The TV show I have chosen to review is Breaking Bad, a crime drama, that follows the life of a grown man and his family living in the American Southwest. Despite having a decent job and living a happy family life, he decides to engage in criminal activities after his life takes an unexpected turn when he gets unfortunate news from his doctor. He ultimately decides to work on building a strong heritage, disregarding the legality of his steps along the way.
PLOT
Played by Bryan Cranston, the main character, Walter White, is a great example of a failed hero. You want to like him, but he does very questionable things with his empire of crystal meth to keep his family safe and healthy, even though what he is doing is endangering them.
STORYLINE
Initially, Walter just wants to be a strong family man and provide for his family. Walter needs money and wants heritage to leave behind, so he goes to see who can help. This is when his old student, Jesse Pinkman, pops up which leads to a collaboration between them. Soon, they start producing Crystal meth in an old RV ironically nicknamed by Jesse, The Krystal Ship.
After making money from drug trafficking, Walter starts to turn into a cruel rival, calls himself Heisenberg, and aims to become a maniacal drug lord, using his experience and knowledge in chemistry to make a highly sought-after, distinctively colored drug product, which becomes the main idea of the story. But it is not all smooth sailing from there, as the DEA faces off against them alongside their own struggles to bring them down and turn Walter in. As the series progresses, Walter transitions from a charming and law-abiding citizen to a cold-blooded criminal. Ultimately, Walter’s actions end up negatively impacting people around him, including his family and Jesse, and lead to his ultimate downfall.
REVIEW
In summary, themes such as family importance and violence are mentioned following Walter and Jesse in a tale of two characters being shaped by the dark world around them. Thanks to its intense narrative storytelling and standout characters, Breaking Bad is a show I could recommend and have recommended to many people as a certified classic.
The main appeal of this show is the writer Vince Gilligan’s unique initial concept of the show. He didn’t use the usual storytelling of drama shows. Instead, he chose to take a weird idea that could come across as a huge risk and wanted to “take a very bland, milk toast-ish guy and turn him bad,” as mentioned in the Bonus Features of the DVD version of the show.
In my opinion, Breaking Bad was/still is a great series. Even now, many years after the series aired, the theme music and, in general, the themes presented, such as the dual nature of good and evil, are viewed in a positive light by critics and fans. Even after so many rewatches, I’d give it 5/5 repeatedly because of the relevance and appeal the show continues to have.
According to Joe Smith from The Guardian daily newspaper in an article on “Breaking Bad: 10 years on, TV is still in Walter White’s shadow” published more than 6 years ago, “Quite simply, Breaking Bad is the most outstanding made-for-TV drama ever seen. The Soprano’s, The Wire, Deadwood et al are all fantastic but BB just has the edge.”
Written by Arda Ertas, Lethbridge College
