Level 3
Anyone else just love this show?
I must have been living under a rock to miss it, didn't know it had been about for 3-4yrs.
I've had a few completely free days and I've rocketed through Season 1 & 2.
Imo, it is one of the best shows on television, ever. The acting, the slow-burn pacing, the character development, the little spikes of action where Walter turns momentarily bad-ass. The whole thing just comes together brilliantly, it's exceptional.
It's a shame it's not more recognised over here.
It's on to Season 3 now and I don't think Season 4 is available yet; and the Fifth and final Season is in the making atm. Can't wait to watch them as apprently 3 and 4 are even better.
I picked up the Season 1 doovde and finished it the same day, the disc never left my PS3.
The rest, I broke my "no more illegal downloadings rule" for, after a few years. Only Season 1 & 2 are available on DVD in the UK. Season 3 isn't available in the UK. And the Blu-ray versions of all 3 aren't available here at all and they're all region-locked. I like to have the best quality available and if they're not going to provide them properly to purchase in my region, then tough. The Australia ones are the same region but knowing them they're probably censored; so I'm not gonna import them.
Anywho, brilliant show and worth watching (definitely from the beginning) if you can..
I just hope there's a Season 1-5, Uncensored, Region 2 Blu-ray Boxset when the show's finished, cause I'll definitely buy it.
Level 3
GraphiteGB wrote:Got realy boring on season 3 stopped watching. felt like same old thing. At that point I went on to watch new shows instead and catch up on old ones.
Stunt casting of famous Actors in bit parts during season 2 was annoying as well.
Burn notice another FX show formula has also got old..
Wow...Really? With the exception of The Wire (in fact, maybe even moreso) Breaking Bad is (to me atleast) without a doubt the most dynamic show there is. There isn't any set pattern in any of the episodes and the situations constantly evolve. I don't want to spoil anything for Boffin since he's only seen up to season 2's final so I'll point them out in the spoiler quotes until Season 3 episode 6 just how dynamic things are:
Four and Five mostly develop the characters (very important for Walter's character) and advance the plot slowly.
Then in episode 6 and 7 Tuco is introduced. In most shows this would last for quite awhile so there could be some consistency, however.
In episode 1 of season 2 Jesse and Walter both immediately conspire to kill him. After Tuco kidnaps them you presume that Tuco is safe for a few episodes.
He is then killed the next episode, killing their main dealer after only four episodes, something that would take almost a season in most shows happens two episodes into the second season, four episodes after his introduction.
By episode 6 Walter and Jesse have already decided to become the dealers and suppliers and Jesse is sent to Kill *****. By this time Hank and Skyler have become much more developed, Jane has been introduced and is slowly developed.
By episode 11 Walter's cancer has entered remission, Hank's PTSD has increased tenfold, Skyler enters labour, Gustavo Fring is introduced, Jane and Jesse's drug addiction is beyond controllable, Combo has been killed and Walter Jr's website is up.
By episode 13 the plane has crashed, the baby is three weeks old, Walter is no longer cooking meth, Skyler knows Walter is a drug dealer, Jesse is being ruined by his addiction.
Then for around five episodes in season 3 Walter is a complete emotional wreck, more of a narcissist than ever, refuses to hide his blatant evilness as he had done for the start of the series, there is a major conflict between Walter and Jesse, Hank becomes way closer to discovering that Walter is Heisenberg, Skyler and Walter enter a power struggle with regards to their family, Gustavo continues to be amazing and, more than anything, the cousins are introduced.
Honestly, more than any other show, Breaking Bad is absolutely the least predictable. There is no pattern to the episodes, when the dramatic moments happen or pretty much anything else. The plot twists are always logical within the show's universe, the themes within the show are incredibly deep. the situation within the show basically changes every three or four episodes, the acting is perfection when combined with the incredibly deep characters, the show is beautifully shot, the music tremendous and every single season gets better as the show goes on. The incredibly slow pacing may be off-putting for some but the amount of tension that is created through this pacing can almost be unbearable as you know something terrible will happen but you cannot stop watching. I just really cannot understand how you thought it was getting stale as the show constantly evolves and the characters are rarely in the same situations (except when there is a clear parallel meant to be created between certain events or characters). Also, my spoiler tagged basic briefs have all been from memory so I am sorry if some of the details are an episode or two off but I am quite sure they are correct.
