I dont watch much tv shows or any of these stuff for a very very long time. I mostly watch sports on tv if i do but besides that, i rarely watch anything else.
Anyways i had heard about breaking bad quite a lot. I finally didn’t to watch it online and streamed it and when i watched the first few episodes, i was pretty hooked. It seemed to get better and better and i think it was season 4 where it got really good especially with the gus character. i pretty much watched the entire 5 seasons in a 2 week span or so.
I have a few questions that i like to ask
I know this show started back in 2008. But for the last 5 years… basically they only showed one episode per week correct? The thing is i could not imagine watching this on television and then having commericials… not only that, then the next episode won’t be until the following week. Im curious but did most of you watch it live on tv or did you just watched it online?
When did this show got to be so good? Around what season was it when everyone was talking about the show?
Why did they end this Gus character so soon? Seems like we hardly knew that much about the guy and after a bit he was gone just like that.
Who would be the toughest villain in the breaking bad series if they went against one another? I always read how people say Gus is everyones favorite villain because he was calm mannered etc. But this guy… it seemed like his guys didn’t seem to be as tough as the other villains. For example, his guy was Mike the former police officer. I admit this guy is a badass but hes in his early 60s. That doesn’t seem to be someone you want to be the head of security for you. Also his other guys include Victor… who he then got rid of… Victor didn’t seem like that of a badass. Then after Victor was gone, his new guy was Tyrus… basically a guy that has no emotion and never says a word… however, he never seemed to me like a badass.
That guy Tuco was a scary villain especially when he talks and acts like a psycho. Then you have those twins. I know gus had those other guys as well, dont recall their names but there were quite a good number of them… however… those guys dont seem to be like such tough guys. The last villain of the series… jack and his bikers… those guys were pretty bad.
And of course there was crazy 8 and emilio but these guys are just street guys along with tucos guys. But tucos guys seem to strike more fear than gus’s.
I don’t understand why do ppl say gus would destroy all the other villains in the show. I mean him or his people vs tuco guys or him vs jacks guys… why does anyone here think his guys would win?
The thing that i never understood about gus was how come he never seem to have any protection at all when hes aroudn the chicken restaurant or in his office? I mean that doesnt seem to be safe if other bad guys come at him since theres no security there. I recalled that scene where the mexican guy was on the phone with gus and said i know you behind this and then gus’s people came and got rid of them and then gus smiled and then closed his phone and had a smirk on his face then went back to the restaurant.
5. The scene from back in mexico 20 years ago when gus’s friend got rid of in front of him. Did anyone here saw this scene and thought wow gus didn’t look tough anymore? Of course this was back then when he probably didnt have much power but he didn’t seem like a badass then. Of course no one would in that situation but look at the way jack was before walter got rid of him?
6. The scene where Sal goes and talks to badger and that other detective and called him sneaky pete. Can someone explain this joke?
7. Who is the target audience of this show? I can imagine any male would love this show. But how does it appeal to any females? It seems like this show would only appeal to males.
I like to say this show was pretty good and i recalled after i watched every episode, i always wanted to watch the next one. What disappointed me though was when i read reviews of it… there were so many spoilers that i basically knew what was going to happen at the end of certain shows which got me frustrated.
I will try and answer your questions to the best of my Breaking Bad knowledge:
I purchased the seasons on DVD so I did not watch one episode per week. I agree that I probably would not have been able to watch it one per week.
I personally started watching the show back when only season 1 had been released on DVD.
Not sure about why Gus had to die so soon.
Good question, I would need to think about this a lot longer before committing to an answer.
I guess that scene did sort of make me think differently of Gus for a few minutes but then again it was 20 years earlier so I just assumed he had hardened up and was now just a ruthless criminal as opposed to who he used to be.
Sorry, I do not recall that moment
Not sure why it appeals to females, I have always watched it with my boyfriend and it was him that first introduced me to it. I like it but I do not think that I would necessarily have watched it if I was not watching it with him. It is a bit like Entourage - very male focused but somehow women still watch it.
Re: Gus. I think the whole “working for Gus” line was played out, if Walt isn’t working for him anymore, and is still making meth, there’s going to be a confrontation that has to end with one of them being out, for good.
I started watching around the end of season 3. Waiting through commercial breaks, weeks between episodes, and the breaks between seasons were both torture and a pleasure. So much time to speculate :).
People started talking about it to me probably around the end of season 2. From watching the re-runs of the first two seasons, I’d say the story line was taking off around the end of season one.
From what I understand, when they wrote the episode about Walter killing Gus, they weren’t sure they’d be renewed for another season. So that episode was a fail-safe last episode.
Walt killed almost all of them. He’d get my pick.
Gus would come in second, because he’s patient. He was still waiting to complete his revenge after 20 years. His need to twist the knife was his undoing.
Gus really wasn’t a badass in the personal sense. He was able to organize a team of guys who could do that for him. That’s what made him scary.
Saul was poking fun at the cop for trying to get around Badger’s right to an attorney while being questioned.
