Re: Does Breaking Bad ever get good?
 

I've only watched the first season so far, but I've been hooked since the pilot. Different strokes...

Re: Does Breaking Bad ever get good?
 

I just started watching the series this month like the OP. I thought the pilot was fantastic. Mr. White out in the desert with his underwear and a gas mask just spoke volumes about this world that he had no business entering.

With any successful tv show, characters trump plot. I quickly became invested in the character of Mr. White and his emotional journey dealing with the cancer.

Then I get to the part where he assembles the plate and finds the missing piece and almost starts crying. Brilliant writing. Definitely not one dimensional characters here.

Re: Does Breaking Bad ever get good?
 

No fucking way The Shield is tier 2. You could claim that the plot itself was too unrealistic, but the main characters deal with real life consequences and moral conflicts. The writing is so incredible that you totally forget that you are rooting for the bad guys especially in season 5.

Re: Does Breaking Bad ever get good?
 

Well jeez, when you say it that way...

Re: Does Breaking Bad ever get good?
 

dolphinboy: If you got the blu-rays and really don't like it, I'll buy them off you. Breaking Bad rocks!

Re: Does Breaking Bad ever get good?
 

Just watched the 3rd Season Finale again, it's amazing how different it is from every other episode of the series. From start to finish, curious if that'll carry into 4.

Re: Does Breaking Bad ever get good?
 

Yeah the Shield is definitely Tier 1 for me. There are only 5 shows that I would say are in that category for me: The Wire, The Sopranos, The Shield, Six Feet Under, and Breaking Bad. Curb Your Enthusiasm, Mad Men, Deadwood would be in that next tier for me. Boardwalk Empire , Game of Thrones could get there but it is wayyyy too early for both shows.

Re: Does Breaking Bad ever get good?
 

You're right. I like Treme but it is not on the level of The Wire. I think even if this season and following seasons turn out to be really good it still won't be better than The Wire.

Re: Does Breaking Bad ever get good?
 

Ok, looks like I gotta say something...

I just started the Blu for S3 and holy shit has the first 5 eps been boring as hell. I loved the show since ep 1 and this season has really started as a let down. All the focus on the whore wife that could have been put into 2 episodes. It hasnt started rolling. Im pretty damn dissapointed in this season so far and its kinda cooled me on S4 starting

Re: Does Breaking Bad ever get good?
 

All the focus-rolleyes- Did you fall asleep during those first 5 episodes. There was a whole host of things going on:



IF you were bored by those first 5 episodes I don't know what else to tell you except PAY ATTENTION.

Re: Does Breaking Bad ever get good?
 

This is even more baffling than the OP.
To each their own indeed.

Re: Does Breaking Bad ever get good?
 

I thought the first few eps of season 3 were a little slow as well, though imo episode 5 was pretty badass, sure it was completely focused on the RV but it was phenomenally tense near the end. Then save for the horrible Fly the rest of the season was great.

Re: Does Breaking Bad ever get good?
 

I love the show, been watching on DVD and now season 3 via AMC Sunday night re-runs. I agree(I have watched through "The Fly" that season 3 isn't as good as the first two IMO. Although there are some amazing episodes mixed in.

Re: Does Breaking Bad ever get good?
 

I think that some people are expecting the show to just "take off" at some point and end up being non-stop action/criminal activity or something. While the episodes were originally airing, I remember various forum threads around where people were complaining about the downtime after the first three episodes in both S1 AND S2, as well as the first stretch of episodes in S3.

That's just the kind of pacing the show has, and I guess it's just not for everybody. Personally, I love that we get the time to step back every so often and watch everybody scramble around and react to all the stuff that just happened.

Re: Does Breaking Bad ever get good?
 

Season 3 really takes off from eps 7-13. The Fly is kinda one note with just the two of them, but the others are really mind-blowing.

Re: Does Breaking Bad ever get good?
 

Just watched the one after the Fly, really good...can't wait for the last two!

Re: Does Breaking Bad ever get good?
 

Anyone who cares about watching quality tv shows, should watch breaking bad......if they haven't so already.

Re: Does Breaking Bad ever get good?
 

How the fuck does my assessment show Im not paying attention? I payed attention, and yea all that was great, but it could have been put into half the episodes. THATS my point. Fly is the perfect example. It was good but that close to the end of the season? It was meaningless, it like they didnt have much story to tell so they dragged it all out

I actually didnt like the twin brothers, kinda stupid infact. THough seeing him crawl on his nubs made me :lol: Yea ep 5 about the RV was great but after 6 it really kicked in, I finished the season last night and goddamn that cliffhanger. But when Gus and Walt confront each other at the beginning Gus has a really thick accent, wtf was that

Re: Does Breaking Bad ever get good?
 

