TV: Breaking Bad

[elliseamos]

i was thinking of:

Spoiler: show

Someone needs to photoshop Vedder into there.

Spoiler: show

[VinylGuy]

i was thinking of:

Spoiler: show

Someone needs to photoshop Vedder into there.

Spoiler: show

[darth_vedder]

The shape of that guy's head really pisses me off.

pfft. Huell's great.

He looks just like this guy:

[@SkitchP]

The shape of that guy's head really pisses me off.

pfft. Huell's great.

He looks just like this guy:

thats pretty racist, yo

[given2trade]

i was thinking of:

Spoiler: show

Someone needs to photoshop Vedder into there.

Spoiler: show

i enjoyed

[epilogue]

The shape of that guy's head really pisses me off.

pfft. Huell's great.

He looks just like this guy:

thats pretty racist, yo

[spike]

"I'll send you to Belize."

[Stickman]

when I saw Hank go into the interrogation room, and given Jesse's current state, I immediately thought of
If you ever plan on watching The Shield, don't watch this.

Spoiler: show

Admitting absolutely every sick thing he'd ever done.

[Norah]

Series creator Vince Gilligan is on the new episode of the Nerdist podcast. http://www.nerdist.com/2013/08/nerdist- ... -gilligan/ They talk about BB a LOT. No season 5 spoilers, but obviously don't listen to this if you're still catching up to the show.

He sounds like such a nice guy.

Just listened to this. Enjoyed it quite a bit.

[epilogue]

Thought some might be interested in this if they haven't seen it yet:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/24/op...sue.html?_r=1&

Anna Gunn in The Times writing about the fanbase perception of her character. (full text inside the spoiler)

Spoiler: show

Originally Posted by Anna Gunn
LOS ANGELES — PLAYING Skyler White on the television show “Breaking Bad” for the past five seasons has been one of the most rewarding creative journeys I’ve embarked on as an actor. But the role has also taken me on another kind of journey — one I never would have imagined.

My character, to judge from the popularity of Web sites and Facebook pages devoted to hating her, has become a flash point for many people’s feelings about strong, nonsubmissive, ill-treated women. As the hatred of Skyler blurred into loathing for me as a person, I saw glimpses of an anger that, at first, simply bewildered me.

For those unfamiliar with the show: Skyler is the wife of Walter White, a high-school chemistry teacher who, after learning he has lung cancer, begins cooking and selling methamphetamine to leave a nest egg for Skyler, their teenage son and their unborn daughter. After his prognosis improves, however, Walter continues in the drug trade — with considerable success — descending deeper and deeper into a life of crime.

When Skyler discovers what Walter has been up to, she tries to stop him, to no avail. She is outraged by the violence and destruction of the drug world, fearful for her children’s safety, disgusted by the money Walter brings in and undone by the lies and manipulation to which he subjects her.

Because Walter is the show’s protagonist, there is a natural tendency to empathize with and root for him, despite his moral failings. (That viewers can identify with this antihero is also a testament to how deftly his character is written and acted.) As the one character who consistently opposes Walter and calls him on his lies, Skyler is, in a sense, his antagonist. So from the beginning, I was aware that she might not be the show’s most popular character.

But I was unprepared for the vitriolic response she inspired. Thousands of people have “liked” the Facebook page “I Hate Skyler White.” Tens of thousands have “liked” a similar Facebook page with a name that cannot be printed here. When people started telling me about the “hate boards” for Skyler on the Web site for AMC, the network that broadcasts the show, I knew it was probably best not to look, but I wanted to understand what was happening.

A typical online post complained that Skyler was a “shrieking, hypocritical harpy” and didn’t “deserve the great life she has.”

“I have never hated a TV-show character as much as I hate her,” one poster wrote. The consensus among the haters was clear: Skyler was a ball-and-chain, a drag, a shrew, an “annoying bitch wife.”

I enjoy taking on complex, difficult characters and have always striven to capture the truth of those people, whether or not it’s popular. Vince Gilligan, the creator of “Breaking Bad,” wanted Skyler to be a woman with a backbone of steel who would stand up to whatever came her way, who wouldn’t just collapse in the corner or wring her hands in despair. He and the show’s writers made Skyler multilayered and, in her own way, morally compromised. But at the end of the day, she hasn’t been judged by the same set of standards as Walter.

