The Breaking Bad Thread

[Big Hoss Rambler]

• They talked about having Walt get away, get a new job and even get a new wife. In writers’ earlier brainstorming sessions, there was even going to be a scene of Walt cooking peanut brittle.

Should've done this. His new name would be Hal, wife is Lois and begin Malcolm in the Middle.

YES NO MAYBE....

 

[Rogue]

Amazing fan made video showing the evolution of Walter White,I think he'll be posting one on Jesse Pinkman soon and when he does I'll post it here:

 

[Rysenberg]

Holy shit first time I've seen these, so strange 1:

 

[Aids Johnson]

Meet Walter Blanco​

It's for the Spanish version of Breaking Bad.

Jesse Pinkman aka Jose Miguel Rosas.

LOL what do you think the Canadian version would look like? French douchebags or Fat people?

 

[Senhor Perfect]

If it were fat people it'd be set in Wisconsin.

 

[Testify]

Is that Mexicant's version a real thing? What poor ripoff if it is. Waste of a fucking money.

 

[CM Punk]

Is that Mexicant's version a real thing? What poor ripoff if it is. Waste of a fucking money.

lmao, yeah it is.

After several days of speculation fueled by Univision, on March 13, 2013, Sony confirmed that it would be making a Spanish-language remake of Breaking Bad entitled Metástasis starring Diego Trujillo (es) as Walter Blanco (Walter White) and Roberto Urbina (es) as Jose Miguel Rosas (Jesse Pinkman), alongside Sandra Reyes (es) and Julián Arango in unnamed roles. On October 2, 2013, the cast list was revealed to include Reyes as Cielo Blanco (Skyler White) and Arango as Henry Navarro (Hank Schrader).

 

[Senhor Perfect]

lmao, yeah it is.

It'd be funny if they cast Cranston as the American version of Don Eladio.

 

[Big Hoss Rambler]

probabaly the greatest video of breaking bad ever and my new favorite song.



listen to those lyrics and watch the scenes.

 

[Danielson]

http://gawker.com/anthony-hopkins-w..._source=gawker_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

“I have never watched anything like it. Brilliant!” Hopkins told Cranston of the show. “Your performance as Walter White was the best acting I have seen – ever.”
Dear Mister Cranston.
I wanted to write you this email – so I am contacting you through Jeremy Barber – I take it we are both represented by UTA . Great agency.
I’ve just finished a marathon of watching “BREAKING BAD” – from episode one of the First Season – to the last eight episodes of the Sixth Season. (I downloaded the last season on AMAZON) A total of two weeks (addictive) viewing.
I have never watched anything like it. Brilliant!
Your performance as Walter White was the best acting I have seen – ever.
I know there is so much smoke blowing and sickening bullshit in this business, and I’ve sort of lost belief in anything really.
But this work of yours is spectacular – absolutely stunning. What is extraordinary, is the sheer power of everyone in the entire production. What was it? Five or six years in the making? How the producers (yourself being one of them), the writers, directors, cinematographers…. every department – casting etc. managed to keep the discipline and control from beginning to the end is (that over used word) awesome.
From what started as a black comedy, descended into a labyrinth of blood, destruction and hell. It was like a great Jacobean, Shakespearian or Greek Tragedy.
If you ever get a chance to – would you pass on my admiration to everyone – Anna Gunn, Dean Norris, Aaron Paul, Betsy Brandt, R.J. Mitte, Bob Odenkirk, Jonathan Banks, Steven Michael Quezada – everyone – everyone gave master classes of performance … The list is endless.
Thank you. That kind of work/artistry is rare, and when, once in a while, it occurs, as in this epic work, it restores confidence.
You and all the cast are the best actors I’ve ever seen.
That may sound like a good lung full of smoke blowing. But it is not. It’s almost midnight out here in Malibu, and I felt compelled to write this email.
Congratulations and my deepest respect. You are truly a great, great actor.
Best regards
Tony Hopkins.

 

[Senhor Perfect]

http://gawker.com/anthony-hopkins-w..._source=gawker_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

“I have never watched anything like it. Brilliant!” Hopkins told Cranston of the show. “Your performance as Walter White was the best acting I have seen – ever.”

Wow that's a hell of a compliment.

 

[Danielson]

Wow that's a hell of a compliment.

The ultimate compliment, and coming from one of the most respected actors in the biz.

