Breaking Bad
It's not news that Breaking Bad is a great show. Rolling Stones ranked it third in the Top 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time and who watched it can easily understand why.
It's the story of a normal middle-aged chemistry teacher with a pregnant wife and a teenage son. Average family from Albuquerque, struggling to get to the end of the month until everything changes when Walter is diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. Medical expenses and bills lead him to top up his income by using his free time to produce meth in a stolen RV in the middle of the desert with his old student and drug addict, Jesse Pinkman.
He quickly finds out that he's good at it when the demand for his pure blue meth soars. This leads to the creation of his meth-cooking alter ego, Heisenberg, who will slowly destroy what is left of the old Mr White and, eventually, of what he was trying to protect with all his might: his family.
In fact, Walter's character development in Breaking Bad is something utterly astonishing. Definitely one of the (many) reasons to watch this show. I binge-watched it for over a month and finally I got to the last episode of the fifth season last night. I will not give you any spoilers on the very last seconds of the show but I'm kinda glad and not too surprised that what happened happened. I was left in a more serious state of shock when my favourite character, Gustavo Fring, died in one of the best scenes ever filmed in the series, keeping it classy till the very end.
The arc of Walt and Jesse's characters is complex and satisfying. They are like two lines that keep crossing with each other but go in two different directions. Walter is the high school teacher that lived his life following the rules and taking care of his family. Jesse is a junkie that was kicked out of his house and disowned by his family and has no one except for his three drug addict friends. In my opinion, Brian Cranston and Aaron Paul delivered a performance that exceeds all expectations.
What happens in one year (the events take place in the course of a year) is surprising. From being nice and innocent, Walter becomes a man willing to do whatever to protect his name, his identity and his family. Pinkman on the other hand, goes through a series of events that will change him forever, leading him to being a responsible man who is tired of living the life he has been.
Through the five series, Walter develops a lust for money. After a few attempt at selling meth with Jesse as a private business, they decided to become partners with Gustavo Fring, the drug dealer with the lowest profile in the market. Best friend with the DEA chief and owner of Los Pollos Hermanos, a famous fast food chains, no one would ever doubt about him.
What really fascinates me is how the relations between Walter and Gus changes and develops from season three to season five.
Gus is all clean and tidy, both in his private life like in his business. Everything has to be in order and in the right place. He also has a hitman, Mike Ehrmantraut, that does the dirty job for him. Walter, on the other hand, doesn't trust Jesse and his friends and gets the job done himself.
But it's stunning how, through the seasons, Walter changes, looking more and more like Gustavo: ruthless and low profile. He doesn't expose himself anymore that's why he sends his lawyer, Saul Goodman, to get the job done for him.
Another thing that particularly impressed me is how much Walter acts like Gus towards the last season. Let me explain in a better way.
In season 4 episode 10, Gus kills the whole cartel poisoning a bottle of liquor which he drinks as well not to arouse suspicion. Right after that, he goes to the toilet, takes off his blazer carefully, opens the tap, put a towel on the floor and kneels on it to throw up. Everything is so calm considering he is risking his life.
In "Blood Money", (ep. 9 season 5), Walter goes to bathroom, opens the tap and kneels down right in front of the toilet. After a few seconds, he looks up, take a towel to put under his knees and returns back to what he was doing. So it's kind of an obvious recall to Gustavo, even if the change is not completely done. We can still see a sparkle of the old Walter, the messy and irrational one, who often doesn't think before he acts.
In the same episode though, we see another striking similarity between the two. We were used to seeing Gus in one of his shops serving customers in a calm and professional way, and often he acted the same way when Walter used to go there to talk about business, right in front of everyone. Same thing happens here. Lidia, Walt's new business partner, walked into his car wash to talk about the low quality of a batch of meth and he keeps his professionalism, just like Gus at Los Pollos Hermanos.
After Gustavo's death, Walter tries to take his place. He doesn't quit like many were expecting him to do, instead, he takes the lead and continues cooking and selling meth in New Mexico. The analogy between Walt and Gus at this point is so obvious, even the characters of the show noticed it, and that is why Mike said: "Just because you shot Jesse James doesn't mean you are Jesse James."
