Breaking Glass

Holly...
That scenario is precisely what I meant when commented about all that led up to the crash. You failed to mention that Jane did not merely die of an OD. She had a little assist from Walt. Of course, the metaphorical result is that Walt's sins have directly led to hell raining down on his home. This plays out in the "real" world, too, as the crash corresponds to his marriage going up in flames.
I will say that despite my misgivings, I love the ever present hairy eyeball that follows Walt around. It is a look of judgment as at least one child seems to have been on the planes. While on the subject of guilt, do you think that is what fueled Walt's meltdown with the cop? Seems to me he was just using it as an excuse. He did not seem too traumatized as he was singing along with the radio just moments before.

Satan's Lottery Has A Winner!

I’ve been thinking, Chip, and you’re right as usual.  I yield to the master.....  Some of the current story arcs in Breaking Bad are highly coincidental and improbable.  I can’t help but note, however, that you didn’t mention the one I find the most improbable, albeit a carryover from Season 2.  Jesse’s girlfriend Jane, a drug addict, died from an OD, resulting in her bereaved father, an AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER, losing his shit at work and causing the error that led to the mid-air collision over Chez White and the attendant raining down of body parts and garish stuffed animal eyeballs.  WTF???? GROUND CONTROL TO MAJOR TOM!!!!!


BT dubs, Chip, is there Life on Mars?


Peace, Holly

COME TOGETHER

Do not get me wrong. I love Breaking Bad. Every frame is filled with stunning imagery and symbolism. Every word of dialogue bears weight. The day after watching this latest episode, though, I had a little buyer’s remorse. I know coincidence plays a big part in this show. Think of everything that took place for those planes to crash right over Walt’s house in the season 2 finale. This week we had a perfect storm of suspense when Walt was nearly on the business end of the shiniest ax I have ever seen.

He had broken into his old home to take a shower exactly when one goon is planting some surveillance equipment. At the exact same time our two Mexican hit men show up to make “Heisenberg” bloody kindling. Goon #1 stays around long enough to see the killing cousins enter the house. He calls the Chicken King who just so happens to have enough juice to call off the hit. I just don’t buy it.

I know circumstances can come together in mind-blowing ways in reality. Part of what I love about this show, however, is how unsparingly it depicts the gritty reality of the destruction of a life by drug addiction or the painful dissolution of a marriage. I will admit, I was on the edge of my seat as I watched the Latin lumberjacks sit on the edge of Skyler’s bed. When I woke up the next morning, however, I started all the second guessing.

I know drama hinges on conflict and without some fictional construct we might as well just watch Jerry Springer. From the previews, it looks like another great coincidence is going to come to a head in the next episode. The drug dealer’s (excuse me, “manufacturer’s”) brother-in-law is DEA. I am anxious to see how this irony plays out. I just do not want my verisimilitude stretched out and left to dry like a pizza on a roof.

Holly's Helpful Hints

Dear Holly,

I am the head of a large-scale multinational business concern.  I have an arrangement with other CEOs in my industry about territorial rights for our respective enterprises.  Most of the time this works out great and we can avoid unpleasantness like say, drug wars.  Oops bad example.  Excessive marketplace competition.  Yeah, that’s what I meant to say. 

One of these CEOs tells me the other day that one of my guys killed his guy’s career.  Killed is such an ugly word.....let’s just say his guy is out of the industry permanently.  So my, um, colleague, wants to have some of his people show my guy the errors of his ways.

I don’t have a big problem with this concept in general.  After all, we’re all big boys and our industry is pretty dog-eat-dog.  Thing is, my guy is really, really good at what he does, the best I’ve ever seen, in fact.  I greenlighted the other CEO to have his people approach my guy for a friendly discussion, only I asked him to wait till my guy can finish cooking up a big, uh, presentation.  He says he can’t guarantee his guys are in the mood to cool their heels because the guy who, er, took an early retirement was close to them.  Sort of like family, really.  

I sort of feel like the other CEO is playing chicken with me.  My question is this:  if the other organization’s goons, er, middle managers mess up my guy’s productivity before he turns in the final product I need, is it okay for me to unleash the hounds of hell on their entire operation, top  to bottom?

Sincerely, Gus in Albuquerque


Dear Gus,
Yes.  Please do.
Peace, Holly

And What Do You Want for Christmas, Sally?

