Emerging from the telly hole
Nov. 7th, 2011 08:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sabotabbyOkay, so Breaking Bad just shot up to Second Favourite Thing On TV* (eclipsing even Fringe and Mad Men, though in fairness this may be because the latter hasn't aired in such a long time) with the fourth season.
You're now allowed to discuss spoilers on my LJ. In other news, I may soon have to produce a long ramble about why I like it so much. For now you just need to understand that it's one of those shows that makes me want to copy what I see on TV. I don't mean drug-dealing and murder; I mean I look at those shots and that editing and wrack my brain all day figuring out how to replicate it. TVTropes says they're using handheld cameras to film, which is making me confused.
Right, now I will need some new TV to watch, I guess. It's probably going to have to be the rest of The Wire.
ETA: Mostly for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
snarkitysnarks, who is a bad influence in so many respects, Breaking Bad: Friendship is Magic.
* First being Treme, though I think BrBa's cinematography is actually better and the acting about equal.
You're now allowed to discuss spoilers on my LJ. In other news, I may soon have to produce a long ramble about why I like it so much. For now you just need to understand that it's one of those shows that makes me want to copy what I see on TV. I don't mean drug-dealing and murder; I mean I look at those shots and that editing and wrack my brain all day figuring out how to replicate it. TVTropes says they're using handheld cameras to film, which is making me confused.
Right, now I will need some new TV to watch, I guess. It's probably going to have to be the rest of The Wire.
ETA: Mostly for
snarkitysnarks, who is a bad influence in so many respects, Breaking Bad: Friendship is Magic.
* First being Treme, though I think BrBa's cinematography is actually better and the acting about equal.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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Date: 2011-11-08 01:43 am (UTC)YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAS
Though, not gonna lie, right up until Walter started metamorphosing into -- in my head, anyway -- an *unlikeable* anti-hero, I was totally rationalizing his cooking, what with his being an underpaid, under-appreciated teacher and all that.
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Date: 2011-11-08 01:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-08 02:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-09 11:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-08 01:59 am (UTC)He obviously crossed the moral event horizon some time ago and needs to die horribly in the season finale, though. It's great when a show gives the main character cancer and you end up kind of rooting for the cancer.
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Date: 2011-11-08 03:16 am (UTC)Even that season 1 scene where he used different chemical sprays to give off nifty Bunsen burner flame colours during a chemistry class still had me half-expecting him to mutter "Bueller?" at some point.
Funnily enough, his being an overly-cerebral/subsequently shitty teacher who sucks at ~teaching to different learning styles~ suits Walt perfectly, as far as keeping to that theme of his being an ~over-qualified chemist~ who "fell back" on teaching. Some non-education professionals who later go into ed to teach subjects in their field are fucking awesome (I had a few when I was a kid), and others are, well, Walter White.
And yes, honestly, there were way too many moments throughout seasons 3 and 4 where I was rubbing my hands together and thinking "okay, THIS is where he gets shot, right?". I still havent decided if the day-and-night transformation of Walk is bleak, brilliant writing, or a touch of the writers "jumping the shark", or what. The fact that the show in its entirely is so brilliant makes it hard to tell, hah.
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Date: 2011-11-09 11:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-08 03:25 am (UTC)Actually, I've come to REALLY re-appreciative the brilliance of the show just by slowly plowing through seasons 1 and 2 with by class. Going back and digesting season 1 Jesse and Walt is mind-blowing, esp. RIGHT after wrapping up season 4.
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Date: 2011-11-08 11:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-10 12:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-08 01:44 am (UTC)1. They introduce a new big heavy to replace Gus.
2. Jesse and Walt declare total war on each other.
3. There's no bad guy, the last season is about the cops closing in on Walt and Jesse.
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Date: 2011-11-08 02:01 am (UTC)2. This would also make me sad. I think it might need to end up that way, with Jesse as the only person who can take Walt down and the person with by far the most justification for it, but I wouldn't want it to be the main story arc.
3. I think the season will mostly be about Walt vs. Hank, with Skyler having to take sides. At least, I hope Skyler is featured heavily. I was disappointed that she did so little in the finale after being totally badass most of the season, and I can only assume that they're saving her for the end.
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Date: 2011-11-10 12:02 am (UTC)The brother being DEA is the weakest link. And his hands are kinda dirty too. Perhaps Hank's DEA buddies will not believe he didn't know about Walter. And Skyler was awesome except for fucking that other guy. Out of character, I thought.
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Date: 2011-11-08 02:05 am (UTC)1. Walt will somehow 'become' Gus? Or they will hint at his transformation into Gus. I can only sorta see it because Gus himself was this unassuming, quiet dude who transformed into a killer/drug Lord. So like, why not Walt. He's at least demonstrated the appetite for it for 2 seasons now.
2. The cancer returns.
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Date: 2011-11-08 02:16 am (UTC)2. Absolutely.
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Date: 2011-11-08 03:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-08 11:43 am (UTC)I think the two options that leave Jesse standing at the end are a) he replaces Walt after Walt replaces Gus (dark) and b) Walt dies in such a way that makes it possible for Jesse to escape (happy!).
