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The Wire vs The Sopranos vs Breaking Bad

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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 984 ✭✭✭ViveLaVie


    I'd have to say, the wire, the sopranos and breaking bad in that order. The wire just pips the sopranos, probably because of the ending - sopranos ending was dire. Breaking bad is well beaten into third. I've just caught up with watching it and while it definitely is entertaining, it very much lacks any sense of realism you get with either the wire or the sopranos.
    I know it's a tv show and not a documentary, but there's stretching the truth and then there's a mild mannered school teacher taking on psychotic drug dealers and mexican cartels, all the while keeping schtum to his DEA brother in law! Also as depections of drug addicts go, compare bubbles to jessie. Bubbles looks and acts like a junkie, jessie looks like he's just stepped out of a calvin klein shoot!
    Breaking bad just isn't in the league of the other two, i'm amazed it's topping the poll!

    Just because something is surreal doesn't mean it doesn't have the same integrity. BB still has some important things to say and thoroughly explores human weakness and greed.

    I don't think Jesse is a proper junkie. Sure he has a weakness for the stuff but he is clean most of the time and he isn't addicted in the sense that he can't get clean when he is struggling.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,738 ✭✭✭Tombo2001


    SB-08 wrote: »
    Breaking Bad due to how it consistently gets better with each season. The Wire goes up and down in quality and season 5 was ridiculous at times. Season 4 was simply amazing though. The Sopranos is incredible and probably the most entertaining of the three but overall I would go with Breaking Bad. In terms of, consistency, character development, how incredibly well it's shot and especially the acting of Cranston and Paul it just about shades it.


    Interesting for me as I watched the first series and didnt bother with it after that. And i wouldnt personally have put it anywhere near The Wire in terms of quality.

    I know its a different type of show, but I would rank The West Wing alongside this trio.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 283 ✭✭RodgersLFC


    fruvai wrote: »
    Realism is not everything - a scene may be realistic but is it interesting? That scene is hugely symbolic revealing that
    even at the bitter end Gus still puts on the facade of the respectable businesssman -it is so deeply embedded in his cold and calculated nature. His futile gesture of control highlights his failure to control the chaotic presence of one Walter White.Now everyone can quite literally see his 'two-faced' nature




    I totally disagree, just because it may lack the ultra-realism of the Wire does not make it just made purely for entertainment (even though it undoubtedly is entertaining). Like Twin Peaks, it is ultimately about the nature of good and evil. It's not just a TV show that you're meant to watch and forget about.

    Having said that, I still think that both the Sopranos and the Wire are better TV shows.

    Dont get me wrong, I love Breaking Bad, but i just think that the way The Wire portrays an urban environment, where the cops and criminals are really no better than the other, is way ahead of Breaking Bad in terms of realism and social commentary.

    The one thing I'll take from the Wire is the fact that, when it comes down to it, the cops and the drug dealers really werent that different in the show. Everyone is just trying to do their own respective jobs as best they can, and survive as best they can.

    I have never seen Twin Peaks actually, maybe another one to add to the list of shows to watch. So much TV, so little time.....


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,738 ✭✭✭Tombo2001


    RodgersLFC wrote: »
    The one thing I'll take from the Wire is the fact that, when it comes down to it, the cops and the drug dealers really werent that different in the show. Everyone is just trying to do their own respective jobs as best they can, and survive as best they can.

    .....


    I'd agree.......the greatest thing about The Wire was its reasonably successful attempt to explain the madness of the world around us.

    Sopranos and Breaking Bad are just stories.....maybe they are great stories.....but they really have no basis in reality.....(IMHO).


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,132 ✭✭✭✭Cienciano


    fruvai wrote: »
    Realism is not everything - a scene may be realistic but is it interesting? That scene is hugely symbolic revealing that
    even at the bitter end Gus still puts on the facade of the respectable businesssman -it is so deeply embedded in his cold and calculated nature. His futile gesture of control highlights his failure to control the chaotic presence of one Walter White.Now everyone can quite literally see his 'two-faced' nature




    I totally disagree, just because it may lack the ultra-realism of the Wire does not make it just made purely for entertainment (even though it undoubtedly is entertaining). Like Twin Peaks, it is ultimately about the nature of good and evil. It's not just a TV show that you're meant to watch and forget about.