 

[Mustafar Reginald]

Well, I said over a month ago that I'd talk about my thoughts on Breaking Bad in full because I wanted to wait for it to end and I haven't talked at all about it since it's conclusion so instead of being a liar, I'm just going to bump this thread. I put it off on the two times I logged on here since the finale because I have a feeling that this could possibly wind up as my longest post on the site (which means it'd be somewhere over two thousands words) so I planned on using spoiler tags to segment it in lieu of a giant wall of text however spoiler tags seem to be broken at the current moment so the giant wall of text with suffice. That said, it could also end up a lot shorter than I initially anticipated because I'm not really comfortable lauding anything for too long and from season three episode six onwards it'll basically become a major gush-fest. I'm going to start with my thoughts of the finale by the way as I can actually transition that to my thoughts on the first season quite easily.

Anyway, "Felina" was certainly a good episode but if I'm being honest (and I always am), I didn't love it. I liked it a lot and it was a totally fitting ending (Walt had to die & Jesse had to get free, that was clear [hell, Walt dying was clear from the first episode]), perfect even but it just didn't do it for me as much as it did for everyone else. Wouldn't rank it as one of my favorite series finales but it is up there (I did really enjoy it but, for example, I probably enjoyed Malcolm in the Middle's finale more [and there goes all my credibility]) and it certainly is one of the best. That aside, I did love two parts of it, the scene with Skyler (more specifically, Walt's confession [I knew it!]) & the song selection. The former, had it not been something that plagued the first (and to a lesser extent, second) season of the show, would've easily been my favorite part of the finale. Honestly, Walt's confession to Skyler may just be my favorite moment in the series but I'll wait until re-watch to decide that. As for the latter, well the video BHR's posted already covered the opening song but the choice that impacted me more during my viewing of the finale was the coda (helps that I just like the song better). "I guess I got what I deserve," those lyrics alone, perfectly summarize Walt's mindset during the finale. It's just portrays such a nonchalant attitude about all the wrongdoings committed and the consequences of them. The dichotomy of the finale is quite an interesting one because it's really not a happy conclusion to this tale but it never came across as morose because Walt himself was content with outcome. Back to the song, of course the lyrics as the song continues still relates heavily to the show but it more pertains to the finale scene/Walt's love for his precious, to that state of his mindset like the opening line does.

However the only reason that really hit me hard in the finale because it was one of the better showcases of just how far the show has come. Not from a narrative perspective but in terms of the production. The cinematography on the show was always gorgeous but the song selection/incorporation wasn't. In fact, all the way back in season one my biggest complaint about the show was it's use of license music. In the early goings of the show, it often felt like music was just played to play music. They weren't used in any particular manner that enhanced the atmosphere or created a mood and the lyrics just barely meshed with the scenes they were played in. The first moment where the usage of license music really hit the mark was in season two's Over, with, "DLZ" by TV on the Radio (I'll get to how perfect of a song choice that was in a bit). Even though stuff like this is important to me, it should be quite clear that if the most prevalent problem I had with Breaking Bad in season one was their use of licensed music, the show was doing good. That said, in hindsight it wasn't that great. It was good and enjoyable but honestly I don't think I'll ever really go back to watch this season all the way through after my second full viewing of the series. There is just not enough within that season that makes me want to witness it all again, outside of Crazy Handful of Nothin' which was awesome. I did like the fact that they went out of there way to show everyone breaks bad a little bit. Oh, and I hate that scene where Walt causes that douches car to explode. It was absolutely pointless.

The sophomore season improved quite a bit on season one but much like the first I don't honestly feel like watching most of it again past the second full viewing (I convinced my parents to start watching it and I've been watching it with them for select episodes for those wondering why I keep specify "full viewing"). Season two did provide a lot of good episodes (Peekaboo, 4 Days Out & Better Call Saul are three of my favorites in the series) and it also had Jane, I loved Jane. Not sure how much of it had to do with Krysten Ritter but regardless, I really liked her character. I suppose I have to mention the scene where Walt watched her die, yeah I wasn't a fan of that, go figure. It also introduced us to Gus, Mike & the aforementioned Saul (who's my second favorite character after Pinkman) but not all characters brought in where positive strides as it was also the season that gave us the one hell of a dull dumb dick in Ted Beneke. Does anyone like this guy? Getting back to music selection, I'd venture to say that the music played over in the "Stay out of my territory," scene (one of my favorites) is the single best choice of music used in the entire series. Outside of the fact that it's a bitchin' song and the lyrics have indirect metaphors aplenty but just based of listen to this song you can guess pretty much how the show is going to come to a head (at least Ozymandias). This song tells the story of Heisenberg, from the rise to the fall. Granted it's not super detailed, the lyrics don't go, "Your DEA brother-in-law gets killed by some Neo Nazi's" but it does detail the journey of Heisenberg and that is why I love it. As for the plane crash, I get what they were going for but it was both anticlimactic and too contrived for me to really like the decision. It was a poor way to cap off the season in my opinion, though I enjoyed the season finale outside of that.

