Breaking Bad Virgin Diary – Can it be as good as they say?

There are so many shows that people are constantly recommending: “You must watch The Wire.” “You have to watch House.” “You need to watch the cat or he’ll nibble through that cable and electrocute himself again.” But pretty quickly, Breaking Bad jumped to the top of my list; just two episodes in and my ludicrously high expectations have been surpassed.

Season One, Episode One: “Pilot”

“Fuck you! And your eyebrows!”

Is this the best pilot episode ever? It covers more ground in an hour than many shows manage in a season and every second is vital. The trick of starting with the end of the episode and showing how we got there in flashback is a familiar one, but one that works; particularly when the events in question are as intriguing and bizarre as a crazed man wearing his underwear and a gas mask driving an RV into a rock.

Like everyone else, I always knew Bryan Cranston as Hal from Malcolm in the Middle, though I most recently saw him in the film Red Tails, but the less said about that the better. As in Malcolm in the Middle, Cranston has that perfectly dejected look of a man tired of everything. His paucity of dialogue combined with his random outbursts of aggression and ambiguous motives make Walter White one of the most interesting characters I’ve ever seen on TV.

The obvious comparison is Dexter, but with its cool Miami setting that show feels exotic, while Breaking Bad‘s strength is in its grounded, suburban atmosphere, making it more like American Beauty or, strangely, Malcolm in the Middle. Talking of American Beauty, that also starts with the news of an impending death, followed by the protagonist’s sudden freedom from their mundane and downtrodden life. Meanwhile Six Feet Under begins with the death of its patriarch, suspending the rules in a similar way to Breaking Bad.

This episode is so full of ideas it’s practically bursting at the seams, from the symbolic crumbling of authority to the existential freedom approaching death. I’d watch it again but I need to know what happens next!

A few quick points:

• It’s beautifully filmed, and that opening shot of the trousers falling to the ground might be my favourite opening shot ever.
• If I had one criticism, it’d be that some of the big music cues jarred slightly. That said, the choice of Rodrigo y Gabriela’s “Tamacun” as Jesse falls off the roof was inspired.
• If I had another criticism, it’d be that the opening titles are a bit dull, making it more Firefly than Dexter.
• Odd name for a show.
• Walter’s response to the news of his cancer (pointing out the mustard on the doctor’s coat) was beautiful.
• It’s genuinely refreshing to see the drugs trade dealt with in a non-judgemental way. Please don’t arrest me for saying that, DEA.
• Aaron Paul looks a bit like a miniaturised Joel McHale.

Season One, Episode Two: “Cat’s in the Bag …”

“… so there’s that.”

There was no “previously on …” section, this show just keeps getting better! Continuing straight from where the previous episode left off throws us straight back into the action, and it’s great to see Walter and Jesse’s relationship developing; they bounce off each other brilliantly, complete opposites but forced to spend time together thanks to a disastrous sequence of events. They’re both hilariously out of their depth, and Jesse has the constant look of someone who was recently approached by his old chemistry teacher who then blackmailed him into helping him produce and distribute crystal meth, which led to their killing one man and holding another in his basement. Funnily enough.

In fact the two of them basically became Jules and Vincent from Pulp Fiction when they’re trying to clean up after Marvin gets accidentally shot in the face. It’s that same domesticated, darkly comic idea, with Jesse frantically trying to fit into a plastic container big enough to hold a corpse. That messy climax was phenomenal.

The episode was generally a change of pace from the first, which got such an impressive amount done; this one took its time more and was generally very focused. The dinginess of Jesse’s house coupled with the lingering camera work made it all feel stiflingly claustrophobic, which was entirely the point. I can’t wait to see where this goes, as it’s probably the most interesting piece of television I’ve seen since Six Feet Under.

A few quick points:

• Krazy-8 dizzily running straight into the tree was one of the finest pieces of slapstick I’ve seen. It reminded me again of Pulp Fiction, when Marsellus chases Butch after the car crash which leaves neither man able to run in a straight line.
• More stunning cinematography, with the shot from underneath the bath and the scene in which Krazy-8 is locked to the pole and items are rolled into shot being particular highlights.
• Brilliantly, they seem to have replaced the big music cues I was complaining about with a more downbeat, glassy soundtrack.
• I will never look at one of those bike locks in the same way again.

Clacked by Dan Meier
on Jul 18, 2012 @ 12:00 EST5EDT