Shall we anticipate the FIFTH SEASON of the AMC series "Breaking Bad"? I think I may.

this show has never had the same kind re-watch value of something like Mad Men to me, but it seems to be going for something else entirely and that's a worthy thing to go for because, you know, difference!

xps I don't really see it that way - it's very clear that in the actual creation of the show all these guys are consummate professionals and incredibly dedicated to making a serious, artistic, great show. Talking Bad is just a Comic Con-style audience hype thing. (Though it is incredibly weird that they had one at an actual cemetery.) And Walking Dead is probably even more grim than Breaking Bad! There are even less light comedy scenes in that show. In short, you shouldn't let the garishness of Chris Hardwick and company reflect upon BB itself.

I think the biggest formal innovation of the final season of BB is the flash-forward - particularly the idea that they revealed it to the audience before they knew exactly how they would get there. The idea of creating a risky situation for the show itself and forcing the writers to rise to that challenge seems really bold and confident, and in keeping with the show's own internal logic. just a really smart way to keep everyone - audience and writers' room - fully engaged.

also shows how Cranston's hair has sucked for five years, therefore making baldness a crucial aesthetic decision.

feel like 'making' Walt the last bad guy would be cheap somehow

http://i.imgur.com/uTsbDRU.png

his hair in the last two eps is the work of the shows makeup+hair artists

this is him last week irl http://i.imgur.com/N8xMTxz.jpg

xp - Zombie apocalypse = not real (there is no zombie apocalypse in the world atm)
Meth/drug trade landscape = real (the landscape in which they are operating is one that exists in this very world, not an imaginary one)

That's the diff for me in terms of seriousness/degree of shame i would feel at reveling in the death/misery. It's not a very clear line, I realize. But generally yes I am over it! Mostly I guess I just wanted to shake off the gross feeling it gave me.

la lechera he raised $1.8m for charity so... silver linings?

that's good, that helps
i guess in the breaking bad of my dreams it would be more like the wire, we'd have seen some thorough govt corruption on top of heavy personal devastation.

I think the biggest formal innovation of the final season of BB is the flash-forward - particularly the idea that they revealed it to the audience before they knew exactly how they would get there.

http://www.thes4p.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/jack-go-back.jpg

I am not all that familiar with "victory lap mugging" or fans wanting that kind of cake. Or I guess I thought it was reserved for shows/things that are not about that degree of misery and death? Lighter fare?

I'm trying to remember when this victory lap thing migrated from reality shows to scripted dramas. People from Lost showing up on Jimmy Kimmel after the episodes aired?

Also I found Vince Gilligan disappointing, esp in that shirt.

I griped a little bit about that too but I really think it's more fanboy/nerdish that he wears those shirts and not straight promotional. Like if it wasn't the Breaking Bad finale aftershow he'd probably have had on a Star Wars shirt or something.

• I think the Jesse's woodshop was the happy place in his mind he tried to stay in while cooking and cleaning.

• Sunny's first thought on Gretchen and Elliot's place was clockwork orange. Also, per Annie Hall, Elliot does kinda look like Tony Roberts.

• Everything wrapped up nicely, and in character. Even the music.

xp It's because of how badly Lost bungled the flash-forward that I was so anxious about Breaking Bad doing the same. Needn't have worried. I like how they took care of those moments early on in this episode, didn't spend long on them.

some of the criticisms of the ending i've seen in some quarters strike me as fundamental misunderstandings of the show--which is probably why the ridiculous overpraise of it as some kind of shakespearean masterpiece did it no favors.

I think the biggest formal innovation of the final season of BB is the flash-forward - particularly the idea that they revealed it to the audience before they knew exactly how they would get there. The idea of creating a risky situation for the show itself and forcing the writers to rise to that challenge seems really bold and confident, and in keeping with the show's own internal logic. just a really smart way to keep everyone - audience and writers' room - fully engaged.

― brio, Monday, September 30, 2013 10:16 AM (15 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this isn't an innovation, there's been flashforwards before in millions of movies and tv shows. i think everyone is holding on too hard to the thing they said about writing it in advance and then figuring out how to get to it. cmon thats just process, writers do that alllllll the time.

it comes as no surprise to me that the really powerful stuff was in the third to last and fourth to last episodes. all they needed to do was make an ending that felt appropriate and i think it was a success on that front.

I really think it's more fanboy/nerdish that he wears those shirts and not straight promotional. Like if it wasn't the Breaking Bad finale aftershow he'd probably have had on a Star Wars shirt or something.

