Catching Up- Breaking Bad

So here's the thing. A couple years ago when everyone was talking about the two new AMC shows that were fantastic, I tossed the comments aside because the shows were on AMC. As the past couple years have gone by, not only have I become a big fan of both Mad Men and now Breaking Bad, but it seems that a lot of the great tv is coming from cable networks. Not just pay cable, but also basic cable like AMC and FX. Although I have enjoyed Mad Men, obviously not as much as the rabid Sterling Cooper fans out there, it is not anywhere near as good as its AMC counterpart. The first two seasons of Breaking Bad were fantastic and I'm looking forward to the third installment beginning in March.

The first question I had to ask is why Bryan Cranston? Since I never watched Malcolm in the Middle, I knew Cranston as the two Tims. Dr. Tim Whatley from Seinfeld and Doug Heffernan's neighbor Tim in King of Queens. Don't get me wrong, I though he was hilarious as both characters, but what was on his imdb resume that made him the choice for the character of Walter White? This character that begins the series as an soft spoken, awkward high school teacher with no charisma and turns into a hard as they come, big time drug dealer with a temper that could hurt people. Wherever they found this in him, I'm glad they did, because he has been the perfect man for the job thus far.

The maturation of Walt throughout the first 20 episodes is the most interesting aspect of the series. As he starts out with his goofy haircut, glasses and silly looking mustache, I thought to myself (as do the rest of the characters on the show) that there is no way this guy can become a drug dealer. I mean look at those sweaters he wears! But sure enough, the dude gets cancer, shaves his head and evolves into one of the toughest dudes I've seen on television.

There is one moment when this stands out to me the most. It came in the penultimate episode of season one. After Walt's partner Jesse (who I really love as a character) gets beat the snot out of by drug lord Tuco, Walt decides he is going to go make a visit to this Tuco and get done the drug deal that Jesse couldn't finish. Jesse, myself, and I assume the rest of the audience are thinking to themselves 'what the h-e-double hockey sticks is this guy thinking? How is he going to pull something like this off?

Walt had changed. As he walked into Tuco's drug layer he had the look in his eye. He was getting this done. I still had no idea how he was going to do it, but he was going to do it. While it looked like more meth for Tuco, Walt had concocted a type of explosive that could theoretically destroy the entire building. With a quick toss of a piece of it at a window, Walt blew out every single window in the room. As he stood with more of this concoction in his hand, he demanded from the drug king pin all of the money that he deserved and from then on everyone in the drug game in the ABQ respected the one they call Heisenberg.

Although most of this review is going to be about Walter, because he is the most interesting character, that is not to say that he is my favorite. Jesse Pinkman is easily my favorite character on the show. Unlike Walt, he never has moments where I want to slap him for being lame. Jesse is an idiot at times, a complete addict at other times, but he's always sweet and is completely lovable. And for that reason, Walt stays with him time and time again. Gus, the owner of Pollos Hermanos and a big time dealer that buys from Walt, asks Heisenberg why on Earth would he work with a screw up like Jesse. And although it's not the answer that Walt gave, the reason is because he loves this kid. He treats him like the son he wished he had. I'm not saying Walt has something against his own kid, but for some reason he hasn't been able to give Walt Jr. the fatherly love he deserves. Through thick and thin, Walt Sr. has been there for Jesse and watching them grow on each other throughout the first two seasons has been nothing less than magic.

The writing/directing technique that I love most about Breaking Bad is the way they use the cold open on many occasions. I know there is a word for it, but I can't remember what it is, when you start the episode with something that will happen at the end and then skip back in time. It's done on tv and movies all the time, but I can't remember the specific word for it. Unlike the one episode of Flash Forward this technique was used, Breaking Bad (like Not Our First Rodéo) uses it perfectly. Flash's opening sequence was a gun shot that was heading for a main character's head. It was way too obvious that that character was going to die, so why even use that? What Breaking tends to do every time they use this technique is show you an event that is so ambiguous that you are left wondering what the heck the scene is and how in the world are they going to get there.

Going back to the aforementioned season one ep, they started out the episode with Walt walking away from a building in the ghetto with sirens on in the background. Now that wasn't very climactic at all, but it got me wondering how was he going to get himself into that situation. As he got closer to going to Tuco's place it made more and more sense. After he blows up the building and leaves with all his money, walking away from the building in the ghetto, it's that much more satisfying.

The only disappointment I had with the strategy is that they used it for the entire season two, and the pay off wasn't very good. They started the first episode of the second season with the cold open of Walt's pool with a burnt pink stuffed bear and sirens in the background. When nothing happened with that story line in the entirety of the first ep, I realized they were foreshadowing the end of the season. They used that cold open again in ep 4, ep 10 and the season two finale. In the end it was Jane's dad being bad at his job and making two planes collide. A pink stuffed bear was obviously on one of the planes and fell from the sky and landed in Walt's pool. Yeah sure a plane crash is a big deal, but not in how it relates to the main characters of our show. Kind of a let down.

With Skyler kicking Walt out of the house, Hank getting back on the hunt for Heisenberg, and Gus finding out Walt's brother-in-law is in the DEA, and Jesse in rehab, there should be many complications for Walter H. White come season three.

Favorite Characters

1. Jesse Pinkman
2. Hank Schrader
3. Walter White, Sr.
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98. Walter White, Jr.
99. Marie Schrader
100. Skyler White