Breaking Bad

[Regular Joe]

Good christ this show has gotten brutal. It's living up to it's name! I know I said I wouldn't call it a clone anymore and I won't... but how could anybody not at least see the Sopranos parallel with this show after these last few episodes? Carmella/Skylar, Christopher/Jessie, Adrianna/Jane, Tony/Walter White, (young) A.J./Walter Jr., Furio/Skylar's boss, the list goes on. How am I the asshole for thinking this?! How?!

I haven't seen any of season two yet, but based on season one the Sopranos parallel doesn't work because, at a basic level, Tony is a have and Walter is a have-not. Tony has money and power and the fear and respect of others. Walter is a schlub who has to take a second job at a car wash in order to support his family. He suffers the humiliation of wiping the wheels of one of his students (and has his picture snapped doing it), he has to ask the woman at the hospital not to cash his check until next week, etc.

Maybe things change in season two. In any case, I can't wait.

Yeah, I don't mean to drag season one into this, as the two seasons are as different as day and night. I'm only talking about this season, and mostly the last half of it. I agree too that WW and Tony are very different characters, aside from being family men leading a mostly secret double life of crime. I guess my point is that these shows are different in the way that Disney movies from the nineties made themselves different by switching around the same 8 shapes and personalities of the supporting cast. But I don't mean to call it cheap! They really have made it their own, but I just can't stop seeing the template. I know I really have to let this point go now, but damn if I can't do it.

PS: Yeah! What was up with those body bags, and what is the deal with that Schindler's List pink teddy bear? That's maybe the only opening scene they didn't call back to at the end of the episode, so it's gotta be either a throw away or a season ender. Next week!

PPS: Is Kings still on the air?

[Sarah]

Kings is supposed to come back in June, I read somewhere.

[masterofsparks]

Kings is supposed to come back in June, I read somewhere.

Huh. I thought I'd heard it was cancelled.

[Sarah]

You might be right.  The latest news I'm finding dates from April, when it was reported that it would start airing again on Saturday, June 13, at 8 p.m.

[bakersfieldchimp]

http://www.savewalterwhite.com/

that's awesome, especially the donate button

Yeah, as soon as they said the address on last Sunday's episode I looked it up (a nerdy tendency sprung from the one time when I got an e-mail from Homer Simpson after sending something to an e-mail address he mentioned in an episode)-- very cool.

Next week's episode looks brutal, and it's the season finale (I think). oh man.

[mizzfair]

A scene from Breaking bad was filmed at my work.  Maybe I could start offering tours like Mike and his Wrestler tours.

[cutout]

Thank you to FOT for recommending this show - it's incredible.

In terms of dark/intense serial shows, I'm still not on board with The Wire, though. Maybe I'll try again.

[hugman]

A scene from Breaking bad was filmed at my work.  Maybe I could start offering tours like Mike and his Wrestler tours.

you work at that heroin house, don't you?

[wood and iron]

Thank you to FOT for recommending this show - it's incredible.

In terms of dark/intense serial shows, I'm still not on board with The Wire, though. Maybe I'll try again.

The Wire is definitely a show where you have to put a couple of episodes under your belt before things start coming together. It's told in such a pace unlike nearly any other television that it's hard to get into at first, as I experienced. But once you get the rhythm, you're sucked in.

[dave from knoxville]

I saw the last five episodes of this; Cranston is terrific, but I really hated the last 5-8 minutes of the last episode.

[Sarah]

I burst out laughing at the very end.  After all the buildup with the body bags and all that brooding, portentous atmosphere, that it ended with Walt looking at the scorched teddy bear in the pool, leaving all the questions unanswered, made me happy.

Oh, spoiler, by the way.

[Chris L]

OK, disc 2 of season 1 should ship tomorrow.  I still think this show should've been called A Meth Lab of One's Own, though.

I have no idea what prompted that comment or why I felt it should be posted.  

Anyway, I just finished s2, which immediately hooked me on another level from s1 in the first two episodes. I like how they've given themesleves room to go very big and experiment with stuff like the mock music video, which was inspired.  

Skyler still annoys me in ways that I think have more to do w/ Anna Gunn than the character; but I liked how they developed Hank, and of course Aaron Paul is really good.  Also, the kid who plays Flynn is quietly very impressive.  

Will catch up with s3 this weekend.  Is typing "s_" obnoxious?

[masterofsparks]

but I liked how they developed Hank,

I agree - he and the wife started out super-obnoxious and cartoony, and though the wife is still a bit over the top, they've managed to make Hank into a real person.

I haven't seen any of the third season yet, but I'm very interested to see if they do more with the Giancarlo Esposito character. I always liked him as an actor and was disappointed when he sorta disappeared after his late 80s/early 90s heyday.

I love the Bob Odenkirk character. I've never seen him do a dramatic character before, and I think he really delivers.

[Jouster]

I haven't seen any of the third season yet, but I'm very interested to see if they do more with the Giancarlo Esposito character. I always liked him as an actor and was disappointed when he sorta disappeared after his late 80s/early 90s heyday.

They do!  He's a regular this year, as is...

I love the Bob Odenkirk character. I've never seen him do a dramatic character before, and I think he really delivers.

I wouldn't call Saul a dramatic character exactly, but I agree that Bob is killing it in the role.  He stepped up.

[Sarah]

Is typing "s_" obnoxious?

No.