AMC's Breaking Bad - The series that was banned in the uk!

[Null_Zone]

I found it to potter along for three to four episodes then explode into great TV, then back to the pottering. But definitely worth while.

 

[Dave]

I've just begun watching this and agree with Brian about the bath, also the tortoise in S2. I'm glad the quality doesn't drop as it means I still have 3 more seasons to watch.

 

[Ursa major]

Just a note to say that Breaking Bad is being shown on Spike** (which can be seen on a terrestrial channel: channel 31 on Freeview).

I saw the opening episode last night and can see how it became a popular series. I'll definitely be watching the second episode, which is on tonight.


** At 23:00 (but at least it doesn't start at midnight...).

 

[Dave]

I watched all the Seasons over about ten weeks, Ursa. You will get hooked too. It must be one of the best TV series ever made. The journey that all of the characters make from the beginning to the end is extraordinary and yet still totally believable.

It's available on Netflix (where the spin-off prequel Just Call Saul is also.)

 

[willwallace]

Just began watching this on Netflix myself. About done with the first season, and liking it so far.

 

[ratsy]

I just finished the series last night. We have been watching it over the last month or so, and devoured them. Wow. I was one of the backwards guys who watched Better Call Saul first, and loved it so I wanted to see Breaking Bad. I am actually glad I did it that way.

I loved the show, even though at times it was so dark and painful to watch. Its amplified when you watch so many episodes in a short time.

The ending was great, and I love it when a show ends when it should end.

I'm looking forward to the next Saul season even more now though

 

[Droflet]

I've seen this series three times (why stop at one?). I really envy those who are seeing it for the first time. One of the best shows ever? You bet.

 

[Dave]

El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie is released on Netflix next Friday 11th October (with television broadcast at a later date on AMC.)

In the wake of his dramatic escape from captivity by Neo-Nazis, while being hunted by law enforcement officers, Jesse Pinkman (Emmy-winner Aaron Paul) must come to terms with his past in order to forge some kind of future. It has been hinted that all kinds of old characters will return in this film, some in flashbacks. In fact, it has taken so long to make partly because of the availability of some actors.

 

[Dave]

El Camino is good, but not as good as the hype, or as good as the high expectations. Could it ever be?

If the final episode of Breaking Bad gave an ending for Walt (and for Saul) then El Camino finally gives an ending for Jesse. However, the plot was thin. The best parts were in the flashbacks, and at points it did seem like they were just sticking in as many old characters as possible.

The best summary that I found on Twitter was "Netflix’s Breaking Bad postscript movie El Camino is fan service executed at a very high level." @vulture

Actor Robert Forster, who has a prominent role in this film among many others, has died today at 78 following a brief battle with brain cancer.

 

[ctg]

El Camino isn't for everyone. You cannot watch it without having watched the TV series before as the faith of Jesse is no clear. They show he's in bad situation before and after, there's no easy life for him. No redemption. Certainly no salvation. Then again, when you are in the world of Walter White, everything is sh"t or going to be turning into it later on.

Although I loved Jesse ended up doing same things with Todd as he'd done before, nothing was really new. If you're a fan you wish there would be something you could offer to save him. But there's none. The only salvation he ever had is from the dead man, Walter White. So, in that sense Vince has done a great job as the movie shows bad man surviving against the odds. Maybe even thriving in it, even though you might reach out to fast forward button as seeing suffering isn't fun.

 

[ctg]

I just noticed the numbers. How can this have forty something posts and ten thousand views? What the hell happened?

 

[Dave]

I just noticed the numbers. How can this have forty something posts and ten thousand views? What the hell happened?

It may have had another thread split off it in the past (there are several Breaking Bad threads if you search Chronicles.) Or, it may have been picked up by a Google search term and gone viral (this happened before to a Thunderbirds thread of my own.) Sorry, but I just don't know so can't tell you why.

 

[Mouse]

My partner loves this show. I find it utterly dull, every ep seems remarkably similar and all the characters are vile. He really wants to watch the film - will I know what's going on, bearing in mind I've not watched much of the series? Does it stand alone?

 

[ctg]

will I know what's going on, bearing in mind I've not watched much of the series? Does it stand alone?

No. Like I said, you have to have some understanding about what happened to Jesse, and what happened in the final season with the doom of Heisenberg to understand the hell main character goes through. But as a writer you already have an understanding for the wounded characters, so it might not be a big problem. Therefore it's not a standalone per say, even if it is standing alone.

