Breaking Bad: Final Season

[trurl]

Thought this one was a teeny bit slow... time for the shit to really hit the fan!

[LighthouseKeeper]

Skyler has turned into Skysenburg - what's one more!

[mnprogger]

I wish Chris Hardwick on Talking Bad had asked Bob Odenkirk about the spinoff. I know AMC is considering it (they have for quite some time)l.

[beano]

Don't know about yours, but my local library has past seasons for borrowing

I've never seen the show; no cable TV & no money. I have heard it is very popular. They say it is about meth dealers. What I want to know is why it is called "Breaking Bad."

[trurl]

BTW is it just me or does Skyler get exponentially hotter the more evil she is?

[Just Eric]

I love the fact that Todd has become the harbinger of death and doom.

Jesse, Hank and Gomey are such a motley crew, bumbling in their attempts to bring down Walt. Let's hope they are not the Walt equivalent of the good guys and stumble their way into Heisenberg's ultimate demise.

[Facelift]

I didn't think this was one of the stronger episodes. Not that I mind the expositional episodes that don't have a lot of action - some of those are the best, IMO. I just didn't really care for this one. Skyler suggesting murder is out of character for her, especially since "what's one more?" doesn't jibe with the character's state of mind concerning the events of the show: *they* don't know that it's over in a few episodes, so there's no reason for her to speak in these terms. She also keeps getting reminded of how little she really knows about the scope of all that's happened so, again, so quickly going the murder route on Jesse didn't sit well with me.

Also, I didn't like how the show suggested strongly in the last episode that Walt might have Jesse killed if he did not accept the identity-change scenario, yet has Walt state in no uncertain terms in this episode that this never had been his intent. He didn't even want to kill him after he doused his house - he needed Skyler's convincing.

Between it all was a lot of stuff getting repeated. Except for the very beginning, which felt like an homage to the weakest part of Pulp Fiction ("dead n****r storage").

[Just Eric]

A flaw that I noticed was Walt not automatically realizing that Hank had Jesse. The scene with Saul, his henchman and Walt in the car where they ran down the list of places searched for Jesse did not include Hank's and that would be the first place I'd look.

[Facelift]

A flaw that I noticed was Walt not automatically realizing that Hank had Jesse. The scene with Saul, his henchman and Walt in the car where they ran down the list of places searched for Jesse did not include Hank's and that would be the first place I'd look.

Yes, that's something else I forgot to mention above: Hank getting to Jesse would be one of the primary concerns, but nobody could figure this out?

Yet just one episode previous, Jesse could make quantum leaps of deduction based on small strands of evidence and figure out that Walt poisoned Brock? Neither of these things was at all consistent with the characters as they had been established.

[NeonKnight]

I absolutely loved seeing what actually happened at the White's house showing how Hank stops Jesse from burning it down. It was just so awesome the way Walt drives into view just in time to miss Hank's car pulling away. What a turn of events to see Hank and Jessie working together at last...

Geezus, some of you guys are just nitpicking away at the wrong details...

I didn't think this was one of the stronger episodes. Not that I mind the expositional episodes that don't have a lot of action - some of those are the best, IMO. I just didn't really care for this one. Skyler suggesting murder is out of character for her, especially since "what's one more?" doesn't jibe with the character's state of mind concerning the events of the show: *they* don't know that it's over in a few episodes, so there's no reason for her to speak in these terms. She also keeps getting reminded of how little she really knows about the scope of all that's happened so, again, so quickly going the murder route on Jesse didn't sit well with me.

This is such crap reasoning. Skyler will protect her family at all costs. She's already proven she's capable of breaking bad herself-her affair with Ted, and the fact that she had Sauls' guys over at Ted's to break his head if he did not pay his debt shows just how far she is willing to go to keep her family safe.

One more dead junkie fits right in with her state of mind now that she's so far down the road breaking bad along with the rest of the characters. (except for Walt Jr. of course)

Also, I didn't like how the show suggested strongly in the last episode that Walt might have Jesse killed if he did not accept the identity-change scenario, yet has Walt state in no uncertain terms in this episode that this never had been his intent. He didn't even want to kill him after he doused his house - he needed Skyler's convincing.

That's wrong again. Walt thinks Jessie just changed his mind about burning his house down once he gets started dousing the gasoline, but he has no clue that Hank is the reason that did not happen. Skyler did not convince Walt, it was only after Jessie is spooked away by the bald dude that Walt finally decides it's time for Jessie to visit Belize.

[Facelift]

I absolutely loved seeing what actually happened at the White's house showing how Hank stops Jesse from burning it down. It was just so awesome the way Walt drives into view just in time to miss Hank's car pulling away. What a turn of events to see Hank and Jessie working together at last...

Geezus, some of you guys are just nitpicking away at the wrong details...



