Interesting Take on Breaking Bad in Salon

[hootinholler]

Walter White’s sickness mirrors America - David Sirota

It is safe to say that as “Breaking Bad” comes to a close, Vince Gilligan’s series is the moment’s Best Show In the History of Television. Incredibly, the show isn’t even over yet, and it is already a cult classic, with all the attendant prop fetishization and tourism industries that come with such a designation. But as we approach the final episode, there’s an unanswered question: What makes the show so historically important?

Critics have rightly lauded the series for, among other things, its cinematography, its dialogue, its character development and its carefully constructed plot twists. Yet, in this much-vaunted new Golden Age of TV, there are plenty of programs with great visuals, terrific conversations, nuanced personalities and enticing stories — but most never achieve the same notoriety as the life of Walter White. Similarly, “Breaking Bad” is part crime drama, part satire of the legal system and part commentary on family dysfunction — but those narrative vectors are hardly unexplored territory in television. So what makes the story of Walter White so special?

Here’s a theory: Maybe “Breaking Bad” has ascended to the cult firmament because it so perfectly captures the specific pressures and ideologies that make America exceptional at the very moment the country is itself breaking bad.

More...

I found it rather thought provoking. Not sure I agree entirely, but it made me think.

[MADem]

1. If I were to assign a "profound" lesson to BB, I'd agree it was the MEDICAL CARE piece.

If Walter White had himself some Obamacare, he wouldn't have to go broke to pay for cancer treatments.

There would be no story.

It's only the fact that we don't have "health care for all" that makes this story even possible. It's the motivator to the entire tale.

[Electric Monk]

5. If Breaking Bad was set in Canada...

[dairydog91]

19. Walt would still be Walt...

Walt could have had his healthcare taken care of by Grey Matter. Even if he didn't have to worry about paying for healthcare, he still would have been arrogant enough to refuse "charity".

[Comrade Grumpy]

2. Interesting read. Thank you.

[monmouth3]

3. The Sopranos captured me but BB, thankfully won't be on when Downton Abbey comes on..n/t

[hootinholler]

4. Oooo, when will that start again? n/t

[monmouth3]

8. January 5, 2014...Cannot wait..n/t

Last edited Sat Sep 28, 2013, 05:01 PM - Edit history (1)

[hootinholler]

9. Is that a stardate?

Good to know.

[monmouth3]

11. Yes, it is. Kind of a nice show to start the new year, right?

[Electric Monk]

15. Proof reading is your friend...

http://www.taylormali.com/poems-online/the-the-impotence-of-proofreading/

[monmouth3]

12. More info...

May 14, 2013 - PBS announces the start date for Season 4 of 'Downton Abbey,' ... Abbey will kick off on PBS' Masterpiece Classic on Sunday, January 5, 2014.

[kelliekat44]

6. Interesting post. My take is that the acting is supurb! nt

[Drahthaardogs]

7. As long as Pinkman does not throw a blood clot and Walt refrains from becoming a lumberjack

this ending will be a win!

[hootinholler]

10. I'm wondering if Walt shows up

With a posse to save Pinkman. Jesse is in a tight spot at the moment.

[Electric Monk]

14. Walt still has that machine gun (m60?) and the ricin he went back to his old house to get

I'm guessing he'll use both to take out those neo-nazis holding Jesse prisoner, but he gets fatally wounded in the process. Fade to black, roll credits.

We'll find out tomorrow if I'm right

[hootinholler]

16. Hmmm, I wonder where that got to

Last I saw it it was in the trunk of a car.

[Generic Brad]

17. And where does he get a machine gun exactly like the ones the Nazis have?

Could that breakfast scene come after he has somehow stolen their guns?

[Electric Monk]

18. In one of the flash forwards it showed him buying it in a restaurant parking lot, iirc

I think it might have been the intro to episode 1 of season 5....


edit: Ah, yes, it was. I found this with some googling:

http://screenrant.com/breaking-bad-season-5-premiere-review-yman-188236/

Now, ushering in season 5, Gilligan offers us a glimpse of what we can only assume is nearly the end of the road. ‘Live Free or Die’ revels in offering just enough illumination on the mysterious circumstances to spark what will certainly be countless theories leading to the how and why. An unshorn Walt, complete with beard and thick-rimmed glasses, sits alone in a Denny’s restaurant, playing with his food by arranging pieces of bacon into the shape of a fifty-two – the age he has turned on this day. He’s there to meet up with Lawson (Jim Beaver, Supernatural), the weapons dealer, and purchase a rather large machine gun nestled in the trunk of a car, which Lawson also provided.

The brief scene is telling in many ways, but only telling enough to raise many more questions. For those keeping score, Breaking Bad began on Walter White’s 50th birthday – so this is, in a way, Gilligan illustrating to his audience just how far Walt has traveled and in what amount of time. More clues come while Walt is making the purchase from Lawson in the men’s restroom. Lawson demands the artillery not cross the border, to which Walt replies it’s not even going to leave town – meaning someone is likely about to be on the receiving end of the machine gun. After Lawson wishes him good luck and leaves, Walt dry swallows a prescription pill of some kind, which will undoubtedly leave viewers questioning whether or not his cancer has come back.

complete with beard and thick-rimmed glasses.... like he'd just spent a few months in a cabin in the woods?

[kydo]

13. It's Vince Gilligan

That's why The X-Files was good. He wrote most of the great episodes. He just has that knack.