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I was just listening to Cranston's reading of Ozymandias on youtube again, because why wouldn't I, and the most recent comment had the best idea ever: Cranston for Fallout 4's villain. Now the eventual actual Fallout 4 villain is ruined for me... 
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Dec 30, 2013 12:53
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hiddenmovement posted:Now these aren't MAJOR criticisms in what I still think is a very good season of an excellent show, but just relatively speaking I enjoy seasons 1, 3 and 5b more. I still don't get how people don't like season 1 very much, Walter is at his most interesting when he's genuinely conflicted, season 5a Walter is almost a stock villain from a bad action film. But I guess for me, it depends on how much focus you put on Walt. 5A is strong of me because it's all about Skyler, and I love the carwash stuff and Gus' coup so Season 4 is a lot of fun. To each his own though.
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Dec 30, 2013 15:36
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I just love this promo AMC has been airing  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUPFvnWa0A8
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Dec 30, 2013 16:12
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Timeless Appeal posted:I think the issue I have with Season 1 is that while Walt came out pretty fully realized, the other characters don't really feel like themselves in Season 1. Hank is a little too brutish, Marie a little too obnoxious, and Skyler just a bit too uptight. I've mentioned this before, but I have to kind of hold the mindset that Season 1 is us seeing those characters how Walt views them. I'm pretty sure Hank being something of an rear end in a top hat is the point. Later, he's nearly killed on the job multiple times, and this changes him. A good interpretation I've heard is that Walt and Hank are supposed to be opposites - Walt starts out a seemingly decent, unappreciated fellow while Hank is something of a racist rear end in a top hat and mediocre cop. Both of them are subjected to pressure and hardship, which they respond to by becoming, in Walt's case, a selfish, murdering criminal, and in Hank's case, a moral, heroic badass and very competent DEA agent.
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Dec 31, 2013 14:45
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Having watched the whole thing in a few weeks, largely unspoiled: The plane crash foreshadowing ended with a bit of a letdown. It goes "A charred teddy bear in Walt's pool? That is... odd, I wonder how it got there like with the other flash forwards showing a scene out of context" "Men in white suits are collecting what looks like evidence at Walt's house? Is this what happens when Hank finds out?" "Pile of evidence keeps getting bigger, camera pans over what looks like body bags, this seems more like a series finale" "Camera pans up, showing the entire neighbourhood in similar state, smoke rises from background. Nevermind, unrelated disaster  "
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Dec 31, 2013 15:02
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Timeless Appeal posted:I think the issue I have with Season 1 is that while Walt came out pretty fully realized, the other characters don't really feel like themselves in Season 1. Hank is a little too brutish, Marie a little too obnoxious, and Skyler just a bit too uptight. I've mentioned this before, but I have to kind of hold the mindset that Season 1 is us seeing those characters how Walt views them. There hasn't been any PTSD-inducing shootout with Tuco, Skyler had suspicions, but really had no idea what was going on with Walt. Basically, none of the catalysts for the true change in these characters had happened except for Walt and maybe Jesse. That's how I account for the differences in the characters, at least.
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Dec 31, 2013 15:04
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I felt that the plane crash was uninteresting until the start of season 3, where we see Walt try to reason his guilt away. At that moment it becomes extremely loving interesting. But taken purely as a finale to the second season, it wasn't great.
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Dec 31, 2013 15:07
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The reason why the characters act different in the first season is because they had yet to under go any changes. Character development is the entire point of a serialised drama. It's not because of some bias point of view that the show ditches as it moves forward you loving spergs.
