Noticed that my Breaking Bad DVR timer is blowing up over the next two weeks leading up to the season 3 premiere, they are showing the complete first 2 seasons apparently 2-3 times. So people there are no excuses not to set your timers now and get caught up on this incredible show.
The "Breaking Bad" gang might be the most well-spoken cast and crew on television.
The audience was given a taste of it Wednesday evening when the subversive AMC drama was celebrated during PaleyFest. After a special screening of the upcoming Season 3 premiere, the panelists -- led by Bryan Cranston ("Malcolm in the Middle") and creator Vince Gilligan ("The X Files") -- rolled off detailed script descriptions from the pilot like it was still firmly ingrained in their minds.
"The most shocking was the exploding turtle," Dean Norris (Hank) said, when asked about the show's standout moments.
"When I read the first page of the pilot script ... I was like, 'What the f***?!' And that was page one!," Cranston (Walt) recalled. "I knew the longer I waited, every actor in Hollywood would want to do it."
Anna Gunn (Skyler) said the moments that interested her were the unexpected ones. "The way things turn on a dime ... the way that the humor and the danger turns is what fascinates me," she said.
For Aaron Paul (Jesse), reading the first script was like a match made in heaven. "When I first read the pilot, I thought, 'There is no f***ing way this show is getting made,' " he said. "You talked about the melting the body in acid ... I found myself laughing to tears!"
R.J. Mitte (Walt Jr.) agreed. "It (the show) really pushes the envelope. There's no show on TV that can put the family [dynamic] next to the [drug-making]," the young actor said.
The two planes crashing at the end of Season 2 was eye-opening, mainly because Walt was an indirect catalyst of the catastrophic event. And in the Season 3 premiere, which airs Sunday, March 21 at 10 p.m., a huge reveal is made about Walt's on-the-side job that will have an adverse effect on his family and bring up many more questions.
"It is so much about trying to work it so the audience is ... a step behind you," Gilligan said. "It was so hard last season to keep Skyler (Walt's wife) in the dark [because she was] too smart a lady."
Because Walt and Skyler's marriage is in some aspects, a lie, would his wife ever embrace his drug-making and drug-dealing ways if it were to come to that? "There's certainly allure to forbidden fruit," Cranston said. "He has to embrace who he's becoming in order to survive. He has to start thinking like a criminal."
"Now that she knows ... the basic fact is the bottom falling out of her life," Gunn said. "Everything she thought she knew in her life isn't the truth anymore."
"Breaking Bad's" premise is not for the faint of heart. There is "so much wrong about the show that they must be doing something right," the panel's moderator said earlier. So have the writers crossed that invisible line yet?
"He (Vince) described Season 1 [to be] about a good man who makes a mistake and compounds that mistake," executive producer Mark Johnson said. For the second season, they weren't sure if Walt was a good man. In the upcoming Season 3, "we'll have a whole new definition," he said. "It's a whole new animal ... but it's still a family show!" Cue laughter.
"My character is metamorphasizing from one character to another," Cranston said. "At the end of the series, he's going to be a bloodthirsty killer." "I don't really know myself. I don't have an endgame," Gilligan added.
"You don't have an inkling?," Cranston asked. "The characters tell the writers where to go," Gillgan said. "We explore without a map and with a flashlight. We don't BS our way through."
When asked if Walt, who has terminal cancer, would enjoy himself for at least half an episode, Cranston was completely on board with the idea. "It feels like he needs a break, doesn't he?," he said. "He has never felt more alive now that he's gotten his death sentence."
Gilligan, known for many fans' favorite "X Files" episodes, was plotting to kill off one of the characters by the ninth episode of Season 1, but because of the writers' strike, rethought his plans. That character was Jesse. (Paul was nominated for an Emmy in 2009.) "I didn't know how damn good this guy was," Gillgan said of Paul. "We knew by episode two just how good you were. It came early on just how colossal of a mistake that was."
In the opening scene of the premiere, Gilligan said the Santa Muerte religion (which is based on Catholicism) played a big role in the initial idea. In it, "one prays to death itself" and though it is seemingly dark, it isn't an evil religion, just an interesting one.
When Gilligan and his crew began pitching the show to networks, someone brought up Showtime's "Weeds," which at that time was just beginning its TV run. "Oh no, it's different," Gilligan said. "It's crystal meth!"
