# You should be watching Breaking Bad. You will thank me. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 26, 2012, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-be-watching-breaking-bad-you-will-thank-me/616879 "2012-03-26T21:17:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-be-watching-breaking-bad-you-will-thank-me/616879/81 "2012-03-29T00:01:50Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Here’s a minor plot hole I discovered: [spoiler] Episode 8, season 2: When Jessie moves into his new place next door to the hot quasi-goth girl, he asks about cable TV and she tells him its “fully wired, all you need to do is call them to activate the service” or something similar. He brags to his homies about getting a big plasma TV, and when he finally does in Episode 8, he’s getting a “searching for satellite” message for a long time, even after he invites the girl over…they touch hands as they stare at the message for several minutes. > > Searching for satellite? Where’s the goddamn cable TV? 😃 [/spoiler] \Some people (incorrectly) use “cable TV” to refer to any kind of pay TV; satellite, cable, or whatever. When Jane said it was wired, she meant that the dish was installed and a wire was available inside the apartment.\ ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-be-watching-breaking-bad-you-will-thank-me/616879/82 "2012-03-29T00:12:05Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > I’ve had it on my list for a while - literally. I have an actual list of shows I want to watch someday sitting on my computer. I just haven’t gotten around to it yet. My TV watching time is limited. And to be honest, I prefer to watch shows that are over and done with rather than still ongoing, because I know exactly how much of a commitment I’m getting into, and I can find out if it’s worth watching to the end before I start, rather than being disappointed, a la Lost. That makes a lot of sense. Since you’re enjoying _Breaking Bad_, you might add _Durham County_ to your list. It’s a Canadian series that ran for three seasons starting in 2007 I’ve only watched the first season so far, but I’m told that while the second and third seasons aren’t quite as exceptional as the first, they’re worth watching. ---
**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:** [March 29, 2012, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-be-watching-breaking-bad-you-will-thank-me/616879/83 "2012-03-29T00:48:45Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Here’s a minor plot hole I discovered: [spoiler] Episode 8, season 2: When Jessie moves into his new place next door to the hot quasi-goth girl, he asks about cable TV and she tells him its “fully wired, all you need to do is call them to activate the service” or something similar. He brags to his homies about getting a big plasma TV, and when he finally does in Episode 8, he’s getting a “searching for satellite” message for a long time, even after he invites the girl over…they touch hands as they stare at the message for several minutes. > > Searching for satellite? Where’s the goddamn cable TV? 😃 [/spoiler] > [@davidm](#): > > \Some people (incorrectly) use “cable TV” to refer to any kind of pay TV; satellite, cable, or whatever. When Jane said it was wired, she meant that the dish was installed and a wire was available inside the apartment.\ It’s also possible he upgraded from cable to satellite as he was making more money based on the idea that he could get a ton more channels. Or at least more HD channels…or that having satellite seemed like a cool thing to spend his money on. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-be-watching-breaking-bad-you-will-thank-me/616879/84 "2012-03-29T00:51:00Z")
This is kind of silly, but the most likely explanation is The TV either defaulted to searching for a satellite signal, or he misconfigured it to look for one, and it was just the TV’s status message ---
**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:** [March 29, 2012, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-be-watching-breaking-bad-you-will-thank-me/616879/85 "2012-03-29T01:09:58Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > This is kind of silly, but the most likely explanation is > The TV either defaulted to searching for a satellite signal, or he misconfigured it to look for one, and it was just the TV’s status message And no matter what the explanation is, if it wasn’t intentional\*, it’s certainly not, in any way a plot hole. It would be a goof. \*We’ve come up with several logical explanations and there could be symbolic ones as well. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-be-watching-breaking-bad-you-will-thank-me/616879/86 "2012-03-29T01:47:19Z")
netflix has recommended this show before, but I never watched it. But decided to do so because people seemed to have positive reviews. So far, so good. I’ve seen 6 episodes in the last 2 days, and it is more interesting than I would’ve expected. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-be-watching-breaking-bad-you-will-thank-me/616879/87 "2012-03-29T02:08:19Z")
I started watching BB from Day One, based on positive §reviews and my appreciation of Cranston, and I’ve steered several people toward the series. Two, in particular, have become absolute fiends about the show (one didn’t even start watching until literally a year after I gave him the season one discs - now he won’t shut up about it :)). The show’s strength -to me (other than the aforementioned stellar acting, writing, cinematography, etc.) is its ability to continually evolve. Each season is a progression of the season before, each holds several of its own unique and fascinating settings, characters, and stories. It does not tread water. And each character evolves (some de-volve) along a logical but fresh path. In another thread I recently offhandedly compared the characters of The Walking Dead to Breaking Bad, noting the shallowness of even the major characters on WD and the deep, deep depth of even minor BB characters. Breaking Bad oozes excellence from every perspective. mmm ---
