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Losing interest in Breaking Bad (S3) - worth continuing?

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It was a bottle episode created due to the budget being too low for the amount of episodes they were given, the writers had no plans for it and without it the entire show would be the exact same. Any special meaning or symbolism you're seeing in it doesn't actually exist.

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Bottle episode this, budget too low that. la la la LA LA

Maybe they the rejected large amounts of money for the sake of art? Yeah, didn't think about that one now did you!




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Everyone says it. Nobody ever gives a reason.

Spoilers up to season 4:
She's a domineering bitch that emasculates her husband by controlling him and giving him no sense of autonomy. This is just as much one of the factors that compel Walt to cook meth as leaving his family with money. Furthermore, she's a complete hypocrit and not only cheats on her husband with the tax cheat but helps him commit tax fraud. Then she jumps whole hog into Walt's meth business and gets off on not only controlling Walt but other characters too; the car wash owner and Ted. Ted is admittedly a moron and deserved it but she jeopardizes her family by being even more prideful than Walt and letting Fred know it was her money he received.
 
it honestly seems to me like some people just look at Fly on a completely literal level, as if the only thing going on is Walt trying to kill a fly for 50 minutes. It's so much deeper than that. We keep seeing stuff even in season 5 that connects back to that episode. Definitely one of the best episodes for sure.

it's also just a really funny episode even without all those metaphors. Walt falling off the upper platform is one of the funnier moments of the series

I think it's the opposite. I don't need to have metaphors hammered into my head for 50 minutes. Breaking Bad has a tendency of overdoing the symbolism on occasion when it isn't really necessary.
 
Spoilers up to season 4:
She's a domineering bitch that emasculates her husband by controlling him and giving him no sense of autonomy. This is just as much one of the factors that compel Walt to cook meth as leaving his family with money. Furthermore, she's a complete hypocrit and not only cheats on her husband with the tax cheat but helps him commit tax fraud. Then she jumps whole hog into Walt's meth business and gets off on not only controlling Walt but other characters too; the car wash owner and Ted. Ted is admittedly a moron and deserved it but she jeopardizes her family by being even more prideful than Walt and letting Fred know it was her money he received.
Spoilers up to season 5:
Yeah, she is a hypocrite. But, her bitchiness is understandable in season 5 because Walt now has a chance to get out of the meth business, (which in the prior season, he promised her that he would get out as soon as he could. His words, "I'm working on it") but because of his ego, bitterness and self-esteem issues, he decides to create a meth empire of his own. I'd be pissed if I was Skylar too, even though I would know the fault is partly mine -- and to her credit she has admitted as much.
 
I think it's the opposite. I don't need to have metaphors hammered into my head for 50 minutes. Breaking Bad has a tendency of overdoing the symbolism on occasion when it isn't really necessary.

Thats definitely true, it is really heavy handed. But that's also why I don't understand how it can be described as "filler" when there's so much going on underneath the surface

Either way its one of my favorite episodes to rewatch
 
It gets better. Fly is possibly the lowest point of the series. i recommend skipping it entirely because if you are feeling this way right now its just going to amplify that. It starts off as a wacky hijinks with Walt and Jesse and turns into a "deep" discussion. It does nothing with the plot. It addresses no issues. Its a pure retread thats not worth the 45 minutes.
 
Dude, you're way too far in to stop watching now. Just finish it. Not only is it worth it, and not only does it get better, but why the fuck not? Unless you have a ludicrously busy scheduale or something, you've got oohing to lose.

PS. I love how these threads are always timed coincidentally counter to the peak hype surrounding a given show/movie. You're probably genuine, but it (more often than not) comes across as attention seeking.
 
Thats definitely true, it is really heavy handed. But that's also why I don't understand how it can be described as "filler" when there's so much going on underneath the surface

Either way its one of my favorite episodes to rewatch

I think it's fair to describe "Fly" as Breaking Bad making the most of a bad situation (i.e. running out of money). I certainly don't consider it anywhere near the best the show has to offer.
 
I watched Fly without hearing about any impressions whatsoever and I never even thought about it as filler. I thought the episode was pretty damn great, but I got a little mad nothing really happened afterward. There is 1 particular scene
Where I thought Walt would spill the truth about Jane
, but it never happened. If that did, I would totally have accepted Fly as one of the best ever.
 
