Sweet 16 (New Dramas): Breaking Bad vs. Succession • Page 2

this is wild. the first season and a half isn't good at all. no one talked about it in the pantheon it's currently in until the Gus season. the second half of the series very clearly is much better than the first. it is pretty far from perfection lol.

 

yep yep, there were two or three of these a season the first half

 

The first season of Breaking Bad plays like a bad sitcom. Season two hanging all of the suspense of the season in the flash-forwards, only for it to be the airplane crash, is a silly payoff.

Breaking Bad was at its best when it stopped trying to be a serious drama like the shows it gets compared to and became a much more lean show that focused on crime and action. Singular episodes like the train robbery are much better than the buildup they tried to do early on.

 

yep

 

I thought the first 2 seasons were pretty good, but yeah it obviously took off to another level after that. But some of the small moments of Walt kinda finding his inner Heisenberg were pretty great. “Climb down out of my ass” (lol) and “stay out of my territory” were great. My wife and I use that first line a lot now when one of us is pestering the other

 

To each their own. I watched it from day 1 and was hooked week to week and never found myself having a negative reaction to an episode or felt like id just watched a down week. After each episode, id hop on IMDB and discuss the episode and the teaser for the following week. I have gone back and watched it a couple of times, and i still think season 1 holds up very well and is far from corny or a sitcom.

The only legit complaint i get, is that the season 2 resolution is pretty silly but its patched over without much problem. The payoff was not equal to the tease, and its one of the few moments that it got a little too silly for me. That and the face off moment is more cartoony than bad ass.

Its still my favorite drama series on an episode to episode basis.

 

that’s fine, you’re allowed to like it and have it be your favorite. nothing about what i said is hot take-y though, it’s borderline consensus at this point

 

I'll take the first three seasons of Breaking Bad over the first three of Succession or most shows to be honest.

I remember it being talked about as the best thing on TV as early as season 2. It just took until 3/4 before everyone started watching it.

 

people have been saying the same about succession since the bachelor party episode in season 1

the amount of people that watched the first season of breaking bad is not the problem with the first season of breaking bad lol

 

Succession's first 3 seasons have been better than Breaking Bad's first 3 seasons but it's still too early to tell if the show will stick the landing in the way that breaking bad did as well completely change culture.... So BB it is

 

right. that is the toughest thing about these polls vs. the movie ones. realistically, shows that haven’t finished their run probably shouldn’t have made it this far. but at least with the movie version of recency bias, it was still a finished product.

 

Did Breaking Bad's ending really change culture? As far as popular TV show endings, it is one of the most by-the-numbers. The protagonist gets revenge on everyone, "saves" what is left of his family, and then dies for his sins.

 

I guess to me it's a bit of a hot take as I've never heard it before. I had no idea that the beginning of breaking bad was considered by consensus to be a pretty weak start. I know people that just don't like it, but I think it's more because of the type of show it is, than the fact that it's bad execution. I won't argue that the show gets better as it goes on, no doubt, but it got better from an already high point.

I don't think the ending was 'culture changing.' but it definitely was a satisfying ending that wrapped everything up without breaking stride and having to reverse course on anything. I think it will always be in people's memories as an example of how to end a show right. I don't think I've ever heard a single person say 'wow, the ending of BB sucked'. While it wasn't a great show, The Shield is the only other series finale that left me as satisfied (for dramas).

Either way, for the point of this thread, since it's succession vs bb, I'll take my bb love out of here and maybe go watch succession.

 

Imo beginning of breaking bad is good and most of the series is just a live action cartoon so I don’t see much worse about how it starts than how it continues. Hits its stride when Jane shows up, sure.

 

This is just making me want to watch Breaking Bad again. I looove the first season lol. Sets up the rest of the show perfectly.

 

Since there's alot of BB fans in here. I was told to check out Ozark because I love BB. Only got through the first season and couldn't get into it. Worth watching the whole series?

 

The ending of Breaking Bad requires you to suspend your disbelief that the Nazis would steal most of Walter's fortune after killing his brother-in-law against his pleas but leave him alive. Walter White, the man they met when he was hiring contract killers. Then they threaten his family for good measure, knowing he is still out there with millions of dollars and a reason for revenge.

 

This is maybe the maddest I’ve ever been at the “payoff” in a show. The plane crash thing is so dumb

 

IIRC, doesn't Todd convince his uncle to keep him alive in case they need him later for the meth business? I've only seen the episode once so hard to remember