TV: Breaking Bad

[MR4]

I always wonder how people can be so passionate about telling others their opinion that they write that long of posts about said opinion

 

[void]

So, if you will now indulge me, I will at great length attempt to explain why Breaking Bad is such a truly horrific television creation, and how the praise lavished on it by so many is so mis-placed and unjustified.

Nope. I'm out.

 

[Blender]

Walter White is supposed to be a horrible person. That is the point of the show; to show the transformation of a normal high school science teacher into a ruthless *******. He isn't supposed to be a likeable guy by the end, you're not supposed to cheer for him. That is character development, just obviously not in the way you expected or wanted.

 

[Shareefruck]

I always wonder how people can be so passionate about telling others their opinion that they write that long of posts about said opinion

I don't know how Ceremony managed to write quite as much as he did, but I think it's natural that when all you hear around you is constant hyperbolic buzz about something that you disagree with, it would be weird if you didn't have an urge to voice your opinion.

Hell if something is being unanimously trashed and you think it's great, it's the same urge to say something about it. People who are allergic to negativity seem to try to turn that into something to be skeptical about, as if it indicated some sort of agenda you could immediately dismiss, but it's pretty harmless and usually sincere. No reason to get all stink-eye about it (not that you are).

 

[Novak Djokovic]

It was a great show, and I don't regret watching it at all... but it's a bit overrated. Homeland is the best show in the past 3-4 years on TV, but I'm probably biased.

 

[Ozz]

To me, it's more of a "I can't believe someone cared so much about the opinion of others that he felt the need to write so much arguing the contrary" thing.

Generally the anti-subject doesn't care much about the opinion of those who are pro, and rarely realize they don't care about his either

 

[Shareefruck]

Generally the anti-subject doesn't care much about the opinion of those who are pro, and rarely realize they don't care about his either

But that's true regardless of which side your opinion is on, not something that one side is guilty of but not the other

It would be unreasonable to read that and assume he's trying to change people's minds. When you gush about how much you love something, it's the same thing-- you're preaching to the like-minded choir hoping to reach people who agree, not trying to convert people. If people who disagree roll their eyes at it and react all "I disagree, what makes you think I care?!" about it, that's their own unreasonable mistake.

 

[Power Man]

Like Lost, a very overrated show

 

[JESSEWENEEDTOCOOK]

Ceremony...you need to leave the house man.

 

[HabsCowboysOwn]

Didn't read, and BB was a great show.

 

[Lebowski]

Didnt read it all, but I saw that you enjoyed The Wire a lot more and say its better and I completely agree . I find BB wayyyy overrated, just like TWD

Don't ever put BB and TWD in the same sentence. Not ever. Under any circumstances.

 

[MadFerIt95*]

tl;dr

 

[Carlzner]

o....k....

This board should have two separate TV thread tags. One for those who want to spend hours dissecting and critiquing everything and one for those who want to enjoy a television show.

 

[PullHard]

o....k....

This board should have two separate TV thread tags. One for those who want to spend hours dissecting and critiquing everything and one for those who want to enjoy a television show.

God forbid someone actually think about what they're looking at during all those hours

 

[Shareefruck]

There's this narrative that always seems to be implied about people being so picky that they can't possibly enjoy anything (as if they're picky just because they enjoy the misery of hating everything or something) while people who aren't stingy are having alot more fun, but it's BS, IMO. From trying out both at some point from my own experiences, there's no question in my mind that being really critical/having uncompromised high standards, whatever they are, actually results in exponentially better enjoyment from things that hold up to it when compared to whatever enjoyment you can get from the "lighten up, don't think about it or expect too much, lower standards, just enjoy the ride and treat it as easy comfort" thing. I might enjoy/be pleased with more things doing that, but I wouldn't enjoy anything quite as much with that attitude, personally.

But that's just me speaking for myself. I can see some people being able to do both at the same time, but that never worked or even seemed that useful to me.

 

[ArGarBarGar]

Walter White is supposed to be a horrible person. That is the point of the show; to show the transformation of a normal high school science teacher into a ruthless *******. He isn't supposed to be a likeable guy by the end, you're not supposed to cheer for him. That is character development, just obviously not in the way you expected or wanted.

Walter White is a dick from almost the beginning. There is hardly any kind of "transformation". He is just who he is in different circumstances.

 

[aleshemsky83]

Walter White is a dick from almost the beginning. There is hardly any kind of "transformation". He is just who he is in different circumstances.

Yep, he's always an a-hole. I wouldn't even say he became worse as he went along either. He didn't do anything in the final season that he wouldn't have done in season 1 and 2 imo

 

[FinHockey]

I agree with just about everything Ceremony said in the OP, I find the BB hype to be more out of hand than any other TV show's ever. Especially Walter White, his supposed character development is, as has been already pointed out, not really development at all, he just does stupid **** that he knows nothing about in different settings during the series.

