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The camera makes everyone a tourist in other people’s reality and eventually in one’s own. - Susan Sontag
5 Is Breaking Bad the greatest TV show of all time?
7 In The Spotlight: Netflix
9 The Watercooler
11 Film of the Month
13 What Gets Left Behind
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Television media. Anna Gunn was the only cast member rewarded with an Emmy this year and the fact that the writers finally brought all her traits together in the final season is most definitely the reason. Characters are essential to every drama, no matter how good or bad it is, but throughout the past five years Vince Gilligan has redefined television character development. Almost every character, no matter how large a part they play, is shaped by their back story or if they don’t it’s to emphasise anonymity. Whether it is Mike’s granddaughter, Jesse’s wooden box or Saul’s degree from the University of American Samoa all of these little scenes or pieces of information contribute to our understanding of why these characters do what they do.
Is Breaking Bad the greatest TV show of all time?
Y
Vince Gilligan’s unerring character consistency combined with Breaking Bad’s rapid yet scarily steady pacing is what makes the show so successful, it’s always building to an end instead of just fading away like some other TV favourites (The ninth season of Scrubs is a perfect example). Some episodes are slow and others are frantic but you always get the feeling that they are unfolding the way they should, never once in 62 episodes did I find myself wishing it would speed up or slow down. Breaking Bad is like a novel, allowed to unfold in the middle of our living rooms but, as the cliche goes, all good things must come to end.
es. There isn’t much more that needs to be said about Breaking Bad but I suppose in the next 874 words, I’ll try and elaborate a bit.
The finale of the Breaking Bad was a complete cultural event, a true “water-cooler” discussion topic, and the fact the show managed to achieve such popularity without ever being shown on British TV is testament to it’s brilliance. Fans tuned in via Netflix and iTunes, only a few hours after the original broadcast on AMC during the final series, and many have claimed that Breaking Bad could change the way TV is shown forever. Nothing is quite like watching ten episodes of your favourite show back to back and the avid popularity, at least in the UK, of Breaking Bad may well be down to it’s accesibility. Breaking Bad literally sped, in the form of Winnebago meth kitchen, onto our scenes five years ago. At that moment it grabbed us by the collar and it’s never really let go. The story centres around Walter White, a 50-yearold High School chemistry teacher diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, and his efforts to raise money for his family for after his death. He, of course, decides to achieve this by cooking methamphetamine.Vince Gilligan, the show’s creator has said that the plot was once described by an unidentified TV executive as the “worst idea for a show he’d ever heard”. Now after 62 episodes, I feel he/she may well be eating their words.
It’s never easy to end a TV series, titans such as The Sopranos and The Wire famously struggled, but even the title of the finale is wonderful and the episode is even better. Felina may be an anagram of finale but it also translates into three chemical compounds; Iron (Fe) Lithium (Li) and Sodium (Na), and if you know your chemistry, that’s pretty much; Blood, Meth & Tears. The finale was utterly brilliant, expertly paced and universally satisfying in a way I didn’t think was possible before I tuned in. It ended in a way that will, hopefully, change the way television finales are approached forever. No questions. No loose ends, except for Jesse. Leaving Jesse’s story untold completely rounds of the show, he spent so long being Walter White’s loose end and now without Walter, he’s the show’s loose end. This finale, for me, crowned Breaking Bad the King of TV.
Walter White’s transition from chemistry teacher into his drug kingpin alter ego Heisenberg divided many fans. As a member of “TeamWalt” it was a division I was completely unaware of until the second half of Season 5. When I stumbled upon a YouTube video (SourceFedNerd’s Breaking Bad, Broken Down) in which three presenters analyse each episode and only one of them wanted Walt to escape/survive. This division does come across as a bit of surprise but Bryan Cranston manages to almost make Heisenberg into a completely different character so that a portion of the viewers feel that Walter White has died years ago. A TV show where the protagonist becomes the antagonist, at least in the eyes of some, requires a change in allegiances. However, such is the brilliance of Vince Gilligan’s finale, that it becomes irrelevant whether you were “TeamWalt” or not, Walter White’s death was ultimately satisfying for both sides of the debate. No finale has ever left everyone happy but Breaking Bad came close, unless of course you are of Neo-Nazi persuasion. The show isn’t without it’s apparent faults though, nothing ever is. Anna Gunn’s portrayal of Skylar was initially annoying, as was Walter’s apparent lack of all commone sense and let’s not forget Marie and pretty much everything she did, especially being unable to distinguish between rocks and minerals. By the end of it though, after almost 3000 minutes of TV, everything fits together. Every annoying little scene and action contributes to creating some of the best characters ever to be presented to an audience, not just on television but across all forms of
Breaking Bad on a laptop: a common sight in the last 5 years.
