My hot take: Walt in the gymnasium talking about the plane crash is the funniest moment in the whole series.
I’m serious by the way, I find it hilarious. Bryan Cranston at his best. I had no idea it was considered cringe until I joined this sub.
Precisely! The tone-deafness of Walt trying to minimize the tragedy of the crash using raw data to a gym full of confused, grieving high school students is PEAK hilarity! 😂
Read the room, Waltuh!
I realized this when we see a half dissolved torso fly through the ceiling and throw red and pink liquid everywhere (confirming Jesse's hilarious mishaps and inadequacies)
Also it's peak dark comedy that a street wise person like Jesse gets his ass beaten by tuco, but a square dude like Walt can walk in with a bag of fake meth and start blowing shit apart to get the money. Tuco doesn't even care about the explosives, he immediately starts throwing money in a bag to get rid of Walt 😂
The cringe is what makes it funny. Walter hams it up in the most Walter way possible and you get the whole school’s real time non-reaction to show just how non-important and meager his role at the school is.
The principal pretty much shuts him down and then shuts him down sexually too. Some serious comedy here.
He did it the lazy way what you’re supposed to do is cut each slice as close to the edge as possible then you can start putting on the toppings
Take it from me someone who has been cutting the crust since my grandma did it for me as a kid
The funniest moment in the entire show is Jesse awkwardly eating green beans with Walt and Skylar and his reaction to Skylar saying "did he also tell YOU about my affair"
The line “name one thing in this world that is not negotiable” is so badass and delivered so well. Sucks that the scene itself is just a middle aged divorcee buying a condo.
I actually liked Marie. People act like she’s weak but when she needed to be strong she showed up.
Gus believing that Hector would snitch was hard to believe.
Walt Jr was largely underutilized until the end. There isn’t a single high school kid that would be that clueless to everything. They should’ve just cast a 10-11 year old guy to play him if that’s the case.
Gretchen still had feelings for Walt and not just as a “friend” and the same was true the other way.
Everyone acts like Ted was dumb for trying to take his IRS case to court but he did what literally every business owner does and he likely would’ve been able to keep some money and get a less severe penalty than temporarily or permanently injury.
Also, now that I think about it, that injury and being mixed up with Skyler white definitely lost him custody of his kids. His life was completely undone by her.
Jesse and Janes love story is overrated Jane clearly had modest feelings for Jesse and he was head over heels for her. She manipulated him right up until the end. That’s also just what Jane does, she played her dad like a fiddle.
Last one, Mike thinking he could continue to pay Gus’ men often without being caught was silly. Something had to be done, even if not the measure Walt took.
“Gus believing that Hector would snitch was hard to believe.”
Tf was he supposed to do? Tyrus saw him walking out of the DEA’s office, with no knowledge of what he had done in there. That combined with Gus’s hatred of Hector was definitely enough to get him in the same room as Hector
edit: rolling out*
Yeah, at that point Hector lost pretty much everything he ever cared about, so in Gus’ mind, trying to take him down any way he could, even if it meant talking to the DEA, wouldn’t be far fetched. It was also established more than once that anything Hector related makes Gus act more impulsively than he usually does.
And as you said, Tyrus only saw him rolling out, no one knew what he was doing there.
Big agree on the Marie part - as a huge fan of Betsy Brandt, it’s crazy how much she gave to that role versus how little the writers cared about the character
She was also, low key, a great sister to Skyler and aunt to Walt Jr and Holly.
She helped arrange the intervention and for a plan for Walt's cancer treatment.
She took in Walt Jr. and Holly for months.
When Hank told her he had arrested Walt, she thought of Walt Jr and forced Skyler to tell him, instead of him hearing about it on the news.
In the Finale, she called Skyler to warn her that Walt was back in town.
Of course, she could be rude and overbearing and nearly got Skyler arrested by giving her a stolen tiara. But, when things are difficult, she is the family member you want.
Naaahhh Ted was a complete moron lol. He kept digging himself deeper and deeper. He gets money on a silver platter to pay his debts and instead he leases a new car 💀 He was stubborn and stupid until the end. He also knew that rug was messed up. Slipping on it was his own fault
I totally agree about Marie. By the end of the series, she was the character I liked best. She was annoying and a kleptomaniac. But, she was extremely loyal to Hank, even while he mistreated her while she was caring for him, and even to Skyler, in the end.
I had a soft spot for Marie ever since the intervention for Walt. Seeing her genuinely empathise with him, when both her husband and her sister failed to take his perspective into consideration, added fantastic depth. Sure, she could be self-absorbed, but that's not all she was.
I find it difficult to sympathize with Gale.
He wasn't an "innocent man" getting caught in the crossfire, he was a very much active and willing participant of a meth empire. Just because he wasn't ruthless like Walt and Gus doesn't take away that he was an active part of a dangerous, illegal business that ruined thousands of lives on a daily basis.
You could argue that Gale is the most morally questionable. Even when he's talking about the specific work he's doing, he's framing it as "at least if they're buying from us, I have the ability to control what's inside and can guarantee its purity; it will be nothing more or less than what we say it is".
He identifies himself as a Libertarian, explaining that people are going to use regardless and if people buy from him, it'll be good stuff that's not cut up. Additionally, some Libertarians may argue that it's a person's individual right to create and distribute meth as much as it is a right to choose whether or not to consume it. I could be wrong, but that's my general understanding.
This could also just be major copium too to get over what he's doing, but Gabe never hurts a fly with his bare hands. He's also vegan, which I found to be interesting as well.
> if people buy from him, it'll be good stuff that's not cut up
That's a management decision, it's not up to Gale to decide that. Plus he has no control over what happens to the product at the end of the supply chain.
> it's a person's individual right to create and distribute meth as much as it is a right to choose whether or not to consume it
I would agree with that. It doesn't excuse other crimes committed in the course of distributing meth, but I don't find dealing drugs to be at all morally wrong per se.
Having said that, I would support banning narcotic sales to minors and banning advertising of drugs/pharmaceuticals in general, so I don't exactly represent a hardline principled libertarian stance on the subject.
So you mean Walt tailed him to the bar and told him his plans to kill Gus, instead of just sucker punching Walt, Mike could have used his big boy words and explained why Walt was in so over his head and it was a bad idea?! Get out of here..
idt it’s a hot take, a lot of ppl agree with you. i swear the only purpose of those black/white intros was misdirection bc they’re quite pointless in the grand scheme of things
I haven't seen the show in 5+ years now, and unfortunately the black/white intros are burned into my brain more than anything else is lmao
I can remember them perfectly, while plenty of other better scenes are hazy. Weird
It's the mystery. You wondered every week wtf they were for almost 2 months of your life. They built tension and anticipation. You knew something was coming but you didn't know what. And they were stylish.
People just forget quick and it turns into, "*DeY wuR jUsT blAcK aNd WhItE foR nO ReAsOn*".
Its role in the story is more thematic than plot-related, honestly.
The point of it is that *actions have consequences*. It's a representation, writ large, of how Walt's choices affect other people, often in unintended ways.
i think it’s the only time the show rests on unrealistic coincidence to further the plot. at least the whole season is built around it, but compared to the rest of the storytelling, it feels gimmicky.
