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Herc’s Seen Sunday's First New BREAKING BAD Since March!!
SPOILER ALERT !!
I am – Hercules!!
One of the best series of last year has gotten better.
I stayed up far too late into Saturday morning because of AMC’s “Breaking Bad.” I intended to watch before bed only the series’ second-season premiere (launching Sunday night, almost a year to the day after season one ended), but found doing so nigh impossible.
The cliffhangers for the first and second episodes were too compelling. The second and third episodes demanded immediate viewing. I could not be expected to wait to find out what next befell cancer-riddled meth-brewing chem instructor Walt White and his callow partner Jesse Pinkman.
The premiere doesn’t just pick up when season one left off; it actually repeats a lengthy chunk of last season’s final scene, in which the meth-crazed drug kingpin Tuco beats his subordinate NoDoze into a bloody pulp (for talking out of turn).
That beating sets off a nerve-wracking chain of events that cascade well into the season’s third episode and likely far beyond. (I’ll refrain from exploring the many twists that attend those first three hours.)
Just know: if you’ve been avoiding this series, quit already.
Oh, and before I forget, my three favorite big-screen cancer tales are “Ikiru,” “Terms of Endearment” and “My Life Without Me.” The winners of the “Breaking Bad” contest built around this fact have already been notified via email of their good fortune.
Stephen King says of “Breaking Bad”:
… the best scripted show on TV. Your Uncle Stevie may not care much for Mad Men, but he has never seen anything like BB on the tube. The only thing that comes close is Twin Peaks, also by Blue Velvet auteur David Lynch. But Peaks lost its focus once it moved beyond the death of Laura Palmer. Judging by the first three episodes of Breaking Bad's second season, the story is more tightly plotted than ever. …
Entertainment Weekly gives it an “A” and says:
… a superlatively fresh metaphor for a middle-age crisis: It took cancer and lawbreaking to jolt Walt out of his suburban stupor, to experience life again—to take chances, risk danger, do things he didn't think himself capable of doing. None of this would work, of course, without Emmy winner Cranston's ferocious, funny selflessness as an actor. For all its bleakness and darkness, there's a glowing exhilaration about this series: It's a feel-good show about feeling really bad. …
The Los Angeles Times says:
… set-your-hair-on-fire television … Smart but never slick, funny but never glib, dark but never (praise all saints and angels) noir, "Breaking Bad" is actually not another addition to the Brotherhood of the Made Guy formula, it turns out to be the formula's antidote. …
The Chicago Tribune says:
… Is the show worth watching in its second season? It depends. The show has a thoughtful vibe and spare, off-kilter look that captures the alternately drab and spacious New Mexico setting in a distinctive and cinematic way. To its credit, "Breaking Bad" has a wonderfully unforced and mordant sense of humor. And Cranston's performance is as subtle as they come. He effortlessly communicates the pathos and the irony of Walt's bizarre situation, sometimes just with the look in his eyes or the slump of his shoulders. But too often, "Breaking Bad" favors mood and aesthetics over depth and dramatic tension. …
The San Francisco Chronicle says:
… The seven-episode first season of "Breaking Bad" was a wonderful concoction of unforeseen greatness. Cranston's Emmy-winning performance was just the start. The writing was consistently excellent, the on-location cinematography gave the series a filmlike quality as New Mexico's desolation and vast expanse of sanctuary came alive, and the tonal shifts between dire consequence and the humor often borne of it were deftly played. As the season progressed, the quality of the cast was further revealed and each episode improved. The first three episodes of Season 2 that AMC sent out continue that level of achievement with no evident missteps. …
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:
… There's no question about the quality of this relentlessly suspenseful drama … Whether viewers can stand the nerve jangling they're in for as season two begins will be decided on an individual basis. …
The Boston Globe says:
… Emotionally, atmospherically, and morally, "Breaking Bad" is spellbinding. …
Variety says:
… The show appears chaotic, confused, in danger of careering out of control. Yet there's a guiding plan here, and a sense of uncertainty -- created by the hook of a protagonist with terminal cancer -- that keeps the series utterly compelling …
The Hollywood Reporter says:
… It's difficult to fathom a more dangerous and enthralling piece of television … The violence is more brutal. The mood is starker. And the suspense is pretty much off-the-scale … flat-out superb …
10 p.m. Sunday. AMC.
