Breaking Bad

[Laodicean]

Because the RI board needs an active thread on this incredible American TV drama as it reaches the end of its chemical reaction. Since I rock the Pinkman riding the go-cart avatar, I'll start the thread. And I hope Jeff posts his thoughts. Bitch (no Misogny intended).

[coffin_dodger]

Ooo, glad you posted this thread - I just ordered season 1 on DVD - never seen a minute of any of Breaking Bad - am I in for a treat?

[IanEye]

- am I in for a treat?

i would stay off this thread, unless you want to be ruined by spoilers.

[DrEvil]

am I in for a treat?

Yes. Yes you are

[Wombaticus Rex]

I would place it in the pantheon of Potential All-Time Best Uses for Television.

I would appreciate, due to my work schedule, if we could at least have a moratorium here on spoilers that reference the current season (or rather, half-season.)

I suspect it is significant to RI that law enforcement is pretty much The Good Guys at every level of scale in Gilligan's story. Their mistakes are the result of their own naivete and lack of funding / training. Which, in my own experience with the species, is actually pretty true.

[DrEvil]

I would place it in the pantheon of Potential All-Time Best Uses for Television.

I would appreciate, due to my work schedule, if we could at least have a moratorium here on spoilers that reference the current season (or rather, half-season.)
...

Agreed. This is up there with The Wire and Twin Peaks.

And yes to no to spoilers. The less you know going in the better.

[justdrew]

public reaction is interesting. Apparently there was a big "hate on Skyler" fest a couple weeks ago when she decided to 'stand by her man'

it's good to see the reality creeping in as the meth op is turned over to the sort of peeps who actually run such things.

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

hope that's not considered a spoiler. Still haven't watched last nights ep.

Spoiler:or... itsa gonna fade toa black witha no sure resa-lution.

[JackRiddler]

It is a fantastic work of television art, no kidding, a real chance to wallow in the dark side, some absolutely unforgettable scenes (possibly the single greatest of which involves Walt brutalizing a bathroom towel dispenser). But the ideology creeps in. Such as the chaos supposedly being caused by those Mexicans on the north side of the border. I don't think they even bother with a token good Mexican, except the one in the DEA. And while it's shown how a corporation is useful to the drug business, there's little touching the higher levels of money-laundering or law enforcement enabling. In any case, it's resolutely honest about the utter stupidity of the war on drugs, and also how capitalism makes monsters out of nice guys without breaking a sweat.

Yes, no spoilers please, I have yet to see any of this final set.

Back when I was watching it, because I had access to cable, a favorite part was that many of the AMC commercials were for crappy ambulance-chasing lawyers, which made for a perfect comment on the "Better Call Saul" commercials in the show itself.

As an example of more straight-up propaganda, Homeland is a pretty fucking good show, too - and very, very fucked up!

[Project Willow]

Not much to add to what's been said so far. I followed the Skylar reaction story. Nobody likes women. When there's a keyboard and anonymity, we get to the see the Walt side of people.

The story arch over the series is well done. Apt title, everything gets broken.

[82_28]

Jesus Christ. Everybody talks about this show but I haven't seen a bit of it. I guess I must.

[kelley]

the series is exceedingly well cast. giancarlo esposito, who i've loved since his turn as buggin' out in 'do the right thing', is fantastic.

also, alot of subtle visuals that reinforce the writing. my favorite is the blue A1A logo hanging near the register at the car wash. hilarious stuff that riffs on the 'hiding in plain sight' thematics running through each season.

[IanEye]

and Windy has stormy eyes
that flash at the sound of lies

[DrEvil]

Btw: They're making a spin-off series called "Better call Saul!".

[mulebone]

Let's see if I understand the RI zeitgeist.

TV is a huge time wasting mind control/mind manipulation device that disseminates propaganda on a massive scale except when it involves shows that RI-ers personally like or are addicted to. Is that about right?

To me Breaking Wind isn't much more than a suburban white boy's little "Grand Theft Auto Gangsta Rap I could be a bad ass too if pushed" TV fantasy.

From what I've seen those kind of white dipshits are everywhere these days. Can't count the number of times I've walked out of the library or some store with my 9 year old son only to be regaled by some asshole cranking Gangsta (c)rap where every other word is "motherfucker." And when I look over I am confronted with, oh wonder of wonders, some suburban white boy cream puff in the driver's seat. At moments like those I can't help wondering why there's never a good drive by when you need one.

Also find it funny that Gilligan's blue meth went from fiction to reality as monkey boy Breaking Bad viewers/meth heads want to be just like Walt.

Breaking Wind appears to be little more than an updated Scarface & personally, every time I hear Al Pacino's crappy accent, I laugh so hard I can't take that movie seriously either.

So it's a rip on capitalism huh? I bet Gilligan would laugh all the way to the bank if you told him that one.

As I've aged I've come to realize why acting was such a denigrated profession for so long.

Actors, at their core, are liars & whores. On their way up they'll dress up in fake doctor coats and sell shitty pharmaceuticals to gullible consumers. They'll convincingly tell you that the product they're hawking is the greatest thing since sliced bread when it's really just a lump of worthless shit. Then, when they make it, they'll return to commercials (Jeff Bridges, Julia Roberts, Ed Harris, etc. come to mind...hell, even Henry Rollins is just a car salesman these days) & use their reputations to hawk even bigger bottles of snake oil to the American consumer, giggling madly, much like Vince, all the way to the fucking bank.

Fuck 'em.

& fuck Breaking Wind & all of its inbred bastard bullshit brethren too.

Personally, I'd rather watch a shit smear harden to a crust.

[Project Willow]

Let's see if I understand the RI zeitgeist.

TV is a huge time wasting mind control/mind manipulation device that disseminates propaganda on a massive scale except when it involves shows that RI-ers personally like or are addicted to. Is that about right?

I'll bite.

Story telling is central to human experience, as are the various genres and disciplines of art, which are all different forms of story telling, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. I would never denigrate any single discipline, simply on the basis of its delivery. That would be foolish, like choosing to reject something intrinsically human that is capable of producing much good, including the power to confront other intrinsically human characteristics that have proven universally harmful, at this point.

It isn't the tool that is the issue, but who wields it and how. We attempt to pay mind to how power structures use television to manipulate the masses. This doesn't require us to offer blind cynicism to all of the medium's outputs. Writers, producers, and actors are not universally corrupt, and even if they were, it doesn't necessarily mean that they can't produce good art, or that we're automatically brainwashed by it, and can't parcel out form from meaning.

You know, I'm an extreme misanthropist myself, but the human capacity for creative expression, as twisted and fucked up as its products can be, is one of very few things that can lower the level of my hatred. I feel sorry for you if you've blocked yourself off from it.