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[Raptomex]

Lol, I really thought I'd like it after all the hype. I will probably at least finish Season 1, but what happens after that, we'll see.


I don't know if I can realistically compare it to something yet, but so far it's not giving me reasons to care about anything that's happening.

That said, I can name a show that started great and then degenerated into an irreparable mess: Lost. Sounds like Breaking Bad is the opposite of that?

That's not Breaking Bad. It gets better. It has some of the best character development I've ever seen in a TV show. However, if it's not for you then it's not for you.

 

[Ricky_R]

I watched season 1 years ago and it didn't really grab me. It was only recently that, thanks to Netflix, I continued watching and I'm glad I did. Pretty awesome show.

 

[Vlad]

Even though you may like the show more later as it gets crazier, to me BrBa is pretty great from the start. Overall I think the first season is actually better than the second. It's funny when people say the show is slow when the pilot has Walt going from goody two shoes to cooking meth and getting his first kill over the span of 50 minutes. I'd say it's one of the best pilot episodes of any series. Rest of the season just builds on that. I watched the full BrBa run for the third time after BCS s3 and was hooked again just like the first time. Boring is the last word I'd choose to describe any of this show's episodes.

Yeah, those first three episodes are pretty riveting all the way around. Doubly so since, especially when they first aired, shows generally didn't delve as deeply into some of the fine details of those sorts of circumstances. Walt crashes the RV at the end of the first episode, and in most shows, he'd just magically be home in the next scene, but they had a whole scene dedicated to Walt and Jesse bullshitting the good Samaritan who stopped to drag the RV out of the ditch. Not only was this a good scene just to establish that the show isn't going to gloss over the small problems, but it also does some early setup on Walt's habit of overexplaining a lie, which happens again and again as the show goes on, to varying levels of success.

I actually watched the show as it aired from the very start (I was probably one of the many who expected it to be a comedy, due to all the ads of Cranston in his underwear), and I was amazed that after the carnage of the initial episode, the show spent the next two episodes dealing with the fallout from it, then on top of that, had the balls to really pump the brakes for the next two episodes, to deal more with Walt's family issues and also establish his crippling pride with the Gretchen and Elliot situation, before finally hitting the gas again with episode 6.

It always amuses me to see people complain about the show being slow when they have the ability to binge the entire series. I remember posting on the Television Without Pity forums back when the show was airing, and people were fuming when the show had its first breather with Cancer Man and Grey Matter, Everybody was complaining about "filler" episodes, and that was only when they had to wait a week between them, and there was obvious character development happening. I'd personally contend that Breaking Bad doesn't have a single filler episode to its name throughout its entire run, and on top of that, doesn't have a single "bad" episode, either. Sure, some are more eventful and rewatchable than others, but almost everything is important, and the show always did a great job of mining its own history for plot lines without being too self-referential.

 

[Finaika]

Watch anime instead.

 

[Van Bur3n]

I've always found season 1 and 2 the best but it got super slow and uninteresting in seasons 4 and 5.

Just finish season 1, it's a short season anyway

It's the exact opposite. Except with season 1 and 2 being super slow and uninteresting. They're also good. It's just that the show gets better and better with every season and ends fantastically.

I'd say keep watching, OP. I've heard some folk not think too much of season 1 but then start getting into it by season 2 onward.

I'd also watch Better Call Saul because its just as good.

Watch anime instead.

Are you trying to poison the OP?

 

[norm9]

Doesn't really get good till about season 3 or so.

Watch The Shield instead.

 

[Martinski43]

I never found the show boring or slow and i followed since Season 1 aired (those long waits)

Blows my mind how you can find this show boring, i find it as one of the most compelling and tense dramas of all time. Defo up there in the top with The Sopranos.

Seen the show from beginning to end 3 times.

 

[Seijuro]

It didn't really grab me until the second season. People kept telling me to keep watching. They were right.

 

[pablito]

I actually like seasons 1 and 2 the most. I enjoyed some of the struggles they were going through when they were smaller time. Plus Tuco is probably my favorite villain. Just being in that guys presence was uneasy.

I love the whole show though.

 

[captive]

might not be for you OP.

Walt power fantasy?

Yes. This is a common criticism of people who dislike the show, often extrapolating this criticism to the fans of the show.

Man was a straight egomaniac.

The show presents his descent into madness as a new development, when in reality he lost it long ago.

This is well illustrated by his utterly moronic refusal to ask for help because it would hurt his tender ego.

yes no one, ever, in the history of the world has ever been so prideful to not ask for help. This criticism rings really hallow for me. Might as well say, well if the show was based in Canada it would have been one episode, herp derp.

 

[Draper]

I liked the part where the 2 planes crash into each other.

 

[norm9]

I liked the part where the 2 planes crash into each other.

I thought that was the lamest part. I literally rolled my eyes and smoked it.

 

[KaoteK]

When it was airing, I fell off halfway through season three. I marathoned it recently because I love Better Call Saul.

I found it much more palatable if you just skip the majority of the boring family bollocks (it also made marathoning it much quicker)

 

[thestopsign]

I've been going through my own Breaking Bad journey over the past month or so. I have an odd history with the show.

I have attempted in the past to watch it on three or four different occasions. Each time I got stuck either towards the end of Season 1 or the start of Season 2. It felt like an odd mix of The Office type cringe married to some mid-tier crime drama and watching it really stressed me out because of this. I think the show just didn't feel that confident or it potentially was playing the long game and I wasn't willing to wait it out for the plot and character drama to build up.

I started again from where I left off in my last try from over a year ago earlier this month... and I've made progress. I really enjoyed the rest of Season 2 and got hooked. I'm now through the Season 4 finale and going to start Season 5 this weekend. The show has an inconsistent quality of episodes through each season. Typically the better episodes are stacked in the front and back parts of a season and the middle is a bit slower.

I'd rate Seasons 2 through 4 right around a B/B+. It isn't anywhere near as good as the top tiers of drama television from my perspective like The Wire, Mad Men, Deadwood, or Fargo (season 1 and 2).

 

[Anth0ny]

Wow, can't relate. First episode hooked me instantly and it was a marathon from there.

I consider it the greatest first episode of a show ever.

 

[Staccat0]

Each season is generally better than the previous. Season 1 is kinda corny sometimes but goddamn does it have some amazing moments. So... I dunno. What are some shows you like?