It might be even better if you don't watch and imagine Jesse having time of his life.

 

[Dave]

Does it stand alone?

@ctg says no. I'd say yes and no.

The film is a closure story for Jesse that wasn't given in the series. So, you will get much more out of it if you know all of Jesse's story. He could be seen as a victim, groomed by Walt, but the story is very complex, and some would say that he deserved everything he got. So, you may sympathise with his plight or you may not. In addition, the film brings back characters from the series that you will have no idea who they are or the back-story to them.

On the other hand, I think you can understand the film without any of that back-story. Enough explanation of the plot is provided to understand it. It just isn't a very deep plot without that back-story, and on its own, I wouldn't say it was very good.

I dispute your point that:

every ep seems remarkably similar and all the characters are vile.

There were a number of styles used to film episodes, there were episodes that went off on complete tangents, and other episodes that involved nothing more than a fly inside a sealed lab (my son stopped watching the series after that episode.) The characters were complicated and like actual real people - real people can be vile but still have some redeeming features. I thought the whole arc of the rise and fall of Walt from mild-mannered school chemistry teacher to mass murdering drug lord is still some of the best TV made.

 

[Mouse]

Thanks both. It's not really my cup of tea, but like I said my partner loves it so I expect I will be watching the film at some point!

 

[J Riff]

I will miss it entirely. I forgot that people still watch TV shows. )

 

[Bagpuss]

I just noticed the numbers. How can this have forty something posts and ten thousand views? What the hell happened?

I think it might be the thread's headline that suggests the series was banned in the UK. If you say something like that, then people are going to take a look, even if it's just out of morbid curiousity to see what kind of series might have been so terrible that it was (omg): "BANNED!!" There's also probably a few people who went: "Breaking Bad was banned in the UK? WTF! That can't be right! and would click on the thread to check it out.

Of course, the show wasn't actually banned in the UK, there just wasn't enough of an audience that was interested in it at the time, so it didn't really get shown. Series 1 and 2 were shown in the UK in a reasonably timely fashion, series 3, 4, and 5 were never picked up, presumably because of a lack of audience. The series did get a complete showing in the UK on the Viacom-owned Spike channel starting in 2015. By which time, of course, it had finished filming, won all the awards and it could be marketed as the "Emmy-award-winning-show". Since then, it's attracted a retrospective fan-base.

 

[ctg]

Spoiler: offtopic answer

I think it might be the thread's headline that suggests the series was banned in the UK. If you say something like that, then people are going to take a look, even if it's just out of morbid curiousity to see what kind of series might have been so terrible that it was (omg): "BANNED!!" There's also probably a few people who went: "Breaking Bad was banned in the UK? WTF! That can't be right! and would click on the thread to check it out.

It is not just that. I get it. The headtitle was done long time ago, and I cannot believe I still receive flack from it. The numbers keep going up, and even on the threads that were before Brian's great clean up. You look at the Clone Wars thread as for an example, and it's around same number, 50+ posts and 22k views. Some threads get those high numbers, others don't. Yet, in the real life, I'm nobody.

 

[ctg]

The tight focus on Jesse's story, over such a short time period, is both a strength and a weakness for El Camino, however. Gilligan is a master of juggling multiple storylines involving many different characters—one of the most impressive elements of Breaking Bad and the source of much of its rich narrative texture. El Camino is much more limited in scope.

The film started life as a short 20-minute mini-episode before ballooning into a feature, and at times it feels like one-third of a Breaking Bad episode. Apparently Gilligan toyed with the idea of working Walter's family into the script—his wife, son, and widowed sister (Anna Gunn, RJ Mitte, and Betsy Brandt, respectively)—but ultimately decided against it. I get why he made that call. This is a standalone film within the Breaking Bad universe, not a continuation of the original series, so focusing on Jesse makes narrative sense. But some of that rich texture is lost in the process.

Final verdict: fans will appreciate El Camino as a nice addition to the franchise, even if it's not particularly necessary. It provides a fitting coda to Jesse Pinkman's story, bringing some extra closure for one of our favorite characters in the Breaking Bad saga.

El Camino is currently streaming on Netflix, following a limited theatrical release. It will air on AMC at an as-yet-unspecified later date.

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019...no-is-a-fitting-coda-to-jesse-pinkmans-story/