Well, I sure didn’t predict that. I was expecting a curve ball. Instead I got a finale that was so nicely wrapped up and straight forward I feel like I should feel disappointed. But I’m satisfied. I feel like every question was answered, and pretty much everyone got what they deserved.
What is there to say that hasn’t already been said, tweeted or otherwise posted on the internet about “Ozymandias,” the third to last episode of Breaking Bad. I feel like using the words “intense” and “holy shit” come off as rhetoric, as everyone, including myself, seems to have a hard time talking about any episode of Breaking Bad, let alone this episode of Breaking Bad, without using those words.
The thing is I love Breaking Bad, Bob Odenkirk is one of my all-time favorites, and the I love watching Saul Goodman in the world of Breaking Bad. He's always good for just the right amount of levity. I'm just not so sure I'll be interested in watching his adventures outside the confines of BB.
I also am curious to know what kind of format they'll be going for. Will it be a full hour like most of AMC's shows? Will it be more like a sitcom? Will it be serialized or will each episode be self contained? I think I'd be pretty into it if it was done like a sketch show, with a couple wacky cases per episode. It would also be nice if Huel, Bill Burr and maybe Mike were included, every once in awhile.
I’m glad Odenkirk will have steady work (though he’s also got a sketch show called “The Birthday Boys” premeiring on IFC soon) but I don’t know if I’m ready to see him playing the same character for any length of time.
Unless of course, that character is Brian Wilson Willips Brighton.
And just for fun, here's a longer sketch featuring Willips.
Before I get to the Breaking Bad stuff, is anyone else watching this season of Boardwalk Empire as it airs? The first episode was last night, and it was great, but I won’t worry about recapping and discussing if no one else is watching yet. But if at least one person speaks up, I’m down.
Wow. That was a lot handle. I watched last night's episode with five other people, and there was a lot of leg shaking, face covering, and head shaking last night, not to mention a plethora of "oh shit oh shit oh shit"s going on.
The recap I linked to as a placeholder is great, so check it out if you want a more in depth summary. Despite it's pretty stupid name,Bad Ass Digest offers a lot of really great articles on TV, movies, and other pop culture stuff. They're usually my go-to for Breaking Bad recaps and discussion, as well as "genre" movie reviews.
While we're on the subject of Breaking Bad coverage, and actually TV talk in general, I'm also really into Dan Feinberg and Alan Sepinwall'sFirewall & Iceberg Podcast. These guys know their TV, and while they can have some pretty annoying banter, they often offer some really good insight to the shows. If you subscribe in iTunes and look at the podcast info, they tell you the timestamp of each show they talk about, which is nice. That way you can skip past the stuff you don’t care about and get right to the good stuff.
Ack. Sorry I'm slacking! Was out and about yesterday for a warm and rainy holiday, and today I'm writing this on what may be my deathbed, for I have fallen ill. In fact, I'm using the Blogger app on my phone, which I don't think I've ever even opened before.
All I have to say for now is "The virtues of child poisoning" might be the hardest I've laughed at this show.
Please discuss in the comments. I'll catch up tomorrow.
What’d you all think of Sunday’s episode, “Buried”? I’m not going to bother recapping everything from every episode. It’s a little pointless when there’s so many recaps out there that are so much more well written then mine. A few spoilery thoughts after the jump.
I’m so happy Breaking Bad is back, and so sad that there’s only 7 episodes left. Sunday's Season "5b" premiere was pretty great. Recap/review/commentary after jump.
By DB’s request, here’s my personal Top 10 list of active shows based on their recent output. It’s pretty hard to choose in any kind of order, and I feel like it’s especially hard pitting heavy hitting cinematic dramas like Breaking Bad and Mad Men against the comedies, especially something like Totally Biased or SNL, which have a much shorter turnaround time between shows. I was tempted to split it up into two lists of dramas and comedies. Instead I imagined missing a week of TV and recording every show I’m currently watching. I’m pretty sure this is the order I’d watch them in:
Breaking Bad
Mad Men
Game of Thrones
Parks and Recreation
Girls
The League
Veep
New Girl
Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell
Kroll Show
Numbers one and two are practically interchangeable. I have a feeling I rated them that way today because I just saw the season finale of Mad Men and can’t wait for Breaking Bad to start back up on August 8th. I'm also feeling the urge to preemptively defend some of my picks, but there will be plenty of time for that in future posts, I suppose. If you’d like to call me out on anything in particular, feel free and maybe I’ll cover them first.
