mexognosis

Two of my ancestors were burned at the stake in Salem, so after literally stumbling upon this show randomly on Netflix, I decided to give it a go. Of course, the show is supernatural horror - you should know going in that you aren't going to get historical accuracy. But I actually think the balance of historical accuracy and complete outlandishness works well. We immediately like John Alden because even though some of this show's witches are actually witches, he is skeptical not just that all of the condemned citizens are in fact witches- rather he doubts that witches exist period. The way, incidentally, that they frame witches as agents of the false witch hunt, works well--even if that plot point is never really matched by the subplot. Some of the historical inaccuracies can be annoying of course. The Indians don't look like they would have at that time--at least in New England, the Puritans would not be wearing some of the extravagant clothes worn here by the elites, and Salem would not be consist of German American architecture or have a social scene resembling the Manchester, England of Charles ****. But these are small points. A larger trouble is that the show portrays a small portion of victims of the witch hunt as actual witches. Their characters are fictional but the people on whom they are based were very real. This seems insensitive, and I almost wish they changed the names. These may be your ancestors after all. The plot lines also grow a bit tired toward the end, although the addition of a few new characters (especially Increase Mather) helps this a bit. Problems aside, I think I'll give next season a go.

Another great season of Breaking Bad, though the first season where I saw any real flaws. In the first three seasons, Breaking Bad felt more like a movie or mini-series - like something which would be just long enough for the story to be as beautiful as possible. In this season, I felt like it had finally become a 'tv show.' Some of the subplots frankly seemed superfluous (though I personally liked most of the Skyler stuff - and we shouldn't forget that some of what seemed unnecessary at first glance, turned out to be important later on, e.g. for that great moment at the end of "Crawl Space"). As a whole, I didn't think this season came together as well as any of the other ones, and I also think it had some of the series worst episodes (especially episode 2 "Thirty Eight Snub"). Then again, it was also home to some of the series best acting (to say that Giancarlo Esposito deserves an emmy for his role this year is not enough). Gus was finally developed into a multi-dimensional character to a degree I thought impossible, and Walt, Skyler, and even Walter Jr. were also given some new dimensions. The season did start off slow, but it had to. Breaking Bad doesn't forget its past - nothing can just disappear, unless something else can logically take its place and make its characters (and us) forget it (I think of Grey Matter here, but there are other examples). After season 3, breaking bad couldn't just start afresh, and it realistically needed to take time to move on. But patience paid off. Along with episode 1, the last five episodes, together and by themselves, were some of the greatest moments in Breaking Bad history, and I personally think that the pivotal moment in "Salud" was one of the best scences even in TV history. On that vein, I think it is helpful to think of Breaking Bad as more of a mini-series than a TV show. Its individual episodes aren't necessarily supposed to be rated alone. Sleepier episodes pave the ground for some truly amazing cinematic moments, without fail.

The best season of Breaking bad so far. Not at all as systematic as season 2 (apparently the writers approached season 3 by deliberately getting themselves into impossible corners and just figuring it out as they went along), but somehow even better. We started to see some of the characters from the first two seasons (especially Walter Jr.) slip away (though Hank provided us with one of the best moments in TV history) but that was sort of the point. Newer characters like Saul, Mike, Gus, and the brothers (though the true literary role of the latter is beyond expression in an online user review) really made this season something. Some of the show's best moments appear in episodes 1 ("no mas"), 6 ("sunset"), 7 ("one minute," and 12 ("Half Measures"). And even though "Fly" seemed a bit anti-climatic when it first aired, looking back it's one of my favorite episodes, and one of the best showcases of acting for both Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul.

Season 1 was great TV, but it was season 2 that really signaled to us that Breaking Bad was something truly revolutionary. This was also the most systematic and most clearly put together season of the series so far, and I'm a definite fan of that ominous teddy bear. The artistic value was really something here, but the 'ooh ahh' moments were unparalleled too. The end of the season finale still sends shivers down my spine.

It's actually sort of tough to rate the first season of Breaking Bad, because despite setting up the remainder of the show, it's just so damn different from the later seasons. The directing, cinematography, acting, and screenwriting are all fantastic, even if there aren't quite as many great moments as in seasons 2, 3, and 4. Some of the 'yeah, science!' moments were a bit annoying at first glance, but looking deeper there's actually a sort of satirical humor even there, and in any case, that aspect of the show was one of the first to disappear. The writers strike also makes it tough to evaluate the end of the season - I like to think of the second episode of season 2 as the final episode of this arc, which really makes a difference.