Creators:
Vince GilliganComposer:
Dave PorterCast:
Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn, Dean Norris, Betsy Brandt, RJ Mitte, Bob Odenkirk, Jonathan Banks, Giancarlo Esposito, Jesse Plemons (more)VOD (3)
Seasons(5) / Episodes(62)
Plots(1)
To "break bad," as says the old colloquialism from the American South, is to go so wrong it's almost impossible to do what's right. Walter White is breaking bad. Recently diagnosed with Type III lung cancer, raising a son with cerebral palsy, and in need of a way to support his family, Walter uses his skills to transform himself from nebbishy high-school chemistry teacher to neophyte crystal-meth cook in the blink of an eye. Things become problematic when, not long after Walter and his former student Jesse put together a lucrative cooking operation, the two of them of are assaulted by a pair of drug dealers who accuse Walter of being affiliated with the DEA. But that’s just the beginning of his problems: he soon has a dead body on his hands and has yet to even reveal his cancer to his loving wife. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (9)
Living the American Dream via the periodic table and Heisenberg’s principle of equivocality which is not black-and-white, but that doesn’t mean that it contains no black or white. When a middle-age crisis hits an over-qualified, kind chemistry teacher with a complex, whose prizes family above all else (his wife is an accountant against her will and also an unsuccessful writer with a few published stories, his son has polio and is going through a rough puberty and there’s even an unplanned kid on the way); this is already a powerful theme in itself. And when you add a trick of fate in the form of advanced cancer, this is doubly powerful. It is clear that here we will get a combination of satire and drama with a precisely dosed admixture of black humor. And what if, to provide for his family, this hen-pecked chemistry teacher decides to “kick off the hen and declare a vendetta on fate"; in other words once and for all (and for the last time) to take his life into his own hands... So he sets out on the slippery slope of crime as a “Meth Cook", with a former pupil who was one of the laziest and most useless in the class, Jesse; which forms the recipe of an uncompromising, raw, cynical crime series where you find yourself breathing in the rhythm dictated by the creators, not by your own body. The only respite (which is no criticism - it fits here) occurs at the beginning of season three when the creators give the characters the opportunity to get off the careering train and return to their original, “non-criminal" routine. But if this seems like a disparate mixture of genres and themes, the truth is in exact opposite. Unusually well written (both characters and story; just a shame about the exceptions proving the rule in the Lost-style intertwining of fates during the final of season two) and presented (nobody else has yet come near to the prologs to each episode) and also never losing its worrying, chilling tone and very movie-like guise (it is markedly Coen-McCarthy-esque); and not just in TV production terms. But there is one snag. It definitely isn’t for people who need to identify with one of the characters. Of course, you understand (but may not approve of) the characters and their behavior in all situations, but the more this pedantic teacher Walt who you would trust with your wallet “becomes" Heisenberg, who commands respect and fills you with pure fear (If that's true, if you don't know who I am, then maybe your best course would be to tread lightly.), the more clear it becomes that you can’t root for him because he starts not seeing the wood for the trees, which means he not only harms his surroundings, but also his nearest and dearest. And mainly he is never under any circumstances the victim of circumstances or screenwriters, but is always fully responsible for everything that happens to him. And so it is with everything. In any case, if you get into the vibe of the series, you have a good chance that you will find a hot favorite for your most favorite episode of all existing series (there are countless candidates for this in all seasons, but the clear winner is Ozymandias), for the award for best scene of all existing series (there are more candidates for this than for the episode prize, but the clear winner here is Crawl Space) and of course for the award for best series of all top series. PS: And like the very end held no disappointment at all, it seems like, in spite of all the horrors experienced by others, Walt got off lightly in comparison. The very end lacks a certain hidden uncompromising streak which for instance raises The Shield onto the highest pedestal for the best and most memorable finale ever.
