You probably have already seen this if you have the Internets on your computer. But it’s worth another view (we’ve watched it a few times already).  It’s a good laugh, but like anything that’s not “Breaking Bad” (or “Seinfeld” for that matter), what can we say…it only makes us miss it more. We miss you, Walter. And Jesse. (And you too, Elaine.)

Find Jill on Twitter @jillettinger

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It’s a golden age of television, and these are the 7 of the best TV shows to prove it.

I love TV. I also enjoy NPR, macrobiotic teas, and Instragramming the ingredients on natural beauty products. By all accounts, shouldn’t my TV stand now be a planter for my indoor organic herbal garden? Instead, a large flat-screen remains. Except it now streams more TV than the East River floats Doritos bags.

So when people tell me they don’t watch TV, I want to drag them to my herbal-planter-TV-stand and sit them down until they understand. What exactly? That we’re living in the Golden Age of best TV shows. That Tony Soprano is more than just a thug. That Walter White’s ambiguous morality matters. That Carrie Mathison’s cryface really is epic.

Really, what I want to do is to introduce them to binge watching.

With the advent of Netflix streaming, Hulu, and multiple seasonal DVD releases of shows, binge watching has inevitably taken up a spot in our cultural lexicon. Sure, some people frown on the act of mass-consuming a TV show all at once. In the most first-world, fin de siècle fashion, Slate recently bemoaned that “we’re ruining TV.” They sniffed that the binge-watching bandwagon destroys the integrity of a single episode, alongside other horrible, unnamed, possibly kitten-murdering deeds.

But I’d argue that binge watching a brilliantly-written or entertaining show is no different from going to the movies. For the movies, factor in travel, popcorn pit stops and the time it takes to glare at the person texting right in front of you, you’re looking at a minimum three hour investment. All the while, you’re (hopefully) not thinking about work, not checking your phone, not worried about the state of all things.

Stay in for an evening and indulge in two or three episodes of any hour-long drama, and it’s the same experience. And best of all, you don’t have to deal with travel, popcorn pit stops and the time it takes to glare at the person texting right in front of you. Are they trying to land a plane with their cell phone light beacons? Who is really to say.

Binge watching has, in fact, become so popular that the more recent television shows are starting to structure their entire seasons around this undertaking. “Arrested Development”, “Orange is the New Black”, and “House of Cards” were all released new seasons this year on Netflix streaming—and “House of Cards” recently received nine Emmy nominations, which Netflix trumpeted as a “win” for all Internet television.

But not every television show out there is worthy of a binge. You need stellar characters, engaging episodic arches, and a general ability to glue an audience to his or her seats. So what to watch?

1. “Breaking Bad”

Set in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Walter White is a high school chemistry teacher recently diagnosed with cancer. He turns to producing and selling methamphetamines to provide a financial legacy for his family. Currently airing its fifth and final season, “Breaking Bad” is available online on Amazon Prime. 

2. “Orange is the New Black”

Piper Chapman is a wasp-y New Yorker who once, years ago, transported a suitcase filled with drugs for an ex-girlfriend. Now she’s sent to prison for 15 months in Litchfield, New York. Based on a true story, the show is hailed as a “barrier-breaking” dramedy which incorporates the narratives of black, white, and transgendered women. Produced by Netflix, it’s available through the site.

3. “Game of Thrones”

Winter might be coming, but HBO’s critically-acclaimed “Game of Thrones” shows no signs of cooling. Based on George R.R. Martin’s fantasy novels, the show incorporates multiple story lines roughly set in the kingdoms of Westeros and Essos at the end of a decade-long summer. Sex, violence, and mythical creatures combine to make this a standing hit for the cable network, now three seasons in. You can watch it online at HBO Go.

4. “Downton Abbey”

This Masterpiece Theatre phenom for PBS relays the saga of the post-Edwardian Crawley family and their staff at their Yorkshire country estate. The Titanic sinks, World War I rages, and the Spanish Flu decimates, while romance and tragedy throw around more suds around than a washing machine in this soapy classic. The series is gearing up for its fourth season. You can watch it online at Hulu.com.

5. “Orphan Black”

The BBC scores another hit with this sci-fi Canadian import depicting the lives of several identical women, who all turn out to be clones in (what else?) a deadly illegal cloning conspiracy. The show is centered on Sarah Manning, a tough British con-artist who assumes the life of fellow clone (and cop) Elizabeth Childs after Childs commits suicide. The first season, which recently wrapped, is currently available on DVD from Netflix.

6. “Homeland”

This series for Showtime takes us through the life of Carrie Mathison, a bipolar Central Intelligence Officer on a quest to capture Sergeant Nicolas Brody. Carries believes that Brody is a former prisoner-of-war for al-Qaeda who is now brainwashed and threatening national security. What could go wrong? The series, which is two seasons in, is available on Amazon Prime.

7. “Portlandia”

Why should you watch IFC’s sketch comedy show “Portlandia,” which is also available streaming on Netflix? See above.

Do you binge watch? Follow Katherine on Twitter and tell her what shows she missed. 

photo credit: Alba Soler Photography via photopin cc

For further reading:
5 Happy Endings We’d Like to See for Breaking Bad

The 5 Best Beauty Products for a Downton Abbey Look

The post The 7 Best TV Shows to Binge Watch appeared first on EcoSalon.