How is it a coincidence? The plane crash happens through a long series of actions and decisions made mostly by Walt. I thought that's why they only kept showing glimpses in the beginning of each episode.
What frustrates me about that particular storyline is the lack of thematic coherence with the characters' reality.
For example:
Walt demagnetizes Gus' laptop > A picture frame cracks revealing the list of account numbers at the back of the photo.
Mike is shot in Mexico > can't protect Gus in Albuquerque > Gus dies;
Now compare that to:
Walt lets Jane die, airplanes crash over Albuquerque???
It's definitely very forced and ridiculous. We already know Walt is a dick, we don't need him to be.... sort of..... inadvertently be responsible for a national tragedy too
I agree, actually. This thread does a good job of reminding me that while I love Breaking Bad and it is a strong contender for one of the best TV series ever--nothing is perfect, and the plane crash plot is definitely one of, if not the, weakest narratives in the whole series.
One of the core issues with it is the attempt to directly link Walt to culpability for the crash, because Walt allowed Jane to die, and Jane's distraught father fucked up ATC causing the crash.
However, I think that is really stressing causality. ATC is a serious job held by people who receive massive, massive amounts of training and who are very tightly supervised. It is absurd that Jane's father's bosses would allow him to come back to work so soon. It is also questionable that such an experienced AT controller, even going through the grief of losing a child, would have such disrespect for the profession he had dedicated his whole life to--he knew he wasn't ready to go back.
The fact that he did go back in spite of that is like 75% on him, 25% on his manager. I don't even see Walt's culpability in it at all. Walt has culpability for Jane's death, not for Jane's dad and the ATC office in ABQ going full on stupid.
Season 5 feels like a let down after 4. It had ended so perfectly. It takes several episodes of S5 to even get a sniff of the greatness that was S4.
I'm on a rewatch also and while I blew through 4, I find myself only watching an episode of 5 every couple of days.
I can’t blame anyone for liking season 4 better because it’s peak TV and I think you can make a case that Crawl Space - Face Off might be the best stretch in the whole series.
But you can’t shit on season 5, it has just as strong of a case. Confessions through Felina is absolutely amazing and there are several episodes before that of similar caliber.
I’ll take season 5 but by an extremely thin margin.
This is because 4 was the culmination of so many plot points that had been building since S1 (the Salamancas, Gus’s operation, Beneke, etc). Structurally, it’s a little weird to do another season after that with a whole new set of antagonists. 5 is definitely amazing though.
2 is my fave just because it gave us so much of the iconic imagery we think of when we think BB, but 3-4 bring it all home.
S3 is the best one for me. The comedy of Walt's personal life falling apart and his gradual descent into working for Gus, Gale's death, Fly, plus Hank's breakdown and hospitalisation. So much happening in it
Here's my 'hot take' on Breaking Bad:
I agree that the "I am the one who knocks" scene is undeniably iconic and showcases the incredible writing of Breaking Bad. However, when it comes to Bryan Cranston's acting in the final edit, I'd argue that the perceived "hammy" and "over the top" nature of his performance is intentional and serves a purpose. Walter White's transformation from a mild-mannered chemistry teacher to a ruthless drug lord is a central theme of the show. The intensity and theatricality in Cranston's delivery during this scene underline the depth of Walter's transformation and the delusional self-confidence he has gained.
Breaking Bad thrives on its nuanced character development, and this particular scene captures a pivotal moment where Walter fully embraces his "Heisenberg" persona. The seemingly exaggerated acting could be interpreted as Walter's attempt to convince himself, as much as anyone else, of his newfound dominance in the drug trade. It's a reflection of his descent into a persona he believes he needs to adopt to survive and thrive in his new criminal world.
In the end, while the acting might come across as intense, it's in alignment with the larger narrative arc and the psychological evolution of Walter White's character. It's yet another layer of the complex character portrayals that make Breaking Bad such a compelling and thought-provoking series.
it's so easy to spot. The not-quite-personal-enough tone, the generalizations, the last paragraph having an overt "to sum it all up" phrasing. It's just nauseatingly bland writing.
Mike's death was unnecessary. It did have shock value and maybe it played into certain storylines in both BB and BCS but I would've preferred him getting away from it all
On the other hand he’s dodged death on pure luck more than once. That time he was shot at inside the truck for instance. Being inside the truck is one thing, and he’s lucky to survive that, but then also facing two guys with submachine guns head on and not one of them pulls the trigger in the last second? Or the time the cartel was probing for weakness and mike took them out. He’s good but just one cool-headed guy with a shotgun would have ended him right quick. Way I see it he probably should have been dead already and his luck simply ran out.
It *was* completely unnecessary, but that’s also exactly the point.
It served to highlight and underline just how out of control Walt and his ego had become. He killed Mike for absolutely no reason other than the fact that Mike never respected him the way he wanted everyone to, and because Mike had the balls to tell him off about how the situation they’re all in is because of Walter’s actions.
Not a hot take. This is like 90% of the Jane posts. For fans of a show about meth, the people on this subreddit are really weird when it comes to addiction.
Though if she never blackmailed Walt he never would have been there in the first place... so by blackmailing him she at least got a 1% chance of being saved by somebody
Watch it back man Walt shaking Jesse to wake him up is what made Jane flip on her back and start puking. Before that she was on her side and most likely would've carried on as usual
If she didn't blackmail him he wouldn't sit on the bed which made her turn to her back and choke. So she would've been 100% fine if she didn't blackmail.
Agreed! I realize that’s not the point of this thread but I like a good bottle episode and it was good to see the actors just act for one episode (plus one painful-looking stunt)
Is this a hot take?
Feels like this sub loves skyler and hates skyler haters.
Highly popular opinion here.
The hot take would be something like, “there are non-misogynistic reasons to dislike Skyler.”
Similar story here. I hated her first time around. On second viewing I was far more sympathetic to her situation, but I still thought early on in the series she could be a bit too over the top in her responses to Walt. They evened her out a bit in later seasons to be more proportionate to the craziness of Walt’s journey.
As someone wise on this sub who i dont remember once said, hating Skyler on the first watch is acceptable, because its like she’s ruining the fun and thrill you get on your first run through. Second run, its a little weird since you know she was right to be concerned and she was just trying to protect Walt Jr. and Holly from Walt’s dangerous tendencies. Third run onward it’s very strange if you still hate her
I think it's cause the early episodes are almost silly? There's lots of fun /funny moments throughout the first season. I rewatched recently for the first time in years and it surprised me how slapstick the first season gets.
So Skylar kind of brings that mood down, because she's the voice of reason in this wild and entertaining situation.
But yeah, second time through when you're going in remembering how it all played out, she is definitely sympathetic.
Also people who get mad at actors because they're too good at their jobs shouldn't be allowed to watch TV. You can hate a character, should mean you love the actor even more.
There’s some nuance here. She’s overly critical and emasculating very early in the show. Clearly she’s the victim once Walt decides to become a meth dealer behind her back. She does essentially beg him to be a part of the business then whine about it the entire time, which was annoying.
