Breaking Bad

For months I had many people rave to me about the Netflix series Breaking Bad, and for months I really couldn't care less. Until the day I ran out of things to watch and found myself deep inside the Breaking Bad world.

Walter White aka Heisenberg, a chemistry teacher who has recently been diagnosed with cancer and has three years to live decides that his duty is to make sure his family have a stable and bright future ahead of them. To do so Walter starts a career in drugs and crime. After pairing up with former student Jesse Pinkman the two make their way to the top of the meth ladder.

I grew to love Breaking Bad due to the witty humour and dark story line. As the series draws to an end your initial thoughts on each character slowly changes as their true intentions become more apparent. My favourite character by far is Jesse Pinkman because despite the dark nature of Breaking Bad his simple innocence gives a lighthearted feel to the programme. Due to Pinkman's innocence he becomes a vulnerable character which creates empathy and in my opinion this can create a bond between the audience and character. In my opinion Pinkman is one of the most complex characters in Breaking Bad, whilst on their journey up the meth ladder the pair make huge sacrifices which leaves Jesse with a huge amount of guilt, questioning if this really is the life for him. Throughout the series we follow Jesse and come to understand why he did the things he did aswell as follow him on his ups and downs whilst juggling crime and guilt. On the other hand as the story line becomes more serious and risky Walter finds it hard to think about anything but money and power which forces the audience to question their love for the once family man.

I believe that love is a major theme in Breaking Bad. The show gives us insight to the extents that love can make us go to. For example, the simple fact that Walter was willing to put himself in danger in order to see that his family would be alright once he had gone. But on the other hand as the series comes to an end we learn that money can sometimes over ride the amount of love people have, as Walter becomes more than willing to kill his beloved DEA brother-in-law to save himself. Furthermore he was well aware of the guilt which over run his close partner Jesse but again was willing to sacrifice him over himself.

The series as a whole is extremely powerful as it makes the audience sympathise and relate to Walter and you find yourself agreeing with his actions but at the same time knowing that what he is doing is totally wrong. However as he changes and becomes more powerful his morals go down the drain along with his once close knit family. As the years go on we follow Walter on his self-destructive path as he finally realises that his meth empire is slowly falling in on him, and he is left with no option but to give up. The once loving man starts to shine through the hard shell of Heisenberg in the last episode as he puts himself to the side and saves Pinkman's life, therefore absolving himself.

Overall I would highly recommend anyone to watch Breaking Bad and if you're anything like me you will have finished watching it within a few weeks. Breaking Bad is a cleverly written show with fantastic acting from all of the cast and I can't think of anything in which they could improve on. Having been based on such serious and controversial subjects I was surprised to find that in parts it was very humorous . The major subject of Breaking Bad is 'cooking' crystal meth which is an extremely addictive drug very much like the series itself!

Hannah