I watched Fly without hearing about any impressions whatsoever and I never even thought about it as filler. I thought the episode was pretty damn great, but I got a little mad nothing really happened afterward. There is 1 particular scene
Where I thought Walt would spill the truth about Jane
, but it never happened. If that did, I would totally have accepted Fly as one of the best ever.
If that would have happend though, the show would have been over. Jesse would have murdered Walt, no question.
 
op, you are at a turning point in your breaking bad career. the next episode is fly. either you're a good man and you'll say it's one of breaking bad's best episodes, or you're a sorry excuse for a human being and it's what makes you stop watching the show altogether.

yep, the fly was definetly one of the best tv hours i've seen.

but its not like the haters have nothing else to watch, there are so many CSI's and NCIS's for y'all out there, so don't worry if you don't like the best healthy food out there, some people are too used to fast food garbage.
 
i cant stand the hate on dexter. i'll be the first to admit that season 5 and 6 is its worst, but season 4 was pure and utter excellence. for pure enjoyment factor, minute for minute, breaking bad has yet to top that (for me at least)

yes, you should continue breaking bad, yes you should stop hating on dexter.
 
Bottle episode this, budget too low that. la la la LA LA

Maybe they the rejected large amounts of money for the sake of art? Yeah, didn't think about that one now did you!

tumblr_lqmia4VfCE1qmcgu1.gif

I can't tell if you're joking or not. A carefully woven story that slowly comes together deserves respect, which is what most of Breaking Bad is, but Fly is similar to someone dropping some paint on the floor and then everyone spends hours analysing the meaning behind it.

The idea of Walt obsessing over something like a fly is a neat idea, but it didn't need to be an entire episode, and it probably wouldn't have been if they didn't need to drag it out.
 
Spoilers up to season 5:
Yeah, she is a hypocrite. But, her bitchiness is understandable in season 5 because Walt now has a chance to get out of the meth business, (which in the prior season, he promised her that he would get out as soon as he could. His words, "I'm working on it") but because of his ego, bitterness and self-esteem issues, he decides to create a meth empire of his own. I'd be pissed if I was Skylar too, even though I would know the fault is partly mine -- and to her credit she has admitted as much.

If that's not enough reason for you, how about:
She buys her kid one of the worst cars you can get a 16-year old guy. After she made him get rid of the sweetest ride he could get. I mean, that's just cruel!
 
Continue. It's got some pace fluctuations that throw some people more than others, but it's really worth watching...especially relative to most anything on television that is available now.

I can't tell if you're joking or not. A carefully woven story that slowly comes together deserves respect, which is what most of Breaking Bad is, but Fly is similar to someone dropping some paint on the floor and then everyone spends hours analysing the meaning behind it.

The idea of Walt obsessing over something like a fly is a neat idea, but it didn't need to be an entire episode, and it probably wouldn't have been if they didn't need to drag it out.

Fly was one of the few moments in the series that sat there and gave us a look at where Walt's head was with his guilt and just how much a revelation about Jane would damage his relationship with Jesse and what it would mean for him. Without that episode, we'd lose time given to everything else since just to fill us in, or we'd just not get a look into this important part of the story. Fly added weight to every moment afterward that related to Walt's deceptions and whether there is more Heisenberg there than Walt. Bottle episode or not, it was important to the story even if not everyone agrees with how it was told. I thought it was a very good episode.
 
I remember having the same feeling you did in season 3. I remember wondering (very specifically) "so why is Walt still cooking meth...?". But season 4 is so good that it retroactively made all the seasons before it good (I was also bored with season 1 personally).
 
I think it's fair to describe "Fly" as Breaking Bad making the most of a bad situation (i.e. running out of money). I certainly don't consider it anywhere near the best the show has to offer.

Crawl space is the best this show has to offer.
 
Definitely keep going. Things change and get very different story/character wise. A lot happens. You may find you really enjoy the end of season 3 and throughout 4-5. No point stopping, keep going!

Also chiming in to say that I really liked Fly. I acknowledge it was a bottle episode but the writers still put a lot of effort into it and you can read into it pretty deep. Clearly Walt isn't just obsessed of the Fly on a purely literal level. The dialogue and direction and tension is great, plus it's got a lot of humour too.
 
