Sitting around in a Mad Men end-of-season funk last fall, I wondered what I was going to do with myself for the approximate nine months till Don and the boys were back. My first instinct was to turn to another AMC series, Breaking Bad. Okay, technically my first instinct was to pour myself a strong drink. But after that, I eventually thought of Breaking Bad.
The basic premise of Breaking Bad is that Walter White, an intelligent chemist who could have done great things but settled for being a high school science teacher and part time car wash attendant, finds out he has Stage 3 lung cancer. He’s married to Skyler, and they have a disabled teenage son, Walt Jr., and a baby on the way. Walt wants to make some coin so the family will be secure after he checks out, and he uses his chemistry teacher expertise to cook high-grade methamphetamine with junkie/dealer Jesse Pinkman, one of his former students.
At first, this show doesn’t have much curb appeal. No one in this show is pretty (or maybe they are and have spent a long time in the makeup chair hiding it). The sets are grim. The Whites’ home is straight out of the 70s. A fair amount of the action takes place inside a dilapidated recreational vehicle, sometimes out in the desert badlands with dead bodies - sometimes human - littering the landscape. Let’s not forget the hostage scenario that goes down in a drug dealer’s grimy unfinished basement. Heck, Chip’s burned spy buddy Michael from Burn Notice has a more swish life than Walter White.
However, the gritty backdrops and the ordinary people who inhabit this show are what make it so compelling. This is some of the best drama around, and it had me cheering for the "good" bad guys in no time.
I’ve only seen Season One of Breaking Bad, and I’m enjoying Walter’s progression from nerdy science teacher/car wash attendant who has let life pass him by into badass kingpin. Once Walter gets his death notice, he develops the courage to make the ballsy decision every time. And what decisions they are – beating the crap out of kids who are making fun of your son, strangling with a bike lock the drug dealer you kidnapped, blowing up a rich asshole’s car just because he stole your parking space, stealing a drum of chemicals you need to cook meth from a secure, guarded storage facility.
Here are some of my favorite highs and lows from Season One:
1. Walt Jr. being subjected to Hank’s efforts to scare him straight after the comical marijuana misunderstanding. That Hank is such a gentleman to the crackhead hookers.
2. Walt sitting by the pool throwing matches in after finding out he’s a dead man walking. Who can’t relate on some level (we hope non-fatal!) to the desolation he’s feeling. A sad and haunting depiction of the feeling of futility.
3. The Whites’ realization they’ve committed a grievous crime of fashion by not wearing beige to Elliott’s birthday party. The rich are different.
4. Speaking of wardrobe malfunctions, how hilarious is that early scene in the desert when Walt is standing outside the RV in his tighty whities? I hope he’s in silk boxers by Season 2.
5. Jessie’s ceiling crashing with the liquefied remains of dead drug dealer splattering everywhere. A moment of ewww.
6. Walt’s confrontation with Tuco after Tuco puts Jessie in the hospital. Walt definitely leveled up with that one.
7. Marie shoplifted a “white gold tiara with SEVERAL carats of zircons” for Skyler’s baby shower gift?! Hilarious. Didn’t see that one coming.
What do you love/hate about Breaking Bad, Chip? I know you’ve watched only the second season. I found this video short that will catch both of us up on the respective season we missed:
I'm counting the days till the Season 3 premiere on March 21!
Peace, Holly
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