    Having said that, I still think that both the Sopranos and the Wire are better TV shows.
    You might have read into the gus scene like that, but I was thinking "
    there was a fecken bomb that just blew the door off the room, and he strolls out, that's bollocks!
    The
    plane crash
    was totally unnessessary, it was like it was thrown in to give season 2 a big ending. It's only referenced to a small bit afterwards too. It's a massive world event ffs!
    Each to their own, as I said, I like it, but think it would be a much better show without the completely unnessessary stuff like that thrown in. I hated the fly episode too.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,461 ✭✭✭--Kaiser--


    Bubbles is to my mind the best piece of acting i've ever seen on tv, it was absolutely amazing. Come to think of it, i actually can't think of a badly written or badly acted character in the wire.

    For a start, the main characte,r McNulty, is about as stereotypical as you can get, later on he changes somewhat but mostly he's your typical one-dimensional, whiskey soaked, job-driven detective with dysfunctional personal life
    RodgersLFC wrote: »
    The one thing I'll take from the Wire is the fact that, when it comes down to it, the cops and the drug dealers really werent that different in the show. Everyone is just trying to do their own respective jobs as best they can, and survive as best they can.

    This is the best thing about the show. It's a neutral portrayal of the cops and the dealers


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,970 ✭✭✭Lenin Skynard


    This poll is turning out to be very interesting. Where the poll is now is where I would rank the three of them personally.

    Just to throw this out there: I think that The Sopranos (mainly) but also Breaking Bad fall down with the fact that there's a kind of family-friendliness to them. Although that's essential for Breaking Bad, I think it lets the Sopranos down. The school/love lives of Meadow and Anthony junior were complete fast forward moments on the show for me with no relevance. Almost reminds me of how they write characters of all different ages on shows like Home and Away to attract different sections of the audience. Not so much with Breaking Bad but still a little bit, Hank and Marie arguing about rocks etc.

    None of this on The Wire, the only time you see kids and families is when they're integral to the plot. The Wire doesn't have that fluffy wholesomeness to it that the other two do and that's a big plus for me. Again, it's hard to knock the other two because I love all three of these shows and think they are indeed out ahead of a chasing pack.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,047 ✭✭✭Da Shins Kelly


    RodgersLFC wrote: »
    Dont get me wrong, I love Breaking Bad, but i just think that the way The Wire portrays an urban environment, where the cops and criminals are really no better than the other, is way ahead of Breaking Bad in terms of realism and social commentary.

    The one thing I'll take from the Wire is the fact that, when it comes down to it, the cops and the drug dealers really werent that different in the show. Everyone is just trying to do their own respective jobs as best they can, and survive as best they can.

    I have never seen Twin Peaks actually, maybe another one to add to the list of shows to watch. So much TV, so little time.....

    Breaking Bad is not claiming to be a social commentary in the way The Wire is, so I don't see how that criticism can be levelled at it. Breaking Bad is more about human nature and morality than anything else. Similarly, The Sopranos seems to deal with human nature issues in a similar way. While Breaking Bad is documenting a good man's descent into immorality, The Sopranos deals with a pretty bad individual who struggles with his immorality. The Sopranos is also a pretty good examination of the American Dream and everything that's wrong with it.
    Tombo2001 wrote: »
    I'd agree.......the greatest thing about The Wire was its reasonably successful attempt to explain the madness of the world around us.

    Sopranos and Breaking Bad are just stories.....maybe they are great stories.....but they really have no basis in reality.....(IMHO).

    People get so caught up in ideas of realism, as if that's the only thing that makes something great. If reality was the deciding factor in all things great, then we can just forget about Star Wars and Dracula and even Twin Peaks and the X-Files.

    At the end of the day, they're all exaggerations of reality for dramatic purposes. Obviously some go further than others, but just because something is more realistic doesn't automatically make it better.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 283 ✭✭RodgersLFC


    Breaking Bad is not claiming to be a social commentary in the way The Wire is, so I don't see how that criticism can be levelled at it. Breaking Bad is more about human nature and morality than anything else. Similarly, The Sopranos seems to deal with human nature issues in a similar way. While Breaking Bad is documenting a good man's descent into immorality, The Sopranos deals with a pretty bad individual who struggles with his immorality. The Sopranos is also a pretty good examination of the American Dream and everything that's wrong with it.
    .