Season 3 and 4 are muddied in my mind because to be honest they clearly ran out of ideas and drag the main plot (walt working under someone) out for too long. The pay off is worth it but yeah, it was tedious for me
 
How do you that spoiler thing where your text is blacked out? I have something I really need to discuss about this show and where I'm at right now.
 
So i just reached the end of season 2, more specifically the part where Walter
let's Jesse's girlfriend die in her own puke
.

Now I don't know, this just felt like a step too far for me. Maybe cause I found her ridiculously hot, but I find it really hard to view Walter as a sympathetic character now at all. Yeah,
she tried to blackmail him, but she wasn't a bad person and she didn't deserve that.
I think it may have killed the show for me.
 
So i just reached the end of season 2, more specifically the part where Walter
let's Jesse's girlfriend die in her own puke
.

Now I don't know, this just felt like a step too far for me. Maybe cause I found her ridiculously hot, but I find it really hard to view Walter as a sympathetic character now at all. Yeah,
she tried to blackmail him, but she wasn't a bad person and she didn't deserve that.
I think it may have killed the show for me.

I don't get this line of thinking.

You are supposed to start disliking WW, why would the show be unwatchable then?
 
Catch up to the show. If you don't finish this show I hope your local mall Santa stomps on your genitals next December.
 
I don't get this line of thinking.

You are supposed to start disliking WW, why would the show be unwatchable then?

Really? I tend to think they want you
secretly and guiltily rooting for him. A protagonist can't really be completely unsympathetic
. But I guess after that scene they couldn't actually possibly want that.
 
Discussions on Fly are a litmus test for your personal philosophy on televisual media. Anytime I see someone argue that it was boring, or a filler episode, or say that it added nothing to the plot and is therefore worthless, I realize that they are approaching this show from an entirely different point of view with completely different expectations. Which is fine, but also hard for me and others who share my perspective to accept.
 
Really? I tend to think they want you
secretly and guiltily rooting for him. A protagonist can't really be completely unsympathetic
. But I guess after that scene they couldn't actually possibly want that.

Most people still found him sympathetic for another two seasons.

He didn't become unsympathetic for me until very recently, and I'm probably a good example of the typical Breaking Bad fan.
 
(1) I can't seem to empathise with Walt any more. His actions are increasingly unpredictable and his motivations seem less and less clear. That haunted look with red eyes that Bryan Cranston does so well now seems to be the go-to-shot whenever something happens, so that it's lost much of its meaning.


:D Seriously? :D I'm going to cover this with the spoiler bars not for you but just in case someone else is reading this who hasn't gotten as far in the series as you have.

Spoilers below for anyone who hasnt finished season 3.

I'm not making fun of you man, but have you been paying attention? Jesse, the supposed bad guy, has so far wounded one man in self defense. Walt has killed hundreds of people. He is directly responsible for the plane crash as well as the dozen or so he has killed with his own actions or inaction. He tries to explain it all away anytime it is brought up like he has no responsibility in these matters. But even in his mannerisms you can see he doesn't believe his own bullshit. Walt is the most ruthless killer on the show.
 
It gets better. Fly is possibly the lowest point of the series. i recommend skipping it entirely because if you are feeling this way right now its just going to amplify that. It starts off as a wacky hijinks with Walt and Jesse and turns into a "deep" discussion. It does nothing with the plot. It addresses no issues. Its a pure retread thats not worth the 45 minutes.

It's an episode that the avant garde weirdos hold up as some sort of epic artistic statement while everybody else in the world was just bored for an hour. Art needs subtlety. You don't bludgeon people over the head for an hour with it. Same reason why so many artsy films fail to connect with their audiences unless they're watching them as some sort of an academic exercise.
 
In Fly the first half of it is stupid boring filler, and yeah there is some symbolism there too and the last half has some great moments some of the best character moments of that season that is certainly not filler.

Overall they did not make a complete mess of it considering their budget issues, but it certainly shows that there are fillerish parts in that episode. But the discussion about it is a bit baffling. Both the praise and dislike of it seem too much for me.
 
ITT: Gaf is narrow-minded and can't understand symbolism.
 
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