Anyway, I complete agree with you Boffin. I've been watching the show since the fourth episode aired in America and every single season I am absolutely amazed that it increases in quality. Even after rewatching Seasons 1 - 3 about six or seven times in total every episode holds up in quality. There is only a single episode (in Season 4) that I think was a dip in quality since the show began and other than that minor blip the show is an absolute masterpiece and I envy the fact that you get to watch them for the first time. In fact, I envy that you haven't seen Season 3 or 4 yet as they absolutely blow everything up to ABQ (Season 2 Episode 13) out of the water in terms of quality. In saying that, they aren't as tight plot-wise as Season 1 and Season 2 are but the pure quality of them makes that negligible. As you've said it's really unfortunate the series doesn't air over here (I know I saw it on FX late at night months ago but it was Season 2 and I already had that on DVD and Season 3 downloaded completely by the time I saw it airing), that the Blu-Ray's aren't released and neither are the DVDs. Even though I've already bought Season 1 and 2, if, as you say, after Season 5 the complete box set is released on Blu-Ray over here there'll be no question as to whether or not to buy it again. Also, the Australian versions aren't censored to my knowledge but the problem is that there is no Region 2 DVD or Blu-Ray versions at all so you can't even import them from Australia since, like us, they'll only have Season 1 and 2 available on DVD.
Also, with regards to your no downloading rule, I highly recommend you adopt an alternate rule of "Downloading the first season of a series. If you like it, buy the series. If you don't, delete it" so you can avoid shows you won't like and can still contribute to the sales of the show. It will save you money any you'll still contribute to the shows' continuation. It also means you don't have to buy one season of a show and then buy the rest seperately afterwards but you can instead just buy the complete box set.
I wish I could talk about some of the excellent moments in the show but don't want to spoil them for anybody that hasn't seen the first two seasons yet as if you knew what happened the show wouldn't be as good. If you want some other recommendations of shows I'd probably suggest:
The Wire Tier:
The Wire
God Tier:
Breaking Bad
Excellent Tier:
Mad Men
The Sopranos
Arrested Development (this is a comedy yet it is absolutely astounding. Coincidentally it's the only comedy I'd ever recommend to anybody)
Good shows:
Boardwalk Empire
The Shield
Game of Thrones - not released on DVD/Blu-Ray yet
Six Feet Under (only watched up to Season 2 episode 6 so it could be higher by the time I finish it)
24 - Season 1 and 2
Dexter - Season 1 and 4 (The show never really lived up to it's potential however, Season 1 and Season 4 [only] are very entertaining. Season 2 and Season 3 are still decent but do not watch after season 4. The decline in quality is so dramatic that it destroys your memory of the show)
Chuck (not particularly well-made or anything after Season 2 but overall it's still entertaining and a "fun" show)
Band of Brothers
House - Season 1 to 3 (for a medical procedural those seasons are excellent. It just gradually declines in quality)
The ones in bold are things I'd recommend. Deadwood is also supposedly an excellent show but I've not yet watched it (it was cancelled). Also, I wrote them down in a tiered format only so that if you've watched, say, The Sopranos you know that Mad Men and Arrested Development are roughly of equal quality. Also, on the note of Arrested Development it is extremely cheap on Play.ie (or Amazon, I can't remember), about €20 for all 53 episodes and there is quite an active torrent on thepiratebay (not that I'd advise downloading season 1, seeing what you think, and then buying it in case any moderator thinks I'm suggesting that...). If you haven't seen The Wire though, you absolutely must. It is without a doubt the best show there is. The only thing that could approach it's level of greatness is if Breaking Bad continues increasing in quality, delivers an exceptional final season and has an amazing ending but due to how there has been such a clear increase in quality each season I'm afraid it'll just fall short of The Wire by the slightest margin.
Also, I've dragged this on more than I intended, sorry. I just can be quite...obsessive when talking about Breaking Bad 
(or TV shows in general really).
Level 3
What amazes me about them is that they go at such a slow pace and yet fit so much in. Each episode feels like 60-70 minutes, but they're only 45 minutes. Yet I feel there is so much in each in terms of content, even if that content is subtle or very slow-burning.
I think one of the things with it is that the episodes not only change a lot within themselves, but the whole thing changes a lot (and if you don't like everything it becomes at different stages, you may not feel as glued).
Season 1 was more about the situations, setting the scenes, Walt digging more holes, there was action...
And while some of this is maintained, the latter three-quarters of Season 2 is much more about family, about Walt trying to dig out of holes but getting deeper and deeper, about Jesse's effect on people he gets close to.
I'm on S03 E03 now, so I'm expecting another partial shift in identity soon, but I still feel hooked into what's going on now.
Also, speaking of those shows, I've actually seen very few of them. I've never seen The Wire, so that's next on my list.
Recent shows I've watched and really liked are Southland, Person Of Interest and I'm on Season 4 of Supernatural.
