Is Breaking Bad a lot more average in hindsight?

[mormapope]

It seems like an incredbly shallow show in hindsight, compared to other critically acclaimed shows. Doesnt have the tact or substance of The Sopranos, doesnt nail teagedy or its anti hero like The Shield. Its just a thrill ride with a great lead and sidekick, with everyone else being tools for those two chracters.

There are some excellent episodes with a lot of shallow suspense in between.

[mormapope]

We can all agree the neo nazis and todd were sorta shit though, right?   

[zomgee]

We can all agree the neo nazis and todd were sorta shit though, right?   

Yeah but Lydia was cool, just wasted. It did feel like the story was done when the fumigation story started.

[Let's Cyber]

I partially agree with your assessment of  "shallow suspense" but I still think the show is great despite some of the cheap hooks. The core of the show is solid and it holds up on repeat viewings.

[Madrun Badrun]

It's slightly above mediocre.  Season 2 airplane shit was so awful. 

[Purrp Skirrp]

It's good but not rep a Walter White avatar good.

[Valkyrie]

Breaking Bad was the shit.

[Syph]

Only show that got better every season, no small feat when from season 3 onwards it was already GOAT

[Momo]

I didnt even like it the first time round 

[Reb]

It's no The Office.

[El Babua]

It's P.Good

Just not super "deep" like say Sopranos or The Wire, but in terms of moment to moment drama, it's the GOAT

[Klelk]

The last season with the nazi villains and Meth Damon were a bit of a step down. The writers kinda fucked themselves by writing the Walt-buys-a-M60 scene without having any idea who he'd use it on 

[Mr Gilhaney]

It had some pretty boring episodes, and such. But overall it was a very good show. Not quite Sopranos and such, but good.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

Yes.

Seasons 1-3 hold up pretty poorly.

Season 4 is still one of the GOAT of all time seasons of any TV show.  They really nailed it here.

Season 5 was okay.

I consider it a B/B+ show.

[Cerveza mas fina]

I didnt like it the first time around

[Joe Molotov]

All popular culture is trash, so yeah.

[king of the internet]

The series ended just a few years ago, and I was a full grown adult when I watched it. I don't see it any differently in "hindsight". Still great, even with a few dumb moments here and there.

[Positive Touch]

that show was corny as hell back then and it still is

[VomKriege]

I mean yeah, it being lauded as the GOAT (A couple of years before another show, and a couple after yet another one getting the same praise) was always gonna be hard on any retrospective with a cool head.

List of the one and unique GOAT show since 2000 according to enlightened fandom :
The West Wing
The Wire
The Sopranos
Lost
Mad Men
Breaking Bad

[team filler]

I love meth so I give it 5 stars, brehs!

 

[Steve Contra]

It's a really, really good thriller that got conflated as something more important than it was (because the premise is really dumb).

[tiesto]

It has a few slow parts (parts of season 2, the first half of season 5) but overall I fucking loved it. The ridiculous scenarios WW constantly finds himself in, the meth-related storyline, and the absolutely EPIC season 4 all did it for me.

[Vertigo]

It was always a show that flirted with it being semi 'grounded' but the fact Walter White always seemed to better cartels and killers stretched this shit to breaking point. But it was silly fun no doubt. But for me won't have the rewatchability of something like the Sopranos or The Wire. Like I can watch any random scene from those shows on Youtube and their great. With BB I'd struggle to watch anything outside of the usual big scenes that get brought up. I also felt toward the end it turned into a bit of anti hero wish fulfillment even stuff like poisoning Lydia and taking down the evil nazis. All crowd pleasing stuff but nonsense.

That and giving him an easy way out soured that for me. Having Walt get shot like a whimpering dog, taken away by the cartels or actually arrested and turning snitch would have worked a lot better imo. But instead he gets a relatively noble send off on his terms.

I loved something like the Shields final episode where Vic Mackey is alive and free but despised by everyone he works with. Despite still being a cop.

[Phoenix Dark]

I never felt it stacked up to The Wire, The Sopranos, or even The Shield. That being said it's a really good show with multiple standout episodes and strong seasons. I thought overall the last season was good but it didn't nail the ending at all. It's not bad, in fact overall it was a good finale iirc. But the ending was once again "nearly everything goes perfect for Walt, wow he's so crafty and smart! And he dies a hero!" Nah.....

[Nola]

Walt was never the bad guy. The ending was perfect.

The U.S. healthcare system was the real bad guy