Breaking Bad - Season 5, Part 1 - Sundays on AMC

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-Pyromaniac- said:
it would be fun if Hank brought out the book and jokingly said he likes the reading material and just compliments it, classic Hank trolling. No one will know what he is talking about except him and Walt.

But of course he probably wont. He has an advantage now. He knows, Walt doesn't know he knows.
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I'd give it two episodes before Walt finds out Hank knows.
 
Oxigen_Waste said:
Reality is more important than fiction. Therefore an underlying message that applies to our world is usually more important than pure fiction. That's what art is all about. Message is more important than entertainment.
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Oxigen_Waste said:
I never claimed reality (did you think I meant realism, here?) was more important than anything else. I claimed reality is more important than fiction. Which it is, nothing subjective about that. Art that relates to reality through it's message is therefore always more accomplished than art that doesn't. That's all I'm saying. It's also not my hierarchy. It's simply the way things are done within the medium. Don't really know if you can tell by my other posts, but my favs aren't the ones who are better.
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Um...this idea that art that relates to reality is more accomplished is not true. I mean, it's an opinion, but it is not objective truth. To state this as absolute is ignorant of the education you said you got in film studies.
You're sorta describing the movement of realism in general up here, but the last part also sounds a little bit to me like a description of constructivism: that art must have a social purpose or message. These are common belief systems but they are not the only ones. Not even close.
There are schools of thought that pure escapism is essential to social change in the real world, and therefore is most important.
So it is your hierarchy and it isn't the way things are done with the medium. Simple as that.
Oxigen_Waste said:
In other words, there's a reason the 10 movies which are considered the best ever made are usually the same, and there's a reason why Citizen Kane and Bycicle Thieves are on that list and Star Wars isn't nor will ever be.
Even though Star Wars is awesome, the fact that it's completely irrelevant as anything other than entertainment will forever make it an inferior film to Hidden Fortress since they are both very good and have similar plots, but since one is highly relevant while the other is just pure unadulterated fun, that will always make the relevant one a more accomplished film, since films are an art form and art's essence is it's message.

I actually studied this kinda crap in classes (I studied cinema for 1 year, ended up quitting because this is what we learned instead of practical stuff).
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The reasons that top movies remain the same over the years (largely the same at least) have a lot more to do with cultural cache, critical stigmas, historical influence, and cinephile preferences.

I studied and am studying this crap in classes too, currently in my third year of a film studies major. Sounds like you wanted to do the production side more, which is cool. The academic side can still be plenty practical and I'm hoping to parlay it into a mite of experience so I can maybe make something.

Sentry said:
I'm not allowed to have an opinion? Note that you're comparing Seinfeld to The Wire. Nothing wrong with a sitcom, but I personally don't enjoy that open-endedness narrative to a heavy, serious, dramatic TV Show.
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Butting into your exchange here, but this reminded me of a thought I'd been having lately in a TV class of mine: the perpetuity of some TV shows is something I adore about the medium. Unlike most film, TV is all about hopping from stasis to stasis. Tracking those stops and transitions is fascinating to me. edit: I mean...film is technically structured this way too. But the extended time period of TV changes a lot, and the degree of change that occurs is often much much less. I dunno. Clearly this is not a complete thought yet.
jarosh said:
Yes, very true. Seasons 3 & 4 had a *lot* of stalling because of this, too much for me. Although I do find that you can see the new confidence in the much more densely plotted first half of the fifth season already. I thought these were outstanding eight episodes.

(Funny though, what is this, the third interview in which Gilligan reminds us that he builds his stories around the love for either his characters or the actors, rather than around a singular artistic vision? Talk about one of the worst possible traits a writer could have. Speaks for itself really.)
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one of the worst traits for a writer to have? I dunno. I mean, there are certainly cases where it's so obviously harmful to a piece. But I don't think becoming attached to characters is a bad thing for a writer. In the best case scenario that attachment helps them to provide satisfying thematic endings for characters. So yeah, placing love for your characters fully over everything else in your work is bad, but I believe you can build a story around attachment for characters and have that result in a complete vision.

