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Me and Mrs. S have never done the BB thing and are a tad nervous of embarking on five seasons. It's quite a commitment. Is it worth it?
Yes. One day I will watch it all again. Don't lose faith when you get to the fly episode
There's a slump around series 3 - I never got over it...
Yes. Most definitely.
Just get on with it. It jumps around a bit but keeps being entertaining. There's a few series of 'better call Saul' when you are done
Yep, definitely worth the commitment, I’m currently watching it for the second time and it’s great but I still think better call saul is way more entertaining.
I'm in the same boat. What's also putting me off is the prospect of 'Call Saul' after.
There, saved you all the time you would've lost staring at the telly, go and do something more interesting instead. Your welcome.
<mod edit for spoilers>
I totally missed the hype for this. Started watching on recommendation a coupe of months ago. I got 3 episodes in and bailed on it.
Having just got up to date with Better Call Saul i started rewatching Breaking Bad last night.
I think it’s worth it
Don’t lose faith when you get to the fly episode
thought that was pretty good actually - as did the wife.
Massive slump after s1 e1...so skip it all after that and go straight to last episode. I tried to watch first series and it was properly dull, so left gf to watch it all. I then watched the last episode of last series and pretty much worked it all out...
really don't. 1st and last will do it
It does start slowly but if you can get through a couple of episodes then you should be hooked. At least that's how it was for me. I never experienced any slump and loved it all (notwithstanding the fly episode).
Watch The Wire instead.
It's brilliant, but it's a slow burn. It took me several episodes to click with it.
And guys, no spoilers please, that's not nice.
I started watching it last week, got to series 2 ep 3 before getting bored. It suddenly went from quite entertaining to feeling contrived.
Haha, hardly a spoiler, more a plot outline. Is there anyone who doesn't know the plot?
Watch The Wire instead.
Watch West Wing instead.
I didn't get past mid point of season 1.... me and the wife tried it and binned it.
Yes and Better Call Saul after
Best thing I have watched so a yes from me. The fact that I was still on his side right till the end just because I felt for him at the start was an odd experience.
I got 3 episodes in and bailed on it.
And I was hooked after 3 episodes. So don't look at it as a massive commitment, see if you enjoy the first few and keep going if you like it.
Yes. It's not thrill-a-minute stuff, but very few of the characters are two-dimensional, and it's an absorbing series.
And I liked the fly episode.
If you've already watched The Wire, The Sopranos, Mad Men, The West Wing and Game of Thrones, go for it..
Watch it...
...it will really make you appreciate the 'socialised' health care system that is the NHS.
…it will really make you appreciate the ‘socialised’ health care system that is the NHS.
https://christopherkeelty.com/breaking-bad-outside-us/
I got to season 4 and gave up but it’s supposed to be awesome, I just lost interest
Yes do it. It is great TV, even better binge wached.
Yeah I hate commitment too ha ha, tbh it’s not too hard to pick up and put down.
’The Wire’ is better IMHO.
BB is good, I don’t think it deserves to sit beside the HBO Giants, but it’s not far off, it does descend into Soap Opera at times though, padding to make a few more episodes without burning through the core story, just tell yourself it’s high-art and you’d appreciate it a bit more if only you were a bit more cultured and intelligent, and then tell everyone how great it is so they think you are, seems to be it’s USP 😉
Better Call Saul is just getting good, sadly it take 3 whole series of more arty set pieces and vague hints that might or might not be Easter Eggs to get into its stride... maybe.
I am soooo jealous! Would love to watch BB for the first time again.
So yes, definitely worth it. As is Better Call Saul afterwards.
Steelfreak
Watch it…
…it will really make you appreciate the ‘socialised’ health care system that is the NHS.
Yes. This is our future if the govt flogs of the NHS to its donors.
Get a serious illness, and once you're milked dry, die horribly and leave your family in poverty.
It's well worth watching anyway.
Never seen/watched it. But then I’ve never watched G o T either. Don’t feel like I’m missing out at all.
I watched it and enjoyed it but it's not as good as some of the claims made for it. I'd definitely not put in the time to rewatch it, whereas I've already watched The Wire twice, and considering a third.
Mad Men, Sopranos, The Wire, Game of Thrones
Halt & Catch Fire. Slow first season but gets better and better.
BB is pretty decent but I didn't think it really lived up to the hype. The Wire or Sopranos is much better IMO. And don't be daunted by the 62 episodes, watch an episode a week until you finish a series then take a few months off before watching the next. Like people did when it was first shown!
