Farewell to the Greatest TV Show - Breaking Bad

 

Hands down, Breaking Bad is my favorite TV show.  Tonight is the series finale... and I'm not sure if I'll be able to contain my emotions after it's over.

If you look at my taste in TV shows (The Sopranos, Sons of Anarchy, Dexter), I'm a huge sucker for Crime Dramas.  But if you really dig deep into the inner workings of Breaking Bad, it does things to set it apart from other shows.  For one thing, the cast is superb (Bryan Cranston, Anna Gunn, and Aaron Paul to name a few).  Second, it mixes real science with its plot (feeding my Engineering mind).  And finally, although I'm sure I could list many more reasons, Breaking Bad makes "cinematic homages" to some of my favorite movies.  As I've mentioned in the past (See Here), Breaking Bad is like a Tarantino screenplay mixed with the quirkiness of a Coen Brothers' film.  If it were up to me, Breaking Bad would be a part of Tarantino Comics - and I'm certain creator Vince Gilligan would agree.  For instance, as seen in the penultimate episode of the series, we see Robert Forster as the "extractor."  With the charisma of Jackie Brown's Max Cherry, Breaking Bad commands performances on par with Tarantino.

Also following suit with Tarantino, Vince Gilligan obtains inspiration from Brian DePalma.  Vince compares Walter White's transformation with Scarface.  Giving honor to the correlation, Scarface actors Mark Margolis and Steven Bauer are featured as Cartel members loathed by Gus Fring.  Even if these actors were merely used to make great homage to Hollywood history, their performances were spot on.  Not only will I miss how these little morsels enhance the plot of Breaking Bad, but the characterizations and star power this show lured was fantastic.

Since we're talking about Tarantino, we might as well fit in a comic book connection.  The creators of Breaking Bad wanted to make Walt comparable with Ozymandias.  Ozymandias is the subject of a poem in which a great ruler whose entire empire later fell into forgotten rubble and ruins.  The final season actually has a promo of Walt reading this sonnet.  In a very similar manner, Alan Moore's Watchmen has a character of the same name who pulled all the strings throughout the series.  Although Ozymandias had a façade of philanthropy and goodness, he was the evil mastermind who planned on restarting the world by destroying it first.

Besides all the connections to pop culture, Breaking Bad created a protagonist I truly love.  If you watch the earlier seasons, Bryan Cranston plays a brilliant and likable character.  But because of his pride, Walt eventually "breaks bad" and becomes a pure criminal relying on impulse rather than scientific method.  Like another AMC character (Don Draper of Mad Men), Walt eventually hits rock bottom. Although he cannot right all his wrongs, I hope he builds himself up for one more justifiable action in the series finale.  I know Walt lost his family, but I hope he can redeem himself by saving Jessie even if it means his own demise.  Regardless, I'm rooting for Team Walt!

Over the last two years, I'm glad Breaking Bad has gained a huge cult following.  However, I get to brag since I'm one of the lucky ones who enjoyed the show from the very beginning.  I hear of all these people watching multiple seasons in 1 or 2 sittings...  And I don't blame them, I totally understand why!  However, I loyally sat down in front of my TV and watched Breaking Bad in real time for the last 61 Sundays it has aired.  I experienced the pain of weekly cliffhangers, not 1 minute bathroom breaks.  However, I will never forget the sadness and yearning I felt after Jessie pulled the trigger on Gale at the end of Season 3 - I had to wait months to see the outcome.

 

So those of us who gave silly "Hal from Malcolm in the Middle"a chance from the very beginning, tonight's finale is for us.  Although "All Bad Things Must Come to an End," Sunday night will be a night to remember.  And most of all, thank you to the cast and crew for making a sensation that has entertained us for the last few years!

