Breaking Bad Season 5

Nicky said:

I don't get how people came in the final episodes without having seen the entire series. It makes no sense to me. I know this girl (personally) who watched the finale without knowing what the show was about. I then asked if she's even seen the entire series... Her response was "yeah".

I think people get caught up in the talk/love of a show and just want to ride in at the very end. I feel that this ruins the point.

Honestly, I never heard of the show until the beginning of last summer. I started from the beginning... loved it from the beginning. Easily my favorite show.

I'm gonna order the complete series on Amazon. It's $209.99-- I'm actually thinking of gifting this bad boy....

Click to expand...

I know what you mean. I know people that just watched a few of the episodes in the last season, and the Finale, and I don't see how they could really appreciate or understand what is going on at all. The reason a lot of us were so excited about moments is because this has been building up for 5 seasons with everything from Hank finding out and just how Walt transformed in general. What sucks for those people is if they only saw the last season or the finale, they really screwed themselves and ruined the show for themselves. I saw someone say that they thought Breaking Bad sucked and didn't see what the big deal was. Well, I guarantee they just caught one episode in the final season. I want to see what they say once they watch it all from the beginning, and then you can have an opinion.

And I'm right there with ya on getting that complete series. I was debating on whether I want to drop that kind of cash, but after I saw the finale, it made me really want it even more. I might have to wait and analyze it when I'm thinking rationally. Even then I will want it though, so yea I will get it. It just sucks because I want a ps4 too, and I don't think I can get both. So I'm choosing the complete series over a ps4. Dang. But the way I look at it is that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Damage said:

The self-congratulatory/mainstream trend of this show probably pissed me off more than anything. But I could say the exact same for artists/music/movies that I love.

Click to expand...

Dude, I feel the exact same. I feel like I discover a lot of stuff before it blows up, and once it does it doesn't seem as good or changes, and it can get annoying and overplayed. But in this case, I'm glad I could share and talk about the show with real fans and intelligent people. I know many of us here were fans before it blew up, and we should be proud of that.

Even if you waited til season 4, that isn't that bad. Most of the bandwagon really started this last season. And I know the show is huge, but I only know of about 5 people who are really into the show personally, and I influenced about 5 people myself to start watching it, and they all love it. Maybe its just in my area, but it feels like a very small portion actually watched it compared to the big picture. I'm sure I can get a lot more people to go back and watch it all, even though it is over. Better late than never. It seems like Walking Dead is much more popular, at least in the area where I am. I love the Walking Dead, but Breaking Bad is just so many levels ahead of other shows.

Walter White said:

Dude, I feel the exact same. I feel like I discover a lot of stuff before it blows up, and once it does it doesn't seem as good or changes, and it can get annoying and overplayed.

Click to expand...

I hate this hipster logic. If you like something, you should like it regardless of how mainstream it is. If you don't like it, you should dislike it regardless of how mainstream it is too.

I couldn't care less about Breaking Bad blowing up. All it meant was that I had more people to talk to about the show that I may not have been able to bring it up around before (unless it was in the context of "you should be watching this show"). I wish other shows would blow up even more, like The Wire (a show very few people I know have actually seen and who everyone should watch through at least once if they like good television) or Game of Thrones (which admittedly is probably not for everyone, but still). I'm glad Arrested Development finally blew up the way it did, because it meant another (somewhat weaker but still enjoyable) season and also that I could finally talk about the show with some of my coworkers.

Jack Brickman said:

After letting the finale marinate in my head for about twelve hours, I think I would still place Breaking Bad slightly below The Wire on the Holy Television Pantheon. Breaking Bad probably had better highs (pun intended), such as Hank facing off against the twins, Gus blowing up, the ATM debacle, last night's final set piece, and others, but I think The Wire was just more consistent in its episode to episode quality. Breaking Bad had a good and satisfying ending, but I think it was just a little too neat. Everything just worked out too perfectly for Walt in the end. Yeah, I know he took a bullet, but he wasn't planning on walking out of that encounter alive anyway, so that's a minor detail.

Still a really fun and (as mentioned above) satisfying finale, and it was more than enough to solidify Breaking Bad's place in the aforementioned Holy Television Pantheon, but enough to make it better than The Wire? Not quite.

Click to expand...

The Wire and Breaking Bad are my two favorite shows, and I don't know if I'll ever be able to say one is better than the other. They are both fantastic shows.

I will say that The Wire did stumble a bit in its final season. The fake serial killer storyline was a bit out of place for a show that was usually so grounded in reality.

