TV Review: Dark comedy shatters the rut of reality TV
‘Breaking Bad’ injects danger into high school chemistry
Out of the intellectual wasteland where reality TV and mid-season cancellations rule the airways, “Breaking Bad” presents a concept that is dark and original.
Though AMC’s new series, “Breaking Bad,” may take a few cues from Showtime’s “Weeds,” it still offers a dark and original alternative to various dance competitions, singing competitions, or date-the-celebrity competitions.
The show follows Walter White (Bryan Cranston “Malcolm in the Middle”), a wimpy high school chemistry teacher who goes through a midlife crisis when he is diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. He combats the clichéd motivation not with a new motorcycle or a younger woman, but by cooking and selling meth with Jesse (Aaron Paul “Big Love”), a student he fluked years ago.
Though the show is billed as a dark comedy, it skips most of the comic aspects and goes straight for the dark. There are a few chuckles to be found in the show, but only for people whose minds have been twisted by years of pop culture violence and gore.
Instead of going for laughs, former “X-files” writer Vince Gilligan likes to put the two main characters in situations that test their will to survive, their morals and their constitution.
By the end of the first episode Walter and Jesse have to escape a near-death situation while ending up with two bodies and crashing their meth lab/RV in the process, leaving them to pick up the pieces in the show’s second episode.
Though the first episode was mediocre, the real pleasure is watching Cranston take his character to dark places far from the norm.
Cranston trades in the zany dad he played in “Malcolm in the Middle” for an angry and troubled high school teacher.
Walter develop a new sense of fearlessness when he is diagnosed with cancer and Cranston presents an interesting character study as his character takes more aggressive stance towards life. His new attitude leads him to attack a teenager who makes fun of his disabled son and tell off pregnant wife after a sonogram.
Watching Walter unravel from the stress and guilt from his new line of work while keeping tight lip about his cancer is delightful.
Paul does a pretty good job playing the foil to Walter. Where Walter is calm, Jesse is panicked and is always looking to Walter for what to do next while simultaneously disregarding all of his advice. As Walter is master of all things chemical, Jesse knows alarmingly little about the subject, even for a drop out turned meth dealer.
Though the show’s first episode wasn’t mind blowing, the series has a lot of potential. The characters are interesting and it is fun to watch them interact with one another. Cranston is a great actor who presents an interesting character study as Paul does a good job backing him up. The writing wasn’t great for the so far, but Gilligan is a seasoned writer who should be able to do a lot with the fertile ground provided by the show’s concept.
Channel: AMC
Time: Sundays at 10 p.m.
Description: A high school chemistry teacher teams up with a former student to cook and sell meth.
Grade: B-
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on Tuesday, January 29th, 2008 at 1:05 am and is filed under Arts & Entertainment, Television Reviews.
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