Re: Breaking Bad on AMC

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Thoughts on the premiere? I thought it was very solid. The silent twins feel very Anton Chigurh, a little more stylized than the show usually is, but I enjoyed their scenes, especially that mesmerizing opening. Walt's denial of culpability is amazing, and rivals that of some characters on The Sopranos. I also thought the scenes of all the characters having essentially one-sided conversations (Hank to Walt, Marie to Skyler, Walt to Gus) were well done and provided a nice through-line. Looking forward to more very much.

Re: Breaking Bad on AMC

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I watched it last night, and "solid" is the right word to describe it. I felt like it was less of a season premiere and more of a continuation of last season. That is not a negative by any stretch of the imagination, just something I noticed. It hit the ground running and already has the pot boiling, so I can't wait to see where it goes from here.

Re: Breaking Bad on AMC

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Sadly this thread hasn't seen much action this year, for which I do blame myself, but the show has been incredible this year. It, in its third year, has reminded me a lot of The Sopranos third season, with many seemingly inconsequential sideplots converging at the end of the season. It is the best show going, and I can't wait for the finale.

Re: Breaking Bad on AMC

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shabadoo wrote:Great cliffhanger at the season finale. Did he, didn't he? Only a few months to wait now. I think the series will peak this coming season as do many of the best ones at this time.
There is an interview out there with the creator where he thought it was pretty obvious what the outcome was. He seemed generally amazed that viewers thought it was ambiguous, because he didn't intend on it really being a cliffhanger in that fashion.

Re: Breaking Bad on AMC

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Garth wrote:There is an interview out there with the creator where he thought it was pretty obvious what the outcome was. He seemed generally amazed that viewers thought it was ambiguous, because he didn't intend on it really being a cliffhanger in that fashion.

That's what's great about art. Once its created it's no longer the creators possession. It's whatever the viewer (or listener) interprets it to be.

Re: Breaking Bad on AMC

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shabadoo wrote:That's what's great about art. Once its created it's no longer the creators possession. It's whatever the viewer (or listener) interprets it to be.
Many years ago, I thought the creator's intent and purpose were paramount. Not coincidentally, that's when I also believed that creativity and inspiration was local to the individual's consciousness.

But I now essentially agree with your position, shabadoo. A work of art means whatever the viewer thinks it means. Sometimes that (a viewer's interpretation) can change, sometimes it can encompass 2 or 3 (or more) meanings at the same time. And that's when it's really great art.

More and more I see why Chase said that film was like a dream and why the title for his upcoming HBO miniseries about the history of film is called "Ribbon of Dreams". The ability to coherently mean different things from different perspectives or different paradigms of analysis is certainly a feature of both.
Tony, his spirits crushed after b-lining to the fridge first thing in the morning: "Who ate the last piece of cake?"

Re: Breaking Bad on AMC

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I have to disagree with the notion that art is what the beholder perceives.

It is not the same as the aesthetic as this will always be subjective.

A work of art might ostensibly be ambiguous but the creator has a message or an idea or a denoument instilled within it.

To read something that is beyond the intention of the artist is laziness on the part of the student or audience or they are simply unable to solve riddles or mysteries or understand finales.

Of course some works might in essence be ambiguous (optical illusions, David Lynch films), and that is the central message the creator wants to convey.

But most are not.

Re: Breaking Bad on AMC

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This is the best show on TV right now and Cranston is the best TV actor since JG. I think he could even give JG a run for his money in some respects. I'm really bummed this show is ending this year, though it would be tough to consistently try to one-up a spectacular Season 4 year after year.

Spoilers

Walter White also a very Tony Soprano-ish vibe to him, as well--a little of Jimmy McNulty for flavoring too.

He's like Tony in the sense that as BB is winding down, everyone that's pulled into Walt's orbit eventually only leaves it through death or at least a tremendous drop in circumstances--Crazy 8, Emilio, Tuco, Tio, Leonel & Marco, Jane, Donald Margolis, Gus, Victor, Tyrus, Mike, and the 10 guys on Lydia's list are just some of the people that have died, but Jesse, Andrea, Brock, Skyler, Walter Jr., Hank, Marie and Holly have all suffered because of Walt's actions, too. Moreover, just as Seasons 6A&B saw Tony alienate himself from everyone around him, Walt is in a similar situation, where the only thing that satisfies him is making money and proving he's superior to everyone...

..Which brings me to Jimmy McNulty, who, I believe shares several personality traits with Walt. At the outset of the series, Walt enters the drug game to make enough money for his wife and kids to live after he's dead from cancer. By the time he's working for Gus Fring in season 2, however, Walt is in remission and he is now out to make as much money as possible and prove that he's the best meth chemist in the entire world. By the fifth season, money doesn't even matter to Walt, now it's just about being the best. Jimmy McNulty's motivation being a police is largely the same. His fervor in chasing both the Barksdales and Stanfields was not fully driven by a desire to rid Baltimore of two violent drug crews, but rather, that, because he, Jimmy McNulty, caught them, he was smarter and more superior than those he arrests and the other police that fail to do so. Walter has this same self-serving desire to assert superiority in his field.
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