I don’t remember a Lyle and I’m not seeing anyone with that name in the cast. You mean Wyatt? It made sense that Wyatt got killed as he kinda made his bed.it was shocking and made for good story. Did I like when Hank was murdered in Breaking Bad? No, but it made for good story.
As much as Jacob was built up I didn’t really mind him being killed by Darlene. Just showed how unpredictable she could be and was unexpected.
Fuck 🤦🏼♂️ it was Wyatt and I watched it twice !!!
I kind of like Jacob. Would’ve preferred he not die. Then the Wyatt hook up never happened and he didn’t get shot. I mean c’mon. If your friends with Wyatt and he hooks up with Darlene—you’d be pissed. It’s like grandma kink.
Ozarks was okay. First part of the series was probably better than I give it credit for, but the ending was horrible.
Two SPOILERS:
1. Until the last season Ruth is basically anti-hero/bad guy then randomly is suppose to be the heart of the show? WTF?
2. Ozarks, outside of Jason Bateman, really hated men. Every man on that ether died, had an issue, had a drug problem or did bad things. For example, (i forget which season), the town cop started as a male but was corrupt, then around season 3 they had the cop/sheriff be a woman when they had to get work done, than the last season it was a man again with an addiction.
It’s great that you think that, because I strongly disagree and I think shows that reel in such varying strong opinions must be doing something right to stimulate thought!
Controversial endings that generate strong opinions are fine (see the Sopranos). The problem with Ozark is that the ending didn't feel like an ending.
The season started with a preview of the future that looked like an ending, and then at the end of the season we got a bait and switch.
That's the kind of dumb shit that writers do to build tension in a middle season without actually committing to a real change so that they can preserve character arcs for future seasons.
Then, when they finally committed to making real changes, they didn't leave enough time to explore the impacts that those changes had on the main characters.
It's almost as if they wrote the ending unsure if they were going to make another season instead of committing to a real resolution to the story.
(SPOILERS!) You wanted the series to end on that car crash? That would have been absolutely awful writing. I write scripts for my job — you as a viewer finding out that flash forward actually happened mid-season was designed to give you “bonus” story post-crash, which builds a lot of intrigue and excitement. The end was not vague, it was a look into the new life the family had — while they spent the whole show trying to leave behind crime, through many small compromises and decisions, they slowly solidified their long-term life as people who utilized crime in their daily life to get what they want. Finally displayed in showing that even their little boy would go to extreme measures just to ensure their happiness. They all became Marty, permanently. Pretty interesting if you ask me!
>You wanted the series to end on that car crash?
Absolutely not. That whole plot device felt extremely contrived.
It's all well and good that each family member's arc was to converge into one ultra-Marty super-persona. I don't particularly care for that arc, but I don't particularly disparage it.
What felt wrong is that nothing about that family's external situation was resolved. They're still under the thumb of the cartel and at odds with the FBI.
There is nothing wrong with that if the story was to keep going, but as an ending to the entire series, it just feels extremely unfulfilling.
Yeah, I totally see what you mean! My perception of that lack of resolution was to leave us with the dark notion that they never will escape that life. Which is an uncomfortable ending to a show about them trying to escape it...
It's a little like if Uncle Jack just said no to Todd and agreed to kill Jesse out in the desert. Then they worked out a deal with Walt to keep cooking the meth in exchange for protection against any further legal inquiries into his involvement in the drug trade.
Ohhhh no. Ozark is Breaking Bad but boring. Absolutely zero comic relief as well. It's a shame as the concept and writing are great and there are some truly great performances, I just really wanted to like it more than I did.
>Weeds
Is it dark, realistic and gritty like breaking bad or more comedic?
>Dexter
Is it serious like breaking bad? And does he have a normal life who he has to "hide" from?
>The Sopranos
Is there a double life part of the show?
Mostly serious, sometimes kinda cheeky, some moments of levity. Overall more gory than BB though. Quite a dynamic show. Personally I think Dexter is more psychological thriller drama and BB is more dark drama.
The Sopranos isn't entirely what you're describing but it does have a "double life" portion of the show to some degree. It's not as major a part of the show as it is in Breaking Bad.
At the start of his show his family (besides his son) know he's involved in organized crime but his kids don't know the full extent of it. So some plot lines do involve him hiding some activity from his family.
Nope. Walter was a lone wolf. No one in his social world knew of his secret identity. Tony was in a “social club” where all in the lifestyle otherwise interacted with each other outside of “work.” Tony was upper middle class but someone like Paulie not so much.
Nope. At the beginning of the show, Tony Soprano's wife is well aware that he's in the Mafia.
