Finally the anticipation has got too much for everyone. If I
delayed this blog any further you would all combust and leave a horrible
horrible mess that I would no doubt have to clean up….well not this time!
If you have a short attention span then I will make this
quick and painless, Breaking Bad is amazing. If you feel you can take my word
for gospel then please scroll down to look at the pretty pictures of lego
breaking bad sets that fans have made. If you don’t trust my word, apart from
being evil people, please read on so I can convince you of the virtues of this wondrous
show.
Now to the main cast.
Walter White (played by Thursday Santoro’s blog legend Bryan
Cranston).
Walter White starts the show as a family man, holding down
two jobs in order to make ends meet for his family. When he is diagnosed with
inoperable lung cancer, Walt decides to secure his family’s financial future by
cooking top quality crystal meth with one of his former students Jesse Pinkman
(more on him imminently). Being a high school chemistry teacher means that Walt
not only has the science down to a tee but also access to the equipment needed.
Walt and Jesse become known for their product ‘Blue Meth’ but success breeds
competition in the form of criminals, rival gangs and the DEA, led by Walt’s
brother in law, Hank, who is tasked with pursuing ‘Heisenberg’, Walt’s
drug-world alter ego.
Skylar White (played by Anna Gunn)
Skylar, Walt’s long suffering wife, makes up one half of
Walt’s 3 way marriage alongside Jesse (yes I am getting to him). I don’t wish
to spoil any of her development throughout the show so will just give her an
introduction here and let you learn about her for yourselves by watching the
show.
Jesse Pinkman (played by Aaron Paul)
Jesse makes up the final part of the triumvirate between
Walt and Skylar, although Walt goes out of his way to deny Jesse’s existence to
Skylar. Jesse has experience of both taking and making drugs and so gives Walt
an inside track into the grim world he has chosen. Again the character
development for Jesse throughout each season means I can’t really say much
without spoiling but his character will make you want to add ‘yo’ to the end of
each sentence.
Walter White Jnr. (played by RJ Mitte)
Walter White Jnr is the son of Walt and Skylar and general
all round good egg. Born with cerebral pawsy, Walt Jnr is the average high
school student who idolises his father. Often the cause of tension between Walt
and Skylar in terms of whose side he backs, Walt Jnr’s character means the
viewer is able to see how Walt Snr’s actions impact the White family home in a
very personal way.
Hank Schrader (played by Dean Norris)
Hank is one of those typical, all American, law enforcers.
He is Walt’s brother in law and heads up the local DEA team in cracking down on
drug use in Albuquerque. You will hate him at the start for his cockiness and
his demeaning comments towards Walt. Its always good having a hate figure
though!
Marie Schrader (played Betsy Brandt)
Marie, wife to Hank and sister to Skylar, starts off as the
ideal match for Hank. House proud and seemingly lording it over the White
family, Marie is another character that often grinds on the viewer to start
with.
In a bid not to spoil things I haven’t covered all the
characters, including my favourite but if anyone actually gets round to
watching the show or has already watched it, I will happily discuss the merits
of Saul Goodman!
Anyway I don’t want anyone going away from reading this
thinking this show in anyway glamorises drugs or promotes drugs. Drugs are bad
kids, the only addiction people should have is to Ribena. Breaking Bad makes a
point of showing the horrors of drug abuse and the affects it can have on
individuals and those around them so don’t go all Daily Mail on me and start
ranting. It’s a TV show, its not real, you should be old enough and responsible
enough to know what’s good and bad for you.
Season 5, soon to air in the USA will be the last season.
The producers of the show have decided to split the season into two to a) let
us fans live in denial that this show will never end b) milk the cash cow as
much as they can. However fans in the UK may experience some difficulties if
they wish to watch it through legal means. You see no UK based provider has
picked up the rights to this season. Breaking Bad, along with arguably the best
TV drama series’ The Wire, The Sopranos and Mad Men, have had a bit of a rough
deal in the UK. The Wire was pushed to the graveyard slot on BBC and was aired
daily so that if you missed an episode you were screwed (due to rights it wasn’t
on iPlayer), Channel 4 and later E4 followed suit with The Sopranos and stuck
this on in the graveyard slot intermittently, and Mad Men was broadcast on BBC4
again during the graveyard slot. Mercifully these series have since been aired
on Sky Atlantic but again this is only available to a limited audience so the
magic can’t be shared by everyone. The original series of Breaking Bad aired on
FX, with season 2 appearing on Channel 5 at, you guessed it, the graveyard
slot. Seasons 3 and 4 didn’t even air in this country and season 5 suffers from
the same treatment. What I am basically saying here is if you do find yourself
craving for Breaking Bad, you may have to wait a while…however Seasons 1-4
should tide you over until you get your grubby little mitts on season 5.
As a final point, Breaking Bad is known for its legendary
season wrap parties. I won’t spoil anything for you but I leave you with the
show’s two main characters rocking up as each other and as promised the Lego Breaking Bad RV van.
1 comment:
Couldn't agree more, great show it's a shame it's not better known in the UK.
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