Jul 9, 2015 Friends, Last podcast, my gf and I began discussing an important question -- assuming you consider the top three shows of tv's recent "golden age" to be sopranos, mad men and breaking bad (i do), how would you rank each series leads? that is to say, those three shows are defined largely by their enigmatic, conflicted protagonists: tony soprano, don draper and walter white. I find the question of likability to be silly, especially here, so -- in considering their backstory/personality/outlook on life etc -- which character do you find to be most compelling/interesting? For more, check out the podcast. the conversation begins at 24:35 - http://wemfradio.com/2015/07/05/sunday-morning-renegades-7-5-15/ Wondering how people would rank them? @JFK @Koolo @Narsh @Bleed @WPG @Twan @Skippy @Swizz @Mike Tyson etc
Jul 9, 2015 Walter white became more of a caricature as the show went on but I think it was intentional (I have my own thoughts about the trajectory of each BB season and how it ties into this thought of Walt become more and more like a comic book villain) while tony and Don stayed entirely human the whole time i honestly might think Don might be be most compelling, all things considered (incredible finale that's arguably better than both sopranos and bb)
Jul 9, 2015 It was intentional, Gilligan has described his goal with Walter White as turning Mr. Chips into Scarface, and deliberately made the character less sympathetic over the course of the series. Walt's evolution from mild-mannered school teacher and family man to ruthless criminal mastermind and murderer is the show's central focus. Then in the series finale he says to Skyler, “I did it for me. I liked it. I was good at it. I was alive”
Jul 9, 2015 Walter White Rick Grimes Tony Soprano My top 3 I haven't seen much Mad Men to give an opinion on Draper
Jul 9, 2015 as i say in the podcast, i totally get all that, and its obviously great... that said, i personally think from a character standpoint the "super villain" arc to be a little easier than, say, what david chase does with tony. likewise, draper has this Big Bold backstory then, though executed extremely well, loses .02 in my book
Jul 9, 2015 Right but that means they purposefully took out elements which could've grounded the character even more. They made him a myth, a symbol, a manifestation of id, rather than a truly conflicted, and human, character like Don or tony
Jul 9, 2015 I might pick Don Draper here tbh. I know he gets kinda sh---ed on for his backstory, but Jon Hamm pulls it all off so well in the "present day 60's" scenes that I never for a second had to suspend disbelief. I was always invested in the character, and unlike someone like Walter White, I legitimately thought Don had a chance of becoming a better father/husband. Which is why it always hit so hard when he would relapse into his self-destructive tendencies. Don Draper > Tony Soprano > Walter White Jon Hamm > Bryan Cranston > James Gandolfini
Jul 9, 2015 oh the........Unlikable Male Protagonist? tony, don, walter, in that order imo. andy, i think you nail it re: the degree of difficulty in crafting walter vs tony. don draper is endlessly "compelling," and may have put up a tougher fight if seasons 5-6 of mad men weren't kinda navel-gazing on his part. all three are great characters in great shows, of course.
Jul 9, 2015 It's obviously splitting hairs with this, and all three gave career high performances. I think there's something about his performance, in episodes like The Suitcase in particular, that resonated with me in ways Cranston and gandolfini just didn't.
Jul 9, 2015 "Tread lightly," "you're god d--- right," "run," etc cranstons line readings >>> i could listen to him/Walt explain anything from how chirality works in cell structures to how to rob a train for hours on end tbh
Jul 9, 2015 hes making a joke, the degrees of "likability" has been done to death, which is why i wanted the focus of this poll to explicitly NOT be about that
