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

I would've been pretty pleased if Lost had ended after Season 5. I liked that as an ending to the show.

I can't count L O S T among the shows I'm able to forgive for ending badly (or really shittily). It was a lot of fun for a long time, but that last season undermined everything that came before. As much as they paid lip service to the notion, it wasn't in any way a show about the characters (who were mostly little more than gears in a giant Rube Goldberg machine). It was about plot mechanics, and when it became clear that all the plots and planning were part of a big, stupid shaggy dog story, the whole thing fell apart for me.

imo 6.1 was the only dip in the entire series

p much agree with that. same with 6 Feet Under, it had some low points but got good again at the end.

I would've been pretty pleased if Lost had ended after Season 5. I liked that as an ending to the show.

OTMFM. I suggest watching just to the end of S5 to everyone I know who's expressed an interest in checking it out now.

In any case, Wire is hardly such a spoiler-adverse show. I mean, most of the time you will know who did it many episodes in advance. Also, I don't think BB gets bonus points for the originality of it's premise in a world where Weeds exists...

I'm sure yet another mobster story is good and adds something to the genre, but meh.

this is exactly why I avoided the Sopranos while it was on the air and came to it late and holy shit was I wrong. it goes way beyond the scope of other mob stuff, and goes much deeper imho.

xp

LOST was the first show of the DVR era, hiding little clues etc

Kinda feel like there should be a thread for recommendations of when to stop watching shows before they turf out. Like Roseanne through season 5 or 6 is one of the best shows ever made, and by season 9 is became of the worst.

I guess what I wonder is whether the flash-forwards hurt a show's re-viewing potential--when I called it "well-made pulp" yesterday, it was along the lines of something like Stephen King, where the suspense and thrill ride are second to none in a first read/viewing without a need to experience more than once. Certainly that seems the case with Lost.

xp: www.jumpedtheshark.co.uk

xpost

If you haven't rewatched BB, I'd recommend it. I got a hell of a lot of new stuff out of a rewatch. Lots of subtleties I missed on a first viewing, particularly when you already know where certain things are heading.

The production and writing in Lost was just so dense; I rewatched many episodes of the show during its run and there were just countless details to pick up, enjoyably. Sadly this somewhat led to its downfall in the final season where they threw in a bunch of crap they had to tie up from years and years before.

they threw in a bunch of crap they had to tie up from years and years before

everything except the important stuff to tie up, that just got jettisoned with a "you're thinking about it too hard, it's really about feelings man" cop-out ending

The makeup and prosthetics to give Walt his turkey-neck wrinkles were another really good part of the finale, btw.

Anna Gunn mentioned that they loaded her and Cranston with oversized clothes to give them a shrinking, weakened appearance - totally worked

gunn looked real pretty in the last couple eps i thought

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/breaking-bad-finale_opt.jpg

"Did you ever audition for Lorne? I was there in '96. Couple years after the Comedy Store."

Also, I don't think BB gets bonus points for the originality of it's premise in a world where Weeds exists...

come on, bb is more different from weeds than the wire is from every other cop procedural ever.

Plus the premise isn't really just "chemistry teacher breaks bad and enters the meth cooking business". That's just the TV Guide summary.

I think what's really unique about BB is that Walt is a nerd criminal who loves the life of crime because he loves nerding out on the logistics of it all. He doesn't even ever enjoy the fruits of his success like Scarface or most other fictional crime bosses do. He's just in it for the fun of it. Which works really well for the genre because it mirrors the audience's love for the mechanics of a caper.

I mean the story is really "dying man retires from work and spends his last two years of life doing what he loves."

I love that he made 80 mil and they never even went on vacation or bought a new couch or anything

new hot water unit tho

i had no real serious issues with Walt's fantastical return to ABQ/nazi decimation/grey matter trust fund et al. we've been treated to some pretty badass McGyverisms and cunning on his part, and i would have been let down if the final ep didn't throw us some of that.

but i am kinda sympathetic to Nussbaum's take (http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2013/09/breaking-bad-finale-reviewed.html?utm_source=tny&utm_campaign=generalsocial&utm_medium=facebook). it would have been a little easier to swallow if 1) Walt had disguised himself a little better & 2) he'd spent a little time back in NH plotting his return, rather than it being a snap decision after he'd already tipped off the authorities

