Not a single social occasion has gone by in the last two weeks without somebody mentioning the ending of Breaking Bad, usually resulting in irate splutters of disbelief (“What do you mean you haven’t seen it?!”).
So to avoid further cat fights, we’ve gathered a few of the dominant opinions from Screen Editor Rob Harris and News Editor (and naysayer) Louis Doré, who ask: is it really worth the hype?
Rob says:
After five years, 62 episodes, seven Emmys and what must have been millions spent on psychiatrist’s fees, Breaking Bad is finally over. With expectations for the final season driven skyward by a legion of critics and dedicated fans alike, anything less than a work of genius from creator Vince Gilligan would have left scores across the globe grabbing their pitchforks and torches before storming AMC headquarters.
Image credit: AMC
Through the manipulation of the prior four series’ undulating storyline of triumph and catastrophe, the final season instead tackles anti-hero Walter White (Bryan Cranston) at his very lowest, with little prospect of ever fighting his way back to the top of Albuquerque’s criminal underworld.
And it’s not just been Walt who has shifted from season to season. Jesse (Aaron Paul) sees such an intense change that each episode will leave you in agony over the memory of how he used to be nothing more than a small-time, naïve kid.
Be it recurrent shots of characters and landscapes or a muttered line of foreshadowing in the very first episode, nearly everything drips with such significance that you cannot help but grit your teeth, put on season one and start the whole experience again.
In its last moments, once all the chaos, complications and revelations put before you sinks in, Breaking Bad achieves something that not many would have expected – it makes you smile. Not from laughter or from joy, but from an overwhelming sense of satisfaction. To those of you who are bogged down mid-season or are even yet to start, there is only one thing I can say to you: it’s more than worth it.
Louis replies:
Breaking Bad has finished its run as one of the most critically acclaimed TV shows of all time. No doubt you would have heard of the IMDb-topping Ozymandias episode, read the hesitant claims among critics that this is the greatest show in recent history. It is all just hype.
Image credit: EW
Simply due to its subject matter, it cannot compare to the greater shows that came before it. The formulation of one of the greatest villains ever before our eyes was a fantastic feat, but Walter White cannot compare in complexity to characters such as Omar from The Wire, or C.J. Cregg from The West Wing.
The problem arises from the farcical nature of the show – from the beginning it has revelled in going from the sublime to the ridiculous and back again, throwing the gleeful viewers’ trust out the window and cauterizing nerves in the process. The Vince Gilligan smash cut has been used so often, it is now not relatable.
I have struggled to keep emotional connections with the characters in the show, not because of poor acting or scripting, but because they can verge on the caricature. This is not to say the characters are hollow, but I don’t believe this farcically fantastic story could be true. Jesse could be argued to be the breakout character simply due to believability.
It is worth your time, it is one of the best things you can possibly watch at the moment, it deserves every Emmy it has won. Aaron Paul is sublime, and everyone should watch the show. But then watch The Wire, The West Wing and The Sopranos.
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Is Breaking Bad your baby in blue? Or do you side with Louis, and think the show’s just too unrealistic? Let us know on Facebook, Twitter or by commenting below.
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