As an actress, I realize that viewers are entitled to have whatever feelings they want about the characters they watch. But as a human being, I’m concerned that so many people react to Skyler with such venom. Could it be that they can’t stand a woman who won’t suffer silently or “stand by her man”? That they despise her because she won’t back down or give up? Or because she is, in fact, Walter’s equal?

It’s notable that viewers have expressed similar feelings about other complex TV wives — Carmela Soprano of “The Sopranos,” Betty Draper of “Mad Men.” Male characters don’t seem to inspire this kind of public venting and vitriol.

At some point on the message boards, the character of Skyler seemed to drop out of the conversation, and people transferred their negative feelings directly to me. The already harsh online comments became outright personal attacks. One such post read: “Could somebody tell me where I can find Anna Gunn so I can kill her?” Besides being frightened (and taking steps to ensure my safety), I was also astonished: how had disliking a character spiraled into homicidal rage at the actress playing her?

But I finally realized that most people’s hatred of Skyler had little to do with me and a lot to do with their own perception of women and wives. Because Skyler didn’t conform to a comfortable ideal of the archetypical female, she had become a kind of Rorschach test for society, a measure of our attitudes toward gender.

I can’t say that I have enjoyed being the center of the storm of Skyler hate. But in the end, I’m glad that this discussion has happened, that it has taken place in public and that it has illuminated some of the dark and murky corners that we often ignore or pretend aren’t still there in our everyday lives.

[@SkitchP]

Thought some might be interested in this if they haven't seen it yet:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/24/op...sue.html?_r=1&

Anna Gunn in The Times writing about the fanbase perception of her character. (full text inside the spoiler)

Spoiler: show

Originally Posted by Anna Gunn
LOS ANGELES — PLAYING Skyler White on the television show “Breaking Bad” for the past five seasons has been one of the most rewarding creative journeys I’ve embarked on as an actor. But the role has also taken me on another kind of journey — one I never would have imagined.

My character, to judge from the popularity of Web sites and Facebook pages devoted to hating her, has become a flash point for many people’s feelings about strong, nonsubmissive, ill-treated women. As the hatred of Skyler blurred into loathing for me as a person, I saw glimpses of an anger that, at first, simply bewildered me.

For those unfamiliar with the show: Skyler is the wife of Walter White, a high-school chemistry teacher who, after learning he has lung cancer, begins cooking and selling methamphetamine to leave a nest egg for Skyler, their teenage son and their unborn daughter. After his prognosis improves, however, Walter continues in the drug trade — with considerable success — descending deeper and deeper into a life of crime.

When Skyler discovers what Walter has been up to, she tries to stop him, to no avail. She is outraged by the violence and destruction of the drug world, fearful for her children’s safety, disgusted by the money Walter brings in and undone by the lies and manipulation to which he subjects her.

Because Walter is the show’s protagonist, there is a natural tendency to empathize with and root for him, despite his moral failings. (That viewers can identify with this antihero is also a testament to how deftly his character is written and acted.) As the one character who consistently opposes Walter and calls him on his lies, Skyler is, in a sense, his antagonist. So from the beginning, I was aware that she might not be the show’s most popular character.

But I was unprepared for the vitriolic response she inspired. Thousands of people have “liked” the Facebook page “I Hate Skyler White.” Tens of thousands have “liked” a similar Facebook page with a name that cannot be printed here. When people started telling me about the “hate boards” for Skyler on the Web site for AMC, the network that broadcasts the show, I knew it was probably best not to look, but I wanted to understand what was happening.

A typical online post complained that Skyler was a “shrieking, hypocritical harpy” and didn’t “deserve the great life she has.”

“I have never hated a TV-show character as much as I hate her,” one poster wrote. The consensus among the haters was clear: Skyler was a ball-and-chain, a drag, a shrew, an “annoying bitch wife.”

