Breaking Bad

[DrumNFeather]

[cougjunkie]

Sounds like two prequals now. Better Call Saul starts in February and they are currently in production on "The Rise of Gus".

[Dwight Schr-ute]

Anyone watching?

[Commando]

For those of you whose life circumstances subject you to frequent exposure to the shitty spanish channels, here is a little treat that you probably already know about: Metastasis-- the full-on rip off of Breaking Bad. They have to have some sort of licensing deal in place, but I think this is damn amusing. The best part is that it takes place in Colombia, yet meth is it!!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/18/spanish-breaking-bad_n_5119779.html

This is-- shit thee I do not-- Walter Blanco, played by someone who is not Bryan Cranston and who speaks Spanish.

[Commando]

Anyone watching?

Yes.

[Dwight Schr-ute]

Ad for the Emmy's. Or for Audi. Or Veep. Hard to tell. I don't care.

[RC Vikings]

My wife had never seen BB so we are watching them this fall. Second time through is almost as good as the first time.

[woot]

My wife had never seen BB so we are watching them this fall. Second time through is almost as good as the first time.

Same story for me, except I'm finding myself pretty annoyed at a lot of things. It's remarkable how annoying Skyler is. Part of it is probably the actress -- I haven't seen her in anything else to judge -- but the writing is pretty terrible on her. She's given basically nothing to do that doesn't involve lecturing Walt, and it's so over the top the intention can't be anything but to annoy the audience and make us hate her. I'm also surprised at how cartoony much of it is. The crackhouse with the fully tattooed-face guy, Jesse's meth house filled with endlessly-partying strangers, all depictions of methheads as psycho hillbillies... it all seems really on the nose. Maybe that's really how it is, but it mostly seems like a naive stereotype.

I'm still mostly enjoying it, but it doesn't seem nearly as well thought out as it did my first time through. Season 5 awaits, and I'm excited to get there. Even my first time through I considered 5 a huge step up from the first 4, so I suppose my reaction so far isn't unexpected.

[UVACoug]

Same story for me, except I'm finding myself pretty annoyed at a lot of things. It's remarkable how annoying Skyler is. Part of it is probably the actress -- I haven't seen her in anything else to judge -- but the writing is pretty terrible on her. She's given basically nothing to do that doesn't involve lecturing Walt, and it's so over the top the intention can't be anything but to annoy the audience and make us hate her. I'm also surprised at how cartoony much of it is. The crackhouse with the fully tattooed-face guy, Jesse's meth house filled with endlessly-partying strangers, all depictions of methheads as psycho hillbillies... it all seems really on the nose. Maybe that's really how it is, but it mostly seems like a naive stereotype.

I'm still mostly enjoying it, but it doesn't seem nearly as well thought out as it did my first time through. Season 5 awaits, and I'm excited to get there. Even my first time through I considered 5 a huge step up from the first 4, so I suppose my reaction so far isn't unexpected.

I don't think the show ever tried to be super realistic. Gilligan always seemed to be more about telling his story in a visually stunning and dramatically compelling way, than painting an accurate depiction of the real world of meth cooks and drug cartels. The allegory was more important than any depiction of reality. In that way, it was quite different than shows like The Wire, which, while allegorical at times, seemed to try a lot harder to replicate a version of the real world. With that said, having had my fair share of run ins with meth-heads, I don't think the stereotype is too far off from reality.

[MarkGrace]

I don't think the show ever tried to be super realistic. Gilligan always seemed to be more about telling his story in a visually stunning and dramatically compelling way, than painting an accurate depiction of the real world of meth cooks and drug cartels. The allegory was more important than any depiction of reality. In that way, it was quite different than shows like The Wire, which, while allegorical at times, seemed to try a lot harder to replicate a version of the real world. With that said, having had my fair share of run ins with meth-heads, I don't think the stereotype is too far off from reality.

Neither do I. I went straight from The Wire into BB, and the decidedly TV-ness of BB kind of prevented me from loving it at first. I was always comparing it to the "realism" of The Wire. But after a while I realized it was just a great TV show and not trying to be anything more.

[CJF]

Same story for me, except I'm finding myself pretty annoyed at a lot of things. It's remarkable how annoying Skyler is. Part of it is probably the actress -- I haven't seen her in anything else to judge -- but the writing is pretty terrible on her. She's given basically nothing to do that doesn't involve lecturing Walt, and it's so over the top the intention can't be anything but to annoy the audience and make us hate her. I'm also surprised at how cartoony much of it is. The crackhouse with the fully tattooed-face guy, Jesse's meth house filled with endlessly-partying strangers, all depictions of methheads as psycho hillbillies... it all seems really on the nose. Maybe that's really how it is, but it mostly seems like a naive stereotype.

I'm still mostly enjoying it, but it doesn't seem nearly as well thought out as it did my first time through. Season 5 awaits, and I'm excited to get there. Even my first time through I considered 5 a huge step up from the first 4, so I suppose my reaction so far isn't unexpected.

This is how I felt the first time through. I pretty much hated everyone except Skinny Pete and Badger until the last season. I especially disliked Skyler. In the end I liked Jesse and Hank and dislike Skyler that much more.

[RC Vikings]

This is how I felt the first time through. I pretty much hated everyone except Skinny Pete and Badger until the last season. I especially disliked Skyler. In the end I liked Jesse and Hank and dislike Skyler that much more.

I wondered if the hate for Skyler was just a male thing but the other night my wife looks over and goes "That Skyler is a real bitch".

[woot]

This is how I felt the first time through. I pretty much hated everyone except Skinny Pete and Badger until the last season. I especially disliked Skyler. In the end I liked Jesse and Hank and dislike Skyler that much more.

Even Marie is really 2D, as is Lydia. I don't think there's a single decent female character in the whole show. I'm half way through season 5 now, and while it really does take a big step up beginning with the last two episodes of season 4, it's still really ham-fisted and Walt's motivations are often incredible. It's helped to start rooting for Jesse, who seems to be the real hero, like Samwise to Walt's Frodo.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Crazy talk. Skyler is a great character. Anna Gunn deserved her two Emmy Awards.

[BigPiney]

Crazy talk. Skyler is a great character. Anna Gunn deserved her two Emmy Awards.

Are you going to watch her in Gracepoint? Starts Thursday.