What do you guys think about "Breaking Bad"? [SPOILERS]

Richiepiep

Administrator
VPRO buys 3rd Season of Breaking Bad

Hurray! The Dutch VPRO channel has just decided to purchase the 3rd season of Breaking Bad :D

Realtime viewer ratings are currently at 135,000 plus 15,000 online viewers. This may still seem low, but by comparison, Mad Men, which gets more media coverage and has become a kind of style icon, reaches a smaller audience in the Netherlands! I'm so glad TV programmers took the risk and are willing to stick with it!

See Dutch attachments from VPRO Guide and Blog.

A Happy Rich
 

Karin

Staff - The One Who Mods
*dances* YES! I was hoping they would continue broadcasting it.
I'm glad the viewing numbers are going up again. :w00t:
 

Karin

Staff - The One Who Mods
Wow, that's probably one of the best reviews I've ever read about it! Describes the show perfectly. Thanks again for sharing. :)

Great that Breaking Bad is also on the Belgian channel now.


Any predictions for the final season?

My thoughts:
I think it won’t end well for Walter. It started out with a death sentence for him and I somewhat hope he doesn’t get away with all that he’s done. (he is my favorite character of the show though, I would be shocked if he dies) I can picture Jessie driving off with a car full of money into the sunset kind of thing.

And Walt's family, I don't know, it already started to fall apart when he was still making meth in the rv. I think him and Skyler getting back together won't be for long. I don't trust her at all. Besides when she finds out Ted is dead, she might think Walter had something to do with that.

I think the first half of season five will be about Hank closing in on Walt. It's practically spelled out right in front of him he just doesn't see the big picture yet.
 
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great1

New member
Wow, that's probably one of the best reviews I've ever read about it! Describes the show perfectly. Thanks again for sharing. :)

Great that Breaking Bad is also on the Belgian channel now.


Any predictions for the final season?

My thoughts:
I think it won’t end well for Walter. It started out with a death sentence for him and I somewhat hope he doesn’t get away with all that he’s done. (he is my favorite character of the show though, I would be shocked if he dies) I can picture Jessie driving off with a car full of money into the sunset kind of thing.

And Walt's family, I don't know, it already started to fall apart when he was still making meth in the rv. I think him and Skyler getting back together won't be for long. I don't trust her at all. Besides when she finds out Ted is dead, she might think Walter had something to do with that.

I think the first half of season five will be about Hank closing in on Walt. It's practically spelled out right in front of him he just doesn't see the big picture yet.

I didn't even think about that.

I have no idea how it will end but I have a feeling that Hank will find out about Walt after the end of the next 8 episodes. It is too hard to predict anything too far ahead in this show.
 

Karin

Staff - The One Who Mods
True but it's fun to speculate. ;)

I love your Heisenberg signature banner by the way! Very cool!
 

Karin

Staff - The One Who Mods
Ted isn't dead.. I didn't expect that.
The whole magnet thing was funny as hell. But I find it kind of hard to believe Gus recorded everything in the lab. Seemed more like a live feed and someone as smart as Gus wouldn't want to have so much evidence of criminal activities just laying around like that. Especially since Hank was investigating him. I also wonder what was in the picture frame.
 

Karin

Staff - The One Who Mods
What did you think of the first part of season 5?

Spoiler for :
Personally I think it has been a crazy rollercoaster ride again. The train robbery was one of the most tense moments in the entire series. I was literally sitting on the edge of my seat.

It’s almost too easy that Hank found out about Walter in a book, although it’s also kind of cool Gale strikes back from the grave this way. It does fit Walter’s arrogance that he had it just laying around like that.

I'm not buying it when Walter said he’s out to Skyler. He’s finally on top of the game and he’s not just going to give it up like that. He loves his newly gain power too much.

The amount of killings so far is pretty crazy. And the ease Walter does it with now is mindblowing. I was shocked when the kid got shot. And I found it sad to see Mike go but again I can’t think of a better way an old crook like Mike could die. But that Walt shot him just because he panicked.. I’m not sure anymore who is more of a loose cannon: Walter or Skyler?


It is creepy how emotionally dead Walter has become. It’s almost like Walter is dead and all that is left is Heisenberg. I am anxious to see how the series will end. From the beginning I always thought Walter would die but now I’m not so sure anymore. Could very well be an open ending like we will never truly know what happened to him.
 
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tjpeople

Site Administrator
Staff member
Awesome ending for this part.
Spoiler for Season 5 part 1 ending:
I was shocked into silence when Hank finds out.
 

Richiepiep

Administrator
I haven't come so far yet in the series, so I don't want to spoil the experience by reading all of this, though I'd love to! :eek:

At least I get the overwhelming impression it's more than worth waiting for ;).

Rich
 

Karin

Staff - The One Who Mods
Whoops! Sorry, I forgot to put it in a spoiler-tag. :blushing: Edited my previous post.
 
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Richiepiep

Administrator
Whoops! Sorry, I forgot to put it in a spoiler-tag. :blushing: Edited my previous post.
Ha, I didn't mean to criticize anyone, least of all you! I was simply saying that I choose not to read or discuss about later seasons of BB, because that would spoil the suspense.

Of course, there are thousands of plot outlines and similar discussions out there on the net, so I don't expect all of them to add cautionary notes and the like.