Sorry to have been MIA for so long, Chip.  I'm still trying to recover from the news that Roger Sterling can be my own personal Ken doll.  I love this!  And I would definitely buy Roger and Joan.  If I were inclined to spend $75 per doll on a couple of Barbies, that is.  But I have to wonder who in her -- or his (Kurt from Glee, I'm thinking of you here) -- right mind would buy Barbie and Ken, oops, I mean Betty and Don?  But I repeat myself.  As for Roger, I'm going to take a pass....it's enough for me to know I could have him if I wanted.

Peace, Holly

Do These Come in Inflatible?

Hey Holly,
I stumbled across something you might want to put on your Christmas List. I know how into Mad Men you are, so is this a must-have for you?
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/10/business/media/10adco.html
Chip

THE HEISENBERG UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE

Approximately two minutes into the premiere of the third season of Breaking Bad, viewers are treated to one of their patented WTF visual images. A man is crawling on his hands and knees through a Mexican dirt road. What is so striking is how people around this seemingly desperate man just ignore him. Soon we see he is part of a crowd of crawlers. Eventually a couple of obvious gangster types drive up and I wondered if everyone was doing this at their command. Nope. The two join everyone else in the dirt as they make their way to some kind of shrine. This must be some kind of act of contrition before some god. The two gangsters appear to be seeking success in an endeavor involving one elusive drug dealer named Heisenberg.

Fans know this man better as Walt. By his own words, he is at a crossroads. He has lost his family due to his efforts to provide for them. Now he goes so far as to set half a million dollars on fire in his grill to demonstrate his remorse. Of course, this does not last long and he douses everything in the pool. He has gone too far and done too much to just let it go up in smoke.

Walt has clearly connected the dots between his actions with Jesse’s girlfriend and the plane crash that has traumatized the community. I initially thought he was showing real guilt over his role in the loss of 167 lives, but we get an uncomfortable look inside Walt’s mind. He is a master of rationalization. I could not help but squirm as he spoke to a gathering of the student body and “encouraged” them to move on. The government is to blame.

This gift of rationalization extends to his efforts to reconcile with his wife. As he (somewhat) comes clean, he tries to explain, “there are many angles to this thing.” She just needs to look at his side. Skylar says bluntly, “You’re a drug dealer.” She sees him for what he is, but he refuses to. In a later meeting with his fried chicken drug dispenser, he says matter of factly that he is not a criminal. Not unless the manufacture and distribution of methamphetamine, money laundering and murder are no longer crimes, Walt. Jesse has embraced the notion that he is “the bad guy” but the irony is he is not as “bad” as Walt.

Overall, Breaking Bad is picking up right where it left off. The tone, the tension, the family drama and the black humor are all still perfectly intact. And I am still hooked like a meth-head on blue ice.

No Mas ("No More")

At long last, Breaking Bad returns to the small screen!  And I do mean small screen.  I watched last night’s episode this morning on my phone.  Not one of my more inspired ideas.  Don’t try this at home, kids.  You can watch the episode here.

How bizarre was the opening sequence, with the people crawling on their elbows and knees to the temple of the skull?  Vehicles drove around them, people sidestepped them.  Just another day in the Mexican desert?

Okay, so what’s up with the two bad guys?  And why does everyone in this show shave their head?  I totally didn’t get what the two baddies were up to, other than that they were pretty serious criminals who hate Walt and for some reason would rather ride to America in a hay truck than a Mercedes.  Huh?  Must’ve been something I missed from the parts of Season 2 I still haven’t seen.  And I would definitely remember if I’d seen those boots before.  Oh my.  Those are one bold fashion statement.

There is so much identity confusion in this show.  It dawned on me that Walt Jr.’s alterego “Flynn” is not unlike Daddy Walt’s druglord identity Heisenberg, albeit an innocent one.  Walt (the older, bald one) can’t accept that he’s a “drug dealer.”  He makes the distinction to Skyler that he’s a “drug manufacturer.” That should really help everyone sleep better tonight, no?  Walt also tells Skyler that they, make that he, is happily married, despite the fact she’s trying as hard as she can to divorce him. He tells the guy at the chicken place, “I am not a criminal.”  And he goes to embarrassing lengths in front of the high school assembly to disassociate himself from any culpability for the plane collision, even though he's up for best criminal in a supporting role for this one.  Meanwhile, simple, drug addict punching bag Jesse has gone Zen and tells Walter what he’s learned in rehab, “It’s all about accepting who you are.”  When Walt asks Jesse who he is, Jesse says, “I’m the bad guy.”  Finally, Jesse is the smarter of the two.