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Dec 31, 2013 15:11
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I don't think Hank ended up being a moral badass. I get that the scene added some grey morality, but it really made me stop rooting for Hank when he said how he didn't really give a poo poo whether Jesse lived or died. Sure, Jesse's a murderer by that point, but to just let him die so you can maybe get evidence against your brother in law who is already dying and probably won't end up in prison is really despicable and not at all a heroic action. It really drives home that Hank isn't doing this for moral reasons. He's doing it because he felt betrayed by Walt and wanted to be the one who caught him. It ended up costing him his life in the end. Not saying Walt was in the right through all of this, just that Hank wasn't, either. PriorMarcus posted:The reason why the characters act different in the first season is because they had yet to under go any changes. Character development is the entire point of a serialised drama. It's neat how you said what two posters have already said, just subtracting an actual explanation and adding "loving SPERGS." You seem really cool
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Dec 31, 2013 16:06
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The more I think about it, the more I REALLY appreciate/love the ending to Breaking Bad. We got to have everything we wanted on the show. Walt getting arrested/caught by Hank Walt loses nearly all his money making everything for naught Walt goes into hiding Walt's family mad at him- especially his son after finding out about everything Walt admits to Skyler it was for himself Walt's final confrontation with Gretchen and Elliot Jesse holding a gun to Walt after all he's been through Walt saving Jesse's life one last time Walt dying on his terms and not by cancer (and will be remembered as Heiseinberg- a meth kingpin. He finally made a name for himself. He will no longer be remembered as the high school teacher who never achieved anything  )Few shows get to have their cake and eat it too. The one complaint a lot of fans of the ending is that it's "too wrapped up/perfect". CaptainHollywood fucked around with this message at 17:30 on Dec 31, 2013 |
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Dec 31, 2013 17:02
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In regards to my earlier comments, I'm not saying that Season 1 Hank, Marie, and Skyler are complete fabrications. In fact, one of my favorite moments of Season 5B, is when Hank sees the photo of himself from Season 2 making fun of Tuco's murdered comrades. There's just something about how they're written that seems less real than the rest of the show. I think the show started from a point of things being a bit more exaggerated and is hard to reconcile with the rest of the series. Party Boat posted:I felt that the plane crash was uninteresting until the start of season 3, where we see Walt try to reason his guilt away. At that moment it becomes extremely loving interesting. But taken purely as a finale to the second season, it wasn't great.
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Dec 31, 2013 17:13
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That DICK! posted:I don't think Hank ended up being a moral badass. I get that the scene added some grey morality, but it really made me stop rooting for Hank when he said how he didn't really give a poo poo whether Jesse lived or died. Sure, Jesse's a murderer by that point, but to just let him die so you can maybe get evidence against your brother in law who is already dying and probably won't end up in prison is really despicable and not at all a heroic action. Fair point, though I was more talking about Hank in general, not just in 5b. When he finds out the truth about Walt, yes, he becomes more ruthless (which slipped my mind), but before that he intelligently sets out to catch Heisenberg and goes above and beyond, exposing himself to danger and ridicule. The line you refer does throw a big wrench in that idea though, I agree.
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Dec 31, 2013 17:18
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Asehujiko posted:Having watched the whole thing in a few weeks, largely unspoiled: I specifically remember feeling let down by the ending-- easpecially as someone who watched week-to-week as it aired. Then I read this: http://sepinwall.blogspot.ca/2009/05/breaking-bad-vince-gilligan-post.html I almost immediately came to appreciate it much much more.
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Dec 31, 2013 17:20
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BreakAtmo posted:Fair point, though I was more talking about Hank in general, not just in 5b. When he finds out the truth about Walt, yes, he becomes more ruthless (which slipped my mind), but before that he intelligently sets out to catch Heisenberg and goes above and beyond, exposing himself to danger and ridicule. The line you refer does throw a big wrench in that idea though, I agree.
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Dec 31, 2013 19:44
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I think Hank was right to play hard ball there, he had all the cards he needed and theres no way he could have foreseen a co ordinated mass killing. He's utterly shocked when he comes home after that.
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Jan 1, 2014 04:05
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Timeless Appeal posted:I think the issue I have with Season 1 is that while Walt came out pretty fully realized, the other characters don't really feel like themselves in Season 1. Hank is a little too brutish, Marie a little too obnoxious, and Skyler just a bit too uptight. I've mentioned this before, but I have to kind of hold the mindset that Season 1 is us seeing those characters how Walt views them. I feel this way, too. Walt is pretty complex, then you have maybe Hank and Jesse who already have a couple significant aspects to their characters, and waaaay down on the "cartoon stereotype" end of the Character Development Scale(TM) are Skyler and Marie. I'm not sure why I feel that way, exactly. I think part of it might be the absolutely amazing writing for and performances of Skyler and Marie in the final season, compared to the much more mundane subplots (like the tiara feud) they are relegated to early on.
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Jan 2, 2014 00:46
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Lutha Mahtin posted:I feel this way, too. Walt is pretty complex, then you have maybe Hank and Jesse who already have a couple significant aspects to their characters, and waaaay down on the "cartoon stereotype" end of the Character Development Scale(TM) are Skyler and Marie. I'm not sure why I feel that way, exactly. I think part of it might be the absolutely amazing writing for and performances of Skyler and Marie in the final season, compared to the much more mundane subplots (like the tiara feud) they are relegated to early on. I'll agree that the 'Marie thieving' subplot is weak, Hank is a little too fratboy and Skylar too much of a moralizing mum, it's the Walt/Jessie duopoly that makes it so damned good, especially those first major transgression by Walt.
