In almost every TV series there is a moment. Usually this moment can be found in an early
episode, it could be a dramatic scene or a quiet one and it might exemplify what the
show becomes or what it might have been. It’s a moment that I’m going to call the mission
statement and in this video I’m going to look at three such moments and discuss them
in relation to my experience with the series as a whole, so there are mild spoilers ahead
for Breaking Bad, Death Note and The Walking Dead.
I’m going to start with Breaking Bad. As a series it’s been discussed to death, people
have picked apart every shot of its opening episode and the costume design throughout
the series described in agonising detail. The meaning behind the titles of each episode
has been argued over to the point that even making a video on the series feels a little
redundant. As such I’m going to discuss what no one else can, and that’s my personal
reaction to it, specifically to a moment in its third episode. The mission statement.
The particular scene I describe as the mission statement is very much a part of the episode
as a whole and I don’t want to reduce the significance of that episode by focusing exclusively
on one scene, but in that one scene my view of the series switched from ‘this is pretty
good TV’ to ‘this is something special’. The scene I’m referring to is this shot
of Walter White reassembling a broken plate. Obviously it’s nothing amazing by itself,
but the way it fits into the episode, how it communicates what comes next and what it
means for Walter and Krazy-8 is where, for me at least, Breaking Bad declared its intentions.
This was a show that let you make the connections the characters did, a series where one small
moment could have huge implications and one that went into the motivations behind a scene
rather than just showing the scene itself. See here how much time is dedicated to Walt
making a sandwich, how that low intensity scene is paid off as he passes out, and just
when you think it was insignificant to the narrative as a whole we have the afore mentioned
scene, the afore mentioned mission statement. Breaking Bad was a brilliant series, but it
was in this scene that I first realised just how brilliant it could be, and indeed how
brilliant it ultimately was.
Next up we’ve got Death Note. This one’s a little tricky to illustrate because it’s
basically all in the audio. If the Breaking Bad scene was rooted in the visuals then this
one is definitely rooted in the audio. I’m talking about the introduction of L shortly
after the death of Lind L. Tailor. This occurs in episode 2, by which time Light has already
been established as being particularly smart. There’s only been one instance of Light
losing his cool thus far and that comes at the hands of a literal god, so between his
age, pre-existing intelligence and newfound power Light comes across as pretty smug. So
to see him baited into making a rash decision and then called out for that decision is incredibly
satisfying.
It’s for this moment I always tell people new to Death Note to watch the first two episodes
back to back, to see Light shown up in the way he is as well as the introduction to the
series’ best character (don’t @ me, you know it) in the space of a minute is what
the show is actually about. Rapid character development and swift consequences define
this moment and this moment defines the series as a whole. Admittedly I do find this scene
becomes a tad melodramatic when Light and L both say (I am- I am- justice), but slight
quibbles aside this was when Death Note first excited me, something it managed to do many
times thereafter.
Finally we come to The Walking Dead. Perhaps no other pilot has shown as much potential
as that of The Walking Dead. While Breaking Bad offered a pilot that was technically much
better without the slightly awkward performances and Half speed slow motion that does mark
The Walking Dead’s first episode it showed idea after idea, scene after scene, that excited
me for what was to come. The Joy of a hot shower was palpable, the suggestions of some
semblance of a person left in a dead body eerie and its ambition remains almost entirely
unmatched. If the specific moment I pick out as the ‘Mission statement’ wasn’t there
then any number of other scenes would fit the bill nicely. This shot remains one of
the most iconic in any TV series I’ve seen, the music used in this sequence in opposition
to the imagery was fantastic and the way it set up small questions like
‘where are the hospital staff’ and offered answers later
was really well done. It felt like the team had an idea and the
money and drive to pull it off. It was genuinely exciting to see this sort of narrative given
the budget it demanded and I was really excited to see where it could go. The whole episode
was excellent, but no sequence excited me more than the intercut shots of Rick and Morgan
killing and trying to kill a walker. This sequence with Rick is surprisingly moving,
but it’s these shots of Morgan and his dead wife that I loved. Whether there is any recognition
in her face is unclear, but it is clear that’s what Morgan is trying not to see. He’s desperate
for her to look away, but even when she does he can’t pull the trigger. This, of all
the mission statements I mentioned thus far, is by a long shot my favourite. This is one
of my favourite sequences in a TV series, perhaps my absolute favourite. This is one
hell of a mission statement, but unlike those in Breaking Bad or Death Note or countless
others I didn’t mention for the sake of time like those in Kill La Kill or Avatar:
The Last Airbender, this was a statement of intention that the series just couldn’t
fulfil. Season one never had a better moment than this one and subsequent seasons? Well,
others have dissected what became of the later seasons in discussions pretty brutal, but
not unfair. Suffice to say there is no other pilot I think of as highly as The Walking
Dead’s, but no other series has so utterly failed to deliver on the promise of that pilot.
To be fair I think the first season as a whole is still really solid and the loss of the
original showrunner in Darabont mid season 2 and an increased episode count with a decreased
budget no doubt had a major impact on the second season which largely, and unfortunately,
set the tone for the following seasons. While there are some positives to those later seasons,
like Carol whom I love and Michonne who, while perhaps a little less interesting than she
might have been, remains an easy second best next to Carol there are so many missteps and
utterly boring characters like Daryll, a character who I admittedly only really bring up because
I want to rile up any Walking Dead fanboys that have stuck around to this point, that
I only stick with it because of the last vestiges of excitement the pilot engendered. I know
it will never reach the peaks the pilot promised, but I still hold out a little hope that one
day it might bring me a moment even half as memorable as this one.
So uh, sorry if you’re a Walking Dead fan, I was perhaps a little mean spirited there,
but I only come down so hard on the later seasons for the brilliance of its pilot. Whether
you’re a member of the Daryll Dixon dick riding association and want to tear me a new
one in the comments or just want to talk about the moment in your favourite shows that excited
you as much as these ones did I’d love to hear your thoughts. As always let me know
in the comments below. Oh, and I normally don’t do this, but the next video is going
to be about Hollow Knight, so if you like Metroidvanias and Entomology the next video’s
going to be right up your alley. I’m about half-way through gathering footage and I’ve
almost finished the first draft of the script, but if you’ve got something you think I
should look at let me know, it might just make it into the video.
Cheers, have a good one.