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10.3 million for the Breaking Bad finale, and that was after the fourth season only got 1.9 million for its finale. The word of mouth and netflix has REALLY made a difference in people catching up at the last minute!

http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/09/30/breaking-bad-series-finale-ratings/

Flawless ending. Flawless show :D

I wish the deluxe box set (which is eek out of stock already on amazon.co.uk) came with a t-shirt instead of an apron that I will never wear through lol, I've just ordered a Heisenberg t-shirt to wear :bounces: Breaking Bad is huge in the UK just from people finding it on Netflix, it doesn't air on any other channel over here, yet nearly all of the top sellers in film and tv on amazon.co.uk are Breaking Bad DVDs

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I just read that article and, wow. Just... wow! Thost stats are mind boggling. And I don't really know how ratings work, but are those just figures for the USA? I mean, regardless, I know me and my IRL friends aren't amongst it because of the way in which we needed to 'access' the episode if we wanted to watch at the same time as the rest of the world (I think you can get the episodes on Australian iTunes, but they're released three days later? Or, at least, that's how it was initially).

I need to suss out box set ordering. It feels kiiiiinda redundant as I have seasons 1-4 already but... I guess they can be my 'For Loan' versions as I'm forever lending them out to people! Haha! I don't know what's available here in Australia yet. Maybe I'll look right now :)

Flawless ending. Flawless show :D ♥

The finale has already been pirated over half a million times so far

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/breaking-bad-finale-illegally-downloaded-639137

18% of those are from Australia actually! With itunes I wouldn't be surprised if you can't get the latest episodes in Australia because what usually happens with UK iTunes is they have to hold episodes back if a broadcast network has the rights to air it. We're lucky in the UK because for once Sky or the BBC haven't grabbed BB, so we're getting the episodes this season on netflix directly after the US. It gets really frustrating otherwise when you have to wait months for a show to be available on iTunes just because channel 4 or whatever still haven't aired it

Yeah, haha, we are champions at pirating! You should see our Game of Thrones figures! Haha! But seriously, if iTunes are gonna hold it back, why would we wait? It's ludicrous.

And BrBa airs on ABC here, only, like two years behind!!

eta: According to one Australian TV blog, Breaking Bad is just about to air the second part of its final season next week on ABC2. Some fans might not have been able to wait. Here we go. They must have put a rush on the last couple of seasons in a bid to be a little less completely irrelevant!!

Edited 2013-09-30 23:24 (UTC)

It's sad how behind the times the people in charge are, they just don't realise that in the days of spoilers all over twitter and Facebook, no international viewer wants to sit patiently for six months waiting for the current US episodes. Netflix has been a godsend with being able to put it up for streaming right away and really getting how people want to watch tv these days, I'm so glad we didn't have the usual wait of months with terrestrial tv

We have something called Quickflix here, which was meant to be our answer to Netflix. Only it's pretty much a joke. And there are still delays. And no-one has signed up for it (which I get makes it really hard for them to buy the rights to big shows but...). I think it's because TV here has pretty much always been free. We don't pay for tv licenses and Pay TV things like Austar and Foxtel are still pretty rarely purchased in the grand scheme of things. For example, I was reading yesterday that approx. 30% of American households have access to Netflix. Less than 2% of Australian households have signed on to Quickflix.

Okay, out of interest: How much is the full set + apron etc in pounds? Australians typically get RIPPPPPPPED off when it comes to the price of music, movies and television shows, so I'm wondering how our Amazon price of $209.00 (including shipping) compares to the rest of the world...

The US price of $209 works out at £129, so surprisingly the UK got the better deal for once as the deluxe box set was available on amazon for £110. It seemed really cheap to me because I think they were asking for even more for the US set at the time before the price dropped, so I grabbed the UK set pretty pretty quick in case the price was hiked up. I'm glad I did now that they seem to be completely out of stock (I was originally wondering if I should leave it until nearer Xmas before buying it). Someone in the reviews was saying that the US set includes digital copies and the UK set doesn't, so maybe that's why they were asking for less?

And I already own the 1-4 box set as well :P

so surprisingly the UK got the better deal for once We are FOREVER more expensive for EVERYTHING than everywhere else. It's our 'thing'. We go to court about it on a regular basis! iTunes pricing, Amazon pricing, in store pricing for things like iPhones, computers, things like photoshop etc. All of it is in court all the time because our pricing is jacked so far up. In fact, I'm surprised the totals are so close...!

They 'universal they' like to blame shipping costs. I'M NOT EVEN KIDDING. Please tell me how much 'shipping' is involved in downloading a song. PLEASE!!!

Edited 2013-09-30 23:28 (UTC)

In the UK we always seen to get a LOT added on for things like kindles (where you can do direct price comparisons) because of the extra tax urgh. And our itunes is generally priced ridiculously too. They've been trying for more bundles and special offers recently actually, but a lot of the time it's still like £39 or £40 for a single tv season of 22 episodes. Even the blu-ray in the shops doesn't cost that much, wtf apple

Edited 2013-09-30 23:35 (UTC)

The word of mouth and netflix has REALLY made a difference in people catching up at the last minute!

The Game of Thrones people need to learn from this. I mean about Netflix streaming. Especially after the hype that the RW has already gotten, a lot of people would catch up if GoT were on streaming. So many people won't bother with mailing and DVDs these days.