My wife didn’t really get into it until the end of it, she was driven crazy by the meth in the storyline, and she doesn’t handle blood too well. However, she did start watching during the marathon before the last half season. If I were to guess, I’d say it’s because the story at its core deals with what makes a person turn to doing evil, which is a fairly gender non-specific theme. On top of that, it directly deals with that question through a female character, Skyler.
scabpicker has is correct for question 3…if there wasn’t a season 5, this was the series finale.
About question 4…Gus did have protection at the Los Pollos Hermanos…but they were never shown. Gus’ cover was that he was a just a restaurant owner. Having protection around would seem a bit extreme. However, remember when Hank had Walt go to put the GPS on Gus’ car? Mike pulled in right next to them.
I never watched the show on TV. On a lark, I bought season one on DVD. This was while Season 5 was just being released and they were playing 6. After watching it, I bought seasons 2 through 5. Glad I did it this way because waiting for 6 to be released was torture.
The show got to be really good when Walt had to kill Crazy 8. If only he’d thought of the plastic bag sooner.
The Gus story was played out. Getting rid of him also showed Walts ambition rising.
No answers for the rest.
ETA: Did Jesse ever get that upstairs bathroom fixed?
Aye, 'tis very strange females should like this. They should only like 1) singing sweet songs as they brush their hair; and 2) making sammiches in the kitchen.
That they also like a television show with shooting is very strange indeed. I considered whether it might mean that women are also people, but quickly discarded this silly notion.
I just finished Breaking Bad the other day. Great show. They really nailed the ending too.
As to the Gus plotline, I think they went as far as they could with it. Gus and Walt weren’t on speaking terms and it was just a matter of time before one killed the other. Walt couldn’t kill Gus because he didn’t have access, and Gus wouldn’t kill Walt because he got greedy and wanted the blue meth.
My question: Did anyone else feel like it was a plot hole that the gang of Aryan Brotherhood guys, let by Jack, had no fallout from the tens of millions they took from Walt? That kind of money would have them all killing each other. I figured the money would do them in quickly.
I guess they needed the plot to go forward so they had them use it all on security cameras and massage chairs.
Just throwing my personal experience onto the pile:
I didn’t watch at all until the critical and word-of-mouth buzz got overwhelming. We caught up through Netflix, somewhere during the break between seasons 4 and 5, then started watching in real time.
I don’t know when it got good, but I know when I got hooked: when they meet Tuco, and Walter invents “Heisenberg” (and coincidentally, his cancer becomes less immediate). Before then, I wasn’t fully committed – after that, I was all in.
My wife (and we’re both middle-aged) is probably an even bigger fan than me.
When did Walt really start to go bad? When he started, it was a desperate attempt to provide for his family. But that went away and his ego took over. I think the first real sign was when he saw the guy buying supplies and he warned him to stay out of his territory. But maybe the fatal step was when he signed on with Gus. He didn’t need the money and the cancer scare was temporarily over. Gus appealed to his ego and offered the opportunity to do REAL science-level production at a state of the art facility. So I think tat was when he truly got in over his head.
They were all related, IIRC. Todd’s Uncle, and a few of his cousins and brothers? Plus, they were making more and more money by using Jesse and Lydia to continue the blue meth manufacturing, so the initial money they stole from Walt was probably just “in the bank” while they continued to make more money.
I rented the DVDs as soon as season one was released. When I rent a series and really like it (like I did BB), I watch in 1, 2 or 3 “marathon” sessions on weekends. Waiting for the next season to be released is bad enough but avoiding spoilers is the hardest part. The new season being shown on TV starts months or even a year before it comes out on DVD. It’s so tempting to check out online discussions while the show is being shown on TV but would of course result in major spoilage.
OP, if you haven’t seen them already you may want to try:
The Sopranos
The Wire
Justified
Sons Of Anarchy
The first two I thought were as good or better than BB, the second two maybe not quite BB level but still really good.
When Jesse was in rehab his parents fixed up the house in order to sell it. They make a point of saying how they had to rip out the whole bathroom to get it back in shape.
Walt has always been “bad.” His downfall was his ego and he consistently made self-destructive acts throughout his life. From the original falling out to the selling of the stock, even his becoming a school teacher… all of it was the petulant whining of a child dealing with issues above his “mental age.” Metaphorically, he took his toys, went home, and sat in his room… for 20 years, until he got cancer.
Once Walt learned that he to die a loser, he decided not to be one… but in far more self-destructive way. It wasn’t forced upon him to make meth, he chose to do so. Did he have alternatives? Yes - his son showed him one, to become an internet “activist”. His wife showed him another - bury your stupid pride, accept the job at your ex-company, and see if you can make something again of yourself while having your treatment being paid for by centi-millionaires. Marie agreed with a third option (proposed by “loser Walt”) - save your money and die.
Walt chose a way that was not only destructive to his family, but to the larger community as well. It was the ultimate lashing out of that petulant child - “I’ll show them!”
He definitely was a powder keg of repression from the begining. So maybe Breaking Bad was a little bit about the freedom of a condemned man. I get the feeling that when he told Jesse about selling out to Gray Matter, it was probably the most truthful thing he said in the entire show.
One of Walts other BIG faults was refusing to admit even to himself, that his way may not be the best way.