    Yep true, although I guess the reason i love The Wire so much is because I value that in a TV show more than anything else.And as i said I love Breaking Bad which is why its part of this poll.

    Game of Thrones is another show that could end up being as great as the shows in this poll. The first two seasons have been superb.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,687 ✭✭✭enfant terrible


    RodgersLFC wrote: »
    Fair doos and I respect your opinions but I couldnt disagree with you more. The characters and acting in the Wire are what make it so amazing for me. I think the story of Bubbles throughout the 5 seasons sums it up for me, everyone goes on about Omar being the best character in the Wire but Bubbles is the best for me. Superbly acted.

    There's no characters in BB that mean half as much to me as the characters in the Wire, but each to their own dude. Its the beauty of television.

    Agreed and to be honest I find alot of the characters in the Sopranos kind of all blur together.

    Sal, Silvio, Furio, Bobby your typical Italian-American gangsters from the mafia films.

    And lets pretent Anthony Jr, Meadow and Janice were never in the show.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,738 ✭✭✭Tombo2001



    People get so caught up in ideas of realism, as if that's the only thing that makes something great. If reality was the deciding factor in all things great, then we can just forget about Star Wars and Dracula and even Twin Peaks and the X-Files.

    .


    I'd say actually they dont. It very rarely happens.

    How often do you see a gun shot or a punch on a tv show that resembles what a real-life gun shot or punch might look like.

    Take Love/Hate in ireland for example.......what relation if any does the Robert Sheehan character bear to the Crumlin/ Drimnagh heads that cause so much trouble. And yet, that show would be portrayed as 'realism'.

    As such, i stand over what I said and applaud them for it.

    My point is that The Wire is incredibly dramatic and at the same time its real........and thats what makes it so Unique.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,812 ✭✭✭✭sbsquarepants


    Orlando was pretty one-dimensional.

    I stand corrected! I actually couldn't remember who he was and had too google him to refresh my memory:)
    ViveLaVie wrote: »
    Just because something is surreal doesn't mean it doesn't have the same integrity. BB still has some important things to say and thoroughly explores human weakness and greed.

    I don't think Jesse is a proper junkie. Sure he has a weakness for the stuff but he is clean most of the time and he isn't addicted in the sense that he can't get clean when he is struggling.

    I know what you mean about jessie, he more just likes to party than he is a junkie - i just mean the believability of the two characters, bubbles wins hands down.
    I also don't really get the surrealism, it seems to me just a very far fetched story, not really that much surrealism to report! I do like the show and most of the characters (i just can't take to walts wife or son, they just seem superflous to me) , and it is definitely extremely well acted. I just personally wouldn't put it in the same league as the wire and the sopranos in terms of story telling. It's just too far fetched in places.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,047 ✭✭✭Da Shins Kelly


    RodgersLFC wrote: »
    Yep true, although I guess the reason i love The Wire so much is because I value that in a TV show more than anything else.

    And this is really what it comes down to. People look for different things in a show. I love The Sopranos because I love anything that deals with family dynamics and dysfunctional families, etc. and I particularly love shows that focus on individuals like The Sopranos does with Tony. I like that about Breaking Bad too and how it focuses on Walt. The Wire is more about society as a whole and is less about individuals, but it's still a thoroughly enjoyable show and incredibly well written.

    One criticism I would level at Breaking Bad is the lack of strong female characters. Skylar and Marie simply can't match up to the likes of Carmela Soprano or Kima in The Wire. Those two are pretty formidable women - Kima being a very intelligent, important part of the force but also being pretty complex with her failed relationships and alcohol problems. Carmela is arguably the only character in The Sopranos who actually has the upper-hand over Tony - she's the only one to tell him exactly what she thinks of him and live to tell the tale. He has a respect for her that he doesn't have for anyone else in the show. Breaking Bad is lacking in interesting women like this, I feel.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,687 ✭✭✭enfant terrible


    And this is really what it comes down to. People look for different things in a show. I love The Sopranos because I love anything that deals with family dynamics and dysfunctional families, etc. and I particularly love shows that focus on individuals like The Sopranos does with Tony. I like that about Breaking Bad too and how it focuses on Walt. The Wire is more about society as a whole and is less about individuals, but it's still a thoroughly enjoyable show and incredibly well written.

