This post contains spoilers, consider yourself warned. Besides, if you haven’t seen every episode of Breaking Bad or The Wire already, then this post is probably not for you!
This is for the fans of both shows; the fans who debate which is better, The Wire or Breaking Bad. This is the Biggie vs. Tupac, the Jordan vs. LeBron debate for television.
So whether you’re a fan of Walter White or a “Stan” for Stringer Bell, Marlo, Avon and the corner boys, we can all agree that these are two amazing shows. In fact, Entertainment Weekly named The Wire as the best show of all time – even though it never grabbed an Emmy Award.
Who knows why? Maybe it was too real, maybe it dealt with issues that America didn’t want to address, sometimes you just don’t know what you have until it’s gone.
Luckily, people are giving Breaking Bad the credit it deserves, but does that mean it’s better than The Wire? BrBa has Emmy Nominations out the ass, with enough wins to melt down trophies and make a whole lot of jewelry for rapper 2 Chainz.
But how do the shows compare with one another? While they both deal with drugs, The Wire is about the police’s pursuit of drug dealers on the corner, while Breaking Bad is more about a teacher who gets cancer, breaks bad and starts selling meth. But it’s more about the process of distribution, cooking and climbing to the top of the ranks.
So we put together a tale of the tape between The Wire and Breaking Bad. Check it out!
— Both shows ended after 5 seasons:
–They both had a thing for whistling:
On The Wire, when you heard whistling you knew Omar was on the prowl, ready to kill and rob unsuspecting drug dealers. On Breaking Bad, when Walt casually whistled after Jesse freaked out over the death of a young boy it was then that Jesse knew, Walt was a mad man.
–Death Toll:
The Wire: 87 Deaths | Chris Partlow had the most kills | Method Man’s character Cheese was the last person killed on The Wire.
Breaking Bad: 260 Deaths | Gus Fring killed 26 people directly or indirectly. | Walt is a close second with 23 kills.
–Catch Phrases:
Is You Happy Now, Bitch?!
Shheeeittttttt
Yeah Bitch! Magnets!
–Memorable Scenes:
“I am the one who knocks” vs. “My name is my name”
“How my hair look” Vs. “Shut up and let me die in peace.”
–The Endings:
The Wire ended by wrapping up all the story lines and giving you a glimpse into what the world would be like after the wire went cold.
Meanwhile, we are still waiting to find out how Breaking Bad will end, but this Sunday we’ll discover the fate of Walter White and Jessie Pinkman. Last week, 6.6 million people tuned in to catch BrBa.
–Viewership
Which might ultimately be the deciding factor that gives Breaking Bad the title of greatest show of all time. Because while they are both equally great, the most watched episode of The Wire only came in at 4 million viewers. During the final and arguably best season of The Wire, its audience actually slipped to under a million viewers. So in the words of The USA Today, “If a great series ends and nobody watches, is it really over?”
Well, thanks to HBO Go, you can watch all five seasons of The Wire and discover the show that paved the way for shows like Breaking Bad. And come back and let us know: which one is better?!
SOURCE: USA Today | PHOTO CREDIT: HBO, AMC