Bad One!
Spock Seed!
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breaking bad is a great show. cant wait for the season to begin!
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You are a DOUCHEBAG. That is all
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at least i made a comment about the topic. not coming on here just to dis me for what if you were smart enough to realize i did as a joke. but thank you for the insult. its people like you that make this less fun for the rest. i hope you are proud of yourself
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It could have been the death of this series, I remember being heart-broken when it ended at episode seven with no resolution.
There is a G-d.
And his name is AMC. -
There has been no mention (as far as I am aware) on AICN of the RED RIDING trilogy, the first part - 1974 was shown in Great Britain on Thursday just gone, it was the best piece of TV I've ever seen. Parts two and three follow in the coming weeks.
Please, try and get hold of it somehow.
It's dark, unrelenting, and very very bleak, 'Yorkshire Noir' they're calling it.
Paddy Considine is in Part Two - 1980 next week. -
the marathon they played last night was such a great lead in to tomorrow. I have a fantasy baseball draft that better end on time, cos I'm not missing this shit!
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More Grade AA TV to enjoy.
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And shit, what a great show this already is.
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A friend recommended it to me a few months ago and after watching all 7 episodes in one go, I've been trying to spread the goodness around. No-one seems to have heard of it at all over here.
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If not why is this being discussed?
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I'm looking forward and almost dreading the season premier. Very glad Cranston won the Emmy for this.
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"but he has never seen anything like BB on the tube. The only thing that comes close is Twin Peaks, also by Blue Velvet auteur David Lynch"
Really? I guess they never watched WEEDS. Or Brit shows like SHAMELESS, which now runs on Sundance.
In the end what gives anyone the ego to write a review of anything. Those judgements are personal and filtered by individual preferences.
Oh wait I forgot free access and free gifts like movie passes or backstage passes. -
Sir Stephen King, thats who.
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...EvilWizardGlick you write rreviews here every day, remember?This thing sucks! That thing sucks! Fuck you that movie sucks! That show you like sucks! and so on and so forth.
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over Evilwizardglicks anyday. If King syas it's good, it usually is. I just sat my wife down to watch season one this weekend so she could start season two with me tonight. Looking forward to it.
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Such a wonderful show on every level. The beginning to episode three, where it's intercutting White from the past discussing what makes up the human body, while he is presently sifting through organs, etc. of their victim is just very good storytelling.
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Nice. Love these contests and their "transparency", Obama tool.
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The first season was always seven episodes. The strike didn't affect any of this. The show was originally made for FX, but they passed, which is why the first few episodes have swearing and nudity that are bleeped and blurred, because they didn't know they'd be on AMC. Episode 7 was always where season one was going to end though.
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Thanks for the tip. Sounds fascinating. I'll grab it.
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The first season was meant to be NINE episodes, but was cut short due to the Writers Strike.
No worries though, it sounds like they have carried on as they left off.......God's in his Heaven, all's right with the world. -
If you like dark, enjoy.
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it seems like the critics have selective memory. i remember reviews of the first season of this show being rather mixed. but, hey, if they're ready to jump on the bandwagon of what i think is the best show on tv at the moment, that's cool. the more the merrier.
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sounds awesome; any idea where i might be able to catch it stateside?
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I might check this out now... I hate most of his movies (Blue Velvet being the exception) but I LOVED twin peaks. Its one of the great tragedies that they never completed that show.
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The quality of the trilogy suggests you will see it in North America at some point. Each one is directed by a different director, including MARSH (director of MAN ON WIRE) who films Paddy in 1980.
If you dont want to wait no doubt it'll appear on the t'internet soon enough (if you know what i mean) -
David Lynch has nothing to do with Breaking Bad. I think the reviewer doesn't know the meaning of the word "also". After reading it I was confused.
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The show is really really great.
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Must have been a misunderstanding. He's not associated with it according to IMDB. Might have been a quote out of context. It makes it seem like he was saying "also by" in reference to Breaking Bad, but elsewhere in the article he might have mentioned another work by Lynch. Either that or Stevie has picked up the beer habit again.
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Cool show.
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Never thought I'd write that or even watch AMC outside of the yearly Monsterfest marathon, but they have the two best shows on TV in Mad Men and Breaking Bad.
