Why 'Breaking Bad' Is Still The Greatest TV Show Of All Time
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Why 'Breaking Bad' Is Still The Greatest TV Show Of All Time

How the iconic show helped launch Netflix streaming.

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Why 'Breaking Bad' Is Still The Greatest TV Show Of All Time
Wikimedia Commons

No other TV show has ever been so compelling, emotional and perfect as "Breaking Bad." From the acting, story writing, screenplay, character development, and music, "Breaking Bad" is a TV show which will never be topped.

"Breaking Bad" has revolutionized how we experience television and binge watch it.

If you ask any long-time Netflix watcher what the first TV show they binged-watched, many will say "Breaking Bad." "Breaking Bad" was one of the first complete TV shows to be added to Netflix’s streaming service in 2012.

However, the show did not conclude until later that year. Many have said they have a hard time getting into the show because they believe the first season is slow. This notion is quite curious, though.

"Breaking Bad" opens to an all-American family enjoying a birthday breakfast for the protagonist (and later antagonist) Walter White. The breakfast features commentary between White and his son and wife, Skyler.

It also shows Walt’s age, 50, in bacon. This takes place on Walt’s three birthdays in the series. The conversation could not have been written any better or acted more effectively.

White is a high school chemistry teacher who is not only overqualified but more brilliant than anyone realizes.

His life is dead-end, his wife nags him, his son has cerebral palsy, and his wife is pregnant with an unexpected child. Walt finds out on his 50th birthday that he has been diagnosed with stage three terminal lung cancer.

This throws him into a midlife crisis of sorts.

At his birthday party, his brother-in-law, Hank, a DEA agent, is shown on the news after a meth lab has been seized. Walt is surprised by the amount of money seized -- just over $700,000.

Hank remarks that this is just a medium-sized operation. Hank offers to take Walt on a ride along. Because Walt makes so little as a teacher, he must work part-time at a car wash where he is forced to wash down cars, even though he is a cashier.

One car he washes happens to be a student who proceeds to antagonize him. After his boss continues to harass him, Walt abruptly quits.

An idea forms.

Walt decides to take Hank up on the ride along. He sees the bust go down, and a man manages to evade arrest. Walt recognizes him as a former student, Jessie Pinkman. Walt later approaches Pinkman about cooking meth together. They get their hands on an RV and go out in the desert to cook.

Pinkman starts out as a comic-relief type character, but part of the greatness of the show is the growth in his character and the acting by Aaron Paul. Pinkman is a somewhat dimwitted young man who dresses like a gang member. He cooks meth, but does not understand the chemistry behind it.

This is where White comes in.

White and Pinkman quickly run into trouble when Pinkman's former partner and cousin go after them because they assume they are snitches. Walt is forced to show his recipe to them, but he makes a chemical weapon instead which subdues them.

They assume they are dead, but one is not and gets away. Walt catches him, but they have to decide what to do with him. If they let him go, he will kill them, but Walt’s moral compass kicks in. He makes a list of pros and cons about the murder, where he writes murder is wrong.

Meanwhile, Jessie must dispose of the other body with hydrofluoric acid. He puts the body and acid in the bathtub, which falls from the ceiling. After Walt finds out the cousin plans to kill him, he kills him in self-defense.

The visuals of these scenes and those throughout are so vivid. Sometimes, the visuals are gut-wrenching, such as the half-dissolved body. The strength in the show lies in the color and filters, depending on the scene.

Walt and Jessie need a distributor after they keep cooking, and cannot move their product. They get involved with a distributor with cartel connections.

He is meth-fueled, psychotic and violent.

Tuco beats Jessie when the two first meet, and Walt intervenes. He gets Tuco to pay up after stealing a pound of meth from Jessie, blowing up Tuco’s headquarters with meth-like mercury.

Prior, Walt shaves his head, and becomes Heisenberg. Walt and Jessie fear for their lives. They plan to kill the distributor, Tuco Salamanca, with Ricin. Ricin becomes an important tool throughout the show.

Tuco kidnaps the group and tries to send them to Mexico to cook forever. After a struggle, Jessie shoots Tuco, and Hank shows up when a shoot-out ensues. Hank ends up shooting Tuco in the head when he is reloading.

This is an allusion to a later season, where Tuco’s cousins come to kill Hank, and he runs over one and is nearly killed by the other. Right before he is killed with an ax, he shoots him in the head.

The show has flashbacks and flashforwards throughout the show. These usually take place at the top of the episodes and throughout the season, where they are fulfilled in the season finales. The show does a great job of beginning episodes with a climax and building back to it throughout the episode.

The greatest example of this is in season two.

There are black and white images with a stuffed animal in a pool. At the conclusion, a plane crash takes place, and the animal lands in the pool. After the opening, the theme song and sequence take place. It shows the periodic table with the word "meth" in the background, and the elements BR and BA being taken for the show’s title. Names of actors start with elements as well.

There are many reoccurring themes throughout the show.

Walt spends a lot of the time thinking of lies to tell his wife. Hank gets angry to cover up his fear.

Symbolism is important too.

Whenever an important deal or decision is to take place, Walt puts on his hat and turns into Heisenberg.

Symbolism is also seen in season three and four when Walt and Jessie go into business with Gustavo Fring, a business owner who is also America’s largest meth distributor, with cartel ties.

The symbolism with Fring is that he is the man of two faces, much like Walt. He shows his kind side to the world and the DEA, who he is a booster for. His other side is his other business, where he is ruthless, killing and doing whatever is necessary for his business.

This comes to a head upon his death. Walt conspires to kill Fring, and sets up a bomb. It looks like Fring escaped again as he walks away and adjusts his tie, only to see the other side of his face, which has been blown off.

Another important theme is Walt’s regret and anger. He created a business he quit because he did not know if it would equate to anything to provide for his family.

He takes a buyout for $5,000. The company grows into a $2.2 billion empire from Walt’s work. In the final season, Jessie wants Walt to take another buyout, for $5 million. Walt responds, “You ask if I’m in the meth business or the money business. Neither. I’m in the empire business.”

The show's use of music is masterful.

There are episodes named for the scenes and song names, such as “Caballo sin nombre” (horse with no name). Another use of music is the song “Windy” by the Association, which is about a prostitute, and is used when Jessie enlists Wendy, the local prostitute to kill two rival dealers.

Another song says, “Maybe tomorrow a bullet may find me, but nothing is worse than this pain in my heart.” This song plays in the final episode, alluding to Walt’s fate.

Another strength of the show is the episode naming.

In the final season, Walt evades arrest by going to New Hampshire. Two episodes are named “Granite State” and “Live Free or Die,” which are a name and motto for the state.

Finally, the finale is named "Filina." It stands for blood, meth and tears with the element names Fi (iron), Li (lithium), and Na (sodium).

Last but not least, the greatest strength of the show is the transformation of Walt’s character and evolution of Bryan Cranston as an actor.

Cranston was the father on "Malcom in the Middle," a mild-mannered push-over. His character initially seems the same at the beginning of "Breaking Bad," but by the end, it became so much more.

Walt was disrespected and did not reach his potential, much like Cranston as an actor. Walt became a monster to reach that potential. Cranston became that character, and it is unfathomable to think of any other actor playing Walt.

The show made Cranston’s career.

He has become a Tony award nominated actor on Broadway, and a movie star. He is among some of the most popular actors today.

To someone who has not experienced "Breaking Bad," it is hard to do it justice. It is perfect. Vince Gilligan, the executive producer effectively made the greatest TV show of all time, and it will never be topped.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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