This is such crap reasoning. Skyler will protect her family at all costs. She's already proven she's capable of breaking bad herself-her affair with Ted, and the fact that she had Sauls' guys over at Ted's to break his head if he did not pay his debt shows just how far she is willing to go to keep her family safe.

One more dead junkie fits right in with her state of mind now that she's so far down the road breaking bad along with the rest of the characters. (except for Walt Jr. of course)



That's wrong again. Walt thinks Jessie just changed his mind about burning his house down once he gets started dousing the gasoline, but he has no clue that Hank is the reason that did not happen. Skyler did not convince Walt, it was only after Jessie is spooked away by the bald dude that Walt finally decides it's time for Jessie to visit Belize.

It's not crap reasoning. It was a poorly-written, weak episode. You also appear to have misunderstood the details of the episode, as all of my points stand.

[progeezer]

BTW is it just me or does Skyler get exponentially hotter the more evil she is?

It's not just you, Fred.

[NeonKnight]

It's not crap reasoning. It was a poorly-written, weak episode. You also appear to have misunderstood the details of the episode, as all of my points stand.

Yeah nice crappy job supporting your points.

You have about as much chance proving those points as you do proving to me that the best show on TV has bad writers.

[Yodelgoat]

Ooh! flame wars breaking out on the breaking bad thread!

How um... Fitting!

I liked how the writers had my head totally turned away from Hank, when Jessie was getting ready to torch the place. I too, thought that Jessie had broken down and decided to flake out (as per usual). Then blammo! it was a surprise to me. Not quite up to the confession, but it was a highlight for me.

[Facelift]

Yeah nice crappy job supporting your points.

You have about as much chance proving those points as you do proving to me that the best show on TV has bad writers.

1) it's not the best show on TV
2) the writing is generally excellent. However, the individual who wrote this one had never written and directed an episode before, and the inexperience shows. The episode felt it had been written and shot by a fan contest winner, rather than someone who really knew what he was doing. Which is too bad since it's one of the last episodes.

The way in which they have treated Jesse - making him go from useless doofus to being smarter than Walt - is disingenuous and sloppy, and these problems were exacerbated in this episode. The scene in which Walt arrives just as Hank is leaving was contrived and lazy. The Pulp Fiction homage was eye-rolling. Devoting a significant amount of time to Walt clumsily manufacturing a lie and a subsequent cover-up for his family was tired, as we've seen this a lot already.

It just wasn't very good, but I see that it satisfied the over-sensitive fanboy crowd, so I guess that's at least something.

[NeonKnight]

1) it's not the best show on TV
2) the writing is generally excellent. However, the individual who wrote this one had never written and directed an episode before, and the inexperience shows. The episode felt it had been written and shot by a fan contest winner, rather than someone who really knew what he was doing. Which is too bad since it's one of the last episodes.

The way in which they have treated Jesse - making him go from useless doofus to being smarter than Walt - is disingenuous and sloppy, and these problems were exacerbated in this episode. The scene in which Walt arrives just as Hank is leaving was contrived and lazy. The Pulp Fiction homage was eye-rolling. Devoting a significant amount of time to Walt clumsily manufacturing a lie and a subsequent cover-up for his family was tired, as we've seen this a lot already.

It just wasn't very good, but I see that it satisfied the over-sensitive fanboy crowd, so I guess that's at least something.

None of this supports your points about Skyler or Walt's decision to shoot Jessie like a "Rabid Dog", which shows how flimsy those "points" really are.

1) It IS the best show on TV. Name a better one Face.

2) Just because it was this guy's first, does not mean Gilligan does not have the final say. If it was a bad as you claim, Vince would have vetoed it. That simple.

Jessie smarter then Walt? Where the hell do you see that?

BS on the Walt arriving on the scene being contrived and lazy. The way it was put together through Jessie's viewpoint last week, and Walt's view this week, and finally back to Jessie's again this week was brilliant.

I could give a crap about Pulp Fiction so that argument is lost on me.

The clumsy lie was not a problem in any way, since it was oh so clear that Skyseinberg wasn't buying it at all, and it also showed that Junior could come up with a better excuse on the spot, like father like son.

[Facelift]

None of this supports your points about Skyler or Walt's decision to shoot Jessie like a "Rabid Dog", which shows how flimsy those "points" really are.

1) It IS the best show on TV. Name a better one Face.

2) Just because it was this guy's first, does not mean Gilligan does not have the final say. If it was a bad as you claim, Vince would have vetoed it. That simple.

Jessie smarter then Walt? Where the hell do you see that?

BS on the Walt arriving on the scene being contrived and lazy. The way it was put together through Jessie's viewpoint last week, and Walt's view this week, and finally back to Jessie's again this week was brilliant.

I could give a crap about Pulp Fiction so that argument is lost on me.

