Hot take: Most of Breaking Bad was actually boring filler

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

And if you really want to nerd out, we can go into how the best stories in the Star Wars EU are the ones that have no Jedi.

Is that even a point of debate? I have to imagine even the Jedi are sick of stories about the Jedi, especially as more detail has been given to how they operate, they come off less interesting and more ineffectual as time goes on.

Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Sure, you could sum up a lot of Walter White's character arc with the following:

Except that's not what he's saying.

You're being pretty dismissive of different points of view on this thread.

If I don't think a shoplifting subplot did much for Breaking Bad, then I must not like character studies.

If Gled thinks Walter White's journey doesn't merit a five-season treatment, then he must be saying that his motivations are a single, not terribly representative sentence.

Come on, man.

Walter White's journey was largely about the mask he wore -- even with himself -- being torn away and realizing that he liked being a ruthless criminal. The people around him clung to their illusions, even once they had hints that something was happening, first because the truth was hard to imagine and then because doing so was a form of self-preservation for their identities or worldviews.

I think that could be shown, including every iconic moment from the series (the body being dissolved in the bathtub, the disastrous cooking in the RV, Gus getting his face blown off, Hector banging on the little bell, Walter's betrayal of Jesse leading to Jane's overdose, "I am the one who knocks," the wild final days of Walter and Jesse's imprisonment) in less than five seasons. It would change the pacing of the series to more a rat-a-tat-tat of moral decline, so it would be inherently different, but it would definitely be possible.

That said, if you genuinely think every moment of a five-season television show was fantastic and needed no cuts, then I'm both amazed and, frankly, jealous, because I can't think of any media that I feel that way about.

 

[payn]

Sure, you could sum up a lot of Walter White's character arc with the following:

But that doesn't fully encapsulate the depth of the character. Can you sum up Walter White's five seasons as (put very well by the OP in a subsequent post)-
a story of a man's fall from grace and letting his theoretical morals get ground away by perceived necessity until he's ultimately an evil person -- and likely was, all along

Yes! But also ... no? Because it wasn't just about Walter White- it was also about the people around him, and the choices they made (to either be complicit, to ignore it, or to refuse what was happening). It's about the questions of inevitability- did Walter White break bad, or was he always the person he was? More importantly, I think we are all forgetting something very important.

Say what you will about Walter White, but the mirrored relationship with Jesse was always the beating heart of the show.

Spoiler: BCS

Which is why the scene with Walt and Saul in the basement was so great. Walt had such contempt for the way Saul has "always been".

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Walter White's journey was largely about the mask he wore -- even with himself -- being torn away and realizing that he liked being a ruthless criminal. The people around him clung to their illusions, even once they had hints that something was happening, first because the truth was hard to imagine and then because doing so was a form of self-preservation for their identities or worldviews.

Yeah, that's not what I think the show is about.

I think that could be shown, including every iconic moment from the series (the body being dissolved in the bathtub, the disastrous cooking in the RV, Gus getting his face blown off, Hector banging on the little bell, Walter's betrayal of Jesse leading to Jane's overdose, "I am the one who knocks," the wild final days of Walter and Jesse's imprisonment) in less than five seasons. It would change the pacing of the series to more a rat-a-tat-tat of moral decline, so it would be inherently different, but it would definitely be possible.

Okay! If you honestly think that a movie could just throw in "rat-a-tat-tat" Gus Fring's face being blown off (because that's cool or something?) without understanding that it was the culmination of seasons 2, 3 and 4 (and the Salamanca/Fring storyline) I just don't know what to say.

That said, if you genuinely think every moment of a five-season television show was fantastic and needed no cuts, then I'm both amazed and, frankly, jealous, because I can't think of any media that I feel that way about.

Yeah, that's the exact point I have made! You completely did not misrepresent what I said. I literally stated that every moment of all five seasons is absolute perfection and no cuts could ever have been made.

For someone who a few posts ago said, "I posted a provocative subject heading to provoke debate[,]" and just said I was being "dismissive," you sure seem eager to be ... something. But it isn't kind.

 

[Mannahnin]

That said, if you genuinely think every moment of a five-season television show was fantastic and needed no cuts, then I'm both amazed and, frankly, jealous, because I can't think of any media that I feel that way about.

I don't think it was all gold. Likely tighter writing could have kept the same quality and covered all the same good stuff in, say, four seasons?

But I don't think you could do it in one or two. There's too much really great stuff in there (where "really great" is naturally a subjective opinion).

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Okay! If you honestly think that a movie could just throw in "rat-a-tat-tat" Gus Fring's face being blown off (because that's cool or something?) without understanding that it was the culmination of seasons 2, 3 and 4 (and the Salamanca/Fring storyline) I just don't know what to say.

That's not what I'm saying.

That I think the Gus story line doesn't need three seasons to tell doesn't mean it needs to be a throwaway scene. Who hurt you, man?

Yeah, that's the exact point I have made! You completely did not misrepresent what I said. I literally stated that every moment of all five seasons is absolute perfection and no cuts could ever have been made.

That's awesome for you. You are a rare and lucky individual.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I don't think it was all gold. Likely tighter writing could have kept the same quality and covered all the same good stuff in, say, four seasons?

I think three to four seasons would be fair.

 

[trappedslider]

Good Two Lines, No Waiting - TV Tropes

Bad Trapped by Mountain Lions - TV Tropes

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Well, that's the weirdest reason I can think of for someone to put me on ignore.

 

[payn]

To the OP, I had a similar reaction to some criticism I had of Better Call Saul. I felt the entire 5th season and the first half of season 6 was unnecessary. I think it even hurt the last half of S6 and finale (even though it finally felt like BCS at its prime again). Folks thought I was nuts and that BCS was a complete masterpiece. For some there is never too much of a good thing even when a good thing isn't especially good.