Whatever this last episode was called, I can only recall that Gus died. He died, not in a fashion befitting the respect and aura they had created around the man, but as a result of some idiotic jump-in-logic-kinda setup. I mean, who is Breaking Bad fooling?
That, a cranky old lead could manufacture a bomb from out of his kitchen, escape the FBI and all that security, and outwit Gus, who by the way has always been 20 miles ahead of him? All in one episode? Come on! What happened to the script on the $96M a year drug baron and all his crew?
But they just had to do it. They had to kill everyone else in the show, the Mexicans, the Latinos, and the black people. That is just all they have been capable of. Any exhibition of true grit ever in Breaking Bad has come in the way of killing the ‘other’ people. Alas who remains? All the white characters intact!
Breaking Bad, as it has turned out, is just a romanticized soap opera rendition of The Wire and what some folks in Hollywood, perhaps, may like to think about the world of drugs. The guy with the PhD in Chemistry has to win after-all – as Walt tells his wife over the wire, ‘I won!’ It was hilarious at best and devoid of any reality.
But, I can understand the storytellers point of view. At least they believe in their real world, where that kind of guy comes up on top. The guy with the higher degree from some top-leafy school wins! Lol. Except in the world of hard knocks, not the real world, where civil law breaks down, matters are much weightier than Breaking Bad portrays them to be.
It’s just heart wrenching in the end, that a show, which started off so bright, could spiral into a laughing stock, or rather, another of those high paying jobs for certain actors of a certain color. With this understanding, I haven’t yet lost sight of why Jesse, Walt and Hank have survived the show in every capacity no matter how much they have fucked up. They are our super heroes, our untouchables – the kind that never give up even when they are breaking the law – they are survivors, they’re gaddamn hardy and damn smart. I can go on, perhaps, to no greater use in light of this discussion.
But I, in particular, have come to understand this Hollywood crap in feeding us all these metaphors about color differences. The crap that takes shape to huge proportions whenever we begin to drive everything Hollywood does from The Emperor Jones to The Help, into the bigger picture of race relations in America. Now, I have learned to take it in good faith. Only it’s boring and we see through the hideousness all the fucking time. So stop it. Walter White is boring, and so are the rest of his family, and his extended family at that – Hank included! I should have no desire of seeing them on screen.
But I give it to Breaking Bad for keeping the sop opera suspense! I can see how its fans may appreciate and defend it to the death. All I know is that, if it doesn’t make any sense to me why Walter, Jesse and Hank can still be alive, except for being white characters, then I am sure Stringer Bell would concur, and perhaps yell out of his good old hell in communion with me, ‘What the fuck?’
Heey! Need I say more?
I will say you went a little far but… oh ma gad, you just might be possibly right dude!
Breaking Bad has been dissapointing this season, they have no idea where the show is going. It sucks. And for them to kill the ‘other’ guy like you said in the end underscores the point you are making.
Usually agree w/ u but i loved the finale and honestly w/16 episodes left there is no way that they could have killed Walt or Jesse or let the tension with Gus go on any longer.
Thanks for the comment and I can see what you mean. But, I think it was a cop out, first to kill Gus they way they did. I didn’t believe Walt was capable of setting up tricking Jesse into thinking it was Gus who poisoned his little boy.
Two, I measure Breaking Bad with The Wire, which may be unfair, but there’s nothing else out there to measure it with. The Wire set the standard and we cannot have a truthful discussion, at least to me, without invoking it somehow.
Three, if you would accept my comparing it to The Wire, we both could agree to some extent that what probably made The Wire a great show and what makes it stand apart from say, Breaking Bad now, is that it was audacious and true to story.
Lastly, I just don’t see any other interesting person left on the show! Who? The Wire still had Marlo, Omar, Brother Muzone etc. even after Stringer Bell died. And Stringer Bell died in Season 3.
So, this is how I begun questioning whether Breaking Bad is interested in the show for the sake of story, like The Wire did, or whether it’s just another white show trying to help some actors get paid? Which one is it? For me except for the first episode, the rest is lacking in reality.
I gotta admit, you made some really good points Daité…
I had many problems with this season but mostly due to everything feeling dragged out and repetitive with little forward momentum in the story.
