Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tales

At least when I don't watch a show, I do it right.

Back when Breaking Bad first aired, for some reason I no longer remember, I wasn't interested in it. As the show got more and more popular, I was hearing more about it everywhere, and it annoyed me so I tuned it out as much as possible.

When the show ended, the media was covering it like mad -- NPR did an hour long show about the finale! By that point I was seriously sick of hearing about it, so did everything I could to avoid coverage just because I was so annoyed by it.

Turned out that saved me! I just marathoned all five seasons, and was able to watch it nearly spoiler-free. (Amusing timing, last week I just happened upon one spoiler, but it wasn't too terribly big.) For a years old show, I'm pleased and impressed that I was able to watch it so unspoiled!



I don't even know where to start talking about the show. There were so many characters I loved, and nearly all of them ended up dead. I think Mike's death was the worst (though I was oddly fond of Todd -- for some reason he kept pinging me as "good guy" even though he was pretty darned awful). I'm pleased and amused that Saul made it out alive, though his life is going to be pretty boring now.

I'm really not sure how I felt about the ending. The only thing I knew going into it was someone (everyone?) said "it could end no other way". And that was true. If Walt hadn't ended up dead in the end, I would have felt ripped off. But still, it was unsatisfying somehow. His death was almost a let-down? For Jesse I'm glad he didn't shoot Walt, but I think Jesse shooting Walt would have been a more satisfying ending on some level.

I'm really, really pleased at how in the end Walt realized he was doing all that for himself, not for his family. I hadn't been expecting that at all but was very satisfied and pleased by that.

The 'melting a body in a bathtub' scene in the beginning of season one had stopped me all the other times I tried to watch this series (I very much dislike gore), but I was pleased to see that there actually had been a reason for that -- melting bodies came up a number of times through the seasons.

I'm glad Jesse lived in the end, though I don't have terribly much hope he'd have a good life in the future.

I never liked Hank much, but he made a good Captain Ahab. I LOVED his death scene where he told Walt "You're the smartest guy I know, but you're too stupid to see he decided to kill me ten minutes ago."

Apparently much of fandom hated Skylar? I never liked her at all, but her actions seemed perfectly understandable. (End spoiler.)




I watched the whole series so quickly. I'm not sure when I started it, but I want to say I went through all five seasons in about two weeks. I just feel so overwhelmed right now -- so sad that it's over, but glad it was a complete story and they didn't extend it needlessly.

I sure am sorry I missed what must have been an exciting fandom for this. I could see so many potential pairings! Walt/Jesse of course, but I bet Mike/Jesse would be absolutely delicious too. I bet Jesse was the fandom bicycle, huh? I could see anyone paired off with him.

Next up: Better Call Saul! I'm so So SO happy I don't have to go cold turkey from Breaking Bad.

Edit: Beware spoilers in comments!