    One criticism I would level at Breaking Bad is the lack of strong female characters. Skylar and Marie simply can't match up to the likes of Carmela Soprano or Kima in The Wire. Those two are pretty formidable women - Kima being a very intelligent, important part of the force but also being pretty complex with her failed relationships and alcohol problems. Carmela is arguably the only character in The Sopranos who actually has the upper-hand over Tony - she's the only one to tell him exactly what she thinks of him and live to tell the tale. He has a respect for her that he doesn't have for anyone else in the show. Breaking Bad is lacking in interesting women like this, I feel.

    Does it really matter though, does a show need strong female characters to be good?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,674 ✭✭✭Mardy Bum


    To make an analogy between the mediums of tv and literature in terms of complexity the Wire is similar to Ulysses and Breaking Bad is similar to an Agatha Christie novel. Ulysses was groundbreaking, a masterpiece and one of the most important novels ever written. Christie's work is among some of the best selling pieces of literature ever and rightly so but in the grand scheme Ulysses is a much more important and complex work.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,320 ✭✭✭trashcan


    See the Wire is pulling ahead in the Poll, which is how I would see it. For me the scope and breadth of it's storytelling puts it ahead of the other two (although as a caveat, I'm only one season through BB) all the while done with believable and empathetic characters. Even people on the wrong side of the law such as Omar, Bubbles and Bodie can garner sympathy. So many characters, and none of them feel like extras in the story. It's magnificent, almost flawless in my view. (Except possibly for that storyline in Season 5 - if you've watched it you'll know the one). It's ruined all other television for me to be honest. Sopranos was good, so is Breaking Bad, but for me there's only one winner.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,461 ✭✭✭--Kaiser--


    Mardy Bum wrote: »
    To make an analogy between the mediums of tv and literature in terms of complexity the Wire is similar to Ulysses and Breaking Bad is similar to an Agatha Christie novel. Ulysses was groundbreaking, a masterpiece and one of the most important novels ever written. Christie's work is among some of the best selling pieces of literature ever and rightly so but in the grand scheme Ulysses is a much more important and complex work.

    This is nonsense. How was The Wire groundbreaking? The premise of Breaking Bad was far more groundbreaking than bunch of drug dealers vs. a bunch of police. Complexity of plot is not necessarily a good thing either, I've seen many a movie ruined by a convoluted plot. Breaking Bad is much more about the characters than the plot, The Wire more about plot than characters


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,687 ✭✭✭enfant terrible


    --Kaiser-- wrote: »
    This is nonsense. How was The Wire groundbreaking? The premise of Breaking Bad was far more groundbreaking than bunch of drug dealers vs. a bunch of police. Complexity of plot is not necessarily a good thing either, I've seen many a movie ruined by a convoluted plot. Breaking Bad is much more about the characters than the plot, The Wire more about plot than characters

    Don't think its the premise he was talking about more it being a visual novel.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wire#Visual_novel

    "Many important events occur off-camera and there is no artificial exposition in the form of voice-over or flashbacks, with the sole exception of one flashback at the end of the pilot episode, and even this brief use of the flashback technique is actually replaying a momentary footage clip from earlier in the same episode. Thus, the viewer needs to follow every conversation closely to understand who's who and what's going on. Salon.com has described the show as novelistic in structure, with a greater depth of writing and plotting than other crime shows.[31] Each season of The Wire consists of 10–13 full-hour episodes, which form several multi-layered narratives. Simon chose this structure with an eye towards long story arcs that draw a viewer in, which then results in a more satisfying payoff. He uses the metaphor of a visual novel in several interviews,[8][50] describing each episode as a chapter, and has also commented that this allows a fuller exploration of the show's themes in time not spent on plot development.[1]"


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,674 ✭✭✭Mardy Bum


    --Kaiser-- wrote: »
    This is nonsense. How was The Wire groundbreaking? The premise of Breaking Bad was far more groundbreaking than bunch of drug dealers vs. a bunch of police. Complexity of plot is not necessarily a good thing either, I've seen many a movie ruined by a convoluted plot. Breaking Bad is much more about the characters than the plot, The Wire more about plot than characters
    Don't think its the premise he was talking about more it being a visual novel.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wire#Visual_novel

