AML TV review: “Breaking Bad”

Break Bad (v.) 1. to challenge convention 2. to defy authority 3. to raise hell

I heard some good things about the new AMC original series called Breaking Bad starring Bryan Cranston, so I slapped it up on the DVR and decided to check it out last night.

After watching it today, I have to say I came away pretty impressed.

The idea for the show is very unique I felt. Cranston stars as Walter White, a chemistry teacher in a local Albuquerque, New Mexico high school. He’s just hit the age of 50 and works a second job at a car wash, where the guy who owns it makes him scrub the cars when he’s shorthanded.

And then to make matters worse, he collapses one day and a doctor with a mustard stain on his lab coat tells White that he has inoperable lung cancer.

The official plot description from AMC.com basically describes what happens next as Walt being “Desperate to secure his family’s financial future and finally free from the fear that had always inhibited him, Walt teams up with a former student to turn a used RV into a mobile drug lab.”

The opening of the pilot episode was fantastic. White is barreling down a desert road trying to keep the RV under control, while wearing a gas mask that is starting to fog up, while dead bodies and lab equipment bounce around in the back.

The RV crashes and he gets out. Hearing police sirens headed his way, Walt leaves a final message on a video camera for his family, stands in the middle of the dirt road and points a gun towards the direction of the arrive authorities.

And the scene ends, and switches to three weeks earlier.

I have to say, I was hooked from the very beginning and one of the main reasons was Cranston himself, who is absolutely superb in this role. Considering he came from the comedy Malcolm in the Middle, you might not think he could kick so much butt in a dramatic role, but he does.

I forget who said it…I think Joss Whedon, but many believe that being funny is one of the hardest things to do on screen so comedians often end up being amazing dramatic actors.

It actually has some funny moments, such as White getting ready to cook some “meth” and stripping to his tidy whites and strapping on a green apron. Why? So his family can’t smell the “cooking” when he gets home.

The entire opening plot was just totally different from what is out there, it was interesting and I plan on giving it another shot next week. It has a darker feel to it, the moral dilemma of what he’s doing and that kind of appeals to me.

You can catch repeats of the show all week, a couple times each day actually, and the next episode entitled “Cat’s in the Bag” in its usual time slot on Sunday nights.