Back for a moment to that awful high school assembly….  If this had been Glee, those poor kids in the bleachers would have broken out into “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.”  (For those of you who haven’t seen Spamalot, you can acquaint yourself with this timeless ditty of gallows humor here.)

Chip, do you get the idea someone on the writing team is a pyromaniac?  They are constantly burning and/or blowing things up in fireballs on this show.  Walt was throwing matches into the pool (so glad they repeated this sequence – it was as great this time as in Season 1), he burns the cash, then he catches himself on fire, Albuquerque is recovering from that fiery plane collision, and the really bad badasses blow the hay truck (and all the dead bodies) to smithereens.  Did I miss any pyrotechnics there?

Rampant speculation here.  The small aircraft that was involved in the collision was on its way to Mexico.  The two badasses are coming north with a jones to kill Heisenberg.  Any chance that plane was carrying a load of "blue sky" south of the border?  Wait till Hank starts picking that stuff up in the debris field all over the north side of town.

I loved this episode.  It’s setting up so many great storylines for the coming weeks.  Is Walt going to take the $3M for three more months of being a “drug manufacturer”?  Of course he is.  Have we seen the last of Saul? Gosh, I hope not!  Is that creepy eye from the stuffed animal going to keep staring us down?  I’ll be, er, watching to, ahem, see.

Peace, Holly

Good Evening, Clarice

I do not recommend the opium for the next episode, Holly. Perhaps some speed to keep you awake. When we named this blog, we were working the clever angle of a TV “remote control” combined with what we hoped was “interesting” commentary. Caprica is beginning to sway me toward the other meaning of being remotely interested. Should Daniel be worried? “I don’t know,” I coyly respond. All I know is Breaking Bad and Justified are knocking on my door and I only have so much room in my schedule.

You are right that Daniel begins to suspect that the Zoe avatar is in the robot. The next episode is dedicated to his psychological warfare attempts to get her to reveal herself. It is supposed to be tense, but it comes across as tedious for the most part. As far as his character goes, his cold-blooded side is always so close on the heels of his “sensitive” side; it makes me wonder if there really is anything there other than his ambition. Is the Zobot more human than Daniel? Did you know/remember that Eric Stoltz was fired from “Back to the Future” after six weeks of shooting because of his “humorless” take on Marty McFly? I’m just saying. Someone needs to punch a giant syringe of adrenaline into the heart of this show.

We also have Joseph continuing to pursue leads on Tamara in New Cap City. This dude needs to seriously get in touch with his Tauron side in a hurry. His new guide turns to him at one point and says, “I thought Taurons had bigger stones.” Amen, sister. He does get his badass on briefly, but you wonder if it is going to be the exception more than the rule.

Ah Sister Clarice. Am I the only one who hears Anthony Hopkins pronounce this name every time I see it? I was also intrigued by the opium evangelism of the previous episode when Clarice witnesses to Amanda about God. She seemed sincere in her desire to share the peace of God with a suffering woman and not just trying to download some secret code. Clarice came on pretty strong and I thought she was really letting the cat out of the bag in terms of her involvement with STO. Amanda must have been too trashed to really catch it, though because there is not a hint of this in the next episode.

I am still interested…but just remotely. Hey...did you notice I coined the term "Zobot?"

Sister Clarice is a Stoner?

Okay, so I’m a week behind on Caprica, the show we love to hate.  Or we hate to love? Anyhoo, here are my thoughts about “The Imperfections of Memory,” originally aired March 12.

First, and obviously, the episode is about Amanda Graystone’s imperfect memories of her brother Darius.  She keeps seeing him in crowds, despite the fact he died in a car accident years ago.  As it turns out, she’s been so tortured in the past by her thoughts and imagined(?) sightings of him that she was institutionalized for 2.5 years.   She attempts to catch his image in the crowd on her cell phone, but the photos are so blurred (imperfect….) it’s not clear whether he was really there.

Amanda has gone so hot mess over this dead brother thing that she makes what I’m sure will be a bad decision and confides in Sister Clarice about it.  The two of them end up smoking some dope together.  Peace and love….. Oh yeah, and Sister Clarice gets a Jehovah’s Witness bee in her bonnet and starts witnessing about God to Amanda.  Amanda asks, “Which one?”  Hold on kids, here we go…..  All aboard for Gemenon.