I'm afraid this does not make me less disappointed but it's his life and he can wear/do whatever he wants.

the hollywood forever/"talking bad" thing is weird but having a party when you wrap a production is standard practice regardless of how serious the project was, they just decided to invite fans and put it on tv

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/inside-breaking-bads-hollywood-cemetery-638889

they do sell all this stuff at Best Buy now (los pollos hermanos aprons, vamanos pest patches, etc)

xp that is pretty cool that they used it to raise money for Kind Campaign

so had Walt been to the nazi compound/clubhouse before the finale?

i thought he had but couldn't remember the exact circumstance

I like that for all the talk of Chekhov's ricin, no one noticed Chekhov's key fob, which was somewhat conspicuous. (Though maybe they did - I have a vague memory of someone in here saying something about it being odd that the car Walt got would have those kind of electronic locks?)

I think Walt was at Nazi Funtime World when he was arranging to have Jesse killed?

nussbaum's review makes me realize how many orphans (or semi-orphans) are left at the end, even jesse, sorta.

xxxp

i was under the assumption that he'd only been there blindfolded

of course when he arrives it sort of looks like they'd been expecting him, you could assume he'd talked to todd and asked to meet with his uncle to talk about meth 3.0 etc

otoh it doesnt really matter-- it fits with the way the vulture piece linked upthread points out that he's like a ghost in this episode, just appearing in every scene, zero attention paid to the mechanics of how he got there

I heart you Internet:

Walt just put regular unleaded into a diesel Volvo.

the ghost who knocks

I think Walt was at Nazi Funtime World when he was arranging to have Jesse killed?

― opie dead eyed piece of shit (Merdeyeux), Monday, September 30, 2013 10:52 AM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah this is what i was thinking of

when god is in a machine u can put any gas in it u want

I don't understand why the Talking ______ shitshows would make anyone feel anything about the shows themselves when they're purely a function of AMC trying to keep eyes glued to the TV and probably more of a necessary evil (see: press junkets et al) than something the casts/creators would really care to involve themselves with.

Wasn't he there when they were arranging the hit on Mike's guys? xxp

yeah so weird that guys who just finished the greatest and most appreciated artistic achievement of their careers would want to have fun and celebrate

he met them in a hotel room for the previous hit xp

so does anyone think Jesse is gonna get caught by the feds? Unless the feds have reason to think he's buried in the desert, he's a missing person. Marie knows about him.

wasn't Walt at the compound when he arranged for the hits on the 9 inmates? can't remember.

oh wow @ volvo continuity

has anybody gotten as ridiculous as the Dark Knight/Iron Man 3 geeks got?

"THERE'S NO WAY BATMAN WAS SIX MILES AWAY WHEN THAT BOMB EXPLODED!"

hey people can party all they want
like i said, i'm not the intended audience, so i turned it off

p sure they met in a hotel room for the 9 inmates.

of course when he arrives it sort of looks like they'd been expecting him, you could assume he'd talked to todd and asked to meet with his uncle to talk about meth 3.0 etc

this seems plausible. and i could very well be forgetting another time he was there. the blindfold is totally slipping my mind.

Can't wait for the next suggest ban thread:

http://i.imgur.com/XrRdht7.gif

anyway, not a real criticism or anything. but you'd certainly want some familiarity with your surroundings before you roll up on some guys with a remote controlled automatic weapon

they were definitely expecting him, Todd set up the meeting. I can't remember if he had been there before or not.

yeah, Todd set it up to assassinate him, at Lydia's behest (which is why she called).

maybe Todd gave detailed GPS directions and said "yo you should see this door we have at the compound man, it's built to withstand bullets from a .45, hoping to upgrade so it can withstand machine gun fire".

lol

At the beginning the car keys in the sunshield seems to be a conscious reminder that this is a TV show so suspend disbelief at some of the more outlandish leaps of logic.

― JLB Credit (Jack BS), Monday, September 30, 2013 7:05 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ha as i was watching the show i thought to myself ilx is gonna be suspicious of the keys in the car, and i just wanted to say that i live not far from where that scene took place and my keys are in my car as we speak

I've seen two places where that's happened: Last night's Breaking Bad and Terminator 2. Never IRL.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BVYWWp5CMAAF2J_.jpg:large

yeah so weird that guys who just finished the greatest and most appreciated artistic achievement of their careers would want to have fun and celebrate

― ᶓ͠סּᴥ͠סּᶔ ᶓͼ᷆ₓͼ᷇ᶔ (gr8080), Monday, September 30, 2013 10:57 AM (29 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ha yeah they seem like theyve had a blast making it altogether, and its silly to want them to take it all serious, theyre behind the scenes making the sausage, its differnt back there