Agreed. I was very impressed with The Sopranos and especially The Wire, which IMO is the greatest TV show of all time. Hopefully Breaking Bad can end on a strong note.
The Wire!! Such a great serious. I think I might still need to watch Season 5! And no doubt Breaking Bad will end on a strong note. I think the timed the season length:character development and season lengthlot development ratios perfectly.
I usually hate the expression "golden age" because it's usually used in a way that romanticizes and glorifies the past, but god, do I have to agree. We are most definitely in a golden age of TV right now; there are so many incredible shows running at the same time that are all raising the bar for and with each other. It's like the music scene of the 60s - so many good artists at one time, all raising the bar and challenging each other by being contemporaries. I can't think of a time when so much good TV has been on at once - granted, I was born in 1995, so it's not like I can think that far back, but god, name me one time we've had more than one or two megahit shows airing at once. We've got Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, The Walking Dead, Parks and Rec, and so many more, each of them brilliant in their own ways. It's truly an amazing time to be a fan of TV. As for BrBa, I really hope it can end on a good note as well, and avoid the Sopranos/LOST-style uproar over their finales.
Yup. Especially the last 15 minutes or so were extremely compelling. I really did not know what was going to happen during the discussion Walt had with Hank.
Loved the new episode. So many questions, and love how the pace seems to have picked up... Spoiler So who is the Ricin for? Jesse? Hank? Walt himself? And what is with the house? Where is Walt's family? Who is he declaring war on? And Walt has his hair back, so his cancer treatment seemed to have worked. Brilliant writing and loved the moment when Hank finally came face to face with Heisenberg. My guess Hank and Jesse are going to team up...
Watched the pilot episode a few nights ago. It was okay, nothing special yet. The most enjoyable aspect was probably remembering my experimental chemistry class in university. Will watch a few more episodes and re-assess.
Definitely keep going. I think you'll come to like it. I'm really happy with how the last 2 episodes have turned out. That's basically all I can say without spoiling anything (spoiler tags don't work).
I get how you feel. I thought the first few episodes were fine, and while I liked the first season, and enjoyed the show, I wasn't completely and totally hooked. But by the 3rd and 4th seasons, I was completely riveted. Give it a chance to develop -- it is so intelligently written and the character development is just top-notch.
Yes, me too. In fact I had the box set for season 2 for ages before watching it all (watched half, and then something else came up): it was good, but... and then I got round to finishing it and that was it - hooked big time. It's all about the skill in which the characters develop for me. And the great thing is when you look back at the changes you go 'yeah that makes sense'. Brilliant writing. Brilliant acting.
To clarify, I don't think it's bad, just "okay". I watched the second episode, and it was more of the same. Still, for a series that leans so heavily on chemistry, it was annoying they referred to hydrofluoric as a "strong acid", when it's actually a weak acid. In fact, what makes it so dangerous isn't the H+ ion (the acid part), but that pesky F- ion, which reacts with the calcium in one's blood, and stops the heart. And HF dissolving through a bathtub and the floor is just laughable. Maybe if you had some industrial-strength hydrochloric or sulfuric (both strong acids, and I'm talking like 40 molar), but even then, I doubt it. However, there is no way they would even have industrial strength acids in a high school chemistry lab (the strongest is usually up to about 6 molar), and besides, Walter is only using hydrofluoric acid. Aside from those gripes, Cranston does a good job, and the episode was well-paced. Still not impressed, but it's decent enough.
It's a show that you get more and more immersed in as time goes on, really. When I started, the first episode that really gripped me was 1x06, and it gets better from there. Be warned, though - the pacing is glacial compared to other TV shows. Apart from two flash-forwards to a year in the future in 5x01 and 5x09, the seasons take place over a year, which means things take a while to really rev up. Once they do, though, it's a careening crash, one thing leading to another. Without spoiling anything, 1x05 reveals an intricate part of Walt's character that will make sense the further you get into the show, and 1x06 is a pivotal moment in his character development. Looking back, it's amazing how much was set in place over the last three episodes of that season.
Interesting. On the Cinemageddon boards, I have had members tell me that they didn't really get into it until seasons 2 and 3. I'm only 3 episodes in at the present moment, and it's been hit-and-miss thus far. Some good qualities and scenes, some mediocre, and a few poor ones. The only thing that struck me as outright bad was Walt's sister-in-law shoplifting shoes. That was a lazy, predictable trope, despite how unlikely it is from the standpoint of realism. With regards to my chemistry complaints about the second episode, I have been assured far more egregious transgressions are in my future. So far, the pace has been fine. I have a different sense of pace than most people; I think Mad Men's pacing is perfect, and never find myself bored while watching it. Meanwhile, Boardwalk Empire felt very slow and empty during many episodes, until I gave up watching it halfway through season 2.
Here is an interesting interview in Salon about science and the show: http://www.salon.com/2013/08/22/so_what_if_pure_meth_isnt_really_blue_partner/
Even through three episodes, it's actually very random what they get right and wrong. The stuff about acids above, which they completely fucked up, is less advanced than some of the things (like isomers and hybridization) that they have generally gotten correct. I also wish that Salon article had mentioned when that chemistry professor signed on as a consultant to the show. It doesn't sound like it occurred during the first season.
ZOMG. The end of tonight's episode. The DVR description was "Things heat up for Walt." Now, there's an understatement.
Good show but Walt's wife is very irritating i think...as well as his whole family actually - apart from Hank obviously Hank's a legend
Another great episode. Season 5 is definitely the best season of the show. The way this show is going right now, it could very well end up in my top 3 shows of all time.
Two more episodes till it's all over. I have to wonder what that machine gun we saw in the first episode of this season is for. Is he going to rescue Jesse? I hope it is because I felt really sorry for Jesse after watching tonight's episode.
I don't see Walt rescuing Jesse -- he did, after all, ask them again to kill him. I suspect he's going to kill Todd, et al, to get his money back. Or at least that's his plan.
Change of heart perhaps? One can hope. By the way, after that last scene in last night's episode (the phone call), I feel like Cranston deserves another Emmy.
I think Walt has realized what he had become and that he was never helping Jesse or his family. He thinks Jesse is dead. He's going to go back after the men that killed Hank and stole his money. He's going to burn the empire to the ground and, in his final act of good, he is going to find Jesse and save him.