What's up with Amanda playing coy with Daniel about her "friend" aka Clarice?  Ewww.  Just ewww.

A little more subtle is Joseph’s pursuit of his “memory” of Tamara.  Her avatar in V World is just a collection of the memories of her, and isn’t V World, at the end of the day, all in your head?  Nice work, tough guy, getting the kid killed in New Cap City.  Somehow I think he had your back more than your new V World guide, Emanuelle.  Just a hunch.  I’m psychic like that sometimes.

And on the subject of V World, how interesting was it that Zoe 2.0 (aka Zoe’s avatar) doesn’t like the cookie cutter look of V World?  She would really hate American suburbs. And she doesn’t want to level herself up to be a better pilot in the flight simulator program, she wants to learn to do it herself.  She wants to improve V World; make everything unique.  And she didn’t seem to approve of the immorality and escapism for which it was being used – wasn’t that what Daddy Daniel designed it to be?  And she drops some pretty strong hints that V World = afterlife.

Cylon Zoe.  I’m not too motivated to go there.  Okay, a few things if we must. We learn that a couple of Sister Clarice’s husbands have figured out that Zoe’s avatar has been downloaded somewhere other than the disk thingy Sister Clarice used to heist data in Daniel’s lab.  My DVR conked out before the end of the episode, but I understand that Daniel becomes suspicious that Zoe’s avatar is in the Cylon prototype.  Bet you’re not feeling so hot about that throwdown with Amanda in front of the robot now, are you flyboy?

Chip, what are your thoughts on this episode?  And more importantly, give me a heads up.  Will I need Sister Clarice to take me to an opium den first to get through the next one?

Peace,

Holly

BOLO Walter White and Jesse Pinkham, Druglords

Breaking Bad returns to AMC TV Sunday night with the Season 3 premiere. Watch the Season 2 finale here. Then test your street cred as a criminal with the Criminal Aptitude Test here. Then come back to Remotely Interested next week and share your thoughts with us!

EW or EWWW?

I mentioned part of my nightly routine is to fall asleep reading Entertainment Weekly. The March 12, 2010 issue had a list of the “10 Best TV shows Right Now!” Holly, I thought you would like to know that our opinions dovetail nicely in some places with this national publication. Not so much in others. The list goes as follows:

1. The Good Wife – I have not followed this, but I saw a portion of it last week. I have to admit, I was immediately caught up in the drama. I just don’t know if it can truly be called the best.

2. Breaking Bad – This should come as no surprise. We have been saying the same thing for a while. As we anticipate the premiere of the third season, get ready to get your blogface on.

3. LOST – I mentioned this show in my defense of network TV last month. I stand by that opinion as I am completely engrossed with the final season as it is airing now.

4. Friday Night Lights – I have read about how good this show is for years. I love football, but I have just not gotten into it.

5. Fringe – Another show on my list of redeeming features of the networks.

6. Modern Family – I have watched this a couple of times and it is very funny. It just has not made my appointment TV list.

7. Glee – Here is one for you, Holly. You have gushed over this show that I have yet to watch.

8. Southland – I have not watched this, either. It was originally on NBC, but they cancelled it and the cable channel TNT picked it up. It must be pretty good, then.

9. Damages – I have not followed this Glenn Close FX series, but I read it is good.

10. Caprica – Here is our love/hate darling in the top ten.

I am partial to a few other shows that did not make the cut. There are some I like that I am under no illusions are great shows (Sorry, Burn Notice). Yet, there are some that I believe rise above some of this list.

Glaringly absent is the Emmy and Golden Globe winning Mad Men. Is it because it is not on the air right now? I would also include FX’s series Rescue Me, TNT's Men of a Certain Age and HBO's True Blood. These are active series, but not currently airing new episodes. Is that the criteria?

Holly, what do you think? Would you boot some of these and replace them with others? Did you notice a mere 4 out of 10 are cable shows. My list would be more like 6 out of 10.

Here is how my list would look.

1. Mad Men - AMC

2. Breaking Bad - AMC

3. LOST - ABC

4. Fringe - FOX

5. True Blood - HBO

6. Rescue Me - FX

7. Men of a Certain Age - TNT

8. Glee - FOX

9. Better Off Ted - ABC

10. Caprica - SYFY

My Own Personal Oscar After-Party

Just a couple of thoughts regarding the Oscars. (Besides the fact I predicted all the winners of the six major categories.)