It's awesome...one of the best things I've ever watched. Some of that sentiment probably hinges on when I watched it...things have moved on a bit since then so might not be as impactful as it was when it first came out, but I can't imagine it is crap. There are a couple of lulls through the journey...you just have to get through those as you will be rewarded. It definitely gets better as the end of the whole thing comes.
Thought it was great for a couple of seasons, started to get boring in the third season and then lost interest - kind of obvious where it was going by then, and how it would end. Watched the last ever episode just to check - and yes it went where I expected and ended pretty much how I predicted. Just a bit too one-dimensional for me.
I stopped halfway through. It was still well crafted etc, I just really stopped being interested in what was happening to these rubbish human beings. Didn't even bother reading the wiki or anything, just put it down and did something else.
I’d say go for it. I gave up after a couple of episodes of the first series as all I could see was Hal from Malcom in the middle. A friend convinced me to give it a second chance and I’m glad I did.
It is not as good as The Wire, but then nothing is in my opinion. Don’t shoot me, but I found The Sopranos utterly boring.
it's great TV. Watch it,
it wasn't massively over hyped when it was first shown in the UK. The first 2 series were on FX.
It started as more of a black comedy and got more serious as things moved on.
I've watched it twice and will probably do it again at some point.
Took me 2 years but it’s well worth believe the hype unlike Game of Thrones which is good but massively overrated
Never seen/watched it. But then I’ve never watched G o T either. Don’t feel like I’m missing out at all.
How would you know if you've never watched it? I expect that I've never missed many things I've never experienced. I've never eaten a beefburger, never felt like I was missing out at all.
Do you ring up phone-in votes and go "no comment"?
I’ve watched it all the way through and can’t remember what happened in the end.
It's not slow. It's rewarding.
As with Better Call Saul, the pieces click gradually but so much happens there needs to be character development. It's excellent.
What's the commitment? If you like it you will carry on with it!
To me it was kinda like a Coen brothers movie that lasted for years. Lots of quirky characters, quite implausible plots, but entertaining. The Coen brothers only really made one movie: There's a bag of money and anyone who tries to get it is doomed. That's pretty much BB's plot too.
Try a few episodes. If you don't like it, don't watch it. If you do like it, try to limit yourself to two episodes per day or you'll burn through it in a few weeks.
The Americans is better IMO, but has a similar thing of horrible characters that you sympathize with and hope don't get caught even though you know they will eventually.
What I wouldn't do to be in your position. Go for it, it's the best television ever made, in my humble opinion. I'm biased though, I've watched it 4 times!
it's not slow enough, was my problem!
I was all up for a slow burning series in which a mild mannered teacher slowly develops into a psycho drug dealer.
But he sets up a drug lab and kills a rival dealer about halfway through episode 1, and by episode 3 <edit for spoilers concerning more violent death>. It's all a good yarn i suppose but i lost interest and gave up early in Season 2.
My wife complains that if I keep on giving up on shows on the grounds that they're not as good as The Wire, then I'll just end up never watching anything. Which is pretty much what happens. Going to give Our Friends In The North a go soon though.
TIGHT! TIGHT! TIGHT!
YEAGGGGH!!
It's worth watching but I never really loved it. I only went to the end because I'd invested so much time in the first few seasons.
BB is pretty decent but I didn’t think it really lived up to the hype. The Wire [...] is much better IMO
Maybe, but The Wire is better than anything that has ever been on TV, so that's a pretty high bar to set!!
Done it all the way through 4 times. Might be time for a 5th as I've almost forgotten a lot of it. Wasn't quite as much of a binge as watching every star trek series from TNG to Enterprise in order but probably more entertaining 🙂
+1 for The Wire. Did that twice. Don't bother with Game of Thrones unless you want a real TV endurance challenge.
Loved Dexter but looking forward to Breaking Bad too!
Magnets, bitch!
I found it flagged a little in series 2 until Saul appeared, then it just got better and better.
My roomba is called Jesse.
I only watched BB first time around until end of series 3, then never got into it again when series 4 finally appeared. Having recently binge watched Better Call Saul (def worth it) I'm re-watching BB from the start.
It's definitely slower paced than I remember but still good, although I fast forward through most of the guff with Skyler and her sister (Hank is always good though). Only just up to the Better Call Saul episode in S2, you certainly think of him differently after watching the Better Call Saul series (I'd even say watch that first, it's a prequel after all and it doesn't spoil BB).
