Welcome to a new column called Channel Surfing, in which I sporadically look at current TV shows and talk about them. These are not ones that I care to write weekly recaps for and are instead reflections either on the episode, the series, or particular moments. This will hopefully help to share personal opinions as well as discover entertainment on the outer pantheon that I feel is well worth checking out, or in some cases, shows that are weird enough to talk about, but should never be seen.
Even in the opening moments of this special Mythbusters cross-over, creator Vince Gilligan claims that this was the right move to make. Avid fans would await the possibilities of what could be done in the course of a single hour. Does it include the pipe bomb from "Face Off?" There were several options available that made it almost irresistible to watch. The most notable was the fact that spliced into the episode was comedic bits between Gilligan and actor Aaron Paul, who just seemed to be sitting around waiting for the results.
My overall problem with Mythbusters has very little to do with their tone. I enjoy a show that could make science as accessible as it humanly can. However, over the course of a few episodes, I noticed a trend that annoyed me. The show wasn't about busting myths, but proving how the myths actually worked. While it would be a strain for the show to continually find numerous experiments to do in an 11 episode season, there is the potential for them to do more when given the chance. I hate when the show spends extensive amounts of time trying to make things work when they already said it wouldn't.
This is largely because I feel the show is being a little misleading in title. Once the myth is busted, the experiment is over. Plain and simple. It seems too excessive to keep going back to the well to figure out how to do things. It is disappointing largely because in the 10 minutes where they actually do what they advertise, it is a fascinating science lecture where you learn all of the ingredients necessary to do the experiment accurately. The procedural element is great and I enjoy the show's ability to take graphics and charts and make them into logical laymen's terms. When it doesn't work, it just gets redundant and I feel wasteful to continue.
Which brings me back to Breaking Bad's choice to cross-over. There is a way for the show to structure these in a way where you mix smaller experiments with larger ones. I understand on an average episode over 14 seasons that they could run out of ideas, but when you have one as pigeonholed as Breaking Bad, the Mythbusters people Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman could have done more. Even if they were too expensive to test, that isn't a logical excuse. It could have been more cost effective to just not do the same thing over and over.
The problem is that when the show succeeds, I get why it has been a pop culture fixture for a long time. The hosts are very lively and occasionally funny. They have small hi-jinks that transition shots nicely. It makes science enjoyable in a way not seen since Bill Nye back in the 90's. Even the way that they allow Gilligan and Paul to have moments of witty banter give the show a particular personality that makes it thoroughly enjoyable. We get a sense that everyone on this is a person passionate about science, and I feel that is the biggest sell in the end.
Still, for an episode that has been hyped as the ultimate cross-over, to only do two experiments involving hydroflouric acid in a bathtub and explosive powder in a building, it doesn't feel like there's much to justify its existence. While it was fun to learn that the acid in fact does not eat through the bathtub, it wasn't necessary to keep upping the doses and trying to make it work. In fact, this is something that would have been special in season one, as that is the only things this show covers. In a way, it feels lazy on Savage and Hyneman's part for not looking further and deeper.
This was supposed to be a big moment for Breaking Bad to be proven that science was not always the same in a fictional universe. It could have taught us so much more about Walter White's projects. Instead, we know that bathtubs are really sturdy and that a lot of powder can blow up a building. This is not so much a thrilling discovery but an overwhelming waste of time. In a half hour format, this could have worked better. Still, it was fun seeing Gilligan get his facts proven wrong and then laughing them off as creative freedoms.
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| Left to right: Vince Gilligan, Aaron Paul, Jamie Hyneman, and Adam Savage |
Another thing about the show that is bothersome is the concept that the myths all were busted. What if they worked? I am not expecting Breaking Bad to be the place for those answers, but it seems like the show would have 40 minutes of time to fill if they immediately had a success. It would be gratifying, but I would want to see them have a more even balance instead of telling me how everything was wrong. It makes science seem more realistic and more of an eye opener, but the idea of everything being wrong is redundant. Stop trying to make myths come true and just bust them the first time!
There is a reason that I don't watch the show all of that often. However, I felt like maybe there was something special here. Maybe they would become the ultimate science lecture to put the Walter White mythos in its place. Even the fun banter that everyone has on the show isn't enough to keep it from being frustratingly empty. It may please people not familiar with the show, but for those that know more than the first season, it is a colossal waste of potential that keeps it from ever living up to the specialness that the title suggests. B
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