Well I have just signed up to this forum because I have spent the last few hours trying to find some people who share my views on Breaking Bad and it looks like I found some!

I agree completely with the OP. I have just finished watching episode 6 and am considering just throwing in the towel. The final straw for me was the introduction of the character of Tuco. What the hell? So much of that character doesn't make any sense.

1. He lets complete strangers walk straight into his compound carrying huge bags of meth?
2. He is a complete psycho yet he manages to dominate the drug trade and not get caught.
3. He beats up Jesse, but when Walt comes in and asks for more money and then blows up his compound he gives him the cash?
4. He doesnt kill Walt for blowing up his compound?

Compare Marlo Stanfield, Proposition Joe, or any other drug dealer type from the Wire with Tuco. Breaking Bad is not a good show. Over acted and badly directed.

Also, can someone explain to me why Walt's son has CP? Do they try and turn that in a plot line at all? I don't understand that casting decision at all.

Re: Does Breaking Bad ever get good?
 

Dragon Tattoo, Dragon Tattoo, Dragon Tattoo!

Re: Does Breaking Bad ever get good?
 

*Materializes*

Someone called?

*Reads HaydosMang's post*

Perhaps you would find Two and a Half Men more to your liking?

*Disappears*

Re: Does Breaking Bad ever get good?
 

The last 3 shows I have watched are The Sopranos, The Wire and The Shield. I am shelving Breaking Bad and have switched to Boardwalk Empire which I am loving after 3 episodes.

Thanks for your input though.

Re: Does Breaking Bad ever get good?
 

I don't watch many shows and I despise serialized shows but Breaking Bad is far and away the best TV show to air in the past decade. Nothing on TV right now holds a flame to it.

Opinions are opinions, though. To each their own.

Re: Does Breaking Bad ever get good?
 

You prefer Boardwalk Empire to Breaking Bad?

I don't even know what to say to something like that. But whatever.

The Truth.

Re: Does Breaking Bad ever get good?
 

And I'm the one that should watch Two and a Half Men?

Re: Does Breaking Bad ever get good?
 

Boardwalk Empire is a show for people who like to think they're watching an intelligent show. Kinda like The Wire, except with less actual value.

Are you on the Golden Globe selection committee?

Re: Does Breaking Bad ever get good?
 

Ok, I'm going to assume that you're not being deliberately nitpicky, or trolling, or whatever, and actually address these concerns:

Err, no, not really. He let Jesse in only after someone he already knows vouches for him. As for Walt, he probably figured that if anything did go sideways with him, his goons could have handled him easily.

Yeah, he's a bit off, but he still seemed to be careful when doing business. Not only that, but they basically said that he took over for Krazy 8 after he was killed earlier in the season, so it's not like he had been running the drug trade for all that long.

Not only that, but he wasn't really "dominating" the drug trade, all things considered. After he beat up Jesse, he said something along the lines of "nobody deals crystal in the South Valley but me", and from the looks of it on a map, the South Valley is just kind of a suburb of Albuquerque, so it's not like he was the kingpin of a vast empire or anything. Not only that, but later on it's revealed that he

Uh, yeah, that's pretty much the way it happened. Walt was holding the rest of the bag of the fulminated mercury as leverage to be able to get the money from Tuco and walk back out alive. That was pretty much the whole point of the scene.

Do you mean "why" as in the cause given in the show, or "why" as far as why the writers decided to do it?

As far as the in-show cause, they never came right out and gave a cause but it is hinted later on that

As far as why the writers might have decided to do it, it could have been just something to do just for the heck of it, or it could have been to add another layer of general disappointment to Walt's pre-BB life (high school chemistry teacher, working part time at a car wash, disabled son, etc).

The nice thing is that, aside from a few small things here and there, it's never really harped upon in the series. Sure, he's always walking around with the crutches, but there's never a huge "poor Walter Jr. has to live with CP" storyline, it's just a part of the character.

Re: Does Breaking Bad ever get good?
 

I still don't get the appeal of Boardwalk. Love The Sopranos, The Wire, Breaking Bad, etc; but Boardwalk Empire is a completely shallow bore with nice production values.