I love the humor and dry wit of hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin. The tone was set nicely right off the bat. I love you Doogie, but you made a better Dr. Horrible and Billy Crystal did a better job with opening musical numbers.

I thought the speeches were thankfully coherent and concise for the most part. The only time they had to theme music someone off the stage, I was glad. Who was that obnoxious woman who interrupted the eloquent man talking about his documentary? I was glad they cut her off.

Did I miss Farrah Fawcett in the dreaded dead people montage? Having James Taylor croak a Beatles tune was a nice attempt to eliminate the tacky "applause meter" of popularity for the recently deceased.

Don't jump around and do gymnastics to music and tell me it's dancing. Dancing involves something called choreography people.

Jeff Bridges and Woody Harrelson are probably already halfway through a stack of hemp even as I write this. Yes, dude, it is a groovy profession.

Even though I am glad to see Kathryn Bigelow win for Best Director and The Hurt Locker was my prediction for Best Picture, I still believe Avatar will be the most influential film made this decade. For better or worse.

Now off to my Oscar After-Party which involves reading Entertainment Weekly for about 5 minutes until I fall asleep. It may only be 9:30 on the red carpet where you are Holly, but it is past my bedtime back on the East Coast.

I Would Like to Thank the Academy

Just a moment here between hair and makeup for my Oscar shindig. What should I wear? Decisions, decisions. Going to take this brief window to boil this weekend's Caprica down to the few relevant points:

1.  How long till Cylon Zoe kills Philemon so they can live forever and ever, amen, in V World together?  Young love.  I'm throwing up in my mouth.

2.  I read Angels and Demons.  Fool me once.....

3.  More bloody montages inspired by The Godfather.  We get it.

4.  The afterlife is created/engineered?  This concept bears watching.

5.  Here's the important one.  Whatever Zoe was taking to Gemenon was the behest of Sister Clarice.  Clarice is in a different camp from Barnabas, as was made clear this episode.  Dead boyfriend/Harry Potter was a Barnabas alibi (bike shop guy is a double agent) and blew up the train and purported girlfriend Zoe to keep Zoe from getting whatever-it-was to Gemenon.

Patrick, I'm ready for my closeup.......

Peace, Holly

Tamara, the Baddest Tauron of Them All!

You were right, Chip, the suckitude of last week’s Caprica episode was way down.  Dare I say it, I think I enjoyed it.

Okay, what first?  It was nice to spend some time with the Adamas for a change. I didn’t think it was possible to get tired of Eric Stolz, but damn if it hadn’t happened to me these last few weeks.  And that was BEFORE that macabre scene with Zoe the Cylon ripping off her own arm on Daniel’s command.  But more about that later - back to the Adamas.

Let’s start with Tamara....who would’ve thunk it?  She is one tough kid.  I thought she was just another clueless teenager, but she’s a natural born Tauron killer in New Cap City.  I loved the scene near the end where she stood up to Vesta, or as I prefer to think of her, the Shirley MacClain - Pussycat Dolls Catwoman hybrid.  Seriously, doncha think that freak looked like a cross between these two?

Tamara’s realization she died in the STO terrorism and her dispatch of the gamer (what’s his name?) back to Caprica to find Joseph was interesting, made more so by the gamer’s running away from Joseph when he realized Tamara really was dead.  What’s going on with Tamara just got really interesting.

Loved, loved, loved, the fishing trip!  Willie is homicide waiting for a place to happen.  I just hope Uncle Sam’s there to see it.  He would be so proud.

Memo to Joseph Adama - lose the gold necklace and medallion.  And by the way, Hugh Hefner called.  He wants his smoking jacket back.

Okay, I think we’ve gotten to know all the Adamas now except Joseph’s deceased wife.  How long till she turns up in V World?  I just hope she’s half the woman her mother is and her daughter was.  The female Adamas’ comfort with knives and firearms has been impressive. I’m curious what Joseph’s wife’s skills are - nunchuks?

Other points - Lots of smoking this week.  Chip, sometime we need to do a comparison of the cigarette/drink/frak count in an episode of Caprica vs. one of Mad Men.  I can’t believe I just said frak.  Shizer.  I think I need a smoke and a drink.

More randomness – Chip, have you noticed that despite the many “worlds” (Caprica, V World, New Cap City, Tauron, and Gemenon), no one really seems to know what the object of the game is?  That’s the premise of the New Cap City game, but isn’t everyone playing it in their real world already?  Even the STO crew doesn’t seem to know what the real deal is – Sister Clarice doesn’t know what she’s supposed to be doing, and Zoe didn’t have a clue she was about to become a terrorist/martyr.

