Second to being a movie geek, I am also a big TV addict. And when summer kicks in, most of my favourite shows end, and in kicks a long period of boredom. Trying to survive the barren wasteland that is TV during the summer, I coast on shows such as Breaking Bad to ease my addiction to television shows. There is no more Community, or 30 Rock, or Boardwalk Empire, but at least we still have Louie, Futurama and Breaking Bad.
Breaking Bad holds a special place in my heart because it takes the surreal premise of a boring science teacher who decides to start cooking and selling crystal meth, takes it to more surreal heights by creating larger-than-life scenarios and a web of intrigue that becomes so big and complicated that for those who aren't aware of the series yet, should really first start watching the first three seasons of this great show. It is special because Breaking Bad does all this and never feels like bullshit. As ridiculous as the story gets, with cartoonish Mexican Drug lords who are so evil they could be in the next Die Hard movie, the main characters scary boss who uses his chain of family restaurants as a facade for his drug sales, and a whole lot of murder and violence that would probably scare away every other family man from, you know, selling crystal.
See, despite all the action, violence, suspense and drugs Breaking Bad never fails to keep the main focus on what makes every great story brilliant; interesting characters. I'm a large advocate of the principle that if you create good characters then all else is just spices to enhance the flavour of it all. It's why making a great movie about Facebook is possible, why a documentary about nerds playing Donkey Kong can turn into a masterpiece (King of Kong) and why every premise, as ridiculous as it seems, can turn out good. And Breaking Bad nails it in the character department. Bryan Cranston, our main dude, is played with great depth, and he pulls everything he can out of his character.
In season 4 the stakes are higher than ever, the show certainly amps it up in the violence department and watching a new episode is almost masochistic because at the end of it it'll only leave you wanting for more, and you know you'll have to wait another week for that. So please, for the love of god, show some love for this great show, skip watching the endless stream of infantile reality shows for something that is actually worth your while.
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