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 Post subject: Re: Breaking Bad
PostPosted: Tue Aug 07, 2012 7:27 pm 
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Mr Red wrote:
Walt's slide post-Gus almost seems kinda phony.


I don't know, man. Walt's "slide" into this has been what this whole show has been about. I can't see how it rings false considering how far we've seen Walt go and how much further he's willing to go. My favorite part about this show is that it doesn't lean into every punch that Walt can make. I really thought Walt was going to kill Skylar there for a second during that very "Cassavetes" bedroom scene.

Mr Red wrote:
I think it's highly likely Skyler ends up being the undoing of Walt


I think that's still reserved for Jesse. But who knows. I think her offing herself is the more likely scenario, but I'm not sure what Walt's reaction to that will be.

I also think the cancer thing is interesting. It's the first we've heard about it in a while and it got me thinking about something else. I'm not sure about this, but can the fumes from the meth lab give off some cancerous toxins?

I'm also interested in Walt Jr. How long do you think he's got to survive? Does he?

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 Post subject: Re: Breaking Bad
PostPosted: Tue Aug 07, 2012 9:26 pm 
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I'm thinking the key plot point this season is going to be Walt's son developing a horrible meth addiction. Which was foreshadowed when he left the breakfast table without eating anything in last week's episode.
But that's just a hunch on my part.

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 Post subject: Re: Breaking Bad
PostPosted: Fri Aug 10, 2012 12:10 pm 
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Hmm, seems a long shot to me but kudos if you're proved right!

Still, he gets right up my nose so I can't say I'd be too cut up to see Junior tear himself apart heheheh

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 Post subject: Re: Breaking Bad
PostPosted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 10:40 pm 
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It's shocking how good this show is.

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 Post subject: Re: Breaking Bad
PostPosted: Tue Aug 14, 2012 1:43 am 
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Yeah, that last episode was just about perfect. I loved how the baby-faced thug just fucking ended that witness after being constantly instilled that Walt and Jesse were the hardcases and they instructed him that no one but them could ever know about what happened at the train tracks.

Back to the Walt-losing-his-shit-too-quickly deal. I guess if I were to watch a timeline of the entire serial it would all make sense, but the whole scene in the driveway with Junior and the cars was just too cheesy. He seems to have gotten REALLY cold/insane with Skylar too. Ever since he moved back in. I'm not sure why he couldn't see the wisdom of just staying moved out and keeping things less complicated. Those are the areas that kind of bugged me about Episode 4. The last one kind of makes up for it, but they seem to be intentionally ramping up the descent into insanity a bit too much.

It was kind of like The Sopranos in the beginning there was definitely a side or "more" moral people you could root for in the story, but eventually they had to expose them all for being the immoral creeps that they were and when they did that, it felt a tad bit manipulative.

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 Post subject: Re: Breaking Bad
PostPosted: Thu Aug 16, 2012 8:01 am 

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Last weeks episode was awesome except for the 5 minutes that Skylar was in it. She killed any momentum it had, but thankfully the train robbery got that momentum back going again.

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 Post subject: Re: Breaking Bad
PostPosted: Thu Aug 16, 2012 4:24 pm 

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Landry tasted blood in season 2 of FNL, now he craves MORE!!!


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 Post subject: Re: Breaking Bad
PostPosted: Mon Aug 20, 2012 3:48 pm 
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Is it me, or is every woman on this show a complete fucking psycho?

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 Post subject: Re: Breaking Bad
PostPosted: Thu Aug 23, 2012 5:32 pm 
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Mr Red wrote:
Walt's slide post-Gus almost seems kinda phony.


I don't know if it seems phony so much as rushed. This was the arc we all knew the series was going to take, but they seemed to jump ahead for the sake of the truncated "half season" thing they're doing.

Think we could've used a few episodes of actual empire building before the train heist. Walt hasn't had a big enough taste of power yet for it to corrupt him absolutely. I just don't buy that at this stage, he wouldn't have taken the $5 million to walk away.


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 Post subject: Re: Breaking Bad
PostPosted: Thu Aug 23, 2012 5:36 pm 
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HORNS wrote:
Is it me, or is every woman on this show a complete fucking psycho?


Good point, no strong female characters in this show. At all. Jane had potential (and was hot) but ended up being a manipulative junkie shrew.

I do like the direction Gilligan's taken with Skyler this season though. Hated her last season. She's still a big downer whenever she's on screen, but at least this season it feels like it's building to something.

I bet the ricin comes back before season's end.


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 Post subject: Re: Breaking Bad
PostPosted: Sun Aug 26, 2012 3:06 am 
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MILLION MAN wrote:
Mr Red wrote:
Walt's slide post-Gus almost seems kinda phony.


I don't know if it seems phony so much as rushed. This was the arc we all knew the series was going to take, but they seemed to jump ahead for the sake of the truncated "half season" thing they're doing.

Think we could've used a few episodes of actual empire building before the train heist. Walt hasn't had a big enough taste of power yet for it to corrupt him absolutely. I just don't buy that at this stage, he wouldn't have taken the $5 million to walk away.


Yeah, that is precisely what I actually meant. I can get with where Walt at within the arc of his character, but it seems really rushed. He was basically acting mostly rational up until now and to have turned into a total prick after Gus bit it seems like a bit of a stretch. Whenever The Sopranos had a character materially develop into something else, they always threw in an act of irrationality toward a civilian or family into the mix. He was mostly rational to the end of the last season, but living in his household in complete misery and being a complete shithead to Skyler (and Jesse to a lesser extent) is something that hasn't been developed very well imo.