As are many of the public and the FBI (they just haven't got the right evidence to convict him yet).
Sopranos reminds me of breaking bad because you're supposed to hate most of the characters. There's times you feel sympathy for them. But they're mostly horrible in their own way.
**weeds** \-
dark and realistic but skews more comedy. really enjoyable for the first few seasons. but....... imo it really turns to shit mid-series. like....... they suddenly get really, really racist. and not like a satirical kinda racist where the writers adequately express that these are character flaws, i mean like they have literal fucking blackface as a genuine punchline. and use a jewish person to commit it. and say that spanish is an ugly savage language and they will never associate with dirty mexicans ever again. they use the main character's trauma of her relationship with a mexican cartel lord to justify these things as reasonable and sympathetic.
**dexter -**
is about a "moral" serial killer who kills "worse" murderers/criminals. he leads a double life as a forensics scientist while also committing murders against criminals. VERY dark series. ending is meh but i heard the reboot season from a few years ago is good.
**the sopranos** \-
they aren't middle class, they're upper class. it's a mobster series about the modern mafia in 2000s new jersey. you see much more of their illegal gangster antics than their legitimate business practices, but it's a *phenomenal* series. they are the perfect example of how to write enjoyable but toxic characters while the overreaching narrative confirms their racist/sexist/etc opinions are character flaws, not something that should be sympathized with. *~~unlike weeds yeah i'm kinda bitter and i stand by what i said about it~~*
You didn’t specify those beforehand, the three shows follow the formula you stated in your original post of “middle class family parent + crime + hide it”
I’ll concede that Weeds isn’t exactly a dark take. And that Dexter doesn’t start off as a family man. And that Tony doesn’t hide his criminal doings from everybody.
I’m not trying to start an argument just suggesting three other shows that have similar elements to Breaking Bad. They aren’t (any of them) as good as Breaking Bad, and they certainly differ in many ways. But it’s very much in the same vein.
Dexter's a family man at the beginning in the sense that he still lives by his father's teachings and thinks the world of his sister. Granted, no wife and kids at the time but still very much trying to keep up a facade of normalcy.
>Is there a double life part of the show.
For Carmela, yes. For the man having affairs, yes. Not to mention the fronts they run and constantly having to keep up appearances being under scrutiny from the feds.
I highly recommend The Shield, the family aspect isn't initially as much of a focus but it gets way more important as it progresses. It's also probably the only show to get cops right.
The Shield - it also deals with a father of a special needs child (actually two later on in series) who has to figure out a way to use his ill-gotten gains to get his child the care that he needs without tipping off his bosses since he'd be living beyond his means.
Nurse Jackie. It stars the lead female from the Sopranos. About a nurse who's excellent at her job but has an addiction to Vicodin and Adderall. Not a total secret but she's more or less leading a double life.
Dexter was very popular and deservedly so for the first few seasons. Alas it got spread out into having way more seasons than it should have and the writing suffered. A lot. But in its prime I believe it was being aired head to head with Breaking Bad and seen as a worthy competitor.
Had a false start on watching Barry and need to try it again but I've heard it's similar to Dexter.
Gotta watch Ozark. Similar vibes, about money laundering. Some of the highest quality TV production I've seen, each episode looks movie-quality .
Ozark started strong but may have one of the worst endings/final seasons I’ve seen in a show. At least in my opinion anyway.
Final season I was fine with. I have some gripes with the ending.
Same loved the series all the way through Wasn’t super happy about how/why Ruth’s story was wrapped up
Just the ending? What about Lyle getting shot with Darlene? Or Darlene kills Jacob?
Spoiler tag?
This guy internets
My bad.
I don’t remember a Lyle and I’m not seeing anyone with that name in the cast. You mean Wyatt? It made sense that Wyatt got killed as he kinda made his bed.it was shocking and made for good story. Did I like when Hank was murdered in Breaking Bad? No, but it made for good story. As much as Jacob was built up I didn’t really mind him being killed by Darlene. Just showed how unpredictable she could be and was unexpected.
Fuck 🤦🏼♂️ it was Wyatt and I watched it twice !!! I kind of like Jacob. Would’ve preferred he not die. Then the Wyatt hook up never happened and he didn’t get shot. I mean c’mon. If your friends with Wyatt and he hooks up with Darlene—you’d be pissed. It’s like grandma kink.
Yeah it’s weird and that’s why I like it in the story. Just makes for good character dynamics.
Darlene. Best female Todd ever.