During the Q&A portion, a member of the audience noted that the Season 2 episode titles clued viewers in. Would there be a similar thing in Season 3? "Because we did it once, we don't want to do it again," Gillgan explained.
And how long should "Breaking Bad" stay on the air? "I would hope we'd know an end date," Gilligan said. "Any serialized show should [have an idea when they're ending]."
"How many episodes do you need for syndication?," Cranston joked. "Walt's French cousin comes to visit -- that's not jumping the shark. Walt Jr. has a sex change. [in a deep MovieFone voice] On a special episode of 'Breaking Bad' ..."
In hindsight, the decision to shoot in New Mexico was a blessing in disguise, but Riverside was a close second. The only reason they settled on New Mexico was because of the 25% tax incentive.
A fan asked Cranston if anyone had reservations about casting him in a dramatic role after seven years on "Malcolm in the Middle." "The business has a tendency to pigeon-hole people ... so we try to reinvent ourselves," he said. "It's one of those things that you kinda just have to go after."
When did Cranston realize Walt could pull off his "Scarface"-esque character? "[It was in Season 1,] Walt had finished chemotherapy and the doctor tells him he'll feel normal again," he said. "He wakes up, sees hair grow back and picks up a razor." It was that specific scene that solidified Walt as a man who wanted to sustain his current status, according to Cranston.
3.01 - No Mas
In the third-season premiere, Walt faces a new threat on a new front and deals with an increasingly angry Skyler, who must consider what to do next with her life and the kids'. Meanwhile, Jesse comes face-to-face with some startling self-revelations.
3.02 - Caballo Sin Nombre
Despite ever-increasing tension between Walt and Skyler, he pulls out all the stops in an effort to reconcile with the family. Elsewhere, Saul is instrumental in getting Jesse involved in a most-unusual investment opportunity.
3.03 - I.F.T.
Walt disregards Skyler's demands and the rift between them widens dramatically, pushing her to take even more drastic steps. Meanwhile, continuing anxiety and panic attacks plague Hank, which leads to a serious situation at the DEA.
There's an article on metacritic, and among other things it says:
Quote:
"Breaking Bad" boasts some of the best photography you’ll ever see on television. We’ve seen the first episode of season three (directed by Cranston), and it is fantastic, and points to an interesting season that can go in a number of different directions.
Just a friendly reminder that Sunday brings the return of "Breaking Bad," one of the best dramas on television (you can read my reviews of last season here). I've seen the first three episodes of season three, and they're very strong.
Meanwhile, today is the release of "Breaking Bad: The Complete Second Season" on DVD. Giving potential new viewers only five days to catch up isn't ideal (and unlike the similarly-tight window between the "Chuck" season two DVD release and season three premiere, can't be blamed on the TV premiere date moving up unexpectedly), but the episodes really hold up (and look gorgeous on DVD), and with DVRs and On Demand, you can let season three episodes pile up until you finish.
A fairly healthy dose of extras, too: at least one commentary on each of the four discs (and Bryan Cranston and Vince Gilligan keep things very light but informative), behind-the-scenes documentaries on every episode, 11 other featurettes, deleted scenes, and a bunch of hilarious webisodes from last season. (Warning: the one involving Hank and Marie's love life may have scarred me a little.)
I own both seasons on DVD, and got them for a lot cheaper than the $30 a season being charged. I absolutely love this show, but wouldn't pay $30 for 7 episodes. I'm not rich, I work for a living.
I bought both even though the price is really high. But since so many people are saying how good this show is I figured I'd check it out. Haven't watched it yet, I'll probably start on Saturday.
Those who like unicorns, rainbows and happy endings won't find much comfort in AMC's ingenious tragicomedy about a meth-dealing chemistry teacher with cancer.
But Breaking Bad is hilarious—and shocking, scary and heartbreaking. And the third season, which premieres TONIGHT, "is bigger and badder than any season that's come before it," show runner Vince Gilligan tells us exclusively.
Bigger and badder than season two's tragic events? (Season-two spoiler alert: Bryan Cranston's Walt tries to rationalize the disaster to Aaron Paul's devastated Jesse in the video clip. Oh yes, Gilligan and the award-winning cast insisted to us.
