I just can't get into Breaking Bad

[kutulu 1,661]

I'm thinking Jr. is going to become an addict before the show ends...

Holly-ricin

[JackARoot 2]

Holly-ricin

Yep, that too.

 

In Dead Freight, that kid on the mini-bike represents all of the innocent people that Walt is hurting and it's going to come home to roost.

[kutulu 1,661]

The Overall story is great and obviously I am sucked in, but what a poorly written season.

 

First off, this show spent 4 seasons being intelligent and subtle. Give your audience some credit. We know through Walt's actions that he is now fully evil. We don't need whistling, shadowy lighting in backseats, and cheesy bad guy action movie lines in each episode to make what is obvious to us more obvious to us.

 

And this finale was so rushed that it didn't even make sense to me.

 

I didn't even pick up on Jesse supposedly being so afraid of Walt. I just assumed he grabbed the gun just in case he had to use it because Walt is nuts. Talk about undeveloped storylines.

 

And we get a whole season of lines like "I'm in the empire business" after Jesse explains to Walt that they can walk away with millions. Walt more than made it clear what his plan was..then Walt sees a stack of money in storage and immediately decides he can quit now? Where the fuuck did that come from? And how?

 

And for those thinking he isn't really wanting out. Normally I'd agree except this season has been so sloppy.

 

From season 1 until episode 8 of season 5, Walter went from relative good guy to pure evil that could honestly give a shiit less about his family. Then in the span of 1 episode, they are going to go from the Godfather-esque murder montage to Walt just wanting to be out of it all and wanting his family again. Turning soft on Jesse and giving Skyler what she wants and quitting sure points that direction.

 

And the reason to do it from a story telling point of view is obvious. It's to up the stakes emotionally as Walt possibly goes down here in the 2nd half of the season. If so, WTF? The guy was pure evil 30 minutes ago and you spent 4.5 seasons illustrating to us that he was going that way and not coming back. WTF?

 

But at least there was some solid story telling in terms of Hank learning the truth. They didn't rush that at least. Oh wait, you mean Hank opened a book and saw the exact thing he needed to see to let him figure out everything in less than 10' seconds time? And the super genius Walter White who is super diligent and thinks of everything just left that book on his toilet? Cool.

 

I hate to say it, but it looks to me like the writers are screwing up the story telling very badly this season. Hopefully I am wrong, but it's not looking good.

 

Sorry it any of this is incoherent at almost 2am.

 

 

This article is somewhat spoil material so you might not want to read but does discuss some of your points.

 

http://www.uproxx.com/tv/2012/09/the-9-biggest-revelations-about-breaking-bad-we-learned-from-vince-gilligan-interviews-this-week/

[cbfalcon 825]

This article is somewhat spoil material so you might not want to read but does discuss some of your points.

 

http://www.uproxx.com/tv/2012/09/the-9-biggest-revelations-about-breaking-bad-we-learned-from-vince-gilligan-interviews-this-week/

 

That article ust convinces me further. The writing is lost this season. It's as it they know where they want to go, but have no idea how to get there.

 

My criticisim is all relative. It's still the best show currently on TV. But the half ass job this season is a blow to the legacy in my mind.

[FeelingMN 273]

The Overall story is great and obviously I am sucked in, but what a poorly written season.

 

First off, this show spent 4 seasons being intelligent and subtle. Give your audience some credit. We know through Walt's actions that he is now fully evil. We don't need whistling, shadowy lighting in backseats, and cheesy bad guy action movie lines in each episode to make what is obvious to us more obvious to us.

 

And this finale was so rushed that it didn't even make sense to me.

 

I didn't even pick up on Jesse supposedly being so afraid of Walt. I just assumed he grabbed the gun just in case he had to use it because Walt is nuts. Talk about undeveloped storylines.

 

And we get a whole season of lines like "I'm in the empire business" after Jesse explains to Walt that they can walk away with millions. Walt more than made it clear what his plan was..then Walt sees a stack of money in storage and immediately decides he can quit now? Where the fuuck did that come from? And how?

 

And for those thinking he isn't really wanting out. Normally I'd agree except this season has been so sloppy.

 

From season 1 until episode 8 of season 5, Walter went from relative good guy to pure evil that could honestly give a shiit less about his family. Then in the span of 1 episode, they are going to go from the Godfather-esque murder montage to Walt just wanting to be out of it all and wanting his family again. Turning soft on Jesse and giving Skyler what she wants and quitting sure points that direction.

