The Shield > Breaking Bad

[Kblaze8855]

Nah. And ive seen it start to finish twice(I watched the entire series with my friends who had never seen it).

Shield is probably in my top 10 or so.

[guy]

You can't really.

I suppose you could try but you'd be missing out on the evolution of how they got from point A to point B which is the entire purpose of the show

Exactly. You can't start in the middle of this series, the same way you can't start Breaking Bad or the Wire in the middle of the series.

[guy]

The number of unusual coincidences and unlikely circumstances which have dominated many of the five seasons don't really need to be listed, do they?

Like what? I'm not saying there aren't any, but I've heard other people say the same thing with specific examples, yet I wouldn't have called those unusual coincidences or unlikely circumstances. I don't think there's as much of an abundance of those as some people say.

[ConanRulesNBC]

I don't understand the confusion. Breaking Bad has veered toward entertainment over realism, which is perfectly fine... But is this something which is even debatable at this point? I like the show a lot, btw. I'm not putting it down.

The number of unusual coincidences and unlikely circumstances which have dominated many of the five seasons don't really need to be listed, do they?

I don't get how the events of Breaking Bad couldn't happen in real life. Nothing about the show is that unrealistic.

[nightprowler10]

I was one of the few people I knew that actually really got into the Shield right from the beginning. I loved the show all the way till the end. That said, I'd say BB is at least on par with it if not better. I think the main characters in BB are stronger than in the Shield, which puts it over the top.

[RedBlackAttack]

Like what? I'm not saying there aren't any, but I've heard other people say the same thing with specific examples, yet I wouldn't have called those unusual coincidences or unlikely circumstances. I don't think there's as much of an abundance of those as some people say.

I don't get how the events of Breaking Bad couldn't happen in real life. Nothing about the show is that unrealistic.

***possible spoilers***


I'm not going to go through every unrealistic scenario the show has offered up through years. There is probably at least one unrealistic series of events in every episode, with the exception of the one about the fly. From Walt throwing that chemical into the ground while in Tuco's compound which created a major explosion but didn't hurt anyone to Walt single-handidly taking down Gus who single-handidly took down the most powerful Mexican cartel to Walt drinking with Jesse's GF's dad in the bar the same night he was in the room when she died... And then the guy orchestrated an elaborate series of plane crashes directly above Walt's house... etc.


But, the whole premise of the show is somewhat unrealistic, is it not? A very passive chemistry teacher who has been beaten up by life suddenly transforms into the an extremely aggressive super villain who runs a meth empire less than a year later.

Again, I like the show a lot. It isn't realistic at all, though. I don't watch it to be a reflection of real life. My whole original point was that these unrealistic scenarios shouldn't be held against it.

[Bless Mathews]

Gus having a mobile hospital ....

Walt having a brother in law as dea agent...

Gus having lunch with dea as Walt sees him.

To go along with above

[RedBlackAttack]

Gus having a mobile hospital ....

Walt having a brother in law as dea agent...

Gus having lunch with dea as Walt sees him.

To go along with above

***more spoilers***

How about all of the times the main characters were about to die and a miraculous event saved them at the last second? The two hitmen outside Walt's bathroom as he's getting a shower receive a phone call seconds before dispatching him, forcing them to leave the house.

Jessie essentially committing suicide by running at those drug dealers when, at the last millisecond, Walt comes out of nowhere to run them over and then urge Jessie to flee the area.

Hank somehow finding a way out of the grips of those two hitmen mentioned above, who had been basically untouchable during the lead up to that moment. I understand Hank got a phonecall from Gus, but he was unarmed and a sitting duck. In real life, that's a death.

Walt seconds away from being killed, devises a scheme on the spot to kill Gail, which miraculously saves his life.

Hank being the guy who tracks Tuco down in the middle of the desert while he's holding Jessie and Walt captive.

etc.


Maybe one life-saving coincidence in real life would be believable. Having several of them over the course of a year?

