Breaking Bad - a review.

   I’ve been watching Breaking Bad since 2021, I’ve finished watching it about a week ago. This is my review and thoughts on the Breaking Bad series, with a review on the sequel (and prequel once I watch that.) coming soon too. In this post I will be focusing on the series, Walter, and Jesse. This post will have spoilers of the Breaking Bad series and El Camino movie.

    The reason for it taking so long being the fact that I’ve been very busy with my studies and could not spare an hour out of my day to watch the show or any other Netflix show for that matter. I’ve begun and finished the fifth and final season of the show today. In addition to watching El Camino, a sequel and epilogue to the Breaking Bad series, which I’ve enjoyed and will be writing about soon as well.

    Breaking Bad is an American crime drama series that was created & produced by Vince Gilligan. It revolves around the story of Walter White, a meek and over-qualified high-school chemistry teacher who is diagnosed with lung cancer and turns to using his chemistry skills and using the street-smarts of his former student, Jesse Pinkman -- to create and distribute methamphetamine so he could make ends meet with the original incentive of providing for his family and kids with a secured financial future before he dies. The show originally aired on AMC from 2008 to 2013, consisting of 5 seasons and 62 episodes.

    The show is centered around Walter, it show begins with him and his journey towards trying to make ends meet for his family in the limited time he has before his impending doom. Right from the beginning we see a small yet profound flaw in Walt. His narcissism. It’s first seen when he refuses the money offered by his two friends, Gretchen and Elliot Schwartz, to treat his cancer. He refuses the money out of his egoistic spite due to his resent towards them. A feeling of resent that was because of an action that walt himself was completely responsible for and nobody else. His flaws worsen over time and he develops new flaws. His personality changes and he’s basically unrecognizable both by looks and by personality during the final season in comparison to the first one.

    It's a show I really enjoyed. I’ve experienced feelings of happiness, guilt, anger, and depression watching this show. It’s a roller coaster from start to finish and you can never really expect what will come next. Everything about it is interesting and the atmosphere fits perfectly. One thing I especially enjoyed is the excellent story-telling in the show with the use of colours and atmosphere. Walter is the protagonist but he’s no hero, he’s a round character which is something the show focuses on. He’s greatly flaws but like characters such as The Joker and Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender, you sympathize with him and even might root for him when what he’s doing is morally questionable or downright evil. In Walter White’s own words, “Chemistry is the study of matter, but I prefer to see it as the study of change.”

    Something I’ve found really ironic in the end of Breaking Bad is that the only character who gets a happy ending is the character who’s had one of the worst fates throughout the show. Jesse Pinkman. Pinkman, the Deuteragonist – is the former high-school student of Walter, He’s sensitive, affectionate, and sympathetic towards others generally. He’s reluctant to Walt’s request to cook meth with him. However, he accepts and alongside walt, begins as an amateur, small-time meth cook. He soon climbs up the drug hierarchy, though he does so through both morally acceptable and morally unacceptable ways.

Walter White and Jesse Pinkman in the first episode.

    Jesse Pinkman is haunted by some of his own actions and his sense of morality remains generally stable throughout the show in contrast to Walter’s. His affectionate nature towards his loved ones and alike is especially shown when Todd Alquist, a partner; kills a kid on a dirt bike which makes Jesse traumatized and leads him to quit being in the drug hierarchy and industry because that death is what tipped the iceberg for him. He unsurprisingly suffers from PTSD and severe trauma, something he struggles with in El Camino. In the end he’s able to leave and start a new life in Alaska, unlike every other main character in the series who is either killed, harmed, or left in a miserable condition.

Walter White and Jesse Pinkman meet for the last time.

    Overall, the show has been a very dynamic and interesting one. It’s use of atmosphere and colour to tell the story is an excellent trait, and the effort and cleverness put into the show is what made it special. I would definitely watch it again with the feeling of having watched it for the first time. I am looking forward to writing on El Camino next and watching Better Call Saul and I hope it’s as good of a journey as Breaking Bad was to me.