Breaking Bad

(I have only watched a handful of TV shows all the way through from beginning to end. But, I am going to let you know what I thought of them in case you are interested. What better way to start than with the best show I've seen... and the most recent.)

My Grade:  A+

I was quite late to the “Breaking Bad” party. I have always been more into movies than TV and still am; but I kept hearing about how awesome this show was and one of my best friends basically forced me to watch it. So, I figured I’d give it a whirl.

My wife and I started at the beginning and it started a bit slowly. We liked it; we weren’t hooked just yet, though. As it went on, we realized why people found it so addictive. We would be mad when an episode ended and look to the clock in hopes that it wasn’t too late to watch just one more episode. By late season two, we were in full-on addiction mode. That addiction never went away through the remainder of the five seasons. It turns out everyone was right - “Breaking Bad” is one of the greatest television shows to ever grace the small screen.

The biggest reason “Breaking Bad” is so successful dramatically is because of the characters. While the main character, Walt, is doing something very illegal and immoral, he is doing it for a good reason. That is what makes him an interesting protagonist. Then, pairing him with his antithesis in Jesse Pinkman makes for even more dramatic intrigue. It also allows both of these characters to learn from and adapt to one another in order to achieve their well written character arcs.

It also helps that the supporting characters are insanely well developed. Of course we are meant to care about Walt and Jesse, but every other character that appears in more than two episodes has as many layers as the main characters. You don’t see many shows with the caliber of character development across the entire cast like you see with “Breaking Bad”.

The incredible acting helps, too. Of course Bryan Cranston (Walt) is great. He cleaned up at the Emmys most years during Breaking Bad’s five year run. But Aaron Paul (Jesse) more than holds his own. At first I just thought he was okay, but as the story presses on and he continues further into his character arc, I could argue he is the one to watch from an acting standpoint. After a certain run-in with Hank (I’m trying to avoid spoilers in case someone hasn’t seen the show), Jesse makes a speech about his plan to get back at Hank and it literally gave me chills. That was the moment that Aaron Paul really showed me how great of an actor he is.

I don’t have time to talk about all the characters, so I will focus on my two other favorites beyond Walt and Jesse. First up:  Hank Schrader (played spectacularly by Dean Norris) the DEA agent who always tries to put up a strong front despite his personal demons. His drive to catch this meth kingpin who calls himself “Heisenberg” is honorable and his desire to stand by and help his wife even when she may not deserve it is admirable. And it helps that he adds some of the comic relief throughout the series. My other favorite is Walt Jr. played by RJ Mitte who in real life has a mild case of cerebral palsy. He brings in some of the more emotional aspects to the show and shines as the core of innocence when his whole family is anything but innocent. He’s really a joy to watch.

Just having great characters doesn’t make a TV show, though. There has to be a solid story as well for those characters to work their way through. “Breaking Bad” delivers a heck of a story. The best way to describe why it’s so good is to explain what it doesn’t do that a lot of shows do. Many shows have seasons that all have very similar story arcs which begin and end with the season. Then there may be a few story lines that extend beyond the borders of season, but they are mostly contained within that season. That makes a show start to feel worn after a few seasons. That’s what happened to “Dexter” after about season four. “Breaking Bad” is basically one, really long movie that only really feels the end of a season at the end of season four leading into five. 

The other thing many shows do that could be done better is forgetting about various minor story lines. Something will pop up for a few episodes, be interesting, but never come back to matter in the overall story. Every side story in “Breaking Bad” comes back around to matter. There are even things you may forget about and think are over, then they come back and you are like “Oh yea! I remember that!” Those are wonderful moments. Also, it actually has a satisfying conclusion. There’s nothing worse than spending so many seasons with a show just for them to ruin in in the final episode with an infuriatingly dumb ending.

I could go on and on about how great this show is, but I will save you from that. Just go watch it on Netflix if you haven’t already seen it. If you have seen it, then watch it again! I’m not sure I’ll ever find a show I like as much as “Breaking Bad” but I will look. Wish me luck!