Another ground-breaking drama from American cable channel AMC, ‘Breaking Bad’ follows high school chemistry teacher Walter’s dark and comic attempts at cooking crystal meth
In one of the first scenes of Breaking Bad, suburban high school chemistry teacher Walt White tells his students what chemistry really signifies. Walt (played by Bryan Cranston of Malcolm in the Middle) gets into an endless rant to totally disinterested students, insisting chemistry is actually "the study of change," that "electrons change their energy levels," that "molecules change their bonds," and that "elements combine and change the compounds." Walt concludes with the fervor of the father of a newborn that what he just ranted about is "all life… solution and dissolution all over… growth, decay and transformation."
Little does Walt know that he's about to embark upon a dangerous journey that will embody his very definition of chemistry, an inevitable journey toward "growth, decay and transformation." In the first 20 minutes of the pilot episode, we are introduced to one of the most boring, most mundane characters on TV in the form of Walt. His clothes are boring, his car is boring, his glasses are boring, and even his otherwise appealing moustache is boring. He's about to turn 50, living his Groundhog Day with his charming and controlling wife, Skyler (Deadwood alumnus Anna Gunn), and his disabled teenaged son, Walter Jr. (R.J. Mitte), in their suburban home.
Walt finds out that his incessant coughs are not so innocent after all, and that he has terminal lung cancer. He doesn't have the tools to handle this news: His first reaction being an immediate transformation from a mild-mannered schoolteacher to a passive aggressive man. He goes through a breakthrough not when he sees a life-altering episode of Oprah but when he sees the coverage of a crystal meth lab bust by the drug enforcement agency. As Walt's family and relatives gather around the TV and watch the bust led by his brother-in-law, Hank (Dean Norris), a DEA agent, it becomes a moment of epiphany for him.
Companion piece to 'Weeds'?
He accidentally finds out that Captain Cook, the local kingpin of crystal meth is one of his former no-good students. He approaches Jesse (Aaron Paul from Big Love) for a promising partnership, he will cook the meth with his extensive chemistry knowledge and Jesse will deal with the marketing and distribution. Walt's first day in their lab in a broken-down RV turns out to be an impressive one, as Jesse can't hide his surprise, calling Walt "an artist."
But Walt is still no Nancy Botwin of Weeds,with an uncanny insight into the psyche of suburbia and the people who live in it, and Jesse is no Andy Botwin, with charming social skills. The inevitable comes in a couple of hours and things go horribly wrong before they sell their first batch.
It's difficult to process the premise behind Breaking Bad. Just when you think you know what kind of show you'll be watching, the story takes an unexpected turn. And when you get used to the new structure, new twists are on their way. The show stands somewhere between Weeds and the Coen Brothers' Oscar-winning No Country For Old Men. The refreshing interaction between sterile suburbia and the dirty underworld of the drugs stand close to Weeds. But the bleak and depressing look at America at its lowest, how the stinking motels and the suburban homes with freshly-trimmed grass and jovial sprinklers are actually no different than one another take one to the grim world of No Country of Old Men.
Breaking Bad was originally aired on American cable channel AMC, which last year brought another groundbreaking and critically acclaimed show, Mad Men. While Mad Men received the Best Drama Emmy this year, Bryan Cranston snatched the Emmy for Best Actor in a drama from Mad Men's Jon Hamm. Thanks to last year's writers' strike, the first season of Breaking Bad ran for only seven episodes. The second season is on the way, in which Walt's family, the police and drug lords will play more important roles.
Originally published in Turkish Daily News on 8 Oct. 2008
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