# Series you've recently watched, are now watching or have given up on **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [July 9, 2021, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108 "2021-07-09T17:50:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 327
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2025, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/6528 "2025-06-03T02:01:17Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > I’m definitely not “most people” then, Breaking Bad never really hooked us (even if we watched several episodes, I don’t remember if we finished a season). > But in this house we are complete fans of BCS. I’d have never made it through season 1 of _Breaking Bad_ if not for the certain knowledge that Saul was coming back by season 2. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2025, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/6529 "2025-06-03T02:34:02Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Might just be that as flawed protagonists, Jimmy and Kim to me are a little more compelling watch that Walter and Jesse. I think you’re onto something there. Walter is such a dreary loser that even in his new persona, he’s still unpleasant. Jesse is great, but his character arc makes him dreary after a while. The villains are the more compelling characters. But Jimmy and Kim had so much personality, they were much more compelling as characters than Walt/Heisenberg. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2025, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/6530 "2025-06-03T02:44:49Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > But Jimmy and Kim had so much personality, they were much more compelling as characters than Walt/Heisenberg. Also, they really fed off each other in a way that made for great entertainment. It was romance, comedy, drama, and tragedy all rolled into one complex codependent relationship, not only in the same scene, but often in the same line of dialogue or even same expression. Whereas, at least from where I sit (on my couch, with season 2, episode 12 of _Breaking Bad_ on pause as I type), Jesse and Walt just sort of _feed on_ each other. It’s a death march. Almost literally in Walt’s case. They’ve got no _joie de vivre_. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2025, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/6531 "2025-06-03T02:55:18Z")
> [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > Jesse and Walt just sort of _feed on_ each other. It’s a death march. Almost literally in Walt’s case. They’ve got no _joie de vivre_. Right! Jesse was best when he was allowed to be humorous to the audience - he wasn’t even going to be kept as a character after the first episode, except people appreciated the balance he brought. Once he became too miserable for that, it became tough to watch the downward spiral. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2025, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/6532 "2025-06-03T03:01:33Z")
And just seeing the end of s2e12, I suppose I should say it’s almost literally a death march in Jesse’s case, too! Miserable. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2025, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/6533 "2025-06-03T03:05:14Z")
Agreed, as much as I love Breaking Bad. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2025, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/6534 "2025-06-03T03:17:24Z")
> [@Hoops](#): > > I really thought Rhea Seehorn hit it out of the park as Kim Wexler in Better Call Saul, and so I was stoked to learn that she will be starring in the upcoming AppleTV series _Wycaro 339_, which is helmed by Vince Gilligan I’m going to be just a bit cynical for my own peace of mind and assume it will more likely be mediocre. Gilligan has caught lightning in a bottle twice now, at some point you expect the creative juices to curdle a little and the law of averages to catch up. But I’m nonetheless hopeful 🙂. As for Rhea Seehorn, I think it’s honestly almost a crime she never won an Emmy for that role and I know more than a few professional critics agreed. In other news, just binged Dept Q and liked it. It has a normal number of flaws and cliches for the genre, but it was largely well-acted with decently drawn characters. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2025, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/6535 "2025-06-03T03:31:20Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > As for Rhea Seehorn, I think it’s honestly almost a crime she never won an Emmy for that role and I know more than a few professional critics agreed. It’s a crime against humanity that the _entire series_ never one a single Emmy. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2025, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/6536 "2025-06-03T05:05:04Z")
Who cares about Walt and Jesse and Jimmy and Kim? Give me the damn The Adventures of Skinny Pete and Badger spinoff already! ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2025, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/6537 "2025-06-03T05:12:42Z")
I heard the found love and moved to a volcano in Hawaii. Have not been seen since. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2025, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/6538 "2025-06-03T05:35:11Z")
> [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > It’s a crime against humanity that the _entire series_ never one a single Emmy. I like to think that BCS and The Wire get drunk together every year during the Emmys broadcast. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2025, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/6539 "2025-06-03T12:44:04Z")
And make _pointed_ comments about the winners. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2025, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/6540 "2025-06-03T13:02:44Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > Were you being ironic? Vince Gilligan was a writer who became not only a regular writer, but a director and many levels of producer on _The X-Files_. Sci fi is definitely in his wheelhouse. I did an ‘X-Files’ rewatch after having seen BB and BCS. There was such a distinctive cinematic quality to the camera work in both those shows, that on my rewatch of _The X-Files_ I’d see certain memorable framing shots and think “that’s all Vince Gilligan, gotta be”. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2025, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/6541 "2025-06-03T14:42:12Z")
