Breaking Bad

[jamo]

From the moment my wife started watching the show with me, she already hated Walt.  She didn't watch season 1 at all - when you couldn't help but feel sorry for him - so that probably plays heavily into her perception, but I was always rooting for him.  Somehow, even up through the end of Season 4 and the poisoning of Brock I still rooted for him. I think the turning point for me was the scene in one of the tented houses where Walt is cooking and Jesse basically tells him he can't do it anymore and he has to go home.  He's devastated by the killing of the Sharp kid and he doesn't know if he could go on.  Walt says he's broken up about it too, but as soon as Jesse leaves the tent he's going about his business and starts whistling like he's happy and carefree.  After that, I've pretty much wanted him to die. Then again, who knows, maybe upcoming events will make me change my mind, lol!

Meh. It's a TV show. If I've gotten this far, I'm rooting for the bad guy who makes meth and kills people. ;-)

[iacas]

Meh. It's a TV show. If I've gotten this far, I'm rooting for the bad guy who makes meth and kills people.

Ditto.

I hate that in almost every TV show or movie, "the good guys" win.

[nevets88]

I'm interested to see how many people share this sentiment. I still root for Walt to get away with it all.

Vince Gilligan said in interviews, when WW turned down the money from his grad schoolmates, he thought WW was beyond redemption. Walter lost me around the end of season 1.

[butt3r3dt0ast]

Wow, just watched the episode last night. After Walt told them not to come, I knew they still would (I do not claim any psychic powers, as that was pretty obvious) ... there was no way he was going to booking. But even though I knew they were coming, I was still shocked when it all unraveled.

I think that someone is going to die in that scene. Also, I am still rooting for Walt.

[Slice of Life]

I can't help but root for Walt, but at the same time I can't help but root for Hank.

Above both, I root for Jesse.

[butt3r3dt0ast]

I was also thinking... I can't believe that Walt was freaking out when Todd and his Uncle showed up. If they didn't show up, that was end game for Walt. He was gonna go to Prison and lose his money. I find it hard to believe that he wouldn't be okay with offing Hank to save the only thing that he really ever cared about (his money).

[Jeremie Boop]

I was also thinking... I can't believe that Walt was freaking out when Todd and his Uncle showed up. If they didn't show up, that was end game for Walt. He was gonna go to Prison and lose his money. I find it hard to believe that he wouldn't be okay with offing Hank to save the only thing that he really ever cared about (his money).

Maybe you haven't got the same impression I have, Walt will do anything to protect his friends and family. Including go to jail. This is also why I've always rooted for Walt. While he has done some deplorable things, it's basically all been in the name of trying to protect friends/family and the money he's made for his family.

[Slice of Life]

I was also thinking... I can't believe that Walt was freaking out when Todd and his Uncle showed up. If they didn't show up, that was end game for Walt. He was gonna go to Prison and lose his money. I find it hard to believe that he wouldn't be okay with offing Hank to save the only thing that he really ever cared about (his money).

Maybe you haven't got the same impression I have, Walt will do anything to protect his friends and family. Including go to jail. This is also why I've always rooted for Walt. While he has done some deplorable things, it's basically all been in the name of trying to protect friends/family and the money he's made for his family.

I agree with Jeremie. He still has SOME morality when it comes to his family. Otherwise he wouldn't have called off the hit, and just had them take care of Gomie and Hank, too.

[Heisenberg]

So good to see Walter Mirandized and cuffed.

So...

Damn...

Good...

Too bad he got away though. Still 3 more episodes for him to get a tasty demise.

Tread lightly.

[dsc123]

I wish they hadn't shown us future Walt with hair and an assault rifle.  It would have been exciting TV when he got arrested and you thought, but couldn't be sure, that the thugs would save him.

[Beachcomber]

Great episode! One thought... Shooting several AR-15's... Versus someone with a handgun and a shotgun? AR-15's would destroy Hank and Gomie. Wish they would've had a few body shots before they cut the scene. I wanted True Romance like destruction.

