2026 - Breaking Bad: No Half Measures

I treated myself to the BluRay box set of the complete series because it’s loaded to the tits with features and also because I think it’s one of the few perfect television series that exists and I look forward to revisiting and studying it further - especially with all of the features that are on it.  It’s television school in a box and I think anyone wanting to work in the medium owes it to themselves to pick this up.

So this is supposed to be about the documentary that came with the set.  It follows the production of the final eight episodes, and it’s largely a love fest as they go through it, but there’s a lot of insight into how it works and if you’re a fan of the show then there’s no better way to dive back in and enjoy the final pieces being put together.

I look forward to slowly going through the series all over again and all of the special features that this set contains - there’s, I believe, over 55 hours of bonus which is almost as much as the series itself.  What a great ride I’ve got ahead of me… 

1917 - Breaking Bad: season five - part 2

What can I say here that hasn't already been said?  This show is universally loved, by myself as well.  There isn't a bad performance, a bad scene, hell I'd argue there isn't a bad episode in the entire run.  Perfect is a strong word, but Breaking Bad might be just that.  There was an interesting theory that the final episode was a dream of Walt's, and that he simply died alone, not accomplishing anything he wanted to - part of me likes that as much as I like the idea of the ending going down exactly as it happened.  Did it tie things up too cleanly?  Maybe.  It went down pretty much as I'd expected and thought - so I didn't have a lot of surprises in the final hour, but I had a lot of fun watching it. What I loved about the last run of episodes was that it really felt like Vince Gilligan was giving us a sample of every possible outcome.  We got to see what it looked like when Jesse turned the tables on Walt, what it looked like when Hank won, Walt running away with his tail between his legs, Walt dying alone, and then Walt making amends and doing what he set out to do: take care of his family.  I'd argue that if you didn't like the ending of the actual finale - then at least you were given something in that group that helped it.  

I'm really looking forward to picking up that big-ass boxset and delving into the materials and behind the scenes.  Shit yes.  It's a beautiful show that never stayed past it's welcome and went out absolutely on top.  It's inspiring.  Good on ya, Gilligan and company.  Thank you for giving us an amazing story to obsess over for several seasons.  You'll be missed.

1761 - Breaking Bad: season five

I'm a tad behind on writing about this one as well - although only a week so cut me some slack :)  Needless to say, this is season five (or the first half anyway - I'm still considering the next season as season six given that it's a year break) and so this is going to be ridiculously SPOILER HEAVY.  Get out now if you're not caught up of the series.  And if you're just starting, enjoy the ride!  You're in good hands.
So it's been a hell of a ride watching Walter White go from good guy to buy, from Mr. Chips to Scarface.  And it's seemed awfully effortless.  Bryan Cranston is peerless in just how fucking good he is in this type of role.  After the hell he went through last year it was delightful to watch Walt come into his own while still cleaning up the mess that his pride had gotten him into.  And what amazed me the most was how as soon as Skyler finally broke through to him… Heisenberg went away.  Walt saw that he's well-over-achieved his dream.  And beautifully, that's when the other shoe drops.  Although he doesn't know it yet.  If I have one complaint it's that we didn't get to see Hank freak out more at the ultimate discovery.  Although how goddamn exciting is it to know that Hank is in 'the know' going into the final eight episodes?  So many ways this could go down, and we know that we're in good hands with Vince Gilligan and crew.  Shame we have to wait a year, but it's worth it if the final chapter is anywhere near the quality of this series thus far.  Easily one of the best television series of all time.

1745 - Breaking Bad: season one

I rewatched this with my Dad while he was staying at our place, and it was so interesting to give it a second glance, knowing where it's headed.  There's a lot of lovely foreshadowing going on here, and it's really great to step back and remember where the characters came from.  One thing that really stood out was how much I liked Skylar (I think she's currently an annoying, raving bitch). 
I need not go on and on about it - those who have seen it know how great it is, and those who haven't, I dare not ruin any of the fun.  I look forward to revisiting these and watching my Dad discover it for the first time.

1634 - Breaking Bad: season four

I saw the first three seasons of this show back to back because I was late to it, so this was the first time that I had to wait week by week, and if you're a fan of the show you know that that's torture.  I have to be honest in that I was getting pretty impatient with the beginning of this season.  The first episode was pretty solid - and I'm sure that if you watched it back to back with last's seasons finale, the pace was a nice relief.  The three episodes or so that followed felt a tad labored though.  I know that they probably needed it to set up what was to come, but I can't tell you how sick I was of Hank and his rock collection.  And when the show resort to watching Marie deal with her kleptomania, you know that you're not in the most exciting part of the season.  Given how much those characters fall to the way-side once shit hits the fan it should be a pretty significant sign to the creative team that these cast members aren't that important, and so spending ridiculous amount of screen time on them just makes us want to get back to the characters that are. 
The rest of this is going to be pretty SPOILER HEAVY, I can't imagine anyone would be reading this that hasn't seen the season - but there's your warning.  Take it or leave it.

First, for anyone interesting click here to get a link to an interview that the A.V. Club did with the showrunner Vince Gilligan - it breaks down every episode this season and it's a pretty awesome window into how they work on the show.
Gus has been an amazing villain, and a real opponent for Walt and Jesse.  The game of chess that they played this season was extraordinary.  And just as you were starting to really dislike Walt they had Gus come in and knock him down a few notches so that you could feel sorry for him.  Brilliantly played.  This show is easily one of the more visually styled show on television, and it almost always work in their favor.  With the exception of those early episodes this season, this has been a series that is always top notch.  The stakes are high, which helps, but the brilliance is that the show never takes itself uber seriously.  There is always a bit of a wink there.  Take Gus' death in the season finale - no way that man walks out of that room, but it's fine because if anyone, he deserved a kick-ass death. 
The dynamic between Walt and Jesse was superb this year and it really tested their relationship - and will continue to do so based on the path that Walt is now on.  I'm going to make a bit of a prediction.  Given that next season is their last, I really believe that the focus is going to shift ever so slightly.  Walt is finally going to fully transform into the shows villain (all hail Heisenberg) and it'll be about Hank and/or Jesse taking him down in the end (unless the cancer gets to him first, which would be the ultimate irony). 
This is a great show and it's been a (mostly) great season.  Can't wait to see where they go next.  Just hope that they don't take as big a break as they did between the last season and this one.