I actually watched all 4 1/2 Seasons of Breaking Bad on Netflix in 1 week and the 2nd half of Season 5 Marathon including the series finale yesterday (Sunday 9/29/13) on AMC.

For those of you who have been living under a rock and haven’t heard of Breaking Bad here’s a brief description before I share my review:

Breaking Bad is a TV series in the Crime Drama genre created and produced by Vince Gilligan who labeled it a “contemporary western.”

It’s set and produced in Albuquerque, New Mexico and tells the story of Walter White, a struggling high school chemistry teacher diagnosed with Stage 3 lung cancer who turns to a life of crime in order to secure his family’s financial future before he dies.

Walter partners with a former student, Jesse Pinkman and together they create a thriving business producing and selling one of the purest forms of Meth throughout the American south-west.

Breaking Bad has received widespread critical acclaim, and is considered one of the greatest TV dramas of all time. The series has won ten Primetime Emmy Awards, including three Best Actor Emmys for Bryan Cranston and two Best Supporting Actor for Aaron Paul.

The Guinness Book of World Records lists season 5 as the all time highest-rated season of any TV Show!

Overview

Writing – Brilliant!

Acting – Brilliant!

Directing – Brilliant!

Creative Editing with the flashbacks and previews!

5 Stars – Absolutely!

My Review

SPOILER ALERT

Over the 5 Seasons spanning 2 years of Walter’s life, both Walter and Jesse consistently find themselves in impossibly difficult situations from which they extricate themselves by a combination of Walter’s wit and pure dumb luck.

I have never before seen a TV series where almost all the characters were so unlovable.

The only ‘good guys’ were DEA Agents, Gomez and Walt’s brother-in-law, Hank who had many character flaws himself. I guess the only truly likeable character was Walt Jr. (Flynn)

Skyler was a little B**chy at times and Marie is perhaps the most annoying character ever.

What was surprising to me and what I liked were these delightful pockets of comedy I found sprinkled throughout the narrative.

I think the subject matter and content were so dark that many people missed the humor.

There are so many instances of pure comedy, largely because of the brilliant acting by Bryan Cranston, that one could easily forget they were witnessing the story of a murdering Meth dealer and think they were glimpsing scenes from an Abbot and Costello movie.

The writing was pure gold.

I love when writers dig deep into that creative well and force you to experience the strongest of emotions without having their characters spew 4-letter words every 2 minutes. That takes real skill and I absolutely respect and appreciate that!

The directing was unsurpassed.

It was fascinating to watch time and again as the camera slowly dragged across some mundane scene to reveal something of material interest to the story while keeping you totally transfixed in anticipation.

Never has the ordinary become so interesting than in the story of the transformation of Walter White!

Concerning Walter’s personal journey I can tell you exactly when I stopped having empathy with him.

When he just stood there and let Jesse’s girlfriend die!

What kind of man can just stand there and watch as a young girl slowly chokes to death on her own vomit?

That was the last straw for me. I could still feel some sympathy but I could no longer identify in any way with this character.

I mean come on dude! That’s somebody’s young daughter there.

I am 50 years old and got a kid about Jane’s age and no matter what the consequences I couldn’t have a chance to save her life and just stand there doing nothing… That was just wrong!

Incidentally, I thought they would reintroduce her father some time after the plane crash but they did not.

I like the fact that R J Mitte who really does have Cerebral Palsy played his role flawlessly. Big thumbs up there!

Giancarlo Esposito’s Gus was beautifully crafted and perfectly played! It’s always a joy to watch him work.

Mark Margolis who plays Héctor “Tio” Salamanca was outstanding in his role and scary as hell!

I mean, what can you say about a guy who’s only response to being questioned by the police is to deliberately crap his pants as a sign of defiance while staring at the cops with those cold, dead eyes! That’s some next level stuff right there!

So sad that both girls Jesse liked had to die but at least at the end he got to go free.

I’m pretty sure everybody got caught thinking that Walt was gonna off Gretchen and Elliot but got a pleasant surprise with his genius plan to provide for his son.

I appreciate the fact that he finally came clean with Skyler and admitted that he did everything for himself and not for his family as he claimed before.

All in all it was a fitting conclusion to a story about consequences of actions, the choices we make and how they affect the people we love.

Truly brilliant TV!

… Say my name!