Breaking Bad

Started by squints, February 25, 2009, 07:23:38 PM

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Jeremy Blackman

Incidentally, all those assumptions you guys just made about the podcast are false.

They religiously avoid spoilers. And in retrospect, if one of the participants even gets close to giving away a spoiler, Vince will purposefully jump in to obfuscate it.

It's not essential at all to enjoying or understanding the show. It's an optional supplement. It's 90% behind-the-scenes discussion.

Quote from: Pozer on October 04, 2011, 01:29:24 PM
Quote from: Jeremy Blackman on October 04, 2011, 12:22:51 PM
Quote from: Pozer on October 04, 2011, 12:02:13 PMpretty sure they had the glasses up on Walt's head for sun glare to give away his position but decided to cut that shot out.

No.

um, yes, Jeremy Blackman.

In your imaginary version of Breaking Bad, yes, perhaps they did shoot a scene where Walt's glasses produced a sun glare so Gus would see him, then decided to cut it out later. (What did they shoot after that? A chase scene between Gus and Walt?) The specificity of your insight is striking. Did you hear this on an imaginary version of the podcast? In the actual Breaking Bad that exists in, you know, actual reality, no, they did not do that.

Stefen

I've found a lot of things really corny about this season. It's turning more into a regular crime drama/suspense show instead of a realistic portrayal of people like it used to be.

It used to be about this chemistry teacher and one of his bad students who cook meth because the teacher has cancer and needs to provide for his family before he dies, but when was the last time this show even mentioned Walt's cancer? Him and the rest of the characters just don't feel very human anymore. What made Gus so bad ass was how genuine and real he was. He was a man with power hiding behind the front of a fried chicken restaurant. Now he's dodging and walking straight into bullets yelling "SHOOT ME!" with his arms spread, he's poisoning himself and others, but making it out just in time because he has his own mobile hospital to take care of him, then he's off to do more movie drug type shit. And the dynamic between Skylar and Walt used to be interesting because that was his wife and the mother of his new daughter and it was always harrowing whether she would find out the truth or not, but now that she knows the truth, she's all like, "I WANT IN." Get outta here.

It's still a fun show and the filmmaking techniques are usually pretty good, but it's just gotten to be pretty silly with some of the stuff it does.
Falling in love is the greatest joy in life. Followed closely by sneaking into a gated community late at night and firing a gun into the air.

squints

Quote from: Pozer on October 04, 2011, 12:02:13 PM
you wanna see real bad writing ways on tv check out Dexter's season opener.

I have always always always said "Fuck Dexter." That show is ridiculous. Granted, I've only watched disc 1 season 1, but here's how i felt about that. By the last episode on the disc the show had slowly started turning into this police procedural set in miami, and i had just finished the wire and i was having fun watching Burn Notice's miami. So GTFO Dexter.

You know what I think is some good writing? (Although i'm only on Ep 4)... Game of Thrones. I know the show is based on a book which i've read a bit of but they change most of the dialog from the book to the screen and the structure of the scenes are different. But that show, man, the acting, direction, cinematography, special effects, the plot...all great. I guess this is a discussion for another thread.


One more episode.
"The myth by no means finds its adequate objectification in the spoken word. The structure of the scenes and the visible imagery reveal a deeper wisdom than the poet himself is able to put into words and concepts" – Friedrich Nietzsche

Jeremy Blackman

Quote from: S.R. on October 04, 2011, 01:58:27 PMAnd the dynamic between Skylar and Walt used to be interesting because that was his wife and the mother of his new daughter and it was always harrowing whether she would find out the truth or not, but now that she knows the truth, she's all like, "I WANT IN." Get outta here.

Except she doesn't know nearly everything. The tension between what Walt knows, what Skyler knows, what she wants to know, to what extent she actually wants to participate... that is a far more interesting dynamic to me than her trying to figure things out, which was obviously unsustainable (she's not a stupid character) and only the very beginning of the story.

Quote from: S.R. on October 04, 2011, 01:58:27 PMbut when was the last time this show even mentioned Walt's cancer?

If you want to get technical, just a few episodes ago.

The prospect of his cancer coming back still looms over the story, but he obviously has more pressing matters to worry about. Do you really want Breaking Bad to be all about the threat of cancer? How tired would that get? I always thought one of best parts of the plot was how Walt figured he'd be dying very soon, but now he's in remission and is faced with all the consequences of his choices, which (in his spiral) he sort of has to keep making. That's so much more fascinating than some obscenely extended medical drama.

Pozer

Quote from: Jeremy Blackman on October 04, 2011, 01:41:30 PM
Quote from: Pozer on October 04, 2011, 01:29:24 PM
Quote from: Jeremy Blackman on October 04, 2011, 12:22:51 PM
Quote from: Pozer on October 04, 2011, 12:02:13 PMpretty sure they had the glasses up on Walt's head for sun glare to give away his position but decided to cut that shot out.

