Breaking Bad

Adeimantus

Adeimantus

The AMC series, BREAKING BAD is, in my opinion, the best written series currently on television.


The writing veers from brutal, to delicate and approaches the sublime on occasion, a cross between Beckett and Mamet. Do yourself a favor and watch the series from the beginning. Netflix is streaming the first three seasons.

Here's a brief scene (one of many favorites) where Jesse gets high on heroin for the first time:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vAhOHUSr4M&




p.s., based on this one clip, don't think the series glamorizes drug use: Jane, Jesse's one-true-love, chokes on her own vomit while deep in a skag stupor later on.
 
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So you want everyone to watch the series and then you spoil a pivotal plot development in your post? At least use spoiler tags.
 
I agree. Brilliant series. I've been watching since the first season and have been a Vince Gilligan fan since The X-Files. *This series has so many unpredictables and happy incongruities that its' unfolding is the real jewel...moreso then any revelation of a *spoiler* (IMO, anyway.:))
 
I just got into the show recently. It's very good, indeed. But I don't know that I agree with all the 'best show on TV' hype. But I gotta say, apart from Walt's wife, I think every character is great. Mike and Gustavo are probably my faves though. Oh, and Bob Odenkirk is priceless as the sleazy lawyer. Brilliant casting there.

ps: Nice to see you around again, Charles :)
 
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Treme has better writing, but I think that's to be expected.

Breaking Bad is great, though. I'm glad that they're ending it next year rather than letting it plod on like the Sopranos.

EDIT: This guy is one of the greatest characters ever on TV, though.

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Thumbs up on Breaking Bad from here.

I also agree about Walt's wife. She is what keeps Breaking Bad from being in the same class as The Sopranos or The Wire. Maybe she gets killed off by Gus this year.

Mike and the lawyer are the two best characters in the show.

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Wombat said:
Treme has better writing, but I think that's to be expected.

Breaking Bad is great, though. I'm glad that they're ending it next year rather than letting it plod on like the Sopranos.

EDIT: This guy is one of the greatest characters ever on TV, though.

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I won't quibble about Treme, but I couldn't agree more about Gus.
The scene where he returns to kill the Mexican drug lord who murdered his earlier partner is brilliant. After drinking the poison to allay suspicion, he goes to the bathroom, carefully folds and sets his glasses aside, folds a towel and lays it meticulously down in front of the toilet, then kneels and sticks his finger down his throat and pukes his guts out.
Pure Gus.
 
GuerrillaAngel said:
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S'all good, man.

Adeimantus said:
I won't quibble about Treme, but I couldn't agree more about Gus.
The scene where he returns to kill the Mexican drug lord who murdered his earlier partner is brilliant. After drinking the poison to allay suspicion, he goes to the bathroom, carefully folds and sets his glasses aside, folds a towel and lays it meticulously down in front of the toilet, then kneels and sticks his finger down his throat and pukes his guts out.
Pure Gus.
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With the exception of the very first episode with the brutal execution, this season's Gus had really let me down until this episode. Where was the brilliant tactician and manipulator who took out his cartel rivals, disabled Hank, and saved Walt in one fell swoop, all while maintaining plausible deniability? But then he had to go and Hulk out and murder what I'm guessing was the vast majority of a cartel's senior members and all was well again. But more than anything it's his demeanor. Giancarlo Esposito performs beautifully, expertly portraying his cold and analytical persona.

"A man? A man provides."

Perfect.

(As for Treme, I don't want to turn this into a hurr durr my tv show is better than your tv show thread, mostly I'm just extremely biased towards liking David Simon. His grasp of the medium is phenomenal.)
 
It jumped the shark in the third season and became unwatchable for me from that moment on. Even before then, it wasn't that great. When your primary protagonist is a completely unlikeable prick then somewhere along the line you've forgotten to turn left at Albuquerque.
 
DDK said:
It jumped the shark in the third season and became unwatchable for me from that moment on. Even before then, it wasn't that great. When your primary protagonist is a completely unlikeable prick then somewhere along the line you've forgotten to turn left at Albuquerque.
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I wholeheartedly disagree. Walt's degradation and downfall is probably the best reason to watch the show. I absolutely love how he's becoming more and more unsympathetic as the show goes on.

From scrubbing tires to "I am the one who knocks," and he's not even done.

Unless you mean you dislike the character from an artistic perspective?
 
Wombat said:
I wholeheartedly disagree. Walt's degradation and downfall is probably the best reason to watch the show. I absolutely love how he's becoming more and more unsympathetic as the show goes on.

From scrubbing tires to "I am the one who knocks," and he's not even done.

