It's Freaking Great TV, Yo

Mr. White - I hope he bites it.

What a fabulous week of TV watching it has been. Dave and I have been like gluttons at the bus stop buffet table, rolling about in a blissfully bloody trough of Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad.

Jesse Pinkman, king of the bitches, endearingly sweet - I hope he lives.

The Breaking Bad final episodes have been gut-wrenchingly incredible, haven't they? At the end of last Sunday's show I didn't know whether to scream or cry, so I did both, because there's nothing like setting every dog in the neighbourhood into a full-blown howl. Every night it's the same thing around here. Everything's quiet, dark settles in, the streetlights come on, and every flea-bit mongrel between Cold Lake and Bonnyville starts barking. It's an arf-a-palooza out there and I keep waiting for some beefy oil patch dude who has to get up at 4 o'clock in the morning to throw open his window and yell "SHADDUP" but it never happens. The dogs just yip and woof and bawl until they get sore throats or something.

Mike Ehrmantraut - I loved this guy and cried when Mr. White killed him.

There's only two more episodes of Breaking Bad. I can't imagine them being worse/better than the last one but I saw The Pink Man himself on the Jimmy Kimmel show and he said something like, "You think last week's episode was messy? Wait until the last two – they get waaaaaaay messier.. bitch." I can hardly wait. When it comes to Walt and Jesse and the gang, the messier the better.

Hank Schrader - he started out as such a goof but he became
one of my favourite characters, ever, on any TV show.

If you haven't seen this show yet, you don't know what you're missing. I remember my boss back in Bracebridge always yapping about it, telling me about a chemistry teacher who starts cooking meth to make money for his family. The premise didn't sound all that exciting, right? Mr. Chips In The Kitchen? Big deal. But I picked up the first season at Wally World (because there's no point watching any series unless you start at the beginning) and Dave and I didn't do ANYTHING else for an entire weekend – except to run back to Scrawl-Mart and buy season two. The writing is phenomenal. The acting is phenomenal. It makes every other show on TV look like it was written by the cast of Romper Room.

Tyrion Lannister - my absolute favourite character on Game of Thrones.
Smart, sensitive, nice and dead sexy.

There are other shows on TV I'm nutso about. The Walking Dead, which gets going again October 13 (WOOT!), Mad Men, Orange Is The New Black and, gawd help me, Love It Or List It (one of these things is not like the other.... I know... ). But the only show right now that even compares to Breaking Bad, for me, is Game of Thrones. My writer buddy Linda McLean got me hooked on this show (have you noticed it's always word of mouth that sells something good?). One day at writer's circle she said she spent all weekend watching Game of Thrones and was mesmerized by the absolute misery of the thing. So off I toddled to Wal-Nuts to pick up the first season, which was, like SIXTY BUCKS (don't tell Dave, he'll kill me). I put on one episode and me and hubs were glued to the boob tube for 10 hours. When it was over I stumbled back to Hell-Mart and spent another sixty for season two. 

Arya Stark - love this girl. She's all feist and spark and honesty.

What do we like about it? Same as Breaking Bad – great acting, great writing (the TV script is co-written by David Benioff, the author of one my favourite books, City of Thieves. Go buy it.) The characters are human. The bad guys can be good. The good guys can break bad. They're endearing and troubled and you cheer for them and you curse them, all at the same time.

Jamie Lannister - I hated him in the beginning. He was a HORRIBLE
person. But thanks to fantastic writing and acting, I now find myself
rooting for him. He lights up the screen and I love the relationship
developing with his stalwart guard, Brienne of Tarth.

Season three debuted on HBO a few months ago – while we were traversing the Great Country of Canada with a U-Haul and a puking cat – so we missed the first few episodes. In a historic display of willpower, we decided to wait until the season ended, and then pick it up when it went to reruns (since it's not available at the Wal-Mart Campground yet). I checked it online to see when it would start and marked September 17 on my calendar with a big red marker. That was last Tuesday. Every night since, HBO has played two episodes every single night and every night Dave and I have been glued to the TV for two happy-happy-happy hours (sorry, I was channeling Duck Dynasty for a moment). 

Samwell Tarly - good-hearted and awkward. I hope he muddles through.

Tonight's the last two episodes of the season. Tomorrow night is the second last episode of Breaking Bad. Then Dave and I go have our eyeballs massaged.

This video mash-up of Breaking Bad moments is just phenomenal, by the way. Pass me a tissue and we'll watch it together. "They've got some skills, yo."