Breaking Bad is unfairly maligned by its own popularity. Those who havent seen it yet are often inclined not to because theyre tired of their friends and coworkers asking if they have. Even if Breaking Bad is not your favorite show and a violent show about crystal meth with an amoral central character isnt bound to be everybodys the sheer number of awards its received and the volume of media coverage devoted to it are testaments to its cultural significance. As with the Beatles, Shakespeare and Charlie Chaplin, reasonable contrarians are hard to find. Breaking Bad is one of those rare instances of critical and popular opinion being virtually eye-to-eye. It is a visionary show with tight pacing and brilliant acting. The production values are extraordinary. Many of the scenes rival some of the very best in cinema. Suspense and emotion abound; you cant help but to be invested. Every shot is filmed with perfect timing and from just the right angle. In fact, even if the story and acting were atrocious, the care and deliberation with which each scene is set up and executed is just so damn professional. These are serious creative personalities behind Breaking Bad, and the product shows it. Central to the shows appeal is the superb, next-level acting of Bryan Cranston. In the first episode, his Walter White is a humble, toe-the-line sort of disgruntled underachiever. But his cancer diagnosis triggers the emergence of the genius caged within, the truly frightening, psychopathic Heisenberg. This descent into full-blown megalomania is almost schizophrenic. All associations of Bryan Cranston with Malcolm in the Middles lovable Hal disappear they cease to exist under Walter Whites harrowingly convincing disguise. So perfect is Cranstons Walter White that interviewers often ask him how much of Whites personality has rubbed off on him in the process of portraying the character on-screen. It actually came as relief to me to see outtakes of the show in which Cranston is still a hilarious prankster; Walter White is not someone you would want to exist in the real world. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7K2ywM4YyVo There is an additional dimension to Cranstons acting. He isnt merely playing a character, he is playing a character who is playing a character. When Walter White expresses regret over the people who have died in his wake, it comes off as phony. There are times even during intense demonstrations of bravado where it seems Walter White is still shaking like a 49-year-old high school teacher on the inside. After he shoots Mike, he comes close to crying. This has got to be genuine; he wouldnt act for a dead mans benefit. All of it adds up: however well Walter White seems to be doing right now, he really isnt suited to this. Its unlikely Gus Fring shed any tears during his reign. So good is Cranstons acting talent that hes actually got to be convincingly unconvincing. And he pulls it off incredibly well. But he cant completely steal the show. Raymond Cruzs Tuco Salamanca is an arguably even scarier character, so psychotic that Cruz asked to be written out of the show due to the stress of getting into the role. Giancarlo Espositos Gus Fring is a historic character, surely the calmest drug kingpin/murderer ever depicted on-screen. And Jonathan Bankss Mike Ehrmantraut is a grumpy, grizzled veteran of the criminal underworld, equally charming as little Kaylees loving grandfather as he is merciless as a cool, highly professional executioner. All of these characters were central allies and antagonists in the shows earlier seasons, but all have fallen to the Heisenberg empires unstoppable growth. Breaking Bad is unique in transforming the starring, sympathetic character into the main villain. But just as interesting a transformation is that of antagonist-turned-hero Hank Schrader. Early seasons portrayed the character as little more than a by-the-book cop, and a fairly obnoxious one at that. Over the seasons, though, Hanks continuing outstanding police work and the likable, natural performance of Dean Norris makes the character admirable even if you arent inclined to root for authority. The way Walt has introduced so much pain and suffering into Hanks life and become a full-blown homicidal maniac in the meantime makes Hank the shows only remaining clear-cut protagonist. Every character is written extremely well. Jesse Pinkman has not been given a complete arc in the way Walt and Hank have, but his character has undergone the most tumultuous transformations of all. Hes bounced back and forth between hopeless addict and redeemed family man, but unlike most of his associates in the underworld his essence boils down to a decent one. Nonetheless, the murder of a completely innocent man at Jesse's hands takes an intense psychological toll on him and it's not at all clear that he's made peace with it. Skyler, too, has suffered numerous ups and downs. Her character has been described as nagging, but her reactions to what is going on in her world are not unreasonable. Now there is blood on her hands as well, and when Hank brings the hammer down on Walt it's anybody's guess whose side she will land on. The show takes only minutes to introduce a character thats fully realized with his or her own understandable motivations and ambitions. Every character is perfectly cast, from the principle stars to one-off convenience store clerks and black market firearm distributors. Even Jesses girlfriends are fleshed out far more than most periphery girlfriend characters. Only a few underdeveloped additions in the fifth season violate this standard. Actually, the fifth season is the weakest season so far. Part of this is due to the introduction of several new supporting characters, many of whom were not kindly received. Primary offenders include Lydia, the nervous distribution and acquisition mastermind, and Todd, Walts newest employee. While they are obviously important to Walts organization, their chemistry with the other characters is not as magical. Part of this could simply be their late arrival. The show already features several characters who audiences have spent four seasons investing in; the sudden addition of several prominent secondary characters who had never even been foreshadowed feels forced. The biggest issue of Season 5, though, is one of pacing. The first four episodes of the season moved a little slower than expected following the suspense-filled final episodes of Season 4. Drawn-out scenes of Walt and Skylers domestic life, further tying up of loose ends from the previous season, and the slow reboot of the drug empire made these episodes a bit of a slog. The latter four, then, crammed in tons of action. Some off-the-wall stunts went a little overboard, like the five-man train robbery. Exciting as it was, this scene seemed out of character with the rest of the shows thoughtful, precise, conservative executions. It and some other moments from the fifth season seem almost cartoonish in a way that the rest of the show does not. While I believed Gus Fring could walk confidently straight into a snipers line of fire or that Walt could blow up the headquarters of a psychotic drug lord with an explosive disguised as meth, I had a harder time believing that ragtag five-man team could pull off that train robbery. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBVMpk4GiDA But the fifth season also had some of the most dramatic moments in the show's history. Walt's cold-blooded and unnecessary murder of Mike, his confident delivery of the line, "Say my name" when standing down a major rival distributor, and Hank's abrupt revelation on the White family toilet all stand out. These also all came toward the end of the season, so there is enormous reason for optimism when the second half starts airing on August 11th.