Darth Pinche said:
How do people not see the book linking Walt to Gale? It even says "it is an honor working with you" (or something to that effect).
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working...like in the school? is GB a teacher?
 
Darth Pinche said:
How do people not see the book linking Walt to Gale? It even says "it is an honor working with you" (or something to that effect).
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It's pretty subtle in terms of what one would expect the average viewer to piece together themselves. They have to remember what happened in an episode that aired over a year ago, what G.B. stands for, and how this new evidence connects all the dots in Hank's mind. It would be obvious in a 2-hour movie, where all the details are still fresh in the viewers' minds. But spread out over ~50 hours and five years, some people are bound to lose the plot.

Hell, sometimes I look back on season 3 and even 4 and it's as if it's a totally different show.


big ander said:
working...like in the school? is GB a teacher?
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My first thought was Gretchen. They worked together as chemists.
 
Hanks not going to get off the pot and arrest him, but he has detective skills and a lot of circumstantial evidence to work with to get the gears working and to study Walt.

GavinGT said:
It's pretty subtle in terms of what one would expect the average viewer to piece together themselves. They have to remember what happened in an episode that aired over a year ago, what G.B. stands for, and how this new evidence connects all the dots in Hank's mind. It would be obvious in a 2-hour movie, where all the details are still fresh in the viewers' minds. But spread out over ~50 hours and five years, some people are bound to lose the plot.

Hell, sometimes I look back on season 3 and even 4 and it's as if it's a totally different show.
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That's what the flashback was for. And they expect the community to discuss the episode when there's mystery.
 
DeathNote said:
hback was for. And they expect the community to discuss the episode when there's mystery.
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I could see how more casual viewers could watch the flashback and not recall the context. And not everybody has a community to discuss these things with. I know plenty of people who don't watch until weeks or months after they air.
 
So Hank now knows but knows really means "suspects"... how will he confirm it?
The witnesses are all dead, aside from the woman the DEA doesn't suspect and the pest control guys they don't know about. Walt is no longer cooking. Walt no longer has contact with Jesse, and has already given him his share of the money. Hank may begin to suspect the car wash, but the money is now in a storage shed that he doesn't know about.
If Walt is really done with cooking meth as he says, what does he do now (as in his daily activities) that could give it away?
 
xbhaskarx said:
So Hank now knows but knows really means "suspects"... how will he confirm it?
The witnesses are all dead, aside from the woman the DEA doesn't suspect and the pest control guys they don't know about. Walt is no longer cooking. Walt no longer has contact with Jesse, and has already given him his share of the money. Hank may begin to suspect the car wash, but the money is now in a storage shed that he doesn't know about.
If Walt is really done with cooking meth as he says, what does he do now (as in his daily activities) that could give it away?
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Doubt it. Even if Walt meant what he said, something will draw him back in.
 
Could Hank possibly get in trouble with the DEA for turning Walt in because his medical bills were paid for with drug money and Walt was under his nose all this time?
 
The Real Napsta said:
Could Hank possibly get in trouble with the DEA for turning Walt in because he medical bills were paid for with drug money and Walt was under his nose all this time?
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yeah I doubt anyone would believe he didn't know considering he paid for his medial bills.

Hank can't just go and throw the cuffs on Walt, he's too deep without even realising it.
 
The more and more I think about that EW interview, the more I wish I hadn't read it.

With the record breaking ratings, the insane critical praise (99 on metacritic lol) and the inevitable huge box-set sales once the series ends, Vince's mention of a movie is starting to look inevitable. I can imagine huge pressure from Sony Pictures/AMC to produce one.

If this compromises his vision for the finale, I'll be so pissed.

Ending a show with the promise of a movie is a fool's errand. Just ask 24...
 