I’m amazed some people stopped watching it, I loved it! I actually watched it weekly on AMC so took over a year to watch it all. For me it was the best thing on telly in memory.
I did sit through the Fly episode thinking WTF though!
it’s a prequel after all and it doesn’t spoil BB
It spoils BB massively if you know who the characters are. It'd be like watching Star Wars in episode order.
It spoils BB massively if you know who the characters are. It’d be like watching Star Wars in episode order.
Why? Because you know Jimmy isn't just a total douche? (I can't actually remember how his character develops in BB tbh). Other characters like Tuco - I reckon having watched BCS first makes you appreciate even more how much of a psycho he is than he's portrayed in BB. I can't really remember BB past season 2 though so if you're talking about other characters later on then fair enough.
I wouldn't say BCS is a massive spoiler for BB, but it would spoil some things. For one, it gives some hints about how BB ends. Mostly though, I think BCS would be better if you've watched BB because you know how the characters ended up, BCS is intended to fill in how they got there.
I wouldn’t say BCS is a massive spoiler for BB
...unlike the rest of your post.
What spoilers, apart from Jesse coming over for dinner?
What spoilers, apart from Jesse coming over for dinner?
None, except the arc for the main character. And his wife.
Maybe, but The Wire is better than anything that has ever been on TV, so that’s a pretty high bar to set!!
True dat.
Yeah, The Wire (and to a lesser extent, The Sopranos) has pretty much ruined the rest of television for me.
Still, second series of The Deuce starts soon, so that's something to look forward to.
In other spoiler news....Darth Vader is actually a pretty decent bloke.
Why? Because you know Jimmy isn’t just a total douche?
Well, specifically I was thinking because it spoils the reveal of who
except the arc for the main character. And his wife.
Spoiler alert. Man who sells drugs to kids turns out to be an asshole. His wife, who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, wasn't an asshole, although she was comically annoying at times.
Now you don't need to watch it cause I told you what's going to happen.
I think the bigger issue is that watching them the wrong way would ruin BCS. It's an absolute treat after BB ending as you sort of know what is coming but the details are slowly revealed.
Spoiler alert. Man who sells drugs to kids turns out to be an asshole. His wife, who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, wasn’t an asshole, although she was comically annoying at times.
You haven't watched it, have you?
it was totally excellent when they walked into that lab with "On a Clear Day" by the peddlars playing - brilliant setting and music.
You haven’t watched it, have you?
I watched the first and last episode and just guessed at what happened in between.
I thought BB was superb, surpassed only by Better Call Saul, which in itself is only SO good due to knowing the BB story.
edit
Still, second series of The Deuce starts soon, so that’s something to look forward to.
Can't wait. I predict we'll talk about it in the same way we do The Wire in years to come.
So yeah, getting back to the original question, yes, I would recommend watching it all, start to finish, then Better Call Saul...
can’t remember what happened in the end
Reminder:
I think the bigger issue is that watching them the wrong way would ruin BCS. It’s an absolute treat after BB ending as you sort of know what is coming but the details are slowly revealed.
Agreed, but a bit less politely, Better Call Saul would be a frustratingly glacial drama about characters you don't know or care about, dragged out for about 35 hours before it starts to get interesting, or indeed the titular character turns up.
Imagine going into to it without any knowledge of BB, wondering what or who 'Saul' was and why anyone should call them, only to see a strange drama about a low-level Lawyer called Jimmy/James bookended by an even stranger drama in black and white.
No, I don't think anyone should watch BCS first.
Agreed with all of that. Part of the appeal of BCS is going "ooh, it's him!" when BB characters / locations pop up.
Watched the first BB again last night. It was still as good as I remember. Funny how young they all looked though, and I was surprised how much I'd forgotten. I guess I'm committed to watching it again 🙂
List of crossover characters (contains spoilers obviously):
http://www.vulture.com/2018/09/breaking-bad-better-call-saul-crossover-characters.html
I'm really liking Netflix's thumbnail fast forward thing (so I can easily skip the filler scenes), much better than Amazon Prime's fast forward (or at least how they work through the app on my TV)
I started watching Breaking Bad at 11pm last night. 2.5 episodes in and I'm liking it.
Might have to save it for weekend bingeing though as I can't cope with 6 hours sleep a night...