Breaking Bad

[justdrew]

Spoiler:I'm guessing in the end Walt will take down his inheritors as his final acts.

well. it's over now

[Carol Newquist]

Shit, that was a great finale, you must admit. There are so many thought-threads that come to mind, but first let me say, it would have been nice if they played this whilst he stroked his "Precious" at the end after taking care of business. I stayed with you to the very end, Walt when everyone else abandoned you. But I didn't cry. Your death was the necessary result of one hell of a life condensed into the span of less than two years. You finally woke up and lived....and you did it your way.

[IanEye]

This one is dedicated to that old time Straight Satan Neo Nazi, Danny DeCarlo (aka donkey dick).

[Laodicean]

Spoiler:I did it for me. I liked it. I was good at it. And, I was...really...I was alive.

[Project Willow]

Only in the movies do miracles happen, and all loose ends are neatly tied up in the end. I'm guiltily grateful for it however. This was a nice piece, as far as these sorts of things go.

[smiths]

after watching something that long, there was something nice about the loose ends tied,

Jesse was the most tortured and abused character, i am glad he got out

Tod was the best psycho ever, i am glad he got what was coming

unlike Mulebone i think it is possible to make brilliant thought-provoking TV that deals with questions of capitalist society in the sub text and contributes something to society
now ... has anyone got any blue stuff?

as an aside i just finished the last episode of Rubicon, it was fucking brilliant, i really cant believe it got cancelled, you have to wonder about that decision ...

[Carol Newquist]

I've been amazed at the audience reaction to Walt. Sure, there are varying opinions about Walt, but a dominant theme and reaction to him has been one of indictment and condemnation. The majority, at least from my observation, wanted him to be punished.....they felt as Jr. did....that he should just die already....especially females. Not all females, but quite a few, I'd definitely say more than 50%, wanted Walt to pay for his alleged "sins." And just what were those sins beyond the illegality of Meth which is not immoral IMO....meaning cooking and selling Meth, albeit illegal, is not necessarily an immoral act. I had this to say on another forum because I was getting fed up with the Puritanical Parade.

I have to say, this country is showing its puritanical roots in its reaction to Walt. With few exceptions, everyone wants him punished. He’s become a Whipping Boy for all of society’s ills…..a repository for the massive projection of society’s collective guilt. He’s a Sacrificial Lamb…to be stabbed with the steely knives of the viewing audience as they seek to kill the Beast that is them. But as the Eagles sagely advised…you just can’t kill the Beast…especially a surrogate Beast.

So, back to the topic of morality and the skewering of Walt for his alleged immorality by the puritanical parade. What has done greater harm, is doing greater harm, and will do greater harm than any mythologized Meth Epidemic? That’s right, cigarettes. And what has Skyler been smoking increasingly the last couple of seasons? That’s right, cigarettes…which are perfectly, or not so perfectly, legal. With the baby in the next room, no less. At least Walt took a stand against using kids and selling to kids, if you recollect…or maybe you don’t recollect that because you’re busy denigrating him for his lack of “morality.” But it’s perfectly moral to manufacture, sell and smoke cigarettes, right? Where’s the War On Cigarettes? Shit, if we had a War On Cigarettes, Walt could have done that rather than cooking the pernicious, evil Meth. Plus, we would have gotten to see Walt kill off the management and shareholders of all the Tobacco Giants like Philip Morris. How awesome would that have been? So awesome, AMC wouldn’t have picked up the show, that’s how awesome. Here’s some perspective. Get some perspective before you liberally dole out the “evil” and “monster” labels.

This post is not accusatory of anyone specifically. If the shoe doesn’t fit, don’t wear it. It doesn’t fit me…in fact, I didn’t even bother to try it on because it’s not my style.

http://thescooponsmoking.org/xhtml/faq.php

FYI, I’m not moralizing about cigarette smoking. I’m asking those who feel compelled to jump on the bandwagon of Walt condemnation, to reconsider their biased moralizing and put the guillotine away, unless of course, they’re willing to put their head beneath the blade first.

[Carol Newquist]

Does anyone else find it suspicious that this show, as popular as it was, ended after just five seasons? WTF? And I'm sorry, but I take the official reasons for it with a grain of salt. I mean, this is Rigorous Intuition afterall, and all things should and must be questioned. In our Capitalist Society, you don't chop down the Money Tree before it stops rendering its fruit, but that's exactly what they did. That doesn't compute.

My theory. They received heat from the Feds to shut it down, and that would explain why they elevated Hank's stature in the show from blowhard bully to pseudo hero and downgraded Walt's stature a few notches. It could also explain why they inculcated a puritanical witch hunt reaction from their audience. Walt was an anarchist.....a true revolutionary. He had so much to offer conventional society and instead said "fuck you." That's a dangerous message for the PTB....one that can't be prolonged and one that must be mitigated.

Wouldn't it be something to have HMW weigh in on Breaking Bad? But not before a fatty to take the edge off.

[IanEye]

Shit, that was a great finale, you must admit.

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Does anyone else find it suspicious that this show, as popular as it was, ended after just five seasons? WTF?

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*

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[Carol Newquist]

Ian, you crack me up. Really, you do. I like to speak YouTube too. It's a language, but I use it for accent, not for a replacement altogether. Your method is a bit cryptic, so let me see if I understand your point.