I enjoy taking on complex, difficult characters and have always striven to capture the truth of those people, whether or not it’s popular. Vince Gilligan, the creator of “Breaking Bad,” wanted Skyler to be a woman with a backbone of steel who would stand up to whatever came her way, who wouldn’t just collapse in the corner or wring her hands in despair. He and the show’s writers made Skyler multilayered and, in her own way, morally compromised. But at the end of the day, she hasn’t been judged by the same set of standards as Walter.

As an actress, I realize that viewers are entitled to have whatever feelings they want about the characters they watch. But as a human being, I’m concerned that so many people react to Skyler with such venom. Could it be that they can’t stand a woman who won’t suffer silently or “stand by her man”? That they despise her because she won’t back down or give up? Or because she is, in fact, Walter’s equal?

It’s notable that viewers have expressed similar feelings about other complex TV wives — Carmela Soprano of “The Sopranos,” Betty Draper of “Mad Men.” Male characters don’t seem to inspire this kind of public venting and vitriol.

At some point on the message boards, the character of Skyler seemed to drop out of the conversation, and people transferred their negative feelings directly to me. The already harsh online comments became outright personal attacks. One such post read: “Could somebody tell me where I can find Anna Gunn so I can kill her?” Besides being frightened (and taking steps to ensure my safety), I was also astonished: how had disliking a character spiraled into homicidal rage at the actress playing her?

But I finally realized that most people’s hatred of Skyler had little to do with me and a lot to do with their own perception of women and wives. Because Skyler didn’t conform to a comfortable ideal of the archetypical female, she had become a kind of Rorschach test for society, a measure of our attitudes toward gender.

I can’t say that I have enjoyed being the center of the storm of Skyler hate. But in the end, I’m glad that this discussion has happened, that it has taken place in public and that it has illuminated some of the dark and murky corners that we often ignore or pretend aren’t still there in our everyday lives.

meh. She doesnt even leave open the possibility that maybe people dont like Skyler because of the way she performs in the role.

Detective Kay Howard, Kimma Greggs, Sister Peter Marie on OZ all were STRONG female characters in a drama that people loved for how strong they were. They didnt fill the traditional woman role on any of their shows. Why? Because their performances were incredible.

[epilogue]

I actually like Skyler a lot more than most. But I think whatever is wrong with Skyler is in the writing. I have no problem with her performance.

[Jorge]

I actually like Skyler a lot more than most. But I think whatever is wrong with Skyler is in the writing. I have no problem with her performance.

I agree, there are some strange inconsistencies in her character

[Strat]

I actually like Skyler a lot more than most. But I think whatever is wrong with Skyler is in the writing. I have no problem with her performance.

Skyler is annoying as a character but I think that is because of the writing of her character. Her acting is pretty damn solid and definitely holds her own against the power house that has become cranston....

But I dont think this Op-Ed piece was about that. I think she is gently saying "get a fucking life, idiots". Death threats.

[@SkitchP]

I dont know as much about acting as d.t so I will defer to him and admit the possibility that I am wrong.

[The Argonaut]

Skylar White is perhaps the worst written character on a great TV show (and easily the worst acted.) That is what people hate about her. Carmela Soprano and Betty Draper are fascinating characters. Every time I think about The Sopranos in depth, I remember the scene when Carmela goes the therapist who tells her to take the children and leave her husband, and what the implications of her not heeding that advice mean for her whole family. Mad Men is a show about living in a man's world, and Betty Draper is a great character, well acted and well written. Anna Gunn is just plain wrong in this editorial.

[Harry Lime]

Unless they do something with him soon, I think Walter Jr. is underwritten. Maybe it's the lack of faith in R.J. Mitte as an actor, but you can't just have him eat breakfast & act oblivious every time he's on camera.

[verb_to_trust]

I'm surprised there wasn't a Walt Jr. blue meth abuse storyline. Seems too late now....

Excited to see Pinkman hopefully get some dialogue tonight.

[Jorge]

Excited to see Pinkman hopefully get some dialogue tonight.

[EJ]

Unless they do something with him soon, I think Walter Jr. is underwritten. Maybe it's the lack of faith in R.J. Mitte as an actor, but you can't just have him eat breakfast & act oblivious every time he's on camera.

I love those breakfast table scenes.