“Breaking Bad” is the best-written show currently residing on our small screens. Don’t agree? Then let us pour a glass of Schraderbrau and talk episodes. Or rather, let’s skip right to the end, which is likely to be as epic and well-crafted as the first four-and-a-half seasons of the best-written show currently residing on our small screens.

There are just eight more episodes for meth-makers Walter, Jesse and company before we learn the inevitable and guaranteed happy ending our characters all so richly deserve. Which is, of course, as likely as Badger and Skinny Pete joining Mensa.

So how will it all really end?

We have at least one clue. We know Walter fled out of state to “live free or die.” (Thank you, New Hampshire license plates, for your eloquent foreshadowing.) But we can dare to dream that our favorite New Mexicans will all ride off into the sunset alive and happy—or at least, alive?

Probably not. So let’s pretend for a hot meth-minute that creator Vince Gilligan’s brain was briefly high-jacked by Disney and that a peaceful end was possible.

After all, everyone deserves a happy ending on “Breaking Bad.” Just ask Mike Ehrmantraut. Gus Fring. Gale Boetticher. The Salamanca family. Ted Beneke. Jane Margolis. The people of Flight 515. One brave southwestern turtle…

1. Walter White: Dead Man Walking
We know things may not end well for drug kingpin Walter, mostly because the New Hampshire license plate makes it so. On the domestic front, his wife is praying for his cancer to return. Business-wise, he has the life expectancy of a fruit fly. Odds are heavily on the “die” part of “live free or die.”

Instead, Walter escapes Hank and his toilet-reading sleuthing to flee to Atlanta. He arrives just as a zombie outbreak takes down civilization.

Naturally, Walt becomes the leader of a new world order. It’s a world where long, boring, drawn-out conversations about morality are forbidden, replaced instead by more smashy-smash of zombie skulls.

You will remember his name—and it is Governor Heisenberg.

2. Skyler Gets Sweet Revenge (And a New Name)
Poor Skyler. Yes, she’s complicit on a thousand different levels and wow, does she have a taste for boys who like to cook. (Walter, meth. Ted, books.)

But one thing Walter White’s wife does really well is tragic, misguided morality. She starts out trying to do the right thing. But before you know it, she’s flashing cleavage at an IRS agent and embarking on a career as a car wash owner-slash-embezzler of millions.

(Maybe her confusion stems from the fact that she has the name of an Arizona State sorority girl instead of a middle-aged woman. Seriously, Vince Gilligan, her name should be Sandra or Pam. Not Skyler. Now be sure to consult me next time, thanks.)

So here’s what we’d like to see for Sandra Pam at the end of “Breaking Bad.” Fed up, she takes Walter out with a turtle bomb. With baby Holly and Walt Jr. in tow, she buys a Caribbean island with her giant cube of cash and happily lives out her days. Turns out, the money—it was enough.

3. Jesse Finds Love
When we last saw partner-in-crime Jesse Pinkman, Walt had just left $5 million at his house, probably hoping to soothe feelings over the tragic death of an innocent child or the yet-to-be-discovered murder of Jesse’s mentor, Mike. Take your pick!

Sure, Jesse has blood on his own hands, but he always plays with an ambiguity that lets you understand his motives. Even if it takes him a while to learn his lesson, which is always dissolve a body in hydrofluoric acid in a plastic barrel and never, ever in the bathtub.

So rather than meeting his end over a barrel, Jesse could find romance. He is busted by Hank and sent to prison for life. Once there, he falls in love with the prison hair stylist, a pre-transition transsexual inmate named Sophia.

Jesse and Sophia live happily ever after, because orange is the new black and black is not the color of Jesse’s heart. Not really.

4. Hank Schrader, Poet Performance Artist
Our favorite DEA agent and brother-in-law Hank Schrader has had a helluva time of it. He’s been harassed, mocked, and discouraged for his relentless search for his white whale, Heisenberg.

Meanwhile, the meth king himself has been drinking his home-brews all along in Hank’s very own backyard. Hank has endured the temporarily loss of his legs in a shoot-out and more exploding turtle parts than is really necessary.

So what Hank really needs is a break. We already know that he achieved clarity about Walter’s identity while sitting on the toilet. But what we learn is that this life-altering moment also came with a deep sense of purpose about his own life.

So Hank decides, after reading “Leaves of Grass,” to give up his pursuit of Walter/Heisenberg. Instead, he becomes a celebrated poet. He spends his time on street corners, happy and fulfilled, shouting “Song of Myself” against the roar of the Albuquerque crowds. Breaking Bad? More like breaking mad poetry beats, yo.

5. Marie Brings Purple Love to the People
Hank’s wife and Skyler’s sister Marie seems to be finally getting her life together. She wore a yellow shirt in the mid-season finale, which means she’s either finally throwing off the purple shackles of her intense neurosis or Breaking Bad costume designer Kathleen Detoro has been replaced by Big Bird.

But when Walt is revealed as a drug kingpin and Skyler as his money man, Marie flees back to the safety of her lavender preferences.

But this time, she doesn’t mess around. Marie opens a Purple Palace Emporium of decorative spoons and baby tiaras. It becomes wildly successful overseas, and Marie builds her own storage cube of cash.

She divorces Hank, leaves New Mexico, and marries a buff Swedish masseur name Olaf who enjoys a shirtless life in, naturally, a purple sarong.

Photos courtesy of AMC

For further reading:

The Top 12 Tear-Jerker Movies

Women in Film: The Best Way to Make Your Point

‘Orange Is the New Black’—And I’m Addicted: That Happened …

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