Breaking Bad

[Internet Apex]

This is a cool new show on AMC, Sundays. Bryan Cranston (The dad on Malcolm in the Middle) plays a high school chemistry teacher who learns he has inoperable lung cancer. He's got a handicapped son and a pregnant wife. So he decides to start cooking up meth with a local dipshit drug dealer in an attempt to make some money for his family before he dies.

Insanity ensues.

The show has excellent dialogue, decent acting and tremendous cinematography. It's just weird enough to remind one of a Coen Bros. picture. It's more disturbing than depressing. More surreal than anything.

I give the first episode a 3/4. If you have Comcast you can get the first two episodes OnDemand. I'm about to watch the second episode right now.

Give this a look. 

[Corn-fed]

Whatley!

[Kermit]

I love that actor.  The guy is hilarious.

[Slaky+]

I gotta check this out....even though it sounds like Weeds on steroids.

[Internet Apex]

I gotta check this out....even though it sounds like Weeds on steroids meth.

D'ur.

[Corn-fed]

Just watched Episode 1.

Good stuff.

Whatley's great, as is Aaron Paul as his sidekick.

The whole emasculated middle-aged man is hardly new territory (frankly, there's a bit of Malcolm's dad in here), so we'll have to wait and see if they manage to make it fresh. But casting Cranston and Paul alone seems like a pretty good start.

And, really, there's no denying the appeal of an eBay-inspired flaccid handjob. ("Happy Birthday!") And flipping the wife for some backdoor entry? That really symbolizes "breaking bad"... very symbolically.

[Internet Apex]

Just watched Episode 1.

Good stuff.

Whatley's great, as is Aaron Paul as his sidekick.

The whole emasculated middle-aged man is hardly new territory (frankly, there's a bit of Malcolm's dad in here), so we'll have to wait and see if they manage to make it fresh. But casting Cranston and Paul alone seems like a pretty good start.

And, really, there's no denying the appeal of an eBay-inspired flaccid handjob. ("Happy Birthday!") And flipping the wife for some backdoor entry? That really symbolizes "breaking bad"... very symbolically.

Episode two gets more depraved. I can't wait to see how sick it gets in episode three. There's a speech that Mr. White gives in the first episode to his students, that sets up the theme of the show: "Chemistry is not the study of elements, but the study of change." Then he starts setting shit on fire and some of the geeks in the class are like, "Whoa!"

It's true, that this type of emasculated middle aged man is a common character in film but damn if it isn't a common character in real life middle America too. So, I'm cool with it.

[Corn-fed]

(spoilerish)

When the episode started in flash-forward mode, I fully expected that to be a flash forward to the end of the season/series or something. I certainly didn't think we'd see him killing fools already.

At the very least, I know they won't be stringing us along.

[Internet Apex]

It's an odd roller coaster of emotion that this story inspires in me. When I watch White commit some horrifying criminal acts, I get a rush of fear and anguish for the character because I can anticipate what the repercussions will mean for him. It's like watching The Shield when I think, for sure, that Vic has just gone too far this time and there's no going back and he's screwed through the floor now... But this character has terminal lung cancer. He doesn't have time for the repercussions to really set in. If he goes to jail he won't survive two years of his sentence and will do most of it hooked up to breathing tubes anyway. Prison really should be no deterrent to him at this point. He's gonna die a slow painful death regardless.

So I'm kind of free to just watch with impunity, believing that shit can't possibly get worse. That is where this show is totally brand new for me. Maybe there have been stories like this before but damned if I can remember one that was worth a shit.

[The Ghost of Desipio Past]

So when do we find out the test results were wrong?

[Slaky+]

So when do we find out the test results were wrong?

Pretty much what I'm thinking.

[Corn-fed]

So when do we find out the test results were wrong?

Pretty much what I'm thinking.

How often does someone get misdiagnosed with inoperable lung cancer?

"Good news, Mr. White. We just looked at your MRI again and turns out it wasn't a tumor after all, just the Gummi Bears in your pocket."

[Slaky+]

So when do we find out the test results were wrong?

Pretty much what I'm thinking.

How often does someone get misdiagnosed with inoperable lung cancer?

"Good news, Mr. White. We just looked at your MRI again and turns out it wasn't a tumor after all, just the Gummi Bears in your pocket."

Great point. TV never stretches reality.

[CT II]

So when do we find out the test results were wrong?

Pretty much what I'm thinking.

How often does someone get misdiagnosed with inoperable lung cancer?

"Good news, Mr. White. We just looked at your MRI again and turns out it wasn't a tumor after all, just the Gummi Bears in your pocket."

Great point. TV never stretches reality.

You're snarky lately.

[Slaky+]

So when do we find out the test results were wrong?

Pretty much what I'm thinking.

How often does someone get misdiagnosed with inoperable lung cancer?

"Good news, Mr. White. We just looked at your MRI again and turns out it wasn't a tumor after all, just the Gummi Bears in your pocket."

Great point. TV never stretches reality.

You're snarky lately.

The premature death of 5laky has affected me.