**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:** [March 29, 2012, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-be-watching-breaking-bad-you-will-thank-me/616879/88 "2012-03-29T02:40:48Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > In another thread I recently offhandedly compared the characters of The Walking Dead to Breaking Bad, noting the shallowness of even the major characters on WD and the deep, deep depth of even minor BB characters. Breaking Bad oozes excellence from every perspective. I’ve compared the two shows a handful of times as well, usually in the WD threads. It tends to come up when people (or myself) are poking holes in the WD plots, which is exceedingly easy. The thing I have to remind myself is that Vince puts a lot of effort into keeping his story pretty airtight whereas on Walking Dead you have to treat it more like a sitcom where if you start poking holes in it, it really stops being enjoyable, it’s better to just sit back and enjoy it and not try to analyze it too deeply. In WD threads I tend to participate during the first hundred or so posts just to get a better understanding of what happened then I stop paying attention as people discuss it to death. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-be-watching-breaking-bad-you-will-thank-me/616879/89 "2012-03-29T02:47:11Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > . In WD threads I tend to participate during the first hundred or so posts just to get a better understanding of what happened then I stop paying attention as people **discuss it to death**. In regards to a show about zombies thats pretty funny. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-be-watching-breaking-bad-you-will-thank-me/616879/90 "2012-03-29T03:44:51Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > What I will do is to recommend you watch the pilot. If you aren’t hooked after that, you are a bad person. You can catch the first 3 seasons on netflix instant watch, you can buy the pilot episode for $2 on [amazon instant watch](http://www.amazon.com/Pilot/dp/B0012QTT4O/ref=sr_1_2?s=instant-video&ie=UTF8&qid=1332796385&sr=1-2) or $3 on iTunes (that’s the HD version - amazon also has HD for $3). Buy the DVD of season 1 if you can get a good deal on it, rent it if they do that sort of thing, or find any way you can to watch it. I’m late to the thread, but I always find it bizarre that TV shows don’t put their Pilots or the first 3 or 4 shows online for free. You’d think Amazon, iTunes, Hulu and the AMC website would have the Pilot of such a well regarded show out there for free all the time. Anyone who hasn’t seen it yet is liable to be hooked and proceed to buy the rest of the season and maybe series. Stuff like this baffles me. ---
**Author:** ![Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrogance_ex_machina/32/192_2.png) [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrogance_Ex_Machina)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-be-watching-breaking-bad-you-will-thank-me/616879/91 "2012-03-29T09:17:48Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > So I’m a bit puzzled at all the folks who are just now getting around to watching a show that’s been on for four seasons and has won numerous awards (including Emmys for Bryan Cranston). We had threads on every episode starting with season one, and they usually stayed on the front page until the next episode aired. Where were you? I don’t have a TV, I don’t usually read Cafe Society all that much and even when I read CS I tend to skip all the TV show stuff. When I do watch TV shows it’s usually from DVD, but I can go months without. I’d imagine I’m pretty rare case though. This thread had a compelling topic and I was bored, so I checked it out, though. ---
**Author:** ![elbravoiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@elbravoiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbravoiv)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-be-watching-breaking-bad-you-will-thank-me/616879/92 "2012-04-07T00:56:36Z")
i LOVE breaking bad, but saying it’s flawless is totally untrue… they fail to do their research a lot, there’s a lot of things that just aren’t realistic… shows like the wire are done so well that even the radio stations are actually the ones from the area … what i love about breaking bad though is that it does get better and better and better … season 4 finale was up there with wire episodes, i have high aspirations for season 5 ---
**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:** [April 7, 2012, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-be-watching-breaking-bad-you-will-thank-me/616879/93 "2012-04-07T02:02:16Z")
> [@elbravoiv](#): > > i LOVE breaking bad, but saying it’s flawless is totally untrue… they fail to do their research a lot, there’s a lot of things that just aren’t realistic… Can you give us some examples of them failing to do their research? Don’t worry, I’m not going to take everything you say and fan wank it into submission, I’m just curious. Sure, there might be a slip here and there, but _a lot_? I haven’t noticed that and the podcast sure makes it sound like they do plenty of research and try to make everything as realistic as possible (including filming in ABQ). ---
