Starting Breaking Bad (NO SPOILERS!)

[Mr Light]

PLEASE, NO SPOILERS FOR THE SERIES!

After hearing the final batch of episodes was starting, and that all previous episodes were on Netflix, and that I was home alone for a week.... I decided to try and marathon through the series before my DVR fills up!

So far I'm two episodes into the second season. It's a pretty good show, though I wish it had more black humor like Dexter. I like Dexter. I find it a little slow... but it's interesting.

And the gimmick of Malcolm's Dad as a dying drug maker is just too hilarious to pass up

I'm really curious to see where the story goes. Is there going to be a different rival drug lord each season or what? No spoilers please!

I'm in a rare condition where I know absolutely nothing whatsoever about this series, about where it goes, or who lives or dies, so it's nice to be able to marathon through a pre-existing show without knowing anything in advance!

What are your NON-SPOILER thoughts on this show?

 

[PsychoPere]

Oh, just give it a little time. Soon enough you won't think it's a little slow at all.

 

[davejames]

I think the show's got a decent amount of black humor, but it's definitely a very different tone and style than Dexter.

The good news is that, unlike Dexter, the writing in Breaking Bad stays consistently strong all the way through.

 

[Mr Light]

Hey, The Mayor from Buffy showed up! Hopefully he's a recur.

I like these kind of morally ambiguous shows, but it's important for me that the "hero" does horrible things for a noble reason. Like in The Shield or Dexter. I could never enjoy Sopranos because the "heroes" were no better than the "bad guys", they had no morality. So in addition to just making money for his family, I'd love to see Walter work with the DEA to take down other drug lords or something like that.

I found Dexter to be pretty good throughout. The only season I hated was Season Two. The British chick annoyed the hell out of me, I couldn't stand Doakes, and I didn't like Dexter's thing about pretending to be a druggie or whatever. While some years are better than other, I've found everything after S3 to be good. Though S4 was the best with Lithgow.

 

[Mr Light]

I also hope that he brings his wife into it really soon, because this whole lying to her about where he's going has already gotten extremely old (I'm on 204).

 

[davejames]

Sounds like it may just not be your kinda show. With Walter, it's not so much about finding him likeable or redeemable, but just about finding him extremely compelling to watch-- and seeing what he'll do, or how far he'll take things, or how he'll get out of any situation.

Even when he's doing very selfish or evil things, he still remains very believable and human, which is I think the most important thing.

 

[Mr Light]

I'm also hoping that Jesse becomes more responsible and professional (for a drug dealer) because right now I seriously can't stand him and want to fast-forward through his solo scenes...

 

[Dorian Thompson]

You'll enjoy Jesse much more as a character later.

 

[InklingStar]

This show takes the characters on journeys, for sure. Even ones who seem rather static at the beginning, like Hank, go through some very interesting changes due to the events they find themselves in. The writing is consistently strong, and the cinematography is amazingly creative.

As Walt crosses more moral lines, you will find yourself not wanting to cheer him on. This is good - accept it.

 

[Mr Light]

So what is the meaning of the name "Breaking Bad"? I have no clue.

 

[Dorian Thompson]

It's an expression--it's literally someone throwing away a good, "respectable" life to do something criminal and immoral. Walter is breaking bad.

 

[Pingfah]

I like these kind of morally ambiguous shows, but it's important for me that the "hero" does horrible things for a noble reason. Like in The Shield or Dexter. I could never enjoy Sopranos because the "heroes" were no better than the "bad guys", they had no morality. So in addition to just making money for his family, I'd love to see Walter work with the DEA to take down other drug lords or something like that

You won't enjoy it if you have expectations of it. This show never does what you think it will, and rarely what you want it to.

 

[Gepard]

I like these kind of morally ambiguous shows, but it's important for me that the "hero" does horrible things for a noble reason. Like in The Shield or Dexter. I could never enjoy Sopranos because the "heroes" were no better than the "bad guys", they had no morality. So in addition to just making money for his family, I'd love to see Walter work with the DEA to take down other drug lords or something like that.

