Breaking Bad

[©brad]

Great find! Is there anyway to download the podcast? The site keeps crashing on me.

[Jeremy Blackman]

Here's a mirror:

[ono]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Breaking_Bad_episodes#Season_5_.282012.E2.80.932013.29

Note the ratings for BB's last two episodes this year.  What can we extrapolate from this?  For me, the ratings say a lot more about the previous episode than the quality of the episode itself.  Or, the satisfaction the audience felt.  I felt a certain emptiness after episode 7, and I think that was reflected here.  There was this sense of real loss.  With Jesse out of the picture, and Mike now dead, there was nothing left, and the audience, at least 200k of them, may have felt similar.  Usually you'd expect a finale to have a spike in the numbers, but this one didn't.  I wonder why else that is.

[Tictacbk]

I think the fact that it was a holiday weekend probably had something to do with it.

[©brad]

I think the fact that it was a holiday weekend probably had something to do with it.

This. People were out of town and likely watched it a day or two after. Ono I think you're reaching with this one. Remember those ratings don't take into account DVR and people watching online and through other maybe not so legal means. Episode quality or Mike dying doesn't has anything to do with it.

[Pubrick]

^ this

I think it makes more sense that some people would not want to see the most important episode of the season on tv with commercial interruptions. The fact the number of viewers increased so much throughout the season is attributable to the growing number of Johnny-come-latelies trying to catch up halfway through the season.

The number will keep growing but this show basically demands to be downloaded for uninterrupted commercial-free viewing. Sucks for the ratings but that's their fault for making the most nail biting show of all time.

[Brando]

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

http://www.uproxx.com/tv/2012/07/breaking-bad-nielsen-ratings/

This was Breaking Bad's best season ratings wise. With it being on Netflix more people have caught up and are watching it live. I could watch it live but choose to DVR it then start watching thirty minutes into it so I can fast forward the commercials.

I'm going through some BB withdrawal. I've only listened to this season's podcast and the one for Face Off. Anyone know of any good podcast of the previous seasons that are worth checking out other than the obvious ones of the memorable episodes?

[Jeremy Blackman]

I'm going through some BB withdrawal. I've only listened to this season's podcast and the one for Face Off. Anyone know of any good podcast of the previous seasons that are worth checking out other than the obvious ones of the memorable episodes?

I recommend just listening to all the podcasts. If they're not all available on iTunes anymore (starting with season 2), I can host them here.

[Fernando]

...this show basically demands to be downloaded for uninterrupted commercial-free viewing. Sucks for the ratings but that's their fault for making the most nail biting show of all time.

god yes. here in region 4-land cable is only airing Season 4 so I'm re-watching some of the episodes and cant imagine seeing them for the first time with commercials, specially episodes like crawl space.


found this good interview of Vince, among many topics they talk about the Kubrick influence.

http://www.salon.com/2012/09/06/vince_gilligan_does_not_want_breaking_bad_to_end/

[picolas]

http://society6.com/BrianDeYoungIllustration/The-Heisenbergs_Print

[Jeremy Blackman]

Looks like Breaking Bad only got one Emmy. Didn't even win the editing award with both of its editors nominated.

Homeland was pretty good, but certainly not great. I had my complaints, and it's definitely overrated. It even conquered Game of Thrones, which didn't win a single Emmy tonight.

[©brad]

Almost every Emmy awarded save Louie, Julia Louis Dryfus for Veep (which more people need to watch b/c it's amazing) and Aaron Paul was bullshit. How many goddamn Emmy's does such a mediocre bore like Modern Family need? And that douche from 2 & 1/2 Men wins? Ughhhhh.

Homeland is a very good show but it's no Breaking Bad or Mad Men.

[Brando]

Homeland is overrated. It has a 24 problem.


Peter Dinklage winning best supporting actor was the only category I would have bet money on. I loved Aaron Paul's speech where he thanked Vince Gilligan for not killing him off.

[Fernando]

yeah, Homeland is good but not as great as Br Ba, Game of Thrones or Mad Men, not even close.


so veep is good, guess ill have to check that out....

[Alexandro]

Ok, so I've been watching Breaking Bad for the last couple of years but only on tuesday I finished season 5 and now can join in the conversation.

It has been really exciting witnessing this show catching it's groove. It didn't start out so great, in my opinion. I even saw Season 1 and went on to see the entire The Wire and The Sopranos before coming back to this. But by mid season 2 this was obviously turning into one of the great tv shows of all time. I guess this is why people love to put this show and The Wire above The Sopranos (really, there's no point to compare), the audiences for this shows saw them grow episode by episode, while Sopranos was always awesome from episode 1 and even got a few of a backlash (absurd) from season 4 on. Breaking Bad really got things moving in Season 2 on a "each new episode tops the last" kind of way, and it has never let down.

It's biggest strength is it's capacity for creating tension. I swear no film or any other show has put me on the edge, almost yelling at the tv with it's intensity during the last 5 years or more. How can they keep pulling this off never ceases to amaze me. And it's always a combination of superb filmmaking, acting and writing. Everything is put at stake.

I do have one beef with the show that has affected my appreciation of Walt's transformation during it's course and is that they seem to overdo things sometimes. Season 4 was the weakest to me because it's where it became more obvious. They decided apparently on a "Walt is going to look like an idiot during this whole season" and "Jessie is going to be deeply affected by Gale's murder" and just went with it until it grew tiresome. Season 5 kind of had something like that with Walter. Episode 1 has the guy saying shit like "because I say so", laying the cards on the table to say: "now Walt is an asshole and a badass full steam". I let this things pass because I understand the show has it's own pace, and as Vince Gilligan said, it requires intense moments, and maybe a slower, more subdued way of showing Walt's descend into madness would fuck with that and the pulpy flavor it has. I really don't mind that much, it's just an observation. By contrast, Tony Soprano was always a much more disturbing character because he really and sincerely was always trying to do the right thing, but was a true sociopath; and his transformation wasn't from Mr. Chips to Scarface but a one of a more complex nature: a sociopath who enters into therapy to be a better person and by the end has turned into a better criminal. However, Cranston's performance is a joy, and it's always awesome when an actor who's been around forever gets a chance to shine like this in a completely different way.

I also think that Hank is the moral center of the story, but I sense that because of it he will be killed. Maybe they have something else in store, but as The Wire, this show over and over paints the drug war effort as a hopeless endeavor; for as long as there's prohibition, there will be Walts, Jessies, and Gus Frings around. Loved the Scarface/Heat references by the way.

I'm bummed as everyone else that this will end. It seems way too soon. Damn.

As a side note, I also loved The Fly episode. I didn't find Walt's behavior through it out of character, on the contrary I felt this was one of the very first times in the series when you get to see a glimpse of the egomaniac within, who will feel a fucking fly is there to fuck particularly with him and his plans, and he will not let it.