Complex TVMain MenuIntroductionVideos for IntroductionComplexity in ContextBeginningsVideos for Chapter 2AuthorshipCharactersComprehensionEvaluationSerial MelodramaOrienting ParatextsTransmedia StorytellingEndsVideo GalleryTable of ContentsJason Mittell06e96b1b57c0e09d70492af49d984ee2f68945deNew York University Press
BREAKING BAD misdirected viewers about Brock's poisoning, but one fan posted a video theory that proved to be true in the next episode
12015-03-16T07:07:26-07:00Jason Mittell06e96b1b57c0e09d70492af49d984ee2f68945de13501A remix video demonstrates forensic fandom as a form of plot orientation.plain2015-03-16T07:07:26-07:00Critical Commons2011VideoBreaking Bad Finale TheoryYouTube2015-03-16T13:47:11ZJason Mittell06e96b1b57c0e09d70492af49d984ee2f68945de
12015-03-16T07:08:21-07:00p. 267: BREAKING BAD1plain2015-03-16T07:08:21-07:00Such analytic reinterpretations take a series of narrative events and explore them for greater understanding of causality, significance, or even basic comprehension and can be pursued via various media forms. For instance, Breaking Bad’s next-to-last episode of season four, “End Times,” raised the enigma of who was responsible for poisoning a child; a fan took to YouTube to offer an interpretation of the narrative events to (correctly) argue that Walter White was responsible, piecing together scenes from the episode that provide clues and evidence that proved what would only be revealed in the next episode. Such analytic abstractions and reinterpretations function as sites of forensic fandom discussed more later, enabling viewers to make greater sense of or propose new explanations for the narrative events beyond chronology and recapitulation, a tendency we can see even more acutely in analyses of The Sopranos’ finale, as discussed in chapter 10.