I liked Giancarlo Esposito and his character, but it was time to move on (story-wise).
Even with its flaws though (some mentioned in your post), Breaking Bad is still arguably one of the best shows on TV (currently airing right now).
Donnie! I humbly agree. Breaking Bad is arguably the best TV show out there right now, albeit with the grain of salt that I seem to have picked up from this season alone. Perhaps, partly due to that ‘Fly’ episode of season 3. I mean, we love this show! But…
Breaking bad has played with my emotions all season. I feel that what made it catchy, besides its plot, was the appropriation of the cinematography and direction – hitherto mostly applied to film – to a TV show. That, my friend, was hot.
But primarily, I think the major lure of Breaking Bad has been its diversity. The Mexicans and all! Tuco, the Twins, etc. Without them in my opinion, made this season, like you said, drag! Even the black people brought in this season could have sat out. Really? They were not used. And the only time we glimpsed some of the people who had adorned the show with verve from the beginning was when Gus went back to kill’em!
So, I think the more the show surrounds Walter and his extended family, the more I fear it will fall into boredom. Now that Gus is dead, I am completely stupefied. Who will carry the show? Unless Breaking Bad infuses some new interesting blood, it will become a meager shadow of its former self.
Hence my beef is not with the killing of Gus. My trouble is how they have not – for the span of a season – developed the Marlos, the Omars etc. who will carry the next season of Breaking Bad. As I can see, Heisenberg has emerged again, but the character has peaked – what more can a man achieve, than killing Gus?
So what is left? That’s what’s beating me. What do you say?
Some fair points but i can’t really compare this show to The Wire because The Wire seemed from the start to be social commentary in the form of a television show. the writer’s attention to detail and research were all used to expose the joke that is the war on drugs and how it affects the fabric of our society.
I feel like BB has some truthful elements but its merely a fictional account of a man faced with death and how that internal conflict leads to bad choices. it ultimately becomes a commentary on how people deal with death and how knowing that your life will/could end very soon can affect your thinking.
Some of the stuff that they have pulled off this season like the scene where Gus got blown up (to me) just illustrated that this is a “show” meaning its an allegory that is meant to entertain with plot twists and stunning visuals. I just don’t put this show in the same category as The Wire because The Wire invented a category that no other show is in yet. Until some other show tackles a major social issue backed by painstaking research, superior acting, writing and just enough fictional elements to hook people who are never going to get that its a social commentary then The Wire stands alone…If its the best tv show ever is up to a personal preference because different people like to experience different things while watching TV.
That being said I still think BB is high quality drama, with some good writing and memorable scenes…better than 99% of the other crap that I wont ever bother to watch.
Heey Allen! Yeah, I totally agree with you and Donnie!
BB is better than 99% of the crap out there. I enjoy watching it too. Ya, I like your comment about different people liking different things on TV. I tend to compare Everything to The Wire. In this case, I humbly agree that this way can be unfair. They are inherently different shows and as such shd be seen for what they are.
Except, Bro! I love The Wire so much I expected Breaking Bad to blow me off too. But I take it in good faith, I can’t always compare the two! Thanks for the comments! I like ’em.
I too am surprised by the disproportionate amount of killing occurring on “that” side of the border. Probably not the most accurate telling of the drug world, but I guess when you’re in a “recession” every man wants to keep his job.
I am also wondering where will the story go from here, esp. the investigation about the laundry burning and whether someone (Mike maybe?) would avenge Gus’s death or when Hank will finally wise up and start connecting things to Walt. Maybe that’s where the tension will lie for most of the season. There has to be some element left of survival for Walt, whether it’s surviving life on earth or life not behind bars.
Hopefully the women next season will get better story lines. Marie was pretty much a non-factor and Skylar’s character was a nervous wreck.
Ya! I wonder where Marie disappeared to? And Skylar, they started her out so well. Then they messed the character up – I wonder why writers can’t just let a woman be a woman when they have to gain or be in control. Skylar started behaving more like SALT. Such character arcs are not believable.
pimpin
“The guy with the higher degree from some top-leafy school wins!”
That’s how it is in real life. The vast majority of the ruling powerful did go to the right schools and colleges.
LMAO. bet you feel stupid now.