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Jan 2, 2014 02:25
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hiddenmovement posted:Hank is a little too fratboy I dunno if I'd call him a fratboy, but I enjoyed Hank from the beginning. I think this is because I've known so many people who are exactly like Hank, and Dean Norris cranks his performance up to 11 in being exactly That Guy right off the bat.
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Jan 2, 2014 18:25
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I hated Hank at first, because his racism seemed to really irk Gomie (and it DID irk me). In later seasons, it was played down as just a way that they interacted, showing how deep their friendship is. Absolutely love Dean Norris now, and hope he gets a role on Game of Thrones as Randyll Tarly. Everyone took time to grow on me. I hated Jesse at first, especially since the only thing I knew of Aaron Paul was his excruciatingly boring role in Big Love. It took until "this isn't meth" until I was like "okay, this is Walter White. Not Hal from Malcolm."
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Jan 3, 2014 01:35
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escape artist posted:Everyone took time to grow on me. I hated Jesse at first, especially since the only thing I knew of Aaron Paul was his excruciatingly boring role in Big Love. It took until "this isn't meth" until I was like "okay, this is Walter White. Not Hal from Malcolm." I loved Jesse from the get go, he's the comic relief character (at least, at first) and those are the ones I gravitate towards. "Oh, well Heil Hitler, bitch!" will never not be hilarious. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnPrtiLy0uU WampaLord fucked around with this message at 04:52 on Jan 3, 2014 |
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Jan 3, 2014 01:50
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escape artist posted:I hated Hank at first, because his racism seemed to really irk Gomie (and it DID irk me). In later seasons, it was played down as just a way that they interacted, I guess when Gomez says to Hank in the pilot, "yeah, you're like Rain Man... retarded" I sort of made the leap that maybe they interacted that way 
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Jan 3, 2014 01:54
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Walter white
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Jan 3, 2014 04:21
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That DICK! posted:Walter white Agreed.
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Jan 3, 2014 06:11
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WampaLord posted:I loved Jesse from the get go, he's the comic relief character (at least, at first) and those are the ones I gravitate towards.
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Jan 3, 2014 06:57
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I just saw 52 and the train episode in HD after watching the show entirely in standard and holy poo poo it is like watching a new show. I might have to watch the entire series again.
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Jan 3, 2014 17:15
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notthegoatseguy posted:I just saw 52 and the train episode in HD after watching the show entirely in standard and holy poo poo it is like watching a new show. Definitely. This show has a lot of great cinematography (and sound work, too). I think the fact that I watched the first three seasons exclusively on a six-foot projection screen with a passable speaker system really added to how much I was absolutely sucked in to the show's world. The wide shots of the desert and the city, and the many unique perspective shots, all look amazing on a high-res screen, and I really appreciated the music a lot more when I had some good speakers/headphones. In other news, MY GIRLFRIEND is finally binge-watching seasons 3-5 so I'm getting text messages at odd times throughout the day with lots of capital letters and a wide variety of smiley faces 
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Jan 3, 2014 23:53
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Really wish they had killed Steve Gomez on screen still. That's the only thing that sticks in my craw about the otherwise loving magnificent four episode run to the series finale.
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Jan 4, 2014 20:25
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haha. When Ted answers the door to Sky in series 4 when she comes to make him give the money to the Feds, he trips over the carpet. Excellent foreshadowing!
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Jan 4, 2014 22:11
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Mexcillent posted:Really wish they had killed Steve Gomez on screen still. That's the only thing that sticks in my craw about the otherwise loving magnificent four episode run to the series finale. I think it's amazing for defying expectations. You expect Gomie to do the whole noble sacrifice thing or otherwise die honorably somehow and instead we start the episode and he's just loving dead. I was like "poo poo, if they killed Gomie offscreen, who the hell is gonna die onscreen?" 
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Jan 4, 2014 22:18
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WampaLord posted:I think it's amazing for defying expectations. You expect Gomie to do the whole noble sacrifice thing or otherwise die honorably somehow and instead we start the episode and he's just loving dead. Yeah it was a great "what... he's dead?" moment. CaptainHollywood fucked around with this message at 22:32 on Jan 4, 2014 |
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Jan 4, 2014 22:24
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WampaLord posted:I think it's amazing for defying expectations. You expect Gomie to do the whole noble sacrifice thing or otherwise die honorably somehow and instead we start the episode and he's just loving dead. When you put it this way, it really does set the tone for everything else that's to come 
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Jan 4, 2014 22:36
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I'm still glad that Gomez is mentioned in the final episodes. Most shows just seem to take no notice of recurring characters biting the dust.
