I just finished watch the TV series “Breaking Bad”. For those who don’t know about it, it was on AMC, lasted four seasons and was about a high school chemistry teacher who gets diagnosed with cancer and turns to cooking crystal meth to pay his medical bills.
It was good. The first two seasons really good, seasons three and four were also good but I felt the story was being drawn out in comparison with the first two seasons. If the show had maintained the original pace seasons three and four would have been one season IMO.
Essentially the show looked at the values of America. In theory all of the shows charcaters are in pursuit of the American dream, or at least one of them. Walt wants to be independent, Jesse wants to be left alone to do his own thing, Skyler wants the white picket fence and most everyone else wants to be rich.
What the show examines is when these desires come into conflict with the real world, with law and order, and with what happens when you decide to abandon the rules. The spark is Walt's cancer. His insurance isn't what he thought it would be and he's too proud to accept charity so he rationalizes abandoning the system that he feels abandoned him. Then things get out of control.
Things’ spinning out of control when there are no rules is definitely the leitmotif of the series. In many ways it's about the need for rules even if they seem unfair.
In the end I think what I liked about it most is that the show wanted you to think about issues and ideas, about right and wrong, values. TV needs more shows like that.
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