8/26/13
View Logs: Breaking Bad S5.2 Episode 3
Episode Title: ConfessionsI'm going to make my own confession. I watch things looking for things that are wrong or that I find weak. I've stated in a few logs back that my goal in watching tv fiction isn't to "enjoy myself". I watch it to learn something. Really art is an education in the abstract... atleast that's what good art is about. That isn't mutually exclusive to "enjoyment". I find enjoyment in being analytical and critical while I'm watching something. That's just the mindset I prefer way more than just going into something casually. See science is my enjoyment. I go into testing laboratories expecting to enjoy myself outright without being too serious. Art? Nah. Art is srsbizness. More than science.
Anyways, my point is, my mindset tends to lead me more disappointed than satisfied (which I don't think it's a bad thing btw). The reason for that is because most writers just aren't that imaginative. In most stories, no matter what medium it's delivered in, I usually find myself being able to guess the direction of many scenes. Some stories are so predictable that I'm able to guess the entire thing within 5 minutes.
This is not exclusive to me.
Any cinephile, tv couch potatoes, hardcore gamers (on games that are story driven that is), bookworms or comic digesters, can probably relate to me. Experience in a particular medium will always lead to viewer that's harder to satisfy. Again, this isn't a bad thing. In fact, I consider this a good thing. What is critiquing art if not an expression of past experiences in that medium? So the reason why I brought up this confession is because I wanted to convey how special Breaking Bad has become to me. In my first view log of this split season, I've described the effects of Breaking Bad's efficient writing. The view log of episode 2 detailed why the writing is this tight. Now in episode 3, I've literally found myself completely 100% engaged in every scene.
Whenever there's a problem, it just gets addressed immediately and it throws me off guard because I've come to expect stories to drag a problem for as long as it can. Here, I've constantly found myself asking "wait... wait... seriously? that got resolved? What? There's still plenty of the episode left..." This happens so often, especially when a character is cornered. A great example of this is when Hank's watching Walt's "confession" tape.
Still... I don't think I could be more still watching this...
That moment where Hank and Marie are breathless and completely cornered by Walt is so unbelievably tense. But the show doesn't dwell. It doesn't milk scenes like this. It just keeps moving on. Watching all of these characters act so quickly but also so intelligently is like watching a chess match sped up. You're just constantly trying to keep up with moves that you think has the opponent perfectly cornered only for the opponent to find a cleverer move to get out of it. Breaking Bad's writing is an enigma and it's honestly one of the most impressive shows I've ever seen.
At this point, the writers of Breaking Bad are fully confident within their own characters. There's no cheap thrills (maybe except for cliffhangers, which I inherently dislike but dont dismiss it absolutely) and there's no side plotline that'll serve as filler to the main plot. The writers aren't afraid that their character's own intelligence might derail the entire plot. Each cause and effects are clear and well established ahead of time.
This is a great way to have a story stay fresh. Not by throwing in some romance side plots, not by trying to force coincidences, not by further exaggerating established well known characters, and definitely not by shoving in action. It stays fresh by incorporating a ruthlessly quick series of cause and effect that are completely within all the character's understanding. Keep it up Breaking Bad. I think next year you should be a favorite for the Emmys.
