Breaking Bad

[Illegal Combat Ant]

My job involves a lot of waiting for simulations to finish, hence I 'idle' a lot....and I actually disagree about the acting. It's good. It's as good as the characters/script allows..but the transformations of Walter White, especially after season 2 is pretty average. (And borderline laughable in season 5, where it's clear that they want this over with).

I am also aware that the show has a lot of rabid fans, who don't really accept anything but positive comments about the show.

Yeah ... But I watched Jane die. It's over, I won.

[Hot Flatus]

Its OK.

You can call me a 'douche'. I don't mind.

But that doesn't mean you watched Breaking Bad.

Because you didn't.

[Hot Flatus]

More personal insults.

And all because I said you didn't watch Breaking Bad.

Which you didn't.

You might think you did.

But you didn't.

[Jakob]

Well, you didn't watch it either, so there! (Which is about as sensible as your argument)

[Hot Flatus]

If you watched it, you would know what happened in this scene.

But you don't.

[Hot Flatus]

Just as I thought.

You haven't watched it.

[Hot Flatus]

I may be. You may be.

But only one of us has watched Breaking Bad.

[Hot Flatus]

Don't need to.

You've done that yourself

[Hot Flatus]

[Hot Flatus]

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Want to take it to PM? The primary school stuff is getting old.

[Chris S]

Want to take it to PM? The primary school stuff is getting old.

Yes, but it made me larf, quite a lot!

[Jaded]

Want to take it to PM? The primary school stuff is getting old.

Yeah, why not. Behind the bike shed in the PM at break.

If you're lucky you'll get away with a Chinese burn and a kick in the nuts.

[Hot Flatus]

Want to take it to PM? The primary school stuff is getting old.

[Jakob]

Right, deleted my posts and put him on ignore which is what I should have done to start with.
Apologies for the mess...

[Hot Flatus]

You probably would have been better off putting yourself on ignore

 

[mrcharly-YHT]

I've seen a few episodes (watched over shoulder of step-daughter while I do something more productive like play an MMORPG).

Each episode seems to run like this:

Walt is sick. He coughs a lot.
There is a crisis.
Walt makes some drugs. Jessie sells them and brings money to Walt
There is a crisis.
Walt does something clever with chemicals. ^{note 1}
There is a crisis.
They lose, give away or accidentally burn/dissolve in acid all the money.

The end

It seems depressing.

Note 1: the clever thing with chemicals may involve disposing of bodies, poisoning people or making a bomb.

[Hot Flatus]

That's a fair synopsis.

But you are missing the point.

Because you didn't watch it.












.....just kidding. Unlike poor Jakob, you clearly paid a bit of attention. But, IMO what marks this series out as especially good is not the plot per se, although the repetition is there for a reason. Whilst similar events happen every episode, everything else is changing....individual personalities, relationships, but also people's moral compass.

Certainly, at the beginning Walter is a moral person, and for quite some time he makes decisions on a moral basis but there comes a point at which the acts are not moral despite the reasoning.

The cinematography is fantastic....the colours, angles and so on. Something that isn't going to work on a 10" iPad screen, any more than you'd notice the minute expressions on a 1 cm wide rendition of walt's face. There is a reason why Hopkins said what he did about Cranston's acting.

[Wascally Weasel]

I watched Breaking Bad on a 50” TV with decent speakers and a subwoofer attached. Also, I always lower background lighting to ensure the best viewing experience.  I hope these viewing parameters meet with approval and I’m permitted to have an opinion?

I enjoyed series one but got bored part way through series two, wasn’t enjoying it and never finished it.  So I have watched it up to that point ‘properly’ and decided it was both too dull and unsatisfying for me to keep watching.  The problem with ‘unlikeable’ characters and or situations is that sometimes this can work too well and make the content unwatchable or otherwise unenjoyable for some people.

You might have enjoyed it, it might be the best TV you have seen but opinions are subjective as is each of our appreciation of acting skills.  I’m glad you like it but other people are able to express contrary opinions.

Someone posted a positive review of ‘Killing them softly’ the other day and I’m glad they did because I utterly hated that film, largely because of unlikable characters – I’m glad that someone liked it because it means it isn’t necessarily a bad film (despite my views on it) and that other people have enjoyed it.

[mrcharly-YHT]

Oh I agree about the acting.

Not particularly enjoying the show because of the relentless stupid decisions. It is like watching a crash crash, in slow motion, played over and over again. Gets too much after a while.

[Hot Flatus]

@ Wascally Weasel.

Would you have felt qualified to post a (valid) opinion if you'd had it on in the background at work on a 10" screen?

Thought not. It's a bit like giving an opinion on a meal if all you did was smell it.


@mrc

It gets worse. The last few episodes are almost unbearably uncomfortable to watch.

[red marley]

(click to show/hide)

I agree that having unlikable characters can sometimes alienate you from a story, but it's that transformation of "one of us" into that unlikable character that made BB so compelling for me. There is an element of pantomime (in a good way) in that we can see what he is becoming when he cannot. He starts as a moral person trying to do what he sees as the best for others. We gradually see him replacing morality with more selfish behaviour but using the language of morality to justify his actions ("for my family"). He tries to separate his two selves into Heisenberg and Walter, but with an increasing lack of success. Those around him are the ones who suffer as a consequence before he does. It takes five years and 64 episodes for him to gain self-awareness. His final transformation into invisibility was a masterstroke. In that sense he remains "one of us" in that fighting self-delusion and insignificance seems part of the human condition.

[Jakob]

I think the thing that gets me most, is that even Jesse struggles with the morality of their actions (Drug making aside). Walter just flips a switch and it's on.
Now, I think Jo just managed to spoil the ending for me (Last 8 episodes not out on Netflix here yet!), but I found his (further) transformation in season 5 overdone. They survive near death in S4 and yet, he want to jump straight in again with both legs. (Yes, lost opportunities in his youth, etc, blah, blah!).
After the prison-thing, I really just want him to get caught.

[Jaded]

Just had the first two episodes. Fuck this stuff is addictive.

[Gattopardo]

@ Wascally Weasel.

Would you have felt qualified to post a (valid) opinion if you'd had it on in the background at work on a 10" screen?

Thought not. It's a bit like giving an opinion on a meal if all you did was smell it.


@mrc

It gets worse. The last few episodes are almost unbearably uncomfortable to watch.

Some like it, some don't.  Live with it.  Move on.

Can I have a how I should watch TV guide, including size of screen as well as quality of speakers, size of room and the type of seat.