TV in review : Breaking Bad

Currently TV sucks.

Well, it always has sucked but its extra super sucky at the moment. All the good TV shows are on hiatus for another few months and local free-to-air TV is just utter garbage. So I decided it was time to dust off the old box of shows that I never got around seeing.

A couple of weeks ago a friend showed me the first few minutes of the TV show Breaking Bad. I had never heard of it and wasn’t expecting much. But as soon as that 3 minute 49 seconds was up I found myself scrambling on the floor looking for my jaw that had strangely dislodged itself and rolled under the bed.

Breaking Bad is the story of Walter White (played by Malcolm in the Middle’s Bryan Cranston), a high school science teacher who discovers he has terminal lung cancer. To ensure the livelihood of his pregnant wife and disabled son, he decides to manufacture drugs for a quick boost to the bank balance. But as you can imagine, things don’t always go to plan. Actually, they almost never go to plan.

I can’t express how much I enjoyed Breaking Bad and I would go as far to say it is the series that comfortably replaces the void that the Sopranos left on the idiot box. This a mid-life-crisis-clusterfuck show that is dark, funny, intelligent and holds no punches. A very thought provoking series that filled with continual moral dilemmas. How far down the rabbit hole can Walk take the viewer before giving up?

Breaking Bad is truly a delicious hidden treasure that you should definitely get your hands on in any way possible.

You can find Breaking Bad on Showcase on Foxtel in Australia or AMC in the States.

July 10th, 2009 // Reviews