Breaking Bad

MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS UP TO:  Season 4 Ep 13

I can't think of anything more worthy of my first post.

This is a show I would heartily recommend to anyone. This includes my mother, who hates blood and guts and gore; my friends, most of whom like more sci-fi/fantastical stories (think Joss Whedon and Dr. Who type deals); even those soft-shelled acquaintances who revel in the predictable keystone of the romantic comedy. This show offers something for everyone. Here's why.

Overriding Themes:

Ego= Mr. White wouldn't be Mr. White without an incurable desire to take care of himself--and let absolutely no one help him. It's almost comedic (hell, I laughed out loud a few times) to watch him go through these very intense, physically and emotionally exhausting scenarios in which he's shot at, almost caught committing a felony by the police, and forced to kill to preserve his identity, but we never see him as uncomfortable as he is when people offer him money. Like, jeez. When Walter Jr. (so affectionately known as Flynn)  creates a website gathering money for his Dad's operation Walter looks like someone lit a puppy on fire. And then ran over said puppy. But what did he do when he watched Jesse's girlfriend choke on her own vomit? Went home. Cried a bit. Made his daughter breakfast. Such a weirdo. But he's our meth-cookin' chemistry-teachin' weirdo, so we love him.

The fine line between bad vs. good= Probably one of my favorite aspects of this show-how we see all these people from different walks of life, but it's never really clear who's genuinely good and genuinely bad. The best example of this would definitely be Jesse Pinkman, whom I adore to an unhealthy extent. The episode in which he ended up taking care of "Spooge"'s son while he waits for his drug money was too much for me to bear--he is such an honest to good person, who's been dealt such an awful hand in life. He can't help the fact that he didn't realize leaving the key i the ignition would leave the battery on, Mr. White. Chill out. This guy just needs a hug and a better mother. He may deal drugs, he may be responsible for some deaths and get high out of his mind at really bad times, but he's a royal fuckup because that's what everyone expects him to be, and no one has ever asked him to be any different.
Now, look at Marie. The wife of the DEA agent and the sister to Skyler. You'd think she'd be one of the good ones, right? Nope. She's not only a shoplifter (granted, this is one of the lesser crimes in the show) but her real downfall is simply how she treats people. Besides taking forever to apologize to Skyler after almost getting her arrensted, she's always the person in the conversation who blabs without thinking about what she's saying, making everyone uncomfortable, and really only thinking of herself. She's just self-centered and annoying. If I were to look at someone for substance I'd go to Pinkman way before I thought of trying to dredge up any amount of selfless decency from Mrs. Schrader. 

Academia vs. street learning= The chemistry in the show is obviously one of the coolest things--it's part of what made this show such a fantastic idea. When Mr. White has to teach Jesse all over again about different chemicals so that they can make some kick ass meth? Come on. Pure genius. And then Jesse has to teach him a lot too--there's always a balance between what one really needs to know to survive. It's not just how to ace high school classes, and it isn't just how to live on the streets and make some dough, its a little of both. And this show perfectly exemplifies that.

Favorite Characters: 

Mr. White: endearingly bull-headed with the most lovable flaw you could think of--loving his family so much that he's willing to risk everything and go against all that he believes in. This becomes more of a blatant issue when he starts letting his need to care for his family override common sense, but it never comes into question whether or not his heart is in the right place. 

Jesse Pinkman: As previously described, dear god--my immediate response to half of his scenes is to hug him. But I can't, because he isn't real, of course. All I'll do is neurotically follow him throughout the rest of the show and pray that his life gets better, because I want him to be happy so much.

Main Gripes:

Skyler is one of my least favorite characters, and I think she hinders the plot as well. Her passive agression and subtle self pity makes it hard for me to empathize with her. I just find it so hard to take that her husband has cancer and she whines more than he ever does. And her suddenly asking for a divorce? That was so out of the blue. And for such a stupid reason. "What? You made a million dollars all on your own? And you AREN'T having an affair? Divorce." I get the drug dealer thing isn't the greatest discovery, but jesus. He's saving you from dealing with a horrible amount of debt after he dies and almost got killed just hiding it from you. And oh yeah, he was dealing with lung cancer and a nagging crank of a wife through the whole thing. Cut him some slack.

What I Think:  

This show deserves every ounce of hype it's recieved. I cleared a whole weekend just so that I could finally give it a go, and I'm very glad I did. Not only do I now take every issue I have and remind myself mentally "is this as bad as a #jessepinkman problem? Did I just watch a dude's head get crunched under an ATM? No? Could be worse, s'pose," but it manages to succeed in all that it tries to accomplish. It took what is usually a big cliche and a huge dramatic no-no in approaching the "C" word, but did it in such an original way, that it never feels melodramatic, it never feels like it's pining to grab at our emotions. It organically draws out of it's audience (and now loyal fandom) a healthy dose of fear, of joy, or adrenaline. It's fantastic, and it's on Netflix instant. Go watch it.