Saturday, September 21, 2013

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."

29 comments:

  1. I watch Breaking Bad through NetFlix, so I'm half a season behind. The only way it can end is with Walter's death.

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    1. Oh geez, Alex, I hope I didn't spoil the Mike-thing for you....

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    2. I've actually strongly desired Walter to live in defeat. Death is a cop-out, something too quick for the monster he became. But the show is so triumphant for him so often that I imagine a long and lingering end isn't what he'll get.

      Great show, regardless.

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  2. My oh my. You couldn't do that with NCIS, I'm sure.

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    1. I've gotta watch NCIS, I guess. Everyone talks about it... and if the talk is good, so must the show.

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  3. Seen all the seasons of Game of Thrones waiting for new season as for Breaking Bad seen it yet . We also enjoy Blue Bloods, Super natural , Elementary , Under The Dome, Grimm , Long Mire , Heartland, NCIS , Criminal Minds and so on . We PVR them when they are on TV or get them on Netflix if we have missed any so we can watch them in the evenings as the weather is getting chilly . Thanks for sharing . Have a good weekend !

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    1. You HAVE to see Breaking Bad... did you know the guy who plays Hank also stars in Under the Dome? I really want to watch 'Dome' but I missed the beginning and so am waiting to watch the whole thing from the start. I read King's book and loved it so am anxious to see how it plays out on the screen.

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  4. We do GOT and BB on DVD only since I'm too cheap to get HBO and Tony would buy them anyway. He's weird like that, and I let it slide.

    Both shows are amazing... seriously, people don't know what they are missing. The 'people turning into goo" cracks me up for some ungodly reason, and in GOT (because I read the book) the relationship between Daneries and her king was amazing.

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    1. I know, the goo-thing cracks me up, too. We're sick, Juli. Sick, sick, sick!

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    2. But... when it gets really funny is when people keep looking at the hole in the ceiling...

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  5. Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad.... Two shows I have not ever seen
    But I can feel new leanings!
    Mind you The Walking Dead.. IS back very soon like you said
    Oh be still my beating heart

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    1. Oh John, you will love 'em. Breaking Bad is put out by AMC, the same network that does Walking Dead. And Game of Thrones has loads of nekkid guys (and girls). Gotta love accents with tight buns!

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  6. I've never been able to get excited about Breaking Bad because it was a show about a guy who made a really bad decision in the very first episode and continued making bad decisions season after season...It may be considered more nuanced storytelling than TV generally presents, but it's also incredibly one-dimensional. The best way to have done it would have been to have his opposite and equal number working the other side the whole time.

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    1. I hear ya - Hank is the closest thing to a nemesis that Walt gets but in no way does he share the spotlight the same way.

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  7. Not for me. Someday (soonish) I will read Game of Thrones. I don't have the attention span for movies. I need to stop and think about things if it is any good, and wander off if it isn't.
    Love the picture of you setting the dogs off. We have a very restrained neighbour who is driven to distraction by barking dogs. At intervals he comes outside and says 'Be quiet' - which knowing how angry the dogs make him cracks me up every time. My potty mouth just couldn't express anger in such a 'refined' way.

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  8. Wow I haven't seen any of these shows but all my friends watch them. I just never started watching it and now I feel like it's too late to jump in. Although that happened to me when my cousin sent me a couple VHS tapes of The XFiles, sometime during the 2nd year XFiles was on.

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    1. It's never too late! Dave and I didn't start watching Breaking Bad until last year. Generally speaking we never catch on to anything until it's cancelled or over! The cool thing about that, though, is you get to watch everything at once, rather than waiting week to week for the next episode.

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    2. If you were my neighbour, I'd lend you my discs. Ask your friends if they have them.... or go to walmart - I got my BB seasons on sale for about $10 each. They're also on Netflix, which I pay about $8 a month for. Cheap!!!

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  9. My Mommeh is trying to get caught up on Breaking Bad before the finale, but I don't think she'll make it in time. Best show, ever!

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    1. I hope you're not watching it Daisy - your ears are a little too young and fragile for that kind of language. Your mom's right, though - it IS the best show ever!

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  10. I'll admit... I've never watched it, or Game of Thrones. I watch so little television as it is...

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    1. And that's a good thing, William. I'm the first to admit I watch WAAAAAYYYYY too much TV.

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  11. I haven't seen any Breaking Bad, but I love Game of Thrones.

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  12. I'm the only person I know who just couldn't get into Breaking Bad. I tried. I made it through 5 or 6 episodes but it just never did anything for me. Probably needed to watch just one more episode, right? LOL

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  13. I had to skim this post because I'm still a season behind in Breaking Bad. Cathy, have you watched House of Cards yet? You'll LOVE it! I know you will. It's on Netflix. Watch it please and then report back :)

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  14. I watched the first few episodes of Breaking Bad, but the violence was too much for me. But those actors--they have a great future ahead of them.

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  15. I have yet to watch these two shows, but I do indeed look forward to watching these.

    www.modernworld4.blogspot.com

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