Breaking Bad

[Zarathustra]

The other seasons are at least twice as long. It was a "pilot" season.

It definitely gets better as time goes on. I hope the high praise hasn't made your expectations too high. The beginning seems to be more shock-value oriented, and then you slowly realize that this is a character piece, not a thriller per se. Sure, it has lots of tension, action, and thrills. But the true genius is Walt's character arc, and how he affects everyone in his life.

[I'm Murrin]

I finished season 1 today, and it was way, way above my expectations. This is one of the best television shows I've seen in years. I just ordered seasons 2 & 3.

I'm amazed that this is only shown on FiveUSA in the UK. Nobody watches channel 5, nevermind it's digital-only offshoots. You'd think Sky or channel 4 would have paid pretty highly for it.

[Zarathustra]

Cool! I can't wait to hear your opinions about the end of season 4. It will blow you away. The culmination of that season in the last few episodes was definitely the highlight of the show so far. Season five started out well, but it won't be finished until next year, so we'll have to wait until then to see if they top S4.

[I'm Murrin]

I'll look out for it. Way to go before then, though.

I think the thing that makes this work is the humour - it's chock full of deeply dark and ironic humour that I just love.

[SleeplessOne]

I'll look out for it. Way to go before then, though.

I think the thing that makes this work is the humour - it's chock full of deeply dark and ironic humour that I just love.

Glad to hear you're enjoying BB so far Murrin.

Equally chuffed to hear that you are tapped into the black humour which runs deep throughout the show; it often crops up in unexpected and twisted ways; one of the show's funniest one-liners is uttered in S2; Seasons 2 & 3 are generally pure awesomeness so it's good times ahead for you.

[I'm Murrin]

Other things appreciated in S1:

Of course the characterisation. Particularly noticing that every time Walter White reaches a personal crisis he reacts with an act of violence, starting with the fairly minor moment of his quitting the car wash job but quickly escalating.

The final scene of the season, which plays on viewer expectations - you have an undoubtedly dangerous character there, and he's high on crystal meth, but Joe Pesci from Goodfellas is in your head somewhere, a cultural precedent that means you're not quite sure where this character's going to go with it, making the assault still more shocking.


Anyhow, the DVDs have arrived, so it's time to start season 2.

[Zarathustra]

Walter either reacts with violence, or aggressive sex with the wife. The first time pleasantly surprises her, but

Spoiler

the repeat of this in the kitchen against the fridge when the son might show up any minute plays out more like rape. Walt is dealing with his own personal descent in these scenes, feeling both the power and the helplessness of Breaking Bad, making choices that increase his control over fate (making him feel potent), but simultaneously restricting his options by locking him into acts that he wouldn't normally condone (making him feel impotent). The sex scenes with Skylar seems to express both of these aspects as he tries to embrace this role that he both likes and dislikes. He is simultaneously expressing his power and masking his self-contempt. The scene in the kitchen reminded me of Lena/Covenant, for these reasons, except possibly even more surreal given the domestic setting and the fact that it's his wife.

Damnit, after a quick check online, I realized that's season 2 premiere spoiler. Sorry. I hope I was quick enough on the spoiler tags.

[I'm Murrin]

You're fine, I watched 5 episodes of season 2 before I came back.

[I'm Murrin]

Finished watching season 2. Few thoughts:

- Walt is very unlikeable right from the start in this season. He's stubborn, selfish, and has no patience for anyone else.
- They're taking things slowly in some bits. There was one episode that felt like it was all setup and filler, Negro y Azul. I don't know where they're going with the Hank PTSD storyline, but they seemed to drop it halfway through the season.
- A possible lie that occured to me at the end of the season was to tell Skyler that Walt has been secretly helping Jesse Pinkman with his drug problem. It's a stretch, but it's got plausible deniability.

