Breaking Bad (thread will have *spoilers*)

[DutchJazzer]

I'm of the opinion that the Wire is the most overrated show in this era of television.

The first season is merely a season long procedural. There's not that much that differentiates it from something like the first season of The Killing (I understand I just committed heresy, but if we're just comparing first season to first season I think this statement is accurate). Procedurals are prevalent throughout television. They have so many beats that are essentially pre-proscribed and such a high floor that I'm just not that impressed by them.

Seasons Three and Four are truly excellent. Everything that's been written about the show in glowing terms is true, but only about those two seasons. Other seasons have their moments, but I think the Wire really coasts on rep more than anything. It's not even in the same league as Breaking Bad or the Sopranos.

thats like your opinion man.

but my top 3: dramas are

1.Wire
2.Breaking bad
3.sopranos
ib
if you factor other genres in it might be tricky since i watched ds9 for example 34 times so far that has to be put number 1 on my list, although i think wire and other shows are quality wise better

 

[BTP]

For me if I only consider drama:
1) Wire(In interviews with the actor of Snoop btw, the way the "ghetto" is displayed is very accurate. She herself came from such a situation living in "the projects")
2) Boardwalk Empire
3) Breaking Bad
But it's tough, since it's all Comedy+Crime. And when I factor that in Justified, Sherlock, Luther and Homeland are right up there as well. And Deadwood...

 

[LogGrad98]

For me breaking bad tops the list of TV at all. I watched a little of the wire and maybe I need to plow through to the later seasons, but I just don't get into procedurals all that much, as they have been severely overdone. Tried to get into Sons of Anarchy, found it kind of meh despite the fact that Perlman is one of my favorite actors. I have heard good things about Boardwalk Empire, and maybe I will go there next.

Of course Walking Dead is coming back in a few weeks. Might just rewatch season 5 of breaking bad in the meantime.

Looking forward to the next 3 episode "season" of Sherlock too.

 

[sirkickyass]

Boardwalk Empire's pace is glacial.

Seriously, glaciers have formed and melted during scenes.

I would rather watch the entire run of Buffy the Vampire Slayer again than watch Boardwalk Empire.

 

[AtheistPreacher]

First, I was actually a bit conflicted about the Breaking Bad ending. On the one hand it was nice that it wrapped things up, on the other hand it felt wrong to me somehow that Walter basically got everything he wanted, minus Hank dying and his family not loving him. Ultimately the writers seemed to be still in love with his character to the end, even though Gilligan specifically said that the point of the show was to change WW from protagonist to antagonist. I think it would have been braver and more interesting if they made WW fail in his final endeavors, and maybe even try to make us feel good about the fact that the guy ultimately lost everything and was never able to complete his revenge scheme. He was, after all, a real *******.

Still, this way of ending it was fun too.

As for greatest TV dramas ever... I have yet to see Sopranos or The Wire. I just haven't gotten to them is all.

Boardwalk Empire I watched a season of. Mostly I was bored. I wanted to like it, and it did have its moments, but as Kicky said, it really is quite slow.

My personal favorites would probably go like this:

1) Breaking Bad
2) Six Feet Under
3) Deadwood
4) Rome
5) West Wing
6) Battlestar Galactica

 

[Jason]

Agree that west wing is on the list. I also really enjoyed Lost even though I'm not sure it's a globally accepted top franchise.

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[fishonjazz]

Agree that west wing is on the list. I also really enjoyed Lost even though I'm not sure it's a globally accepted top franchise.

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Lost first 3 seasons yes.... post time travel BS, not so much

 

[LogGrad98]

Maybe I will avoid boardwalk empire after all. Currently my family has a few shows in rotation anyway. Walking Dead, Falling Skies, Being Human, Once Upon a Time.

 

[trigg3r]

i seriously cant fathom why people compare it with dexter.
other than tod and dextrer suffering from the same "sickness" there are no similiarites.
wire and sopranos on the other hand are comparable

You would have a point if I were saying that Dexter was as good as BB and I was disappointed with Dexter's series finale but loved BB's. Since I didn't say that first part, you get no points and can go over and sit in the corner. I said that both just recently had final episodes and I thought BB's was amazing and Dexter's sucked. No more or less.

 

[ema]

Agree that west wing is on the list. I also really enjoyed Lost even though I'm not sure it's a globally accepted top franchise.

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It is.

 

[LogGrad98]

I have been thinking about Felina and it feels anti-climactic. Not sure what I may have been expecting, and they did close things up in a grand way, with the M60 apparatus and all, but it just kind of faded out and somehow I wanted more, I don't know, yelling maybe? Maybe an explosion or something? I did like the way Walt used Badger and the other kid as the "hit-men". That was a good move. But overall it just left me feeling kind of empty. Maybe it is sadness that the ride is over.

 

[NUMBERICA]

I have been thinking about Felina and it feels anti-climactic. Not sure what I may have been expecting, and they did close things up in a grand way, with the M60 apparatus and all, but it just kind of faded out and somehow I wanted more, I don't know, yelling maybe? Maybe an explosion or something? I did like the way Walt used Badger and the other kid as the "hit-men". That was a good move. But overall it just left me feeling kind of empty. Maybe it is sadness that the ride is over.

I agree. I thought that the episode should've been longer, and the more I think about it, the more I think it should've been two hours. The episode was way too fast. In order to touch on all the points, everything had to execute with absolute perfection and nearly zero explanation. It paced the episode as such as well, where at a certain point, I kind of knew how the episode was going to play out. I think the episode being nearly twice as long would've made it a lot better for more reasons than just me wanting more time with the show.

 

[sirkickyass]

I think part of the reason it feels a little empty is because Ozymandias was the real emotional climax of the show. The penultimate episode is what Walt deserved. The final episode, in some sense, is the quasi-redemption many secretly wanted.