    "Many important events occur off-camera and there is no artificial exposition in the form of voice-over or flashbacks, with the sole exception of one flashback at the end of the pilot episode, and even this brief use of the flashback technique is actually replaying a momentary footage clip from earlier in the same episode. Thus, the viewer needs to follow every conversation closely to understand who's who and what's going on. Salon.com has described the show as novelistic in structure, with a greater depth of writing and plotting than other crime shows.[31] Each season of The Wire consists of 10–13 full-hour episodes, which form several multi-layered narratives. Simon chose this structure with an eye towards long story arcs that draw a viewer in, which then results in a more satisfying payoff. He uses the metaphor of a visual novel in several interviews,[8][50] describing each episode as a chapter, and has also commented that this allows a fuller exploration of the show's themes in time not spent on plot development.[1]"

    The nod goes to enfant terrible ;).

    Kaiser you don't seem to have watched much of the Wire if you think its cops versus robbers, that is a pretty ironic description of the Wire in fact in that most of the time the cops are not after anyone but out for themselves.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,461 ✭✭✭--Kaiser--


    Mardy Bum wrote: »
    The nod goes to enfant terrible ;).

    Kaiser you don't seem to have watched much of the Wire if you think its cops versus robbers, that is a pretty ironic description of the Wire in fact in that most of the time the cops are not after anyone but out for themselves.

    Don't get me wrong, I like The Wire, I've just finished season 3 and I'm not stopping there. It's just that I heard an awful lot about it before I watched and I have to say it doesn't meet the expectations I was getting from people. I'm only criticising it versus The Sopranos and Breaking Bad


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,674 ✭✭✭Mardy Bum


    --Kaiser-- wrote: »
    Don't get me wrong, I like The Wire, I've just finished season 3 and I'm not stopping there. It's just that I heard an awful lot about it before I watched and I have to say it doesn't meet the expectations I was getting from people. I'm only criticising it versus The Sopranos and Breaking Bad

    Season four is generally considered the most viewer friendly and appealing series of them all so I would guess you will enjoy it much more than the previous three and it may change your opinion wholly.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,461 ✭✭✭--Kaiser--


    Mardy Bum wrote: »
    Season four is generally considered the most viewer friendly and appealing series of them all so I would guess you will enjoy it much more than the previous three and it may change your opinion wholly.

    I don't know, I though I was getting over Dominic West's terrible terrible accent then they bring in Aiden Gillen :eek:

    Then again, Idris Elba is so convincing the producers actually thought he was a yank


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,320 ✭✭✭trashcan


    --Kaiser-- wrote: »
    This is nonsense. How was The Wire groundbreaking? The premise of Breaking Bad was far more groundbreaking than bunch of drug dealers vs. a bunch of police. Complexity of plot is not necessarily a good thing either, I've seen many a movie ruined by a convoluted plot. Breaking Bad is much more about the characters than the plot, The Wire more about plot than characters

    Oh come on. It's so much more than that. That's like telling a football fan that the game is 22 men chasing a lump of leather around a field. It's superficially true but doesn't do justice to the drama and tension of the experience. Don't agree that the Wire is plot over character either. As I said in my earlier post its genius is the amount of characters involved, all of whom feel real and believable, from Drug kingpin to dock worker to frustrated cop,to hopeless junkie, to the schoolkids ruined by the street, to venal politicians and senior police. All put together within an epic story. Jesus, what other TV series has all that ?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,687 ✭✭✭enfant terrible


    trashcan wrote: »
    Oh come on. It's so much more than that. That's like telling a football fan that the game is 22 men chasing a lump of leather around a field. It's superficially true but doesn't do justice to the drama and tension of the experience. Don't agree that the Wire is plot over character either. As I said in my earlier post its genius is the amount of characters involved, all of whom feel real and believable, from Drug kingpin to dock worker to frustrated cop,to hopeless junkie, to the schoolkids ruined by the street, to venal politicians and senior police. All put together within an epic story. Jesus, what other TV series has all that ?