> [@zbuzz](#): > > Who cares about Walt and Jesse and Jimmy and Kim? > > Give me the damn The Adventures of Skinny Pete and Badger spinoff already! Maybe in jest, but it’s not terrible. It fits the theme of the _Breaking Bad_ and _Better Call Saul_ universe. A rouge everyman in a rough and tumble world is driven to fight something larger than themselves. We could see the transition from abused and neglected tween to meth addicted adult with no prospects as a sort of dark coming of age version of Young Sheldon. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2025, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/6542 "2025-06-03T14:55:43Z")
> [@solost](#): > > . There was such a distinctive cinematic quality to the camera work in both those shows, that on my rewatch of _The X-Files_ I’d see certain memorable framing shots and think “that’s all Vince Gilligan, gotta be”. There’s a bunch of X-Files Easter Eggs in Breaking Bad (and one from Home Fries\*). I never watched the X-Files, so all I know is what I heard, mostly from Talking Bad and the Breaking Bad Podcast. The only ones I remember are that Bryan Cranston was in the X-Files, and IIRC, played a character similar to Walter White and there was a scene in X-Files that Vince copied in Breaking Bad (at least WRT the aesthetics/lighting/blocking). [![](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/fictionalcrossover/images/5/54/Burger-Matic_in_Breaking_Bad.jpg) ](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/fictionalcrossover/images/5/54/Burger-Matic_in_Breaking_Bad.jpg) [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ovopnuOpem0/hq720.jpg) ](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ovopnuOpem0/hq720.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2025, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/6543 "2025-06-03T14:58:40Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > In a sense I find BCS a slightly deeper show and I appreciated the little extra tidbits of humor. Taken together I think they are a masterpiece of modern television, but I’m more interested and invested in watching clips and analysis of BCS than BB. Might just be that as flawed protagonists, Jimmy and Kim to me are a little more compelling watch that Walter and Jesse. I think a big part of it is their motivations are very different. In BB, Walter’s downfall ultimately comes down to wanting money, and later, power. Ho hum, every bad guy ever. But in BCS, Saul’s descent is very different, and Kim’s following him. Sure, he starts out rough, taking public defender cases for very little money, but then he finds a hook as a lawyer that actually works. His “Elder law” plan would have worked. He was naturally attuned to those clients’ needs, they were an underserved community that needed someone like Jimmy/Saul to help them, and he was good at it. None of the other lawyers we saw in BCS would have ever caught on to the elder abuse case that Jimmy found, for example. He, and later Kim, both had good, professional jobs that were working for them. They weren’t desperate, or sick. They just got lured in by the risk and adventure of the criminal life. “Success” alone wasn’t enough for them. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2025, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/6544 "2025-06-03T15:09:18Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > I think a big part of it is their motivations are very different. In BB, Walter’s downfall ultimately comes down to wanting money, and later, power. Ho hum, every bad guy ever. This quote right here is why I never could get into Breaking Bad. Would I like Saul without having watched Breaking? ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2025, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/6545 "2025-06-03T15:12:06Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > > [@Tamerlane](#): > > > > In a sense I find BCS a slightly deeper show and I appreciated the little extra tidbits of humor. Taken together I think they are a masterpiece of modern television, but I’m more interested and invested in watching clips and analysis of BCS than BB. Might just be that as flawed protagonists, Jimmy and Kim to me are a little more compelling watch that Walter and Jesse. > > I think a big part of it is their motivations are very different. In BB, Walter’s downfall ultimately comes down to wanting money, and later, power. Ho hum, every bad guy ever. > > But in BCS, Saul’s descent is very different, and Kim’s following him. Sure, he starts out rough, taking public defender cases for very little money, but then he finds a hook as a lawyer that actually works. His “Elder law” plan would have worked. He was naturally attuned to those clients’ needs, they were an underserved community that needed someone like Jimmy/Saul to help them, and he was good at it. None of the other lawyers we saw in BCS would have ever caught on to the elder abuse case that Jimmy found, for example. > > He, and later Kim, both had good, professional jobs that were working for them. They weren’t desperate, or sick. They just got lured in by the risk and adventure of the criminal life. “Success” alone wasn’t enough for them. BB is centrally about Walter’s life falling apart and his marital struggles and issues with Junior reflect that. I saw them both when they aired but years later I don’t want to watch a marriage fall apart in all over again in reruns, but I would happily rewatch a shady lawyer fight the system. Doesn’t even matter which episode. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2025, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/6546 "2025-06-03T15:25:38Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Would I like Saul without having watched Breaking? Yes, BCS largely stands on it’s own. Whether you “like” him or not, I cannot say, but he has his own story. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2025, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108/6547 "2025-06-03T15:44:49Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > Yes, BCS largely stands on it’s own. Whether you “like” him or not, I cannot say, but he has his own story. Thanks, I don’t need to like a character to enjoy a show. I didn’t like Breaking for the reasons you mentioned, not because I disliked the main character. Right now we’re enjoying Murderbot which threads the needle of being goofy without being insipid. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108.md?page=326) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/series-youve-recently-watched-are-now-watching-or-have-given-up-on/946108.md?page=328)