Breaking Bad - Seasons 1-2 (2008-2009)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2008, 2009
	Creator: Vince Gilligan
	Actors: Bryan Cranston (Drive, Argo), Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn, Dean Norris (Total Recall, Starship Troopers)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Polar, Black Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: October 2017, VOD, 10" tablet screen
Synopsis: Walter White (Cranston), chemistry professor, is diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. Struggling with the news and looking for ways to provide for his family, he teams up with Jessie (Paul) to cook and sell crystal methamphetamine.
Review: Finally I started to watch this 9-years old TV-series that so many people talked about. The first season has only 7 episodes and flows directly into the second one which has 13, so it felt logical to review both in a single post. In Breaking Bad I immediately found again some of the spirit that I loved in Sons of Anarchy that started the same year by the way: not only because of the drug trafficking and the encounters with gangsters, but also the turn of events that keeps on getting worse for the main characters, to the point where you wonder if it is really worth all the trouble for the small amount of money they manage to salvage in the end. But there are major differences, in particular the fact that the "hero", Mr. White, starts up as a nice regular guy that has to face life-changing events. Events that will reveal a darker side of him. The fact that he is known to be so innocent explains for a while why nobody suspects him, in particular not his brother-in-law working for the Drug Enforcement Administration. I wonder for how many seasons this will remain credible. And the fact that he is new to the business makes for awkward situations. But what really sets the series apart for me is a kind of dark humor around death, like for example the whole S1E3 ..And the Bag's in the River and its corpse dissolution situation, or the recurrent quote "you crashed his head with an ATM" starting in S2E6 Peekaboo. Some episodes feel weaker like that same S2E6, and some side-stories are not very interesting (the shoplifting), but some episodes surprise you like S1E6 Crazy Handful of Nothin'. In S2E8 Better Call Saul we are introduced to the character of the lawyer that has been granted his own spin-off series with the same title after the end of Breaking Bad, and I have to admit I already like the guy and this episode was one of the most funny and offbeat. A word about the actors: I liked to see Dean Norris that I remember from his small role in Starship Troopers, a young Krysten Ritter that I know from Jessica Jones, and an apparition by Danny Trejo that made me dream of a cross-over with Sons of Anarchy, but that's not the case. Bryan Cranston is good in the lead role, I like him especially when he plays a kind of Chemistry Mc Gyver. Aaron Paul plays an interestingly tortured "side-kick", but his character will have to evolve to keep his place alongside Mr White. Also I already start to feel that his acting is a bit repetitive, like I felt for Charlie Hunnam in Sons of Anarchy. In general I understand the success of the show and watched the first two seasons in less than a week. I will take a little break but will continue soon for sure.
Rating: 8 /10