[Zarathustra]

I think part of the reason for Hank's PTSD was to humanize him. He was such a asshole at the beginning, this makes him seem vulnerable and sympathetic. And in a larger context, it also increases the sense of danger and the reality of the violence in general. If the gung-ho cop who laughs at criminals and danger is secretly terrified of the cartels, it shows us that it's no laughing matter. So this brings character development plus a sense of authenticity. I think the show needed that, lest it seem to be glamorizing crime too much with Walt's storyline. I don't think the writers really want Walt to seem badass like an action hero, but there is that danger because he's doing some pretty remarkable things. It's easy for us all to live vicariously through him and indulge our "screw authority" tendencies by sympathizing with Walt too much--and then he becomes an over-the-top caricature. But at the same time, we can't simply hate Walt or the show wouldn't work as a bit of story-telling. It's an extremely fine line the writers are walking (successfully, imo). And little touches like Hank's PTSD help sell the whole thing.

[Cail]

That points to something that the show does so well....It fleshes out the characters so that none of them are just cardboard cutouts or caricatures. Hank could easily be played as either a doofus or a hardass, but he's played as neither.

[I'm Murrin]

Not far into season three it's clear the theme of this season is Walt coming to "accept himself" as a "bad guy". The season opener establishes that with Jesse in rehab. And it looks like they are making use of Hank's issues to fuel his obsession with finding Heisenberg.

[I'm Murrin]

I finished season 3 last night. It took some very interesting turns toward the end.

Spoiler

I could guess why Gale was there from the start of the season. Doesn't make sense to hire a dying man as your main cook and not have a contingency in place.

I seriously thought they might kill off Jesse at the end of the season there. Really, although Aaron Paul is good and popular in the role, the character's continued survival is starting to detract from the believability of the show.

Walt passed a point of no return in this season. He still had a small chance if he took Jesse's advice and went to the police in the finale, but now I think it's too late.

[Zarathustra]

Funny you should say that, Murrin. The writers or creator of the series originally wanted to kill off Jessie from the very beginning, in the first few episodes, in order to provide a sense of guilt to Walt over his choices. But they liked the actor so much, they kept him. I think they've managed to use him to achieve their original intention much better than if they'd killed him.

[[Syl]]

Any hack can kill a character. Believably keeping one alive against improbable odds, however, takes skill.

[I'm Murrin]

It's the "believable" part that's started to stretch thin at this point. They might pull it back with whatever Walt uses to get out of his current predicament, but after "Half Measure" it just seemed like him getting out and/or getting killed was the most believable route.

[I'm Murrin]

My season 4 box set arrived, but it appears to be faulty. My PS2 (my usual DVD player) won't read disc 1 or 2. My PC won't read disc 1 correctly, but I can get it to skip to a track list and start playing what I think is probably the first episode. Disc 2 in the PC starts showing the intro but stutters and halts.

They seem to work in the Blu Ray player downstairs, but that TV's generally in use so I can't watch there.

[I'm Murrin]

Okay, I managed to watch all of season 4. It got very good at the end. I think probably my favourite part of the entire series, all four seasons I've seen, has to be the final minutes of "Crawl Space", when it all hits home.

Walter's an incredible, complex, realistic character. He makes terrible decisions, he's arrogant and self-centred (and he's far, far from being as professional and worthy of respect as he thinks he is), but it's hard to blame him from his perspective. (If he had just kept his head down and got on with the job after the opening of s4 I think he had a fair chance of doing okay, even though Gus wasn't happy; it's Walter's attitude and his fear that drove things away from that point.)

While S4 ended the whole thing with Gus, it didn't really give closure much else, particularly Walter himself - where this path is taking him. Interested to see season five - though that'll have to wait until it's out on DVD.

Spoiler

(Also.... They go around with a scanner checking for bugs and wires all over his room - but no one happens to notice the goddamn pipe bomb stuck to the frame of his wheelchair?)

[Zarathustra]

Yeah, the devious plotting at the end of S4 makes for one hell of a finale. How he used Jessie and kid in the hospital is just ... evil. As for the spoiler, I suppose that's the danger of relying too much on technology--you miss what's right in front of you.

[I'm Murrin]

It wasn't even hidden!