Breaking Bad (2008-2013): A masterpiece in realistic storytelling, character study, cinematography, acting, and writing/directing. One of the greatest crime/drama shows in TV history!
In our modern society of the 2010s where we are lucky to have hundreds of great shows on Netflix, HBO, and Hulu, it's easy to forget the select TV programs from the 2000s (and earlier decades) that are timeless and still hold up for future generations of viewers. Breaking Bad is one of those few TV shows that, despite being almost 10 years old, is still able to engage audiences due to its great storytelling, awesome characters, memorable dialogue, intriguing premise, and powerful character development.
Breaking Bad is set in Albuquerque, New Mexico where a high school chemistry named Walter White (played Bryan Cranston) is diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and is about to go bankrupt. In order to raise money for his wife Skylar and kids, Walt teams up with his former student/junkie Jesse Pinkman (played by Aaron Paul) to cook high quality crystal meth + sell it for a huge profit. Walt and Jesse are soon exposed to the dark side of the criminal underworld as they attract the attention of New Mexico's drug cartel and the DEA forces. However, the show mainly highlights Walt's dramatic decline from a weak cancer victim to the villainous Heisenberg, one of the most dangerous + intelligent drug kingpins of all time.
One of the best factors about Breaking Bad is the characters and how every actor/actress does a great job of providing proper depth in their portrayals. Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul are fantastic in their career-defining roles. Cranston does a great job of displaying Walt's intelligent mindset through his extensive experience in the chemistry field, but also showing how vulnerable + new he is to the criminal game. Paul is also very good at showing how Jesse is skilled the drug business, along with displaying a confused nature when he learns the chemistry + a nervous mindset as the show introduces more scary villains. As the show goes on, Walt and Jesse develop a strong connection that builds into their partnership in the crime world and their shared emotions of fear + anxiety when dealing with the show's villains + the impact of their actions on the people they love. Also, the supporting characters are very excellent and add great layers to the show. I liked the character of Hank (played by Dean Norris) who is the DEA officer leading the Heisenberg investigation and Walt's brother-in-law. He provides small bits of humor through his interactions with his colleagues, but also a nice dramatic side since he's desperate to find out who Heisenberg is and make a name for himself in the DEA. Hank's wife Marie and Walt's wife Skylar are, at times, quite overbearing and a little irritating in the first few seasons, but they also develop properly and play a major role in their spouses' business as the show continues.
The standout characters of Breaking Bad in my opinion were Saul Goodman, the show's villains, and MIke Ehrmantraut. Saul (played brilliantly by Bob Odenkirk) is Walt and Jesse's criminal lawyer and he is awesome in every scene he's in; he provides great comedic relief as he has to balance both Walt and Jesse's temperament with him and the cartel + is able to lighten the tense encounters he has with the main characters. The show has great menacing villains with unique characteristics (inability to speak, a psychopathic nature, etc); however, the best of them all is Gus Fring (played by Giancarlo Esposito), often regarded as one of the greatest TV villains of all time. Gus Fring is introduced at the end of Season 2 and he runs a fast food restaurant, which serves as the distribution platform for the cartel. Gus shows a very polite + benevolent manner to each of the main characters and, at first, he may seem like a nice person but as the seasons continue Gus is shown to be quite relentless and menacing through his calm demeanor. Once the viewer learns about his motivations involving a past incident with the cartel, Gus becomes a tragic hero who the audience can now root for. Mike (played by Jonathan Banks), who is the right hand man for Gus, is also great because he displays a hardcore/tough personality as he reaches his tipping point with Walt + Jesse and is struggling with knowing who to trust.
A major factor of Breaking Bad I love is the moral ambiguity of the characters. Throughout each season, the audience witnesses new revelations about the leads/supporting characters + their motivations that can change who exactly is a hero or an antagonist in the show. This plays in prominently with Walt (as he transforms into a dangerous criminal) and Jesse (as he questions the situation he's gotten himself in + strives for redemption). This is due to the excellent writing/directing and the pace that the show creators have crafted throughout each season. Each episode in Breaking Bad doesn't feel wasted, each season improves upon the previous and does a great job of connecting seemingly unnecessary early plot elements into the final season. Even when there is no action occurring, there are some nice character building moments to resonate with the viewers + make them further love/hate these individuals. Also, the scope of the show feels very real due to the crisp cinematography (POV shots, tracking shots) to help build suspense/reveal twists, along with the extensive research the writers have done exploring the drug world of New Mexico, the chemistry behind the drugs, and the drug law enforcement conflicts. Lastly, Breaking Bad has a great theme of identity and the loss of basic human values that recurs throughout each season, mainly through the characters' decisions + subtle symbolism. It explores the complex topic of family, what someone would do to protect them, and whether or not they are actually doing it for themselves.
As far as content goes, this show is deals a lot with the topic of drugs and its rough environment with the cartel, the law, and basic human individuals. There aren't a lot of positive human role models for audiences to follow since the show has a very grim atmosphere; the violence, while brief, is a little hard to watch (especially in the final seasons where the villains become very menacing); and the main characters, on occasion, do curse quite a bit. Therefore, the show is best suited for mature viewers in the 14 to 15+ age range.
