Psychopav
Help us, Joebi-Wan Brynobi, you're our only ho
Nicely done indeed. Good job, internet.
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Breaking Bad on AMC (5 Viewers)
- Thread starter Weapon of Mass Instruction
- Start date
cstu
Footballguy
Even if it's not what Gilligan intended the fact that we can discuss it makes the show even better.
shadyridr
Footballguy
Friend of mine started watching on. Netflix. He knows im a big fan. He tells me "im two episodes in. Its ok but does it get better? Its kind of slow. It doesnt make me wanna watch the next episode right away like homeland or 24". I basically told him hes a moron and to watch a few more episodes and then get back to me.
That's fair - it's not like this was a compelling show from the get go - the fever pitch began in season 4
Leeroy Jenkins
Footballguy
Ghost Rider
Footballguy
Huh? I think the fever pitch, as you called it, kicked in way earlier than that.
As for the start of the show, I thought the pilot was awesome, and by the time I got to the end of the 3rd episode, when Walt killed Krazy-8 and then told Skyler he had something to tell her, I was on board for the duration.
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Brady Marino
Footballguy
I was hooked when the body fell through the ceiling.
If you can't get hooked when that happens, then #### you.
If you can't get hooked when that happens, then #### you.
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Gianni Verscotchie
Footballguy
I started watching again from the start. I forgot exactly how crazy Tuco was.
It's easily just as good the second time through.
Better than anything else on tv
It's easily just as good the second time through.
Better than anything else on tv
Nathan R. Jessep
Footballguy
Peyton Marino
Footballguy
I don't understand people who say this moves slow. The first three seasons are pretty much non-stop action. Especially when compared to other critically acclaimed shows.
IvanKaramazov
Footballguy
Agreed. If somebody told me that The Wire was too slow, okay I guess I could see where they're coming from. But BB? I don't get it.
Anyone who likes 24 should not be taken seriously
Michael Brown
Footballguy
The opening scene of the pilot is two guys in gas masks, one passed out in the front seat and the other sweating profusely while speeding through the desert in an RV while two "dead" guys slide around the back of the vehicle. It certainly got my attention right away!
Michael Brown
Footballguy
cstu
Footballguy
I was in from episode one when a high school teacher got cancer and started making meth.
cstu
Footballguy
C'mon, it's not that bad, at least the early seasons before it got predictable.
Rove!
Footballguy
Raider Nation
Devil's Advocate
He didn't exactly beg for his life. He tried to use the only card he had left up his sleeve.
Officer Pete Malloy
Footballguy
IvanKaramazov
Footballguy
Agreed. Jack tried out a logical argument based on the assumption that Walt wanted his money back. That wasn't unreasonable at all, but unfortunately for Jack, Walt didn't give a #### about his money at that point.
He didn't exactly beg for his life. He tried to use the only card he had left up his sleeve.
Also, that part is nearly an exact mirror of Jack killing Hank. Remember that Walt tries to buy Hank's life, but Jack kills him anyway. In the scene in the finale, Jack tries to buy his own life and, well, you know.
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avoiding injuries
Footballguy
And he was too dumb to see that Walt had made up his mind 10 minutes ago.
He didn't exactly beg for his life. He tried to use the only card he had left up his sleeve.
Rohn Jambo
Footballguy
Way more than 10 minutes.And he was too dumb to see that Walt had made up his mind 10 minutes ago.
He didn't exactly beg for his life. He tried to use the only card he had left up his sleeve.
avoiding injuries
Footballguy
It was a reference to Hank's line right before Jack killed him.Way more than 10 minutes.And he was too dumb to see that Walt had made up his mind 10 minutes ago.
He didn't exactly beg for his life. He tried to use the only card he had left up his sleeve.
bostonfred
Footballguy
I watched the first episode and liked it, but not enough to get hooked. I didn't watch another full episode until a couple months ago, and only because I wanted to catch up on it before the finale.
The first great episode - the one where I was legitimately hooked - was the one in the basement with Crazy 8 and the plate. When he makes the pros and cons list, and they sit down and talk over a beer, and they talk about him buying the crib from the kid's father's store - that was near perfect storytelling. After that, the plate - which was a cool scene in and of itself - almost felt too hollywoody because of the humanity of the scene before it. And then when Walt realizes he has to do it, and the kid reaches for the shard of plate anyways, and he's stabbing blindly backwards while Walt is all at once raging because the kid was lying the whole time, and protective of himself and his family, but also crushed that the kid lied to him, but proud of himself for figuring it out but also horrified at what he's got to do, then stabbed - and you actually see all those emotions washing over him - that might have been the best scene of the entire series.
