Friday, July 22, 2011

Breaking Bad Is Back

Chuck Klosterman tried to make the case of Why AMC's Breaking Bad beats Mad Men, The Sopranos, and The Wire.. After starting with something I can agree with: "Though some may disagree (and I'm sure some will, because some always do), there doesn't seem to be much debate over what have been the four best television shows of the past 10 years. It seems like an easy question to answer, particularly since it's become increasingly difficult to write about the state of TV (or even the state of popular culture) without tangentially mentioning one of the following four programs — The Sopranos, The Wire, Mad Men, and/or Breaking Bad."

He then admits that picking a best show of those four is difficult. Apparently by picking The Wire, I'm an "obstinate fan". I just thought I was right. I do agree with most of this: "Which is not to say The Wire wasn't brilliant, because it was. Of the four shows I've mentioned, The Wire absolutely exhibited the finest writing; Mad Men has the most fascinating collection of character types, and The Sopranos was the most fully realized (and, it's important to note, essentially invented this rarified tier of televised drama). But I've slowly come to the conclusion that Breaking Bad is the best of the four, or at least the one I like the most.2 And I've been trying to figure out why I feel this way. It's shot in the most visually creative style, but that's not enough to set it apart; the acting is probably the best of the four, but not by a lot (and since good acting can sometimes cover deeper problems with direction and storytelling, I tend not to give it much weight). I suspect Breaking Bad will be the least remembered of these four shows and will probably be the least influential over time. Yet there's one profound difference between this series and the other three, and it has to do with its handling of morality: Breaking Bad is the only one built on the uncomfortable premise that there's an irrefutable difference between what's right and what's wrong, and it's the only one where the characters have real control over how they choose to live."

He makes the argument that Breaking Bad is the only where the main character started off good and has become bad, one choice at a time, and that's an interesting moral tale. That may be the case. On that basis I think Dexter also needs to be evaluated. It would clearly be in the next batch of four on any list, in fact I'd put it fifth with Deadwood sixth. Dexter starts off bad and we root for him but while we think he might be turning good, and he does evolve over the seasons, he distinctly stays evil, serial killer evil.

Still, I watched the season premiere of Breaking Bad and it was great. Salon recaps it saying "A drawn-out, horrifying setpiece underlines the AMC drama's most distinctive qualities." It's true, what struck me about it was how it was such wildly different storytelling than anything else. They also point out how watching the whole series really pays off in spades in comparing the characters now to what they were in season one.

In fact, this list of Breaking Bad's 10 best moments was most remarkable to me in that they are all great, and none of them would I have picked for my list (some I hadn't even remembered).

That's all to say, it's great show and you should watch it, but only from the begining.

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