Breaking Bad - Season One
Creator: Vince Gilligan
Year (first aired): 2008
A screenwriting teacher once preached the value of "opening hot" - more than preach, he railed, rallied and proclaimed the need for more of us to "open the story hot!" What he meant, in case you can't figure it out, is to make the action in the first sequence of the film (or TV show in this case) such that you are immediately jolted onto the front edge of your scene, begging to know what comes next (or in this case, as you get the pattern, how the hell did that happen?).
Breaking Bad is an astonishingly well-made show, as addictive as the meth the characters make. It is a story with a protagonist who becomes increasingly difficult to like, not necessarily for the choices he makes, but for the way he handles the situations. There are no clear cut "good guys" in the show, making it all the more complex, fascinating and real. Characters, even the most dubious, do small, interesting, thoughtful things right before turning around and doing something depraved, stupid or downright insane. But Giligan never lets the viewers off the crazy train once it leaves the station. Walter White (played masterfully by Bryan Cranston) has cancer and insurance that won't pay for the advanced treatment he needs. He has a job that he's terrifically overqualified for. He has a wife, ten years his junior, who is several months into the pregnancy of a child they did not intend to have. His other son, Walt Jr., has cerebral palsy. With all these strikes against him, he stumbles into the world of meth - a world that involves Jesse Pinkman, a former student who is now a low-level user and pusher. Seeing the opportunity against the very few options in front of him, Walter descends down the path of making meth. As a brilliant chemist, he shocks Pinkman with the quality of the meth he can make. "It's simple chemistry," Walter mumbles. Immediately, Walter's edge on this world is established. The world pushes back in a shocking way when he sees the violence he has no stomach for or experience in. But with the cancer and it's mountainous bills cresting and his wife's belly bloating with his second child, Walter feels he has no choice but to continue down this incredibly dangerous path.
From a cinematic point of view, the show uses stop-motion vistas to great effect, simulating the experience of meth vs. time. The world of New Mexico is flat, hot and vacuous. It is prickly and uninviting. There are dark shadows everywhere, with characters often standing in them, hiding their true intentions. The green and orange tones lend to a sickly feeling about everything that goes on. It's a nauseating downward spiral that had me questioning at times if I really wanted to keep watching, but not daring to say no. Though late to this party, I'm very excited to be heading down this path at this time.
Year (first aired): 2008
A screenwriting teacher once preached the value of "opening hot" - more than preach, he railed, rallied and proclaimed the need for more of us to "open the story hot!" What he meant, in case you can't figure it out, is to make the action in the first sequence of the film (or TV show in this case) such that you are immediately jolted onto the front edge of your scene, begging to know what comes next (or in this case, as you get the pattern, how the hell did that happen?).
Breaking Bad is an astonishingly well-made show, as addictive as the meth the characters make. It is a story with a protagonist who becomes increasingly difficult to like, not necessarily for the choices he makes, but for the way he handles the situations. There are no clear cut "good guys" in the show, making it all the more complex, fascinating and real. Characters, even the most dubious, do small, interesting, thoughtful things right before turning around and doing something depraved, stupid or downright insane. But Giligan never lets the viewers off the crazy train once it leaves the station. Walter White (played masterfully by Bryan Cranston) has cancer and insurance that won't pay for the advanced treatment he needs. He has a job that he's terrifically overqualified for. He has a wife, ten years his junior, who is several months into the pregnancy of a child they did not intend to have. His other son, Walt Jr., has cerebral palsy. With all these strikes against him, he stumbles into the world of meth - a world that involves Jesse Pinkman, a former student who is now a low-level user and pusher. Seeing the opportunity against the very few options in front of him, Walter descends down the path of making meth. As a brilliant chemist, he shocks Pinkman with the quality of the meth he can make. "It's simple chemistry," Walter mumbles. Immediately, Walter's edge on this world is established. The world pushes back in a shocking way when he sees the violence he has no stomach for or experience in. But with the cancer and it's mountainous bills cresting and his wife's belly bloating with his second child, Walter feels he has no choice but to continue down this incredibly dangerous path.
From a cinematic point of view, the show uses stop-motion vistas to great effect, simulating the experience of meth vs. time. The world of New Mexico is flat, hot and vacuous. It is prickly and uninviting. There are dark shadows everywhere, with characters often standing in them, hiding their true intentions. The green and orange tones lend to a sickly feeling about everything that goes on. It's a nauseating downward spiral that had me questioning at times if I really wanted to keep watching, but not daring to say no. Though late to this party, I'm very excited to be heading down this path at this time.
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