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Jan 4, 2014 22:55
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WampaLord posted:I think it's amazing for defying expectations. You expect Gomie to do the whole noble sacrifice thing or otherwise die honorably somehow and instead we start the episode and he's just loving dead.
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Jan 4, 2014 22:59
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So this show has given me a true appreciation for meth. Not really the effect of the drug, or the culture around it. Criminal culture endlessly has its appeal initially, but this show's emphasis, it's central theme--chemistry--is so finely symbolized in methamphetamine. The entire process behind how it is produced, the combination of science and criminal ingenuity, the blending of "high society" or the whitest of collars with the blackest of black markets, is something truly fascinating, at least to me. Respect the chemistry being a great meme from the show is finely demonstrated by meth as its central focus. It seems such a shame, to me, that meth is criminalized. It seems to me that the technique behind its creation ought to be preserved and honored, rather than shunned away. A lot of Breaking Bad revolves around an artist who has never truly had a chance to make his craft. Walter White's love affair with Felina is his most redeeming quality, besides perhaps his loyalty to Jesse (early on). The artistry in his chemistry, and the craft that he makes with it--a literally witch's brew, a madness potion an elixer both feared and desired, something straight up alchemic--reinforces that even a deadly science can have an essential beauty to it. Maybe it's unintentional, but I feel that this show has perhaps demonstrated an aspect of chemistry that hasn't really been popularly explored before--well, not since, perhaps, the original Frankenstein. Chemistry akin to alchemy--something passionate and almost pure. EDIT: Also Gayle's Coffee Pot is just such a sweet creation. BottledBodhisvata fucked around with this message at 07:42 on Jan 7, 2014 |
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Jan 7, 2014 07:39
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BottledBodhisvata posted:So this show has given me a true appreciation for meth... Walt could have been just as amazing at a place like Grey Matters when he was given the chance, but he chose a path that was filled with death and suffering, even from the first episode! Drug war morality aside, Walt spent the entire series being amazing at something that hurts people. As he soberly realized at the end of the series, he just wanted whatever spotlight he could grab in his last two years. All respect to Gale's coffee pot.
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Jan 7, 2014 09:02
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Clandestine chemistry is what made me love and respect organic chemistry, so I can respect what you are saying . . . but Walt's chemistry is the best kind of magic in the show. Magic. Chemistry knowledge offers really fun foreshadowing, at least for the first season and occasionally thereafter (I loved chemistry as a framing device but I understand why that was cut). But, let's not romanticize meth here. It's a bad drug.
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Jan 7, 2014 09:27
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I'm still sad we never got to see Walt's collapse from glory as a bleeding-edge chemist. There must have been some humbling moment where his pride cost him his future in chemistry and forced him into being a mealy-mouthed schoolteacher, but it was never addressed.
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Jan 7, 2014 14:00
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TheBalor posted:I'm still sad we never got to see Walt's collapse from glory as a bleeding-edge chemist. There must have been some humbling moment where his pride cost him his future in chemistry and forced him into being a mealy-mouthed schoolteacher, but it was never addressed. I'm not convinced it was all Walt's fault. People can change when they do business, even if they do business with close friends. Gretchen and Elliot are first seen at that birthday party, a very public event. And after that, they're largely reacting to Walt's horrible actions. The first event makes it easy to be nice and the later events make it easy to be sympathetic since Walt is trying to manipulate them. I'm not saying Walt wasn't at least partially at fault. I'm sure his behavior didn't help, but I wouldn't be surprised if at least the Gray Matter side of things wasn't a clear good guy and bad guy thing. I'm more willing to cast Walt as an rear end in a top hat for the breakup with Gretchen though. EDIT: But now that I think about it, when we see the flashback to Walt and Skyler buying the house, Walt is still a chemist but he isn't with Gray Matter. It is implied they're making pretty good money or at least he has the potential to move up in the world. So even the falling out of Gray Matter didn't banish him from the scientific community. Something else did that.
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Jan 7, 2014 15:44
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I just watched all the episodes over the span of two weeks. How long does this mourning feeling last? Not just for Walt, but for the end of the greatest TV show ever.
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Jan 7, 2014 15:52
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It seemed pretty apparent that settling down with his wife and caring for their handicapped child sidelined any pursuit of an academic career and/or relocating the family to work at some research facility. Tenure track is brutal and you won't make good money or have any time for your family for many, many years.
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Jan 7, 2014 17:46
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