I was at Best Buy today and a DVD that caught my attention was the first Season of Breaking Bad airing on AMC starring Bryan Cranston. The only thing i know about Bryan Cranston is that he was the father on the woefully under-appreciated Malcolm in the Middle.
The show is about Walter White, a High School chemistry teacher who learns that he has lung cancer and is dying. In order to provider for his family, including his physically handicapped son and pregnant wife, he and delinquent High School student Jesse Pinkman start cooking meth in an RV.
In episode one, Walter is diagnosed with cancer, and we get a view of Walter's monotonous life at his first job, a chemistry teacher, and second job, as a car wash attendant. He decides that he needs to provide for his family before he is gone. Seeing his brother in law (a DEA agent) bust a meth lab, and in the process, seize $700,000 cash from the lab. Being a brilliant chemist, he decides this is the way to provide for his family.
In episode two, Walter and Jesse are dealing with the repercussions from the accident at the end of episode one, including how to keep this secret from his wife and what to do with a dead body.
The acting in this series is superb, and the plot is interesting. I can't help but think of the Showtime show, Weeds, which I am a huge fan of. The comedy in this show is far more subdued, as this is much more of a drama then a comedy, and Weeds is more of a 50-50 split. Although this show is covering similar ground, it does it in a much different way.
I'm not sure about the rest of the supporting cast after just two episodes, but both of the main characters Walter and Jesse are very entertaining, superb actors who play off of each other very well. The uptight teacher vs the delinquent student is a tired, cliche dynamic, but it is used here to full effect in a new and entertaining way.
I give these two episodes 3 1/2 stars out of 5. I imagine it will remain interesting as the rest of the characters are fleshed out, and as we see more how Walter's uptight personality conflicts with the world of illicit drugs.
...and wait until you see what they do with the body!
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