Zaph said:
The more and more I think about that EW interview, the more I wish I hadn't read it.

With the record breaking ratings, the insane critical praise (99 on metacritic lol) and the inevitable huge box-set sales once the series ends, Vince's mention of a movie is starting to look inevitable. I can imagine huge pressure from Sony Pictures/AMC to produce one.

If this compromises his vision for the finale, I'll be so pissed.

Ending a show with the promise of a movie is a fool's errand. Just ask 24...
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It didn't really hurt 24, all they had to do was keep
Jack alive at the end.
 
So this will easily go down as the worst season of Breaking Bad, right?

Of course, AMC sort of made sure that would happen.

GavinGT said:
Yes. That top GIF is from 3x6 (Sunset). In it, Gale recites The Learned Astronomer to Walt. Two scenes later, Walt is seen reading Leaves of Grass.

It's true that we never saw Gale give him the book, nor did we see the inscription.
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Man, this is lazy.
 
Zaph said:
The more and more I think about that EW interview, the more I wish I hadn't read it.

With the record breaking ratings, the insane critical praise (99 on metacritic lol) and the inevitable huge box-set sales once the series ends, Vince's mention of a movie is starting to look inevitable. I can imagine huge pressure from Sony Pictures/AMC to produce one.

If this compromises his vision for the finale, I'll be so pissed.

Ending a show with the promise of a movie is a fool's errand. Just ask 24...
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Gilligan doesn't strike me as someone who would ever do anything that compromises his vision on this story.
 
thekad said:
So this will easily go down as the worst season of Breaking Bad, right?

Of course, AMC sort of made sure that would happen.

Man, this is lazy.
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wtf, what planet are you on. This is one of the best seasons, though for me they are pointless to rank since they are all top tier shit.
 
WSTvu.jpg


HOLY SHIT
 
so how does quantum physics relate to breaking bad? must be more meaning than just "it's a scientist." they would have gone with a chemist if that were the case.
 
beastmode said:
so how does quantum physics relate to breaking bad? must be more meaning than just "it's a scientist." they would have gone with a chemist if that were the case.
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???


Ah I see... You mean, "why name after Heisenburg, the quantum physicist?"
 
beastmode said:
so how does quantum physics relate to breaking bad? must be more meaning than just "it's a scientist." they would have gone with a chemist if that were the case.
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The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle is used heavily within the field of physical chemistry, so it's not really all that unrelated to chemistry if that's what you're asking.
 
Yeah, this season was tense at every moment. The pace was ridiculous.
 
The only reason this season is, perhaps, less thrilling than before, is because it's about Walt being on top. He's no longer running scared, scrambling frantically to cover up mistake after mistake. He's in charge, never in immediate danger, and we know instinctively that he's going to do the bad, hard-assed things he needs to, in order to maintain it.

Perhaps the tension will be put back into the series in the second half, with Hank now ready to take Walt down...
 
BocoDragon said:
The only reason this season is, perhaps, less thrilling than before, is because it's about Walt being on top. He's no longer running scared, scrambling frantically to cover up mistake after mistake. He's in charge, never in immediate danger, and we know instinctively that he's going to do the bad, hard-assed things he needs to, in order to maintain it.

Perhaps the tension will be put back into the series in the second half, with Hank now ready to take Walt down...
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True, but we were actually worried for other characters this season. Walt was the main threat, and you never knew how volatile he'd be, and what unexpected turn the show would take. Him killing Mike is an example.
 
This season was great because Mike Ehrmantraut really came into his own. We also got to see how Walt's actions affect Skyler's character, apart from just "I want a divorce!"

Also, there's the fact that this season is going to conclude the series. Those things put s5 above s2.

Also, the dynamic of Walter White as a villain is much more compelling than the twins in season 3.
 
This season had hardly any Jesse, Walt's family, Hank or Bob Odenkirk. It was almost all Mike, who I couldn't care less about. And, worst of all, Walt became completely unlikeable this season.
 
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