Network: AMC
Cast: Bryan Cranston, Anna Gunn, Aaron Paul, Dean Norris, Betsy Brandt, RJ Mitte, Raymond Cruz
Plot: Informed he has terminal cancer, underachieving chemistry genius turned high school chemistry teacher Walter White (Cranston) turns to using his expertise in chemistry to provide a legacy for his family... by producing the world's highest quality crystal meth.
'Breaking Bad' is a peculiar show. A dark comedy? A cancer drama? A horror series? It is perhaps a mixture of all these things, but one thing is for certain it is brilliant and its leading man is brilliant. With so much buzz around the current season (maybe not in the UK with it entrenched in the graveyard channel of FiveUS) I thought I had to go back and see what the fuss was all about. All I can say is believe the hype.
The premise is probably what is so incredible about 'Breaking Bad'. An ordinary man, a school teacher, learns he has cancer and hasn't long to live, so he puts his discernable chemistry skills into practise and cooks crystal meth to make money for his family. Is it a smart plan? No. But does it make for a fantastic show? Absolutely. Our "hero" Walter White would be the last person you would expect to become a drug dealer. He is quiet, a pushover and an underachiever. Once part of a science team that won the nobel prize, Walter slumped into teaching high school chemistry.
After being diagnosed he feels he has done little with himself and had all his decisions made for him in life. This in turn leads him to do something unruly and rebellious by cooking meth with the help of former student/slacker Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul). The two make an unlikely duo and things do not start off great. I was surprised at how much Walt completely failed at selling drugs at first, as I intially thought he would hit the ground running. Then it hit me of course he would fail, he's a high school teacher! He's great at producing the drugs, but he and Jesse struggle to find a market.
The show is suprisingly horrific. The things that Walt and Jesse had to do at times churned by gut; but in a good way. There are very few shows that can do this and still make me want to watch and somehow make me laugh while I feel ill. This show is just so insane and bizarre that it is hard not to love. The comedy is so perfect but even more so is the drama. This is powerful television and it has to be if it deals with a man who has terminal lung cancer. Let's just say you will have seen nothing else like it. Especially Bryan Cranston in his tighty whities holding a gun.
Speaking of Cranston, he used to just be the Dad off 'Malcolm in the Middle' to me. I don't thing I will ever see him that way again - he is now Walter White. Cranton is absolutely incredible showing the change from quiet teacher to crystal meth extraordinaire and is easily the best thing about the show. Words can not describe how amazing he is and is arguably the best actor on TV (and I've only seen this season). The rest of the cast aren't quite as good as Cranston, but they are still brilliant especailly Anna Gunn as his very pregnant wife Skyler. What's most interesting about her is that she doesn't just accept Walt's abnormal behaviour and investigates what he is doing, which leads to some of the funniest/unsettling scenes in the show.
Also excelling is Aaron Paul who brings a strange innocence to Jesse who is essentially a drug dealing scumbag. Paul makes him into a really likalbe character who unlike Walt is street smart as opposed to book smart. When onscreen with Cranston the two have unbelievable chemistry and all the best moments more often then not revolve around them and there sometimes humourous, sometimes horrifying exploits. The other main cast members Skyler's sister Marie (Brandt) and her husband Hank (Norris) don't fare quite aswell but this is partly because the focus isn't on them. However the fact that Hank is a DEA Agent means he will almost certainly have a major role to play and some of his scenes towards the end of the season are filled with tension.
With the first season only being 7 episodes long I got through this fairly quickly and simply can not wait to watch the second season. The finale ends on such a brilliant "Oh Sh*t" moment that you will have no choice but to watch the next season. This is without a doubt the most promising show I have seen in a while and even though I'm a bit late on the band wagon I'm just glad I got on to it at some point. All that is left to say I check this show out if you haven't already.
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