The original post: /r/television by /u/LukeAv2009 on 2024-05-04 21:35:25.

In Sopranos and Breaking Bad respectively, there are 2 scenes that show 1 main character getting shot by 2 side characters. In Sopranos it is Christopher getting shot by Diet Fanta lover Drinkwater and JizzMonte, and in Breaking Bad it is Hank getting shot by the 2 Salamanca twins.

youtu.be/KCswmFhBQWg?si=rhQtDxcDR6fs43Lz Sopranos scene

youtu.be/bk8a6UxjViE?si=HEthKspGYRTu6pux Breaking Bad scene

Now in the sopranos there is absolutely nothing glamorous about it, the 2 would-be assassins are very poor shots and JizzMonte gets headshotted by Christopher quite quickly, while he misses every single shot on Drinkwater. Drinkwater runs away while continuing to fire his Glock 19 backwards in the slightest hope that it might hit Christopher. I will refer back to the Glock 19s later on.

In Breaking Bad there is a lot of build up and well written tension to the scene, Hank gets a phone call to prepare himself and then he starts to get shot at by the twins. The twins are dressed in fancy suits and have very expensive 1911 style pistols, while the sopranos assassins wear tracksuits and use relatively cheap glocks. Hank runs one over, while another very dramatically walks over to his fallen comrade. The shot focuses on the nice trousers and expensive pistol. Hank then shoots him twice with no reaction from the victim as he is wearing body armour. He has a chance to kill Hank but then picks the dramatic approach of cutting his head off. Focus is then given to Hank attempting to put a bullet in the slide of the 1911 that he picked up. He does it last minute just as his head is about to be cut off to create dramatic effect.

These 2 scenes are both great in their own regard, both trying to achieve something completely different. Sopranos is trying to show the unglamorous mess of violence, while Breaking Bad sets out to create an ‘action movie’ effect. While The Sopranos hitmen wear cheap running clothes and carry cheap Glock pistols, the Breaking Bad hitmen wear expensive suits and carry expensive 1911 style pistols that only he richest assassins use. Christopher kills an assassin with a well placed shot, while Hank does it with luck.

This in my opinion shows the completely different tone between the 2 shows. Thanks for reading