If someone can get that far into the show and not love it, then it's just not the right show for them. But the fact that you could have a conversation with someone else about their top ten or twenty scenes in the show and that wouldn't even register - that's the sign that Breaking Bad was on that next level. There really were so many great moments.
The first great episode - the one where I was legitimately hooked - was the one in the basement with Crazy 8 and the plate. When he makes the pros and cons list, and they sit down and talk over a beer, and they talk about him buying the crib from the kid's father's store - that was near perfect storytelling. After that, the plate - which was a cool scene in and of itself - almost felt too hollywoody because of the humanity of the scene before it. And then when Walt realizes he has to do it, and the kid reaches for the shard of plate anyways, and he's stabbing blindly backwards while Walt is all at once raging because the kid was lying the whole time, and protective of himself and his family, but also crushed that the kid lied to him, but proud of himself for figuring it out but also horrified at what he's got to do, then stabbed - and you actually see all those emotions washing over him - that might have been the best scene of the entire series.
If someone can get that far into the show and not love it, then it's just not the right show for them. But the fact that you could have a conversation with someone else about their top ten or twenty scenes in the show and that wouldn't even register - that's the sign that Breaking Bad was on that next level. There really were so many great moments.
Gianni Verscotchie
Footballguy
Raider Nation
Devil's Advocate
shuke
Black Ice Skeptic
Trey
Footballguy
No. Your taste is a little suspect though.
Homer J Simpson
I don't push
Trey
Footballguy
I think they are wildly different shows. And while 24 wasn't as tight as BB (due to the significantly longer seasons and the real time structure) they produced a few really superb (like Emmy worthy) seasons (1,5) while the remainder were still wildly entertaining if not award winning.
I think it really speaks to the fact that dramas are ready made for the compact 10-13 episode batch delivery. If Breaking Bad was forced to produce 22-24 episodes on a big 4 network timeline, I imagine we would have lost our way a little bit. It necessities further delving in B,C story lines which are often weaker and centered around unloveable characters.
Ghost Rider
Footballguy
My guess is some go in thinking non-stop action means fast-paced in an action movie kind of way, as opposed to the story always moving fast, while still progressing naturally instead of it ever feeling like it went too fast. So, if you go in with that line of thinking, I guess I can see how some might think it moves slow, but when you consider that this was a crime drama, not a crime action show, the pace was still like having the gas pedal constantly pressed to 80. Except for Fly (which was mostly self-contained), I never came away from an episode thinking the story didn't progress a lot in those 47+ minutes.
Mister CIA
Footballguy
mad sweeney
Footballguy
Both were shot mid-sentence too. Big difference is Jack thought he had a bargaining chip but Hank knew he was a goner.Agreed. Jack tried out a logical argument based on the assumption that Walt wanted his money back. That wasn't unreasonable at all, but unfortunately for Jack, Walt didn't give a #### about his money at that point.
He didn't exactly beg for his life. He tried to use the only card he had left up his sleeve.
Also, that part is nearly an exact mirror of Jack killing Hank. Remember that Walt tries to buy Hank's life, but Jack kills him anyway. In the scene in the finale, Jack tries to buy his own life and, well, you know.
mad sweeney
Footballguy
I was talking about this with a friend yesterday. She somehow got through the whole week without catching any spoilers while watching an episode or two of 5b every night. You don't have time for fluff with 10 episodes. It stays focused and the show runner is much more involved with every aspect. That's how you get details like Walt's pants in the desert. Seems minor, but there's a hundred of them every season it seems. Gillgan was able to oversee the writing much more effectively and concentrate the story arc directly. I think that's a huge reason why many of the shows vying for best ever are short season shows like BB, Sopranos, Deadwood, Wire, BSG (though their tragically bad foray into fluff episodes in season 2-2.5 proved that they don't belong in short season shows), etc...I think we'll start seeing that in books as well. Hugh Howey's Wool books are novellas that hearten back to serial days. With no publishing costs and all electronic delivery (talking about first run here, not omnibus editions), a new form (or a return to an old form that produced classics like Dickens and Dumas) of storytelling is emerging and though there'll be a lot of crap produced like this, I think the good stuff is going to be very comparable to the great TV series we've been seeing in the last 10 years.