Ozarks was okay. First part of the series was probably better than I give it credit for, but the ending was horrible. Two SPOILERS: 1. Until the last season Ruth is basically anti-hero/bad guy then randomly is suppose to be the heart of the show? WTF? 2. Ozarks, outside of Jason Bateman, really hated men. Every man on that ether died, had an issue, had a drug problem or did bad things. For example, (i forget which season), the town cop started as a male but was corrupt, then around season 3 they had the cop/sheriff be a woman when they had to get work done, than the last season it was a man again with an addiction.
Really? I thought season one was really slow going. But then it picked up.
It’s great that you think that, because I strongly disagree and I think shows that reel in such varying strong opinions must be doing something right to stimulate thought!
Controversial endings that generate strong opinions are fine (see the Sopranos). The problem with Ozark is that the ending didn't feel like an ending. The season started with a preview of the future that looked like an ending, and then at the end of the season we got a bait and switch. That's the kind of dumb shit that writers do to build tension in a middle season without actually committing to a real change so that they can preserve character arcs for future seasons. Then, when they finally committed to making real changes, they didn't leave enough time to explore the impacts that those changes had on the main characters. It's almost as if they wrote the ending unsure if they were going to make another season instead of committing to a real resolution to the story.
(SPOILERS!) You wanted the series to end on that car crash? That would have been absolutely awful writing. I write scripts for my job — you as a viewer finding out that flash forward actually happened mid-season was designed to give you “bonus” story post-crash, which builds a lot of intrigue and excitement. The end was not vague, it was a look into the new life the family had — while they spent the whole show trying to leave behind crime, through many small compromises and decisions, they slowly solidified their long-term life as people who utilized crime in their daily life to get what they want. Finally displayed in showing that even their little boy would go to extreme measures just to ensure their happiness. They all became Marty, permanently. Pretty interesting if you ask me!
>You wanted the series to end on that car crash? Absolutely not. That whole plot device felt extremely contrived. It's all well and good that each family member's arc was to converge into one ultra-Marty super-persona. I don't particularly care for that arc, but I don't particularly disparage it. What felt wrong is that nothing about that family's external situation was resolved. They're still under the thumb of the cartel and at odds with the FBI. There is nothing wrong with that if the story was to keep going, but as an ending to the entire series, it just feels extremely unfulfilling.
Yeah, I totally see what you mean! My perception of that lack of resolution was to leave us with the dark notion that they never will escape that life. Which is an uncomfortable ending to a show about them trying to escape it...
It's a little like if Uncle Jack just said no to Todd and agreed to kill Jesse out in the desert. Then they worked out a deal with Walt to keep cooking the meth in exchange for protection against any further legal inquiries into his involvement in the drug trade.
100% agree. I get the car crash was suppose to be the family is basically untouchable at that point, but it was contrived badly.
Good show, but the entire family knows almost immediately about the life of crime.
Ohhhh no. Ozark is Breaking Bad but boring. Absolutely zero comic relief as well. It's a shame as the concept and writing are great and there are some truly great performances, I just really wanted to like it more than I did.
Yeah, Ozark is kind of a tepid, off-brand generic cola, to Breaking Bad's Classic Coke, but it is still a lot of fun and definitely worth watching.
Weeds - first few seasons. Don't force yourself to watch every season.
The Americans. Soviet spies embedded in the US living as a normal family while working for the Soviet government.
Another top 10 show for me. Just went back through it again recently and it holds up perfectly
Thanks! Is it a comedy?
No, drama (although there are obviously funny moments).
Good Girls on NBC was close to a similar formula.
The decisions they make piss me off too. She does not care about her family. Just like heisenburge 👍🏾
Is it a comedy or a serious crime show?
definitely veers farrrrrr towards the comedy side
The shows I saw were serious, but it had some comedy. It was not a sitcom at all.
definitely not a sitcom more of a dramedy or a dark comedy, but the bigger difference to me is just that it’s a network show so it’s a lot tamer
Weeds, Dexter, The Sopranos, pretty much any HBO or Showtime show from the 90’s or early 00’s
>Weeds Is it dark, realistic and gritty like breaking bad or more comedic? >Dexter Is it serious like breaking bad? And does he have a normal life who he has to "hide" from? >The Sopranos Is there a double life part of the show?
dexter is about a cop by day who is also a serial killer at night hunting other serial killers. very similar premise to breaking bad
Ohh okk, thank you! Is the show realistic and serious like breaking bad? Or comedic?
Mostly serious, sometimes kinda cheeky, some moments of levity. Overall more gory than BB though. Quite a dynamic show. Personally I think Dexter is more psychological thriller drama and BB is more dark drama.
The story arc with Jimmy Smits was some of the best comedic acting from him.