As others have hinted, this is not that kind of show. Creator Vince Gilligan developed the character of Walter White with the intention of exploring a very specific kind of dramatic arc, and what you suggest would muddy it. You'll have a better ride if you go in without expectations.

Also,

Spoiler: how to think of the characters

it helps not to view Walt as the hero. He's not; he may be the main character, but he's the villain.

 

[cultcross]

I like these kind of morally ambiguous shows, but it's important for me that the "hero" does horrible things for a noble reason. Like in The Shield or Dexter. I could never enjoy Sopranos because the "heroes" were no better than the "bad guys", they had no morality. So in addition to just making money for his family, I'd love to see Walter work with the DEA to take down other drug lords or something like that.

As others have hinted, this is not that kind of show. Creator Vince Gilligan developed the character of Walter White with the intention of exploring a very specific kind of dramatic arc, and what you suggest would muddy it. You'll have a better ride if you go in without expectations.

Also,

Spoiler: how to think of the characters

it helps not to view Walt as the hero. He's not; he may be the main character, but he's the villain.

This. It is worth remembering, if you're looking for morally upstanding or at least broadly redeemable characters, that there is more to the show than Walter himself. I can't say much more without spoiling later plot developments. Breaking Bad has a rare, perhaps unique approach which is quite different to Dexter and its ilk. It's not an anti-hero show. The title of the show is very appropriate.

 

[Tom]

Also, there is much more comedic elements in season 1 and 2 then the latter seasons, things get more compelling the deeper you go.

 

[TheGodBen]

I like these kind of morally ambiguous shows, but it's important for me that the "hero" does horrible things for a noble reason.

But is Walt truly noble? I could see someone making the case that his decision to cook meth in the first episode came from a good place, but in the fifth episode Walt was effectively offered free money to fix all his problems and turned it down. He let pride get in the way of providing for his family and returned to a career that had already caused him to kill two people. I could certainly still sympathise with him after that point, but can his reasoning still be considered noble?

It will be interesting to see how you feel about the characters come season 5. I ended up disliking some of the characters I liked in the beginning, and ended up liking some of those I disliked. That's one of the show's great strengths, I feel.

 

[bigdaddy]

I also hope that he brings his wife into it really soon, because this whole lying to her about where he's going has already gotten extremely old (I'm on 204).

My mom has only seen the pilot and went...

"So this is like The Big C?"
"And let me guess he doesn't tell anyone."

 

[JirinPanthosa]

it's important for me that the "hero" does horrible things for a noble reason. Like in The Shield or Dexter.

Dexter does it for a noble reason? You could argue Dexter's a positive force in the universe but his reasons are certainly not noble. He doesn't kill murderers because he wants to save innocent people's lives, he does it cause he really likes killing people.

I liked Dexter for the first three seasons but I lost interest because I hated ghost Harry and Dexter seemed inept in season 4.

I think Breaking Bad is a great show. The show really changes its character after season 2, and takes on a new, more tense and exciting feel to it. Keeps getting better and better as it goes. But you may have issues if you had trouble with Tony Soprano as a protagonist.

I still like the same characters I liked in the beginning. But I don't look at fictional characters as people to try to identify with, I see them as interesting people who get themselves into interesting situations where they have interesting decisions with interesting consequences. And that certainly describes Breaking Bad.

 

[Mr Light]

Dexter may kill because he's compelled to but I admire the fact that he only kills evil doers who escape the law. Likewise, Vic Mackey did horrible things but he was working to clean up the streets.

 

[Shurik]

The bottom line is that Dexter kills because something is terribly wrong with his head. He kills bad guys because of the Code. He also killed several innocents and shows no particular signs of regret at this point in the story.

Walt got into the meth business because he didn't want to leave his family with debts, but there's a point in the story where this reason is ditched and he continues with this business for entirely selfish reasons.

Spoiler: General thoughts on Walt

He is the main villain of the series. His journey is a fascinating one, going from mild mannered teacher to complete monster. Like Vince Gilligan said - going from Mr. Chips to Scarface.