Saturday, July 19, 2014

Breaking Bad: Special TV Series Review

Breaking Bad Series Review

            (Note: I don’t do TV reviews here as of now, and I don’t plan to start anytime soon. I also won’t cover all series I watch. But this one right here was special)
I didn’t watch Breaking Bad when it first was on. In fact, I had no idea it premiered in the first place. Sometime after its premiere I would see images of the bald protagonist and people wearing gas masks, but back then I erroneously assumed it was a generic gangster drama series or something. Also at some point I heard that the main person was the father in Malcolm in the Middle, which I found funny.
It’s a shame that I did not become interested until 2012, where I was recommended by a friend that it was a must watch series on par with one of my favorites Game of Thrones. I planned to watch it, but then I did not actually start until late 2013 after the series had finished!!!  I am so glad I made the choice to start and finish its entire run however.
            Breaking Bad is the story of Walter White, played by Bryan Cranston.   He is a high school teacher who gets cancer and decides to use his knowledge of chemistry to produce and sell meth.  Simple enough stuff, but this show is so much more than that.  It is one of the greatest epic sagas of character dramatic development I have ever seen. Over the course of the series Walter goes from a good man being forced into this dark world of meth, and by the end he literally becomes the very  drug overlord like the villians he once fought against in earlier seasons.  It blows away Anakin Skywalker’s turn to the dark side in Star Wars.
This is accomplished through a combination of absolutely amazing acting on Cranston’s part, and also brilliant use of foreshadowing and cinematic craft. Just as Walter and all the characters’ lives are darkened, so too does the series go from something much more cheerful to dark violent bloody drama.
Creator Vince Gilligan has created a world just as interesting as its protagonist.  Its New Mexico setting draws one in and shows a hot arid world of danger and psychos.  The tone ranges perfectly between drama, action, comedy, and more.  I’ve experienced probably every possible human emotion over the run of Breaking Bad.
The series is also strengthed in that EVERY, SINGLE, CHARACTER is given great development and screen time. Whether it’s the punkish Jesse played by Aaron Paul , the short tempered Hank played by Dean Norris, the troubled Skyler played by Anna Gunn,  or the hilarious comic relief Saul played by Bob Odenkirk I couldn’t wait to see all characters more. The dialogue is great and it’s cool to see when different characters finally interacted and to  see where their storyline’s went.

It was a long epic journey, but it was so worth it.  Few pieces of media have entertained me as much as every episode of Breaking Bad did, and I couldn’t wait to see where the downward spiral of chaos went.  It kept getting better and better to an pulse pounding final seasons.  The series could have ended with even the second or first season, but they found ways to top themselves.  I’ll never forget this and cannot wait until Better Caul Saul since I’d give this series a 10/10

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