The ongoing abortion that is AMC’s Breaking Bad talk show (a weird mix of fully realized product placement and half-hearted attempt to discuss a very deep show in a very shallow way) also comes to an end now that the show it’s dedicated to discussing has, and even though I am deeply saddened to see Breaking Bad go, I can’t say the same for Talking Bad. A few observations about tonight’s final “Talking Bad” episode…
Bonus Observation: I really hope there’s not a “Talking Mad” talk show for Mad Men’s final season. Could you even imagine trying to make a discussion of that show lively and glib?
5. Vince Gilligan is a little bit less impressive every time I see him interviewed. Tonight, he said that a neat reflection of Skyler in the microwave was an accident, he said that having Walter take off the watch was to fix a continuity error, and he routinely shrugs off the presence of larger themes on his show (calling them “artsy fartsy”…seriously). If you wanted to have a college-level discussion on Breaking Bad’s societal themes (and they will come one day, I once took a class on old sitcoms) the last person you’d want to invite is the show’s creator. Whereas Mad Men’s Matthew Weiner, TWD’s Robert Kirkman, and all of HBO’s creators sometimes struggle to make their shows sound deeper than they are, Gilligan may actually hinder the enjoyment of BB on a deeper level.
4. Walter White and Gustavo Fring were my favorite characters on the show…and the actors who play them (Bryan Cranston and Giancarlo Esposito) are also the two who are most clearly acting on the show. They probably have next to nothing in common with their characters, and are always fascinating when giving interviews. They seem to appreciate the show on a bigger level than just their own characters…
3. …And the rest cast of the really doesn’t. I’m not sure that Aaron Paul (Jesse), RJ Mitte (Walt Jr.), Betsy Brandt (Marie), Jonathan Banks (Mike), Skyler (Anna Gunn), and especially Dean Norris (Hank) are really a world different than their characters. They seem to be pretty similar in any interviews they give, and I question how good their performances really are, and really question why they can’t seem to separate their character’s viewpoint from their own. They seem to think exactly how their characters do in a way that blurs the line between actor’s sympathy and ego at wanting the juiciest part possible. All of the supporting cast seems to think that their characters are just a little bit more important than they really are.
2. Chris Hardwick is spectacularly unqualified to be hosting a show about Breaking Bad. The questions he asks are boring. He never probes deep. He never asks anything unexpected. And I’m not really sure he’s as big a fan as he claims (he doesn’t seem like one, and you can tell he honestly geeks out over The Walking Dead in Talking Dead whereas maybe he’s going through the motions here). Breaking Bad is a deeper show than he would probably watch on his own time, and that really, really shows in the type of interviews and conversations he conducts on the show.
1. Breaking Bad may actually be hindered by watching this show. I think the show can be interpreted in multiple ways, and it’s a little nice for the fans to actually be able to have their own opinions after each episode. This habit of having a show’s cast/creative team give 30 interviews a week telling us what to think is relatively recent, and I’d love to see it end. Great art is really in the eye of the beholder, and whether you want to root for Walter or Jesse or Skyler should really be up to your own interpretation. Watching each new episode of Talking Bad is a little maddening in that we’re constantly clubbed over the head that Walter is evil and Jesse is selfless and Hank is someone we should love and Skyler is confused but we should love her anyway. This should really be up to the viewers to debate and hash out, along with our different interpretations of scenes. By having Talking Bad tell us what each scene meant (usually by people that have no idea and zero connection to the show or actors on the show that are only filtering events through their character’s perspective) it really cheapens it in unintended ways.