Walt is back! Breaking Bad returns.

SubJeff on 18/7/2011 at 10:03

Yeah, just listen to this then come back: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N31oFeinFY)

I've been waiting for this for soooo long. I know it's out but I'm not watching it yet, no sir. Later. It's a show to be savoured, a spark in the gloom and (yeah I haven't seen any of S4 yet, but) my current favourite show by a long way.

It's funny - I'm a sci-fi/fantasy fan and any of my friends will tell you that. Yet I don't think there are really that many high quality films or TV shows in those genres. My favourite everything is always set in the real world, like Breaking Bad or The Wire. I like True Blood but I think that's about the only fantasy/sci-fi thing that's any good (BSG was ok, but really it was lacking so much) but it's not a patch on Breaking Bad. In comparison it's just crud.

I don't know what it is about this show because I've thought about re-watching series 1-3 and just couldn't. It's pretty slow moving and I guess there is a lot of tension/uncertainty that we experience along with Walt and Jessie that doesn't work the second time around.

Mmmmhmmm. I've hyped myself up about this new season enough now, better go get some stuff done. Impressions later. :D

Scots Taffer on 18/7/2011 at 10:19

I feel like I'm going to have to revisit season 3 before I take a run at this season.

This is the best fucking show on television though. Can't wait.

fett on 19/7/2011 at 04:36

Jesus Christ. I will see Gus in my nightmares now. :eek:

SubJeff on 19/7/2011 at 09:10

Meh, it was ok.

Scots Taffer on 19/7/2011 at 13:02

"Meh" is a bit harsh as a reaction (and also frustratingly inexpressive) but following on from such a tense and action-packed slew of episodes towards the end of season 3 it was always going to be necessary to slow things down and establish a new status quo.

That said I thought Gus's move was completely obvious, I suppose part of the danger in having such unpredictable turns in a show is that your audience get wise to it and start anticipating the unpredictable. However it does leave us in an interesting "where to next" situation.

SubJeff on 19/7/2011 at 13:45

Fair enough. I suppose my apathy towards this episode stems from both the ultra-slowdown, necessary as it is I suppose, since I was so hyped up about this and I also though the Gus thing was obvious.

I didn't predict everything, and in fact I was surprised that Jessie killed Gale, I thought he would likely only wound him, but there was a lot of this that was fairly ho-hum/telegraphed.

And I was expecting Walt to be much... cooler. In season 2 and 3 he toughens up a lot; amongst the over-reactions there is a calm core that we didn't see so much and which I was hoping was going to become more of a character feature.

fett on 19/7/2011 at 14:23

I don't know, if Walt gets all hardcore, it's going to destroy the tension between mild-mannered, horrified school teacher, and badass meth genius. The Gus thing was obvious, but I'm left wondering if Gus did it because he was so angry he wanted to kill someone/anyone, or because the guy was seen at the crime scene, or because he thought himself the new cook. Either way, it was unnerving the way he stood there and stared at Jessie and Walt the entire time without ever breaking eye contact. Great character moment.

Also spoiler tags wtf? If someone who hasn't seen the current episode is lurking around where people are trying to discuss it, it's their own damn fault for getting spoiled. :confused:

Muzman on 26/7/2011 at 10:21

Bah, not waiting for the distribution channels to catch up to the world any more.

That was cool. I know it wasn't all that suspenseful. But I think this show gets its suspense from unusual places. It was actually the season break that was the suspenseful bit, leaving you to wonder (or hope) Jessie missed or whatever for the sake of his own soul. But you knew what this show of all shows was going to do. And then getting past that almost too quickly for comfort. "No. It's done. Deal with it." The rest is leaving you to wallow in the horror and then literally making Walt wallow in it.

Worked on me anyway. The creeping queasiness the show provides is utterly unique.

I've read speculation on why Gus did what he did in a sort of meta demonstration of power way. But practically speaking it seemed obviously because the guy walked through a murder scene with witnesses and then drove back to the laundry. Dumb and risky.
Still, 'no half measures' Mike seemed pretty shocked.

Scots Taffer on 26/7/2011 at 12:23

Yeah, it was obvious both that he wasn't going to kill Jesse or Walt and that Victor had to die because of his mistake - Mike pretty much telegraphed that to the extent that I had originally thought he was going to kill Victor just after they discussed it. I think Mike just didn't know what to expect in that moment rather than being totally shocked, probably because he's never seen Gus lose - I don't think he disagreed with the decision.

On the whole "did Jesse or didn't he", I never felt that. It seemed totally obvious to me that it was a done deal and it was only much later reading an interview with Vince Gilligan did I even realise that people had interpreted the camera dolly that way.

Just watched the second episode and I'm trying not to let high expectations get in the way of me enjoying this, but I did find it a bit dull. I like the slow ratcheting of tension for the inevitable Gus/Walt showdown, but some of the bigger character moments in the episode felt rote and predictable. I assume I'm not alone in feeling it was utterly obvious how every scene was going to play out (Hank's physio, the carwash purchase, the endless partying followed by Jesse slowly losing it). I know they'll mix it up soon, I'm just impatient for more awesome. :D

And if the choices weren't predictable, they were kind of stupid. Walt approached Mike way too early and I feel they mischaracterised Walt in being so gullible there. Why does he have any reason (beyond the motivation he lays bare) to believe that Mike will value Walt over Gus?

Loved echoes of (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzBzdPkd58g) Larry the Sledge Rosen in Saul's ad and Marie's agonizingly slow up/down crawl in the electric bed.

Muzman on 7/8/2011 at 05:17

I didn't think it was boring, oddly enough. I figured there'd be some down time due though. Tempting though it is, we can't wish for endless excitement and suspense every episode. That way shit TV lies.
Walt v Mike was cool I thought. It's good to remember that Walt isn't the street smart badass he thinks he is or can be sometimes. He's intelligent in a win-at-Total-War sort of way. But he really doesn't understand guys like Mike at all, or probably Gus when it comes down to it (as he has recently discovered).

There is a bit of a writing 101 to it, in that "no one gets what they want, in any scene, ever". It's writing 101 but you very rarely see it so thoroughly applied. Perhaps we can see why here: because it's so exhausting and frustrating, everything else has to be A grade or the audience will give up. The show treads such a fine line. I think that's what impresses me the most (plus I do actually like it, of course).

Saul's ads have plenty of (http://youtu.be/NRYXLnbPDnE) real life counterparts too it seems