Unless you mean you dislike the character from an artistic perspective?
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Sympathising with a protagonist is pretty much a cardinal rule of any story creation. Of course there are exceptions to every rule, however to break such an important rule requires that there be some other reason for a person to invest themselves emotionally into a story.

For many that like Breaking Bad, their primary emotional investment is sheer non-erotic voyeurism; as you said, you're enjoying the degradation and downfall of the primary character.

For me, however, I have no such interest. It was amusing for awhile primarily because I think I fooled myself into believing that he would somehow redeem himself, but instead he just became a monster who I had absolutely no positive emotional attachment to and in fact, wanted him to fail and be caught. I get no enjoyment out of such a show.

He's not a bad-ass with a heart of gold. He's not an anti-hero. He's just a plain evil, selfish and greedy person with no moral or ethical boundaries. He simply justifies everything to himself in order to protect his own interests. He is the definition of a villain. The only joy I could gain from watching such a show is the episode where everything finally comes crumbling down on top of him and he is brought face to face with his evil and the subsequent consequences.

Dexter I can sympathise with; Walter I cannot.
 
DDK said:
Sympathising with a protagonist is pretty much a cardinal rule of any story creation. Of course there are exceptions to every rule, however to break such an important rule requires that there be some other reason for a person to invest themselves emotionally into a story.
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When it comes to storytelling, there are no rules.

I don't have to like someone or relate to them to become invested in the story. Taxi Driver and Scarface spring to mind.

For many that like Breaking Bad, their primary emotional investment is sheer non-erotic voyeurism; as you said, you're enjoying the degradation and downfall of the primary character.
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You say non-erotic voyeurism, but...

For me, however, I have no such interest. It was amusing for awhile primarily because I think I fooled myself into believing that he would somehow redeem himself, but instead he just became a monster who I had absolutely no positive emotional attachment to and in fact, wanted him to fail and be caught. I get no enjoyment out of such a show.

He's not a bad-ass with a heart of gold. He's not an anti-hero. He's just a plain evil, selfish and greedy person with no moral or ethical boundaries. He simply justifies everything to himself in order to protect his own interests. He is the definition of a villain. The only joy I could gain from watching such a show is the episode where everything finally comes crumbling down on top of him and he is brought face to face with his evil and the subsequent consequences.
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Hey hey, who's into voyeurism now. :cool:

It's a compelling arc. Seeing all the forces at work that drive your seemingly normal family man to do exactly what Walt does. Of course, even from the pilot they emphasize the seductive, consuming nature of power, and Walt's impotent and frustrated life. What fascinates me most is that when he first started out, Walt really did have his family's best interests at heart, and it's been an intriguing journey seeing that slowly fade away into his own sick, desperate thirst for power for power's sake.
 
I would agree with Wombat here.

There is no rule that a story arc has to bend toward good (or redemption) in the end. The fact that it bends, and bends believably, suffices to satisfy me; it validates and illuminates the forces at work outside of the human psyche (as well as within) that make us all what we are. Walt's moral deterioration is interesting and believable.

Yet Jesse interests me more than Walt. If you're looking for a "likable" char in the story, I can't think of a better one. Where Walt's degradation is cynical and, one could argue, just, Jesse's fall is tragic. If there's anyone worthy of "redemption" in the end, he's a prime candidate, imo. If I was on the writing staff, I'd pull for him to make it through the ending.
 
Adeimantus said:
Walt's moral deterioration is interesting and believable.
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One thing I would actually really like them to go back and flesh out in a cold open is
what really happened to cause Walt to walk out on Gretchen all those years ago. I think they're deliberately keeping it ambiguous because it's arguably the greatest turning point in his life, and might reveal some of Walt's character flaws were already there, deep under the surface, long before he started cooking.

Yet Jesse interests me more than Walt. If you're looking for a "likable" char in the story, I can't think of a better one. Where Walt's degradation is cynical and, one could argue, just, Jesse's fall is tragic. If there's anyone worthy of "redemption" in the end, he's a prime candidate, imo. If I was on the writing staff, I'd pull for him to make it through the ending.
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They originally planned to kill Jesse off at the end of the first season, but keeping him around was a very wise decision. He's such a perfect foil for Walt, and I agree, his downfall just gets more and more tragic, whereas Walt is determined to fly the plane into the ground.

Too bad I'm pretty sure everyone is going to die, including Walt's entire family.

I don't think anyone has mentioned the cinematography for the show, either, which is fantastic.
Last night's episode's closing shot was perfect, as a quick example. The framing, what it suggests...
 
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