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 Post subject: Re: Breaking Bad
PostPosted: Mon Aug 27, 2012 11:50 am 
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As much as I enjoy this season there is a certain unevenness with the building of the storyarch. Guess the main reason lies in the decision to split up the season into two parts. They didn't dare to use the first eight episodes just for empire building although that would have been better. Enter the train robbery. Mike's lawyer getting caught in the act felt a little rushed too.


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 Post subject: Re: Breaking Bad
PostPosted: Mon Aug 27, 2012 4:29 pm 
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Totally rushed, to the point that it didn't even make sense. What were they charging him with exactly? Putting money in safety deposit boxes? How is that a crime?

There were so many great moments in last night's episode, but the rush to get to them made it all the more frustrating. We're supposed to accept lapses in logic for the sake of plot development, where in past seasons they would've covered their bases with clever writing.

These "half season" seasons are bullshit, frankly. It never really works. Sopranos last season(s) were the weakest for the same reason. The "act break" between half seasons just feels unnatural, given the amount of story threads they're trying to lace together.

Don't get me wrong, it's still the best show on television, I just wish the level of story-telling was more consistent with the first three/four seasons.


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 Post subject: Re: Breaking Bad
PostPosted: Mon Aug 27, 2012 10:09 pm 
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 Post subject: Re: Breaking Bad
PostPosted: Mon Aug 27, 2012 10:53 pm 
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That was a huge cop-out for sure. Surveillence on a lawyer? Yeah, like that would legally hold up. You think they could have pulled something else out of their collective ass, you know like Mike gets sloppy with the bag or one of the nine in prison lets something slip. Anything else.

Tough to see Mike go, but given the season lead-in with Walt buying that assault weapon, you knew Mike wasn't around anymore. All things/flaws considered though, it is still a really fun show. They'll never top the fourth season.

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 Post subject: Re: Breaking Bad
PostPosted: Tue Aug 28, 2012 1:14 am 
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Yeah. I was a bit shocked at the breakneck speed with that Lawyer dude. Usually when we meet a random character like this, it usually takes an episode or two (in some cases a whole season) to realize that character's role in all of this. Also, this show is really careful with it's small circle of characters and it seems like this season we can't fit in enough characters. And as a result, we're missing out on some opportunities.

And I blame it on this....
MILLION MAN wrote:
These "half season" seasons are bullshit, frankly.


I'm still enjoying the ride. The need to rush the plot still defines the lines between Jesse and Walt that much sharper which, imo, is the main conflict of the show. So, while I'd love to spend more time with these characters and see the slow demise, it is television and it's about to be curtains. Perhaps if they had a full season, they could've let off of the gas a bit.

Mr Red wrote:
They'll never top the fourth season.


There isn't much television that can.

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 Post subject: Re: Breaking Bad
PostPosted: Tue Aug 28, 2012 4:01 am 
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Mr Red wrote:
That was a huge cop-out for sure. Surveillence on a lawyer? Yeah, like that would legally hold up.


Yes but then that step is part of Hank stepping over the line in his hunt for the blue meth. I think we're supposed to see that as part of the building tension around his role in the DEA.

As for weak female characters, I got really angry somewhere in the first or second series about this and felt the writing was really misogynistic. On reflection I realised all the characters are so flawed (and now so compromised) that maybe the women only stand out because we expect more of them!

The fact that Hank can elicit the Lovely Mrs H's empathy despite being an American macho cop is a real indictment of the rest of the core characters! Same with Saul Goodman really, he looks less of a dick every week.

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 Post subject: Re: Breaking Bad
PostPosted: Sat Sep 08, 2012 3:35 am 
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So what are the thoughts on the half season? I enjoyed it, some great moments, but still: a letdown for all the reasons talked about in the recent posts. Maybe the expectations were a little to high after season 4 but I fear that the second half will be too rushed because they only have eight episodes to tie everything up in a big finale.


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 Post subject: Re: Breaking Bad
PostPosted: Thu Sep 13, 2012 1:44 am 
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I said it before, I'll say it again: Season Fucking Four.

This half season was mostly utilitarian, getting them where they need to go for the finale. It did have it's moments, obviously between Walt and Mike and the train heist was pretty awesome. As awkward as a lot of the plot went, they did get them to the final issues Walt needs to deal with, that being Hank and the fallout of what his decisions will do to his extended family. I definitely don't think Hank will rollover, but he might. The teaser in the first episode inferred that Walt was knee-deep in the trade again. Walt can't shoot his way out of a DEA investigation.

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 Post subject: Re: Breaking Bad
PostPosted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 10:32 pm 

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Pretty sure tonight's episode was the single greatest episode of TV I've ever seen. If there's anything better, I'd be really curious to hear what it is.


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 Post subject: Re: Breaking Bad
PostPosted: Mon Sep 16, 2013 11:56 am 

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^Truth^


These epsodes are going to burn a hole in my fucking stomach.


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 Post subject: Re: Breaking Bad
PostPosted: Tue Sep 17, 2013 2:00 am 
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It's ending pretty as it should. Really sorry to see Gomez bite it though. Talk about your innocent bystander.

So it's pretty much inevitable that the M-60 and ricin are to free Jesse from meth lab servitude? That maybe Walt has one shred of humanity left? Or are they (Jack/Lydia/the Czech meth connection) are going after his family to pull him back in?

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 Post subject: Re: Breaking Bad
PostPosted: Tue Sep 17, 2013 10:49 am 
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I think he's pissed that they're cooking his recipe and Jesse is getting all the credit for it...

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 Post subject: Re: Breaking Bad
PostPosted: Thu Sep 19, 2013 2:35 pm 
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I thought this was a rather bold statement:
George RR Martin wrote:
Walter White is a bigger monster than anyone in Westeros.

http://grrm.livejournal.com/337511.html

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 Post subject: Re: Breaking Bad
PostPosted: Mon Sep 30, 2013 11:44 am 

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What a fucking fantastic series finale. Perfect.


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