Eta: Plus the practically zero chance if being cancelled mud season, largely because they're almost surely done shooting all the episodes. And finite seasons, around 4-6 is ideal IMO, focuses the storyline to a conclusion instead of having to jump the shark to keep a 22episide per season show going into its 6th or 7th season.
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Mister CIA
Footballguy
You just spoiled my 85th birthday.Both were shot mid-sentence too. Big difference is Jack thought he had a bargaining chip but Hank knew he was a goner.Agreed. Jack tried out a logical argument based on the assumption that Walt wanted his money back. That wasn't unreasonable at all, but unfortunately for Jack, Walt didn't give a #### about his money at that point.
He didn't exactly beg for his life. He tried to use the only card he had left up his sleeve.
Also, that part is nearly an exact mirror of Jack killing Hank. Remember that Walt tries to buy Hank's life, but Jack kills him anyway. In the scene in the finale, Jack tries to buy his own life and, well, you know.
mad sweeney
Footballguy
Uh, wat?You just spoiled my 85th birthday.Both were shot mid-sentence too. Big difference is Jack thought he had a bargaining chip but Hank knew he was a goner.Agreed. Jack tried out a logical argument based on the assumption that Walt wanted his money back. That wasn't unreasonable at all, but unfortunately for Jack, Walt didn't give a #### about his money at that point.
He didn't exactly beg for his life. He tried to use the only card he had left up his sleeve.
Also, that part is nearly an exact mirror of Jack killing Hank. Remember that Walt tries to buy Hank's life, but Jack kills him anyway. In the scene in the finale, Jack tries to buy his own life and, well, you know.
Trey
Footballguy
iPhone..
Absolutely. And I think BB struck just the right combination to make the short season more and more prevalent. Critical acclaim was off the charts (probably due to the laser focus required when you only get 8,10,13 episodes). Perhaps more importantly, the short season made the entire series incredibly accessible to new fans who finally relented after the positive word of mouth from others. I caught up between S4 and S5. Normally 4 seasons in I would think I was too far gone to get catch up, but 45 episodes is manageable, especially with the show's consistent quality. Breaking Bad jumped from ~2 million viewers for the S4 finale to >10 million viewers for the series finale. Absolutely unheard of and definitely has network execs re-examining the old way of doing things.
Good Posting Judge
Footballguy
Sarnoff
Footballguy
FOX tried to launch a 'short-season' series last year with "The Following", which will make no more than 15 episodes a year. This year they've partnered it with "Sleepy Hollow", which will make no more than 13 this year and 13-15 next year. However, I don't think the quality of the writing that short season allows for has taken hold on these series. I don't know if the writers "get it."
mad sweeney
Footballguy
Well, the major networks are going to have an extra dozen or more studio execs to run everything through and dilute the content. The advantage of short seasons only works if you also are not trying to dumb it down enough for the lowest common denominator. The ratings needed for a cable show are way different for the big 4, plus you get to be more "edgy" (to use an overused term). You might get enjoyable shows, and so far SH is IMO, but you're not gonna get great on a regular basis. I didn't watch Lost, but even among people that liked it, it seems that the show was lost several times along its run.
badmojo1006
Footballguy
So this is the week between Breaking Bad and Walking Dead?
Which is like going to a 3 star Michelin to a decent Chinese Buffet
Which is like going to a 3 star Michelin to a decent Chinese Buffet
Good Posting Judge
Footballguy
TheIronSheik
SUPER ELITE UPPER TIER
No joke. If I saw that guy (and I mean the actor) on the street, I'd run the other direction with a trail of piss and dookie trailing down my leg.
3C's
Footballguy
Rove!
Footballguy
Joe Adalian ?@TVMoJoe 17m
Sans Breaking Bad, AMC’s LOW WINTER SUN falls to a series low Sunday: 628,000 viewers and a .15 A18-49 (159K viewers under 50)
ooof
Brady Marino
Footballguy
Note to AMC: When you're debuting a series next to arguably the hottest cable TV show perhaps ever, make sure it doesn't suck.
