*Breaking Bad Spoiler Alert*
It’s rare that the main protagonists of a show undergo any kind of change during the run of the series. Even in serialized dramas like 24 and Lost, the static character development of both Jack Bauer and Jack Shepherd reminded viewers that the focus of the show was either on the sensationalism of foiling consistently re-hashed terrorist plot lines, or the mysterious, supernatural elements of a mysterious island (Damon Lindelof & Carlton Cuse, I’m still waiting for a satisfying ending). This is even more evident in sitcoms, where the reset button is hit after every episode, providing the viewer comfort knowing that The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air will find some new antic to aggravate his Uncle Phil, or that Kramer will still whirl into Jerry’s living room every episode of Seinfeld.
But what set Breaking Bad apart from all others was its ability to transform its main character, the bland, high school chemistry teacher known as Walter White, into the murderous drug kingpin Heisenberg. As Walter explains in the pilot of the new American classic, “Chemistry is the study of matter. But I prefer to see it as the study of change.” And change he did. Like having to kill two drug dealers during his first cook quickly. How many other shows in the history of television have attempted to turn its protagonist into the antagonist by series end? Sure, there were plenty of shows with loathsome antiheros, but even they pale in comparison to what Walt had become by season five. He had blown up a nursing home, allowed the girlfriend of his partner (Jesse) to choke to death, poisoned the son of his partner’s (Jesse again) new girlfriend, and killed ten relatively innocent men in an epic prison shanking montage to avoid capture. Oh yeah, and he was also psychologically tormenting his wife, Skylar.
There are those who defended Walter to the very end of his run, claiming he had always had his family in mind. As to these claims, I refer you to the series finale, where Walt finally comes clean to Skylar, stating “I did it for myself. I liked it. I was good at it. It made me feel alive.” At the end of it all, this seemingly worst idea for a TV show ever (a middle-aged, high school teacher starts selling meth) could only have been made possible through the phenomenal performance of Bryan Cranston, channeling a Daniel Day-Lewis–like focus to scenes that blew me away more than once. I still can’t get that image of him laughing in the crawl space out of my head.
So where does Breaking Bad stand in history? Among the contemporary shows, Breaking Bad was head and shoulders above the competition. Among the greatest of all time, it fits squarely into the conversation with The Wire and The Sopranos, although I can say with confidence there will never be another show like it.
Ezekiel Tek