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Date: 2011-11-08 02:26 am (UTC)Dude, you should SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO listen to both the audio commentaries on the DVDs and also the Breaking Bad Insider Podcasts. They talk a LOT about various shooting and editing details! Cool things like camera filters! And using different types of camera techniques in different shots! IT IS AMAZING, DO IT. I haven't listened to all the podcasts yet (I AM SAVING THEM B/C I FIGURE THE REST OF THE YEAR W/O NEW EPS WILL KILL ME) but I have listened to ~all~ of the commentaries and they are pretty gr8.
When I discovered that tumblr it like, made my week. Evennnnnnnnn though I think a lot of them are kind of forced. STILL.
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Date: 2011-11-08 02:32 am (UTC)MLP mashups with anything are the greatest thing ever.
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Date: 2011-11-08 02:40 am (UTC)Most terrible special feature IMO were the Dean Norris "Cop Talk" videos. I DID WATCH ALL OF THEM b/c I watched/looked at/listened to every single special feature on every DVD, damn it. But it was painful. (But others might like than more than me, who knows! I have a low Hank bravado tolerance level.)
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Date: 2011-11-08 02:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-08 03:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-08 11:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-10 12:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-10 01:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-08 10:29 am (UTC)That last shot of the season 4 finale was, like, <Neo>whoa</Neo>
I love everything about the season 3 finale -- especially Gale's scenes. And the episode "one minute." And the part where Gus takes out the cartel in season 4.
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Date: 2011-11-08 11:47 am (UTC)I got the sense that the last scene of the finale was shot while they were still uncertain that it would be renewed, because it would also work as a series finale. "I won." Holy shit.
I want to do karaoke with Gale. I'd probably want to shoot him in the face because of his politics, but he is an awesome character.
Gus taking out the cartel was the best ever. Actually, Gus was the best ever, which is why I feel that the finale would have worked just fine as an ending.
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Date: 2011-11-09 11:50 pm (UTC)in Do The Right Thing by spike lee. You'd never guess he had Gustavo inside him from that role.
http://youtu.be/IA3oxE4X5w8
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Date: 2011-11-10 01:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-10 02:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-08 07:06 pm (UTC)You don't understand. I am the *best* influence.
Sadly I couldn't keep looking at them, because they quote from seasons I haven't yet seen. D: I only just started season 3. The folks and I have been watching it together (Dad was the one who told me about it) so the going is a little slower. Perks include hearing my parents argue about the best way to melt a dead body with acid.
I actually noticed a lot of shots that seemed hand-held, mostly because that's the kind of shot that makes me slightly ill. Thankfully it's not obvious often enough to make it unwatchable like some kinda Cloverfield thing (which I had to leave half an hour in. Completely unwatchable). But if all of the shots are hand-held, that is some fucking magic they're employing or something.
Though I haven't caught up, I could do a small ramble about what I think makes Breaking Bad the Greatest. It's that in one episode you can be laughing about people melting a body, in a different episode you can discover that a human head on a tortoise is the most terrifying thing you've seen this year, and in another episode a drug addict makes a little kid a sandwich. It is the perfect storm of d'awwwhatthefuck. I especially like that so many of the most horrible situations are patently hilarious, but then when it seems like it should be funny it's actually the worst thing. Like human head on a tortoise.
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Date: 2011-11-08 09:26 pm (UTC)I notice some obviously hand-held shots, but not most. TVTropes says "most." I almost puked during Cloverfield, incidentally, and could not for the life of me understand why people liked it. I just told the kids yesterday that if I puke while watching their videos, they automatically fail.
I think I could probably write a ramble about why BrBa is so awesome without fully ruining seasons three and four, given that it mostly amounts to things that aren't huge spoilers. Well. Except for some things that happen in S4 that are amazing, though the parts that I find amazing are generally not huge spoilers either. But it's mostly things like there's a human head on a tortoise and a drug addict makes a little kid a sandwich (and plays Peek-a-Boo with him, which killed me dead), which I don't think really spoil the viewing experience if you know about them in advance. Like I can tell you that there is karaoke in S4, and it is the Best Thing, but it won't matter that it is the Best Thing until it happens.
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Date: 2011-11-09 12:59 am (UTC)don't tell me there is karaoke
don't tell me
Why do I have the hugest weakness for bad people interacting with children? Every time it is done, it gets me.
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Date: 2011-11-09 11:39 pm (UTC)Hahaha!
What I love about it is its realism. Some people in the know, cough, on that one.
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Date: 2011-11-08 11:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-09 12:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-09 01:17 am (UTC)And crap! I should have used this icon for all of the War on Terror jokes.
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Date: 2011-11-09 01:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-09 11:35 pm (UTC)I think it was called Fly. Walter and Jesse are trying to remove a contaminant, a fly, from the lab.
It was just amazing technically.
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Date: 2011-11-09 11:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-10 12:11 am (UTC)`sallGoodMan.
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Date: 2011-11-13 04:37 pm (UTC)Right now my favorite show is Community. I <3 it so damn much.
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Date: 2011-11-13 09:10 pm (UTC)