Gilligan, like Frank and Walt, ended this show his way. Yes, I know, that's the official explanation, but it doesn't preclude the validity of my questioning. Oswald was the lone nut. Same with Sirhan Sirhan. And?

Beating a dead horse? Really? If that's your contention, the entire series was beating a dead horse since it's a Shakespearean Tragedy.....and how many times has the Shakespeare dead horse been flogged over the centuries? Too many. Plus, if a dead horse shits gold nuggets, you flog it until its bowels run empty. That's the Capitalist Way, and despite Gilligan's wanting to do it his way, he doesn't get the final say when it comes to Big Bucks. Maybe there wasn't anymore to it, but I'm suspicious nonetheless.

If you believe discussing it any further is beating a dead horse, I disagree. The value of this series was, and still is, the philosophical and sociological discussions it conjures. That's never beating a dead horse, in my book. If it is in your book, why are you even reviewing the Breaking Bad thread at all then?

[Carol Newquist]

And the Stepping Stone implication. I don't think it holds, although I agree with you that that is how the actors and writers see it. This will, in all likelihood, be their greatest work. They live and breath in an environment where they're trained to think positively over objectively, so they cling to the notion that bigger and better things are in store for them. For the majority of them, maybe even all of them, that simply won't be the case. This was the Magnum Opus of their careers, and in order for them to persevere in this industry, that idea must not get any traction.

Take Gilligan, for example. I think Breaking Bad has the appeal it does for things beyond him and his talent. If not for Breaking Bad, we never would have heard of him, and truth be known, for most writers, it's not a glamorous job....they have to deal with a bunch of corporate bullshit and they're often under-appreciated and underpaid.

Gilligan's already committed to doing something for which he's more suited. Another cop show....for CBS.....as if the world needs another cop show. I don't think he'll be winning any more Emmys anytime soon. Not that it matters....as you say, he's set. He probably doesn't have to type another word the rest of his life unless he wants to live a certain lifestyle now.....and most of them succumb to craving and holding onto that newly acquired lifestyle.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/26/business/media/breaking-bad-creator-gilligan-in-deal-for-cbs-show-battle-creek.html?_r=0

Sony Pictures Television, the studio that has an exclusive contract with Mr. Gilligan, announced on Wednesday that it had concluded a rich deal with CBS to produce a new series created by Mr. Gilligan, with a guarantee that it will go onto the network’s prime-time schedule next fall.

The show, a police drama called “Battle Creek,” comes with an added layer of elite television pedigree. Based on Mr. Gilligan’s script, which he originally wrote for CBS 10 years ago, before he created “Breaking Bad,” the show’s production will be led by David Shore, another celebrated television producer, who created and produced the longtime Fox hit drama “House.”

The deal reflects the status Mr. Gilligan has reached, largely on the strength of the success of “Bad.”

CBS has promised to produce 13 episodes and put them all on the air. Most show deals begin with a script payment, and the next stage is limited to the making of a pilot. In this case, CBS has committed to paying for all 13 episodes before they are even produced.

[IanEye]

again, when you are right, you are right Carol!

Mr. Gilligan should have taken the approach Dick Wolf took with "Law & Order", kept the original series going ad infinitum, and simply added more and more spin-offs.

[Carol Newquist]

again, when you are right, you are right Carol!

What am I right about? I'm confused. I said it seems suspicious, so am I right about being suspicious? Also, there are other options than ending it after Season 5, or stringing it out in perpetuity like Law & Order. That's rather binary, don't you think? There's a sliding scale of options. This could have gone for seven or eight seasons without jumping the shark. It wasn't at its pinnacle yet....it was still gaining momentum. It doesn't make sense from a business perspective, and I thought these folks were in the business to make money....otherwise they'd do it for free, right?

[IanEye]

[Carol Newquist]

I have to admit, the ending was somewhat how I imagined it, although I think there are some who wouldn't have been satisfied unless it was 55 minutes of Soprano-like fade-to-black punctuated by the customary 20 minutes of commercials. I said this last week at another forum (yes, I like to use YouTube like Ian):

Someone wrote an excellent post here (see link) at another blog, so I thought I would share:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/bastard-machine/breaking-bad-deconstruction-ep-15-634297#comment-1056565429

What an excellent post. You’ve gone and done it….given me a thought thread I will ponder all day….or for days. Thank you. I mean that.

And thank you for reminding me about the door conversation. I do recollect that at the time I found it profound. There are so many interpretations of what the door symbolizes. For example, it’s a form of containment….separating one environment from another. Certainly, Walt lived in two worlds….separated by a metaphorical door….although, it’s fairly obvious, at least at the very end, that door between worlds was always a fabricated illusion…..worlds can and do collide. As Walt deterministically slaughters the inhabitants of the Aryan Compound, I think it’s only fitting this song plays as the camera flashes from the slow motion bullets released from his machine gun to the blood popping from the holes in the victims bodies to their slow-motion descent to the ground from whence they sprang to the snarl on Walt’s face as he does what we know he must do….what we’re cheering him to do because we don’t have the nerve to do it ourselves.

As the smoke is clearing, and this song’s still playing, we see contentment in Walt’s eyes as cancer grips his lungs in a final fit……all that was once dear to him flashes before us….Holly, Walt Jr., Hank, Marie, Skyler and his lost love for Gretchen and many other images in a cinematic collage reminiscent of that famous scene from The Parallax View with Warren Beatty.