Would have really been nice to see Walter get what he deserved in the finale, wouldn't it? Instead he got to hold his baby launder millions of money to his kids become McGyver and die before ever getting handcuffed. What a good man, and a good father. This ending really gave the Walt lovers everything they wanted and it made me sick.
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Why isn't Breaking Bad season 5 criticized more?
- Thread starter sappyday
- Start date
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Discotheque
Banned
Honestly the further time is from breaking bad the lesser my opinion of it is. When it first ended I thought it was good, rivalled the shield. Now I don't even think it's nearly as good
Meanwhile I find the wire and Sopranos better than ever, even with their flawed seasons they were much better shows (mad men and Boardwalk too)
Breaking Bad's biggest flaw is that every female character was such a drag and also Walt was kinda insufferable in the first few seasons. It makes me not really want to rewatch it again despite it's many enjoyable moments
Meanwhile I find the wire and Sopranos better than ever, even with their flawed seasons they were much better shows (mad men and Boardwalk too)
Breaking Bad's biggest flaw is that every female character was such a drag and also Walt was kinda insufferable in the first few seasons. It makes me not really want to rewatch it again despite it's many enjoyable moments
You're right. It would have been interesting if Walt, in the end, had at least failed to save Jesse. But the Nazis had to die, they were too one-dimensional not to die.
for me, one thing BB has for it is the unpredictability. I seriously didn't know what to expect when watching it, which is a good thing. Wasn't expecting some guy singing a Milanese dialect folk song, for example, or the two junkies kidnapping Jesse and one of them ending up with a ATM machine on his head, and so on
The irony that the show is going for is that Walt achieved everything he set out to do for his family and for himself, but he is so blind to his family's actual needs that he destroyed them (and his own humanity) in the process.
The One Who Knocks
Member
My only real issue with it is the actual pacing of the season, and the splitting of the season in half didn't help matters. Breaking Bad had marvellously excelled in creating a slow yet extremely compelling build up to moments of intense significance, and while the pace was always quite rapid in terms of how things actually progressed, on a week-to-week basis, the show felt to be of a relatively measured pace. In both parts of the fifth season, this really wasn't possible, and at times it resulted in the events feeling rather rushed, and occasionally unearned (so I'm in complete opposition to your view that you could watch Blood Money and skip to Ozymandias/To'Hajilee without missing anything important).
Overall, I still thought it was rather fantastic, the second half in particular (although I didn't really like the final, I thought Granite State would have worked much better as an ending), and thought using the Neo-Nazis as Walter's accomplices was an inspired choice (it wasn't the final hoop he had to overcome, it was a removal of the glamorisation of the previous working situation, a substantial contrast to the working environment of Gus and highlighted Walter's completely chaotic reign [as he was now directly down in the gutter of the drug trade, despite his previous unwillingness to do this], and emphasised his complete and utter delusional state about his own intelligence, power, and ability to minimise the fallout).
The reason it's not criticised more? Well, I think this thread and the overall critical response to the fifth season says it all, it's not criticised more because there is a heavy belief that it was an excellent fifth season.
Overall, I still thought it was rather fantastic, the second half in particular (although I didn't really like the final, I thought Granite State would have worked much better as an ending), and thought using the Neo-Nazis as Walter's accomplices was an inspired choice (it wasn't the final hoop he had to overcome, it was a removal of the glamorisation of the previous working situation, a substantial contrast to the working environment of Gus and highlighted Walter's completely chaotic reign [as he was now directly down in the gutter of the drug trade, despite his previous unwillingness to do this], and emphasised his complete and utter delusional state about his own intelligence, power, and ability to minimise the fallout).
The reason it's not criticised more? Well, I think this thread and the overall critical response to the fifth season says it all, it's not criticised more because there is a heavy belief that it was an excellent fifth season.
I thought it was fine. The character was beginning to believe his own legend - and rightfully so, he had outsmarted and murdered numerous other dangerous and devious individuals by those points. And he gave it away in his confession to his wife: he enjoyed it.
Could the lines have been delivered better? Maybe, but Cranston was great either way.
Could the lines have been delivered better? Maybe, but Cranston was great either way.
| Praxis |
Banned
This right here. The final season of both shows were still better than most other shows best.
Skellig Gra
Member
You make a lot of valid points OP. I enjoyed it well enough but it wasn't perfect. Nothing ever is.
BibiMaghoo
Member
It was left open because money. What network is going to sign off "yes, end this popular series in a way that means we can never come back to it"
No one. Same thing with many other shows, Sopranos comes first to mind. We all know how it ended, but there was an opening for more.
Can't wait for the fanfics where Walt and Jesse build a meth-fueled time machine to travel back to WWII and poison Hitler with ricin.
birthday-suit
Banned
It was good. Show didn't go off the rails.
Nothing is perfect.
It didn't drag stuff out.
@Next: Gus didn't really try to control ppl...he just expected them not to fuck up.
He even says he believes fear to be an ineffective motivator.
Nothing is perfect.
It didn't drag stuff out.
