by rick grant rickgrant01@comcast.net
“The lure of easy money has a very strong appeal.”
AMC’s quirky new series opened with mild-mannered high school chemistry teacher Walter White (Bryan Cranston) at the head of his classroom teaching smart-ass apathetic students the complexities of chemistry. To make ends meet, he has a part time job at a car wash. One day Walter collapsed and was rushed to the hospital. After a battery of tests, Walter was told he has inoperable lung cancer, which, to Walter, seemed ridiculous. He doesn’t even smoke. Nonetheless, at 50 he is traumatized by the news, but elects not to tell his wife for the time being.
The pilot introduced the story and the characters with high quality production values and top-notch acting. Reminiscent of Weeds, this series is imbued with darker satire. Bryan Cranston is a veteran character actor who has created Walter as a man who had always suppressed his emotions. Now that he’s dying, he’s reborn as a bad ass with nothing to lose.
Ironically, dying has given Walter new life and purpose. In one scene, Walter and his wife Skyler take Junior to buy pants. In the background some moron is making fun of Junior. The new Walter kicks the crap out of the guy that was dissing his son. The old Walter would have walked out without saying a word and burned with internal rage.
Terminal cancer gives Walter new enthusiasm for life. He feels liberated. His only concern is to provide financial security to his family. Skyler (Anna Gunn) is a stay-at-home mom and Walter Junior was born with cerebral palsy. Of course, Walter’s son’s condition further complicates their financial future, since he has to go to therapy and a special school. Walter’s brother-in-law, Hank (Dean Norris), is a loud-mouthed DEA agent who brags about his raids on methamphetamine labs.
While at his 50th Birthday party, Hank asks Walter if he’d like to go on a ride-along with him on a big meth lab raid. After Walter sees one of Hank’s raids on TV, showing the mountains of cash, he becomes keenly interested in the methamphetamine industry and decides to ride-along. The seeds of Walter’s new plan to make money are hatched when, at the raid, he sees one of his students, Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) running from the scene.
Walter figures with his advanced knowledge of chemistry and Jesse’s contacts, he could go into the methamphetamine business and make a fortune. On their first meeting, Jesse is not happy to see his teacher asking him about his part-time job cooking meth. Walter assures him he is serious and the two strike up an uneasy alliance. The two fledgling meth entrepreneurs decide to buy an RV to make the meth lab mobile, so they can cook meth in the desert. Walter gives Jesse the money to buy the RV and he steals expensive glassware from the High School.
Clearly, Walter’s knowledge of the chemistry for making meth far exceeds his partner Jesse, who flunked Walter’s course. Incredibly, Walter’s first batch is pure crystal–a highly sought-after high-end product. Jesse declares Walter a genius and takes a sample to his distributor contact. This is when the operation goes south and Walter learns about the ruthless meth underworld with which he’s doing business. Dressed in his underwear so he doesn’t contaminate his clothing, Walter is packing heat and ready to protect his lab.
Facing a maximum of two years before he dies, Walter suddenly feels powerful, but quickly learns that meth cooking is not only dangerous chemically, but the meth world is full of opportunists who think nothing of killing rivals. The danger and possibility of making a vast sum of money for his family gives Walter a continuing adrenaline rush. Consequently, he’s no longer the meek guy he used to be. High with new energy, Walter goes home and has wild sex with his wife. Finally, Walter found his balls.
As the series evolves and we get to know the characters better, the outrageous premise has real dramatic and comedic possibilities to grow into an exceptional series. Like Dexter and The Riches, Breaking Bad presents an antihero who has rationalized his criminal actions for the greater good. It skewers conventional morality, sending characters into uncharted territory.
Breaking Bad runs on AMC at 10 pm Sunday nights.
Article Published in the 2-14-08 Issue of EU Jacksonville
|
