The bane and blessings of fandom

[selenak]

Note to self: you already knew not to look at Breaking Bad comments. You have only yourself to blame for breathing fire again. But seriously: "Walt needs a hug! Skyler, you bitch!" as a response to the latest BB episode?!? Rinse, repeat older entry about Skyler hate and how it creeps me out, even more than the usual fandom misogyny. I think I'll do something constructive with my frustration and make a post about how I came to love Skyler White and why Anna Gunn should win an Emmy already. It didn't happen overnight or immediately, but happen it did, and writing a post about why I think she's a great character will be better than hating on the haters and their idiotic, moronic... well, you get the picture.

Helping to wash the bad taste out of my mouth was also this delightful post of silly crossover ideas (Breaking Bad/Buffy, Breaking Bad/Oz, Breaking Bad/Battlestar Galactica, Breaking Bad/The Wire and Breaking Bad/Deadwood). Spoilers for all shows concerned, but if you don't mind that and want a good giggle, have a look.

Two fanfic recs:

Amazing Spider-Man:

Promise not to promise anymore: It's a lot easier to be mad at Peter than to miss her father. Gwen's grief, from the end of the movie on. This is just what I needed: an exploration of how Gwen feels about her father's death, of her working through it. An excellent story.


Battlestar Galactica:

Emissary from Another World: The collected diaries of Dr. Gaius Baltar. It's a story from 2009 but I discovered it only now, and am awed. One of the two best post-finale stories I've read, covering about nine years from the time the show ended. I love the way it takes up, argues with and against and with the ideas of the show. I love the characterisations all around, how the relationships are in constant flux (Gaius and Caprica and their ups and downs, but also Gaius Baltar and Lee Adama striking up the least likely yet, because the story takes the time to develop it step by slow step, entirely believable friendship), how past issues still matter (Caprica and Sharon have quite a different attitude towards Laura Roslin to both each other and to how the colonials see her; Felix Gaeta is very much present in Baltar's thoughts throughout) , how the new characters are as interesting as the ones we know from the show (seriously, this story has one of the best OCs I've seen in the form of Lee's wife, who is... you'll find out), and how people are layered and complicated and screwed up but never quite lose hope but continue trying.

Comments

[skywaterblue]

I don't hate her, I just think she (I'm still in early s2, so I'm glad to hear they fix this) a completely unnecessary subplot, and a mildly unpleasant one used to break up the suspense, so it's no surprise I find myself getting up to get a drink during her scenes. Nothing about her adds to the main storyline except as a plot device for 'why does Walt need so much money' and I find many of her decisions at this point to be pretty rote and predictable. Of course, a 40-year old pregnant woman is going to be a bit of a monster when learning her husband isn't likely to see their daughter grow - you'd be shocked if she felt otherwise, but it's still a flabby note in a show that excels at the surprise turn. She takes away from what 'Breaking Bad' is rapidly developing as its stock-in-trade: darkly clever suspense narrative about two incompetents who are accidentally tripping their way up the meth-trade ladder to become drug kingpins.

I took the time to re-read your s1 analysis, by the way, and I think I strongly disagree about the episode where we learn Walt's backstory with Grey Matter Enterprises. I found it wholly unnecessary in a lot of ways, minus the necessary narrative explanation for why an American high school Chem teacher is so exceedingly competent. (IRL, most American high school chem teachers do not have that kind of lab set up, and most only have a Bachelor's of Science, so yes, explaining that he's a Doctorate who got screwed out of the profession at higher levels is rather necessary character work.)

Like I said, she's the Betty of this show, except that Betty on 'Mad Men' serves the important narrative function of grounding the rest of the drama. She's the counterpunch to Joan and Peggy, the reality of Don's irreality. I don't really know what Skyler is except a compelling/damning reason for Walt to run, run away in his last months of life.

[selenak]

Well, I just wrote an entire post about what Skyler adds to the show and why I love her, so needless to say I utterly disagree with you. Also, re: Grey Matter, there is a reason why the showrunner recently called it the turning point which made the entire show what it became. Also a key point for Walter White's characterisation. I hadn't known this when I wrote my s1 review (when I marathoned the show, I was avoiding all other reviews and interviews in order not to get spoiled), but I was very gratified to hear it was for the reasons I back then speculated it would be.

[skywaterblue]

It's clearly supervillain origin stuff. I think what I found unnecessary was the whole former romance angle, but I also dislike that it gave him the easy out and he turned it down for the exact reason you mentioned liking it. It's more ambiguous, the greed that's clearly overtaking him a little less telegraphed.

I can't read your post yet without spoiling myself, that's why I'm commenting about it in a neutral spot. You and I tend to mostly have similar taste in shows, if not the subplots and characters within them, so I'm trusting the Skyler stuff gets better.

The one I just watched, s2e4, with Skyler's cold shoulder treatment, has been the best of the material she's been given so far because it's the only one that's managed to get the tension and surprise element of the rest of the show into her storylines.