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Is it a British series? Now I'm glad I didn't buy it for $25.
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Mar 08, 2009 2:20:50 PM CDT
I'm pretty sure Stephen King meant the series is "Lynchian"
by soylentmean
not that Lynch has anything to do with the series. Ah, context clues.
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love me some Breaking Bad! I grabbed "Red Riding" via the internet and enjoyed the first episode...
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Why did you stop doing your own star reviews like you used to do with Buffy? With The Good and The Bad?
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but no one ever watches it because its on at like 2 am?
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It airs at 9 PM where I live.
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It's shot on location in New Mexico (for the most part), and is 100% made in the U.S.A. The truncated first season was a result of that dreadful writers' strike. Rest assured the new season will be standardized to a cable series length season. This really is the best new show on television. Check it out!
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This fucking prick let his pride get in the way of taking care of his family. Instead of taking his friend's job offer and the health insurance he keeps on cooking and dealing meth? Fuck that garbage. Puts his family in danger for his own selfish need to be a big man.
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Tuco is one psycho SOB.
LOL at the DEA agent bro-in-law.
Love the characters in the show, they all feel essential. -
"wah wahwah im a pregnant wife and i have needs!" this is how shows stretch it out for a long season...with boring crap.
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I wish this talk back was rated 'R'. To keep all the ADD kiddies out.
Live a little life and you may have some appreciation for something that doesn't involve guns, 'splosions or titties. -
Yes, I love "Breaking Bad;" but "Big Love" has been absolutely exhilarating for the past month. That road trip episode of a few weeks back could very well be one of the best episodes of televesion . . . EVER.
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When it was on. Loved it so much had to convince my fiancee to see it, she thought it was going to be another one of my stupid shows. SOOO I recorded the marathon and she's FORCING me to watch them all in a row she likes it that much. Its still awesome a second time, episode 6 were he becomes a total bad ass.
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please just watch reality TV and leave the adults to watch Breaking Bad, OK?
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tight! I'm excited! only 5 minutes in, but shit, I'm pumped! here we go!
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Of cxourse, I also like to pretend the Cranston character is the same character he played on "Malcolm in the Middle" and even though he ran away and assumed a new identity and started a new life, that shrew of a wife gave him cancer. But she's the real reason he's so angry. Don't mess with him!
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no wonder you couldn't stop after 1 episode. I just finished it, and I'd miss a week of work if I could see what comes next right now...SHIT!!!can you send a brother a copy? I have paypal!!!
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Cranston gets lots of kudos, but Aaron Paul also does a great job.
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This is the best show on TV...HANDS DOWN! If people arent watching this, they don't know what they're missing!
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Genuine question to the BL fans. The show's premise sounds ridiculous and I'm not sure how it can run for multiple seasons. I also have difficulty buying into the concept that 3 intelligent women would willingly share one man and then in turn that I would feel any sympathy for a man who willingly has 3 wives.
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This needs more Talkbback...How are people not watching this show!!!
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I WATCHED EVERY EPISODE OF SEASON ONE OVER THE WEEKEND AND LOVED IT.HAD A BUDDY COME OVER WATCH THE FIRST EPISODE OF SEASON 2 LAST NIGHT SO NOW I'LL HAVE TO WATCH THE FIRST SEASON WITH HIM SO HE'S UP TO SPEED.NICE TO SEE SOME ORIGINALITY STILL EXCIST IN THE WORLD
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It started out as an interesting premise, and what really carried it was the great cast of talented actors they had--but, yeah, it was not sustainable as a series and they've had to manufacture bad guys and recycle the same tired suspense (will they get outed?) for the last two seasons now. I have since stopped watching. I just don't care anymore whether or not Bill Paxon gets a casino.
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my god, the deep well of anger, frustration, fear, and sadness that man can convey with a look. Can't wait for next week's ep!
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The season opener was scary good. It's hard to imagine they could keep that level of intensity over 13 episode. And just think, we still have 4 episodes with the great Bob Odenkirk to look forward to!
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Holy cow! That first one was outstanding. I'm still reeling from it.
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This show needs all the support it can muster. Although ironically it gets more viewers than Mad Men but has less buzz.
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Get in!
That were quick, next episode is tonight at 9pm GMT.
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