I have to admit that towards the end of the series I started hating Walter so much. He becomes uppish and arrogant, willing to kill anybody to succeed. And in the end, if he goes down, everyone goes down with him.
It's the story of a normal middle-aged chemistry teacher with a pregnant wife and a teenage son. Average family from Albuquerque, struggling to get to the end of the month until everything changes when Walter is diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. Medical expenses and bills lead him to top up his income by using his free time to produce meth in a stolen RV in the middle of the desert with his old student and drug addict, Jesse Pinkman.
He quickly finds out that he's good at it when the demand for his pure blue meth soars. This leads to the creation of his meth-cooking alter ego, Heisenberg, who will slowly destroy what is left of the old Mr White and, eventually, of what he was trying to protect with all his might: his family.
In fact, Walter's character development in Breaking Bad is something utterly astonishing. Definitely one of the (many) reasons to watch this show. I binge-watched it for over a month and finally I got to the last episode of the fifth season last night. I will not give you any spoilers on the very last seconds of the show but I'm kinda glad and not too surprised that what happened happened. I was left in a more serious state of shock when my favourite character, Gustavo Fring, died in one of the best scenes ever filmed in the series, keeping it classy till the very end.
The arc of Walt and Jesse's characters is complex and satisfying. They are like two lines that keep crossing with each other but go in two different directions. Walter is the high school teacher that lived his life following the rules and taking care of his family. Jesse is a junkie that was kicked out of his house and disowned by his family and has no one except for his three drug addict friends. In my opinion, Brian Cranston and Aaron Paul delivered a performance that exceeds all expectations.
What happens in one year (the events take place in the course of a year) is surprising. From being nice and innocent, Walter becomes a man willing to do whatever to protect his name, his identity and his family. Pinkman on the other hand, goes through a series of events that will change him forever, leading him to being a responsible man who is tired of living the life he has been.
Through the five series, Walter develops a lust for money. After a few attempt at selling meth with Jesse as a private business, they decided to become partners with Gustavo Fring, the drug dealer with the lowest profile in the market. Best friend with the DEA chief and owner of Los Pollos Hermanos, a famous fast food chains, no one would ever doubt about him.
What really fascinates me is how the relations between Walter and Gus changes and develops from season three to season five.
Gus is all clean and tidy, both in his private life like in his business. Everything has to be in order and in the right place. He also has a hitman, Mike Ehrmantraut, that does the dirty job for him. Walter, on the other hand, doesn't trust Jesse and his friends and gets the job done himself.
But it's stunning how, through the seasons, Walter changes, looking more and more like Gustavo: ruthless and low profile. He doesn't expose himself anymore that's why he sends his lawyer, Saul Goodman, to get the job done for him.
Another thing that particularly impressed me is how much Walter acts like Gus towards the last season. Let me explain in a better way.
In season 4 episode 10, Gus kills the whole cartel poisoning a bottle of liquor which he drinks as well not to arouse suspicion. Right after that, he goes to the toilet, takes off his blazer carefully, opens the tap, put a towel on the floor and kneels on it to throw up. Everything is so calm considering he is risking his life.
In "Blood Money", (ep. 9 season 5), Walter goes to bathroom, opens the tap and kneels down right in front of the toilet. After a few seconds, he looks up, take a towel to put under his knees and returns back to what he was doing. So it's kind of an obvious recall to Gustavo, even if the change is not completely done. We can still see a sparkle of the old Walter, the messy and irrational one, who often doesn't think before he acts.
Walter's first meeting with Gus
After Gustavo's death, Walter tries to take his place. He doesn't quit like many were expecting him to do, instead, he takes the lead and continues cooking and selling meth in New Mexico. The analogy between Walt and Gus at this point is so obvious, even the characters of the show noticed it, and that is why Mike said: "Just because you shot Jesse James doesn't mean you are Jesse James."
Walt's tries to keep it professional, just like Gus.
I have to admit that towards the end of the series I started hating Walter so much. He becomes uppish and arrogant, willing to kill anybody to succeed. And in the end, if he goes down, everyone goes down with him.
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