I get that it’s a dark subject matter with dark humor. I get that not everyone has to be a hero and I actually like that none of the characters are heroes. A lot of them aren’t even likable and that’s ok, even a refreashing change.
But why have characters whose only respite from being boring is when they’re irritating? Is there any point to the Marie characer except to make us dislike Skyler less by comparison?
Walter’s famly is important; it’s ostensibly why he got involved in the trade. But why spend so much time on such uninteresting characters as his wife and son? They should have treated helping his family as little more than a MacGuffin. This show is about a high school teacher involved in the meth trade.
In short: Less Skyler, less Walt Jr and less Marie. More Saul, more Gus and more Saul.
I think those characters round out Walt as a person and make us better understand his motivations and predicaments. They also ground his surreal life in the very real (and often mundane) world.
I like this show a lot and think the writers do a great job of hitting the balance between the really crazy stuff and the regular stuff of everyday life.
I like the way you put this. I feel strongly both ways ( ) in that I relate to the writers’ tasks and their refreshing ways of keeping this drama fairly close to the real world, but I also get disappointed when an episode, that could be showing more of the dark side of the whole situation, gets all bogged down in that boring family. I understand it but don’t really like it as a viewer.
Bottom line, though, I’d rather put up with the annoyances and be rewarded with some dynamite action when it happens (Walt blasting that dude with his car still makes me laugh out loud) than to have the monotonous action with no thought behind it, that’s in so many other shows these days. Some of them are so “action oriented” that they’re no fun to watch.
If it matters, I have Breaking Bad in my All Time Top 20 shows.
The offbeat characters are what make this show: Gus, his henchman Mike, Saul, Tuco, his uncle and the cousins are what make it both entertaining and harrowing. The danger of having Hank as a family member creates a lot of tension, and I agree about the benefit of having Walt bounce between the criminal life and his ‘normal’ life.
Good point. The writers finally got the hint that they had stayed too long at the fair with the molasses-slow scenes with the kid. Skyler became a key figure with no boring attributes!
True, kyler is improving. Took a long time, but she did. Having her get into that life will be interesting.
Off thread: What does “breaking bad” mean? English isn’t my first language.
Good question. English is my first language, and I had to look it up. I probably would have guessed something like this, but wouldn’t have been sure. From wikipedia:
I have no idea why but I find myself really disliking Skyler.
In real life if I knew anyone in her position I’d say her actions are understandable and she should turn his ass in ASAP, as in yesterday.
But after the build up of Hank’s charachter it’s just too hard for me not to root for him. I find that odd.
I had no idea what ‘breaking bad’ meant either (I’m a native English speaker but not American), but if I recall correctly there’s a line in the first episode or thereabouts, where Jesse says something along the lines of “Yeah right, a straitlaced guy like you doesn’t just suddenly break bad and start cooking meth” - so perhaps the writers put that there for the plurality of viewers who have no idea what the title means.
You have a good memory. I’ll just note, though, that Jesse (especially Season 1 Jesse) couldn’t possibly put that many words together without at least 1 “yo” thrown in.
I don’t know if starting another thread would be redundant so I’m taking a tangent in this one:
Before I started watching the show, the friend who recommended it said that references to past episodes were common in latter episodes.
What references have you seen?
The one that struck me the most is the way Walter prepares his sanwiches; He cuts the crust off, just like the first guy he killed in the basement liked his sandwiches.
As far as Marie goes, why did they have the whole shoplifting thing and then just drop it? It was her only personality quirk. Maybe it’ll come up again as a plot point next season.
Screwed up can be ok. Screwed up can even be good. I like Wendy who’s a meth whore. Marie though, no. She’s annoying in that “airhead drama queen from the office” kind of way.
Sure, but I mean the only out-of-the-ordinary trait that they gave her. It seemed like they were going somewhere with it, but then it just dropped off the show.
I used to dislike Marie because her airhead ways, too. She was too much kind a typical sitcom character for a drama. But she’s grown on me to some extent. She’s just what Hank needed after his shooting. I guess I can’t fault her sitcom-ish ways if I don’t fault Saul for his.
) in that I relate to the writers’ tasks and their refreshing ways of keeping this drama fairly close to the real world, but I also get disappointed when an episode, that could be showing more of the dark side of the whole situation, gets all bogged down in that boring family. I understand it but don’t really like it as a viewer.