"Death to the Enemy": TONIGHT's premiere (directed by the Emmy-winning star Bryan Cranston) definitely brings the crazy: In the opening scene, a group of Mexicans, including two superscary hit men (Daniel and Luis Moncada, featured in the video clip above), crawl on the dirt toward a shrine, where they post a drawing of Heisenberg/Walt. Say what? Show runner Vince Gilligan explains that this is a ritual of "hardcore adherents to the Santa Muerte religion" (favored by drug dealers and gangers), and placing Walt's likeness among the skeletal figures proclaims him as their target.
But Walt's decision to continue working with Pollos kingpin Gus might actually save his life. As Bryan Cranston told us at the Paley TV Fest, "Walt has to now embrace who he really is. He has to start learning to be a criminal. Because that's who he is. He can't fake it anymore—he can't say, 'I'm doing this just for my family.' He's been seduced by the power."
Partners in Crime: Sadly, Jesse (Aaron Paul) and Walt go their separate ways at the beginning of the season. Aaron told us, "Jesse blames himself and his drug for killing his girl. He wants to give it a strong valiant effort to stay clean and sober, go down the straight and narrow—but we all know how that turns out." Ruh-roh. Until Jesse and Walt restore what Bryan Cranston calls their "natural polarity," Walt will have a new partner in Gale, played by David Constable (Damages and Flight of the Conchords). Gale, says Gilligan, "is a brilliant chemist in his own right and loves chemistry—knows it inside and out—and he's a lover of the arts, poetry and classical music. He's kind of everything Jesse is not."
Dr. Frankenstein: Walt has essentially made a monster out of naive Jesse, says Gilligan: "[At the beginning of the series], even though Jesse is a meth dealer, he's actually a pretty sweet, innocent guy, with kind of a moral compass that works more accurately than Walt's does. But you gotta figure a guy who's been around Walter White as much as Jesse has been may indeed inadvertently find himself becoming a darker individual because of that." Adds Aaron Paul: "Jesse truly believes he's the bad guy" in season three: "There's no love in his life anymore," he told us.
Fatal Attraction: What about a rebound romance for Jesse? "Possibly," hints Aaron. "All I will say is that this season is much darker and much more intense. There is some seduction that comes into play this season, that is for sure." Hmmm...sounds kind of sexy, no?
Post-Traumatic Mess: DEA Agent Hank has a "big strong character arc" this season, Dean Norris told us, dealing specifically with his PTSD. In episode three, "We'll really start to get into the dark, murky psyche of Hank and how it then affects his ability to chase this bad guy [i.e., Walt]...But interestingly, Hank's on the trail. He's hot on the trail. He comes within literally inches, but nobody believes him. Only the audience sees that Hank is right"—even though he hasn't identified Heisenberg.
Looks like at least Walt won't be arrested this season. Whew! But wait: "We're going to keep it real," says show runner Gilligan. "We have not forgotten Walt has cancer."
OK, that's pretty dark.
Breaking Bad premieres TONIGHT, March 21 at 10 p.m. on AMC
"Breaking Bad," one of the best dramas on TV, is back. I reviewed the new season generally in Friday's column, and I have a spoiler-y review of the season premiere coming up just as soon as I give my car keys to a goat...
"People move on. They just move on. And we will move on. We will get past this. Because that is what human beings do. We survive. We survive and we overcome." -Walt
"You either run from things, or you face them, Mr. White... I learned it in rehab, it's all about accepting who you really are. I accept who I am." -Jesse
"And who are you?" -Walt
"I'm the bad guy." -Jesse
"You're a drug dealer." -Skyler
Season two of "Breaking Bad" opened on a bit of macabre imagery (the eyeball floating in the pool) that we needed the whole season to fully understand. Season three's premiere (once again directed by Bryan Cranston, with the usual brilliant assistance from director of photography Michael Slovis) begins with another arresting image, only this time its meaning is apparent within minutes.
We head south of the border again to see an old Mexican man crawling desperately through the dirt. Is he injured? Dying of thirst? And why on earth won't anyone in this small village stop to help him, or even notice him? But then our angle changes, and we see that the old man is just one of many people crawling. (What. The. Hell? Is going on here? I asked myself as I watched this.) They're soon joined by two dangerous-looking men in shiny suits with skulls on their boots, who without comment get down on their bellys and inch their way towards a shrine in the desert, where they say a prayer and pin up a totem of the object of their prayer: a rough pencil sketch of the man the cartel knows as Heisenberg, and that we know as Walter White.