@Next: Gus didn't really try to control ppl...he just expected them not to fuck up.
He even says he believes fear to be an ineffective motivator.
higgsboson1997
Member
I found the first part to be almost abysmal, but the second half was really good in my opinion. Season 5B was the only time when I was fully invested in Breaking Bad instead of it being a show that I would watch when there was nothing to do.
Todd and the Aryans were perfect as the final adversaries in the show. One, they showed how low Walt had fallen that he was now working with child killers and literal Nazis.
And two, they were basically nobodies that Walt himself turned into major figures in the drug trade. The final adversaries were demons that Walt himself let loose.
And two, they were basically nobodies that Walt himself turned into major figures in the drug trade. The final adversaries were demons that Walt himself let loose.
BertramCooper
Banned
I think I would have liked the last season better had the central conflict been more focused between Walt and Lydia.
I thought Lydia was a really great character that was misused in a lot of ways.
I thought Lydia was a really great character that was misused in a lot of ways.
shadowsdarknes
Member
"Why don't more people share my opinion?"
It fit the theme of decay.
I actually like that it didn't keep going up the chain to be "bigger and bigger". Once Walter had killed Gus, and after Gus had taken out pretty much every cartel member that the series had Sean, there was no one left. From that point it was all downhill. Well further downhill I guess.
Though there were some things that weren't handled as well. Lydia need to be utilized more, and I feel the last two episodes were a lot better then a couple in the midpoint which snagged a bit.
I actually like that it didn't keep going up the chain to be "bigger and bigger". Once Walter had killed Gus, and after Gus had taken out pretty much every cartel member that the series had Sean, there was no one left. From that point it was all downhill. Well further downhill I guess.
Though there were some things that weren't handled as well. Lydia need to be utilized more, and I feel the last two episodes were a lot better then a couple in the midpoint which snagged a bit.
MasterMongoose
Member
My ex and I used to always argue whether or not Jesse was a good person (back around Season 3-4). After the show's end I'd lean more to saying he is, but back then I still argued he wasn't. I haven't watched the show in forever though now so I need to brush up on it...
But that's exactly it. Their dumb approach of just locking up Jesse worked better than Gus' methods.
Succinct Verbosity
Member
Jessie was a person that wanted to not only get himself out of that life, he wanted to make sure no more people -especially young people- were dragged back into it. In every instance Jessie was brought back into dealing drugs or drug dependency by other people, be it by Walt or Jane. Ultimately, in a show about bad characters, the only people to root for became Jessie, Hank and Mike... And, well, given two out of three faced their demise by the actions of Walt, Jessie was the only "good" person left.
Harry Stewart
Member
Sorry it didn't click with you. Watching that season week to week was quite the experience for me. Emotional payoff after emotional payoff was just knocked out of the park. Yeah it wasn't perfect and some of the plotting was wonky, but I found it almost miraculously good as a conclusion that was not only executed faithfully to the reality of the show and its characters but also entertainingly. The amount of shows that have stuck the landing this well I can count on one hand.
Came here to say this
Diprosalic
Banned
S5 was amazing. second part was something else. It ended good, what more do you want?
birthday-suit
Banned
I mean, if you shoot someone's girl, threaten the kid, imprison hem and deprive them of food, they're probably going to do what you say.
CD'S BAR
Member
I liked everything but the finale. It seemed neutered and contrived compared to the rest of the show. Walt should have died alone with his money in the cabin.
Instead he becomes a super agent taking out every last one of his enemies in silly ways i.e. secret poison pill (used on pretty much a S5 throwaway character when they teased that pill for a while) and a perfectly placed giant machine gun built in his trunk.
Instead he becomes a super agent taking out every last one of his enemies in silly ways i.e. secret poison pill (used on pretty much a S5 throwaway character when they teased that pill for a while) and a perfectly placed giant machine gun built in his trunk.
Harry Stewart
Member
I wish it was done with more finesse as well. But there's always been a Scarface aspect to the character. It was definitely intentional for the show to also be enjoyable from that angle. As a viewer you were conflicted. Maybe finding "say my name" cringe worthy or not is the line for people.
PerezDeCorcho
Member
Season 5 is definitely my least favorite in the series, I feel like Season 4 was the peak. Gus was a fantastic villain and nicely contrasted Walt. I prefer Walt in survival mode over Walt in kingpin mode.
That said, 5 was still great, just not nearly as thrilling as other seasons (except from Blood Money and on). In fact, I think it was the best way to finish a story like this.
That said, 5 was still great, just not nearly as thrilling as other seasons (except from Blood Money and on). In fact, I think it was the best way to finish a story like this.
After the
, I watched a few more episodes into season 5 with my dad and he asked me "does it get any better" and honestly I didnt think it did. Its basically a whole bunch of mush before
but I dont think the payoff is worth the slog to get there.
Gus Death
people find out who he is
Vermillion
Banned
I do agree with this.
Snowman Prophet of Doom
Member
The whole show will, I think, be scrutinized more in coming years. It's filled with so much silliness and contrivance it's basically impossible for it all to go ignored.
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