Breaking Bad Season 1
Year: 2008
Grade: A
Country: USA
Director: Gilligan
Reviewso i’m going to start reviewing select tv series as i watch them. each season will count as one movie, i think that’s fair. i plan on only counting series that have a running plot like like breaking bad, sopranos, etc. in other words, south park, the simpsons, twilight zone, etc. won’t be included. there are going to be more spoilers in these reviews than in my movie reviews so don’t read any of the reviews if you haven’t already watched the season in question. i’ll try to keep spoilers to the seasons they occurred in.
most tv series have trouble finding their feet the first season, but bb is an exception to this. it pretty much hits the ground running from the pilot episode. it keeps you interested right away with a problem or clue in the opening scene that needs solving or figuring. i like their opening scenes for this reason. it reminds me a bit of far country (james stewart/anthony mann western) which opens with three men riding into town. one of them (stewart) has the guns of the other two, but we also get the impression that they were partners at one point. how did this happen? what will come of this tension? the beginning asks a question and the rest of the episode (usually) answers it. it’s a great device.
the first season is really well pitched. there’s plenty of drama, things are still very believable and i felt like jesse and walt could still emerge from things (relatively) undamaged. the titles of episodes 2 and 3 reference a line from the sweet smell of success. i’m writing this review a month or two after watching the first season so i don’t have too much to say about it specifically, but i will say that breaking bad is the series that started me thinking about getting into tv more. when i lived in ohio i watched twin peaks (season one) and sopranos and west wing in their entirety, but didn’t feel compelled to write about them as much as i do about this. breaking bad is top notch. cranston is great. aron paul really grew on me and the secondary characters are intriguing, good foils, good for plot, and great comic relief.