Breaking Bad- Makes Even Meth Look Fun

With college tuition bills and rent due each month I assume we have all entertained various ways to supplement our income to make things a little easier. Selling our homework, robbing banks, dealing drugs. Whichever your choice of adventure is, we all have that desire to go out and create a little chaos. Breaking Bad lets us live those fantasies, and in many ways makes even drug dealing look like a great career path.



On June 13th Breaking Bad wrapped its 3rd and quite possibly best season, and it was announced that it had been picked up for a 4th year. This is unusually late for a series to get picked up, but that just means you have plenty of time to watch the first 3 seasons and catch up before this mind-blowing roller coaster of a show returns.

AMC, the network on which Breaking Bad airs, is becoming a powerhouse of strong, fantastically produced, character driven shows. Mad Men is about to premiere its 4th season and has won the Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series every year it’s been eligible. Rubicon, the networks next debut looks just at promising.

So why watch Breaking Bad when compared to a line up of already excellent programming?

1) Its fucking awesome.

Every moment of each episode is engaging and keeps you on the edge of your seat. Even if the scenes are of a flashback to simpler times in the characters lives, as a viewer you are kept anxiously waiting to see how the drama will unfold. Each episode can stand alone as its own terrific story, all the while lending itself toward the overall arc of the story. Whether it is a tender emotional scene, or a mindfuck of a cliffhanger, you become a junkie for this show.

2) Its extremely critically praised.

I know I’m just one lone voice, but many others feel the same way I do about the ass kicking experience that this show provides. In its two previous seasons, Breaking Bad was nominated for 9 Emmys, winning 4 of them, (it lost Outstanding Drama to Mad Men). Bryan Cranston, the lead actor of the show has won Outstanding Lead Actor each season.

3) It’s the Dad from Malcolm in the Middle cooking Meth.



Cranston is so insanely good as his character Walter White that I would become his indentured servant, just in hopes that some of his talent would pass on to me through osmosis. He’s won an Emmy for every season of the show so far, and in season 3 he stretched himself even farther. There are few instances when an actor just seems to click so naturally with a character, that its like the stars aligned and Zeus himself came down and set up the match. This is one of those times. Give Cranston an hour of your time, and his compelling portrayal will have you hooked for the rest of the series.

Breaking Bad deals with some very heavy issues like living through cancer treatment and life crippling drug addiction. It’s cinematography and editing (also nominated for 4 Emmy’s, winning 2) do not shy away from revealing the horrendous nature of its subject material. You’ll be cringing as you watch the ghost like figures of addicts battling it out for a score, yet you cant take your eyes off the screen. But it is in the love between the characters that Breaking Bad finds its heart. With all hell falling down on its leads, Breaking Bad asks the question of “when we are facing death, how far will we go to protect the ones we care for most.” After three seasons the answer to this question continues to evolve, and I just hope Walter White can continue “cooking” for many more years to come.