[nevets88]

Most of my favorite shows, The Wire, The Sopranos, Mad Men, BB, Deadwood, etc... all feature leads who I don't "root" for. If they end badly, the better, but like in real life, lots of people get away with deplorable deeds. That doesn't mean I can't like the show or not find the character compelling. I just "root" the other way. I especially enjoyed the 1st season of BB when there were scenes of Walter teaching chemistry or using his science background to get out of trouble for example the homemade battery to start up the RV. Of all the characters in BB I would sympathize with most, that would be Jesse.

There is a book recently published about these TV characters - I've yet to read it, but am interested in hearing more ideas about these complicated leads:

http://www.amazon.com/Difficult-Men-Creative-Revolution-Sopranos/dp/1594204195/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie;=UTF8&qid;=1378823478&sr;=1-2&keywords;=men+television

[dsc123]

One thought... Shooting several AR-15's... Versus someone with a handgun and a shotgun? AR-15's would destroy Hank and Gomie.

And Hank and Gomie were standing in the open.  No cover.  And the guy's with the AR-15's shot first--they weren't dodging bullets.  Completely absurd.

[Slice of Life]

And Hank and Gomie were standing in the open.  No cover.  And the guy's with the AR-15's shot first--they weren't dodging bullets.  Completely absurd.

Yeah, a little far-fetched...but it doesn't bug me.

[butt3r3dt0ast]

Maybe you haven't got the same impression I have, Walt will do anything to protect his friends and family. Including go to jail. This is also why I've always rooted for Walt. While he has done some deplorable things, it's basically all been in the name of trying to protect friends/family and the money he's made for his family.

Yes, this is true. However, I think that he cares about his immediate family a hell of a lot more than anything else. And the money he's acquired is really all that's left that he can give them. He has no friends.. The closest thing to friend he might have is Jesse (at least at one time), and he was planning to kill him anyways.

[Golfingdad]

I hate that in almost every TV show or movie, "the good guys" win.

But he's the main character and certainly one everybody rooted for at one point or another.  Not exactly the "bad guy" even though he is a bad guy now.  There are a lot of movies/TV shows where the "good guys" who we all root for, beginning to end, aren't exactly good guys.  The Oceans movies, and The Italian Job for example, we are rooting all along for thieves.  Romanticized by the fact that they are otherwise "nice guys" who don't use guns, but they are thieves nonetheless.

I'd be willing to bet that if this show was sold to us from the beginning as the POV of Hank, but was otherwise the same show, not many people would be rooting for Walt.

[Jeremie Boop]

Yes, this is true. However, I think that he cares about his immediate family a hell of a lot more than anything else. And the money he's acquired is really all that's left that he can give them. He has no friends.. The closest thing to friend he might have is Jesse (at least at one time), and he was planning to kill him anyways.

Only reason he has thought to kill Jesse is because his wife wants him to.

[mvmac]

http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/2013/09/11/better-call-saul-breaking-bad-spinoff-moves-forward-at-amc/

Quote:

As the clock ticks down on the final episodes of Breaking Bad, AMC is pushing forward with plans for a spinoff centered on Saul Goodman , the shady criminal lawyer played by Bob Odenkirk.

According to The Hollywood Reporter , the cable network has reached a licensing agreement with Sony for a prequel tentatively titled Better Call Saul that the two parties say “will focus on the evolution of the popular Saul Goodman character before he ever became Walter White’s lawyer.”

Writer/producer Peter Gould, who created the character, would serve as showrunner, while Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan remaining involved.

Goodman, who operates Saul Goodman & Associates out of an office in an Albuquerque strip mall, was introduced in the Season 2 episode “Better Call Saul,” named for his slogan in his late-night television commercials. He quickly became a fan-favorite character.

Gilligan began talking openly about a potential spinoff earlier this year , but had seemed conflicted about whether the one-hour drama should be a prequel.

“We’re trying to figure out what kind of story we want to tell as it relates to Saul,” he said . “But any story that at some point or another showed Saul at his peak, his abilities and his networking skills, would, I think, show the criminal underbelly of a fictional Albuquerque that really had Saul Goodman wired into pretty much the heart of it. [...] “Saul Goodman, as he explains in his first episode, is not his real name. He is a self-created character, much like Heisenberg. Do we tell the story of his origins? We’re still trying to hash that out. But there are a lot of fun possibilities.”