Breaking Bad Discussion Thread

[Barracuda 629]

Herp Derp, Best Show Ever.

 

Maybe they didn't have to start shooting yet.

[Vin+ 3,121]

I no longer like Huell and I hope he's not apart of the Goodman spinoff. All that goodwill built up over the course of a couple seasons got wiped out in one five minute scene.

 

 

Edited September 9, 2013 by Vin

[Guest Phailadelphia]

TERRIBLE cliffhanger.

[Vin+ 3,121]

[SteVo+ 3,702]

I've had time to process this, and...I still hate the cliffhanger. I thought after a few days the genius of Vince Gilligan might suddenly dawn on me, but it hasn't. In fact, I think cutting off that intense action sequence will lessen the effect of however it ends during next week's episode.

 

I remember watching an interview with Gilligan about the upcoming season (before they started airing) and he said, not exactly verbatim: so much happens in the final eight episodes, he probably could have stretched it to 20, if he wanted to.

 

I think that's really starting to show now. The plot in these final episodes is so condensed, it affects the narrative structure. There's nothing wrong with a balls-to-the-wall conclusion, especially to this show, but I think they've gone about it the wrong way.

[Vin+ 3,121]

Absolutely hate that this is a prequel, but I'll probably still watch it.

 

 

 

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/09/11/breaking-bad-spinoff-better-call-saul-confirmed

 

AMC and Sony Pictures Television confirmed today that they have reached a licensing agreement for a spinoff of Vince Gilligan’s landmark AMC/Sony Pictures Television series Breaking Bad. As conceived, the new series is based on the show’s popular Saul Goodman character with the working title Better Call Saul. Plans call for Saul to be a one-hour prequel that will focus on the evolution of the popular Saul Goodman character before he ever became Walter White’s lawyer.

 

The possibility of a Saul Goodman spinoff series was revealed last April. With the recent ratings hike that Breaking Bad has been enjoying, it's felt like more and more of a distinct possibility, as the network would want to capitalize on the audience interest in the show, and characters, as quickly as possible.

 

From Gus to Lydia: Potential Breaking Bad Spinoffs

 

In May, Gilligan, who was developing the series with Peter Gould, the writer who created the Saul Goodman character, said that they hadn't yet decided if it would be a prequel or sequel to the events of Breaking Bad.

 

"I like to think of Saul as a cockroach in the best possible way,” Gilligan told Vulture, indicating that the crafty lawyer may indeed survive the series' carnage. “This is a guy who’s going to survive while the rest of us have been nuked into annihilation. He’ll be the worst-dressed cockroach in the world.” Now that we know that Better Call Saul will indeed function as a prequel, Saul's fate on Breaking Bad is a little more up in the air.

 

"[saul] kind of knows everybody...everybody in town, all the major players. And he has a hand in the business every which way he can," Gilligan told Yahoo! TV back in April. "So we just have to figure out exactly what kind of story we're telling. Is it a story about his creation of his own character? Because Saul Goodman, as he explains in his first episode, is not his real name. He is a self-created character, much like Heisenberg. Do we tell the story of his origins? We're still trying to hash that out. But there are a lot of fun possibilities."

 

It appears that we may indeed be getting a glimpse at the man he was, before he became the ambulance chasing, money laundering, lawyer-for-all-occasions, Saul Goodman.

 

Alan Sepinwall of Hitfix reports that deals still need to be made for Gilligan and Gould, and it is currently unclear if Gilligan will be showrunning the new series. Better Call Saul is also likely to go straight to series, with no pilot.

 

We will keep you updated as details emerge!

 

Meantime... think we'll be seeing Gus and Mike on this show?

[Bucman 891]

Gilligan has done a great job with this show, so I will without a doubt give his next one a shot.

[CribbsForTheWin 117]

The thing I dislike most about the cliffhanger in this situation is that Breaking Bad has already developed it's following. You don't need to try to force people to watch next week to see what the conclusion will be, because your watchers are already going to be coming back for these last 3 episodes.

 

I can't even pretend to know what I am talking about in regards to filming and directing, etc., but it just doesn't seem like the scenario that you would want to use a cliffhanger as big as this one.

[Vin+ 3,121]

Where should they have ended the episode? Before the firefight? Maybe conclude the firefight altogether? My only issue with where they ended it is that it makes me believe that Hank is gonna live, because I would think that if they were going to kill him they would've done it at the tail end of the episode.

Edited September 12, 2013 by Vin

[SteVo+ 3,702]

Where should they have ended the episode? Before the firefight? Maybe conclude the firefight altogether? My only issue with where they ended it is that it makes me believe that Hank is gonna live, because I would think that if they were going to kill him they would've done it at the tail end of the episode.

 

No, the best spot to end the episode would have been after the firefight. That episode was intense and continuously building towards that climax, only to end right in the middle of it. The moments before the shootout, we're listening to Hank talk to Marie on the phone and we're wondering, "Is this it? Is Hank gonna die? What about Gomie? How will Jesse get away?" The ending halted the episode, leaving those questions unanswered.

 

Obviously they simply didn't have enough minutes left in the show to finish out the firefight, which brings me back to what I said a few posts up about cramming too much material into eight episodes. But hey, maybe Vince Gilligan has something unexpected up his sleeve.

[SteVo+ 3,702]

Best episode?

[Vin+ 3,121]

"You get an Emmy. You get an Emmy. You get an Emmy. You get an Emmy.