**Author:** ![Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Throatwarbler_Mangrove)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-be-watching-breaking-bad-you-will-thank-me/616879/94 "2012-04-07T07:37:13Z")
I watched it, it’s OK. It might be because I skipped an episode somewhere, but what was the deal with Walt and those rich people and the woman with the Bentley (hopefully not a spoiler)? Did they have some kind of background or falling out or something? It was sort of alluded to that they did but I never quite got that part. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-be-watching-breaking-bad-you-will-thank-me/616879/95 "2012-04-07T09:24:30Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Can you give us some examples of them failing to do their research? Don’t worry, I’m not going to take everything you say and fan wank it into submission, I’m just curious. Sure, there might be a slip here and there, but _a lot_? I haven’t noticed that and the podcast sure makes it sound like they do plenty of research and try to make everything as realistic as possible (including filming in ABQ). Not to speak for **elbravoiv** but the one thing that bugged me personally was at the end of season 2 when Jane’s dad flakes out at work and causes the air smash. I have friends who are air traffic controllers, and from their descriptions of their workplace I find it very hard to believe that an employee would be let back after a major trauma like that with no backup, no supervision on his first day. My friends have been “benched” occasionally for far more minor reasons than that Having said that, it is an awesome show. Though as far as characterisation goes I can’t stand Skylar either. Hell, even Marie is more sympathetic than she is - shallow she may be a lot of the time but at least she loves her husband. But on the other hand, what sort of person would be expected to marry a closet psychopath like Walter? So I can’t say that it makes the show any less to me ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-be-watching-breaking-bad-you-will-thank-me/616879/96 "2012-04-07T11:40:50Z")
Hrm… _is_ Walter a closet psychopath? I wouldn’t have thought so… I guess discussion of the point woud involve spoilers though. ---
**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:** [April 7, 2012, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-be-watching-breaking-bad-you-will-thank-me/616879/97 "2012-04-07T11:43:11Z")
> [@Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](#): > > I watched it, it’s OK. > > It might be because I skipped an episode somewhere, but what was the deal with Walt and those rich people and the woman with the Bentley (hopefully not a spoiler)? Did they have some kind of background or falling out or something? It was sort of alluded to that they did but I never quite got that part. IIRC the husband was a good friend of Walt’s in college and they started a business together. Walt got out early and the business took off. They offered to pay for Walt’s treatment which the White’s ‘accepted’. A few episodes later Skylar found out that Walt wasn’t taking the money from them. Again, IIRC, it was just a plot device to get Skylar to realize that Walt had a lot of cash coming in that she didn’t know about. ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-be-watching-breaking-bad-you-will-thank-me/616879/98 "2012-04-07T13:56:42Z")
This thread has reminded me to start watching Breaking Bad again; I can now hear “Mee-ster Whee-ight” being spoken by the young upstart chap, see the shenanigans in (and out of) the RV, appreciate the ethical Rottweiler and the funny, lively tortoise. It’s not the easiest drama to watch but it certainly challenges your assumptions of the culture. Personally nothing could beat The Sopranos for drama and BB doesn’t quite reach the heights of Hill Street Blues but is as compelling as Six Feet Under although, for me, more difficult to watch without feeling slightly bleak and empty. I think I got most of the way through the 2nd series in the box set before being distracted by other, lighter shows. It may be the right time to tidy up my dvds. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-be-watching-breaking-bad-you-will-thank-me/616879/99 "2012-04-07T14:07:22Z")
Breaking is slang for ejaculation or orgasm around here, which makes the title kinda funny. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-be-watching-breaking-bad-you-will-thank-me/616879/100 "2012-04-09T21:38:12Z")
Over the past two weeks, my wife and I watched seasons 1 through 3 of Breaking Bad on Netflix. We started with 1 episode a night and by the time we were done, we were up to 3 a night. After the last episode of season 3, my wife begged me to purchase season 4 so, dutiful husband that I am, I logged in to my Amazon account and saw that it was available for streaming so I plunked down my $21 and within minutes we were watching the 1st episode of season 4; that was this past Friday. On Saturday, we watched episodes 2 through 5, and yesterday, we finished it up with an 8 episode marathon; we didn’t even change out of our PJs! The least I can say about Breaking Bad, and especially season 4 is 'Wow!" I won’t give anything away for those of you who haven’t seen season 4 yet, but “WOW!” Breaking Bad has to be one of the best shows I’ve seen in years. I look forward to season 5, although I’m not clear where they go from the end of season 4. After this and Weeds, both of which are strongly rumored to be returning for their last seasons sometime this Summer, we currently have nothing to watch. We don’t care at all for medical, legal, or law enforcement procedurals, nor can we stand reality shows, so I guess we’re out of luck until BB and Weeds returns, unless there are other shows of this caliber we simply haven’t heard of yet. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-be-watching-breaking-bad-you-will-thank-me/616879.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-should-be-watching-breaking-bad-you-will-thank-me/616879.md?page=6)