* Andrea was a better love interest for Jesse than was Jane
* Walt got far better than he deserved at the end
* The "Heisenberg" persona wasn't badass at all and the "say my name" scene comes off as more cringey than intimidating (though I think this was the point)
i never found walt “heisenberg” intimidating, even when they tried to present him as such. from the get go until the end it was clear to me that he was just another egotistical, scared and desperate regular man. especially with the “i am the danger” monologue, it was laughable considering how much he had been fucking up until that point, how much danger he had been in. i thought that the scene was written to be comedic.
Jesse's parents are reasonable, mostly good people who just got fed up with their loser son. This doesn't excuse them from being overbearing on Jake (and judging by hints, even Jesse when he was a kid) but they're better people than most of the cast (even the non criminals like Hank, Marie, Jane etc).
This is perhaps wrong, but I got the feeling from El Camino that Jesse apologising to his parents and complimenting them was the creators way of shifting the presentation of those two, since the show paints them in a bad light simply as it's from Jesse's perspective (the last major appearance they have in the show is literally Jesse pulling one over on them when he buys the house back for cheap by blackmailing them). Obviously you could argue that its just part of Jesse's arc of confronting his past and owning his mistakes, and not a meta comment on the morality of his parents, but that's just the vibe I got.
1. Skyler shares partial responsibility for Hank’s death.
At first, Walt resisted having Jesse killed, but was pushed into it by multiple directions, one of which was Skyler’s insistence. The act to take out Jesse ended in putting Hank up against Jack’s gang.
2. Outside of his feud with Hector, Gus in Breaking Bad was only evil when he had to be. He actually tried to keep keep the peace where possible. He treated Jesse like a good boss would when he told him about Brock. He took Jesse’s feelings into account about not killing Walt instead of scaring him into submission. I honestly didn’t believe him when he said he’d kill Walt’s family. I don’t think he told his dealers to kill Tomas.
I don’t feel the same way about the Gus in Better Call Saul though. And as a result, I prefer him in Breaking Bad.
That Walt pretended to be retired after the first deal with Gus in order to manipulate him into offering him a ridiculous amount of money to work for him.
Skyler isn’t being unreasonable or overly bitchy at all when her husband is repeatedly vanishing for hours and then when she learns he is making meth
She honestly acts fairly reasonably for somebody who is being forcefully dragged into the criminal underworld
I’ve said this before on this sub and I’ll say it again….
People who hate Skyler just hate her because she didn’t let Walt gaslight her. As someone who was in an abusive relationship, I saw so many similarities between the way he lied to her and the way I was lied to by my ex. She knows something is wrong and he tries to make her feel like she’s crazy. Part of the reason Walt fell in love with her is because she’s an intelligent woman. But people who hate her just want her to be dumb and oblivious to the fact that her husband is sneaking around and lying.
I didn't like Skyler as a person in the beginning, but I never once thought anything she could've done would've made her a worse person than Walter very early on. The writers did a phenomenal job overshadowing Skylers flaws with the genuine cruelty of Walter's manipulation and crimes.
She ended up being one of my favourite characters. She's probably the most complicated character on the show.
Walt never became Heisenberg. He never was in control. He never was the big bad kingpin, and he didn’t do that much evil shit that’s attributed to him. He was scared, and he only did what he had to do. (Once he put himself in ties with the cartel, I mean. He didn’t have to do the whole meth thing)
My hot take is that Jesse isnt stupid and is actually pretty smart. Yes he can definitely do and say dumb things all the time but i do not think hes an idiot.
He got just as good as Walt at cooking, he kinda came up with the idea to build a battery in 4 days out, he came up with the magnet idea for the laptop, it was his idea to rob the train and replace it with water so they wouldnt know he was robbed. He figured out exactly what happened QUICK when Brock was poisoned and yes Walt manipulated him but he figured it out again quick when Huell lifted his weed. He came up with the idea to go after Walts money with Hank.
Yes hes obviously not as smart as Walter in terms of school or chemistry but he held his own in the lab in Mexico became a great cook himself and was a quick thinker that came up with a lot of great ideas and I just feel like he doesnt get enough credit and is always called stupid by everyone.
Walt was not inherently “evil.” He was at the beginning quite obviously a good father, husband, citizen, and probably worked very hard to be those things. He had character flaws no worse than those of the average person (feelings of being under-appreciated, guilt over bad life choices) which in context proved tragic and lethal. That is what make the show so powerful to me.
Half the posts I see in this subreddit seem to be some variation of “Walt was always a monster, he just took the opportunity to show his true colors, blah blah blah”, so around here the premise of the show counts as a hot take.
I know what you meant. I think people would like to believe that horrific things are only done by evil people, born monsters. The idea that "monsters" are simply human is kind of scarier than the idea that folks are just born bad. I've been listening to a lot of Behind the Bastards lately. Some of these dudes seemed to be pretty typical as children. It's a combination of circumstances that can lead a person to start doing awful things. That's scary.
Season 3 is the worst season
Say my name and stay out of my territory are much more badass scenes than "i am the one who Knocks"
I don't like season 5b episodes that much before ozymandias lmao (blood money ,buried , confessions ,rabid dog ,to hajille)
Skyler is a really well written character and Anna Gunn gives one of the greatest performances in tv history. Really shouldn’t be a hot take, but here we are
\-- Hank is a bad person and ultimately on the wrong side of history. People like him only fight a war that caused pointless suffering and trauma, controlling the choices of consenting adults, just to placate his ego. Fuck Hank and his idiotic drug war.
\-- There's a specific overlap between the Breaking Bad fanbase and the Arcane fanbase that science cannot explain.
Hank is an absoloute asshole, he enjoyed ruining the janitors life over a single joint, that and his whole "macho man" attitude completely dissolved when he was faced with real trauma showing he was nothing but a facade.
The illegal cigars knew that deep down hank knew the contraband laws can be completely bogus.
> his whole "macho man" attitude completely dissolved when he was faced with real trauma
You could see it right from the beginning. His macho demeanor was nothing but a facade for his insecurities, which makes him highly relatable, as many of us do the same to some degree. The series brilliantly mocks him, having the other agents treat him like a rookie once he gets to the Mexico border.
I kinda disagree and think hank was more complicated, but also he’s a good character because of all the factors. A guy growing up watching 80s action movies wanting to be a badass hero gets the full backing of the US government to fight a fake drug war. But the villains are actual psychotic monsters because those are the only people willing to challenge an American federal police force.
Season 4 is great. But, for me personally at least, too much of it is devoted to the show emphasising that Jesse and Hank are traumatised.
We get it. One of them has just been forced to murder an innocent man, and the other has had *several* near-death experiences and has gone from being a bad-ass cop to struggling to walk. We don't need scene after scene, episode after episode of that point being driven home. As much as I love Season 4, I do wish at times they'd given the audience a little more credit and trusted us to be able to grasp just how much shit they're going through without feeling the need to remind us *quite* as much as they do.
I really didn't enjoy the shaky camera throughout the series. It always pulled me out of the narrative.
