As the final episodes of, arguably one of the greatest tv series of all time, comes to a close. I found myself wondering how the series managed to be so consistently smart, well written, and challenging at every step. Its been a total joy to be engrossed in a series that I've not been able to predict at any point and has beaten me at every turn. Not knowing who Vince Gilligan was I decided to look on IMDB. Mr. Gilligan's philosophy seems to be similar in nature to that of Aaron Sorkin. Basically you don't need to dumb a show down to get good ratings. You need to make the show better. My research didn't go any further than Vince Gilligan's bio where I came across the following quote.
"I guess I learned and am in the process of learning that less is more and oftentimes it's a benefit when you don't throw the kitchen sink at it... Especially that you don't make any of your plotting decisions out of fear or desperation. That is an important lesson for anyone to learn, to keep to the story and the characters simple rather than letting it all get away from you in an effort to please what is perceived to be an increasingly attention-deprived audience. The show's either gonna work for you or not. The odds tell you it won't. Most shows don't work. And when they do work, it's kind of like winning the lottery. With Breaking Bad I feel like I pulled the lever at the slot machine, and it came up cherries. If it was something I did, I don't know if I could repeat it. Having said that, in hindsight, my good fortune was that I didn't have the opportunity to go with my first instincts and throw the kitchen sink plot-wise into our first season. If I'd done that, I would have painted myself into some seriously unpleasant plot corners. My general philosophy now more than ever is to give the audience the least possible, which sounds like a weird philosophy, but you want to parcel things out as slowly you can. Of course what that means is, you want to parcel things out as slowly as you can while keeping things gripping and interesting. I don't necessarily believe the conventional wisdom that the audience is more restless than ever and always needs more stimulation. People still like storytelling that can slow down enough to explore characters and examine them closely. I think there's still room for that. Hopefully, that never gets lost completely."
It also brings to mind a quote slightly to grandiose to be used in this context. Not to be applied to Breaking Bad specifically, but to the intelligence of your audience.
"This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box. Good night, and good luck."
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