Best,

Rich
 

Karin

Staff - The One Who Mods
I know but I didn't meant to spoil the surprise for anyone here.

I tend to be a bit too enthusiastic sometimes when it comes to BB.. I often forget a lot of people don’t view the episodes right after they aired in the USA. I am still wondering when (if?) VPRO will air season 3 here.
 

Richiepiep

Administrator
I know but I didn't meant to spoil the surprise for anyone here.

I tend to be a bit too enthusiastic sometimes when it comes to BB.. I often forget a lot of people don’t view the episodes right after they aired in the USA. I am still wondering when (if?) VPRO will air season 3 here.
No problem at all! I also use downloads now and then, but most of the time I try to restrain myself, mainly because there's already so much news and culture out there to keep track of (read, view, listen) in different countries, languages, disciplines, you name it. At least for me.

Anyway, as for Dutch 'regular' (= old skool) viewers, for Season 3 of BB we'll have to wait till Sunday, February 3, 2013:

http://programma.vpro.nl/drama/

Rich
 

Gouki

New member
So Breaking Bad has ended. Series of the decade, hands down. One of the most compelling decents into moral depravity I have ever seen.

Walter White is a piece of shit. He is an awful, pathetic excuse for a human being and it could not have ended any other way. My heart was breaking for Jesse more and more with each episode.

White may be the one who knocks, but Jesse is the one who keeps suffering and getting kicked in the teeth because of Walts insufferable ego and desire to be the big dog. The fantasy, of him making that box, destroyed by a simple "clunk" of the dog run getting caught. My heart shattered.

Mike was absolutely right, he brought everything on himself, and sometimes he needed to just "shut the fuck up and learn to take yes for an answer."

Brilliant show, that was not easy to predict, never boring and always satisfied--even if wasn't in the way you hoped.
 

Karin

Staff - The One Who Mods
Spoiler for season 5 finale:
About the box; It wasn’t a fantasy, it was a memory. The only time where he was really proud of something he achieved. He talked about it when he was in that rehab group where he met … her name escapes me, Brocks mom.

I’m glad Walt decided to save Jesse and that he got away after all he's been through.

Overall I think it was a very good ending for this series.
 

Gouki

New member
Oh, I'm aware of that. He traded it for an ounce of weed. Or was it two ounces? Still didn't make the sequence any less heartbreaking.

Poor Andrea (Brocks mum). She really did care about Jessie, and it cost her. That Todd was such a damn sociopath. So satisfying that Jesse put him down.

Walt so successfully burnt down everything around him there was literally no one left for him to deal with but human cockroaches/Neo nazis. I found that very fitting.
 
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Richiepiep

Administrator
I think the first half of season five will be about Hank closing in on Walt. It's practically spelled out right in front of him he just doesn't see the big picture yet.

You were 'goddamn right' about that! Great foresight!

It is creepy how emotionally dead Walter has become. It’s almost like Walter is dead and all that is left is Heisenberg.

That's exactly what Elliott and Gretchen Schwartz were saying on TV in the penultimate episode!

Number of Dutch viewers for the final episode: 175,000. Not too many. Probably those who had to do without downloads, streaming, pay channels or DVDs. Or who chose not to go that way.

I hadn't expected Jesse to escape from all the carnage at the end at all. This is the one plot twist I think that was left hanging. I wonder what's going to happen to him. So they still could have had a sequel centering on Jesse, instead of a prequel starring Saul!

I hadn't realized the wonderfully warm and (deceptively) peaceful sequence with Jesse woodworking was a memory, and not a dream. Thanks for pointing that out.

I think S5 was excellent, full of unexpected twists, brilliant acting by all concerned and nail-biting suspense. It will be extremely hard for another drama series to better that!

Rich
 
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Jmor777

New member
I resisted watching for a long time because I loved Bryan Cranston so much as Hal, I feared watching him as the selfish Walter White would ruin my respect for lovable Hal.
I did watch it, and found that because of Cranston's incredible acting ability, you cannot confuse the characters. After watching Breaking Bad, I went right back to watching reruns of Malcolm and enjoyed Hal's character just as much.
I found Breaking Bad to be extremely intense and had to leave the room a few times during some of the dramatic and violent scenes. I was amazed at how they captured the human condition deteriorating when a person allows themselves to cross the lines into immorality. It is not a feel good show. I was actually relieved when it was over, and have friends who felt the same way.
The writing and acting was the best. A show hard to top, but being a great show doesn't really make it a great show...if that makes any sense. Like I said, I was glad when it was over
 

Richiepiep

Administrator
That's a great review, Jmor! I feel exactly the same way, and I know what you mean.

Bryan is such a versatile actor, comic or dramatic, that he defies typecasting, and it's perfectly possible to enjoy him in various shows or movies without spoiling other or previous experiences.

Yes, I agree the tension in Breaking Bad was sometimes unbearable, and I'm glad it ended the way it did and at the particular time. A lot of series tend to get repetitive, or introduce improbable or silly plot lines when they start another season, which kind of affects your appreciation of the whole show. You know, the phenomemon that is known as 'jump the shark'.

While I sometimes questioned the plausibility of what Walter White went through in Breaking Bad, it was nothing more than an afterthought now and then, and it never really bothered me. I have my doubts about the Better Call Saul prequel now in the making, because BB achieved perfect narrative closure I believe, and I don't think the glib Saul would make such a compelling character as Walter.
 
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