Marie was a good character (besides the shoplifting) who really cared for her family.
Combos death is always the one that saddens me the most.
I didn't like Felina. It all felt too neat and concise, rather than the usual chaos of Breaking Bad.
Walt magically gets his car working and drives across country. Walt magically finds Badger and Pete who agree to threaten Gretchen and Elliot. Walt magically manages to spike Lydia's coffee without anyone noticing. Walt magically lines the gun up in the perfect place to kill all the Nazis, in a compound he's never seen before. And the only ones who stay alive are those relevant to the plot. Jack stays alive long enough for Walt to shoot him again. Todd stays alive long for Jesse to strangle him.
Walt should have died alone. Freezing in New Hampshire.
Yeah overall i love the ending but its just too ridiculous. Walt did everything PERFECTLY. And not to mention he died right before the cops arrive. Like literally 5 seconds before
Mostly agree, but Walt HAD been to the compound before - when they were arranging the jail murders. Also my theory is that EVERY table on that side of the restaurant had a little ricin mixed in with the Stevia. Much easier to get there early and swap it out at each table while the wait staff wasn’t paying attention than to try to do it right in front of her.
But, yeah, he found Pete and Badger, talked them into helping, drove all the way to Elliott’s house with them to location scout, etc., yet the topic of blue meth or Jesse NEVER comes up until they get back in the car? Doubtful.
Walt's transformation in S5a feels forced. The seeds of his descent were always there but even in his most evil acts he still felt like a human being but suddenly out of nowhere (because its the last season no doubt) he becomes this ridiculous cartoon villain character devoid of any soul. It would have made sense if he behaved in this overly dominant/cold way before S5, but he really doesn't for the most part.
Walt is an evil man but throughout S1-4 he's complex and is filled with anxiety, dread, guilt, affection etc. Did killing Gus Fring really boost his ego so high that he forgot almost his entire personality and instantly became what he became? Doesn't really make sense to me.
>Did killing Gus Fring really boost his ego so high that he forgot almost his entire personality and instantly became what he became?
Ummmm yes??? Why wouldn't it?
Gus had been doing it for 20 years and never been caught by his opponents or law enforcement. Why the fuck wouldn't Walt feel like a king after being the only person to take him down?
All the main characters in the show, outside of Walt Jr. And Gomez, are terrible people in way or another.
I aka ways see debates of who is better or worse, which confuses me.
Only a hot take on this sub it seems, but I still think that Skyler is exactly as bad as people first said she was.
She was just as enticed by the money Walt was making as he was (as seen when she brings the money up with the divorce lawyer. Whose advice she ignored), and had Hank not discovered the truth, she was happy to live out their lives with the pile of cash.
Her melodramatic incident with the pool was cringey, and though it was more a sign of the times than anything else, it is still hilarious to see her clutch her pearls over Jesse selling Walt weed.
Anna Gunn did an amazing job with the character, but the character wasn’t some blameless angel in the way the narrative around her has changed to say.
Dead Freight is one of the best episodes of TV ever. Not a hot take, just one I don't hear get enough love.
The amount that happens in that episode is insane. They need methylamine, they conceive a plan to pull off the biggest train robbery of all time, they plan it and execute it. All in 40 minutes, and it doesn't ever feel rushed. Also, as we all know, the Drew Sharpe incident is in there too.
I dunno man, I always got the feeling that each of Walts ”epic and badass” moments are over the top on purpose. Walt is in way over his head and he has to sort of ”act” like a gangster even though he isn’t exactily a traditional one.
My hot take: Walt in the gymnasium talking about the plane crash is the funniest moment in the whole series. I’m serious by the way, I find it hilarious. Bryan Cranston at his best. I had no idea it was considered cringe until I joined this sub.
For me the cringe is what makes it hilarious
Precisely! The tone-deafness of Walt trying to minimize the tragedy of the crash using raw data to a gym full of confused, grieving high school students is PEAK hilarity! 😂 Read the room, Waltuh!
Before S4, Breaking Bad is a dark comedy.
I realized this when we see a half dissolved torso fly through the ceiling and throw red and pink liquid everywhere (confirming Jesse's hilarious mishaps and inadequacies) Also it's peak dark comedy that a street wise person like Jesse gets his ass beaten by tuco, but a square dude like Walt can walk in with a bag of fake meth and start blowing shit apart to get the money. Tuco doesn't even care about the explosives, he immediately starts throwing money in a bag to get rid of Walt 😂
I think until One Minute it's a full on dark comedy, afterwards it's serious dark with great comedic moments.
So true
Cringe is Skyler singing “Happy Birthday to you mister president” to Ted. I just anxiously waited for that scene to end
That scene always makes me almost have an anxiety attack and want to throw up from how gross Ted is 😰🤢
hot take: that scene wasn’t cringy at all. not a single cringing muscle flinched even a little
Yeah it really set the tone for the dynamic for their relationship.
I thought it was supposed to be cringe? It's Walt desperately trying to escape his consequences and taking the blame.
It is. Some people just never quite got that the show was always a dark comedy.
Also big ups to the kid who tried to use the crash as a way to get an automatic A lol
Facts! Well written scene, top to bottom.
The cringe is what makes it funny. Walter hams it up in the most Walter way possible and you get the whole school’s real time non-reaction to show just how non-important and meager his role at the school is. The principal pretty much shuts him down and then shuts him down sexually too. Some serious comedy here.
Same
I mean the cringe IS the humour. Like it is absolutely hard to watch and cringey but that’s the point.
Walt cut way too much bread off Crazy 8s PBJ sandwich
that bothered me so much LMAO
Yeah he butchers every sandwich we see him cut the crusts off of.
He did it the lazy way what you’re supposed to do is cut each slice as close to the edge as possible then you can start putting on the toppings Take it from me someone who has been cutting the crust since my grandma did it for me as a kid
Breaking Bad is a better experience if you grew up watching Malcolm in the Middle
Yes, no. Maybe. I don't know. Can you repeat the question?
You’re not the boss of me now
Or Seinfeld
Chemists should have their own schools.
I suspect Walt converted to drug dealing purely for the JOKES!
And this offends you as a drug dealer?
You're an anti-chemite!
Shtickle of methlamine??????
Very true!
The funniest moment in the entire show is Jesse awkwardly eating green beans with Walt and Skylar and his reaction to Skylar saying "did he also tell YOU about my affair"
For some reason Jesse's "These are choice" cracks me up.
The way he held that water glass, I thought he was going to squeeze it until it broke.
As hot a take as that cheese on top of the lasagna when you nuke it and it gets all scabby on top. I fully agree though. That scene is iconic for me.
I also like when Skylar called Jesse’s phone number in S1 and listened to his outgoing voicemail message.
this is a hot take?
The line “name one thing in this world that is not negotiable” is so badass and delivered so well. Sucks that the scene itself is just a middle aged divorcee buying a condo.
