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Empyreal
The Final Frontier

Joined: Thu Nov 30, 2006 6:58 pm
Posts: 35140
Location: Where the dead rule the night
PostPosted: Sun Oct 20, 2013 4:48 pm 
 

Oh yeah, definitely. The first two seasons especially had a lot of great social commentary on how this country is now, on what the financial situation can be like for a man trying to provide for a family. Really quite well done. I remember being very struck by that when I started the show.
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Acidgobblin
Literally a puppy

Joined: Sun Sep 27, 2009 7:56 pm
Posts: 2549
PostPosted: Sun Oct 20, 2013 9:32 pm 
 

iamntbatman wrote:
To me, his character was interesting because he became that, and we're shown in painstaking detail exactly how he got to be that way. Walt is the failure of the American Dream personified.


Thing is, I would say he was always actually incredibly ruthless and amoral. Think about the first epidode; he was ready to basically open fire on what he assumed were the police coming for him. Thats fucking crazy. As much as we saw him journey from being a seemingly harmless middle aged father to drug baron/scarface, the calculating violent and desperate side was already pretty fully formed; the whole series was more about him embracing that part of himself instead of repressing it.
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iamntbatman
Chaos Breed

Joined: Sat Feb 21, 2009 5:55 am
Posts: 11421
Location: Tyrn Gorthad
PostPosted: Sun Nov 17, 2013 1:42 pm 
 

Haha, I thought this was worthy of a bump:

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shouvince
Veteran

Joined: Sat Jan 22, 2005 9:11 am
Posts: 3225
PostPosted: Sun Nov 17, 2013 2:06 pm 
 

Haha yeah. I saw it earlier and thought of posting it too. I lost it when he referenced Hector Salamanca :-D

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Riffs
Metalhead

Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2012 1:48 am
Posts: 1077
Location: Montréal, Québec
PostPosted: Mon Nov 18, 2013 2:13 pm 
 

I finished the series a couple weeks ago, at last!

One of the best TV series I have ever seen. I liked the first two seasons best but as most series, the further it went on, the more I thought some of the writers' choices were bizarre and unnecessary.

The first two seasons were my favourites but then things get more and more convoluted. The longer it gets, some of the characters' choices, including Walt, seem pretty stupid. 80 millions in storage and still no proper exit plan worth being called that? That was just too much of a stretch for a guy who still seemed to be in over his head and not fully immersed in the lifestyle of a criminal.

All in all, they hovered way too much between Walt as some kind of mastermind and stupid-Walt.

I also think one of the weakness was exposing us to the same characters over and over again. I think the show would have benefitted from Walt having a different entourage, particularly in season 3 and 4. Jesse is perfectly adequate for Walt the "meth making beginner" but the guy is so frustratingly stupid that I felt he was unlikeable despite all the shit that keeps on happening to him. AsWalt invests himself further down that path, his character would have benefitted from a stronger character at his side and so would we, as viewers. Put a charismatic actor in there.

It feels like Skyler and Walt jr. are shortchanged and fulfilled their purpose in the series relatively early. Skyler early on is a caricature, a device much like Daryl Dickinson in Thelma and Louise. And then the writers struggled to give her character interesting things as the series evolved. Either use it or lose it, I say. And Walt jr. is even more shortchanged. I kept waiting for something to happen to that guy but it never did.

Marie seems to be whatever character any episode needs her to be. Not very consistent writing.

I felt Hank was the most consistently written character aside from Walt. They were able to make him fit despite his oblivious nature and create opportunities for him.

All in all, I'm nitpicking because I liked it a lot, unlike the great number of series I simply stop watching after a few episodes. Breaking Bad was a great ride. The main concept was fun, showing us a complex character and his descent/ascension. And I'm glad someone as terrific as Bryan Cranston got a chance to shine. It's amazing to see atypical actors get such an opportunity when usually actors have to conform to certain looks and age. Raised the bar for dramatic television acting IMO.

All in all, this was great TV. And I'm hoping people keep exploring the medium. It has potential that has only been scratched.
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volutetheswarth
Our Lady of Perpetual Butthurt

Joined: Mon Mar 21, 2011 8:37 pm
Posts: 3489
Location: Australia
PostPosted: Mon Nov 18, 2013 6:42 pm 
 

That alternative ending video is great, made me smile. I avoided it earlier because I thought it was one of the hundred something 'fan made' efforts, like I really need another tired Hank and Marie reaction video. Good to see Bryan Cranston come back to do it, other actors should take note.

Quite pathetic that Sony took the video down after one day though.

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