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In The Spotlight: Netflix
massive gathering of “spoilers”. The power to attract a massive actor like Kevin Spacey shows that Netflix may well be the future but unless it distributes TV in a more traditional manner than we may lose some of the speculation, discussion and the agonising wait that made TV shows like Breaking Bad great. Netflix have added some other terrific original programs with Orange is The New Black and Hemlock Grove, securing the fourth season of Arrested Development was also a shrewd move but many TV fans are still left wondering if it’s even worth £6 a month. I’d like to preface this part of the article with the admission that I’ve recently cancelled my Netflix subscription.
Is Netflix the death of the humble TV?
N
etflix began life 14 years ago as a DVD -distribution service but earlier this year, the service-turned-production company was awarded it first Emmy for House of Cards. All ten episodes of the $100 million project were released at the same time, meaning viewers could consume the drama how ever they wanted, it took me two days. There is no doubt that this is beneficial to our natural impatience but is it really as satisfying? Could it even be the end of TV as we know it? A show as good and as gripping as House of Cards deserves lengthy “water-cooler discussions” and week long analysis, not to be consumed over a few days with not enough showers. Social media comment on House of Cards was also forbidden. In a world where people could be at any point in the series, the #HouseOfCards Twitter trend was a
Netflix, is for me, for TV viewers who are a bit bored or looking for something to fill a hole in their viewing schedule. It’s not for the TV addict. The gap between broadcast and availability is far too long for many
Online
We need Netflix. We in the independant sector more than anybody need Netflix, because they care about what we do. - Harvey Weinstein hardcore TV fans. Breaking Bad being the exception to this rule. Films are also equally slow to be updated. The lack of major blockbusters is also an issue. Netflix is great for uncovering a hidden gem, something to waste away a few hours but if you’re a massive TV viewer then the free month may be all you need. Speaking of those “hidden gems” though, there is one that deserve special mention. Justified starring Timothy Olyphant is perhaps my favourite of the shows that I’d never even heard of before subscribing to Netflix. It may now be a two-time Emmy winner but Netflix picked it up quickly and this shows the excellent ability of the people who chose the content. An American drama following cowboy hat weating U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens as he is sent back to Texas after a disagreement with his boss and his subsequent dealings with the criminals he grew up with, including his own father. It’s easy to lose a few days watching the show and although it’s not as hard-hitting as Breaking Bad and House of Cards, it’s almost as enjoyable to watch. Despite the hit or a miss aspect of the content, it’s a
If ever an image summed up an TV show. Justified.
technically excellent service. With peerless HD quality bearing in mind you have average broadband. The user interface is also excellent across all platforms. Whether you are watching on your laptop, tablet, mobile phone or even your smart TV it’s extremely easy to find what you want. Pause positions are stored across devices and the ability to add programs to a queue makes for an incredibly satisfying experience. It’s techinically a winner then but there can never be a simple, definitive answer to the question “Is Netflix for me?” It depends on your TV taste and viewing habits but it definitely has scope to improve and possibly, even take over from cable or satellite television. Netflix may well be the future, or at least a version of it but right now, for me at least, it’s not quite worth the £6 per month.
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Television
The Watercooler What you should be talking about.
The Tunnel
(Sky Atlantic,Tuesday 9pm) One for the TV addicts. A remake of a collaboration between Denmark and Sweden, entitled The Bridge, starring Stephen Dillane (Game of Thrones) and Clémence Poésy (Harry Potter, In Bruges). If you missed out on The Bridge the first time round the you’re in for a treat. The drama follows an Anglo-French investigation after the upper-half of a French politician and the lower half of a British prostitute are found at the halfway point of the Channel Tunnel. This is just the first of many acts by the elusive “Truth Terrorist” who speaks through a British tabloid journalist. A gritty and gripping plot coupled with some true edge of the seat moments and tremendous acting makes for a terrific TV show.