Can't wait for Better Call Saul.

 

[AtheistPreacher]

I agree. I thought that the episode should've been longer, and the more I think about it, the more I think it should've been two hours. The episode was way too fast. In order to touch on all the points, everything had to execute with absolute perfection and nearly zero explanation. It paced the episode as such as well, where at a certain point, I kind of knew how the episode was going to play out. I think the episode being nearly twice as long would've made it a lot better for more reasons than just me wanting more time with the show.

I agree. Breaking Bad was always best when it had room to breathe. It had the most interesting silences of any show on television. The writing, directing, and acting was so inspired that the show excelled in slow sections that lesser shows try to avoid altogether. All I have to do is think back to the third episode of season one, with Walter bringing Krazy-8 sandwiches and bumming around Jesse's house trying to work up the nerve. That episode was not at all fast-paced, but it was never boring. And that's obviously just one example among many.

But besides being too short, I maintain that this last episode also just ended too cleanly. You can have closure in a piece of fiction without necessarily wrapping up every character and plot point in a neat little bow, as if the final episode is nothing more than a checklist of things that need to be addressed before the end credits roll. As you said, it became predictable. But the show has always been messy, and you rarely knew what was going to happen next. I think we were all waiting for that last surprise --whether good or bad for Walter -- that never came.

 

[AtheistPreacher]

I think part of the reason it feels a little empty is because Ozymandias was the real emotional climax of the show. The penultimate episode is what Walt deserved. The final episode, in some sense, is the quasi-redemption many secretly wanted.

Can't wait for Better Call Saul.

I feel like you've summed up here basically what I said in my original comment about the final episode, but in about one-third the length. I do tend to be overly verbose. Perhaps that's because you're a lawyer and I'm an academic.

Anyway, yes, totally agree. In some ways I wish the show had ended with Walt getting arrested right after calling his son, right at his lowest moment. Instead they went for the redemption that I had hoped the showrunners might be brave enough not to give him.

 

[green]

I feel like you've summed up here basically what I said in my original comment about the final episode, but in about one-third the length. I do tend to be overly verbose. Perhaps that's because you're a lawyer and I'm an academic.

Anyway, yes, totally agree. In some ways I wish the show had ended with Walt getting arrested right after calling his son, right at his lowest moment. Instead they went for the redemption that I had hoped the showrunners might be brave enough not to give him.

I'm glad they went with the redemption. I feel like Bradley Cooper in Silver Lining's Playbook where he tosses the book and yells about how there are never any happy endings. I feel like The Sixth Sense changed Hollywood into this big twist/tragic ending business and I miss just a good old fashioned happy ending.

BB ended perfectly. Except for poor Flynn. That kid got screwed.

 

[YB85]

I'm glad they went with the redemption. I feel like Bradley Cooper in Silver Lining's Playbook where he tosses the book and yells about how there are never any happy endings. I feel like The Sixth Sense changed Hollywood into this big twist/tragic ending business and I miss just a good old fashioned happy ending.

BB ended perfectly. Except for poor Flynn. That kid got screwed.

I agree. While it may have been "too neat" in the way they tied up the loose ends, it still gave closure. I viewed the last episode in a similar way of Michael Corleone settling all the Family Business. Wrap it up. The only other ending they could have had was to have Walt not die and as they are taking him away on a stretcher, he realizes it was all for nothing and starts screaming that it can't happen that way because he is the one who knocks!

 

[green]

I agree. While it may have been "too neat" in the way they tied up the loose ends, it still gave closure. I viewed the last episode in a similar way of Michael Corleone settling all the Family Business. Wrap it up. The only other ending they could have had was to have Walt not die and as they are taking him away on a stretcher, he realizes it was all for nothing and starts screaming that it can't happen that way because he is the one who knocks!

I like that he died in his lab. That was his baby, that was his life. He only really "lived" those last two years, and lived big and went out in a bang. It was fitting. His life began in a meth lab and ended there as well.

I didn't/don't feel bad for Skyler at all. She was one of the few people that really knew what she was getting into, and I feel like a lot of her problems were brought on by her. She cheated on Walt, she brought on the tax issue, she pushed Walt to "dispose" of people, and then she decided to just quit. She reminds me of the guy that walks around talking/acting tough, and then as soon as a speed bump hits, they freak out and go off the deep end.

I feel bad for Hank, but then I don't. He let it get too personal. It made me mad when he and his wife got so smug towards the end. When his wife made Skyler pull Flynn in and confess to Flynn...anger. Same with Hank. I guess the real lesson here is don't let things ever get too personal. It isn't worth it.

I'm glad Jesse lived. Towards the end, when they did the flashback and Walt was calling Skyler for the first time and Jesse was in the background pretend fighting/lightsabering, it made me cry. He was just a dumb KID. Just a child. Very innocent and DUMB. He was destroyed. He was the most tragic story in the show, and I'm glad it had a happy ending.

Jesse's first girlfriend that choked to death...wow, she is hot.

What a great show.

 

[YB85]

One other lesson that Uncle Jack and countless James Bond villains never seem to learn:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTcBgs2huRo

 

[AtheistPreacher]

I'm glad Jesse lived. Towards the end, when they did the flashback and Walt was calling Skyler for the first time and Jesse was in the background pretend fighting/lightsabering, it made me cry. He was just a dumb KID. Just a child. Very innocent and DUMB. He was destroyed. He was the most tragic story in the show, and I'm glad it had a happy ending.

I'm not sure what was happy about it. He had his last girlfriend shot in the head the previous episode. The only good thing that happened to him is that he escaped. But what the hell is he going to do now? He felt so guilty about everything, tossing the money like he did. Is he finally going to just turn himself in? Or what? That's one point where I actually wanted more closure...