In the end, Breaking Bad is a timeless, engaging TV crime-drama classic that features great character development + motivations, wonderful acting, excellent writing, and relevant themes. The show is a little slow in the first season, but it continues building its dark atmosphere and tension leading up to a very satisfying + superb finale. I highly recommend watching Breaking Bad, along with its equally great prequel/spinoff Better Call Saul (which explores the backstory behind Saul and Mike). Both of these wonderful shows are now on Netflix for everyone to enjoy! :)
My rating: 5/5 stars
Breaking Bad is set in Albuquerque, New Mexico where a high school chemistry named Walter White (played Bryan Cranston) is diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and is about to go bankrupt. In order to raise money for his wife Skylar and kids, Walt teams up with his former student/junkie Jesse Pinkman (played by Aaron Paul) to cook high quality crystal meth + sell it for a huge profit. Walt and Jesse are soon exposed to the dark side of the criminal underworld as they attract the attention of New Mexico's drug cartel and the DEA forces. However, the show mainly highlights Walt's dramatic decline from a weak cancer victim to the villainous Heisenberg, one of the most dangerous + intelligent drug kingpins of all time.
One of the best factors about Breaking Bad is the characters and how every actor/actress does a great job of providing proper depth in their portrayals. Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul are fantastic in their career-defining roles. Cranston does a great job of displaying Walt's intelligent mindset through his extensive experience in the chemistry field, but also showing how vulnerable + new he is to the criminal game. Paul is also very good at showing how Jesse is skilled the drug business, along with displaying a confused nature when he learns the chemistry + a nervous mindset as the show introduces more scary villains. As the show goes on, Walt and Jesse develop a strong connection that builds into their partnership in the crime world and their shared emotions of fear + anxiety when dealing with the show's villains + the impact of their actions on the people they love. Also, the supporting characters are very excellent and add great layers to the show. I liked the character of Hank (played by Dean Norris) who is the DEA officer leading the Heisenberg investigation and Walt's brother-in-law. He provides small bits of humor through his interactions with his colleagues, but also a nice dramatic side since he's desperate to find out who Heisenberg is and make a name for himself in the DEA. Hank's wife Marie and Walt's wife Skylar are, at times, quite overbearing and a little irritating in the first few seasons, but they also develop properly and play a major role in their spouses' business as the show continues.
The standout characters of Breaking Bad in my opinion were Saul Goodman, the show's villains, and MIke Ehrmantraut. Saul (played brilliantly by Bob Odenkirk) is Walt and Jesse's criminal lawyer and he is awesome in every scene he's in; he provides great comedic relief as he has to balance both Walt and Jesse's temperament with him and the cartel + is able to lighten the tense encounters he has with the main characters. The show has great menacing villains with unique characteristics (inability to speak, a psychopathic nature, etc); however, the best of them all is Gus Fring (played by Giancarlo Esposito), often regarded as one of the greatest TV villains of all time. Gus Fring is introduced at the end of Season 2 and he runs a fast food restaurant, which serves as the distribution platform for the cartel. Gus shows a very polite + benevolent manner to each of the main characters and, at first, he may seem like a nice person but as the seasons continue Gus is shown to be quite relentless and menacing through his calm demeanor. Once the viewer learns about his motivations involving a past incident with the cartel, Gus becomes a tragic hero who the audience can now root for. Mike (played by Jonathan Banks), who is the right hand man for Gus, is also great because he displays a hardcore/tough personality as he reaches his tipping point with Walt + Jesse and is struggling with knowing who to trust.
A major factor of Breaking Bad I love is the moral ambiguity of the characters. Throughout each season, the audience witnesses new revelations about the leads/supporting characters + their motivations that can change who exactly is a hero or an antagonist in the show. This plays in prominently with Walt (as he transforms into a dangerous criminal) and Jesse (as he questions the situation he's gotten himself in + strives for redemption). This is due to the excellent writing/directing and the pace that the show creators have crafted throughout each season. Each episode in Breaking Bad doesn't feel wasted, each season improves upon the previous and does a great job of connecting seemingly unnecessary early plot elements into the final season. Even when there is no action occurring, there are some nice character building moments to resonate with the viewers + make them further love/hate these individuals. Also, the scope of the show feels very real due to the crisp cinematography (POV shots, tracking shots) to help build suspense/reveal twists, along with the extensive research the writers have done exploring the drug world of New Mexico, the chemistry behind the drugs, and the drug law enforcement conflicts. Lastly, Breaking Bad has a great theme of identity and the loss of basic human values that recurs throughout each season, mainly through the characters' decisions + subtle symbolism. It explores the complex topic of family, what someone would do to protect them, and whether or not they are actually doing it for themselves. As far as content goes, this show is deals a lot with the topic of drugs and its rough environment with the cartel, the law, and basic human individuals. There aren't a lot of positive human role models for audiences to follow since the show has a very grim atmosphere; the violence, while brief, is a little hard to watch (especially in the final seasons where the villains become very menacing); and the main characters, on occasion, do curse quite a bit. Therefore, the show is best suited for mature viewers in the 14 to 15+ age range.
In the end, Breaking Bad is a timeless, engaging TV crime-drama classic that features great character development + motivations, wonderful acting, excellent writing, and relevant themes. The show is a little slow in the first season, but it continues building its dark atmosphere and tension leading up to a very satisfying + superb finale. I highly recommend watching Breaking Bad, along with its equally great prequel/spinoff Better Call Saul (which explores the backstory behind Saul and Mike). Both of these wonderful shows are now on Netflix for everyone to enjoy! :)My rating: 5/5 stars
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