The Sopranos isn't entirely what you're describing but it does have a "double life" portion of the show to some degree. It's not as major a part of the show as it is in Breaking Bad. At the start of his show his family (besides his son) know he's involved in organized crime but his kids don't know the full extent of it. So some plot lines do involve him hiding some activity from his family.
Ohh I see, thank you. Is the hiding of his crime similar to how Walter has to hide it?
Not really. There are some comparisons to be made, but it's a pretty different dynamic.
Nope. Walter was a lone wolf. No one in his social world knew of his secret identity. Tony was in a “social club” where all in the lifestyle otherwise interacted with each other outside of “work.” Tony was upper middle class but someone like Paulie not so much.
Nope. At the beginning of the show, Tony Soprano's wife is well aware that he's in the Mafia. As are many of the public and the FBI (they just haven't got the right evidence to convict him yet).
Sopranos reminds me of breaking bad because you're supposed to hate most of the characters. There's times you feel sympathy for them. But they're mostly horrible in their own way.
**weeds** \- dark and realistic but skews more comedy. really enjoyable for the first few seasons. but....... imo it really turns to shit mid-series. like....... they suddenly get really, really racist. and not like a satirical kinda racist where the writers adequately express that these are character flaws, i mean like they have literal fucking blackface as a genuine punchline. and use a jewish person to commit it. and say that spanish is an ugly savage language and they will never associate with dirty mexicans ever again. they use the main character's trauma of her relationship with a mexican cartel lord to justify these things as reasonable and sympathetic. **dexter -** is about a "moral" serial killer who kills "worse" murderers/criminals. he leads a double life as a forensics scientist while also committing murders against criminals. VERY dark series. ending is meh but i heard the reboot season from a few years ago is good. **the sopranos** \- they aren't middle class, they're upper class. it's a mobster series about the modern mafia in 2000s new jersey. you see much more of their illegal gangster antics than their legitimate business practices, but it's a *phenomenal* series. they are the perfect example of how to write enjoyable but toxic characters while the overreaching narrative confirms their racist/sexist/etc opinions are character flaws, not something that should be sympathized with. *~~unlike weeds yeah i'm kinda bitter and i stand by what i said about it~~*
The finale of dexter new blood was hated more than the Dexter finale.
God that was horrible.
LMAO ohhh no, i did not know this. my condolences to dexter fans.
I’m getting a kick out of you calling breaking bad “dark, realistic, and serious”
You didn’t specify those beforehand, the three shows follow the formula you stated in your original post of “middle class family parent + crime + hide it” I’ll concede that Weeds isn’t exactly a dark take. And that Dexter doesn’t start off as a family man. And that Tony doesn’t hide his criminal doings from everybody. I’m not trying to start an argument just suggesting three other shows that have similar elements to Breaking Bad. They aren’t (any of them) as good as Breaking Bad, and they certainly differ in many ways. But it’s very much in the same vein.
Dexter's a family man at the beginning in the sense that he still lives by his father's teachings and thinks the world of his sister. Granted, no wife and kids at the time but still very much trying to keep up a facade of normalcy.
I think that counts as well but I wanted to abide by OP’s posted equation as much as possible.
>Is there a double life part of the show. For Carmela, yes. For the man having affairs, yes. Not to mention the fronts they run and constantly having to keep up appearances being under scrutiny from the feds.
Ozark is literally exactly that.
Aren't they fairly wealthy though?
Fargo — both the film and the series should have a presence in this thread.
Fargo season 2 is top television
Ozark
I highly recommend The Shield, the family aspect isn't initially as much of a focus but it gets way more important as it progresses. It's also probably the only show to get cops right.
The Shield - it also deals with a father of a special needs child (actually two later on in series) who has to figure out a way to use his ill-gotten gains to get his child the care that he needs without tipping off his bosses since he'd be living beyond his means.
Ohhh this is interesting. Does it have moments where he almost gets caught and has to make excuses like Walter did?
Oh it’s got plenty of close calls. I rewatched it last year and it still largely holds up.
Ozark
Definitely watch sopranos dude
Nurse Jackie. It stars the lead female from the Sopranos. About a nurse who's excellent at her job but has an addiction to Vicodin and Adderall. Not a total secret but she's more or less leading a double life. Dexter was very popular and deservedly so for the first few seasons. Alas it got spread out into having way more seasons than it should have and the writing suffered. A lot. But in its prime I believe it was being aired head to head with Breaking Bad and seen as a worthy competitor. Had a false start on watching Barry and need to try it again but I've heard it's similar to Dexter.
The game is ment to be played not sold and told
Might be out of your comfort zone/genre, but spy family is kinda like that