lol c'mon son

We should prolly look at 5 as one season tbf. lol amc

Meh, 5a felt completely rushed compared to the rest of the series and it should have had its own full season so Walt want declaring he won't ever stop regardless of how much money he had then 3 episodes later retiring because he saw a storage unit full if cash

I felt a bit that way at first but what did we really miss? Would the show have been better if they spent 3 or 4 episodes with Walt cooking for Lydia without any conflict? It felt better watching 5a a second time through.

Think Greenwald podcast argued that they montages all the boring stuff and I think that's a pretty sound argument.

It's an understandable issue to have tho. Although the season as a whole was stil very strong even if that bothers you a lot.

I'd be surprised if anyone watched 5a and 5b in one week and could tell that the season was divided.

If we consider 5a and 5b just 5 then 5 is still easily the best season imo

I will soon. I've been spoiled about the shield so much the past couple years in other 2p2 tv threads

I marathoned the entire 5 seasons in a timespan of 2 weeks and was caught up at Ozzymandias

I have
5b>>3>4=5a>1>>2

I still think 3/4 > 5 just because Gus. It's obviously razor thin.

I like this, although after reading some stuff posted by nath and others about s3 I have a feeling I'm probably underrating it a bit.

At least the show finished strong. Great shows are like great athletes; they tend to go on longer than they should and stick around for money long after their peak. The number of great shows and great athletes with lengthy runs who went out anywhere near the top is so small - winning a title and then retiring while still being a relevant contributor even if past peak is acceptable in this context, e.g. Russell, Elway, Ray Lewis.

Not to mention acceptable finales. Even if you think Seinfeld's last season or two were on par with ones prior (I don't), the finale was meh to terrible. People feel the same about Sopranos, Lost, etc.

there's definitely a night and day difference in pace between 5a and 5b. i mean it's one thing if they filmed a full season and after the fact amc said nah we'll split it in half, but it was planned in advance to be 2 separate mini-seasons

wow, really crappy rankings here

ya this is what i'm going with

I got

3>5b>4>1>2>>5a

Maybe it's in part because Season 3 was the first season I watched live, but man, I was shocked at the speed of their pacing. We meet the cousins in episode one, and by episode two they were already in Walt's house. The season was initially planned with those two as the main villains, but the plot demanded they be knocked off halfway through to reveal Gus as the mastermind, and to the writer's credit, they didn't screw around and kill time to stretch out the plot and make that happen.

"Sunset", "One Minute", "Half Measures", and "Full Measure" were four of the most tense episodes of TV I'd ever seen.

Really thought BB ending was meh. Its as if they couldn't think of an ending and thought, HEY LET HIM GET REVENGE FOR HIS BROTHERS KILLERS AND THEN DIE. SMH. I know its tricky to end, but they couldn't think of some other way for Walt to die? I mean, everyone knew he was going to die, and ofcourse he had to, but man...

i guess since half-measure and full-measure were spoiled for me they didn't have nearly the impact they should have

I endorse this ratings post

I mean, seasons build. The fact that 5a built up slower to the craziness of 5b is an argument for looking at them together not the opposite.

Seriously what the hell...

They had an ending that brought things full circle, closed out the plot, and felt justified based on the events that happened up to that point? Walt couldn't die in a single vehicle accident after he fell asleep at the wheel and ran his car into Saul's Dunkin Donuts in Omaha?

Also, madrigal, dead frieght, say my name, and gliding all over were pretty sick episodes from 5a. Those were some of the best episodes the show had done through that point so I definitely think its getting underrated to a degree.

Meanwhile, Huell still waits......

With nowhere to go, Huell heads to Ted's hospital room and decides to sit with him as long as Ted can keep him reasonably happy.

LOL. Excellent.

i guess my point is i felt there was a clear distinction in plot, pace and characters between 5a and 5b that you can't break any other season in half and find comparing them to each other

it's like i can see the scene of walt's first kill in my head, but i have no clue who/when/where it was and it's bugging the hell outta me.

someone refresh my memory?

Oh man, you suck. The revenge was because they stole his money that he so proudly earned. He basically admitted it to his wife, that his legacy as the goat cook and drug kingpin was much more important to him than anything else, including his family. He couldn't die knowing some nazi had his money. The ending was awesome.