No.

um, yes, Jeremy Blackman.

In your imaginary version of Breaking Bad, yes, perhaps they did shoot a scene where Walt's glasses produced a sun glare so Gus would see him, then decided to cut it out later. (What did they shoot after that? A chase scene between Gus and Walt?) The specificity of your insight is striking. Did you hear this on an imaginary version of the podcast? In the actual Breaking Bad that exists in, you know, actual reality, no, they did not do that.

but it did happen, Jeremy Blackman.

no need to get all Jeremy Blackman on me by the way. patting yourself on the back with that one? it was simply a remark on this one's cliched moments. "pretty sure" is what i said, YES they probably didnt actually shoot it that way but wouldnt have been surprised if that moment DID HAPPEN with Gus' suspicions, looking out across the way all clichedlike.  

Jeremy Blackman

So the better question is, why are you imagining cliches into your viewing experience?

Pozer


Jeremy Blackman


Stefen

lol, omg, you're a giant dork. haha.
Falling in love is the greatest joy in life. Followed closely by sneaking into a gated community late at night and firing a gun into the air.

polkablues

Gus didn't see Walt. He realized after his interaction with Jesse that his plan wasn't going exactly as he intended, and as he was approaching the car, he started to work out the possible implications of that, which he realized included Jesse and Walt working together to take him out. The scene was about how careful and analytical Gus is, not how good his eyesight is.

And Dexter's not THAT bad. I mean, yeah, it's kind of bad, but it's fun, or whatever.
My house, my rules, my coffee

Tictacbk

Quote from: Pozer on October 04, 2011, 01:29:24 PM
um, no, twitacbk. never listened to the f-ing podcast that f-ing explains everything like perhaps you did. it's how the scene spoke for itself.

I wasn't talking about you, I was talking about Jeremy Blackman, known podcast listener and fan.

The podcast may be spoiler free, but it seems like they're willing to clarify things like character's motivations or other things that, in my opinion, should be left up for interpretation.  It takes the fun out of things when you can be like "Hey do you think Gus is gay?"  "Yeah he is.  I heard it on the podcast."  Thats not a great example, but you get the idea.

That being said, I hold nothing against anyone who listens to the podcast, I just don't think it should exist.


Also I agree that Gus as a character is becoming less and less believable. 

...and I hope Mike comes back in a big way for the finale.

RegularKarate

Everything that Stefen pointed out has been a long time coming.  I don't know why anyone would be surprised that Skylar is involved in the dirty business.  She was cooking books long ago.  It's always been in her... the show is called "Breaking Bad", it's about people breaking bad.

Gus has always been badass and walking into bullets.  For a while, he was less seen and they were slowly showing his true nature to us, but I always assumed he was the type of guy that had to get shot at.  He's too high up to have never walked into gunfire before.  We just see it more now because that's the side they want to show now (and the side I like seeing).

I don't get how these things are surprises.

Jeremy Blackman

^ Yes.

Quote from: Tictacbk on October 04, 2011, 03:41:32 PMThe podcast may be spoiler free, but it seems like they're willing to clarify things like character's motivations or other things that, in my opinion, should be left up for interpretation.  It takes the fun out of things when you can be like "Hey do you think Gus is gay?"  "Yeah he is.  I heard it on the podcast."  Thats not a great example, but you get the idea.

I totally understand what you're saying, and I usually have the same reservations. However, when one of these questions comes up, which is rarely, you might be surprised how often Vince Gilligan chimes in to say "eh it can still be open to interpretation," and I don't know how many times he's said he loves it when viewers come up with their own theories and interpretations, how much he respects that, etc. (and cbrad can back me up on this). He has also said repeatedly that he's always wanted this to be a "water cooler show."

The Gus being gay thing actually is a good example, because Kelley Dixon let slip that it was always their [official] understanding that Gus and his partner were gay (which I caught), but Vince immediately chimed in that it should probably be left open to interpretation. But you could tell that they all believed Gus is gay. I think that's the only time it happened so explicitly on the podcast.

When they talked about Jane's death, they all chimed in with different opinions on Walt's culpability (whether he "killed" her or committed "gross indifference" or something else). All the interpretations were considered valid.

Stefen

Quote from: RegularKarate on October 04, 2011, 03:51:37 PM
Everything that Stefen pointed out has been a long time coming.  I don't know why anyone would be surprised that Skylar is involved in the dirty business.  She was cooking books long ago.

Naw. This show isn't THAT predictable.
Falling in love is the greatest joy in life. Followed closely by sneaking into a gated community late at night and firing a gun into the air.

RegularKarate

I don't mean from day 1, but I was pretty sure a while ago that Skylar would eventually become involved with Walt's dealings.  Once she started fixing books for Bossman Dick, it was clear that would be how she got involved with the Meth world.