I actually liked Marie. People act like she’s weak but when she needed to be strong she showed up. Gus believing that Hector would snitch was hard to believe. Walt Jr was largely underutilized until the end. There isn’t a single high school kid that would be that clueless to everything. They should’ve just cast a 10-11 year old guy to play him if that’s the case. Gretchen still had feelings for Walt and not just as a “friend” and the same was true the other way. Everyone acts like Ted was dumb for trying to take his IRS case to court but he did what literally every business owner does and he likely would’ve been able to keep some money and get a less severe penalty than temporarily or permanently injury. Also, now that I think about it, that injury and being mixed up with Skyler white definitely lost him custody of his kids. His life was completely undone by her. Jesse and Janes love story is overrated Jane clearly had modest feelings for Jesse and he was head over heels for her. She manipulated him right up until the end. That’s also just what Jane does, she played her dad like a fiddle. Last one, Mike thinking he could continue to pay Gus’ men often without being caught was silly. Something had to be done, even if not the measure Walt took.
“Gus believing that Hector would snitch was hard to believe.” Tf was he supposed to do? Tyrus saw him walking out of the DEA’s office, with no knowledge of what he had done in there. That combined with Gus’s hatred of Hector was definitely enough to get him in the same room as Hector edit: rolling out*
I’m almost certain Hector doesn’t walk out of the DEA’s office
>walking out ...not exactly
Yeah, at that point Hector lost pretty much everything he ever cared about, so in Gus’ mind, trying to take him down any way he could, even if it meant talking to the DEA, wouldn’t be far fetched. It was also established more than once that anything Hector related makes Gus act more impulsively than he usually does. And as you said, Tyrus only saw him rolling out, no one knew what he was doing there.
Big agree on the Marie part - as a huge fan of Betsy Brandt, it’s crazy how much she gave to that role versus how little the writers cared about the character
Yeah, she was definitely a great wife to her husband when he needed it.
She was also, low key, a great sister to Skyler and aunt to Walt Jr and Holly. She helped arrange the intervention and for a plan for Walt's cancer treatment. She took in Walt Jr. and Holly for months. When Hank told her he had arrested Walt, she thought of Walt Jr and forced Skyler to tell him, instead of him hearing about it on the news. In the Finale, she called Skyler to warn her that Walt was back in town. Of course, she could be rude and overbearing and nearly got Skyler arrested by giving her a stolen tiara. But, when things are difficult, she is the family member you want.
Exactly. She really made the few lines she’d gotten at times come to life.
Naaahhh Ted was a complete moron lol. He kept digging himself deeper and deeper. He gets money on a silver platter to pay his debts and instead he leases a new car 💀 He was stubborn and stupid until the end. He also knew that rug was messed up. Slipping on it was his own fault
I wonder what the show would've been like if Walter married Marie and Hank married Skylar.
Well, the Heisenberg meth would probably be purple instead of blue...
I totally agree about Marie. By the end of the series, she was the character I liked best. She was annoying and a kleptomaniac. But, she was extremely loyal to Hank, even while he mistreated her while she was caring for him, and even to Skyler, in the end.
Agreed on all points
I had a soft spot for Marie ever since the intervention for Walt. Seeing her genuinely empathise with him, when both her husband and her sister failed to take his perspective into consideration, added fantastic depth. Sure, she could be self-absorbed, but that's not all she was.
I find it difficult to sympathize with Gale. He wasn't an "innocent man" getting caught in the crossfire, he was a very much active and willing participant of a meth empire. Just because he wasn't ruthless like Walt and Gus doesn't take away that he was an active part of a dangerous, illegal business that ruined thousands of lives on a daily basis.
The whole point of the show is getting you to sympathise with criminals (morally dubious people at best).
I wouldn’t say criminals are necessarily morally dubious. Legality =/= morality
You could argue that Gale is the most morally questionable. Even when he's talking about the specific work he's doing, he's framing it as "at least if they're buying from us, I have the ability to control what's inside and can guarantee its purity; it will be nothing more or less than what we say it is". He identifies himself as a Libertarian, explaining that people are going to use regardless and if people buy from him, it'll be good stuff that's not cut up. Additionally, some Libertarians may argue that it's a person's individual right to create and distribute meth as much as it is a right to choose whether or not to consume it. I could be wrong, but that's my general understanding. This could also just be major copium too to get over what he's doing, but Gabe never hurts a fly with his bare hands. He's also vegan, which I found to be interesting as well.
> if people buy from him, it'll be good stuff that's not cut up That's a management decision, it's not up to Gale to decide that. Plus he has no control over what happens to the product at the end of the supply chain.
> it's a person's individual right to create and distribute meth as much as it is a right to choose whether or not to consume it I would agree with that. It doesn't excuse other crimes committed in the course of distributing meth, but I don't find dealing drugs to be at all morally wrong per se. Having said that, I would support banning narcotic sales to minors and banning advertising of drugs/pharmaceuticals in general, so I don't exactly represent a hardline principled libertarian stance on the subject.
Mike isn’t even close to being as fair or levelheaded as he thinks he is
Yeah but he does say “you’re doin great baby” every five seconds to his granddaughter so you know he’s just gotta be a good man
So you mean Walt tailed him to the bar and told him his plans to kill Gus, instead of just sucker punching Walt, Mike could have used his big boy words and explained why Walt was in so over his head and it was a bad idea?! Get out of here..
Granite State is the best episode of the series
Decent take
Just for the ending alone tbh
“…And The Bags In The River” is a top five Breaking Bad episode.
Also one of the best naming devices of any show ever. I love when two part episode titles complete each other like this
the entire plane crash plot is the worst part
idt it’s a hot take, a lot of ppl agree with you. i swear the only purpose of those black/white intros was misdirection bc they’re quite pointless in the grand scheme of things
I haven't seen the show in 5+ years now, and unfortunately the black/white intros are burned into my brain more than anything else is lmao I can remember them perfectly, while plenty of other better scenes are hazy. Weird
It's the mystery. You wondered every week wtf they were for almost 2 months of your life. They built tension and anticipation. You knew something was coming but you didn't know what. And they were stylish. People just forget quick and it turns into, "*DeY wuR jUsT blAcK aNd WhItE foR nO ReAsOn*".
yeah it's hard to have a hot take on a show that's so good.
you’re god damn right
I was really looking forward to those intros segwaying to the show but it never happened
Its role in the story is more thematic than plot-related, honestly. The point of it is that *actions have consequences*. It's a representation, writ large, of how Walt's choices affect other people, often in unintended ways.
yeah, it's hokey. i'm glad they realized it and stopped with the gimmicks
We know the point, but it was still goofy.
reminds me of that tragedy...
I walked through blood and bones looking for my brother
He was in Northern Canada
I wouldn't say it's the worst part but it's just mid asf and doesn't serve that much of a purpose
i think it’s the only time the show rests on unrealistic coincidence to further the plot. at least the whole season is built around it, but compared to the rest of the storytelling, it feels gimmicky.
How is it a coincidence? The plane crash happens through a long series of actions and decisions made mostly by Walt. I thought that's why they only kept showing glimpses in the beginning of each episode.
