Breaking Bad

[Jeremy Blackman]

I could not disagree more with that AV Club comment. Walt has always been about loose ends. That's his weakness. Sure he's gotten better, but he will never be as intensely careful as Gus Fring was. He's always leaving a bit of a mess behind. He barely remembered to cover all his tracks in E1, which was even played somewhat comically, at his expense.

I will defend that flashback to the death. It was so well-earned. I especially love that they used an alternate take for Hank's part, in which he's more serious when he says "Walter White?" (Thank you, podcast.) A very nice chilling moment.

[Brando]

I love the breaking bad flashback.  I usually hate it in other series cause of its purpose. Usually, the flashback is used cause they don't trust the viewer.  The BB flashback wasn't needed for the viewer to fill in any blanks.  It was only there for dramatic purpose and worked beautifully in an episode that was greatly crafted. I'm just echoing everything everyone else has said but I can't think of another Breaking Bad episode where I've been more impressed by the production, direction and editing than the writing.  And the writing was still great.

I can't wait to listen to the podcast. I have a long drive in mornings and afternoons so I save it for the drive but have to wait till it's on iTunes.  It's usually on by Tuesday morning but woke up and it wasn't there. Hopefully tomorrow morning I can listen to it.

[Jeremy Blackman]

From the AV Club:

Even more people are watching Breaking Bad now than the last time we said that

http://www.avclub.com/articles/even-more-people-are-watching-breaking-bad-now-tha,84590/

As evidenced by the fact that discussing Breaking Bad now accounts for 50 percent of all human conversation—to the point where a baby born to the remote Mursi tribe yesterday drew its first breath and squealed, "I am the one who knocks!" before being immediately put to death—a lot more people watch Breaking Bad now. In fact, 47-percent more people watched Sunday's finale than last year's, with 2.8 million viewers tuning in to see Hank drop a very different kind of bomb in the episode's waning moments.

As noted in an AMC press release, this first half of the show's swan song saw an overall 56-percent increase in viewers age 18-49, continuing a rare exponential growth from year to year that one might compare to some sort of addiction-related epidemic, were there only an apt comparison to make. At this rate, by the time Breaking Bad returns for its final eight episodes in summer 2013, so many people will be watching that Twitter and Facebook will essentially be nothing but Breaking Bad spoilers.

[Fernando]

^^ that's great, I already stay away from twitter and fb. wonder if amc will try to persuade Vince to make more than 8 episodes given those numbers.

I can't wait to listen to the podcast. I have a long drive in mornings and afternoons so I save it for the drive but have to wait till it's on iTunes.  It's usually on by Tuesday morning but woke up and it wasn't there. Hopefully tomorrow morning I can listen to it.

it was good and almost 90min long.

a couple of things Vince said:

- he loves the Fly episode and doesn't get why so many ppl don't like it, I love that one btw.

- only thing he said about the next season is that they won't hold back, not that they ever did but right now they're on death row so....it will be insane.

[Neil]

Possibly the best show on cable television.  Makes me wish i'd gotten in on this discussion earlier.  The reason I definitely think the flashback worked in this episode, as Brando pointed out, BB doesn't play its audience for a fool.  But even more so, the obvious reason for it working is that hank is actually putting it together in his head.  This is also why I believe they had good reasons to use a more dramatic take of Hank's delivery of, "Walter White?"

No one needed to see it, but Hank has to know he was on the right track the whole time.  Which could be one explanation the new delivery of the line, aside from adding to the drama.  Really awesome.

[Jeremy Blackman]

- he loves the Fly episode and doesn't get why so many ppl don't like it, I love that one btw.

Yeah I heard that too. But I still don't like "Fly." I mean it's not horrible, but I think it's the least good episode of the show, and probably really the only true "weak" episode they've had to date. The concept didn't quite work, the dialogue was subpar, and most importantly, it was not true to Walt's character. Everything just felt off.

I've previously compared it to the House episode "One Day, One Room." It has a similar feeling and a similar betrayal of character, but I should be quick to point out that it's not nearly as bad. Most TV shows have some horrifically bad episodes (God knows The X-Files had plenty), and "Fly" doesn't even approach that. It's weak, but not truly bad.

[diggler]

I love the Fly episode, mostly because it's the closest we've come to understanding Walt's perspective, which he illustrates in the "perfect moment" monologue. There's never been a time on the show where Walt has been more transparent about his actual feelings.

Also, it's the episode that best utilizes Cranston's chops for physical comedy (that fall is amazing).

[Fernando]

this vid is all over twitter now, it's great.

needless to say it spoils ALL seasons.

[diggler]

I like the Ennio Morricone one more, but it's a testament to the show that it inspires such great fan art.

[Brando]

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/interrogation/2012/09/breaking_bad_s_final_season_an_interview_with_vince_gilligan_.single.html#pagebreak_anchor_2

Nice Vince Gilligan interview.  No spoilers.

[Tictacbk]

Gilligan: I was talking a few minutes ago to a writer who was asking me about inconsistencies of when the show is set in time. When I was shooting the pilot episode, we had a scene where Walt puts his son's handicap placard on his car, and it said 2007. The writer said to me: "I thought this show took place in 2007, and it's only been a year since then, but last week you had someone mention the Osama Bin Laden assassination. How do you reconcile that?" I had to say, "Well, honestly, I don't." In a perfect world, this show is somewhat timeless, and people will watch it and think of it as the present

Told ya.

[Jeremy Blackman]

And?

[Jeremy Blackman]

Random prediction. Declan kidnaps Walt and forces him to cook for him and divulge his recipe, since customers are demanding his Crystal Blue Persuasion. Walt escapes, of course. It's sort of a callback to Tuco. With possible Hank involvement.

But probably not. That would be too expected. Also, I would be uncomfortable with Declan simply becoming the new "big bad." Doesn't ring true with the show's philosophy. The final 8 will probably be an all-out showdown between Walt and Hank with all sorts of crazy and unpredictable stuff happening... things that we haven't really seen before. Vince made clear in the podcast that this is when they don't want to hold back, this is when they stop saving ideas for later.

Honestly I wish it could have been more than 8 and 8. They had have sufficient scope and enough ideas to wrap it up with two full seasons.

[Jeremy Blackman]

Nerdist Writers Panel (great podcast) has a long (1:11) interview with the entire writing staff...

http://www.nerdist.com/2012/09/nerdist-writers-panel-54-breaking-bad-season-five-in-review/

Recorded just 3 days ago. It's fantastic. You really get a clear sense of the writing staff's chemistry and their whole dynamic. Many insights about the first 8. Maybe 20-30% of it has been said in the podcasts before, but there's plenty of new and interesting stuff. There are absolutely no spoilers for the second 8.

There are some audio issues in the first few minutes, but they get fixed before too long.

[Jeremy Blackman]

And if you want to put faces to the names:




Left to right: Tom Schnauz, George Mastras, Sam Catlin, Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Gennifer Hutchison, Moira Walley-Beckett