this is what comes of blood for blood, Hector.
Who wants to talk to me about the first four seasons of Breaking Bad? EVERYONE, THAT'S WHO!
It’s hard to stick with (I’ve been “watching” BB since it first went on Netflix Instant months ago) because ugh, as much as I can watch violence of much greater magnitude if it’s clearly fantasy, it’s still hard for me to distance myself from realistic human ( Read more... )
It’s hard to stick with (I’ve been “watching” BB since it first went on Netflix Instant months ago) because ugh, as much as I can watch violence of much greater magnitude if it’s clearly fantasy, it’s still hard for me to distance myself from realistic human ( Read more... )
or fond of Mike
Mike is one of the show's most tragic characters to me, I think. Because you can tell he was someone who did want to do the right thing, for so long, and just completely lost all hope and let himself dissolve into the violence. I don't know that I'd say I like him, but I find him very real and sad.
I feel like almost all female characters I know at least have some traits that make them easier for the audience to swallow by fitting into the image of What Women Should Be at least in some respects, even if they are also realistically flawed....Skyler doesn't exist FOR anyone's benefit, she just IS.
yes! And I feel like, even when you do get a character like Skylar who doesn't really perform that way, she still ends up getting stuck with "insecurity" or some such - she really WANTS to be good at girly stuff, she just CAN'T, and isn't that PATHETIC and TRAGIC FOR THE POOR DEAR? Which is why I think the Ted stuff is so brilliant and important for her characterization. Because she totally could be more conventionally feminine and less confident (and therefore less socially threatening) but she doesn't want to, she's picked a path and a self-presentation she prefers.
I also love that by directing us to sympathize with her against Walt (because the show takes her side, I think, even if fandom doesn't), it also shows that women don't have to merit freedom and fair treatment by being sufficiently nice or kind or even good.
YES, exactly. I almost worried that the meta-commentary throughout S4 was over the top, but honestly, I loved that the show broke out the clue-by-four on how unfair the reaction to her is, and Skylar is such a strong character with a clear perspective that it came through as exactly what she would think and say.
"Don Eladio is dead! His capos are dead! You have no one left to fight for. Fill your pockets and leave in peace. Or fight me and die!"
That "fill your pockets" touch was all class. Well done, Gustavo, you fabulous fucking lunatic.
I wonder if that's one of the reasons why Gus and Mike and Walt find themselves unwittingly drawn to him
ooooh, I hadn't thought of that, but yes. He's in it deep enough that he doesn't challenge all their rationalizations and distance from what they do. But he's as close as they're going to get to that angel in the house to protect/impress/feel grimly more macho than, so they like being around him, and they do also just like him, he's a sweet kid.
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I HATED it. I still haven't seen the S2 finale. I'm so pissed at the idea that she "needed" softening, because she was somehow not a perfect character exactly as she was. ugh, favorite.
(which happens again when her lawyer tells her that it's a "no-brainer" for Skyler to pack up and divorce Walt ASAP, and that this is the best thing for the kids, too, and Skyler is tempted by the money--and, I think, by her desire to control the situation--to stay.)
Right. Or at least, think she was in control. Because if she acts in the way she knows the situation merits, that means admitting how bad it really was. And I think that's such a realistic, sympathetic response.
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