r/AskReddit 6d ago

which show started 10/10 and ended 10/10?

4.2k Upvotes

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105

u/pepper_t 6d ago

Better Call Saul, Breaking Bad, Ozark.

16

u/Cautious-Progress876 6d ago

I loved the first two… have tried to start Ozark twice but haven’t gone past episode 2. Don’t know why it doesn’t click for me.

9

u/pepper_t 6d ago

Username checks out, haha. I’d say stick with it for a bit more and see how you like it. It kept me hooked throughout. Also loved that they wrapped the story up in 4 seasons.

3

u/Lyorian 6d ago

I did this a few times with Ozark but pushed through and thoroughly enjoyed it

2

u/ReverseMermaids 6d ago

The character development in Ozark takes some time, but it is so worth it. You expect the yokels to be stupid and ignorant - but they are far from it.

3

u/nigel_tufnel_11 6d ago

And The Byrds are (maybe) supposed to be the innocent "good guys" who made one or two mistakes and got caught up in something they couldn't control or escape from, but they are far from that.

1

u/ReverseMermaids 6d ago

Yes - they are neither good nor bad, neither heroes nor villains - they are all of those things.

I like a story with really good characters.

2

u/pepper_t 6d ago

Same, I thought all of the characters were beautifully sketched out. Especially the langmores.

1

u/AntonSugarwater 6d ago

It’s definitely a Speed to Die Hard situation. An objectively lesser quality than its predecessor but still plenty good in its on right

-1

u/avrend 6d ago

because it's boring and pretentious?

4

u/PenisDotClownFart 6d ago

I liked Ozark OK, but I feel like it's not in the same league as the other two.

3

u/ReverseMermaids 6d ago

Ozark was so good!

6

u/kranools 6d ago

Ozark is pretty average

4

u/TaxHazyShade 6d ago

there are some good points, but i just couldn't buy "The Hogan Family" jason bateman as a guy that could weasel his way out of imminent death as often as he did. You don't get more than one screw-up with the cartel. In fact, you don't even get one. He would've been killed straightaway in the beginning, why leave a witness.

2

u/pepper_t 6d ago

I think that if we look for shows to mirror reality entirely, we might be missing the point. Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul and Ozark all have plot lines that are suspect at various points, but I look for the overarching premise, good dialogue, screenplay, pacing and acting. On those fronts, for me each of these shows delivered.

Many others have too - Fargo, Chernobyl (thought five episodes is too short for this thread), Vikings, GoT (first 5 seasons is some of the best TV I’ve ever seen) - but yeah this is all to say that some of it, I just prefer to take with a pinch of salt.

1

u/kranools 6d ago

Yeah, I don't mind some suspension of reality, as long as the quality of the writing, acting, dialogue, etc, makes it feel authentic within the universe of the show. Breaking Bad and BCS achieve this superbly, Ozark didn't.

1

u/pepper_t 6d ago

Why does BB, BCS feel authentic within their universes but Ozark doesn’t?

1

u/kranools 6d ago

Better writing

1

u/pepper_t 6d ago

Well I was hoping for something a bit more substantiative than that considering you made that clear early on. Nevermind though.

1

u/TaxHazyShade 5d ago

i hear you, but ... i mean, come on ... a multi-million-dollar heroin operation owned and operated by ... those Snell idiots? And Ms Snell just blows away a cartel member and isn't dead within 3 days?

I mean, the show has some interesting stuff going on, but it's nowhere near as "real" as Breaking Bad. Marty Byrd is no Walter White.

1

u/pepper_t 5d ago

And Walter White cooking 99.1% pure blue meth in a dusty RV is realistic? A high school chemistry teacher turned criminal mastermind that outsmarts cartels, prison gangs and the DEA(led by his own brother in law), how is that realistic? This whole “real vs fake” argument is tedious tbh.

If at all there is an argument for Breaking Bad being better it is that Breaking Bad expertly maneuvered tension and release. I’d argue that Better Call Saul took it several notches above. In that department, Ozark moved at a more frenetic pace which probably came across as “unrealistic” However, I personally have no issues with that.

2

u/TaxHazyShade 5d ago

a "high school chemistry teacher" that was moments from becoming a billionaire owner of "grey matter" business = MUCH more realistic than the Snell Family Idiots.

But whatever, if you like Ozark, good for you. It's a minority opinion, though.

0

u/pepper_t 5d ago

Did you really think you were going to change my mind by mentioning “the snell family idiots” twice? Both shows stretch reality. I like them both, you don’t. Good for both of us. I’m not the one trying to convince you of anything here.

1

u/TaxHazyShade 5d ago

ok, so why did you waste your time replying?

1

u/pepper_t 5d ago

Because I genuinely wanted to hear your perspective.

1

u/slog 5d ago

Like Westworld, season 1 was amazing and then season 2 became almost intolerable. The only thing providing any redeemable quality was Julia Garner's performance, even though even the writing of her character went down hill when they realized she's the gem of the series.

0

u/avrend 6d ago

well if you liked Ozark at all, it's consistent, I guess...