[DonDadda59]

Never saw an episode of the Shield, it's one of the shows on my to-watch list. But like RBA pointed out above, anyone who claims that BB is in any way realistic is just fooling themselves. And I've been over the writing conventions that are employed in basically every episode (convenience, coincidence, deus ex machina).

We'd be here all night if we went through every example. But RBA pointed out some examples without even going into the MacGyveresque abilities that Walt always seems to have up his sleeve whenever it's convenient. But one of the most egregious abuses was when Jesse and Walt are trapped in the RV in the junkyard, right before Hank opens the door, ole Joe turns out to be a Harvard grad level legal expert and breaks down the nuances of constitutional law... thereby, as usual, conveniently saving the heroes at the very last second. I was sitting there doing this watching that

The show is great for manufactured suspense but let's stop pretending it doesn't have an over-reliance on gimmickry and is at all realistic.

[RedBlackAttack]

We'd be here all night if we went through every example. But RBA pointed out some examples without even going into the MacGyveresque abilities that Walt always seems to have up his sleeve whenever it's convenient. But one of the most egregious abuses was when Jesse and Walt are trapped in the RV in the junkyard, right before Hank opens the door, ole Joe turns out to be a Harvard grad level legal expert and breaks down the nuances of constitutional law... thereby, as usual, conveniently saving the heroes at the very last second. I was sitting there doing this watching that

Oh jesus... I forgot about that one.

Yes, one must suspend disbelief when watching BB. It's sort of like a comic book come to life. I understand why some people are turned off to the show because of it, but I've been able to put aside the obvious plot contrivances over the years and just be entertained.

I'm usually not like that, but I'm able to for this show.


A buddy of mine tried to get me into The Shield years ago. At the time, The Wire was in full swing and I just couldn't take it too seriously after already being deeply immersed in the world of Stringer, Avon, Prop Joe, Bunk, etc.

I may give it another shot now. It's really unfair to any show to have be compared to The Wire, which I consider probably the greatest achievement in television history.

[johndeeregreen]

I may give it another shot now. It's really unfair to any show to have be compared to The Wire, which I consider probably the greatest achievement in television history.

Even though it's a disservice and downright affront to the Wire to call it a 'cop show,' it has ruined 'cop shows' for me because none can ever measure up to the grittiness of it. If you're looking for anything that gritty and real, you will always come up short.

Luckily, what the Shield lacks in...that... makes up for in many other areas. It's a phenomenal show.

[Bless Mathews]

Watching first season cuz Marathon on...

35,000 a pound? /!>< for their pre blue lab quality? / no way.

LOL. Don't care how good it is. Way off....
...
Half that is bap city.

[dr.hee]

Watching first season cuz Marathon on...

35,000 a pound? /!>< for their pre blue lab quality? / no way.

LOL. Don't care how good it is. Way off....
...
Half that is bap city.

The show never claimed to be documentary style. So why don't you make a thread complaining about Spiderman having super powers and Schindler's List being black&white even though they had colors back then?

Don't know, if I don't like a show, I don't watch it. Why complain about it online? Is Breakig Bad popular enough now that if you wanna be smart and special, you should be the one saying it's overrated?

And again, why do you compare BB and The Shield? Two entirely different shows. What's the point? I like both shows, but why comparing them at all?

[Blue&Orange]

Not even close. I guess breaking bad doesn't have enough dumb black people getting arrested, so homies can't relate. Shield acting and writing is way way below breaking bad.


You gotta love this idiots rationale, "if it doesn't show the ghetto, it sucks!"

[Bless Mathews]

The show never claimed to be documentary style. So why don't you make a thread complaining about Spiderman having super powers and Schindler's List being black&white even though they had colors back then?

Don't know, if I don't like a show, I don't watch it. Why complain about it online? Is Breakig Bad popular enough now that if you wanna be smart and special, you should be the one saying it's overrated?

And again, why do you compare BB and The Shield? Two entirely different shows. What's the point? I like both shows, but why comparing them at all?

Erryone typin bb is the goat on here. That's why. Smh.