I Believe in Walter White…

 

 

What’s happening, Nerds!?  That’s right; I am back! I miss you all dearly, but I am having a great time working on my short film.  I’ll have a blog for you about our progress soon! Thanks for the support!

I’m coming to you, out of my hiatus, to spread the despicable word of Walter White. Oh you’ve not heard of this man? Well please, invite me in for some lemonade and I will tell all I know.

Most of you know that among being a film lover, I also love television. I am of the mindset that we are in a ‘Golden Age’ of television with such shows as ‘The Wire’, ‘The Walking Dead’, ‘Justified’ and many more. Every where we look, we are seeing new hour-long drama’s creep up that captivate us with a new concept, incredible writing, and performances that remind us budding actors why we love the craft so much. This has never been more accurate than when viewing AMC’s ‘Breaking Bad’.

Hailed as one of the best TV shows ever created, ‘Breaking Bad’ is the story of Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and his downward spiral into the world of drugs, money laundering, and murder. Once a meek high school chemistry teacher, Walter is diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer and only given a few months to live. Fearing his inablity to leave his family in a sound financial situation, Walter begins to cook methamphetamine with a former student of his, Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul).

Some might say that the premise is a bit outlandish—perhaps morose. Maybe even preposterous. For those individuals, I would be inclined to agree. ‘Breaking Bad’ is all of those things. However, being in the ‘Golden Age’ of television, we see that even the most outlandish plots are held together because of the writing. If your characters are people you can root for, people you despise, people you sympathize with, then you have a winner. Creator Vince Gilligan has given Walter White all of these attributes: a man who we root for and who we watch decline into someone we hate; a man we wish to see dead.

Having only begun the show a few months ago, I was late to this party. I can now see why Bryan Cranston has been given so much praise. Dripping in arrogance and pride, Cranston’s portrayal of Walter White makes us empathize with him one moment and then be filled with self hatred for having felt that way to begin with. Aaron Paul’s portrayal of Jesse Pinkman is heartbreaking as you watch him grow from being a street thug into a self reliant man whose done and seen things that he should never have (when you get to the season 3 finally, you will know what I mean. It’s no wonder he won an Emmy last year).

The critics are not lying when they say it’s the best show on TV. It’s a smart, original, and depressing show with cliffhangers that make you grateful that you’re watching it on Netflix. I implore you, if you are looking for a new show or just an excuse to see tremendous writing, watch ‘Breaking Bad’.

AMC will be showing the last 8 episodes starting Summer 2013. You have time. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.

Until next time!

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