Some choice quotes:
There's a lot more in the interview, going through each scene and discussing the writing, directing, and acting decisions that went into this incredible episode.
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The Fall of the Meth King: An Oral History of the Best 'Breaking Bad' Episode Ever
- Thread starter BDS
- Start date
Some choice quotes:
There's a lot more in the interview, going through each scene and discussing the writing, directing, and acting decisions that went into this incredible episode.
I remember the first time I saw that episode. I was legit shook on a level I haven't been watching something in forever. Still the best even when I think back on it.
edit: great read too
edit: great read too
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Amazing episode. I like how he wasn't brought down by geniuses or intellectual equals, but by his own hubris leading to an utter destruction of his life, empire, and the lives of others by a group of rather dull and brutish animals.
I know people call the final episode and undeserving power fantasy, and maybe it was in some ways, but he hardly ended on a positive note. Everything was gone and nobody would ever respect him after he was dead, and this episode hammered that home.
I know people call the final episode and undeserving power fantasy, and maybe it was in some ways, but he hardly ended on a positive note. Everything was gone and nobody would ever respect him after he was dead, and this episode hammered that home.
Reading the quotes in the OP have me confused . . . was Anna Gunn targeted by haters for her portrayal as Skyler? Why? She was incredible in the series.
It's a great episode, but Face Off will always be GOAT to me. They could have ended it there and it would still be a strong ending. The music at the end always gets me.
Watching this episode in a full theater was literally my favorite theater-going experience. The deathly silent shock when the screen cut to black and the commercial break started after Walt drives off with Holly with Skyler screaming and crying on the street broken by a sudden and humorous "Holy Shit!" from one of the audience members was why I risk going to the theater to watch media im passionate about. Ever single second of this episode was legitimate perfection. Acting, directing, cinematography, pacing, oof so good.
Incidentally, Rian Johnson has been largely responsible for my favorite and least favorite theater going experience. (TLJ) But this episode cemented Rian Johnson as one of the best directors in Hollywood for me despite that movie.
Incidentally, Rian Johnson has been largely responsible for my favorite and least favorite theater going experience. (TLJ) But this episode cemented Rian Johnson as one of the best directors in Hollywood for me despite that movie.
She definitely was. Every one and their mother hated her. It was widely known when the show was on TV.
I watched the last three seasons as they aired, but stayed away from any of the 'chat' shows that aired after and didn't even really read up on the show during it's run at all, so I had no idea. Very odd.
Yes, and it ran the gamut from "she's an ice queen" to "she's not hot enough" to "Walter should have killed her after she fucked Ted" to "why doesn't she unquestioningly support her evil husband 100% of the time doesn't she care about how hard he works to take care of her???"
Basically typical misogynystic bullshit. She was incredible.
So the actress was targeted because of how the character she portrayed was written? That is fucked.
Edit - And im basically derailing at this point. Thanks for the responses.
I felt very strongly about her as the show aired, but on my rewatch (currently on season 3) I'm much more sympathetic to her.
I became physically ill when Hank was shot. Holy fucking shit.
Then the struggle at the White residence with the knife and Walter taking Holly while Skyler is left devastated in the street. My God I don't know if any film or television series will ever match that level of emotion that I felt.
Then the struggle at the White residence with the knife and Walter taking Holly while Skyler is left devastated in the street. My God I don't know if any film or television series will ever match that level of emotion that I felt.
That was probably the most intense, on the edge of my seat, nail biting episode I've ever witnessed. First Hank, then the fight at the house. Anna Gunn dropping to her knees out in the street. Holy crap!
The whole last half of season 5 was non-stop suspense and thrills that I'm not sure will ever be topped in television, and Ozymandias was definitely the episode that the entire show was building up towards and they handled it perfectly.
Well, yeah, it was fairly typical to read responses about hating Skyler.