The Walking Dead (Fox, Friday 10pm)
Depending on your viewing habits this is either a very early review or one just in time. The fourth season of The Walking Dead has already kicked off in the US and on FOX in the UK but it’ll be while for terrestrial TV viewers (Feb 14, Channel 5). It’s definitely worth the wait/subscription though. Season four has already started at the same frantic pace as season three, as the camp is gripped by a mystery illness. If you are looking for a show where no character is safe and the plot is littered with cliffhangers then The Walking Dead is definitely for you.
The Mentalist (Channel 5,Tuesday 9pm)
The sixth season of the American investigative drama, looks set to finally unveil the identity of ‘Red John’. As Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) whittles down his list of seven suspects, in his quest to identify the serial killer that killed his family. Wedding bells are also in the air in one of the most impromptu wedding ceremonies in TV history. Catch-up options are also pretty thin on the ground so unless you’ve seen the first five seasons this might not be for you. For the previous viewer, however, this is a welcome return to form after a mediocre fifth season.
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Gravity
(IMDB: 8.5, Rotten Tomatoes: 97%)
G
ravity is, undoubtedly, the must-see film of late 2013 and it’s easy to see why. Alfonso Cuarón’s film is so visually stunning that even James Cameron is tinged with envy. If you only see one film in 3D this has to be it, for the first time since the medium sprung into life, let’s briefly ignore the aforementioned James Cameron’s Avatar, it doesn’t look gimmicky. It only adds to the spectacle. Cuarón uses to strike an almost uneasy fear in the his audience and the prospect of the vast nothingness in space is closer to us than ever before. Cuarón also allows for the audience to be even slightly jealous through their fear, there is something charming about the weightlessness and the almost tranquil nothingness of space. The film opens with NASA medical engineer, Dr Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) on her first mission paired with Matt Kowalski (George Clooney), who’s on his final mission. It may sound cliched, maybe it is but it doesn’t detract from the film at all. The close
proximity to cliche continues as Dr Stone struggles with motion sickness and Kowalski aimlessly floats listening to country music, he even quips that he has “a bad feeling about this mission”. It primes the audience for the terror that we’ve all seen in the trailer and in a below par movie it could be interpreted as cheesy but here it just adds to the gripping appeal of Gravity, no pun intended. The trouble soon arrives when a storm of debris collides, cutting communications and leaving the two astronauts, seemingly, hopelessly clinging on to anything they can find in a battle against the void all around them. Gravity maybe be a surprisingly simplistic survival movie but Clooney’s fantastic portrayal of Kowalski is more heroic war veteran than seasoned astronaut and Bullock brings her trademark authenticity to her performance with terrific results. It’s this combination of strong acting performances, technical brilliance and a simplistic, yet satisfying, plot that makes Gravity such a winner. It’s simply refreshing in the age of bloated Hollywood
Film
blockbusters.
to forgive though, for every flying pen there are five wonderful shots of the chaos caused by the debris or of the vast emptiness of space.
Although it’s easy to describe almost any above average film as breathtaking nowadays, it definitely applies to Gravity. Many have even noted that the film left them feeling dizzy, whether that’s from the special effects or the sheer brilliance of the film remains to be seen. It’s not a Sci-Fi movie, more like a thriller that just happens to be set in space. It’s similar to Ridley Scott’s Alien, even if it’s just in the way that the actors somehow manage to make the events of the movie seem a lot more realistic than they are.
The critics have also lauded over Cuarón’s spectacle, with high scores on both IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes as well as some excellent reviews. Award nominations are coming thick and vast and so far the film has a 100% success record when it’s been nominated. With two awards for Bullock and one for Cuarón himself. James Cameron has said of the film: “I think it’s the best space photography ever done, I think it’s the best space film ever done.” and even the seven minute short film spinoff “Aningaaq” has been tipped for Oscar nomination. So don’t just take my word for it, go and see it before it’s too late. It may well blow you away.
It’s not without it’s faults though, no movie is ever truly perfect. Especially one filmed in 3D. The is the odd occasional gimmick, almost as if Cuarón couldn’t help himself. There is a tad too much repetition, too many objects come flying toward the audience including anything from a Rubix Cube to a table tennis bat. These are things that no director has yet to manage to avoid in the age of 3D cinema. It’s easy
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What Gets Left Behind. A photographic tour of the streets of Aberdeen
Photography
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I started a magazine to try and end the Vietnam war. - Richard Branson
MMXIII Viewfinder: Issue 1 Jack Cairns