Didn't read, and BB was a great show.

Good contribution buddy

 

[LightningStrikes]

I read most of it but to be brutally honest, you typed a lot of words but didn't say a whole lot. Coherently, at least.

I agree completely with you about Skyler, no argument there and her treatment by the internet in general was ludicrous and misplaced, in retrospect.

But on the other hand, I don't understand how you've seemingly misjudged Walter's character so badly. You seem to be under the impression that the show's intention was to build him up as a badass druglord that you're supposed to cheer for. It's not. You claim that Walter is undermined by alternating his moments of rage with moments of petulence but that's exactly the point of his character. And you're not supposed to sympathize or empathize with him because he is a dick. And his "hard man" act on the phone with Skyler is supposed to be an act. You weren't supposed to believe in that moment he was being honest, he knew the DEA tapped his phone and was trying to ensure Skyler's innocence.

I'm similarly amazed at how you missed the mark on some other key points in the show. Jesse isn't "celebrating" when he's driving away at the end, that's a scream of pure anguish if I've ever heard one. He's "free" but his life has been irrevocably, irreversibly destroyed.

Similarly, with regards to the lapel pin commemorating the plane crash, you're acting like Saul is the only sane man for continuing to wear it while the rest of the cast doesn't or never did. But the whole point of Saul wearing the pin forever was almost a running joke about Saul's character, because he's exactly the kind of person who would wear a pin after the rest of the town has moved on, not out of any genuine emotion but because it makes him "look better" in the community.

With regards to never seeing the "larger impact" of Walt's meth business, that's by design. Presumably there's a lot more ugly stuff that happens on the selling side of the business, but it's made clear many times throughout the show that Walt isn't interested in that side of things (except for his attempts early on, i.e. to Tuco). So why should the show depict that? The focus is on the guy who makes the meth, not on the people buying or selling or living or dying off his meth. It's not relevant.

You're not wrong on some of your other points (Walt running an $83m meth business and never raising the ire of more than a small group of DEA agents, the supporting cast's occasionally up-and-down character development) but I feel like you missed the mark pretty badly on some things and swung wildly at others when it's not really warranted.

Exactly this. Good post!

 

[Jasper]

I'm similarly amazed at how you missed the mark on some other key points in the show. Jesse isn't "celebrating" when he's driving away at the end, that's a scream of pure anguish if I've ever heard one. He's "free" but his life has been irrevocably, irreversibly destroyed.

Not reading the OP, way too long, but I have no idea how he could have possibly misunderstood this so badly.

 

[ArGarBarGar]

Really, Jesse is feeling anguish at being freed and completely out?

If that was the intention, that was a ridiculous end for the character.

 

[kmad]

Like Lost, a very overrated show

Man, I wish someone would have told me Lost was bad before I watched and enjoyed all six seasons of it

 

[Dr Pepper]

Yep, he's always an a-hole. I wouldn't even say he became worse as he went along either. He didn't do anything in the final season that he wouldn't have done in season 1 and 2 imo

I'd say there's a difference between last-season Walt, and first-season Walt, the Walt who would flinch whenever he saw a gun, and had a bit of naivety to him. Hell, it took him forever just to kill one man in his basement. He even made him a nice lil sandwich.

He became more hardened as the series went on, IMO. It was quick, mind you....by the end of the first season he was blowing up Tico's HQ.

 

[Pilky01]

I totally agree on Skyler. The whole "Skylar is a *****" sentiment was/is ****ing ridiculous; a sad commentary on our culture and a glaring example of rampant misogyny. She was the only character with any depth or realism, and evidently fans hated her for it. It all made me question myself, like, "why am I a part of this incredibly stupid audience"?

 

[ArGarBarGar]

I totally agree on Skyler. The whole "Skylar is a *****" sentiment was/is ****ing ridiculous; a sad commentary on our culture and a glaring example of rampant misogyny. She was the only character with any depth or realism, and evidently fans hated her for it. It all made me question myself, like, "why am I a part of this incredibly stupid audience"?

They established her as a "buzzkill" from season 1. As soon as they made her look like a naggy ("Waaaaaalt the Mastercard's the one we DON'T use") spying (tracing Jesse's phone call because she found it suspicious) wife out to steal Walt's freedom (not to mention the veggie bacon), she really didn't have much of a chance with the audience.

Really stinks, because I thought the actress playing her did a great job trying to make her more likeable. Her character was just going to be doomed by being the one who gets on Walt's case for, you know, being a meth cook and endangering her family.