Since the beginning of Breaking Bad‘s third season, things have been getting less and less interesting. I thought the previous episode, “I. F. T.”, would have signaled a coming for far more intriguing television. Unfortunately, “Green Light” proves the idea wrong. Again, this is not a bad episode of Breaking Bad. Just, not a lot actually happens. If anything, it feels like set-up for what I can only hope to be significant plot development in the very near future.
The end of Lost‘s first season is upon us, and “Exodus, Part I” is the first step in setting up the show for the inevitable second season. I would love to say that this was a terrific episode of the series. However, while there was plenty of good moments to be found, this was clearly nothing more than filler. Well, not exactly filler. Just a lot of build-up to events that will undoubtedly be examined further in the next episode. So, while the setup for the season finale is definitely exciting, it leaves “Exodus, Part I” feeling kind of empty and sort of disappointing.
“Born To Run” is essentially “Whatever the Case May Be” part two in a nutshell. So, if you were a fan of that particular episode of Lost, “Born To Run” should suit you just fine. However, if you found “Whatever the Case May Be” to be one of this show’s lesser efforts like I did, you are bound to be extremely bored by what occurs here. I do not know how and why the writers of Lost are turning Kate, who was initially seen as the character with the most potential due to her criminal history, into the most boring and infuriating character imaginable. However, as it stands, her presence turns this episode into a frustrating hour of television.
In my honest opinion, Breaking Bad had already gotten off to slow start with it’s third season. “I. F. T.” takes it down a notch even further, especially when compared to what “No Mas” and “Caballo Sin Nombre” already offered the audience. Again, this does not make for a bad episode of the series, which is probably a very difficult feat for the writers of the show to pull off. No, as a fan of Breaking Bad, I just want things to kick into high gear. So, while all the slow-burning drama makes for good television, the really good stuff appears to be right around the corner, which is something I cannot wait for.
Given the loss of Boone as a main character on Lost, “The Greater Good” was definitely the way to go, as it still kept Boone on everybody’s minds. On lesser shows, writers are quick to dismiss a character after they are killed. Not on Lost, however. Not only is Boone’s death still on everyone’s minds, but it is also the driving force behind the episode. Unfortunately, “The Greater Good” takes a couple of notable missteps that, to me, prevent it from becoming one of the better episodes of the series.
Well, it looks like the third season of Breaking Bad is going to take a little while to get going. Much in the same vein as the previous installment, “No Mas”, “Caballo Sin Nombre” keeps the status quo for the most part. A couple of pieces are shuffled around the board a little bit, but, from the beginning to the end of the episode, nothing really advances, aside from a pretty cool near-death experience for Walt. Again, this is not a bad episode. No episode of Breaking Bad is actually bad. With that being said, however, I was hoping that a little more would happen. Hopefully, the long build-up will lead the audience to something more than worthwhile.
Continue reading Breaking Bad Retrospective: Caballo Sin Nombre
The conclusion of Breaking Bad‘s second season left a lot of situations burning a little bit. From Walt and Skyler’s potential break-up to Jesse’s guilt-inspired rehabilitation, there was a lot of things to continue on from. Plus, the writers of the series added a few more twists and turns to the proceedings that made things a lot more interesting. With that being said, however, “No Mas” was clearly a set-up episode for the rest of the season, which is something I am perfectly fine with, even though this particular episode was certainly lacking in terms of suspense.
This is getting towards the end of Lost‘s first season. As a result, an episode like “Deus Ex Machina” is exactly what was needed to change the stakes in a big and major way. So, while it was not as great as the previous Locke-centric installment, “Walkabout”, this episode came pretty darn close.
Lost has finally given the audience an episode entirely devoted to Hurley, who is mostly a comedic character. Predictably enough, “Numbers” was also quite comedic, which was both good and bad. We had some nice, little story bits that should present greater relevance in the near future, but some of the humor was just a little over-the-top for the episode to be taken too seriously.
Given the high intensity and adrenaline-pumping action evident in the previous installment, “Mandala”, it was not too much of a shock to see Breaking Bad take a step back, presumably in an attempt to set up what looks to be a great finale for the show’s second season. Yes, there was a lot of setup here, but there was also a lot of terrific moments, of which some may have lingering effects for quite a while.
Corner Ten Punch 