4 ms·

Eh, I didn't like it (I gave up somewhere in season 2). To be clear: Walt is supposed to be a bad guy, right? I really didn't like him. It's very tiring watchin

Eh, I didn't like it (I gave up somewhere in season 2). To be clear: Walt is supposed to be a bad guy, right? I really didn't like him. It's very tiring watching a show where the central character is someone you're rooting against the whole time. My guess is the series is a general arc showing the fall of Walt, yes? I like some shows/movies where you're hoping the antagonist succeeds (usually Heist-type movies), but I just couldn't do it here. Ever since the middle of season one where he was given the out (the rich couple offered to pay) I just couldn't stand him. At that point it's all about watching a trainwreck in very slow motion, and is kind of depressing. I can't wait multiple seasons to see him arrested or killed or whatever will end up happening to him!

citricsquid 14y ago
You start out rooting for Walt to succeed and then you watch his ego consume him. I'm through the first 3 seasons (waiting for the 4th here in England) and it's definitely worth watching more. From what I've read about Season 4 (and the Season 5 trailers) Walt goes insane. Season 2 is very tame (re: Walt's behaviour) vs. Season 3 and beyond.
brandall10 14y ago
"Ever since the middle of season one where he was given the out (the rich couple offered to pay) I just couldn't stand him" No offense, but I think you're largely missing the point of the show - this is about a man who never got to 'drive' in his life despite having tremendous promise early on. He didn't take the money because he didn't think he had a life to save and even if he did it would be more of the same... this was his chance to do something for once in his life. Just like The Wire, there are no clear-cut good/bad guys. It's about choices made, having to live with the consequences of those choices, and exploring the resulting character transformations. Yes, the main character is moving closer to the dark, but he's believable as a person who could rise from a fairly ho-hum existence to becoming a drug lord. Of course it's going to be uncomfortable and grisly to watch due to the subject matter. This is why I love the show. It isn't some silly two dimensional hollywood'ish heist thing where the good guys and the bad guys are clearly delineated. It actually has a soul.
- MatthewPhillips 14y ago
  No offense, but the guy who cooks meth is a clear-cut bad guy, hence why the grandparent (and me, and many others) can't stomach watching the show.
  - gnaritas 14y ago
    He cooked meth to provide money for wife and newborn because he's got terminal cancer and needs money fast. Do motivations mean nothing in your world?
    - losvedir 14y ago
      Not sure you'll ever read this, but I feel compelled to argue on the internet! :-p Yes, motivations matter to me, and that's why I initially liked the show: it's a losing situation, he does what he can to provide for his family. That ended the moment he was given an out by the rich family, as I mentioned in the original comment in this thread, and could pay for the cancer and satisfy his wife and child for life. At that point, he was too prideful to stop what he was doing and continued to put his family in danger. I couldn't empathize or support him at all after that.
lobster_johnson 14y ago
Walt is portrayed as a good (if deeply flawed) guy whose path to crime corrupts his good character and has (despite his initially good intentions) unintended and violent consequences for the people around him. In the later seasons he starts making some morally pretty indefensible decisions. If we've learned anything about how the writers' minds work, it's that they like having characters realize the long-ranging and tragic repercussions of their own selfish actions. So if anyone dies at the end, it won't be Walter, it will be his family, and it will be his own fault. Personally I like Walt, for all his flaws. Watching the series certainly is like watching a train wreck in slow motion, but it's a really well done train wreck. Note that it really picks up (in my opinion) in season three -- it goes from being a merely decent series to a mindblowingly well-made one that deserves a place alongside The Sopranos and The Wire. You may want to give it another chance.
wilfra 14y ago
No it does not unfold like you predict. The show is completely unpredictable. That's why it's so awesome. It doesn't follow convention, cliche or typical character arcs at all.
flyinRyan 14y ago
>Ever since the middle of season one where he was given the out (the rich couple offered to pay) I just couldn't stand him. Ah, you should have kept watching as this was explained. I'm going to go ahead and spoil this one for you: the reason Walt wouldn't take that money was because in his view it was already his money. In Walt's opinion (and maybe he's right) those rich people built a company completely on his ideas and cut him out. Instead of struggling with two dead-end jobs trying to provide for a family he should be driving expensive cars, have a huge house, library, etc. They are living the life that is, by rights, his and he sure as hell isn't going to beg for a small portion of that stolen money back. IMO the show is about a good man being changed by life situations into an evil person and watching how he deals with it. The twist is; Walt had already changed before the first episode. He was once a good, moral, optimistic person but the betrayal by his brother, the years of slogging away in public school, having to get on his knees and scrub rich kids cars had changed him. He became an evil, violent killer. But he was sharing a body with "ghost Walt": that good man from before. Ghost Walt wouldn't accept what Walt has become. This is basically how the whole series plays out. In the beginning Walt thinks he's completely pure and only does bad when he convinces himself to. For example when he makes a list of why he needs to kill crazy 8. After he had decided not to he had to check one more thing and finally had the evidence real Walt was looking for all along. Ghost Walt was angry that he found it. As the show progresses this dynamic flips: Walt kills and then fills in the justifications later ("You made me do this, this is on your head"). I'm half way through season 4 but I'm expecting Ghost Walt to eventually disappear and Walt to finally embrace what he is as Ghost Walt is now endangering his life. Another extremely interesting change is Walt's wife! I'm really wondering how far she will go because I think she was genuinely good when we met her and I suspect she still believes she is. EDIT: Also, about taking the money from the rich people, it should be mentioned: if he had taken that money what would it accomplish? So he can continue to live as a failure, working two dead end jobs trying to provide for a high expense family? The cancer simply forced Walt to recognize where he really was and eventually what he really was. Walt is evil but he doesn't want to accept it. What he wanted to happen was to make enough money to finally truly provide for his family, and then die. Instead "fate" cured him.
- gnaritas 14y ago

citricsquid 14y ago

You start out rooting for Walt to succeed and then you watch his ego consume him. I'm through the first 3 seasons (waiting for the 4th here in England) and it's definitely worth watching more. From what I've read about Season 4 (and the Season 5 trailers) Walt goes insane. Season 2 is very tame (re: Walt's behaviour) vs. Season 3 and beyond.

