Just Started Watching Breaking Bad...Help, Please. (Read 474 times)

NikoRosa


Funky Kicks 2019

    I think I am up to season four, and I also don't want to spoil anything for you.  As a former lab geek, I am fascinated by the chemistry parts of the show.  As far as the psychology of Walter White, I think he has fewer redemptive qualities than Dexter.

    Leah, mother of dogs

      I initially liked Breaking Bad.  Even though Walter was making a lot of wrong choices, I could at least follow the choices he was making and partially understand why he was making them. I could also still see some humanity in him early on. As the series went on, he became someone that was too far gone. In the writers' defense, it made total sense. Lie down with the dogs, you get fleas and all that. Who he became made sense. That said, his "life" wasn't something I wanted filling my head so I stopped watching it.

      Live the Adventure. Enjoy the Journey. Be Kind. Have Faith!


      Menace to Sobriety

        However, it still bothers me as I watch that the protagonist is a meth cook, a key position in a type of operation that is second from the bottom only to child sex rings in my estimation. 

        Oh, I'd throw used car salesmen, investment bankers, real estate developers and federal elected officials somewhere between kiddie pornographers and meth lab operators, although none of these "professions" is mutually exclusive.

        Janie, today I quit my job. And then I told my boss to go f*** himself, and then I blackmailed him for almost sixty thousand dollars. Pass the asparagus.


        Best Present Ever

           

          I can really relate to what you wrote.

           

          In my younger days, I watched every violent show/movie I could get in front of me.

           

          However, as I've grown older, my tolerance (and perhaps more interestingly, my taste) for violence has waned.  I come face to face with actual violence pretty much every day during the course of my job, so that most likely has a lot to do with it as well.

           

          Not being judgmental here--I've heard the show is quite good.  I'm glad that people are enjoying it.

          My problem -- if it is one -- is that I am an academic whose field is violence. My clinical practice and research focus exclusively on women who have experienced very recent or ongoing violence, and a good chunk of my teaching is about the topic.  I'm married to a prosecutor who recently became a judge, so there's not much relief there.  I like my tv (which I don't watch much) to be predictable and nearly tension-less.  Which means the original Law and Order (where no one is killed on screen, and I can make fun of the REALLY CRAPPY police work and hilarious prosecution theories -- depraved indifference for the win every time!) is about the most excitement I can stand.

          Hoban-Jay


            I got bored & stopped watching in season 2.

             

            Same here...gave few episodes in season 2 a try and dropped it.  Might have been good as a mini-series, but not week in and week out for what 5 years.

            BeeRunB


              I initially liked Breaking Bad.  Even though Walter was making a lot of wrong choices, I could at least follow the choices he was making and partially understand why he was making them. I could also still see some humanity in him early on. As the series went on, he became someone that was too far gone. In the writers' defense, it made total sense. Lie down with the dogs, you get fleas and all that. Who he became made sense. That said, his "life" wasn't something I wanted filling my head so I stopped watching it.

               

              I'm also having qualms tolerating his increasing ruthlessness and any means to an end mentality. As of season 4. It's possible that Walt just went "around the bend" as they say. He seemed to lose his marbles in the crawl space near the end of Season 4. They even framed him in a shot from above looking down through the crawl space hatch, seemingly having some sort of break down. I can see them trying to balance it with Skylar and Jesse's heightened conscience about their actions. The struggle of those around Walt keeps me watching. I'm interested in Skylar's journey in particular. It's not unlike Carmella's in The Sopranos.

              Little Blue


                For those who are put off by the violence in the beginning, I'd urge you to keep watching.  By the beginning of season 2 (maybe even earlier, I don't remember now), it gets away from a lot of the grisly stuff and becomes more about the character development.  There is still a bit of blood here and there, but much less than in the beginning.

                 

                I really agree with those who felt like 'I shouldn't be watching this, he's cooking METH, for Pete's sake!'  I was intrigued by the story, but at the same time felt like I was watching something that I wouldn't want my mother to know.  I had to tell myself that it's pretend, just TV.  I guess that's one quality that makes it good, it really evokes emotion in the viewer.  At least it did for us.


                ultramarathon/triathlete

                  Just started watching Breaking Bad on Netflix; we're about four episodes in.

                   

                  The writing is every bit as awesome as I'd heard it is...wow, it's been awhile since I've watched a show that had me just staring at the screen without any desire to browse the internet/play a game at the same time.  I forget how many awards it's won, but it certainly deserves them.  And Bryan Cranston, who knew?! (I realize most everyone "knows" by now, but I'm late to the game)

                   

                  However, it still bothers me as I watch that the protagonist is a meth cook, a key position in a type of operation that is second from the bottom only to child sex rings in my estimation.  I suspect a major theme of the show is going to be Mr. White's inner conflict over his situation, maybe a Michael Corleone-esque attempt to extricate himself from that world (though the current reputation of the character as the ultimate bada** leads me to think I could well be wrong), and I could practically feel the turmoil he felt in dealing with "Krazy 8," but the whole time I kept thinking, "yeah, all this could have been avoided if you'd not started cooking in the first place, idiot!  Very distracting.

