The online beef I talked about yesterday between Jason Whitlock and Chuck Klosterman went audio. Bill Simmons did a podcast with Whitlock on the BS Report. The part about Breaking Bad vs The Wire starts at about the 43 minute mark.
My opinion? I’m conflicted. I think The Wire is the most significant and important television drama of all time, and it was relentlessly watchable. It is amazing that it was so tightly plotted that I cannot think of a single wasted shot that did not have a dramatic point to it in seasons 1-4. Breaking Bad and Mad Men can’t say the same. They’ve had dropped plot points, characters, arcs, etc. But The Wire is almost painful to watch. It hurts, it brings you down, it makes you question society and your part in it. But, for sheer artistry and entertainment, I think that Breaking Bad and Mad Men are going to be slugging it out for top gun until the series are over and we can start to objectively measure them. And Mad Men is no slouch when it comes to examining social issues, it just goes about its business in a different way.
I honestly don’t think we can say which is better until Mad Men and Breaking Bad finish their run. If The Wire had stopped at the end of season 4, it would ironically have a stronger claim to the crown than it did with a very uneven season five. What do you all think?
I want to share some podcast love with the Inside TV podcast, who interviews Aaron Paul about season 4 and how he feels now that the series end is in sight. Also, did you know Jesse was a huge Lost fan? Pretty good listen.
Speaking of interviews, there’s e a short one with RJ Mette (Walt Jr.) at TVFanatic.com. It is short, but I don’t see much stuff on Mr. Mette, who I love in this role, and it kind of pokes holes in at least one of my predictions. Oh well.
If you haven’t gotten tired of articles on Breaking Bad, Joe Rhodes with the New York Times has a pretty good one. Money quotes from Gilligan: “There will be a point for everyone when they finally stop sympathizing with Walter White,” and “I will be sad the day ‘Breaking Bad’ ends, but the worst thing that could happen, and I learned this from experience on ‘The X Files,’ is to reach a peak and then be on the long slow decline. It’s better to leave a party too soon than to stay too late.” I totally agree. X-Files should have ended after the movie came out. I’d rather see Walt die than see him Muldered.
I’ve seen some ridiculous ideas to watch the entire run of Breaking Bad in the space of a week, but I think everyone would agree it’s a bit too late for that now. But, if you wanted to get the gist of it, or refresh your memory if you’re a BB vetern (it HAS been a year, you know!), Caryn James at IndieWire has some great ideas to get caught up. I think I agree with her that this slideshow at Vulture is probably the single best way to get synced up with the series main plot points and Walter’s moral descent. My only problem was they actually dropped Walt 0.2 points for killing two drug dealers at the end of season 3. Creative moral accounting?
This is an excellent interview with Bryan Cranston by Amy Chozick with the Wall Street Journal. One interesting point is how Cranston has mapped out Walt’s backstory in his head and apparently committed it to paper. “I handwrite all this. I’ve never shown it to anybody, but it informs decisions along the way.”
But the definitive interview with Cranston is done by Eric Spitznagel with, of course, Playboy Magazine. I judge THIS PAGE to be Safe For Work, but a lot of work sites probably filter it as a mater of course, and of course there are some small pictures of beautiful women who are scantily clad. But they are all clad. Just a great read. Money quote, regarding his sex scene with Julia Roberts in Larry Crowne: “Tom kept tugging on her shirt. ‘Aw, Julia, Julia. Come on, we’ve got to show something. We’ve got to show a little skin.’ And me, I’m just wearing a cock sock…”
And that’s where I leave you with for this Breaking Bad season premier weekend, Bryan Cranston talking cock socks. I love it. Can’t wait for Sunday night! Remember, you can check here late Sunday night / early Sunday morning for our instant takes, and Tuesday morning for our podcast recaps. In the meantime, email us your thoughts or take it to the forums!