Then came season three, the season that everyone claims is when the series starts to be worth the hype and let me tell you, when I started this season I thought everyone was crazy. Now, I don't hate Skyler White, I don't really feel that strongly about her one way or another and I find some of the hate for her preposterous but with that said, fuck Skyler White. The first five episodes of season three are by far my least favorite of the series and took me the longest to get through. A lot of that lies on the focus on Skyler (& Ted, anything with him not breaking his neck because of his retardness is not good television), the lack of anything really progressing in the drug business (not that the show is only enjoyable when it relates to cooking/slinging meth mind you) and I'm pretty sure Jesse, my favorite character, didn't get a lot of screen time for at least the first batch of the five. However when, "Sunset" came around, and then, "One Minute," well bitch, I was hooked more than ever before. From that point forward the series only escalated in awesome (though season four>season five [or the first half of five]) so the next paragraph will cover the last three in one.

Season four was one of the best seasons and that has a lot to do with Gustavo Fring & Mike Ican'tspellhislastname. Elaboration shouldn't be required but in the case you want a little detail, I refer you to my favorite episode of the series which I won't tell you what it is now because I plan on addressing my ten favorite episodes and I don't want to outright spoil it though I figured everyones already figured it out. Season four's finale had it's problem, mostly pertaining to suspension of disbelief but otherwise it was one of the series's best and the "I won." was awesome and one of the best moments. I can categorize the final two seasons, five and six (I don't subscribe to the there both the same season) very quickly. The fifth was the funnest season ("Yeah Bitch! Magnets!" and that's the tamest example) while the finale one was the most constantly adrenaline pumping, heart-tugging season (up until Granite State, where it became rather subdued). I enjoyed both greatly, with season six being my favorite. If I had to rank them, I'd go 6>4>5>3>2>1, pretty impressive for a show to, minus one instance, just keep getting better and better.

Even cutting down the amount of gushing that I could've done tremendously (like, putting everything in short descriptive terms rather than going in-depth at all), I'm unfortunately not done because a review of Breaking Bad would be amiss without a section dedicated specifically to talking about the characters. There's no real way to form the words in a way that you're hearing something new about the characters, at least no way that I can think of but being a big character person, the show hit it big for me. Walter White is one of the greatest characters/villains in anything ever and he is perfectly acted by bumbling dad Hal. In possibly the greatest compliment I can give Bryan Cranston, outside of the opening sequence where he's seventy-five percent naked (note: it's in Cranston's contract that he must start off every show he stars in 75% naked, no exceptions) I never once thought of him as Hal and I've seen Malcolm in the Middle since experiencing Breaking Bad and I never saw or thought of Walter White. The range he has is unbelievable. As for the moment when I started to turn on Walt, well as a person I started turning on him almost immediately. Firstly, I never bought the "everything I do, I do for my family" Bryan Adams schtick, that was clearly never the case and no, I'm not trying to argue it wasn't a factor but if was just for his family & had nothing to do with himself he would've just taken Gray Matter's money. However his refusal to do so or other things he did early on (like keep cancer a secret) that rationally kind of peeve me only really made him more endearing because honestly, that's exactly how I would've reacted. I wouldn't have accepted their money and I certainly wouldn't have told anyone about my lung cancer but I don't necessarily like the features about myself. As for the moment I really turned on him, it was probably Jane's death. The greatest thing about Walt's development is that it's so methodically done that I don't even quite remember when it got to the point that Walt was "Heisenberg" and I wanted him to lose (I always wanted him to die though). All I know was that in several ways by season four, part of me was rooting for Gus. As a person, I didn't like Walter for the vast majority of the series but as a character I loved him until the end. Best villain protagonist ever (eat your heart out, Light).

