I remember reading about Walter White's obituary placed in an Albuquerque newspaper. I had never seen a minute of the show.
Once I got around to watching it, knowing how it ended didn't diminish a single ounce of enjoyment. It didn't matter at all.
Posted on 01/20/2018 8:13:06 AM PST by Drew68
Television changed the night of January 20, 2008: Breaking Bad, a bold and singular drama about a downtrodden, dying high school teacher so desperate for cash that he starts cooking crystal meth, would come to define a golden era of television. But nobody knew that on the night the show premiered. In fact, there was every reason to assume the show, debuting on a then-nascent network with no track record in original programming, wouldn’t last past its first season.
Breaking Bad was not a ratings hit, not a household name, not a show that earned a spot in the zeitgeist for several years. Its slow-burn character writing, bleakly stunning visuals, and moral nuance made it niche; its early days brought a series of hurdles that could have killed a lesser show. But it had a passionate fanbase, a growing mass of critical support, and a network that believed in this story of a good man gone bad—or, depending on your take, a bad man finally given the chance to unmask himself.
Turning "Mr Chips into Scarface," as creator Vince Gilligan has famously dubbed Walter White’s transformation from milquetoast to ruthless drug lord, is no small feat. Through Bryan Cranston’s six-time Emmy winning performance, viewers witnessed a modern-day Greek tragedy—a man who claims to be protecting his family but ends up destroying them, along with Jesse (Aaron Paul), his protégé and greatest victim. It was a meticulous, mesmerizing character study that made it impossible to look away once you were in. As the acclaim and the awards piled up, the ratings gradually followed. By the season finale in 2013, viewership had spiked tenfold, with a record 10.3 million viewers tuning in for the final chapter.
(Excerpt) Read more at esquire.com ...
Another good point.
Breaking Bad was a perfect demonstration for the new HDTVs that were becoming increasingly affordable and popular in 2008. The colorful vistas over New Mexico were breathtaking. People were making these big purchases and Breaking Bad helped them enjoy it and really see the difference that this new technology was bringing.
It’s OK if you hate it. Just don’t expect people to “protect you” when a show ended almost 4 1/2 years ago. At some point the “don’t wanna know” crowd needs to take responsibility for their own brain. People who watched the show should get to talk about it, ALL of it, without people whining about spoilers.
I remember reading about Walter White's obituary placed in an Albuquerque newspaper. I had never seen a minute of the show.
Once I got around to watching it, knowing how it ended didn't diminish a single ounce of enjoyment. It didn't matter at all.
No need to be rude but if you read this thread there are many who haven’t seen it yet and plan to do so. Don’t spoil it for others. Simply post “spoiler alert” and you can spew anything about the show you wish. It’s then up to those who wish to read it or not. Simple huh?
Exactly, good shows hold up to multiple viewings, which means they hold up to knowing the ending. I just recently finally got around to The Wire and The Shield, thanks to various readings I already knew the endings and a couple of other high points. Still really enjoyed both shows and I can’t wait to give them a couple of years for a rewatch. Actually I could probably rewatch them right now, but I have a giant pile of stuff I’m trying to get through a first watch on. Peak television, it’s crazy out there.
I wouldn’t even read the last page of my Nancy Drew books. The ending is “the ending” for a reason.
You only see something for the first time once.
You are entitled to your opinion however.
I watched the entire series and thankfully there wasn’t some DS killjoy around to trash the ending for me.
WTF do you thing endings are for. If writers thought like you they would give the ending up in the 1st chapter and dispense with the tedious task of writing entire stories....Gessssshhhhh
Two things happened for me, Mythbusters kept testing if things done in the show were true, which made me quite curious, then I learned it’s was available in 4k resolution....and I’d just bought a 4k TV. So I started watching.
I binged. Being able immediately see “what happens next” was what kept me watching. If I’d had to wait a week I might have lost interest.
Best show ever.
“Newhart was a sitcom ending. You can’t really do that for a drama.”
Dallas did it - although it wasn’t a finale.
And it’s considered one of the low points in TV history.
which he is ... total liberal
It was the evolution of the characters that made the show, which you won’t appreciate from a few episodes. The way circumstances evolved and they way the nature of the characters diverged, good going bad and a punk becoming the only decent human, was something I didn’t expect or have seen in a show before.
The number of times I was left thinking, “did that just happen?”, made it the best show I’ve ever seen...along with some creative directing.
Good writers often DO give away the ending. JMS likes to talk about how if you actually pay attention to the pilot of Babylon 5 he tells you exactly how it’s going to end (and it does too). The point of story isn’t the final paragraph, it’s the whole story.
And again IT’S TEN YEARS OLD. People who want to discuss the WHOLE of it should be free to, and people who want to protect their precious lack of knowledge need to take that responsibility on for themselves. I can forgive a little bit of spoiler protection for a couple of weeks, but not 4 1/2 years after the end. That’s on THEM.
And if you REALLY want the ending of a show that finished airing 4 1/2 years ago to be a surprise for you DON’T GO ON THREADS TALKING ABOUT IT. The rest of us should get to talk about it freely without worrying about whining ninnies.
That’s YOUR behavior, which is fine for YOU. Just don’t expect other people to not talk about something that ended 4 1/2 years ago just because YOU haven’t gotten there yet. As somebody else pointed out:
they catch the one armed man
The war ends
It was all a dream
And let’s not forget the boat sank
And if any of those are a spoiler for you, too bad. You had your chance.
That’s true. And I’m not saying BB should have ended with a dream sequence. I do think the ending could have been better done, however.
Haha. Yes snowflake. I can almost hear you whining and pounding your table. Do as you wish. LOL
I think it wrapped of the pieces. It wasn’t a show for surprises. And really what surprises would there have been? Walt get cured and lives? The family finds the money and figures out how to launder it themselves? Jesse goes Rambo and frees himself and takes over the business? While it wasn’t necessarily the ending they had in mind from the beginning (other than Walt dying, Vince always knew Walt had to die, he believes in hell and punishment) it was the ending they had built to without necessarily knowing.
Nope all the whining and table pounding is coming from you. I’m just pointing it out.
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