When Breaking Bad is Good

A touch of evil? - Picture courtesy of AMC

by blogSpotter
On my Apple TV, I frequently surf over to Netflix and check out what’s new. New on Netflix means new to Netflix. I stumbled upon the 2008 AMC television series Breaking Bad, and was intrigued by the disheveled image of Bryan Cranston on the series publicity poster. How did this humdrum sitcom dad from Malcom in the Middle fetch 3 Emmys as a “broken bad” teacher-turned-meth-cook? I watched the first episode and was hooked.

Let me preface that crime dramas are not my usual thing – I find them usually to be very cliché and the characters struggle to get past two dimensions. Breaking Bad breaks past many of the crime drama limitations in a most pleasing, daring way. The director, Vince Gilligan, is a young “artsy fartsy” film school grad from NY University whose previous writing credits are X Files, Hancock and Home Fries. X Files is probably the unlikely progenitor of Breaking Bad. Breaking Bad isn’t sci-fi but it ties our mundane reality into a surreal landscape of grizzled drug lords, cold-blooded, axe-wielding hit men and mid-air plane explosions.

The stunning, stark beauty of Albuquerque New Mexico provides the backdrop to this series, strongly flavored with Hispanic culture. The stucco buildings and azure, southwest sky offer a strangely precise punctuation to all that happens – every chilling, twist and turn in the life of Walter White – our chemistry teacher turned drug aficionado. I’ve been to New Mexico a few times and long to go back after watching this show (albeit not working in the meth business).

Breaking Bad will challenge your many precepts about right and wrong or good and evil. You find yourself rooting for the meth dealers and seeing law enforcement as plodding, pedantic pains in the ass. In some ways the show is a black comedy and the moral role-reversals call to mind the authority-dinging dialog in a John Waters movie (say, Female Trouble) or a David Lynch miniseries (such as Twin Peaks). The sly, crooked lawyer Saul Goodman is like an archangel who alights just in time, every time to save Jesse and Walt from jail or worse.

Of course every Faustian bargain begets another, larger one and one can’t help but know down at the bottom of it all – selling meth is wrong. Something bad is going to befall these men who are breaking bad; it’s the law of the cinema but also the law of common sense. None the less, you’ll want to climb into Walt’s beat up Pontiac Aztec and go for a criminal joy ride. The acting in this series is both subtle and superb. I can’t single out everyone or each actor’s name. Let’s just say that wife Skyler, son Walter Jr., lawyer Saul and brother-in-law Hank all add very convincingly to the action. I entertain in my head where they might steer the next episode – it’s very witty, fast-paced and intense.

I’m only on Season 3, so am not wanting to see spoilers or delve too far ahead. I know that when the series is done I’ll put everything back into its proper perspective… “Meth is bad. DEA agents are good”… I hear that Walt becomes more maniacal and greedy in future episodes. Power corrupts, and so it probably must be with our main character. I’ll hold on to see what happens – a reported Season 5 (2012) finale will bring it all to a conclusion. If you have AMC or Netflix, tune in to this most amazing series (dubbed by some critics as the best TV drama ever) and you won’t be disappointed.

© 2011 blogSpotter