Now, Breaking Bad is not my favorite show. It is maybe not even in my top 5. But it is the only one that is consistenly great all thoughout with every single ep. Even a lot of my favorite shows have very weak episodes or even weaker seasons. Thats why I admire Breaking Bad a whole lot.
shareReally? I thought the quality was all over the place. The third season in particular is super slow, where the first five episodes are a chore to get through. Then things start getting good again and we get that stupid Fly episode.
shareOh yes, the fly episode.
sharethe fly episode was one of the best
shareI'm not sure what to think of Fly. It's kind of a neat bottle episode, but it's a little strange and definitely smacks of "filler". Still, it's a bit of insight into the psyche of Walt and his relationship with Jesse, so I liked those aspects of it.
shareNo, it's not and you know it. Either you are trolling or trying to be different, not sure which one
shareYeah, it was pretty high-bar throughout. There are others, I think, that fit the bill, although some of these feats are more impressive than others.
Firefly, for instance, was gold for its whole run, but of course its whole run was a half-season.
Mad Men was always really great, though, and had a long enough run for that to count for something, I think.
Curb Your Enthusiasm is another one.
Nah, it dropped the ball at the end, big time.
shareYou didn't like the ending? Why not?
shareThe climax of the series should have focused on the main characters realising what Walt had become, and these revelations should have driven the action.
For example, have a scene where Hank confronts Walt, a scuffle ensues and Hank’s gun is knocked aside, Walt Jr enters and picks it up. He doesn’t know who to shoot - his uncle who is about to take down his hero/dad, or his dad for deceiving him and becoming a crime lord. Enter Jessie who has become Walt’s surrogate son and explore the tension between Walt Jr and Jessie - bring all the major chess pieces together in a life and death face-off, much like at the end of Hamlet or most Shakespearean epics.
Instead, Hank’s revelation was underplayed, some generic neo-Nazi villains execute him, we don’t even see his wife (who we’ve come to know well throughout the series) learn about and react to this, and the epic revelation of Walt Jr discovering the truth about his dad is left offscreen - totally dropped the ball.
From what I saw, they did.
Walt's actions directly affect the family and as they learn about Walt, they too act - often against him. For instance, Walt attempting to provide for his family becomes almost impossible - the phone call with Walt Jr, for instance, is an example of this.
I'm not going to fight you; your experience is your experience. But my response to the final season of Breaking Bad could easily be described as focusing on the main characters realising what Walt had become and those revelations driving the action.
The ending wasn’t dreadful, it was just rushed and arbitrary when it could have been epic, resolving all the major dramatic questions that had been brewing for several seasons, and bringing everything full circle. Instead it just fizzled out.
shareI disagree here, too. BB had one of the best climaxes on television, brought everything to a satisfying conclusion, and was thrilling to the last. I mean, fair enough, if you didn't like it, I'm not about to tell you you're wrong, but my experience was completely different.
shareI’m glad you enjoyed the experience of the lazy, rushed ending but I wanted something in keeping with the high quality of the show.
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