brandall10 14y ago

"Ever since the middle of season one where he was given the out (the rich couple offered to pay) I just couldn't stand him" No offense, but I think you're largely missing the point of the show - this is about a man who never got to 'drive' in his life despite having tremendous promise early on. He didn't take the money because he didn't think he had a life to save and even if he did it would be more of the same... this was his chance to do something for once in his life. Just like The Wire, there are no clear-cut good/bad guys. It's about choices made, having to live with the consequences of those choices, and exploring the resulting character transformations. Yes, the main character is moving closer to the dark, but he's believable as a person who could rise from a fairly ho-hum existence to becoming a drug lord. Of course it's going to be uncomfortable and grisly to watch due to the subject matter. This is why I love the show. It isn't some silly two dimensional hollywood'ish heist thing where the good guys and the bad guys are clearly delineated. It actually has a soul.

MatthewPhillips 14y ago
No offense, but the guy who cooks meth is a clear-cut bad guy, hence why the grandparent (and me, and many others) can't stomach watching the show.
- gnaritas 14y ago
  He cooked meth to provide money for wife and newborn because he's got terminal cancer and needs money fast. Do motivations mean nothing in your world?
  - losvedir 14y ago
    Not sure you'll ever read this, but I feel compelled to argue on the internet! :-p Yes, motivations matter to me, and that's why I initially liked the show: it's a losing situation, he does what he can to provide for his family. That ended the moment he was given an out by the rich family, as I mentioned in the original comment in this thread, and could pay for the cancer and satisfy his wife and child for life. At that point, he was too prideful to stop what he was doing and continued to put his family in danger. I couldn't empathize or support him at all after that.

lobster_johnson 14y ago

Walt is portrayed as a good (if deeply flawed) guy whose path to crime corrupts his good character and has (despite his initially good intentions) unintended and violent consequences for the people around him. In the later seasons he starts making some morally pretty indefensible decisions. If we've learned anything about how the writers' minds work, it's that they like having characters realize the long-ranging and tragic repercussions of their own selfish actions. So if anyone dies at the end, it won't be Walter, it will be his family, and it will be his own fault. Personally I like Walt, for all his flaws. Watching the series certainly is like watching a train wreck in slow motion, but it's a really well done train wreck. Note that it really picks up (in my opinion) in season three -- it goes from being a merely decent series to a mindblowingly well-made one that deserves a place alongside The Sopranos and The Wire. You may want to give it another chance.

wilfra 14y ago

No it does not unfold like you predict. The show is completely unpredictable. That's why it's so awesome. It doesn't follow convention, cliche or typical character arcs at all.

flyinRyan 14y ago

>Ever since the middle of season one where he was given the out (the rich couple offered to pay) I just couldn't stand him. Ah, you should have kept watching as this was explained. I'm going to go ahead and spoil this one for you: the reason Walt wouldn't take that money was because in his view it was already his money. In Walt's opinion (and maybe he's right) those rich people built a company completely on his ideas and cut him out. Instead of struggling with two dead-end jobs trying to provide for a family he should be driving expensive cars, have a huge house, library, etc. They are living the life that is, by rights, his and he sure as hell isn't going to beg for a small portion of that stolen money back. IMO the show is about a good man being changed by life situations into an evil person and watching how he deals with it. The twist is; Walt had already changed before the first episode. He was once a good, moral, optimistic person but the betrayal by his brother, the years of slogging away in public school, having to get on his knees and scrub rich kids cars had changed him. He became an evil, violent killer. But he was sharing a body with "ghost Walt": that good man from before. Ghost Walt wouldn't accept what Walt has become. This is basically how the whole series plays out. In the beginning Walt thinks he's completely pure and only does bad when he convinces himself to. For example when he makes a list of why he needs to kill crazy 8. After he had decided not to he had to check one more thing and finally had the evidence real Walt was looking for all along. Ghost Walt was angry that he found it. As the show progresses this dynamic flips: Walt kills and then fills in the justifications later ("You made me do this, this is on your head"). I'm half way through season 4 but I'm expecting Ghost Walt to eventually disappear and Walt to finally embrace what he is as Ghost Walt is now endangering his life. Another extremely interesting change is Walt's wife! I'm really wondering how far she will go because I think she was genuinely good when we met her and I suspect she still believes she is. EDIT: Also, about taking the money from the rich people, it should be mentioned: if he had taken that money what would it accomplish? So he can continue to live as a failure, working two dead end jobs trying to provide for a high expense family? The cancer simply forced Walt to recognize where he really was and eventually what he really was. Walt is evil but he doesn't want to accept it. What he wanted to happen was to make enough money to finally truly provide for his family, and then die. Instead "fate" cured him.

gnaritas 14y ago