Breaking Bad (Contains Spoilers!) (Blog 175)

I’ve just finished watching all five series of Breaking Bad. What have I learnt from them? Well first of all, I REALLY never want to get involved with the selling or making of crystal meth. I don’t think I did in the first place, but apparently terminally ill ’star’ of the program Walter White used to be a perfectly ordinary person, just like you and I. Who knows what we’re capable of, deep down. Well I don’t REALLY believe that I would sell drugs even if I was dying, but I still enjoyed the drama, for whatever reason. But other than the crazy assumptions about human behaviour, did the program have flaws?

First up, Walter White Jr. was a bit of a weird character for me. On the one hand he seems like a nice guy at times, but on the other hand he sometimes comes across as a bit antisocial. Why? I imagine in the Breaking Bad writer’s room, some of the writers saying ‘let’s mess with the viewer’s heads. It will be funny’. Maybe it was funny for them, but it’s no way to treat your audience is it? At least when punk singers tell the crowds who pay to see them to ‘go away in the extreme’ shall we say, they usually don’t mean it. Still though, he wasn’t as unpredictable as the lead character again: ‘Let’s kill someone. No, I don’t mean it. Oh I do, really. Sorry, I let your girlfriend die. I also tried to have you killed after I saved your life. Do you forgive me?’ To be fair though, you have to be a genius to make such a wacky story work.

And boy, did Walter White get a lot of people killed. Sure he had lots of money to do so, but there are people who have a lot more. Simon Cowell for instance is super rich and he looks like the kind of person who can keep calm under pressure. (i.e. police interrogation). It makes you wonder ‘has HE had anyone killed?’ He could probably afford to wipe out a whole village. But I’m sure he didn’t. It would be out of character. I mean he’s known for being rude, but not that rude.

At the end of the series, Walter said he cooked meth because it made him feel alive. Why not just go for a run? It’s healthy too, whilst cooking meth on the other hand is VERY bad for you, legally speaking. If he’s looking for something a little more intense, maybe go go-karting or bungee jumping. What I’m saying is there a whole world of options before you go risking life imprisonment or the death penalty. Again, genius writing.

What did I like about the show? I thought the villains were very interesting. I’m not sure how realistic they were though. For example, how happy would anyone be working with Tuco; a man who beat someone to death simply because he stood up for him? It kind of makes you paranoid. What if I’m a good mood for whatever reason and I say to someone ‘nice jacket!’ Then out of nowhere I get the response ‘do you think I don’t know I’m wearing a nice jacket?’ Then I’d have to swear at the guy, just to deescalate things. I also thought the evil twins were interesting as they hardly ever spoke. Why though? You have the energy to be in a very ‘busy’ crime gang, is it really so difficult to find the energy to say what’s on your mind?

I thought the way the series ended with Walter White dying to the sound of happy music was very interesting. It’s like Walter was thinking ‘sure many people died, some very close to me and sure I killed a few people, but it wasn’t ALL bad. Dealing meth made me feel alive.’ I don’t mean to sound weird, but many of my favourite films are ones that have the main character die, for example ‘The Wrestler’ and the more obscure film ‘The Legend of 1900’. Maybe I need to stop being so morbid. On the other hand would a Disney type ending for Breaking Bad work? Probably not. Ok, that’s all from me, byeeeeee!