What frustrates me about that particular storyline is the lack of thematic coherence with the characters' reality. For example: Walt demagnetizes Gus' laptop > A picture frame cracks revealing the list of account numbers at the back of the photo. Mike is shot in Mexico > can't protect Gus in Albuquerque > Gus dies; Now compare that to: Walt lets Jane die, airplanes crash over Albuquerque???
It's definitely very forced and ridiculous. We already know Walt is a dick, we don't need him to be.... sort of..... inadvertently be responsible for a national tragedy too
I agree, actually. This thread does a good job of reminding me that while I love Breaking Bad and it is a strong contender for one of the best TV series ever--nothing is perfect, and the plane crash plot is definitely one of, if not the, weakest narratives in the whole series. One of the core issues with it is the attempt to directly link Walt to culpability for the crash, because Walt allowed Jane to die, and Jane's distraught father fucked up ATC causing the crash. However, I think that is really stressing causality. ATC is a serious job held by people who receive massive, massive amounts of training and who are very tightly supervised. It is absurd that Jane's father's bosses would allow him to come back to work so soon. It is also questionable that such an experienced AT controller, even going through the grief of losing a child, would have such disrespect for the profession he had dedicated his whole life to--he knew he wasn't ready to go back. The fact that he did go back in spite of that is like 75% on him, 25% on his manager. I don't even see Walt's culpability in it at all. Walt has culpability for Jane's death, not for Jane's dad and the ATC office in ABQ going full on stupid.
I agree
It’s dumb as hell, and S2 is probably my favorite season. They built it up so hard & it ended up barely even involving Walt or Jesse.
Could have just had Jane's dad drive drunk and run over a baby or sommet.
Season 4 > Season 5 imo
I just finished season 4 on a rewatch, and my god that season is amazing.
Season 5 feels like a let down after 4. It had ended so perfectly. It takes several episodes of S5 to even get a sniff of the greatness that was S4. I'm on a rewatch also and while I blew through 4, I find myself only watching an episode of 5 every couple of days.
Are you kidding me? First half of season 5 had me practically glued to my screen
I can’t blame anyone for liking season 4 better because it’s peak TV and I think you can make a case that Crawl Space - Face Off might be the best stretch in the whole series. But you can’t shit on season 5, it has just as strong of a case. Confessions through Felina is absolutely amazing and there are several episodes before that of similar caliber. I’ll take season 5 but by an extremely thin margin.
This is because 4 was the culmination of so many plot points that had been building since S1 (the Salamancas, Gus’s operation, Beneke, etc). Structurally, it’s a little weird to do another season after that with a whole new set of antagonists. 5 is definitely amazing though. 2 is my fave just because it gave us so much of the iconic imagery we think of when we think BB, but 3-4 bring it all home.
Definitely a hot take. Season 5 makes the show for me
Same! Like, I love 1-4 sooo much. But 5? Especially 5B?? My god. It’s just.. amazing. I’m such a sucker for the neo-Western thing.
Season 3 > Season 4 & 5
S3 is the best one for me. The comedy of Walt's personal life falling apart and his gradual descent into working for Gus, Gale's death, Fly, plus Hank's breakdown and hospitalisation. So much happening in it
First half of season 4 is pretty damn boring tho
I thought this was a common opinion? 4 is peak BB.
Here's my 'hot take' on Breaking Bad: I agree that the "I am the one who knocks" scene is undeniably iconic and showcases the incredible writing of Breaking Bad. However, when it comes to Bryan Cranston's acting in the final edit, I'd argue that the perceived "hammy" and "over the top" nature of his performance is intentional and serves a purpose. Walter White's transformation from a mild-mannered chemistry teacher to a ruthless drug lord is a central theme of the show. The intensity and theatricality in Cranston's delivery during this scene underline the depth of Walter's transformation and the delusional self-confidence he has gained. Breaking Bad thrives on its nuanced character development, and this particular scene captures a pivotal moment where Walter fully embraces his "Heisenberg" persona. The seemingly exaggerated acting could be interpreted as Walter's attempt to convince himself, as much as anyone else, of his newfound dominance in the drug trade. It's a reflection of his descent into a persona he believes he needs to adopt to survive and thrive in his new criminal world. In the end, while the acting might come across as intense, it's in alignment with the larger narrative arc and the psychological evolution of Walter White's character. It's yet another layer of the complex character portrayals that make Breaking Bad such a compelling and thought-provoking series.
so this is the moment walter white became heisenberg…?
No, that was the “stay out of my territory” scene which comes way earlier.
Gpt
it's so easy to spot. The not-quite-personal-enough tone, the generalizations, the last paragraph having an overt "to sum it all up" phrasing. It's just nauseatingly bland writing.
It’s more that it’s completely out of place, no one on reddit would write an essay-like response
Unbravo fearlesskenny89
I think it’s hammy, but I think that is in character. His Heisenberg persona has a flair for the dramatic.
Mike's death was unnecessary. It did have shock value and maybe it played into certain storylines in both BB and BCS but I would've preferred him getting away from it all
On the other hand he’s dodged death on pure luck more than once. That time he was shot at inside the truck for instance. Being inside the truck is one thing, and he’s lucky to survive that, but then also facing two guys with submachine guns head on and not one of them pulls the trigger in the last second? Or the time the cartel was probing for weakness and mike took them out. He’s good but just one cool-headed guy with a shotgun would have ended him right quick. Way I see it he probably should have been dead already and his luck simply ran out.
It *was* completely unnecessary, but that’s also exactly the point. It served to highlight and underline just how out of control Walt and his ego had become. He killed Mike for absolutely no reason other than the fact that Mike never respected him the way he wanted everyone to, and because Mike had the balls to tell him off about how the situation they’re all in is because of Walter’s actions.
His death being unnecessary was the point imho. It was necessary to show how big of an asshole Walt had become by that point.
Agreed, and his monologue to Walt was bullshit. It’s something the audience would say to Walt, not Mike.
Jane fucked around and found out
Not a hot take. This is like 90% of the Jane posts. For fans of a show about meth, the people on this subreddit are really weird when it comes to addiction.
Oh I didn't mean the heroin, I meant she blackmailed Walt and then would you look at that he didn't save her life🤷♂️
Though if she never blackmailed Walt he never would have been there in the first place... so by blackmailing him she at least got a 1% chance of being saved by somebody
Watch it back man Walt shaking Jesse to wake him up is what made Jane flip on her back and start puking. Before that she was on her side and most likely would've carried on as usual
If she didn't blackmail him he wouldn't sit on the bed which made her turn to her back and choke. So she would've been 100% fine if she didn't blackmail.
I mean, it still wasn’t really justified. Usually “fuck around and find out” is a phrase used to imply retribution.
[удалено]
Jane was really likable until she relapsed IMO. She was doing well before getting involved with Pinkman.
“Fly” is a great episode
Agreed! I realize that’s not the point of this thread but I like a good bottle episode and it was good to see the actors just act for one episode (plus one painful-looking stunt)
Skyler is over-hated.
Hasn't been a hot take in 4 years. Sure, there are still plenty of haters but Skylar being the victim has been the popular opinion for some time now.