                   

                  So, without spoilers, can anyone reassure me that there's something redemptive about this character that we're going to see soon, other than "aw, but he has cancer and wants to take care of his family"?

                   

                  I'm still watching it (2 episodes behind) so I (hopefully) won't insert any spoilers, but I will say I thought at first, and continue to think, Mr. White is the ultimate dumbass, not badass.  Though he does some badass things.  But what a douchebag!  He's my least favorite Character.  Actually, Skyler takes that title.  I HATED Jessie at first, but man he grows on you.   It's a good show, but the underlying meth thing gets me too. That's probably pretty normal.

                  HTFU?  Why not!

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                  Will run for scenery.

                    I just watched the first 3 episodes of Season 1 last night.  Pretty intense.  I can see the qualities that make it a hit, but I'm not sure I'll get as hooked on this as I did with Mad Men.

                     

                    I mean, what kind of drink do you pour to watch Breaking Bad ?   One of the Mad Men DVDs actually had a featurette/commercial from Canadian Club teaching you how to make the perfect cocktail to enjoy with the show.  Hilarious !

                    Stupid feet!

                    Stupid elbow!

                    GC100k


                      I'm a fan of Grantland and Bill Simmons writing and podcasts.  Lately it's been all Breaking Bad, all the time, but I'd never seen it.  So I thought I'd better check it out and I watched the first two or three episodes.  Didn't do anything for me,  Mildly interesting but I didn't get totally sucked in like everyone had talked about..

                      DukeDB


                        The show's fantastic.  The Whites are both horrible people, but their stories provide plenty to think about.  I think the show actually downplays the wholesale harm caused by W.W.'s product -- but that's understandable as it'd be boring and awful if it got equivalent time with the retail evil & sadness the show portrays.  I am particularly impressed by the Hank Schrader character's development.  Very realistic and human - and far and away the most admirable character on the show.

                        mab411


                        Proboscis Colossus

                          Thanks for the comments, everyone!  I think, at this point, I'm going to have to pass on watching any more episodes.  I have no doubt the writing throughout is as top-notch as the first three episodes provide, and I'm intrigued by the idea of a downward character arc (I think I've seen that before a few times, though I can't come up with examples), but I just think I'd be too put off by the business Walter White is in.

                           

                          I've enjoyed stories where the protagonist(s) represent abhorrent behavior before - Reservoir Dogs, countless Mafia movies, and Das Boot come to mind (though I think part of the point of that last one is that not everyone in Hitler's armed forces was inherently "evil").  I don't know if it's the longer form of a five-season-long series or that I just consider meth dealers to be more predatory, but I'm just not excited about going on, curious as I am about the development of some of the other characters (glad to hear the Hank Schrader character is developing - he was one of my favorites from the episodes I saw.  Jesse, not so much.).

                          "God guides us on our journey, but careful with those feet." - David Lee Roth, of all people

                          LedLincoln


                          not bad for mile 25

                            I've enjoyed stories where the protagonist(s) represent abhorrent behavior before...

                             

                            Pulp Fiction and Sons of Anarchy came to mind just now.  Haven't seen Breaking Bad, so I've got nothing to contribute, really, except that you may have convinced me to not pay to watch it..

                            zoom-zoom


                            rectumdamnnearkilledem

                              We are 4 episodes from the end…and I don't want it to end!!!  Until we started watching (maybe 6-7 weeks ago.  Would have finished a long time ago, but the month of Dec. required putting it aside a lot to deal with family tragedy and the holidays) I had never found a show to displace The X-Files as my favorite show of all time.  All that changed with BB…though it shouldn't be too surprising, since he was an executive producer on TXF, too.  I'm really kind of glad that we waited until it was over to start watching.  I can't imagine waiting an entire week between episodes, much less months between season finales and premieres!

                               

                              I will watch ANYTHING Vince Gilligan does in the future!!  Battle Creek intrigues me…especially as a MI resident.

                              Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

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                                   ~ Sarah Kay

                              Jan Ampfer


                                The show's fantastic.  The Whites are both horrible people, but their stories provide plenty to think about.  I think the show actually downplays the wholesale harm caused by W.W.'s product -- but that's understandable as it'd be boring and awful if it got equivalent time with the retail evil & sadness the show portrays.  I am particularly impressed by the Hank Schrader character's development.  Very realistic and human - and far and away the most admirable character on the show.

                                 

                                Hank is my favorite too!