A little while ago I started watching Breaking Bad (another AMC drama show). Oh, my goodness, this is a profoundly compelling series! (At first I was worried this would be a Weeds wannabe, but not funny. It isn’t.) This is the story of 50-year old Walter White, a highly over-qualified high school chemistry teacher, living in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His wife Skyler is several months pregnant. Their son, Walt jr., suffers from a mild form of cerebral palsy. Then Walter is diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, but is afraid to share the news with his family, as they have enough problems as is (not in the least the lack of money to pay for his treatment). He breaks down bad, quits his job on the side at the car wash, and through sheer serendipity comes into contact with a former student, Jesse, who deals crystal meth. Walter figures he can earn enough money to support his family after he passes away if he starts cooking crystal, and so doesn’t have to tell his family about the cancer.
Walter’s product immediately becomes a success, as it turns out to be of highest purity. Since Walter and Jesse lack the underworld connections they need to find some criminal to arrange the distribution for them. And so Walter unwittingly slides farther and farther into the world of crime himself. The two are soon forced to kidnap and eventually kill small-time gangsters (dissolving the body of one of them to avoid getting caught)! Gradually the show gets better and better, as his family learns of his illness, offers help, which he refuses, and he builds lies upon lies to hide the truth – all because he loves his family. Skyler’s sister, Marie, is a self-centered kleptomaniac, whose husband, Hank, is a DEA agent trying to hunt down the new meth kingpin, not realizing the man he is looking for is right under his very nose. We learn that Walter once contributed to Nobel Prize-winning research, and his former partner offers him to pay for the chemo and other medical care, which Walter resoundingly declines (he somehow understands the offer as a bribe for the wealth his partner made on Walter’s research) – but he starts using the offer as a cover-up to his family. Walter and Jesse eventually team up with some violently psychotic drug distributor called Tuco. The series offers entertaining action, satisfying psychological depth, and occasional comic relief. I can warmly recommend the show to anyone who isn’t already a devout viewer.
Walter’s product immediately becomes a success, as it turns out to be of highest purity. Since Walter and Jesse lack the underworld connections they need to find some criminal to arrange the distribution for them. And so Walter unwittingly slides farther and farther into the world of crime himself. The two are soon forced to kidnap and eventually kill small-time gangsters (dissolving the body of one of them to avoid getting caught)! Gradually the show gets better and better, as his family learns of his illness, offers help, which he refuses, and he builds lies upon lies to hide the truth – all because he loves his family. Skyler’s sister, Marie, is a self-centered kleptomaniac, whose husband, Hank, is a DEA agent trying to hunt down the new meth kingpin, not realizing the man he is looking for is right under his very nose. We learn that Walter once contributed to Nobel Prize-winning research, and his former partner offers him to pay for the chemo and other medical care, which Walter resoundingly declines (he somehow understands the offer as a bribe for the wealth his partner made on Walter’s research) – but he starts using the offer as a cover-up to his family. Walter and Jesse eventually team up with some violently psychotic drug distributor called Tuco. The series offers entertaining action, satisfying psychological depth, and occasional comic relief. I can warmly recommend the show to anyone who isn’t already a devout viewer.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.