As far as all that goes, I think it's a little too pat-on-the-back for the showmakers to talk about how Skyler was right all along etc, and for fans. Kneejerk sexism obviously played a part in how much shit people gave the character, but she was written as an insufferable, ignorant suburbanite in the first season of the show and this impression is the foundation of her character. She develops later on into someone more complex, but it was the mistakes made early on in the show that I think made it such a big thing.
They thought they were a 'dramedy' type show so they gave Skyler some broad characteristics and put her in the position of being a foil for her husband who was up to no good and placed her in opposition to the action of the show itself. Basically a dramatic roadblock, with irritating personality traits like condescension. It was a fundamental flaw in the initial design of the show that they later managed to mostly outgrow, but the conception of her character was lazy and hackneyed and she really didn't deserve much respect in the early going. It was present in other characters too - Hank was an absolute lunkhead early on, they subdued that heavily, Marie was vacuous and dishonest, they subdued that - basically dropped all of her storylines that didn't involve Hank entirely, except for one episode in early season 4.
All of these broad character traits were the ones that were supposed to represent the comedy aspect of the show and they were pushed way into the background as, I assume, they realised that they weren't actually particularly funny and were a detriment to the drama of the show, which is what people were tuning in for anyway. As the show got serious, Skyler's dramatic function in the show didn't change enough to fully shake loose of her early characterisation and so some of the vitriol remained, but she did get a lot more interesting as the show went on.
There's a lot of detail you could go into about the show Breaking Bad was probably pitched as opposed to the show it became.
I just watched the episode again this evening after seeing it brought up a couple times in the last few days. It still has that emotional gut-punch all these years later, and watching it now after seeing TLJ I can see the Rian Johnson "style" coming through even more.
agreed
holy shit all that stuff with gus was so intense a the time on my first watch
what's really amazing, though, is on the rewatch realizing almost all of the tension was just Walt's paranoia.
Meh thought the last season was the worst of all the seasons. Don't remember a single episode other than when Walter shot Mike.
Season 4 is still the GOAT
Season 4 is still the GOAT
Not too different than the treatment the actresses from the Ghostbusters reboot and The Last Jedi got.
There was this really weird cult of personality fandom that developed around Heisenberg who considered him justified in anything he did, so any character opposing him got a toxic backlash, with Skyler and Anna Gunn in particular taking the brunt of it.a
And looking back, she played Skylar so well. She got so many people to invoke emotions of hatred because of how she "treated walter." However i hated her for cheating on him during that dumb subplot.
Evidently people ended up harassing the actress on Twitter and everything awful because people are the worst.
He singlehandedly wiped out a gang of Nazis, told Lydia IN YOUR FACE WOOO, then conveniently stopped existing. Pretty sweet deal compared to less preposterous outcomes, like dying of cancer in prison.
Not the best but def. top 5. I roll my eyes when people say it's the worst episode of BB. Like, don't even get me started. Shit was a masterpiece.
I just rewatched breaking bad recently and I was so excited to get to this episode again. And it's still amazing.
The ultimate point for me when Flynn and Walt get on a full fightclub mode. What a beautiful nonetheless.
Also, like I always says. A good litmus test whether someone's a trash human being is if they trashed Skyler and rooted for walt.
Also, like I always says. A good litmus test whether someone's a trash human being is if they trashed Skyler and rooted for walt.
In isolation, sure, it can be viewed as a "Fuck yeah, Walt is awesome" ending, but it isn't. In context of the series. Jesse is mentally, emotionally and physically damaged for life, a boy is without his mother, Marie lost her husband and Gomez's family is damaged. His son hates him, his wife is conflicted and will probably grow to hate him again, and in an incredibly bad spot financially and legally (for the time being at least). His daughter will only know the legacy of a monster, and while he set up a financial future for his children he did it through threat of violence and manipulation, and they are getting blood money without knowing it.
So he killed some Nazis and poisoned and ewuallu villainous character, and escapaed justice, but nothing about that ending is celebratory in context of the series progression.
