The two great television crime dramas of the last thirty years are The Sopranos and Breaking Bad. Each is spectacular in their own right, with mold-breaking anti-heroes in the characters of Tony Soprano and Walter White.
Having spent an adult lifetime in crime, so to speak, we cannot honestly decide. Some days it's Tony and the gang at the Badda Bing! And other days it's Walter White throwing mercury fulminate and blowing up drug dealer Tuco Salamanca's lair in revenge for him beating Jessie and taking their drugs. (On the evening the Mercury episode aired, Google searches for the substance became number one- telling the producers they had a runaway hit.)
So which is it?
The beauty of this clip is that in this episode Tony takes care of the body of Richie Aprile that his sister killed, solving the immediate problems facing his crew, and the producers picked the perfect song to end the show.
And of course the most famous malevolent chemist scene of all time. All of the sudden Walter White was a playa demanding respect: "Fulminated Mercury...a little tweak of chemistry." What a great line! And of course Tuco telling Walter "Sometimes you gotta rob to keep your riches."
It's a tie for first.
ReplyDeleteI think because BB introduced the greatest criminal defense attorney of all time- Saul Goodman- I give the nod to BB. But it's oh so close. Plus the ex-cop Mike and Hank with the DEA.
ReplyDeleteSopranos. Old school. And Tony smoked cigars!
ReplyDeleteBB. The psychology of Walter White, never given the respect due his intellect, being forced out of the company he founded (Gray Matters) and losing Gretchen, the impending lung cancer always in the background like a ticking time bomb, the car wash laundering money, Saul, Jessie, GUS- I mean the greatest characters and story lines.
ReplyDeleteGotta go with Skinny Pete and the crew slinging mad hash and fat stacking Benjamin's.
ReplyDeletePlus Hank has a wacko wife who shoplifts. Love it. And Gus is the best villain ever!
The Wire
ReplyDeleteBB and it's not close. While Sopranos was terrific, it whiffed on the ending. BB was near perfect (except for that damned "Fly" episode).
ReplyDeleteOmg I just saw the fly episode on the amc binge watch. I turned it off and went for a run.
ReplyDeleteDitto 12:05
ReplyDeleteI have to go with the Sopranos here as they were the trailblazers. BB was revolutionary in that the plot was unique as opposed to a "mafia" that was as old as, well, Jimmy Cagney. BB paid homage to another, at least indirectly, American rebel: the psycohopathic loner. Think Ozark or Psycho or even Mad Men And there are others in the genre of OC that rank right up there: Boardwalk Empire and Ray Donovan deserve an honorable mention. This is a very insightful post that could be turned into a book.
ReplyDeleteFACDL is having its annual meeting next week in Ft. Lauderdale. Now, they tell us they want us in a tux for the banquet. Really, in July in So. Fla.... a tux for defense lawyers.... really.
ReplyDeleteThe Wire for sure.
ReplyDeleteThe intervention scene in the Sopranos is fantastic and sublime. The New Jersey crew gets the nod.
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https://www.axios.com/local/tampa-bay/2022/07/11/florida-probation-reform
BB gets a slight nod, but man it's close. Any conversation about the definitive crime drama that doesn't include The Wire, is incomplete IMO.
ReplyDelete1) Breaking Bad, 2) The Wire, 3) the Sopranos (but the other two wouldn't have existed with the Sopranos, so there's that).
ReplyDeleteThe Wire. Hands down.
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