Many of you kept expecting the cartel to be responsible for the carnage at Walt's house and were surprised (and/or disappointed) when the plane crash was revealed. But it turns out the cartel was only delayed, and there is no way this can end especially well for Walt.
But up in Albuquerque, Walt has no idea these two fearsome men (referred to in the scripts as "the Cousins") are on their way. Instead, he and Jesse and Skyler are all grappling with the events from the end of last season: Jane's death, the crash it ultimately caused, and Skyler's astute decision to banish Walt from her life.
One hundred and sixty-seven people died in that crash, to be added to the butcher's bill after Jane, and Combo, and Spooge, and Tuco, and Krazy 8 and Emilio, and all the victims of the blue meth we never see. So many dead, so much pain caused, nearly all of it traced back to Walt's decision to enter the drug trade...
... and Walt still doesn't get it. He stands in front of that school assembly (in a scene that's just unbearable to get through, for all the right reasons) and makes everyone there feel horrible just to alleviate his own guilt. He tells Jesse to blame the government.
Even when he's not lying to others, he's lying to himself. In the riveting scene where Skyler confronts Walt about the drug-dealing - which, in that "Breaking Bad" way, becomes simultaneously hilarious because of how she keeps underestimating the depth of the situation (and because Bryan Cranston's reactions are priceless) - Walt has no choice but to finally lay everything out for her. But at the end of the confession, he assumes the honesty will finally start to repair things between them, when in fact it's only made things worse.
Jesse gets it. He comes out of rehab having accepted that he's the bad guy: that Jane would still be alive if she'd never crossed his path, and that in turn the planes wouldn't have crashed. And if he can't forgive himself, he can at least take the rehab counselor's advice to be "good enough to be okay with who and what you are." But Jesse can do this because he's never had Walt's capacity for self-deception, nor the obsessive pride that keeps Walt from opening up emotionally to others. Walt could never have the conversation that Jesse has with the counselor, nor could he have ever accepted the man's advice. His only method of coping is to deny and power through - to survive and overcome, no matter the emotional cost to those around him.
And if Walt's trying to escape his drug-dealing past (even refusing a "Godfather"-level offer Gus Frings couldn't have expected him to refuse), something tells me the Cousins (and whoever sent them) won't let him. And then survival becomes a very, very open question.
Some other thoughts on "No Mas":
• Vince Gilligan, who wrote this one, gave Cranston plenty of cool material to shoot with the Cousins (who very much come off like a silent pair of Anton Chigurhs from "No Country For Old Men"): not just the opening crawl, but them silently stealing the farmer's clothes (which surprisingly fit them, since they both look bigger than him), and then blowing up the coyote truck because that one poor bastard recognized what the skulls on their boots meant (and could therefore identify them later to law-enforcement). And speaking of which...
• The Cousins are played, in fact, by a pair of brothers, only one of whom had any acting experience: Luis Moncada (the actor) and his brother Daniel (the rookie). Basically, they loved Luis's audition and asked if he had any relatives who looked like him. Both have screen presence to burn, as well as the self-possession to not flinch when the truck blew up. I asked Gilligan about that scene, just to confirm my assumption that it was a practical special effect and not something created later by computers. Vince wrote:
No CG! That was definitely a practical effect, Alan -- the two Cousins were sixty feet from the truck when it blew up (although it looks like they were even closer than that due to the long lens which was used on the camera). All that flaming stuff you see raining down around them -- and even in FRONT of them, if you look closely enough
-- was truly there, and not added in afterwards. I'm so proud of Luis and Daniel Moncada for the way they pulled that off. Bryan Cranston, their director, told them we'd get only one take at it, so they'd better not flinch... and by God, they didn't!
• Between the matches Walt likes to light and then toss, the teddy bear and other airplane debris, and now the barbecue full of burning drug money, it seems like there's always something flaming landing in the White family pool, isn't there? Walt's guilt-ridden attempt to burn the money was one of his few moments of non-denial in the hour, but of course he wimped out, because burning the money would mean everything he did was for nothing.