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Season 1 – 90% – All expectations turned upside down. Potentially annoying scammer Jesse is my favorite character from the first scene onwards, potentially annoying caring Skyler positively surprises me with every decision. I want to know as much as possible about both of them, I want to see more of the main hero's abilities to get out of the worst situations, and ultimately, I just want to see where such a series can go. I didn't find any superficiality or false glamour of the drug trade here, quite the contrary. It starts as a genuinely restless family drama set in the unfortunate/lucky backdrop it can unfold. My biggest wish is for it to continue in this humane manner. Season 2 – 70% – I enjoyed it when Walt fought with his own morals in the name of his family, but I don't enjoy it when he tramples over his family and their values and only uses his original goals as an excuse. As my sympathy for the main character decreases, so does the quality, because his constant arrogant and rude behavior towards his (no matter how silly and naive) partner breaks my heart, just like Walt's way of making decisions in key situations, such as the obvious moral dilemma in the final episode, Phoenix. It's a shame, because there is still a lot of potential, and the outlook is becoming significantly darker. Hank, on the other hand, is working his way up to become the most charismatic TV cop. Season 3 – 80% – Some actions lead down a complicated path, but others don't. After the events of the previous season, the main character is still the deserved attraction for me, but I can't root for him, mainly because of his lack of self-reflection and sufficient repentance. On the other hand, the underrated Pinkman, thanks to Aaron Paul's perfectly human performance, becomes the driving force of the series in every aspect. However, the creative and incredibly suspenseful level of the show is truly restored only in the final two episodes, during which I hardly breathed due to nervousness, and I truly appreciated Giancarlo Esposito's nearly anti-mimic acting performance. Season 4 – 75% – Most AMC shows, in their exploration of interesting topics, reach a critical point where breathtaking twists start to thin out, and the humane approach begins to border on boring stagnation. Breaking Bad reached this point precisely in the hype of the fourth season, and there were times when I thought that any further dialogue between Walt and Skyler about the "car wash" could kill me. Fortunately, the second half of the season, which again deeply delves into the relationship between Jesse and Walt and introduces Jesse and Gus and Jesse and Mike relationships, is completely different in terms of tension. The dramatic ending of the last episodes cleverly presents a great climax, and it is a pity that Vince Gilligan often can't restrain himself and lets impressive scenes go too far. The building of an overwhelming pressure from all sides is as claustrophobic, if not more, as the previous season. Season 5, first part – 80% – Walt is unbearable. I never understood his popularity, and now, when the inconspicuous psychological terror against the depressed Skyler has finally reached its peak, I am sickened by Heisenberg's boastful monologue to the point of nausea. Although Bryan Cranston still has surprises up his sleeve even in the fifth year, the development of his character has disgusted me for a long time. I praise Gilligan for it, as well as Jesse's definitive maturity and the pervasive sense of the inevitable beginning of the end, led by the episode Dead Freight, probably the best episode of the entire series. Season 5, second part – 90% – Saving the best for last. If it weren't for a few missteps that, nonetheless, reflect the development of the entire series, it might even be an absolute rating. Nevertheless, I was given eight episodes that leave such a strong impression that I could easily forget about the weaker periods. It is here, at the moment when everything is falling apart and literally all characters are on the verge of disaster, that you can best see who has grown closest to our hearts. And when I reminisce about Breaking Bad, I will always be grateful for giving me one perfectly complex character that quickly became one of my all-time favorite TV characters. Unlike most viewers (whom I will never understand), this character is not Heisenberg, Walter White, a self-absorbed villain, no matter how we may call him. In my eyes, it is the broken and perpetually stumbling addict and unfortunate soul, Jesse Pinkman.
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Breaking Bad is a series that is beyond reproach. A perfect story with brilliant acting, completely unpredictable and, most importantly, perfectionist in every detail. Emotions were stirring in me after almost every episode. I didn't even know who to (shall we say) root for, because there are no good guys in the story, or there are, but the rate at which Walter White drags them down to darkness is unbelievable. There’s a very thin line between good and evil here, and it just blows your mind to see Walter White turn from an ordinary, humble guy into a complete monster, realizing that life can be too damn short, so he’d better enjoy his last months without taking any shit from anybody, and finally be the one in charge. The final episodes of each season are absolutely perfect, but I could watch the episode about the train heist every day. I don't know what else to add. No other show on TV comes even close to Breaking Bad in terms of story sophistication. S01: 9/10. S02: 9/10. S03: 10/10. S04: 10/10. S05: 10/10.
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Seeing Breaking Bad makes me want to extract the ricin from the beans, but that's essentially my only complaint. This is the first series since The Wire that honestly fascinates me with its attention to plot sophistication, fictional characters, and, most importantly, absolute unpredictability. I gave up guessing the storyline halfway through the second season because there's no point. The way in which Walter White, who learns the value and brevity of human life from one day to the next, functions on both sides of the law while (un)consciously pulling in people around him is perhaps even better than in Dexter. This is mainly because the moments when we realize that he is really becoming evil are conveyed by the filmmakers through complete banality. Like ordinary marital conversations: "I'm not in danger." I am the danger!"
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Since the days of Rest in Peace, I haven't seen a new series that could entice me this much. In particular, the transformation of the main character (I'm not going to say protagonist) is something surreal, and the way in which the screenwriters cruelly mess with viewer’s sympathies and how they don't really give a damn, is admirable. Of all the episodes, not a single one seemed useless to me, there were no blank spots in any of them, although there was talk all the time, I enjoyed the precisely written dialogues as much as when the characters were just looking at each other and the tension thickened. It was an excellent fifty hours.
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