4. Deaths - When Killing Someone Is Justified
How Breaking Bad Has Got It Right - Every. Death. Means. Something. I can't stress this enough! As I previously mentioned, the beauty of Breaking Bad is the way in which every action has a consequence and you discover this as the series progresses. It's identified most notably with the deaths of it's characters. Whilst I would say that the body count is reasonably low (for a 5 Season show that's central theme is drug manufacturing) , this is counterbalanced with the emotional punch to both audience and characters that each death, when it does come about, brings. Gilligan is not flippant with his finger on the metaphorical trigger, and we're not treated to a violent death at the end of every episode. Instead, we face two, maybe three episodes where a character could be just contemplating the death of someone else and as such, demonstrates the restraint of the writers and the respect for their craft to not pander to the blood thirsty needs of it's audience. If we take Jane Margolis as an example - her death was necessary for characters to learn about themselves and for the audience to learn about the characters. Jesse was forced into a dark place, a place I still believe he's yet to fully emerge from. Walt discovers himself, the length he will go to to ensure that his operation continues smoothly and it's the first moment that the audience are made aware of their protagonists' blinded motivation. As a scene, it is one of the most interesting in Breaking Bad's tenure - in how my opinion of it has changed as the show has progressed. Upon first viewing, I was 100% team White and considered Jane an antagonist born straight from the fires of hell. I relished her death and Jesse's release from the grip with which she had him. Now? I can only look at Walt in disgust. How he stood unflinchingly and watched a young girl OD is simply chilling. That so many emotions can be brought forward with one death, demonstrates Gilligan's understanding of it as a plot device, and how he can use it to devastatingly good effect when required.
Why The Walking Dead Is Not As Good - Too many characters die. I know that people might say 'well it's a zombie apocalypse of course people are going to die' - I argue that if demonstrating the vulnerabilities of surviving the end of the world means sacrificing the emotional core of your show, then I believe that your priorities are all wrong. It has got to the point with The Walking Dead, where characters come and go before you've had the chance to learn their names. It means that upon their death, quite frankly, you couldn't give a damn - the prisoner that dies in Woodbury, Axel (he was around long enough to at least grab a first name), the guy they left by the tree in Season 1 to name but a few. The prisoners for me were the biggest bug-bear - we were introduced to four deeply compelling, complex characters and all of them died within about eight shows. On the other end of the scale, are the characters that die that we really care for, yet it seems like the characters forget they ever existed two episodes later (yes I'm talking about T-Dog!). T-Dog was hands down the 'nicest' character in the show, and apart from one particularly lame monologue from Glenn, we were allowed almost no grieving time at all. The fact that he had no need to be killed off in the first place is beside the point. When I look back on The Walking Dead, there have been just three deaths that I've actually cared about; T-Dog, Dale and Morgan's kid. Says a lot about the emotional impact of the show right?