Shall we anticpate the AMC series "Breaking Bad"? I think I may.

Oh but yeah, I didn't realize that was El Paso

Duh

actually, I should have looked at a map before making that post. I see that AQ is actually due north of Juarez on I-25, and El Paso is right across the border (which I did know). I thought AQ was way to the west of that for some reason. Still... I hate the kind of screenwriting 101 type mechanisms that make the world actually seem less random. Like, Breaking Bad has always been about cause and effect, which I love, but couldn't it have just been a random horrible event that influences how Hank reacts to things later on? It's a really minor complaint, though.

One of my favorite lines on this last episode was when Hank's partner tells him to "get on some Flomax" when he says he wants to go back inside the bar to piss again. I've been chuckling about that all week. If they did a spin-off cop show with Hank and his partner, I'd watch it. I love every scene with those two.

It amazes me how much Skyler hate there is on the various websites I read. People love walt so much but he is not a sympathetic character in the least. Even after his speech in front of the money bag, it comes no where close to redeeming what he has done. He has killed people, constructed elaborate lies, and put his family in grave danger.

I'm sympathetic to Skyler because she is In a situation where she has absolutly no control. That's why she F'd T. I don't think she necessarily wanted him, but he was the most accessible and she knew he would go for it. This wasn't really about sexual desire, it was about having something, anything, over walt.

it's one of the few things she can assert control over too, i suppose.

It amazes me how much Skyler hate there is on the various websites I read.

Is this a failure of the writers', or is it their intent? Is the show a male wish-fulfillment fantasy for a lot of middle-aged men, who might feel bored with their lives, and/or that they are taking care of their loved ones inadequately? Or is this a dumb-ass internet forum-commenters are being misogynist shockah type of thing? What do people want? For Walt to toss Skylar to the curb, cap Jesse's ass, and turn into Michael Corleone?

"Is this a failure of the writers', or is it their intent?"

I think it's partly intentional (I mean she's clearly intended to come off a bit shrill) but no I don't think they want viewers to hate her.

i don't h8 skyler

this goes back to my original point from s1 that this is basically some transgressive gansta shit w/lol morally ambiguous window dressing for the thinking man

Walt is sympathetic. He has cancer ffs. Not saying that vindicates his every move but he is having a crisis of identity brought on by his illness. Think the reason people hate skyler is she represents his old trapped life and personality. The main diff between them is she wants to be this very public happy family and he doesn't care what people think. Even if the things walt does are horrible I sympathise because he is trying to express himself. In real life that's no defence but there are loads of books/films where this comes up.

i personally express myself by killing hawt junkie bitches, you know

Me too, I started a night class in it.

o word

Sort of related - the show has pretty distinctly (at least compared to every other TV show about the drug trade ever) painted drug users unsympathetically, with the exception of Jesse, of course. You could say this perhaps represents the viewpoint of the protagonists, that they generally ignore the greater devastation they're causing by making meth. I'm not sure whether this reflects the show creators' stance on anything (focusing on the hurt of family members instead), or if they're just doing it to subvert the standard tropes (users are victims, dealers are evil) but it definitely keeps the show from casting Walt and Jesse in a more negative light then they could be, realistically.

Things have been kind of one dimensional for a while now (since, what, the desert cook-off episode?), what with Walt and Jesse's domestic upheavals and all. I am hoping (and predicting) that this show is going to get really fuckin grimy and desperate again - and soon. And frankly, the scariest antagonist in the show, Walt's cancer, needs to make a reappearance right around the same time, in my opinion.

I don't find any of these characters sympathetic. Even Walt Jr. is a dick. Maybe Saul? I like Saul?

strangely, Jesse and Hank might be the most sympathetic characters atm, but as characters change or go through stages, so do my loyalties/sympathies, like they did in the Sopranos or Six Feet Under.

hank is a pretty great person. Just kind of pigheaded.

Hanks character has grown a lot on me.

I think beneath the facade of hardman lies Hank's likable interior and under that likable interior lies a scared dangerous asshole

^ funny and also true.

lol absolutely

I think Hank has real compassion for people. An asshole would have handled the whole poolside confrontation with Walt a lot differently IMO.

Of course it's nuanced, which is what makes this show awesome.

I think beneath the facade of hardman lies Hank's likable interior and under that likable interior lies a scared dangerous asshole

― forksclovetofu, Thursday, April 8, 2010 9:28 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

niice

jesse is on a meta level the most sympathetic character because hes the most irl accurate guy ive seen on a tv show, i know ive said this before but omg that guy i know him, aaand his type has been sorely underrepresented in contempo works of art despite being like the most common type of guy going over the last 15 years of usa

Hank has real respect for people and really cares about them. Genuinely he is a good dude.

If they did a spin-off cop show with Hank and his partner, I'd watch it. I love every scene with those two.

totally. Hank's partner - every reaction is just pitch perfect. i totally, totally buy that these guys are bros.

jesse is on a meta level the most sympathetic character because hes the most irl accurate guy ive seen on a tv show

mb im just giving in to aspirational gangster manque aspect of the show but i cld use way less of this dude right now - dead drug waifs v/m getting cut off felt p good getting sick of hearing it

walt in the apron was lol 2 me dude just bending the world 2 his will making salad & pot roast back on top then damn outmaneuvered again

NB here's the guy who plays gomie - steven michael quezada - the guy's barely been in anything! born in 1963. this should give actors everywhere hope.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2366374/

they vacuumed up a lot of hispanic actors for this show; it occurred to me that it's got more latin cast members than any other program on tv right now.s

yeah, i really like how big of a role border culture plays in this show. it's not exactly in-depth or even maybe that realistic but it's pretty cool anyway.

yeah love how theyre exploring the borderland culture that covers a huge swath of the country but that pop media doesnt really bother to fuck w/that much - i dunno i guess weeds went there but

lolxp

i know we discussed this but opening the one ep w/that narcocorrido was next level

yeah! more music videos in the middle of television dramas please!

yeah, personally i was just WTF at that intro and glad to see it gone forever

BB has consistently good openings. I like the one that had Jesse's car bouncing in the desert.

they vacuumed up a lot of hispanic actors for this show; it occurred to me that it's got more latin cast members than any other program on tv right now.s

Too bad 90% of these roles are criminals

too bad its a show abt criminals :(

ok now u guyz are just c/p'ing from the wire thread

i ain't trollin, just sayin what's up

better than white actors playing hispanic criminals, though, amiright

what if theyre white hispanics ~think abt it~

was this not on last night?

it was; it was dope.

yeah, it's imporoving. and they are hinting skyler might move in with f--k ted.

"i fffffd ted"

i haven't seen this yet but a week's time has been long enough for it to sink in for me how rock-bottom skyler must be now, despite her "victory" at the pot roast. i mean she was at the end of her rope already, the only thing keeping her going was the moral high ground. i can't even imagine how hollowed-out and gross she must feel.

wonder when they're going to get around to doing something with Walt Junior. That kid is like a place setting with attitude.

interesting ep...i thought a walt/jessie war was on the way but now it seems like gus is trying to bring them back together by showing them how much money they can make. really like the house bugging guy. also walt's boss is still HOT.

good example of strong non-drug dealing latina character on the show too
though apparently not on the show anymore?