Breaking Bad - The Season 4 Premiere (and Recap)

Who would have ever guessed that silly dad from Malcolm in the Middle would become such a bad-ass?!?! Bryan Cranston plays Walter White, the main protagonist on my favorite television show, Breaking Bad. With great acclaim from Variety Magazine stating it has a "jarring feel of a Tarantino film" and Rolling Stone claiming it's a "Southwestern noir the Coen brothers would make if they did TV," how could you not want to watch this show! After waiting through a suspenseful cliffhanger, my anxious little mind was finally appeased by the Season 4 Premiere on AMC. So for those of you who haven't watched the show, or have never even heard of it (as I know plenty of people who haven't), here's a quick recap:

Walter White is a high school chemistry teacher diagnosed with lung cancer. Too proud to ask for help, Walt uses his talented knowledge of chemistry to pay for his rising medical costs: Cooking Crystal Meth. Unsure how to deal his product on the streets, Walt teams up with one of his prior high school dropout students, Jesse Pinkman (played by Aaron Paul). As Walt and Jesse start pushing the product, Walt's recipe is the most purest (and bluest) meth on the streets. After associating himself with a sleazy lawyer (Saul Goodman played by Bob Odenkirk), his wife leaving him because of his "new career" (Skyler played by Anna Gunn), and his brother-in-law Hank (a DEA agent) getting paralyzed because of his misdeeds, Walt continues down a dark and twisted path.

Walt ends up teaming with the crime lord Gus (a man masqueraded as community businessman), who provides him the proper resources and facilities to carry out the drug operations. Walt slowly teaches his recipe to Gale, a lab assistant assigned to him by Gus. However with all of Walt's knowledge transferred to Gale, Gus plans to kill Walt and Jesse. In a desperate measure to save himself from getting shot in the head, Walt calls Jesse to assassinate Gale so no other living person knows his cooking secrets. So what was this big cliffhanger? We were left with a gun pointing at Walt and a nervous Jesse firing a gun at Gale...

After the ending of the Season 3 Finale, my emotions were running wild and was left on the edge of my seat of wondering the fates of my favorite protagonists. Thankfully, the Season 4 Premiere has finally aired and lived up to all my expectations! Walt's plan worked, where Jesse was able to cap the lab assistant, buying them a little more time. However they must plan and act quickly if they want to stay alive. We discovered the true capability of Gus' darkside where he silently killed one of his own lackeys with a razor blade to instill fear into Walt's and Jesse's minds. We also discover Walt is corrupting the people he loves. Skyler illegally lied to a locksmith so she could gain access into Walt's house. He's creating a monster in Jesse, where Jesse has easily justified his murderous deed. And as for paralyzed Hank, he's a pathetic man losing the motivation to live, wasting his time buying rocks on the Internet rather than putting his willpower into rehabilitation.

Breaking Bad is a highly character driven show with quirky and dark situations. Walt has morphed from the innocent school teacher into the ultimate gangster. He may have put his cancer into remission, but he is slowly losing his family and friends. In my opinion, the scene in which Walt is at the point of no return was when he murdered two drug dealers by shooting them to the ground after running them over with his car. Walt use to be a man of moral judgment, maybe even a mentor to Jesse. But instead, he commanded Jesse to murder, a crime Jesse wasn't willing or ready to commit.

However, even though Walt is becoming a master criminal, he's still a likable character. Since he was forced into something he wasn't willing to do, I believe the audience can identify with his emotions and actions. Walt didn't deserve cancer and desires to leave the criminal business that has ironically saved his life (at least for now). But as Michael Corleone once said, "When I thought I was out, they pulled me back in!"

This season, we are in for a wild and crazy ride as Walt and Jesse try to survive their hostile environment. And even if they get rid of Gus, will they have to bury themselves even further into the criminal underworld so they can stay alive?

Once more, I have to reiterate, if you haven't seen this show, watch it now! All the previous seasons are on Blu-Ray and DVD. I promise, if you watch this show, you won't be disappointed!

So on Death List Five, as an ongoing series, Breaking Bad ranks #5.