When asked what the “perfect show” must have in order to captivate an audience, what would you have in your list? Most lists would more than likely have something like romance, violent car chases, huge explosions, riveting twists and a zombie or two. Chances are if you live in America, you have heard somebody ranting and raving about “Breaking Bad.” I would not blame them; I have been hooked since day one. But this does not have your every-day, run-of-the-mill plot that we all look for in our favorite dramas.
This show seems to be the antithesis of our normal idea of a television drama. First off, instead of being set in some widely known and beautiful city like New York, Miami or Atlanta, it takes place in a tiny suburb in Albuquerque, N.M.. Most know the general story: Walter White is a struggling chemistry teacher who discovers he has cancer. He then teams up with a former student of his named Jesse Pinkman to cook top-of- the-line meth. He then goes on to become “Heisenberg,” the most prosperous meth cook around. Everything basically blows up in his face, and he gets caught in a web of lies trying not to get caught by the DEA (namely his brother-in-law, Hank) before his lung cancer takes him away.
Generally, the protagonist of any story is a hero of some sort or one who we can relate to and, in turn, want to see succeed in the end. I do not know about you, but I have not made meth in an RV in the middle of the desert wearing nothing but underwear. However, something inside me still wants Walt to finish the race. This man is certainly no hero. He resolves his differences without using sheer force and guns; he uses science to conceive ways to take out men who are in his way, which is impressive, but not in a Jason Statham type of way by any means.
The author, Vince Gilligan, seemed to have all of this in mind when creating this character. He did not want a “good guy” everybody loves and cheers for every Sunday evening. He wanted to steer away from the norm and create a character whose actions people despise but cannot stop wanting more of. He did just that with “Breaking Bad.”
If you are watching the last season, you have many questions. What will become of Jesse and Walt? Will Hank put an end to Heisenberg as we know it? Will Walter treat his brother- in-law like any other man who comes in his way? Walt still has not used the ricin Saul had returned to him in Season Five; will anything become of that? So many Questions! This show is just as addicting as the drug its plot is centered on.
The quote which appears in the image at the beginning of this article states “This show is just as addicting as the drug it’s plot is centered on”. I’m fairly certain that is should be “its”, rather than “it’s”, and one might argue for “addictive” rather than “addicting”. Any comments from the KSU English faculty?