Together on Tuesday: Riveting Television, Part II

Yesterday y'all got to read about Mad Men.  I had one request that I go ahead and watch the 2 hour Season 5 Premiere even though it is just one episode and not a whole season.  Penny:  I'd LOVE to watch it.  But I can't.  No, really.  I actually can't.  See, I dropped our cable because it was "empty calories."  We watch television via Netflix, Hulu and a program called Playon.  And AMC participates in exactly ZERO of those methods.  I can't even PAY to watch the new episode without subscribing to cable.  And I'm not willing to do that right now.  I was livid pissed for about one day.  And then I remembered what is important and got over myself.  (I didn't really get over it.  I'm still just a little upset.)
So...I'll have to watch it after the entire season is released on DVD.

I almost had a panic attack as I typed that.

****UPDATE: THE SEASON 5 PREMIERE OF MAD MEN HAS BEEN UPLOADED TO THE AMCTV WEBSITE.****

BUT....

I'm not here to piss and moan or talk about Mad Men.  I'm here to talk about another AMC series that is absolutely amazing.  If it were a book, I'd call it a page turner.  I could call it "Must See TV," but NBC may or may not sue me.  So if they ask, I didn't call it that.

Enter: Walter White, Jesse Pinkman

Breaking Bad is possibly the best series that I've ever watched.  Let me just set up a scenario for you all:

You are in your late 40s.  You are a middle class family ($40,000 a year) with a son with disabilities.  Your wife has been a stay-at-home-mom for quite a few years and by some stroke of...luck?...she ends up pregnant in her 40s.  Healthy baby.  Healthy pregnancy.  Because of this pregnancy, you get another job at a car wash working AFTER your 9 to 5 to supplement your meager income. 

Sounds pretty believable to me.  This happens to people everyday.  And there is nothing exciting or out of the ordinary about it.

You notice one day that you have a cold and a cough.  This lands you in the ER where you learn that you have adenocarcinoma.  Incurable.  Not long to live.  You leave behind a pregnant wife, a disabled son, a mortgage, several more bills, etc.  No savings account.  No rainy day fund.

WHAT DO YOU DO? 

Do you seek treatment for your terminal illness thus putting your family in debilitating debt knowing full well that this treatment will most likely NOT save or even help you?

WHAT DO YOU DO?

What if you had a special talent that wasn't legal, but would produce a large amount of money in a short amount of time?

WHAT DO YOU DO?

How do you provide for your family after your ultimate and untimely demise?  Do you risk your life and your freedom NOW so that you may secure a fruitful future for your family?

It's all very...loaded.  Emotionally loaded.  Morally loaded.  Legally loaded.  Sociologically and psychologically loaded.  Loaded.  To the max.

And some parts of it are hilarious. 

In the first season of Breaking Bad, we are introduced to Walter White and made to believe that he is somewhat of a loser.  An underachiever.  A sissy.  Well, keep watching.  When pushed into a corner, ya do what ya gotta do.  And Walter White is pretty much the epitome of that statement.  He does what he has to do to survive and protect the people he loves, including Jesse. And he makes no apologies for his actions.

Jesse Pinkman.  Oh, Pinkman.  "This is my private domicile and I'll not be harrassed...BITCH."  I love Jesse.  I especially loved Jesse when he was clean.  When he was attempting to put his life in order.  But most of all, I like that he tries sooooo hard and seems only to further complicate things.  And I love that he makes decisions based on his emotions.  A pretty real character.

Overall, I think the premise of this series is just a little too damn believable.  I think it paints an accurate social picture of what people will do in this day and age for the almighty dollar.  I also think it paints an accurate, albeit watered down, picture of the drug culture.  It is sometimes very difficult to watch (i.e. Wendy the Prostitute, Crazy Eight, The Cousins, Tuco, The Skank with the redheaded child) but very difficult to forget when you do watch.

If you haven't seen any of Breaking Bad, please do so.  Atleast the first 3 or 4 episodes.  You'll laugh.  You'll cry.  You'll cringe.  And if someone knocks on your door at 3am asking to come in because someone kicked him out and beat him up, you may or may not think that a drug dealer is at your door waiting to kidnap and kill you.  Trust me...that may or may not think that.  And by may not, I mean you WILL DEFINITELY THINK THAT.

Breaking Bad is available to watch at all these places.

Are YOU a Breaking Bad fan?  Why?  Why not?