“Breaking Bad” returned to television for the second half of its 5th and
final season August 11. Season 5B has had a large focus on the deteriorating
personality of Walter White (Bryan Cranston) as he continues to transform into
his crime-lord alter-ego, Heisenberg. Walter, retired from the meth-empire
business, is focusing on spending his remaining months with his family, now
entirely content with the copious amounts of money he has made. However, new
circumstances have arisen causing the imminent fall of White. Thankfully, we,
the viewers, are able to watch the downward spiral of one of TV’s most
brilliant characters in one of TV’s greatest shows.
It’s difficult to go into details about the
recent plot developments for “Breaking Bad” considering any future viewers
won’t want to have the show spoiled for them. From the beginning, ”Breaking Bad”
was and still is about a high school chemistry teach with terminal cancer
cooking and selling meth in order to make money to leave to his family. Anyone
new to the show should start from the beginning knowing only this small, yet
intriguing, bit of information. Spoiling the show would be a huge disservice to
any potential viewer.
What can be said is that “Breaking Bad” is one for The Television Hall of Fame.
The character archs, plot advances, acting, writing, and fantastic
cinematography are unparalleled unless compared to the greatest of TV series
such as “The Wire.” The seamless transitions between daytime and nighttime
shots, Bryan Cranston’s maniacal laugh in season 4’s “Crawl Space,” and Mike’s
(Jonathan Banks) lecture to Walter concerning half measures and full measures
are notable staples to fans and critics when looking back on the previous
episodes of the modern classic.
In the current Golden Age of Television with
shows such as “Mad Men,” “Homeland,” and “Game of Thrones” receiving nearly
unanimous praise from critics and fans, “Breaking Bad” has managed to stick out
and even tower above many of its competitors. The series has been nominated for
41 Primetime Emmys, winning a total of nine, three of which belong to Cranston,
two to Aaron Paul for his portrayal of Jesse Pinkman, and one for Anna Gunn’s
character, Skyler White. Though Cranston didn’t take home another Emmy this
year, “Breaking Bad” won its first well-deserved Outstanding Drama Series award
despite the fierce competition.
The decision made in April of 2013 to split
the final season of the series in half is one that has confused many fans. No
one is entirely sure why the choice was made but, right now, nobody is
complaining. The final episode airs September 29 and, though the fans are anxious
to see the conclusion, nobody actually wants “Breaking Bad” to end. It’s a catch-22,
but at least it involves the final episodes of what very well could be the
greatest television series ever created.
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