I Like to Watch - Breaking Bad

Terri and I did not need an addiction to another TV series. We currently follow around a dozen series. Nearly all are watched via DVR on our own time so we can zip through the commercials that make up 25%-33% of the run time. But last weekend, we started watching Breaking Bad on AMC. Sunday night we watched 6-7 season 2 episodes in preparation for the season 3 premiere later that evening. I remember when AMC only aired old movies, but they are now on par with TNT in presenting original dramas that are highly regarded Emmy award winners. Both Breaking Bad and Mad Men earn more than a fair share of awards and are well worth the time commitment.

Series description from the web site: Breaking Bad follows protagonist Walter White (Bryan Cranston), a chemistry teacher who lives in New Mexico with his wife (Anna Gunn) and teenage son (RJ Mitte) who has cerebral palsy. White is diagnosed with Stage III cancer and given a prognosis of two years left to live. With a new sense of fearlessness based on his medical prognosis, and a desire to secure his family's financial security, White chooses to enter a dangerous world of drugs and crime and ascends to power in this world. The series explores how a fatal diagnosis such as White's releases a typical man from the daily concerns and constraints of normal society and follows his transformation from mild family man to a kingpin of the drug trade.

My thoughts: The acting is utterly superb, and the entire story line is knitted expertly together. Current episodes provide riddles, clues or glimpses of what future episodes will reveal. One recent plot twist occurred when Walter White learns that his cancer is in remission. He then must decide whether to continue the criminal life he only entered to provide his family with financial security after he was gone. He attempts to walk away, but is then offered $3 million for the next 3 months of his time supporting a business partner in crime. What would you do?

Season 2 ended with Walt entering his accomplice's apartment and finding he and his girlfriend in a state of near heroin overdose. The girl had earlier black mailed Walter to handover her boyfriend's cut of the drug money. Walter was holding his partner's share knowing they would binge on heroin if he handed it over, but reluctantly he agreed to hand over the money to maintain his cover. As he watched, she began to aspirate on her own vomit. Will he turn her so that she can breathe? Or do nothing and watch his black mailer die? These are the types of moral and ethical dilemmas explored by the series plot line, and the reason that Breaking Bad is a thought provoking TV series with few rivals.