I'll have to process the Breaking Bad finale for a bit. I agree that everything seemed a little too neatly tied together at the end. But perhaps that was the point. Walt could never get everything he wanted because he wanted everything. He wanted his family, money, power and freedom. Most of the time, these goals were in conflict with one another. And that is why things went to shit so often.

But in the finale he was able to tie up all the loose ends in a nice, neat package. I think this was because he finally held himself accountable for what he'd done and honestly did what was best for his family. He was no longer trying to accomplish multiple, conflicting goals. He was able to tie up everything neatly because he was only trying to do one thing: protect his family.

Oh boy, I see it already. Months from now people will talk about how overrated Breaking Bad was. Really hope that isn't the case; this show was and is fantastic. I hate the "couple months later..." crowd for acclaimed pieces of media.

Jack Brickman said:

I hate this hipster logic. If you like something, you should like it regardless of how mainstream it is. If you don't like it, you should dislike it regardless of how mainstream it is too.

I couldn't care less about Breaking Bad blowing up. All it meant was that I had more people to talk to about the show that I may not have been able to bring it up around before (unless it was in the context of "you should be watching this show"). I wish other shows would blow up even more, like The Wire (a show very few people I know have actually seen and who everyone should watch through at least once if they like good television) or Game of Thrones (which admittedly is probably not for everyone, but still). I'm glad Arrested Development finally blew up the way it did, because it meant another (somewhat weaker but still enjoyable) season and also that I could finally talk about the show with some of my coworkers.

Click to expand...

I knew "hipster" would come up, but I didn't really mean it like that. I agree with what you said. I'm glad the stuff I like gets popular, its awesome. But I was more reffering to music specifically when I said that, which I guess I should of clarified. Music can get super overplayed on the radio and start blowing up and then the artist or music will change because of it. I should have been more specific. A show is a show, and doesn't change. Other stuff can change, but I don't want to get in a huge discussion about it and get off topic.

The Hill said:

The Wire and Breaking Bad are my two favorite shows, and I don't know if I'll ever be able to say one is better than the other. They are both fantastic shows.

I will say that The Wire did stumble a bit in its final season. The fake serial killer storyline was a bit out of place for a show that was usually so grounded in reality.

Click to expand...

Yeah, the final season of The Wire was definitely the weakest of the bunch, but it was still better than just about everything else on television. The show also had a pretty good finale, all things considered. It was a perfectly fitting ending for the show, even if it lacked the "bang" of the finales of shows like The Shield and Breaking Bad. Given that The Wire was never really about those types of moments, though, that made sense.

If The Wire and Breaking Bad taught us anything, its that 5 seasons is the perfect length for a drama.

Jack Brickman said:

I hate this hipster logic. If you like something, you should like it regardless of how mainstream it is. If you don't like it, you should dislike it regardless of how mainstream it is too.

I couldn't care less about Breaking Bad blowing up. All it meant was that I had more people to talk to about the show that I may not have been able to bring it up around before (unless it was in the context of "you should be watching this show"). I wish other shows would blow up even more, like The Wire (a show very few people I know have actually seen and who everyone should watch through at least once if they like good television) or Game of Thrones (which admittedly is probably not for everyone, but still). I'm glad Arrested Development finally blew up the way it did, because it meant another (somewhat weaker but still enjoyable) season and also that I could finally talk about the show with some of my coworkers.

Click to expand...

Not liking something because everyone else likes it is one thing (that's annoying) - not liking the bandwagon, front-running fans who jump on & buy Heisenberg t-shirts, make candy meth, drink Schraderbrew, buy oxygen masks, et al is another animal. Perhaps I need to watch it again, and I will. But when you couple the fandom with an illogical, hole-riddled conclusion made me dislike the finale.

The show, as a whole, was incredible. And I thoroughly enjoyed it. The ending, to me, was the antithesis of what made the show so great.

Damage said:

Not liking something because everyone else likes it is one thing (that's annoying) - not liking the bandwagon, front-running fans who jump on & buy Heisenberg t-shirts, make candy meth, drink Schraderbrew, buy oxygen masks, et al is another animal. Perhaps I need to watch it again, and I will. But when you couple the fandom with an illogical, hole-riddled conclusion made me dislike the finale.

The show, as a whole, was incredible. And I thoroughly enjoyed it. The ending, to me, was the antithesis of what made the show so great.

Click to expand...

Yeah, well...as Gilligan said, he couldn't please everybody.

Don't think the ending asked viewers to make any logic leaps that the show didn't already ask on a routine basis over 5 seasons.

