On the sad addiction of BrBa

I received the Breaking Bad Barrel Blu Ray box set and I have been watching it like a crack fiend. Watching it, I feel like delving into the world of crime fiction. This journal/blog had been something to get me into the habit of writing nightly, getting into a good habit. Now I feel that I want to write really good crime and I’m attempting to understand its inner workings. I’d really like to write a Shadow story. Bring back Lamont. “Who knows… what evil… LURKS… in the hearts of men? That Shadow Knows…” Pulp still has a viable market. People need a consistent plot to escape from the mundane world. Something in serial form.
Now as I watch Breaking Bad for the second run through, I find myself analyzing the stuff that makes the plot compelling. What makes it flow so well? What kept people watching? Maybe its a dark mirror of America, a completely believable middle-age chemistry teacher whose complacency in life has finally caught up with him. A cancer diagnosis, a new lease on life, the heartbreak of family and friends as he transforms slowly and surely into a sort of monster. Maybe Walt represents at the very beginning of the show the beaten-down typical American male who is locked into a passionless marriage and his transformation reflects a dark underbelly that could make monsters of any one of us under the surface.
It is a show of secrets, and it makes you wonder what desperate things people would do in a crumbling economy just to keep their families safe and protected. Poisoning a child and watching a heroine addict choke to death on her own vomit while doing nothing represents levels of depravity that only the sickest of individuals would consider. But that’s the thing, when you watch the news, it’s always “He was just the nicest guy you could meet. So strange he carved up the family dog and served it at the barbeque to friends and neighbors.” Walt has many odds in his favor: his ‘normal’ chemistry teacher job, his respectable marriage, his timid demeanor, his family man persona. All of this makes it difficult for Skylar to just be done with him.
Maybe Walt White is the nation’s shadow form, brought to frighteningly intense life by Bryan Cranston. I think the show balances well because of the several factors in play.Family Guy Walter loves baby Holly and wants to protect her and keep the relationship with Skylar intact. Then there’s bitter Walt who harbors deep resentment in his black soul to the fact that Grey Matter is so successful and long ago abandoned him and became intolerable new age granola crunching yuppies with massive liberal guilt complex. There’s also father White, who cares for Jesse in a very paternal, tough love way.
Walt White is a complicated character. He is Hank Schrader’s great White Whale. His Moby Dick. And Mr. White can definitely be a dick. During season 3, Hank just fucking loses it. He becomes obsessed with Heisenberg. He just won’t let the case drop, even though many at the DEA want him to. It is all of these separate elements that combine to make on fuck of a pot boiler of a show.