I do kind of think that Breaking Bad is a bit comic book-ish in spots, though. Doesn't make me like it any less.

Re: Does Breaking Bad ever get good?
 

I'll agree that Boardwalk Empire never feels compelling - it just seems compelling at times.

What I like about Breaking Bad is the story will have twists and turns I didn't see coming and yet they don't feel gimmicky or contrived. I'm looking at you Sons of Anarchy and Dexter.

Re: Does Breaking Bad ever get good?
 

I'm kind of with the OP. I watched the first few episodes of Season 1 on Netflix and was meh. I guess I bought into the hype too much and expected too much.

Re: Does Breaking Bad ever get good?
 

damn.. and i was just about to start a, 'Does The Wire ever get good' thread :(

Re: Does Breaking Bad ever get good?
 

My two cents...

This show (as well as Mad Men) are not for everyone. Both require a ton of attention and they will turn the screws on you if you don't. I knew from the trailer of Breaking Bad this was going to be the show. Mad Men on the other hand...I thought this could be the best show on TV. And I think most would agree with that assessment.

Second, The Wire not being Tier 1 is total non-sense. It may be the most accurate depiction of real life and how mundane it is...ever. The Shield, while excellent, can't even hold a candle to how awesome The Wire is, was and forever will be. And to say anything on Dexter is fesiable (outside of getting away with murder), is beyond absurd. Not to say people are not allowed to have their opinions, but those few comments made me shake my head.

Re: Does Breaking Bad ever get good?
 

I have to say that I think Breaking Bad is probably far and away the best show on television right now. The actors are all outstanding and is just telling a great story.

Dexter is about the only show I like as much as Breaking Bad at the moment. For different reasons and it's not quite as good. It definitely has a different feel to it and more "comic book" like but it still entertains me. The Wire is a fine show but honestly I'm not that into it. I might have to go back to it again someday and can definitely appreciate how true to life it seems and how expansive the series is but I just find it hard to get into. Mad Men I like but find completely overrated to be honest. It's a fine show but damn is it slow at times and a chore to watch.

Re: Does Breaking Bad ever get good?
 

I'm currently watching Season 3 of The Wire. There aren't many shows I can think of that were as good as it.

As for Breaking Bad, I like it and will continue watching it but



and the



and sort of made me roll my eyes.

Re: Does Breaking Bad ever get good?
 

Re: Does Breaking Bad ever get good?
 

Who said I was comparing shows? I was comparing premises. RIF.

Re: Does Breaking Bad ever get good?
 

Another thought I had on the series as a whole, this show is excellent in terms of arcs. There is the main plot (Walt), sub-plot (Jesse), comic relief (Hank) and the unknown (Gus). Somehow, all of these things tie together nicely and it all makes sense. The writers also have a real knack for making the audience aware of where they might go and then go in the total opposite direction (see the season 4 finale).

Then the show will do a bottle episode, which has no bearing on the plot(s) but makes references back to them and might reveal things to the characters that the audience already knows. The Fly being the example (and my personal favorite episode of the series, as I have stated previously).

Mad Men does this as well, but more in the style of The Sopranos, where characters drop off for extended lenghts of time and show up again later, to have a significant impact.

Re: Does Breaking Bad ever get good?
 

I guess it kind of seemed like you were since you brought them up and that they had similar premises. Breaking Bad really isn't that similar to Weeds at all though. Breaking Bad is different though in that it really uses drugs as a way of illustrating Walt's turn at "Breaking Bad". The drugs aren't really what the show is about though it's more about how a person's ego and desparation can drive them to extreme lengths. Weeds is similar but goes about the idea pretty differently and doesn't do it nearly as well.

Re: Does Breaking Bad ever get good?
 

No shit, Weeds is made for laughs. Breaking Bad is about one man's descent into darkness and madness. Season 1 also went deep into the emotional and physical experiences of having cancer. I have to say if these posters don't care for the show after season 1, they should move on to something else.

Re: Does Breaking Bad ever get good?
 

I just finished season 3 on netflix. Man, this show is fantastic. It deserves any and all praise it gets. I really enjoy the chemistry between Walt and Jessie and their storylines which are almost always surprising and engaging. Just when I think I know where things are going ... the show ups the stakes to another level. It's really riveting. I also very much appreciate that the show brings back loose ends (such as Combo's death) into the main storyline (even if it may be a bit too coincidental). It really makes watching the show satisfying. Anyway, I am hooked and will definitely catch this show when it returns.