BREAKING BAD might not be for everyone but if you walk in with an open mind seeking a chance to witness a good story with some great acting you’ll find it here. Walter White’s (Bryan Cranston) life is not what he expected nor wanted. A mild mannered high school chemistry teacher, he just turns 50 as the show starts. His wife is expecting another child, his first some is a well adjusted 16 year old with cp and life for Walter is just, well boring.
Walter’s job doesn’t hold the glamour for him that it did when he began. After years of teaching (or at least trying to teach) kids chemistry and trying to pass along his passion for this knowledge, he now faces a generation that more so than the rest just doesn’t care or take an interest. His second job working at a car wash results in an extra income but more degradation as the owner routinely disrespects him and has him do menial jobs.
The worst finally comes around when Walter collapses at the car wash and is rushed to the hospital. Not informing his family, Walter is told by the doctors there that he has terminal, inoperable lung cancer. Where does one go when their entire world collapses around them?
For Walter it comes in the form of his brother-in-law, a tough talking jovial DEA agent named Hank (Dean Norris). Cajoled by Hank time and again, he takes him up on his offer to go on a ride along when then next meth lab bust takes place. There is method to Walter’s madness here. He wants to get a glimpse of the set up being used with plans of making meth on his own to sell and make a fortune that he can then leave his family. Fate steps in as Walter sees a young man escape from the house next door and recognizes him as Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), an ex-student of his.
Walter tracks down Jesse and offers him a proposition. He wants to be the chemist involved in making the meth that Jesse would then in turn distribute. A straight business deal that would yield them both a nice wad of cash. To do so they need a place to cook and with the DEA seeking out houses being used, Walter comes up with a plan. A Winnebago, a meth lab on wheels.
They get set up, make their first batch and Jesse is stunned by the purity of the product. Walter gets in a poke at Jesse concerning his ability to listen and learn, something he didn’t seem to do in high school. Had he done so in chemistry class, he would have learned the tools he needed to become a major drug provider.
So here we have the set up. This is a true anti-hero if there ever was one. A mild mannered suburbanite turned into a major drug dealer? Yes this is the basis for the series. But don’t misunderstand. It doesn’t glorify the drug culture or Walter’s decision to create drugs. The story more involves Walter’s attempt to do a good deed in providing for his family but at the same time making decisions that place himself and them in jeopardy. It’s more about living with your wrong decisions and watching as Walter and Jesse attempt to save themselves from the decisions they made.
As the series progresses (only 7 episodes) we watch as Walter comes to life. Perhaps it’s the sense of danger, perhaps the fact that he is living outside of his comfort zone or perhaps it’s that he is facing death by cancer that has made Walter change. We see him move from mild mannered chemistry teacher to a man willing to walk into the home base of a wild and jacked up drug dealer to demand respect and money.
But the series isn’t just about that. It’s also about his wife and her love of her husband as she tries to understand his change, not knowing until halfway through the series that he has cancer. It’s about his son dealing not only with his own problems but with a father he loves but hasn’t quite learned to respect. It’s about a man driven so far to the edge that he gets involved with drug manufacturing even though his brother-in-law is a DEA agent. It’s about a man who when faced with what he feels are no options, turns to the darkest part of his soul. It’s about life as we probably all wish we never have to experience.
The series is not just a hard edged drama though. Throughout the escapades of Walter and Jesse we get plenty of actual laughs. Whether it’s Walter standing in the middle of a road in his tighty whiteys with a gun he doesn’t know how to use or Walter grabbing his wife’s thigh in the midst of a PTA meeting, there are some truly funny moments.
When I first heard of this show it didn’t interest me, it didn’t sound like something I’d like. The more I watched it on DVD though, the more invested in these characters I became. I liked Walter but not what he did. I felt for Jesse but wished he seek treatment. And I hoped that this family would find a way to survive everything that happened to them.
It might not be the cup of tea that the average renter would enjoy. But the dark humor, the danger and the interest in the main character make this compelling viewing as it progresses. Cranston and Paul do a fantastic job as an odd couple for the current state of affairs. And once the series ends, you find yourself looking forward to season two (coming out on DVD soon as well as season 3 starting on AMC in March 2010).
One thing that has to be mentioned again about this series. It’s the story of a man who produces crystal meth. It would be easy to write the series off as an homage to meth dealers and manufacturers. But that isn’t at its root what the story is about. It’s about a man who makes the wrong decisions for the right reasons and then has to face the consequences. Movie makers have made films about bad guys doing bad things for years and yet we’ve found ourselves both enjoying the films and rooting at times for the bad guys (think BONNIE AND CLYE, BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID and possibly even Hannibal Lecter when he snacked on characters we learned to hate).
My biggest fear with this series is that it will become the norm. With series like WEEDS where a recently widowed mother becomes a major marijuana dealer or DEXTER where a serial killer becomes a hero for killing bad guys and other serial killers, a trend seems to be starting. And with Hollywood being a place that loves to imitate or repeat past successes with poor quality knock offs, this could turn out to be just the first of many shows like this. Let’s just hope that they know it’s good and don’t move forward with plans on shows about loveable hit men, goofy corrupt politicians or silly next door neighbor pedophiles.
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