Random character observation - Cairon, the top gamer in New Cap City, gave me the willies.  Chip, what did you make of his makeup and pink nail polish?  I like me some Elton John and all, but this guy was creepy. And did you notice he was with both a man and a woman?  I can’t help but be reminded of Sister Clarice’s STO clan.  Is there any chance Cairon is an STO member back on Caprica? 

What’s with all the zeppelins? 

Okay, back to the boardroom and the gratuitous Cylon self-mutilation.  Alessandra Toresani is doing a great job with this character.  Interesting to see this projection of “humanity” when she follows the directive of her father/creator, after his unsettling speech about creating a slave race to serve humanity.  Wow.  And BTdubs, Daniel needs to lose Graystone Enterprises, or be kicked around some more by the Adamas.  Or both.  What a jerk.

So, Caprica, I give you another week. Show me what you’ve got.

Peace, Holly

Mr. Schuster, Is That You?

******SPOILER ALERT******

Chip, I promise I have Caprica comments coming.  I'm just having a little trouble concentrating after reading that none other than the Queen of All Media himself, Mr. Perez Hilton, is reporting we are going to see a manwhore side to seemingly harmless Mr. Shoe when Glee returns next month.  Will Schuster, we hardly know you.  But suddenly, you're ever so much more interesting.

Peace, Holly

HOLD THE RETRO PHONE

Just when I thought I was out…they pull me back in.

What a difference one episode makes. I have been sucked back into caring what happens on Caprica just when I was ready to write it off. The promo did not make me want to see it much. It was going to have to do with Joseph’s dead daughter Tamara. Plus, the listing said something about Joseph and Willie going on a fishing trip and having an emotionally revealing time. That alone was enough to make me not watch. Yet, I did and am thankful.

For one thing, I was reminded this is in fact a sci-fi show. There were some nifty special effects and some genuine surprises. Tamara is thinking she is just “stuck” in V-world and is trying to get out. She enlists the help of some gamers to help her. This leads her to “New Cap City” which has a Blade Runner vibe (in a good way). Tamara has a unique “ability” in V-world, which is she does not “de-res” when she virtually dies. No one knows at this point it is because she is actually dead in the real world. Before it is over, she is getting a Neo/Matrix thing going. Plus, she looks much better in heels than Keanu Reeves.

Plus, I am happy to report that the emotional fishing trip ends with Willie beaning a bully in the head with a rock and then beating the crap out of him. He has learned well from his uncle. Because of this outburst, Joseph reluctantly undergoes a Tauron ritual in which he lets his wife and daughter “go” so he does not lose his son, too.

Meanwhile, Daniel Graystone is fighting to keep his company. An emergency meeting of the Board of Directors seems to have the votes needed to oust him because of his attempt to make holoband technology free. Daniel counters with showing off the Zoe/Cylon as the next big thing. At first you are rooting for Daniel to keep his company. Before the meeting is over, though, you wish for humanity’s sake he had lost it. You can begin to see why an artificial sentient life would not like Daniel for a master.

This episode has bought Caprica some time in my lineup. Let's see if they can keep it up.

GOOD BAD

Like you said Holly, I have not seen Season One of Breaking Bad. I picked up this series at the beginning of Season Two. I understood enough about the premise that I did not feel like I was lost.

I am not sure how this show is classified, but it has some of the darkest humor I have ever seen. The kind of stuff where I would laugh and then go, “Shit…I should not be laughing at that!” One example would be when a dude gets his head crushed by an ATM machine. Sounds funny, huh? I could not stop giggling.

At the same time, this show has some of the most realistic depictions of drug addiction I have ever seen. It is not the over the top, needle in the arm in a crack house stuff that gets me. What struck me was the desperation of a character that has taken advantage of all of his friends and family to the point that no one wants to help him anymore. I imagine this hits close to home for a lot of people.

Something disturbing in the development of Walt is once he learns he is doing better with the cancer, he does not want to give up this “other” life he has developed. In the beginning, he justified his actions by telling himself he was doing it for his family for when he died. Now because of his actions, he may very well lose them.

I have also never watched a show where the protagonist crossed a moral line as badly as Walt did with Jesse’s girlfriend near the end of the season. I literally jumped up from my chair and shouted “No!” At the same time, this daring move is the kind of thing that has me “addicted” to this show.