The greatest works of art have all had one distinct quality. The medium. That seems like menial pseudo - philosophical bullshit, but I mean that in a deeper sense than music written on score sheets or a painting on canvas.
Within the chosen art form, in its most perfect state you can perceive a reflection of the defining characteristics of the subject in a more pure environment. Such can be said about breaking bad.
1- The greatest works of art have all had one distinct quality. The medium. That seems like menial pseudo - philosophical bullshit, but I mean that in a deeper sense than music written on score sheets or a painting on canvas. Within the chosen art form, in its most perfect state you can perceive a reflection of the defining characteristics of the subject in a more pure environment. Such can be said about breaking bad.
2- My favorite episodes would likely be tied between "Fly" or "Ozymandias" both directed by Rian Johnson. The episodes I've chosen are of pretty notorious clash. It is frequently believed that while "Fly" (henceforth 310) is one of the worst episodes, due to budget shortages, "Ozymandias" (henceforth 516) is among the best. I'd venture to disagree. 310 was clearly an episode where they had less money to complete a set goal, but it didn't matter. Within that episode was a period of time when not only could the viewer see exactly the state of affairs with Walter White, Jesse Pinkman and their relationship and further their understanding of said characters, but they could take a break for reflection on the series. Breaking Bad is action packed. Damn near constantly. And in this instance it takes time to back track, cover grounds and leave the viewer with a fresh understanding of where exactly intentions lie. 516, on the other hand, was not quite so forgiving. In this episode, viewers were faced with the empire we saw rise, quite literally fall to its knees. We saw "Heisenberg" fighting Walter White. We saw Jesse who at this point had become more man than boy crushed emotionally, and physically. This episode was the culmination of all individual events and their impact in the show that far.
3- While this question comes at no great ease to answer, as I fully believe all characters have their exact place, I would have to say Jesse. Being one of the only characters who throughout the entire duration of the show saw no separation between "Heisenberg" and Walter White allowed him to serve as a more pure reflection. I would say also that I found him to be one of the most dynamic. On a separate post on this sub, I mentioned that I believed they kept his old friends, Badger and Skinny P, around to serve as a reference for Jesse's character arc. You see him in the beginning. Essentially one of the guys. But as Walter influences him, and he faces life altering circumstances you see him grow. He becomes almost stoic.
4- Walter: His hair. Heisenberg: Pork pie Hat (I mean, c'mon) Jesse: His box Skylar: Her Cigarettes Hank: Rocks (damnit marie) Marie: Baby Tiara Not all of these items do I feel like encapsulate the whole of their character and there were many more characters and items I would have cared to add, but I felt like these were the items that most defined symbolically either a characters change, or a specific struggle that would later prove relevant.
5- This show, I would hope, makes a difference by showing other creators and directors that it is possible to make a show engineered for the masses that also has a side for the intellect. It could be a way to revolutionize how we do T.V.
6- The answer to this question is similar to the last. But I would add this. Breaking Bad posed one simple question. In a pure, functional world, is it true that in order to achieve something of great moral virtue you must be willing to go to immoral ends, and if so, what destruction may be wrought? I enjoyed these questions!