 

Everybody. Gets. An. Emmy."

[SteVo+ 3,702]

In all seriousness, where do we go from here?

 

Walt's storyline is basically done. He's heading for New Hampshire to grow out his beard and eat at Denny's. So what brings him back to Albuquerque for the finale? Obviously it has to be something with Jesse, but what? How is he going to escape Todd? And what was the significance of the subtle romance between Todd and Lydia?

 

Oh yeah, and I'm pretty sure I really want to see Jesse kill Walt now. I have a feeling they both end up dead, and perhaps that's appropriate.

[Barracuda 629]

Naw he's going back to finish off his family.

[Guest Phailadelphia]

Naw he's going back to finish off his family.

 

After that phone call to Skylar? No way. He knew the police were listening. I think that was Walt saving Skylar from having charges brought against her.

 

He goes back to his house for the ricin he hid in the electrical socket. I think he's going to use it to kill Jesse.

[Barracuda 629]

No I don't think that's really what is going to happen. Though I won't rule it out.

 

Walt has rationalized everything he's done as doing it for his family. If his family wound up dead or gone and he was left to himself and his money that is left, I don't think it would be a bad way to end it.

 

As for Jesse, it seems everyone thinks he's going to escape somehow. Maybe he'll make some thermite and cut that cord and destroy Todd's face or something. While I really wouldn't like it if he happened to escape he survived the last episode for a reason. It seems a Walt/Jesse finale is certain.

[Vin+ 3,121]

I've got this weird feeling that Todd is gonna have a "Darth Vader throws Emperor Palpatine down the reactor shaft" moment. I dunno, but I think he was bothered by the murder of Hank. Whether or not that's accurate, and whether or not anything amounts from it remains to be seen.

 

I think the ending depends on whether or not Walt blames Jesse for Hank. If he does, the ricin's probably for him; if not, who knows? Maybe he's gonna poison a batch of meth with it, I dunno. I'd say that both Walt and Jesse being dead by the end of the show is a safe bet.

[SteVo+ 3,702]

I've got this weird feeling that Todd is gonna have a "Darth Vader throws Emperor Palpatine down the reactor shaft" moment. I dunno, but I think he was bothered by the murder of Hank. Whether or not that's accurate, and whether or not anything amounts from it remains to be seen.

 

I think the ending depends on whether or not Walt blames Jesse for Hank. If he does, the ricin's probably for him; if not, who knows? Maybe he's gonna poison a batch of meth with it, I dunno. I'd say that both Walt and Jesse being dead by the end of the show is a safe bet.

 

I get that vibe about Todd as well. The way he was looking at Walt right after Hank's death was...curious...

[Guest Phailadelphia]

I'd say that both Walt and Jesse being dead by the end of the show is a safe bet.

 

I think those two, dead together, is the best "proper" ending to the show. But I REALLY want Jesse to live. I don't give a fuck about Walt.

[Barracuda 629]

I don't think Gilligan is going to or ever was planning on going with a proper moral ending. Walt surviving with everyone else dead and gone. Book it.

[Vin+ 3,121]

[Bucman 891]

 

Naw he's going back to finish off his family.

 

After that phone call to Skylar? No way. He knew the police were listening. I think that was Walt saving Skylar from having charges brought against her.

 

He goes back to his house for thev he hid in the electrical socket. I think he's going to use it to kill Jesse.

 

Ricin is being tested to kill cancer cells, so that could be the other side of wanting it. Its probably for something more sinster though.

[Favre4Ever+ 4,476]

I almost feel like Walt is going to go back and save Jesse... There isn't much to substantiate that though, obviously with how they departed from each others company.

Only thing I really didn't like about the episode was some poor timing, IMO. Scene opens up after the intro with Gomez dead already... Kinda destroys all the tensions they tried building up with the firefight from the episode prior. It was a poor way to end that episode to begin with, but after seeing how they followed it up, it's now even worse.

I also liked Hanks death and the dialogue that preceded it... But again, I thought the timing was just odd and didn't really fit there.

I've said this before in the Chat and what have you, but.... Bryan Cranston's Walter White is quite possibly one of, if not the best acted television characters of all time... No lie, no troll. The way he delivers his lines, the way he makes Walt come alive... It's unreal, in every way.

That moment when he is talking to Skyler after he kidnaps Holly and whatnot was just crushing. There were so many emotions he was trying to portray through Walt... He was seriously hurt (emotionally) and crying... but still delivered that hatred and spite with ease as he tried to keep the cops off of Skyler's trail and focus on him more.

There's nobody, at least in my experience, that I have seen be that good at their job... Again, unreal.

Edited September 17, 2013 by Favre4Ever

[blotsfan 2,112]

Walter goes back to kill the Nazis as revenge for killing hank, finds and saves Jesse. Jesse (understandably) does not like Walter very much. Emotional conversation where Jesse forgives him, only to find that he actually used the ricin on Walt. Walt accepts his fate, goes to see his family one last time and tells them he's going to die and leaves them the money. He kills himself before the poison takes over, but the autopsy finds the poison in him, which causes Marie to get arrested for killing him (remember she mentioned looking up poisons to her therapist).

[Guest Phailadelphia]

Good little read on the "bad fan" and Vince Gilligan trolling the hell out of us.

 

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2013/09/last-nights-breaking-bad-that-mindbending-phone-call.html?mobify=0&intcid=full-site-mobile&mobify=0