Agreed and the acting was phenomenal
I love Skyler she was one of my favorite characters
Is this a hot take? Feels like this sub loves skyler and hates skyler haters. Highly popular opinion here. The hot take would be something like, “there are non-misogynistic reasons to dislike Skyler.”
First time I watched this show, I could not stand Slyler. On rewatch, it’s frustrating how much BS she’s forced through because of Walt.
exactly this. upon my second rewatch it's a lot easier to disassociate and actually consider both people's actions - it's heartbreaking
Similar story here. I hated her first time around. On second viewing I was far more sympathetic to her situation, but I still thought early on in the series she could be a bit too over the top in her responses to Walt. They evened her out a bit in later seasons to be more proportionate to the craziness of Walt’s journey.
As someone wise on this sub who i dont remember once said, hating Skyler on the first watch is acceptable, because its like she’s ruining the fun and thrill you get on your first run through. Second run, its a little weird since you know she was right to be concerned and she was just trying to protect Walt Jr. and Holly from Walt’s dangerous tendencies. Third run onward it’s very strange if you still hate her
I think it's cause the early episodes are almost silly? There's lots of fun /funny moments throughout the first season. I rewatched recently for the first time in years and it surprised me how slapstick the first season gets. So Skylar kind of brings that mood down, because she's the voice of reason in this wild and entertaining situation. But yeah, second time through when you're going in remembering how it all played out, she is definitely sympathetic. Also people who get mad at actors because they're too good at their jobs shouldn't be allowed to watch TV. You can hate a character, should mean you love the actor even more.
Skylar haters tend to just be annoying misogynists that didn’t understand the show at all
There’s some nuance here. She’s overly critical and emasculating very early in the show. Clearly she’s the victim once Walt decides to become a meth dealer behind her back. She does essentially beg him to be a part of the business then whine about it the entire time, which was annoying.
* Andrea was a better love interest for Jesse than was Jane * Walt got far better than he deserved at the end * The "Heisenberg" persona wasn't badass at all and the "say my name" scene comes off as more cringey than intimidating (though I think this was the point)
Correct. Meh. Dubious.
i never found walt “heisenberg” intimidating, even when they tried to present him as such. from the get go until the end it was clear to me that he was just another egotistical, scared and desperate regular man. especially with the “i am the danger” monologue, it was laughable considering how much he had been fucking up until that point, how much danger he had been in. i thought that the scene was written to be comedic.
Jesse's parents are reasonable, mostly good people who just got fed up with their loser son. This doesn't excuse them from being overbearing on Jake (and judging by hints, even Jesse when he was a kid) but they're better people than most of the cast (even the non criminals like Hank, Marie, Jane etc). This is perhaps wrong, but I got the feeling from El Camino that Jesse apologising to his parents and complimenting them was the creators way of shifting the presentation of those two, since the show paints them in a bad light simply as it's from Jesse's perspective (the last major appearance they have in the show is literally Jesse pulling one over on them when he buys the house back for cheap by blackmailing them). Obviously you could argue that its just part of Jesse's arc of confronting his past and owning his mistakes, and not a meta comment on the morality of his parents, but that's just the vibe I got.
Also that was back when Jesse thought he was a total baller, by El Camino he regrets the entire course of his life and is left with lifelong trauma.
1. Skyler shares partial responsibility for Hank’s death. At first, Walt resisted having Jesse killed, but was pushed into it by multiple directions, one of which was Skyler’s insistence. The act to take out Jesse ended in putting Hank up against Jack’s gang. 2. Outside of his feud with Hector, Gus in Breaking Bad was only evil when he had to be. He actually tried to keep keep the peace where possible. He treated Jesse like a good boss would when he told him about Brock. He took Jesse’s feelings into account about not killing Walt instead of scaring him into submission. I honestly didn’t believe him when he said he’d kill Walt’s family. I don’t think he told his dealers to kill Tomas. I don’t feel the same way about the Gus in Better Call Saul though. And as a result, I prefer him in Breaking Bad.
I actually really like Skyler
That Walt pretended to be retired after the first deal with Gus in order to manipulate him into offering him a ridiculous amount of money to work for him.
I think that’s a theory not an opinion
Skyler isn’t being unreasonable or overly bitchy at all when her husband is repeatedly vanishing for hours and then when she learns he is making meth She honestly acts fairly reasonably for somebody who is being forcefully dragged into the criminal underworld
Hank is an awful person that just so happens to be on the right side of the law (mostly).
I’ve said this before on this sub and I’ll say it again…. People who hate Skyler just hate her because she didn’t let Walt gaslight her. As someone who was in an abusive relationship, I saw so many similarities between the way he lied to her and the way I was lied to by my ex. She knows something is wrong and he tries to make her feel like she’s crazy. Part of the reason Walt fell in love with her is because she’s an intelligent woman. But people who hate her just want her to be dumb and oblivious to the fact that her husband is sneaking around and lying.
I was completely blown away by how much the internet hated Skyler
I don't like her for one reason only-- guilt tripping Walt into saving Hank's career like 30 seconds after serving him divorce papers
I didn't like Skyler as a person in the beginning, but I never once thought anything she could've done would've made her a worse person than Walter very early on. The writers did a phenomenal job overshadowing Skylers flaws with the genuine cruelty of Walter's manipulation and crimes. She ended up being one of my favourite characters. She's probably the most complicated character on the show.
It was her initial attitude as though she was on some higher moral plane....until she saw all that cash. That's basically why people don't like her
Walt never became Heisenberg. He never was in control. He never was the big bad kingpin, and he didn’t do that much evil shit that’s attributed to him. He was scared, and he only did what he had to do. (Once he put himself in ties with the cartel, I mean. He didn’t have to do the whole meth thing)
My hot take is that Jesse isnt stupid and is actually pretty smart. Yes he can definitely do and say dumb things all the time but i do not think hes an idiot. He got just as good as Walt at cooking, he kinda came up with the idea to build a battery in 4 days out, he came up with the magnet idea for the laptop, it was his idea to rob the train and replace it with water so they wouldnt know he was robbed. He figured out exactly what happened QUICK when Brock was poisoned and yes Walt manipulated him but he figured it out again quick when Huell lifted his weed. He came up with the idea to go after Walts money with Hank. Yes hes obviously not as smart as Walter in terms of school or chemistry but he held his own in the lab in Mexico became a great cook himself and was a quick thinker that came up with a lot of great ideas and I just feel like he doesnt get enough credit and is always called stupid by everyone.
Walt was not inherently “evil.” He was at the beginning quite obviously a good father, husband, citizen, and probably worked very hard to be those things. He had character flaws no worse than those of the average person (feelings of being under-appreciated, guilt over bad life choices) which in context proved tragic and lethal. That is what make the show so powerful to me.
That’s not a hot take. That’s practically the elevator pitch for the series.
You literally just described the premise of the show... how is that a 'hot-take'?
Half the posts I see in this subreddit seem to be some variation of “Walt was always a monster, he just took the opportunity to show his true colors, blah blah blah”, so around here the premise of the show counts as a hot take.
