would've been a bit much.

Hopefully they'll release a show of all of those writers meetings. You have to wonder if there's going to be a cottage industry / fan fiction of other Walt stories.

[VTTBoscombe]

Breaking Bad

My wife, after hearing all the hype has now decided she wants to start watching BB.

No problem with that at all, although it was rather painful/sad to see DEA's finest at the start, I soon got used to it again.

Fantastic to review it so soon after the last series, so much more light humour I almost forgot the feel, the last series being so dark.

We have just re met Saul, so fairly steaming through.

I am a bit concerned that my wife sees a lot of Walt in me, and she doesn't think the Aztec is ugly.

[evilC]

Breaking Bad

I haven't been through this thread yet, but I ought to say this: A few weeks back, intrigued by all the fuss, I watched all 5 series - in their entirety - in the space of 7 days. I was fucking frazzled by the end of it, I can tell you!

That's all. Carry on.

[evilC]

Breaking Bad

VTTBoscombe wrote: ...she doesn't think the Aztec is ugly.

This is worrying.

[jason voorhees]

Breaking Bad

G-Man - Yes, Vince Gilligan repeatedly referenced and gave props to The New Jersey Capo. By the end, there were references galore both to the Sopranos and all of the 70s types of films that influenced VG. (Keep in mind Sopranos David Chase also wrote Kolchauk:The Night Stalker, which was the single greatest inspiration for The X-Files, so VG had a massive debt to DC.)

EvC- I'd need some grade A crystal to make it through 5 seasons. But in many ways, that's probably the best way to read/see the whole story.

I'm still haunted by the last few episodes. His daughter hiding her face in the firetruck amongst the most haunting images.

[VTTBoscombe]

Breaking Bad

Just finished re watching the 4th Series, and saw "Face Off" again last night.

I know the cartoon nature of the scene when Gus walks out of Hector's room, is the most discussed image;but the minutes that lead up to it, when Gus walks so carefully to the rest home's entrance - it's just so wonderful, the lighting, the camera work, the music but most especially Gus himself.
I suppose as I know what's going to happen I was watching every molecule of it this time.
In fact watching Gus and Mike in this rewatch, has been even better than the first time.

Deep breath for rewatching series 5 now.

[imp]

Breaking Bad

I feel the need to tell the board that last night I watched episode 1 of Series 1. You should envy me in the way that I envy my daughters who have yet to discover, say, The Smiths.

It was pretty good, but I'm not yet totally whelmed.

[EIM]

Breaking Bad

It takes a long time to get whelmed. I've got to Series 3, and I'm getting there.

[dalliance]

Breaking Bad

When you get to the bath scene, maybe 3 or 4 episodes into the first season; that's when you'll start to be hooked.

[jason voorhees]

Breaking Bad

Like the Wire, it's about Seasons instead of episodes. 1 episode is like a few pages of a chapter.

Season 1 deals a lot with the concept of "new normals." Each New Normal whelms more and more.

[Satchmo Distel]

Breaking Bad

CONTAINS SPOILERS:

I don't see how Jesse can have any kind of future life. His self was totally crushed by all the beatings he received and he has the guilt of seeing his lover and a child get shot ostensibly due to his activities.

I thought Walt had become a psychopath up to the moment when Hank was killed, then suddenly he finds his humanity at the moment Hank dies, but by then it's too late.

Does Skylar escape jail? I don't see how she can. She had opportunities to "do the right thing" but chose instead to launder the cash and not co-operate with Hank.

She may actually be the most damaged character of all and has lost the most: surely she's lost her kids and her sister? Can Walt Jnr. forgive her when he realizes that she abetted Walt Snr.?

Hank's fatal error: wanting to be the hero and get Walt without calling for back-up.

Todd's genius casting: I think the fact you think he's out of his depth all the time but then he does something totally evil.

One subtext of the series is how some Americans perhaps use family as an excuse for bad deeds. All these crooks on Wall St. probably think they did it for the wife and kids. Family values in that form collude with the worst excesses of capitalism. The Krays may also be a parallel - "they loved their mum."

On the nature of TV, I'm not sure anymore how people can watch one episode per week in the old way. You have to do one series in a block to get the true effect. I agree that five series in a block is gonna leave you wrecked.

[garcia]

Breaking Bad

i disagree with the last point. i watched the last few series of breaking bad one episode at a time and particularly in the case of the last half-series, i think i ended up savouring it a lot more. i had time to reflect on what i had seen and build up anticipation for the next part. each episode became an occasion in a way that simply couldn't have happened if i'd spent the previous three or four hours watching previous episodes. obviously i wouldn't have been able to stop myself binging them all in one go if i'd had the opportunity to do so, but i don't think that would have been the best way to watch them.

[VTTBoscombe]

Breaking Bad

Yeah, it was strange viewing habits with BB. I binge watched to get myself to the second half of the last series , then had to "endure" the week wait each time.

Not sure what I preferred.

Recently rewatched it all, bringing my wife in tow this time, and we did binge and "more regular" viewing pacing. Other than the last series where she just binged.

She was "horrified" that we all loved this kind of stuff; but couldn't stop herself.

[dalliance]

Breaking Bad

Yeah, binging on stuff like Arrested Development is easy enough I imagine but watching Breaking Bad and other quality dramas is like drinking a good wine that needs to be sipped rather than gulped.

We were playing catch up and only finished BB between Xmas and New Year, yet we didn't watch more than 2 episodes in any single weekend evening. I think there was a time we did do three on one particular evening and regretted it; that just felt wasteful, There is too much to take in and discuss with each one.

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

Breaking Bad

And goodnight Badfinger — the perfect closer.

Totally agree with AdC on that. I wonder if the team (or person?) responsible for finding and choosing songs for the soundtrack found that song by doing some kind of lyrics word search on "got what I deserved"?

The melancholy is slightly increased by reading up on the unhappy stories of a couple of the band members.

I dug this thread up for the first time last night after finishing the whole thing a couple of days ago. Really enjoyed reading the thread, so many interesting and insightful contributions, so thanks everyone.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Breaking Bad

I wonder if the team (or person?) responsible for finding and choosing songs for the soundtrack found that song by doing some kind of lyrics word search on "got what I deserved"?

I hadn't thought of that. I assumed it was the "special love I had for you Baby Blue" (meth.) Maybe it was both.

[Heliotrope]

Breaking Bad

I didn't watch BB when it originally aired so have been catching up via DVDs for the past few weeks. Right now I'm about a third of the way through season 4, so I don't want to read the earlier posts just yet, but I'm going to nail my flag to the mast: Team Hank! But all of the characters are so complex that while watching the beginning of "Abiquiu" I even found myself liking and missing Jane, to my surprise.

[WOM]

Breaking Bad

Same here. We're in Season 2, ep 8. I won't read anything til it's all over.

[Jah Womble]

Breaking Bad

Never having seen a second of Breaking Bad - but having more than an inkling that it was 'my bag' - I just put the entire box set away in the six weeks or so leading up to Xmas.

With only a few reservations, I thought it was tremendous - though, thankfully, didn't fall foul of the hype given it at the time.

I'll keep schtum of course for Heliotrope and WOM's sakes...

[G-Man]

Breaking Bad

I've read that there will be another season. If so, I really hope it won't make the previous seasons look ridiculous.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Breaking Bad

Apparently Better Call Saul will be revisiting some of the characters.