 

And the reason to do it from a story telling point of view is obvious. It's to up the stakes emotionally as Walt possibly goes down here in the 2nd half of the season. If so, WTF? The guy was pure evil 30 minutes ago and you spent 4.5 seasons illustrating to us that he was going that way and not coming back. WTF?

 

But at least there was some solid story telling in terms of Hank learning the truth. They didn't rush that at least. Oh wait, you mean Hank opened a book and saw the exact thing he needed to see to let him figure out everything in less than 10' seconds time? And the super genius Walter White who is super diligent and thinks of everything just left that book on his toilet? Cool.

 

I hate to say it, but it looks to me like the writers are screwing up the story telling very badly this season. Hopefully I am wrong, but it's not looking good.

 

Sorry it any of this is incoherent at almost 2am.

 

I hear what you're saying...especially about the cheesy one liners. But I don't mind the abrupt shift in Walt midway through the last episode. His aha moment seemed to occur inside the MRI. We forget that Walt is still battling cancer but that was a central theme in the earlier seasons. We saw Walt inside a clinic as much as inside the RV cooking with Jesse. We haven't seen that side of Walt....cancer patient....in how long? Something happened at the appointment....either the cancer has returned and the prognosis is looking grim....or maybe the scene was purely symbolic to show Walt (and the doctors) taking a look inside the man. At any rate, at that moment he flipped the switch and decided to transition from Heisenberg to Walter White. Maybe that's far fetched....to see a man be a monster one minute then revert back to humble family man the next. But the appeal of the show, at least to me early on was Walt's ability to transition seamlessly amongst his different roles. Criminal by day, sweet loving family man by night. So the shift, however dramatic, at least plays to Walt's dynamic personality.

 

Also, his decision to get out of the business strikes me as entirely selfish and shortsighted. Dude, by you walking away you're costing some folks a lot of money. They're not gonna be happy. A more altruistic action might have been to send Skylar and the kids away with all the money while you continue to cook. But he's a greedy dude who wants the best of all worlds...because he still thinks he's larger than life. His past actions will catch up to him. And if he were as smart as he truly believed, he'd have saved his family before dragging them down with him.

[tikigods 76]

I'm pissed that we have to wait another year for the finale. Dumb.

[cbfalcon 825]

At any rate, at that moment he flipped the switch and decided to transition from Heisenberg to Walter White. Maybe that's far fetched....to see a man be a monster one minute then revert back to humble family man the next. But the appeal of the show, at least to me early on was Walt's ability to transition seamlessly amongst his different roles. Criminal by day, sweet loving family man by night. So the shift, however dramatic, at least plays to Walt's dynamic personality.

 

That was true early in the series. But this entire season has been used to drive home a primary point. The "humble family man" is gone and isn't coming back no matter what.

 

They now have decided to bring him back (making the point of much of the story of the last 5 seasons now meaningless) for one reason only. It was time to abandon Walt's character arc and begin the telling the story of his possibly getting busted.

 

In making that transition, they disregarded his entire character arc simply because they wanted to make Walt sympathetic again before he loses everything, this creating more emotional impact. It's a cheap move.

 

And none of this even addresses the undeveloped nature of things they are cramming in as fast as possible this season. What a massive fail of a season!

[tikigods 76]

It'll be interesting to see if they finish it off with Walt dying or like The Shield with Vic Mackey sitting at a desk forced into being a nobody.

[OldMaid 2,130]

Nope next summer

Is this confirmed? The way they kept advertising it as the last episode of 2012, leads me to believe that it will be back in early 2013. Kinda like what they did with The Walking Dead last year... the first 8 episodes in Oct. and the second 8 in Feb.

[kutulu 1,661]

Is this confirmed? The way they kept advertising it as the last episode of 2012, leads me to believe that it will be back in early 2013. Kinda like what they did with The Walking Dead last year... the first 8 episodes in Oct. and the second 8 in Feb.

 

Everything I've seen has said next summer and considering they haven't even finished writing the 2nd half of the season yet, I would doubt we see BB in early 2013.

[OldMaid 2,130]

Everything I've seen has said next summer and considering they haven't even finished writing the 2nd half of the season yet, I would doubt we see BB in early 2013.

That. Focking. Blows.