Supposedly HBO are reluctant because they think it could hurt their subscribers, but yeah if someone is only interested in watching GOT say then they're most likely just not going to pay the subscription fee, they're going to look for it online. Ditto with international viewers who physically can't get that channel. They may as well make some money on the streaming rights from it and increase their fanbase, but the people in charge always seem so much more concerned with the bottom line and losing money, and it's the viewers who lose out

Er, yes. We pay so much for cable that adding another $20/mo. apiece for HBO and Showtime just so we can see GoT and a few other shows is . . . well, not going to happen. It's a shame, because except for AMC (which is on basic cable and does Breaking Bad, Mad Men, The Walking Dead) a lot of the best shows are there, but . . . we either ehem or wait for the DVDs.

Supposedly HBO are reluctant because they think it could hurt their subscribers

And that also goes back to the 'not going to wait' thing. If someone TRULY gets into GoT, they're NOT going to wait until the next season comes out on Netflix, they're going to want it NOW.

And yeah, people are always going to download it, but if they got more viewers interested, I only see their subscriptions going up.

Wow, I didn't realize it was such a leap in ratings, that's great!

It was fun to have a show everyone was buzzing over that's for sure! And a great ending. :D

It's frustrating normally when you watch a great show that's struggling in the ratings because it never seems to make much of a difference how much the fans rave about it, but in BB's case it really did seem to make a massive difference for season 5 and everyone rushing to catch up at the last minute

WELL DESERVED

:D Interestingly the ending seems to have really divided viewers and critics. A lot of critics have been complaining that the ending was too obvious and wrapped everything up too neatly, that Walt shouldn't have had things go so well for him at the end, whereas practically all of the viewers are really satisfied.

One critic was saying that it would have been better if it turned out that the entire finale was a dream of Walt's and that he had died behind the wheel of a car too afraid to get out, but idk I think critics can be so wrapped up in the more ~artistic~ ending that shows like The Sopranos gave them that they miss that sometimes viewers just want the closure. I can't imagine a more perfect ending for the show right now, it's not a bad thing to give the viewers what they want occasionally *g*

That's ridiculous of the critics. I suppose Walt wasn't punished enough? Except he lost everything and died. Plus originally he was a sympathetic character (unlike, say Tony Soprano, who was always a fascinating monster, didn't *become* one in front of our eyes)-- there was no real redemption for him, but the audience got the satisfaction it needed and deserved. The best moment was when he told Skyler the truth, that he'd done it for himself. The other best was the interaction between him and Jesse at the end, just the nods . . .

Edited 2013-10-01 10:18 (UTC)

Yep, some of them were complaining because Walt got redeemed a little too much in their eyes and all his plans went off perfectly with Lydia, the nazis, and Gretchen and Elliot, but then would it really be a satisfying experience watching the series and knowing that it all ends on Walt dying in some really humiliating and pointless way? We already saw the consequences of him getting into the meth business in 514, with his brother-in-law being shot before his eyes, his son wishing that Walt was dead, losing his entire family, and dying alone in a cabin and bribing someone to spend time with him. Plus it's consistent with the entire series that Walt is a really smart guy and his plans do usually come off by the skin of his teeth!

At the end of the day he did still die alone in a meth lab, so it's not like it was incredibly upbeat lol, but as a viewer I needed that moment of Walt seeing Skyler and his children for the last time, redeeming himself somewhat by taking that bullet for Jesse, and who didn't cheer at Walt finding some measure of peace with himself and admitting to Skyler that he did it because it made him feel alive

Edited 2013-10-01 10:31 (UTC)

We followed his journey downward through five seasons (I was watching from the beginning, so a really loooong time . . . ) but despite his moral decay, he was still the story's center. Of course he had to pay for his crimes, but so did everyone else, and he could never redeem himself but somehow still deserved that narrative ending of bringing the other villains down alongside himself and doing the best he could for the people whose lives he had irrevocably damaged, but still cared about.

The recent ending of Dexter did not satisfy at all. Having that as a comparison especially brings home how good this one was.

Aww yeah, people are always complaining about Dexter's ending in BB posts on ONTD and saying that the last season is so terrible and pointless. It's frustrating because I've just watched Dexter's first season recently and really enjoyed it, it's frustrating knowing that it will fizzle out eventually :(

That's why they're critics and not filmmakers. :P

I think it took a lot of guts for Vince and Co. to NOT go down the hyper-moralistic (and totally unrealistic) crime doesn't pay/"get what you deserve" path. It's just so tired and childish.

Vince talks about it a bit here

http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/09/30/breaking-bad-finale-vince-gilligan/

There was a version we kicked around where Walt is the only one who survives, and he’s standing among the wreckage and his whole family is destroyed. That would be a very powerful ending but very much a kick-in-the-teeth kind of ending for the viewers. We talked about a version where Jesse kills Walt. We talked about a version where Walt more or less gets away with it...I guess our gut told us that it would feel satisfying for Walt to at least begin to make amends for his life and for all the sadness and misery wrought upon his family and his friends. Walt is never going to redeem himself. He’s just too far down the road to damnation. But at least he takes a few steps along that path.

And

They’re rolling in with the sirens going and the lights flashing and he just doesn’t give a damn. He’s patting his Precious, in Lord of the Rings terms. He’s with the thing he seems to love the most in the world, which is his work and his meth lab and he just doesn’t care about being caught because he knows he’s on the way out. So it could be argued that he pays for his sins at the end or it could just as easily be argued that he gets away with it.”

Yup. He talks a bit about it on the podcast, too. Along with other dropped plotlines. I guess originally they might have killed Walt Jr. in S1 or 2 (this was after Jesse's death in S1). Skyler might have run away with Walt and killed herself.

I don't know if I like knowing this stuff or not. LOL

ETA: Myself, I just hate the idea of redemption arcs and the inherent quality therein that there is some scale that along the way balances someones actions.

Watched it again. Liked it more the second time.

Edited 2013-10-01 12:54 (UTC)

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