I had heard about this show and decided to give it a try as it came to its 62-episode (5 seasons) conclusion. I ended up binge-watching every episode obsessively over about a three week period! This program is so addictive, sick, demented and absurdly funny that every fan of buried.com should check it out immediately on AMC, Streaming or DVD. While not exactly straight-up horror, BREAKING BAD is laced in surreal darkness for certain. The story follows chemistry teacher Walter White (brilliantly essayed by Brian Cranston) as he finds out he has incurable lung cancer and we bear witness to his subsequent decisions and reactions to this life-threatening news. White teams up with a former student, Jesse Pinkman, and decides to cook the best meth he can to generate as much money as he can for his cancer treatments and for his family's future---in case he isn't able to beat the disease. He wants to leave them well-cared for. Or so he says... Much like another great episodic journey, DEXTER, Walt is surrounded by people that he must hide his criminal actions from: his foxy, (pregnant) neurotic wife Sky, his handicapped, starved-for-attention son Walt, Jr., his wacky sister-in-law Marie, and worst of all, his DEA Agent brother-in-law Hank! Every character has annoying idiosyncrasies that make you cringe, yet you come to like (or like and loathe) all of them in one way or the other. Walt, lying to himself continually, thinks he will enter the world of drug manufacturing and distribution and have a moral compass, keeping his hands "clean." Run it like a soap business. Oh yeah. Sure. In the first season, Walt is forced to kill people, dispose of bodies, face off with a psychotic local drug lord, and that's just the start of it as we watch him slowly transform from mild-mannered teacher into a remorseless, psychotic drug lord with the warped family values of Terry O' Quinn's STEPFATHER. Like Tony Montana in SCARFACE, Walt becomes a bad guy of jaw-dropping proportions---and one that we continually sympathize with no matter what he does (even poisoning kids!). And how far does Walt go? Wow, it's difficult to describe, because when he gets cancer, in a way...he BECOMES a cancer and inadvertently causes THOUSANDS of people around him to die in horrible, unexpected ways! And his direct family members are not left unscathed in the mess. That's part of the joy of watching this show---you never know what's going to happen or what to expect in the fallout of Walt's atrocious, evil, malicious decisions. His character somehow remains so likeable and sympathetic that it's unholy! It's just an incredible experience viewing this madness for the first time. This show has some of the best "twisted writing" I've ever experienced on film or television. Much of Walt's destruction is "unintentional" and due to the fact that he is clueless to what he is doing as he wades into the murderous murk of the drug world. BREAKING BAD explores this "law of unintended consequences" with clever and shocking revelations that end almost every episode in a stunning "how will Walt and Jesse get out of this mess" cliffhanger each and every time. Not one character or small plot detail is left unturned in this show. It's like one big movie when supporting characters or situations from Season 1 pay off beautifully in Season 4 or 5. Again, incredible writing and attention to detail! And by the end of the show, when Walt has "become" a drug dealer known only as "Heisenberg", you won't be able to tear your eyes from the screen. There's so many plot twists, murders, betrayals, and surprises that this epic show relentlessly brings you that I'm hesitant to say more, other than check it out. Stellar acting, writing, directing, music and photography highlight the proceedings. You'll be swept away into one of the best, darkest journeys ever committed to celluloid. Just writing about it now makes me want to watch it all again, starting with episode one...
I had heard about this show and decided to give it a try as it came to its 62-episode (5 seasons) conclusion. I ended up binge-watching every episode obsessively over about a three week period! This program is so addictive, sick, demented and absurdly funny that every fan of buried.com should check it out immediately on AMC, Streaming or DVD. While not exactly straight-up horror, BREAKING BAD is laced in surreal darkness for certain. The story follows chemistry teacher Walter White (brilliantly essayed by Brian Cranston) as he finds out he has incurable lung cancer and we bear witness to his subsequent decisions and reactions to this life-threatening news. White teams up with a former student, Jesse Pinkman, and decides to cook the best meth he can to generate as much money as he can for his cancer treatments and for his family's future---in case he isn't able to beat the disease. He wants to leave them well-cared for. Or so he says... Much like another great episodic journey, DEXTER, Walt is surrounded by people that he must hide his criminal actions from: his foxy, (pregnant) neurotic wife Sky, his handicapped, starved-for-attention son Walt, Jr., his wacky sister-in-law Marie, and worst of all, his DEA Agent brother-in-law Hank! Every character has annoying idiosyncrasies that make you cringe, yet you come to like (or like and loathe) all of them in one way or the other. Walt, lying to himself continually, thinks he will enter the world of drug manufacturing and distribution and have a moral compass, keeping his hands "clean." Run it like a soap business. Oh yeah. Sure. In the first season, Walt is forced to kill people, dispose of bodies, face off with a psychotic local drug lord, and that's just the start of it as we watch him slowly transform from mild-mannered teacher into a remorseless, psychotic drug lord with the warped family values of Terry O' Quinn's STEPFATHER. Like Tony Montana in SCARFACE, Walt becomes a bad guy of jaw-dropping proportions---and one that we continually sympathize with no matter what he does (even poisoning kids!). And how far does Walt go? Wow, it's difficult to describe, because when he gets cancer, in a way...he BECOMES a cancer and inadvertently causes THOUSANDS of people around him to die in horrible, unexpected ways! And his direct family members are not left unscathed in the mess. That's part of the joy of watching this show---you never know what's going to happen or what to expect in the fallout of Walt's atrocious, evil, malicious decisions. His character somehow remains so likeable and sympathetic that it's unholy! It's just an incredible experience viewing this madness for the first time. This show has some of the best "twisted writing" I've ever experienced on film or television. Much of Walt's destruction is "unintentional" and due to the fact that he is clueless to what he is doing as he wades into the murderous murk of the drug world. BREAKING BAD explores this "law of unintended consequences" with clever and shocking revelations that end almost every episode in a stunning "how will Walt and Jesse get out of this mess" cliffhanger each and every time. Not one character or small plot detail is left unturned in this show. It's like one big movie when supporting characters or situations from Season 1 pay off beautifully in Season 4 or 5. Again, incredible writing and attention to detail! And by the end of the show, when Walt has "become" a drug dealer known only as "Heisenberg", you won't be able to tear your eyes from the screen. There's so many plot twists, murders, betrayals, and surprises that this epic show relentlessly brings you that I'm hesitant to say more, other than check it out. Stellar acting, writing, directing, music and photography highlight the proceedings. You'll be swept away into one of the best, darkest journeys ever committed to celluloid. Just writing about it now makes me want to watch it all again, starting with episode one...