• Loved Skyler's reaction when her new divorce lawyer tells her that spouses are adept at hiding all kinds of insane things from each other. If she only knew...
• Because Walt was so convincingly established at the start of this series as this milquetoast guy that no one would ever suspect of being a drug lord, we can have those occasional comic moments when he tells the absolute truth about himself to someone else (in this case, telling Hank that the duffel bag is full of cash) and have the other person laugh it off as Walt making a funny.
• Because this show is shot on a modest cable budget, I'm always amazed at the scope the directors and Slovis are able to create. I don't know if the school assembly scene was full of real students/extras, or if most of them were computer-generated, but it effectively conveyed how many people were affected by the airplane tragedy.
• That was Jere Burns as the rehab counselor. He's best-known as a sitcom actor. but like many comedy types, he can pretty easily make the transition to drama (see also the fella with two Emmys on his shelf for playing Walter White). The monologue about how he killed his daughter while hungry for cocaine was a very nice moment, and a reminder that Walt and Jesse aren't the only characters in this world to have caused pain, suffering and death for others.
• As Walt tried to tell Skyler, then Jesse, how complicated certain scenarios were ("there were many factors at play"), I got a real "Big Lebowski" vibe: "This is a very complicated case, Maude. You know, a lotta ins, lotta outs, lotta what-have-yous."
I thought it was great, too. Not the fastest paced episode, but it was once again such good writing that there's nothing to complain about.
I specifically loved the gym scene. Oddly funny, sad, cringe-worthy - just perfect. And it showed that Walt is obviously having a hard time dealing with the crash, but it's just brutal to see how he tries to rationalize it.
The cousins are badass btw Can't wait for the next ep.
Quote:
Originally Posted by broadcastingcable.com
Breaking Bad Does Good For AMC
The third season premiere of AMC's Breaking Bad March 21 was the show's highest rated episode ever.
The premiere pulled in 2 million viewers (posting a 1.4 household rating) for it's 10 p.m. bow, according to Nielsen.
That marks a 40% increase over the shows second season average.
Repeat airings at 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. gave the first episode a total audience of 3.1 million viewers.
Breaking Bad stars Bryan Cranston -- the best actor Emmy winner two years running -- as a high-school science teacher-cum-meth dealer.
The show has grown 63% in total viewers since its premiere three seasons ago.
The third season premiere also juiced iTunes downloads; the third season sat atop the iTunes "season pass" ranker on March 22 while the show's first season was ranked No. 3.
I thought it was great, too. Not the fastest paced episode, but it was once again such good writing that there's nothing to complain about.
I specifically loved the gym scene. Oddly funny, sad, cringe-worthy - just perfect. And it showed that Walt is obviously having a hard time dealing with the crash, but it's just brutal to see how he tries to rationalize it.
The cousins are badass btw Can't wait for the next ep.
I never thought mexicans who crawl on their bellies like lizards would look so unsettling, until I saw the opening moments of last night's premiere. I still have no idea WTF kind of religious ritual, involves crawling like that to your alter but hey what do I know? The cousins who are real life brothers where incredible. In that review i posted it mentioned how only one of them had acted before, and the shooting of the exploding truck scene where neither flinched was awesome!! These guys are gonna bring an insanity to the show that Tuco never could. I love that they only use looks to talk to each other they don't say a word, and yet send chills down my spine. And those ratings and downloads are awesome! This insures several more seasons.
I got my first "Breaking Bad" Experience this past Saturday during AMC's Marathon. After one episode, I turned off the TV, drove to BB, and picked up both Season 1 and Season 2 on BD. I finished Season 1 in less than a day (only 7 episodes). Hands down a GREAT show, I cant wait to get back to watching more tonight! I watched Season 2 Ep 1 last night and it was a big mistake as I REALLY wanted to see what happened next...big cliffhanger, and I really had to get to sleep.
[Show spoiler]Jesse pulls up, Walt asks him why the heck he is at his house, and then.... you see Tuco in the backseat with a gun pointed at Jesse's head "Get in!"
Highly recommended show! The only downside is, I will have to catch up on Season 3 Ep 1 Premiere, as I wasnt able to finish both Season 1 and 2 before the premiere aired last night.
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