If you’re interested in modern day culture or have a Facebook profile (our deepest condolences to Gucci Goth, now BlackBlackGold, who is no longer part of that exclusive club –booo Facebook!) you couldn’t have missed it: Sunday was Breaking Bad day! On July 15th, the first episode of Season Five in the epic TV show aired on AMC.
“This is a big deal why?” you may ask, but only if you don’t know anything about recent TV history. Amongst many masterpieces like The Sopranos and The Wire, Breaking Bad is one of the best shows in this new millennium. Of course, you may come up with other choices, but to be honest there’s not really room for discussion. Sorry. It’s a fact, like having to eat or the Earth moving around the sun. And this upcoming fifth season, which is also the final season, gives Breaking Bad the chance to prove it’s the one to rule them all. So yeah, it kind of is a big deal.
Brief rundown for those living under a rock: set in New Mexico, Breaking Bad is the story of Walter White, a high school teacher who gets diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. Doctors say he has two years left, which isn’t enough time for anyone, let alone for Walter. Money is already tight for the family, especially with a daughter on the way and medical bills that have to be paid. Like every father, he wants to provide a future for his family: college funds, mortgage payments, etc. So the chemistry teacher comes up with a plan. Together with his former student Jesse Pinkman, he starts cooking and selling meth.
Walter gets sucked into the drug business further and further in a vicious circle. If you are a living, feeling person (as opposed to a dumb, desensitized zombie) you will come across moments where Vince Gilligan makes it very hard for you to keep watching. Like a really good horror movie, Breaking Bad gets you yelling things like “Don’t do that!” and “Damn son, you cray!” Probably because you care for the Whites and you’ve been living with them for years. That’s the magic of the show.
In the beginning, Breaking Bad was a story about a man who was forced to do the wrong thing in order to escape adversity, but it was his own decision to stay on this dark path. Walter White turned out to not be a very likeable guy. He ain’t even one of those badasses who we root for because we know deep down he’s good. Mr. White is actually an evil person who does despicable things. He stops at nothing to keep his family safe, and yet we still stick with him. Well, at least for one more season.
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