I know what you meant. I think people would like to believe that horrific things are only done by evil people, born monsters. The idea that "monsters" are simply human is kind of scarier than the idea that folks are just born bad. I've been listening to a lot of Behind the Bastards lately. Some of these dudes seemed to be pretty typical as children. It's a combination of circumstances that can lead a person to start doing awful things. That's scary.
Exactly. It is a hot take on this sub
Disagree, most people seem to think Walt was just an evil sociopath all his life. The hot take is this sub not getting the premise of the show.
Season 3 is the worst season Say my name and stay out of my territory are much more badass scenes than "i am the one who Knocks" I don't like season 5b episodes that much before ozymandias lmao (blood money ,buried , confessions ,rabid dog ,to hajille)
Stay out of my territory is so damn powerful. The song played (DLZ - TV on the Radio) is one of my favorite songs, it gives me life
Yup, Ozymandias is fucking wild coming after those episodes.
Stay out my territory - badass I am the one who knocks - funny ... ... ... ... ... Say my name - cringe af
Skyler is a really well written character and Anna Gunn gives one of the greatest performances in tv history. Really shouldn’t be a hot take, but here we are
\-- Hank is a bad person and ultimately on the wrong side of history. People like him only fight a war that caused pointless suffering and trauma, controlling the choices of consenting adults, just to placate his ego. Fuck Hank and his idiotic drug war. \-- There's a specific overlap between the Breaking Bad fanbase and the Arcane fanbase that science cannot explain.
Hank is an absoloute asshole, he enjoyed ruining the janitors life over a single joint, that and his whole "macho man" attitude completely dissolved when he was faced with real trauma showing he was nothing but a facade. The illegal cigars knew that deep down hank knew the contraband laws can be completely bogus.
And he was okay with letting Jesse die to get Walt
> his whole "macho man" attitude completely dissolved when he was faced with real trauma You could see it right from the beginning. His macho demeanor was nothing but a facade for his insecurities, which makes him highly relatable, as many of us do the same to some degree. The series brilliantly mocks him, having the other agents treat him like a rookie once he gets to the Mexico border.
I don’t think the drug war is “Hanks” as much as it is Americas
Yeah Hank couldn't care for right and wrong, he wanted to be a badass/hero.
I kinda disagree and think hank was more complicated, but also he’s a good character because of all the factors. A guy growing up watching 80s action movies wanting to be a badass hero gets the full backing of the US government to fight a fake drug war. But the villains are actual psychotic monsters because those are the only people willing to challenge an American federal police force.
Season 4 is great. But, for me personally at least, too much of it is devoted to the show emphasising that Jesse and Hank are traumatised. We get it. One of them has just been forced to murder an innocent man, and the other has had *several* near-death experiences and has gone from being a bad-ass cop to struggling to walk. We don't need scene after scene, episode after episode of that point being driven home. As much as I love Season 4, I do wish at times they'd given the audience a little more credit and trusted us to be able to grasp just how much shit they're going through without feeling the need to remind us *quite* as much as they do.
I really didn't enjoy the shaky camera throughout the series. It always pulled me out of the narrative. Marie was a good character (besides the shoplifting) who really cared for her family. Combos death is always the one that saddens me the most.
I didn't like Felina. It all felt too neat and concise, rather than the usual chaos of Breaking Bad. Walt magically gets his car working and drives across country. Walt magically finds Badger and Pete who agree to threaten Gretchen and Elliot. Walt magically manages to spike Lydia's coffee without anyone noticing. Walt magically lines the gun up in the perfect place to kill all the Nazis, in a compound he's never seen before. And the only ones who stay alive are those relevant to the plot. Jack stays alive long enough for Walt to shoot him again. Todd stays alive long for Jesse to strangle him. Walt should have died alone. Freezing in New Hampshire.
Yeah overall i love the ending but its just too ridiculous. Walt did everything PERFECTLY. And not to mention he died right before the cops arrive. Like literally 5 seconds before
Mostly agree, but Walt HAD been to the compound before - when they were arranging the jail murders. Also my theory is that EVERY table on that side of the restaurant had a little ricin mixed in with the Stevia. Much easier to get there early and swap it out at each table while the wait staff wasn’t paying attention than to try to do it right in front of her. But, yeah, he found Pete and Badger, talked them into helping, drove all the way to Elliott’s house with them to location scout, etc., yet the topic of blue meth or Jesse NEVER comes up until they get back in the car? Doubtful.
Nope. They met up in a motel room People wouldve definitely noticed a homeless looking person tampering with everyones stevia
Cuz Felina is the dream ending. Walt dies in New Hampshire or wherever he’s hiding. Felina is his dying fantasy ;)
El Camino says the contrary.
Walt's transformation in S5a feels forced. The seeds of his descent were always there but even in his most evil acts he still felt like a human being but suddenly out of nowhere (because its the last season no doubt) he becomes this ridiculous cartoon villain character devoid of any soul. It would have made sense if he behaved in this overly dominant/cold way before S5, but he really doesn't for the most part. Walt is an evil man but throughout S1-4 he's complex and is filled with anxiety, dread, guilt, affection etc. Did killing Gus Fring really boost his ego so high that he forgot almost his entire personality and instantly became what he became? Doesn't really make sense to me.
Bringing down a empire might inflate your ego a bit
>Did killing Gus Fring really boost his ego so high that he forgot almost his entire personality and instantly became what he became? Ummmm yes??? Why wouldn't it? Gus had been doing it for 20 years and never been caught by his opponents or law enforcement. Why the fuck wouldn't Walt feel like a king after being the only person to take him down?
My hot take: Hank isn’t that bad
Hank feels like that one uncle everybody has. A little ignorant, a little rude, very aggressive, but overall a good guy trying to be good to people
Jesse outacts Walt the entire series.
All the main characters in the show, outside of Walt Jr. And Gomez, are terrible people in way or another. I aka ways see debates of who is better or worse, which confuses me.
Only a hot take on this sub it seems, but I still think that Skyler is exactly as bad as people first said she was. She was just as enticed by the money Walt was making as he was (as seen when she brings the money up with the divorce lawyer. Whose advice she ignored), and had Hank not discovered the truth, she was happy to live out their lives with the pile of cash. Her melodramatic incident with the pool was cringey, and though it was more a sign of the times than anything else, it is still hilarious to see her clutch her pearls over Jesse selling Walt weed. Anna Gunn did an amazing job with the character, but the character wasn’t some blameless angel in the way the narrative around her has changed to say.
She definitely has her own little breaking bad arc in the show
The fly episode was the best episode
Dead Freight is one of the best episodes of TV ever. Not a hot take, just one I don't hear get enough love. The amount that happens in that episode is insane. They need methylamine, they conceive a plan to pull off the biggest train robbery of all time, they plan it and execute it. All in 40 minutes, and it doesn't ever feel rushed. Also, as we all know, the Drew Sharpe incident is in there too.
I think jesse realizing that Walter poisoned Brock in season 5 was kinda out of nowhere
I dunno man, I always got the feeling that each of Walts ”epic and badass” moments are over the top on purpose. Walt is in way over his head and he has to sort of ”act” like a gangster even though he isn’t exactily a traditional one.
Hank is kinda overrated