Kyle Schmidlin is a writer and musician living in Austin, TX. He manages the news blog at thirdrailnews.wordpress.com. Follow him at facebook.com/kyleschmidlin or twitter.com/kyleschmidlin1.
Breaking Bad is unfairly maligned by its own popularity. Those who havent seen it yet are often inclined not to because theyre tired of their friends and coworkers asking if they have. Even if Breaking Bad is not your favorite show and a violent show about crystal meth with an amoral central character isnt bound to be everybodys the sheer number of awards its received and the volume of media coverage devoted to it are testaments to its cultural significance. As with the Beatles, Shakespeare and Charlie Chaplin, reasonable contrarians are hard to find. Breaking Bad is one of those rare instances of critical and popular opinion being virtually eye-to-eye. It is a visionary show with tight pacing and brilliant acting. The production values are extraordinary. Many of the scenes rival some of the very best in cinema. Suspense and emotion abound; you cant help but to be invested. Every shot is filmed with perfect timing and from just the right angle. In fact, even if the story and acting were atrocious, the care and deliberation with which each scene is set up and executed is just so damn professional. These are serious creative personalities behind Breaking Bad, and the product shows it. Central to the shows appeal is the superb, next-level acting of Bryan Cranston. In the first episode, his Walter White is a humble, toe-the-line sort of disgruntled underachiever. But his cancer diagnosis triggers the emergence of the genius caged within, the truly frightening, psychopathic Heisenberg. This descent into full-blown megalomania is almost schizophrenic. All associations of Bryan Cranston with Malcolm in the Middles lovable Hal disappear they cease to exist under Walter Whites harrowingly convincing disguise. So perfect is Cranstons Walter White that interviewers often ask him how much of Whites personality has rubbed off on him in the process of portraying the character on-screen. It actually came as relief to me to see outtakes of the show in which Cranston is still a hilarious prankster; Walter White is not someone you would want to exist in the real world. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7K2ywM4YyVo There is an additional dimension to Cranstons acting. He isnt merely playing a character, he is playing a character who is playing a character. When Walter White expresses regret over the people who have died in his wake, it comes off as phony. There are times even during intense demonstrations of bravado where it seems Walter White is still shaking like a 49-year-old high school teacher on the inside. After he shoots Mike, he comes close to crying. This has got to be genuine; he wouldnt act for a dead mans benefit. All of it adds up: however well Walter White seems to be doing right now, he really isnt suited to this. Its unlikely Gus Fring shed any tears during his reign. So good is Cranstons acting talent that hes actually got to be convincingly unconvincing. And he pulls it off incredibly well. But he cant completely steal the show. Raymond Cruzs Tuco Salamanca is an arguably even scarier character, so psychotic that Cruz asked to be written out of the show due to the stress of getting into the role. Giancarlo Espositos Gus Fring is a historic character, surely the calmest drug kingpin/murderer ever depicted on-screen. And Jonathan Bankss Mike Ehrmantraut is a grumpy, grizzled veteran of the criminal underworld, equally charming as little Kaylees loving grandfather as he is merciless as a cool, highly professional executioner. All of these characters were central allies and antagonists in the shows earlier seasons, but all have fallen to the Heisenberg empires unstoppable growth. Breaking Bad is unique in transforming the starring, sympathetic character into the main villain. But just as interesting a transformation is that of antagonist-turned-hero Hank Schrader. Early seasons portrayed the character as little more than a by-the-book cop, and a fairly obnoxious one at that. Over the seasons, though, Hanks continuing outstanding police work and the likable, natural performance of Dean Norris makes the character admirable even if you arent inclined to root for authority. The way Walt has introduced so much pain and suffering into Hanks life and become a full-blown homicidal maniac in the meantime makes Hank the shows only remaining clear-cut protagonist. 