Chris said:

Yeah, well...as Gilligan said, he couldn't please everybody.

Don't think the ending asked viewers to make any logic leaps that the show didn't already ask on a routine basis over 5 seasons.

Click to expand...

This is completely fair, even though I disagree with the logical leaps (plenty earlier, but so many in one episode that happened to be the final one).

Again, I need to watch it a 2nd time. My only hope was for it to not be such a cherry ending (as cheery as a BB show could be I guess).

Damage said:

This is completely fair, even though I disagree with the logical leaps (plenty earlier, but so many in one episode that happened to be the final one).

Again, I need to watch it a 2nd time. My only hope was for it to not be such a cherry ending (as cheery as a BB show could be I guess).

Click to expand...

I can understand that. Like, honestly...it relieved me. It was a "cheery" ending in the sense that Walt and Jesse kind of made up and Jesse is finally free and Walt's family gets the money. But think of everything that was lost throughout this show. I mean...damn. Ozymandias was pretty much like, rock fucking bottom, I felt sick after watching that episode and Granite State. They were so dark and depressing. Walt making his triumphant return, the bad guys getting their comeuppance, Walt and Jesse (show was at its best when these two were a TEAM, in my opinion) getting one final nod...I thought it was fitting and fair and extremely satisfying, if that makes sense.

The trade off for all this cheeriness was, well Walt dies. Which a lot of people predicted would happen anyways, and it didn't matter as he was dying anyways, but the manner of his death was pretty much one of redemption despite what the "Walt is Evil" crowd will surely be spinning across the Internet.

Could be talked about in so much more detail but this is my raw reaction right now.

I don't like debating artistic quality very much. I find it one of the most pointless endeavors a person can take on. You have a better chance at convincing a person that their religious beliefs are fanciful or that their political beliefs are illogical than you do at convincing someone that their artistic tastes are, well, tasteless. Not to mention, debating the first two are, in the greater scheme of things, more important. That's why I normally steer clear of writing long winded essays about this movie or that show on why it is awesome or why it sucked. Generally, I'll just say it and move on.

So, with that in mind, I won't go into a great discussion on whether or not this series deserves all of the praise it gets. Instead, I'll just say this: it kept me entertained, Walter White is one of my three favorite characters in television drama history, and it has been one of my two or three favorite shows on television over the last 6 years. It had its moments that made me scratch my head (the magnet scheme....I mean, c'mon), but it's television. If you want total realism, you probably shouldn't be watching television in the first place. I'll miss this show.

Rich said:

I don't like debating artistic quality very much. I find it one of the most pointless endeavors a person can take on. You have a better chance at convincing a person that their religious beliefs are fanciful or that their political beliefs are illogical than you do at convincing someone that their artistic tastes are, well, tasteless. Not to mention, debating the first two are, in the greater scheme of things, more important. That's why I normally steer clear of writing long winded essays about this movie or that show on why it is awesome or why it sucked. Generally, I'll just say it and move on.

So, with that in mind, I won't go into a great discussion on whether or not this series deserves all of the praise it gets. Instead, I'll just say this: it kept me entertained, Walter White is one of my three favorite characters in television drama history, and it has been one of my two or three favorite shows on television over the last 6 years. It had its moments that made me scratch my head (the magnet scheme....I mean, c'mon), but it's television. If you want total realism, you probably shouldn't be watching television in the first place. I'll miss this show.

Click to expand...

Nice. Waste of a post to just say I agree but, well, I agree. Great points.

Damage said:

This is completely fair, even though I disagree with the logical leaps (plenty earlier, but so many in one episode that happened to be the final one).

Again, I need to watch it a 2nd time. My only hope was for it to not be such a cherry ending (as cheery as a BB show could be I guess).

Click to expand...

Yeah I think we do need to step back and realize what BB did... Sure, compared to Ozymandias the finale was cheery. But let's really look at how this show ended. Walt dies via gunshot (from his own gun) after he kills a group of rivals. He destroys the life of his young partner only to save him and release him into a world where he will forever be haunted by what Walt did to him. His son hates him and his daughter will never know him. His wife is likely resigned to life long depression. His brother in law dead, leaving his wife a widow. His money may or may not ever get to his family (only a footnote to the story at this point). All of his non-drug credentials/achievements completely admonished.

This is as bleak as bleak gets for the ending of a mainstream drama. It's a testament to how dark this show was brave enough to go that we all look at the finale as tidy and happy, with Walt "getting what he wants" and all that. In reality this was a dark and in-your-face television show that was unapologetic from beginning to end. Will always go down as one of the greatest.