Breaking Bad Based On Fragments

So this was a really fun project, and there will be two more parts to it. I have never seen one episode of Breaking Bad. I know nothing about it. I plead the fifth.

Matt Zoller Seitz and Dave Bunting were interested in stringing together the little prologues for each episode of the series, which they feel were small works of art, akin to short films, and wanted me to watch JUST the prologues and write down what I think was happening in each season of the show.

I worked totally blind. I didn’t even look up character names. Just watched the prologues. It was so fun.

If you’re a fan of the show, it might be interesting to watch the two clips with compilations of the prologues included in the essay, and try to imagine that you don’t know what is going on. It was a really fun experiment.

My first piece is up on Press Play, on Seasons 1 and 2.

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4 Responses to Breaking Bad Based On Fragments

  1. Bob says:

    It is everything bad about good people. It is seeing noble qualities in the most horrible anti-social scum. The people who say this is pro-drug are out of their mind. Brutal, destructive, soul wrenching, —, –, —–, etc. It makes you feel kicked in the stomach after most episodes. Only great writing and acting can do this.

    • ATJ says:

      …what’s the point in telling her all that when she got a brilliant show that’s a must-watch ruined by being in a goofy “experiment”?

  2. sheila says:

    “Ruined”?

    Not at all. I am excited to see the show now. I am very intrigued.

    Goofy experiments are what we’re all about, when we’re interested in visual narratives and the information they may (or not) provide. I thought it was fascinating, like peeping through a crack at something really huge, but I could only see tiny bits. It’s incredible how much information is there, how much one can pick up on.

    Now you’ve made 2 nearly identical comments on my site – your first comments on my site ever.

    Stop whining. I had a blast with the assignment! I would love to do more!

  3. Solid Muldoon says:

    What a fascinating experiment! And you really seemed to get it all.

    Your interpretation of how the teddy bear ended up in the pool is logical and reasonable. But, oh boy.

    If anybody tells you they saw that coming, you need to send them to collect Randi’s million bucks.

    It’s maybe the the most outrageous out-of-left-field moment I’ve ever seen in my fifty years of watching TV, yet it was totally earned.

    Damn, this is a great show.

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