Bromine Barium
Posted on | February 6, 2008 at 10:16 pm | 6 Comments
Done with the “day” titles at last!
I just watched the first two episodes of the new AMC original series Breaking Bad. I’m not sure how an original show like this ends up on the “American Movie Classics” channel, but like the channel’s other original show Mad Men, it’s aimed squarely at folks who don’t really seem to fit the demographic. But I applaud AMC for putting on this kind of edgy, adult show. They’re the new FX or HBO. (Note I haven’t actually watched Mad Men beyond the first episode, but I do have the whole first season recorded and plan on getting around to it eventually. The first episode had me very intrigued.)
Breaking Bad is a “dark comedy”, the story of a high school chemistry teacher named Walter White, played by Malcolm In The Middle patriarch Bryan Cranston. Walter is 49 and has two dead-end jobs (he works at a car wash as well as being a teacher), a younger, pregnant wife (Deadwood’s Anna Gunn), and a teenage son with cerebral palsy. He’s a dull guy, though he really loves chemistry, and his students give him a hard time. Could it get any worse? Of course! One day he also find out he has inoperable lung cancer and a year or two to live, even though he’s not a smoker. He doesn’t do what you or I would do and tell his family about it. Instead, he decides to start making and selling crystal meth, with the aid of an old junkie student of his (played by Aaron Paul), supposedly so he can get some money to allow his family to live more comfortably after he’s gone. As plans go, it’s a pretty desperate and stupid one. And, this being TV, filled with complications. But y’know, without all that, there wouldn’t be a show. The show’s creator is Vince Gilligan, who was responsible for some of the more demented stuff on The X-Files over the years.
This is indeed a dark comedy, one that’s similar to, but even darker than, Showtime’s Weeds, which I didn’t think possible. The two episodes shown so far have depicted a roller coaster ride with hardly any time to breath. Things happen pretty fast on this show. It’s definitely more “dark” than “comedy” and like a lot of shows these days, it doesn’t totally give you someone to root for. Walter seemed like an okay guy before he went crazy, but I had little empathy for him before or after his transformation. He definitely is the kind of geeky high school teacher you’d want to pick on if you were his student, and you wonder why he ended up with a hot, younger wife. I’m trying hard to find something to like about his character, but aside from wanting to take care of his family and his geeky interest in science, there ain’t much there. He’s still kind of a blank. This is definitely the age of the anti-hero on TV, and I think things may be going a little too far. I really want to sympathize with the guy, but he’s just makes stupid decisions and doesn’t have much of a personality. (I think I’m rooting more for his stupid drugged-out ex-student accomplice.) Walter has to keep doing worse and worse things, his veneer of civility begins to crack, and he separates himself further and further from the rest of society. Yet, I’m sure the show is going to prove to us that even though he’s dying and he’s doing bad things, He’s Never Felt So Alive.
Speaking of edginess, the show does feature violence, gross-outs, “sexual situations” and dialog, intensity, and some profanity, much like the FX stable of original shows. The “S” word is spoken. The “F” word is too, but it’s been “rubbed out” (i.e not bleeped, but they kind of muffle it) like BBC America does to Torchwood*.
I’ll probably keep watching the show for awhile, since it is somewhat unusual and has its entertaining moments, though I’m building up something of a tolerance for “shocking moments” in these kinds of shows. The acting and writing are generally good, even if the premise is a bit wonky and totally unbelievable. I never thought I’d say this – I must be getting old – but sometimes I long for a conventional good guy who is pure of heart and all that. But I guess I’ll settle for the Nebbish Who Does What He Must. At least I can relate to him a bit more personally than I can to Rescue Me’s Tommy Gavin or the plastic surgeons on Nip/Tuck.
Latre.
* – I’ve actually been watching Torchwood on HDNet rather than BBC America. The new episodes are delayed a couple of weeks, but at least they show them uncut (the episodes are actually longer) and uncensored (full frickin’ profanity and more nudity), and the picture quality is some of the best HiDef I’ve seen (BBC America doesn’t do HD yet). Those Brits sure know how to do it right, but it’s weird that to get the full experience, one has to watch it on a different channel than BBC’s domestic outlet.
Comments
6 Responses to “Bromine Barium”
February 7th, 2008 @ 7:28 am
Ever wonder why everyone’s underwear gets in a twist if we hear the F word on TV or see Janet Jackson’s nipple for a quarter of a second, but you can watch The Godfather and see Sonny get shot about 150 times?
February 7th, 2008 @ 11:14 am
It’s because of the fluoride (F) in the water, I tell ya.
February 7th, 2008 @ 1:15 pm
I am not sure if this is edgy enough for you but the main characters on “Pushing Daisies” are all heart. I would also plug “Chuck” as being a more heroic hero, plus a nerd which gives him extra points.
February 7th, 2008 @ 2:28 pm
I watch and enjoy both Pushing Daisies and Chuck, even though the former is the twee-est, most art-directed network TV show ever, and the latter I keep getting confused with Reaper.
February 7th, 2008 @ 3:12 pm
The “wow – a middle-aged guy in a bottle-green shirt and underpants, holding a gun!” demographic will lap this one up, I gather.
February 22nd, 2008 @ 10:34 pm
You might enjoy this audio interview (and transcription) with “Breaking Bad” actress Anna Gunn: http://www.mrmedia.com/2008/02/anna-gunn-bad-and-actress-mr-media_22.html .