I'll quickly type about the rest of the cast, Jesse was my favorite from day one pretty much. He's also the most likable of the entire cast in my opinion, with Saul & Hank not to far behind. Not surprisingly, they're probably my three favorite characters in the series, though Mike might be ahead of Hank. Actually, I have no idea if where everyone falls after Saul. The next tier of characters would be Mike, Hank, Gus & Walt. Followed by the tier of Skyler, Marie, Walter Jr., Gomie, Badger, Skinny Pete & Tuco. Oh, and Kuby & Huell. Then there's Todd, Uncle Jack, Lydia & Jane's probably up in the tier with Badger & crew. If this incessant rambling off of characters doesn't illustrate that I love the characters on this show, I don't know what will. Though now that I think about it, Badger, Skinny Pete, Gomie & Jane a probably a tier above Skyler, Marie, & Breakfast Flynn. Fuck, forgot Gale, add him with Badger & crew. I'm going to move on now . . .

While I wouldn't say Breaking Bad is my favorite show, mostly because the show doesn't really earn that title until halfway through the series, it definitely is one of my all-time favorites and probably my favorite non-animated show that isn't a comedy starring Joel McHale. To cap off this long, tedious, verbose rant on Breaking Bad, I'll be listing what are probably my top ten favorite episodes of the series (though it's subject to change, especially when I go through and watch it all again). I'm rather curious about everyone else's top ten favorites by the way. Much like the rest of what I've written here, the explanations won't be in-depth, insightful, worth reading, etc. but they will be my legitimate brief reasons.

X. Full Measure ~ Just one of the best episodes pound for pound, Heisenberg's chat with Gus is one of my favorite moments in the show & the ending with Walt rattling off Gale's address is one of the most badass moments in the entire series.
IX. 4 Days Out ~ I'm a big character guy and an episode focusing almost entirely character interaction between the two best characters with the best chemistry with one of them being my favorite on the show and this episode was an obvious win for me.
VIII. Granite State ~ Entirely for Walt's portion of the episode. Really subdued, mature and really effective at evoking sympathy for a character that I've long stopped liking (as a person). Let's not forgot the ending with the theme which is probably the second most badass moment in the series in my opinion.
VII. To'hajiilee ~ From Hank's real smart detective/police work (legality be damned) to Walt losing to the apprehension in the air as you just know that Jack and his crew are coming out to get him minus the rather poor shoot-out to the realization that Huell is still waiting patiently in his house at this very second, definitely one of my favorites.
VI. Face Off ~ I already talked about it.
V. Dead Freight ~ The quintessential episode when it comes to season five being the funniest. The Drew Sharp thing was brilliant, I remember watching it and despite the cold opening intriguing me they actually managed to make me forget all about it during the train heist only to bring it back in the most devastating way. Another example of the funniest of season five was the traveling meth lab (pure genius).
IV. Fly ~ Jeez, who didn't see me listing this after my reason for 4 Days Out?
III. One Minute ~ Pound for pound one of the best episodes. Both of Jesse's speeches in this episode were absolute gold and the final fight sequence is easily one of the most exhilarating moments in TV history (not to mention how brilliant Gus's plan was there). Not an average moment, every scene of this episode is better than full episodes of this show in my opinion, I think that's universal across my top three.
II. Ozymandias ~ The most exhilarating episode in the series. This was the culmination of everything the series was building to with Walt pretty much and it had me at the edge of my seat (figuratively) the entire time.
I. Salud ~ The most badass moment in the series is Gus's elimination of the Cartel but again, everything about this episode was awesome. This was the main episode where it made part of me root for Gus more than Walt, & Walt had a great story with Walt Jr. here too but even that, which was excellent, was completely overshadowed by the Gus/Jesse/Mike plot.

Yep, this is the longest post I've ever made on this site (which is saying something, especially since I really didn't say much here). I'll probably spoiler tag it when the spoiler tags are operating functionally again.

 

[Robbie Coletrain]

My favorite episodes are easily Crawl Space, Ozymandias and Face Off. I spent the entire time watching Crawl Space amazed by Cranston't acting ability, for me this was when I realized just how talented he was.

 

[Lockard 23]

In no order (I'll simply list them chronologically but these are the ten I narrowed it down to), my top ten favorite episodes are Grilled, 4 Days Out, Sunset, One Minute, Fly, Crawl Space, Face Off, To Hajille, Ozymandias and Felina.