The clumsy lie was not a problem in any way, since it was oh so clear that Skyseinberg wasn't buying it at all, and it also showed that Junior could come up with a better excuse on the spot, like father like son.

Mad Men is a significantly better show.

I'm not going to argue vociferously about Breaking Bad, because it's just a TV show and I have no personal stake in it either way. It's a fun topic for discussion, but it becomes somewhat less so when people start projecting.

I do see that I wasn't as clear as I could have been with my criticism of Walt's decision to kill Jesse. Although Skyler was probably the driving force behind him deciding to do it, it is true that Saul also suggested it to him previous to Skyler. So it would not be unfair to argue that both contributed to this change of heart, although since Walt talked Saul out of this course of action, I didn't think that it was of great importance.

At any rate, I'll attach this for your edification. I don't agree with all of it, but it's hard to argue with most of the points. I nevertheless enjoy Breaking Bad and think that some of the episodes have really been great TV. But the show has many large flaws, which is why it can't really be taken seriously as one of TV's great shows - much less be in contention for the greatest.

http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-c...ng-bad,101439/

[Just Eric]

Um, Neon, you better back off, don't you know that Facelift is the Heisenberg of PE??

[Cats On Glue]

Jesse could make quantum leaps of deduction based on small strands of evidence and figure out that Walt poisoned Brock?

i found that a bit of a disapointment myself. but i'm still on the edge of my seat

[Facelift]

^ OK OK!

I'm sorry if I came off too prickly!

However, I do think it's fair, even for fans, to have issues with episodes in the show. I mean, for example, not all Yes fans like every Yes album.

[NeonKnight]

Mad Men is a significantly better show.

I'm not going to argue vociferously about Breaking Bad, because it's just a TV show and I have no personal stake in it either way. It's a fun topic for discussion, but it becomes somewhat less so when people start projecting.

I do see that I wasn't as clear as I could have been with my criticism of Walt's decision to kill Jesse. Although Skyler was probably the driving force behind him deciding to do it, it is true that Saul also suggested it to him previous to Skyler. So it would not be unfair to argue that both contributed to this change of heart, although since Walt talked Saul out of this course of action, I didn't think that it was of great importance.

At any rate, I'll attach this for your edification. I don't agree with all of it, but it's hard to argue with most of the points. I nevertheless enjoy Breaking Bad and think that some of the episodes have really been great TV. But the show has many large flaws, which is why it can't really be taken seriously as one of TV's great shows - much less be in contention for the greatest.

http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-c...ng-bad,101439/

Mad Men! (Yeah, I knew it would be Mad Men.)

Look, I know that show is very well crafted and acted. But isn't it really a soap opera set in the sixties? The world of advertising phonies and who is cheating on who just does not compare in any way to the intensity of the life and death scenarios we see in Br Ba. Not even close IMHO.

Keep in mind, this was not the first time Saul suggested an Ol Yeller type solution to the Jesse problem. He did it before the meeting in the desert also.

You are right though, it's probably a waste of our time to argue about a show we both clearly like very much. I'd rather waste our time arguing about something really important, like football.

I probably should not have used the term "crap" while describing your analysis. It was the first thing to come to mind, but "rudimentary" would have been more accurate.

[mnprogger]

Mad Men is way too dry.

[Progatron]

The scene in which Walt arrives just as Hank is leaving was contrived and lazy. The Pulp Fiction homage was eye-rolling. Devoting a significant amount of time to Walt clumsily manufacturing a lie and a subsequent cover-up for his family was tired, as we've seen this a lot already.

I completely agree about the lengthy lie scene, been done to death on the show now. It felt like a scene that belonged several seasons ago. However I rather liked Walt showing up right after Hank leaves - time is of the essence now that we're getting down to the climactic showdown (whatever that may be) and every close call like that just adds to the tension... whether that writing was 'lazy', I don't know, but it was effective nonetheless.

Jesse could make quantum leaps of deduction based on small strands of evidence and figure out that Walt poisoned Brock?

i found that a bit of a disapointment myself. but i'm still on the edge of my seat

My thoughts on that subject exactly. It's a gripping series, really. I love Mad Men too btw, although less so, perhaps. It's not flawless either. Nothing for me has ever come close to Six Feet Under anyway.

[Dave (in MA)]

time is of the essence now that we're getting down to the climactic showdown (whatever that may be)

In the last few minutes of the final episode they ought to start playing a Journey song.

[Facelift]

In the last few minutes of the final episode they ought to start playing a Journey song.

I think I could love that. They've already alluded, in the flash-forwards, that there is a future-Walt on the run and using fake identities to get by. If the series ends with him sneaking off into the sunset and "Wheel in the Sky" starts playing, I'll laugh my ass off, as it be hilarious and a great deflator for the people who take this series way too seriously.