BB initials

[chani]

I'm so in love with Breaking Bad right now that it is quite embarrassing. I'm halfway season 3 (just watched episode 7!), trying to convince myself that I must slow down because there will be a long wait afterwards for, according to what I heard, season 4 won't start until August 2011!

That show is simply amazing, so well-shot (some shots are stunning, better than most of what we can see in movies) and cleverly written. I love all the little details, the symbolism and metaphors, the misdirections and sudden changes of pace that completely take the audience by surprise; I love the funny lines and hilarious moments of levity (mostly in season 1) that made the most horrible stuff bearable; I love the morally-challenged characters and the fact that the writers dared to make the lead character so unlikeable sometimes.
 
For those who are interested in this but haven't seen the show, here's a the pitch (and it could be the summary of the first episode of the series): Walter White, a chemistry teacher whose wife is pregnant and 16 year-old son has cerebral palsy, can hardly pay the bills of a comfortable middle-class lifestyle, in spite of a second humiliating job. One day he finds out that he has inoperable lung cancer and little time left. The opportunity of using his chemistry skills in the drug industry arises when he sees again one Jesse Pinkman, former student of his, fleeing from a meth lab scene so he starts crossing the proverbial line in a desire to secure his family's financial future, but selling drugs is a risky business (and his wife's brother-in-law is a DEA agent!) filled with dangerous people so troubles very soon ensue. 

Bryan Cranston who might get a third Emmy thanks to this show said about his character that Walter White was "a good man who made bad decisions" but it's way more complicated than that. Becoming a "meth manufacturer" revealed a lot of dark stuff about Walt, his ego, his frustrations, his lies. Since the show plays on metaphors, I'd say that the drug business was nothing but a catalyst for our brilliant chemist, that not only released the tough Heisenberg but also many demons, weaknesses and pettiness. From Mr White to the black precipitate that Heisenberg represents, it took a combination of circumstances ––a stage 3  lung cancer and its expensive chemiotherapy, Hank's offer to tag along when the DEA shut down a meth lab that led to the "reunion" with a former student turned meth dealer, and the dangerous acquaintances the oddly-matched partners made after they started cooking meth together–– but the first matter was Walter himself, a man who was a chemistry genius yet ended teaching chemistry in a public highschool in Albuquerque, while his research work has seemingly been used by old pals of his who found success and billions...

The characters study is simply terrific, not only concerning the lead but also the supporting characters played by a first-rate cast.

Bryan Cranston defintely deserves his Emmy awards and Walter White is a  magnificent character, smart enough to justify the drug plot and its twists and yet ordinary enough to tell a lot about human condition.

But if there is any real "good man" on the show I'd say it's Hank, the DEA cop, a character who sounded like a moron in the first episode (a cop that looked like a sort of parody of Vic Mackey from The Shield and a true "beauf" as we'd say in French, which fits in since Hank is Walt's brother-in-law!). Who would have thought that Hank would become such an endearing character? Yet even Hank has flaws and weaknesses and his "I"m not the man I thought I was" in "One Minute" was poignant. Bryan Cranston's and Aaron Paul's performances have been acclaimed but Dean Norris who plays Hank has been excellent too so far, especially in season 3. He should have gotten an Emmy nomination!

Speaking of the Emmy awards, I'm rooting for BB now in the Outstanding Drama Series and Direction categories! Also Cranston already got two awards, but he could get a third, even though Ham from Mad Men is also very good (but I have yet to see season 2 and 3 of MM). If Terry'O Quinn  were nominated in the same category (it's Mattew Fox!)he would have my "vote" of course. That said, the outstanding lead actor that should get an Emmy in my book is still Eric Stoltz for acting the hell out of Daniel Graystone in Caprica! It's a shame that actors playing in Sci-Fi shows never get a well-deserved recognition.

As for the Emmy of the Supporting actor I'm torn. Aaron Paul is very good in BB, but there's Terry O' Quinn who added his Not!Locke performance to his already terrific acting as Locke.

Speaking of Aaron Paul, I really like the character of Jesse Pinkman whom I call in my head "the little prince of yos" because he reminds me of St Expupéry's character (except that in his case the rose he tended  was methamphetamine dealing!), the "yo" speak added. He was a true comic relief in season 1 and, to a certain extent, in season 2 ( the "a robot?" cracked me up) but Aaron Paul was truly terrific throughout the whole season 2 (he should have gotten the Emmy last year!). Now that Jesse is "clean" and resigned to be "the bad guy" it's just heart-wrenching to see his "open wounds".
 
Women tend to take the backseats on the show but I don't mind. Skyler had her moment in "I.F.T" (an episode whose title can't be understood until the final line!). Mary has been underused but the show is mostly about Walter and Mary is only his wife's sister. As for Jane, well, she was a plot device more than anything.  

Above all, I love the Walt/Jesse relationship to bits. I think it's the core of the show, more than Walt's journey, or rather it's a mirror for Walt's journey as we can see the worst and the best of him through that dysfonctional partnership. Walt has significant moments with his "real family" too, but they can't compete with the scenes he has with his "meth son". And the teacher/student side of it is intriguing. No matter the blackmails, the fights, the troubles they go through with, and because of, one another, no matter Jesse's fuck-ups and Walt's selfishness and lies, the bond is there. I like to believe that Walt does care for Jesse and has some conscience left, and that Jesse wouldn't betray his "Mr White" so easily because he still seeks his approval and deep down Jesse is a big softie, like the pink teddy bear that ended up in Walt's swimming pool (whose accusating lost eyes hounded Walt for a while, which foreshadowed the one-eyed Jesse yelling at Walt in the hospital in "One Minute!".

Jesse used to be Walt's student when he was in highschool and it stuck. I think that Walt has become attached to Jesse through all the crazy situations they have been in, even though he denies any "friendship" and closeness when he talked to Skyler, but if anything Walt considers Jesse as "his" the way a teacher sees his students as human beings who sort of belong to him/her. I know it sounds weird but I can relate to that. When you're a teacher, the students you teach, even the dunces, are yours, they aren't just teenagers walking in your work place and sitting in your class. It's a bit like the "siring thing" in vampire verses!
In this case, there's a second layer of course. Jesse wasn't a good student, he didn't pay attention and was a post-highscool screwed-up whose parents finally deserted, but later as a lab assistant he learned a lot beside Mr White (whom he called Walt just once in the series), and Walt managed to teach him how to cook the best meth!

Jesse isn't Walt's son (it's Walter Jr) but he is his "childe". Now that Jesse is so alone, Walt is the closest thing to family that he has so he will stick around no matter how painful it is. 

I have no idea how it will end but I guess that Walt will die eventually. I hope that Jesse will survive and be "saved", but this show that started as a sort of dark comedy-drama has become a great American tragedy with intelligent writing full of connections, moving characters ––anti-heroes you can't help but feeling for, incredibly tensed and gripping scenes and unforgettable villains: Tuco the bloody brute, Tio and his bell aka Don Salamanca, the Terminator-like cousins, but also the enigmatic Mr Fring aka Chicken Man.