Breaking Bad, did it ever almost "jump the shark"?

I absolutely love this series. I am re watching the entire series for the second time now.

Gustavo Fring is near perfection!

But did the show push its luck a bit?

Gustavo's Face being blown off and he walks out....( great..but hmmmm)

Walt and Jessie, Cooking meth in neighborhood houses in season 5?

 

Not for me

 

Nope

 

The planes Donald Margolis caused to collide did so right over the White's house.

 

The plane crash storyline was pushing it a bit, but they worked it in so organically that it just added to Walt's ever widening sphere of destructive influence.

 

Gus's face being blown off at the end of the 4th season was, together with the very final scene of the zoom-in on the plant, was one of the greatest season finales ever!

The whole cooking meth in neighborhood houses thing did stretch credulity quite a bit, but no more so than some of the stuff that happened earlier. The whole dissolving people in acid thing (doesn't work that well in real life, according to an accompanying documentary) and Walt's throwing that chemical down to blow up Tuco's office also stretched credulity greatly. But a little suspension of disbelief is fine for any show as long as it has some degree of plausibility about it and is just not totally way out there.

 

OOh trust me, I love the Season 4 finale, but honestly wish Gustavo was still around. I found him my favorite character of the series!

After watching it in its entirety two more times, Walk looks to be even more of a bad character than the first time I watched it.

I loved the Tuco office scene also!

 

Breaking Bad was always pushing the envelope in terms of plot, but it never jumped the shark for me. I thought the plane crash and Gus adjusting his tie were both stupid, though. There was so much great about the show that I could forgive a few missteps.

 

No never. I could watch it again and not regret a single episode.

I recommended it to my mother last winter, and she texted me after every single episode with how excited she was.

 

Hell no !

 

My only regret is that I've never been able to come across a copy of the barrel set in perfect condition for a reasonable price. They really jumped the packaging shark with that one.

 

Make that HELL NO!!!!

 

Nope. Never a time when we rolled our eyes and said "oh, come on!" well.. maybe the bit about Lydia using the one single package of Stevia that Walt had placed in advance.

 

It jumped the shark at the very end. That gun in the truck bit was pretty stupid. Maybe in Machete Kills it would have seemed okay, but even then it would be silly stuff. Until that moment, I thought the show was very believeable.

 

The train robbing despite being a good episode with a brilliant ending seemed a bit like a ratings boost.

 

That's the first moment that comes to mind. Irrespective of the vile nature of the character, that moment belonged in a 'Buffy' episode.

Indeed - that's the second moment. Given the overall brilliance of the series, I was willing to overlook that misstep...somewhat.

 

Never jumped. I can't think of a lot of other shows that never did; the first Dick Van Dyke Show is one of the few I can name.

 

Very closely. Gus stumbling out of the hospital room looking like the Terminator was ridiculous, as was the machine-gun in a car 'trunk' in the final episode.

Loved the show and will be watching it again, but it was exceedingly far-fetched.

 

I know we're in the minority here, but I kind of agree. Maybe years down the road I'll watch the finale again and feel differently, but I thought it was sort of out of sync with the remainder of the series. I found the first half of the finale as being too preoccupied with tying up loose ends in some melodramatic (and anticlimactic) way, while the second half felt like it had been lifted from a generic action movie. The entire episode lacked the extreme, multi-tiered, high stakes conflict that made the show so unique in the first place, and it almost seemed hesitant to make Walter White truly pay for his crimes. I thought Breaking Bad was a terrific show, but that it went out on a "safe" note, which was contrary to its very essence.

 

Honestly I never truly thought it jumped the shark, but pushed credibility a few times!

The thing with the Neo Nazi's, seemed out of place to me for some reason. Almost as if they last minute decided to tack that plot line on with Jessie being held captive etc. It almost seemed out of character with the rest of the show.

The plane crash and Gustavo's face......pushed credibility a bit, but overall still very entertaining.

I think maybe what most on occasion made me roll my eyes a "Bit", was Hank Schrader was not earlier on to even realize that Walt was somehow involved in anything or even had a clue. Overall they made him out to be fairly good at sniffing out stuff, but never once did he say..."Hmm Walt is a chemistry expert...he just got tons of money, he does not really have a job...wonder if he could be involved, since he knows Jessie, etc..."

 

Watching it for the third time....( ehh I know...) I am extremely amazed at the nuanced performance of Walt. Things I never noticed the first time, cause I was so caught up in the actual plot as it developed.

It seems not that far into everything going on, that Walt really does not care truly about anyone. Even those he says he loves and cares about, it seems like he will say or do anything almost simply to get more money, and more power.

When Todd kills the kid on the dirt bike, Walt almost seems to be faking being upset, but later in the house in the Meth Tent, he is quietly whistling a cheery tune, and Jessie hearing him, looks like a ghost. I think Jessie realizes that Walt is too far gone, and is not at all caring about anyone or anything other than himself at that moment.

 

Yeah it felt a bit tacked on for me as well. Considering Tuco/Hector/Gus were all A-grade villains, Jack's crew seemed like an afterthought. I don't think it ruined the series for me though.

 

Ya sorta "tacked on", or at least they did not give it a gradual build up or any emotional resonance, they were simply "Bad guys".

All the rest, seemed to have some real "appeal", even though they were quite bad and evil.

 

I thought "Jack" was such a neat character by an excellent actor that I was cool with the whole thing. I think he and his crew were a well-enough thought out story. Loved the time he was talking with scorn about the "animals" out there.

 

The fly.