There's no doubt about it, the US is knocking out some top notch tele, the only good stuff outta the UK recently has been Luther imo. And while a comedy, I think Outnmubered is worth a mention; love that show.
I've wanted to watch a lot of the new Sky Atlantic stuff, but we're on crappy Virgin Media, so I'll wait before I try any of those out, cause once I watch a few episodes of something I really like I get hooked and have to go buy all the available episodes, lol.
Though tbh, I prefer going through stuff like that. Watching on TV every week is a bit hard to sustain. I'd rather wait for a show to get a few seasons in, see what the general reception is like. Then buy/download it and just binge on it when I have some spare time (which is quite a bit atm).
I never watched The Sopranos, but there's so many episodes, it's a big commitment time-wise, lol.
...US Television atm is a very addictive substance, xD.
Level 3
TheMiitch wrote:What amazes me about them is that they go at such a slow pace and yet fit so much in. Each episode feels like 60-70 minutes, but they're only 45 minutes. Yet I feel there is so much in each in terms of content, even if that content is subtle or very slow-burning.
I think one of the things with it is that the episodes not only change a lot within themselves, but the whole thing changes a lot (and if you don't like everything it becomes at different stages, you may not feel as glued).
Season 1 was more about the situations, setting the scenes, Walt digging more holes, there was action...
Spoiler...Walt blowing up Tuco's crib (with science) was pure badassery.And while some of this is maintained, the latter three-quarters of Season 2 is much more about family, about Walt trying to dig out of holes but getting deeper and deeper, about Jesse's effect on people he gets close to.
I'm on S03 E03 now, so I'm expecting another partial shift in identity soon, but I still feel hooked into what's going on now.
Also, speaking of those shows, I've actually seen very few of them. I've never seen The Wire, so that's next on my list.
Recent shows I've watched and really liked are Southland, Person Of Interest and I'm on Season 4 of Supernatural.
There's no doubt about it, the US is knocking out some top notch tele, the only good stuff outta the UK recently has been Luther imo. And while a comedy, I think Outnmubered is worth a mention; love that show.
I've wanted to watch a lot of the new Sky Atlantic stuff, but we're on crappy Virgin Media, so I'll wait before I try any of those out, cause once I watch a few episodes of something I really like I get hooked and have to go buy all the available episodes, lol.
Though tbh, I prefer going through stuff like that. Watching on TV every week is a bit hard to sustain. I'd rather wait for a show to get a few seasons in, see what the general reception is like. Then buy/download it and just binge on it when I have some spare time (which is quite a bit atm).
I never watched The Sopranos, but there's so many episodes, it's a big commitment time-wise, lol.
...US Television atm is a very addictive substance, xD.
Definitely. It is wonderfully done how so much details and content is fitted into the time even though, as you've said, the pace is very slow (until the few moments where it absolutely explodes).
That is probably one of the truest (true-est?true? most true?) things of the show. There is such a stark contrast between season one (which basically just sets the scenes [as you've said] due to the writer's strike) and an episode in a later season yet due to how it's built and developed it feels completely natural and logical (within the show) that the new event situation would occur (similar to how they use twists in my mind).
The partial shift in identity...err...I won't comment on. Only that it's
-------
As for the shows, The Wire is an excellent choice. The slow burn is very similar to Breaking Bad yet the amount of detail is on a completely different level. It's had to explain but it's worth knowing in advance that the first few episodes can be quite confusing while you get adapted to everything, basically without introduction (but that's part of the charm I guess) and a repeat of an episode is a definite possibility. Also, on the DVDs, Season 1 has a graphical error at the top of the screen (it;s hard to describe it but it's a tiny bar with black and white lines) which unfortunately can only be removed by changing the view option on your TV to zoom in slightly more (which was unintentional) and all seasons are 4:3 (which was intentional so it's advisable to not ruin the aspect ratio stretch it) but other then those slight annoyances it's an extremely good show. Each episode is an hour or more also so it's much more time consuming than say Breaking Bad or Mad Men where each episode is 40 minutes.
Southland or Person of Interest I must admit I've not seen either (although a Google search of Southland in particular suggests very good things) but Supernatural (although I can acknowledge that the actual show is good) just doesn't appeal to me but seven seasons is certainly impressive (hopefully there's not a drop in quality in store for you as seems to happens to a large amount of non-cable TV shows)
As for The Sopranos, as you've said, it's best to binge on them when you've time spare and race through the show so seven seasons (or six depending on how you view it) just means you've got a lot of good episodes in store .
And that's why it's best finishing one show before transitioning to the next! If you don't all reality will collapse and you'll be permentantly trapped in hundreds of different realities, like some terrible cross between Inception and Twin Peaks 
.
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