(http://www.newyorker.com

going no further

Yeah, they played it relatively fast & loose with believability during this last season. I don't have a problem with that in and of itself but it felt a little disjointed when compared to how airtight and thought through a lot of stuff felt in earlier seasons.

i get nussbaum's criticisms, but her "hey, wouldn't have been better if it actually was all a dream and Walt froze to death in the first scene?" take is dopey - people would have had pitchforks and torches out if "it was all a dream" entered into the finale at all

xpost

I think they played a lot more with thematic relevance during this last stretch, though. Like, I came around with respect to the barely-believable luck of pulling off the train heist when it occurred to me that that whole bit wasn't about all of the things that miraculously went right so much as it was about the one thing that went horribly wrong.

he really shouldve worn a disguise is a criticism more worthy of a plain txt message board than the nyer

crumple that shit up and throw it in the garbage, get yrself together nussbaum

idk with these types of shows, I mean, the characters and their connection are really the important thing to me. That doesn't mean I'd be ok with Walt shooting people while driving a car flying off of a cliff like theatrics, but just that the elements, even the more fantastical ones, are part of a cohesive narrative.

it wouldn't be fair to eschew some of these criticisms altogether, as plot development was a huge part of Breaking Bad, but people tuned in just as much for the more resolute, character driven episodes (ie Skyler saying "we'll wait until the cancer comes back").

I was worried for a second that Walt would cook one last batch before he died. Glad that didn't happen.

yeah I mean what's the point of wearing a disguise? People who are wanted and on the run are able to elude authorities all the time, and given that he only spent a (mostly) quite day back in NM, it's not that farfetched that he didn't get caught.

idk that wearing a Groucho mask woulda been more believable.

He was already wearing a hobo disguise anyway.

its just a trivial complaint grapple w some themes ffs whatre we paying you for

xxxpost in no way do i think a dream sequence would have been preferable. just that some of her criticisms are otm

Yeah, this show was at least 75% about the character development/interaction for me. The fun and excitement were fun and exciting no doubt, but BB was masterful when it came to character. That's a pretty essential element of all of my favorite shows, and I think serialized fiction is ideally the perfect vehicle for character development above all else.

xpost missed opportunity for a Springsteen song cameo

do we, or are we planning on having a poll for favorite Breaking Bad season? convential wisdom tells me it has to be 3, 4, or 5 (I'm torn between 4 and 5, mostly because "Ozymandias" was one of the most amazing episodes ever).

cars. several cars.

xpost to whoever said they never bought much

Nussbaum's central point - that it was all too easy and plays out like his revenge fantasy - is totally fair, but he does end up dead and alone, and it doesn't take long to start tallying up the lives he's ruined. Poor Saul's running a Cinnabon in Omaha for christ's sakes

also suggesting that Badger and Skinny Pete would've snitched is crazy talk

I wonder if Team Walt folks sat at the screen screaming "JUDAS!" when Walt said "I did it for me"

cars. several cars.

xpost to whoever said they never bought much

nah, they got those free as a promotional consideration

didn't Skyfall make them take back the cars?

Junior certainly didn't have his hot rod anymore

Walt spent most of his fortune on the newest and greatest video game systems so he could lure Brock to his house to feed him Lily of the Valley.

can a long episodic narrative ever have a truly knockout ending to rival the greatest movie endings? the structure of the format requires that the writers come up with a good ending for every episode and then a great ending for each season finale, not to mention smaller pauses at commercial breaks, all while keeping some kind of forward momentum going. then people put way too much pressure on the series finale, even though it's a type of ending that's totally different than every ending the writers have been practicing for the past several years. I thought this ending was at least as good as most movie endings, and way more difficult to pull off. I guess I was setting the bar pretty low because as far as I'm concerned all they had to do was make an ending that didn't totally suck and ruin everything that came before.

http://25.media.tumblr.com/ec547949c9ae57e48e9eca5cdcd18c28/tumblr_mjb9qxMf9v1qevsfko1_500.jpg

Always thought holly's nap acting was a bit mechanical. It's a nap goddamnit! Not a sandwich!

part of why it might feel pat or tidy for some is that the show was exceptionally tidy on the whole - one story over five seasons, everything else just subplots. since the bummed are merely just bummed, not particularly resentful, i think it will hold up once people get over the "Greatest Show Ever? (Y/N)" bullshit.