    Agreed, I just think some people find the idea of a loser school teacher becoming a bad ass killer drug dealer cooler.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,674 ✭✭✭Mardy Bum


    Agreed, I just think some people find the idea of a loser school teacher becoming a bad ass killer drug dealer cooler.

    Its just easier to follow and well put together. I'm not surprised some people think it better for that reason alone. The majority of people do not want to be intellectually challenged when they sit down in front of the tv.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 984 ✭✭✭ViveLaVie


    Mardy Bum wrote: »
    To make an analogy between the mediums of tv and literature in terms of complexity the Wire is similar to Ulysses and Breaking Bad is similar to an Agatha Christie novel. Ulysses was groundbreaking, a masterpiece and one of the most important novels ever written. Christie's work is among some of the best selling pieces of literature ever and rightly so but in the grand scheme Ulysses is a much more important and complex work.

    I haven't seen The Wire yet so I can't comment on the comparison to Ulysses. However, I wouldn't say Breaking Bad is like an Agatha Christie novel. It has more depth than that. It's hard to say what novel it is like but I would be more inclined to compare it to Frankenstein, Jekyll and Hyde or The Picture of Dorian Gray, three pretty important novels in their own right.

    BB is not a typical crime drama. It seeks to do more and evaluate humanity's propensity to do evil, for greed, selfishness and pride. This is against a backdrop of several different strains of morality from Jesse, Mrs. White and Hank.


    Agreed, I just think some people find the idea of a loser school teacher becoming a bad ass killer drug dealer cooler.

    It's much more than that. The fact that Walt was a struggling school teacher who simply wanted to provide adequately for his family makes his transformation into a truly evil drug kingpin, who can easily dismiss SPOILER the needless murders of little children and quite clearly cares more about being the biggest and best meth cook than his family, riveting. It's the journey from a position of relative morality to sheer evil that is important.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 984 ✭✭✭ViveLaVie


    Mardy Bum wrote: »

    Its just easier to follow and well put together. I'm not surprised some people think it better for that reason alone. The majority of people do not want to be intellectually challenged when they sit down in front of the tv.

    BB is intellectually challenging if it is considered properly.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,687 ✭✭✭enfant terrible


    ViveLaVie wrote: »
    I haven't seen The Wire yet so I can't comment on the comparison to Ulysses. However, I wouldn't say Breaking Bad is like an Agatha Christie novel. It has more depth than that. It's hard to say what novel it is like but I would be more inclined to compare it to Frankenstein, Jekyll and Hyde or The Picture of Dorian Gray, three pretty important novels in their own right.

    BB is not a typical crime drama. It seeks to do more and evaluate humanity's propensity to do evil, for greed, selfishness and pride. This is against a backdrop of several different strains of morality from Jesse, Mrs. White and Hank.




    It's much more than that. The fact that Walt was a struggling school teacher who simply wanted to provide adequately for his family makes his transformation into a truly evil drug kingpin, who can easily dismiss SPOILER the needless murders of little children and quite clearly cares more about being the biggest and best meth cook than his family riveting. It's the journey from a position of relative morality to sheer evil that is important.

    I actually started losing interest in Walt when he started to become psychotic and started wearing his kingpin hat.

    Just didn't find it believable.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,674 ✭✭✭Mardy Bum


    ViveLaVie wrote: »
    BB is intellectually challenging if it is considered properly.

    I am just speaking in relation to the Wire. Of course it is one of the best tv shows ever so it obviously ticks that box. Just not to the same degree as the Wire or even close really.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 836 ✭✭✭fruvai


    Mardy Bum wrote: »
    To make an analogy between the mediums of tv and literature in terms of complexity the Wire is similar to Ulysses and Breaking Bad is similar to an Agatha Christie novel. Ulysses was groundbreaking, a masterpiece and one of the most important novels ever written. Christie's work is among some of the best selling pieces of literature ever and rightly so but in the grand scheme Ulysses is a much more important and complex work.

    In my mind The Wire would be similar to A Tale of Two Cities and Breaking Bad is similar to a Cormac McCarthy novel. While The Wire is a structurally complex piece of work it's not experimental in both form and content like Ulysses is. And the Wire is actually popular :D, Ulysses has never really been popular - highly regarded but people generally tend to dismiss it as pretentious **** written for English professors and intellectuals to dissect and masturbate over :pac:


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