Its been more than six years since breaking bad’s last episode, Felina, aired and I haven’t been able to find the perfect TV series since. Wandering around Netflix’s playlists of various genre pieces, not knowing which one to commit to, only to be disappointed after choosing one. Rarely, when I do find one which intrigues me, it spills after one or two seasons. Due to the amount of content on OTT platforms, I feel quality has taken a backseat. Film is a growing medium and director’s and content creators who are unsure of the feature format due to its marketing hazards find it safer to find or create an audience through an OTT platform. Due to the increased consumption and the demand for wanting more series to binge over, it’s caused an exponential increase in the production of TV shows and web series, thus compromising the quality to a great extent.
Now, the elephant in the room, Breaking Bad. Unlike other shows which I had discovered out of shear boredom, scrolling through the originals of Prime, Netflix and VIP, Breaking Bad was suggested to me by a lot of people. I remember skimming through the IMDb page and not thinking about it much, convinced that a plot like that Of BB would only last a couple of seasons being relevant and would later fade. So, I put my faith in Black Mirror which I enjoyed for what it was, but after a while you could feel the eccentric loglines becoming too far fetched and I would eventually lose interest although I would always watch out for new episodes. I also had my time with the 13 reasons why show which fell flat within the first 6 episodes. I finished the season although never went back to S2 and how many ever they’re planning on doing. Friends lasted a couple of seasons, for some reason, I never went back to it. After many, worthless underwhelming TV shows except House of cards which was pretty slick (Fincher is love). After a while you become bored of the world the show is set in, you become bored of the consistencies of the characters, with most shows not giving them an arc. So, I thought it was time to let Breaking Bad run its course on me.
What makes breaking bad so special, personally speaking, is the INITIAL hyper realsitic set up of the story. An ordinary chemistry teacher, doing whatever possible to provide for his family which is the longest and the central theme of the show. The writing keeps you hooked because of its structure and characters. The first episode, Pilot, starts with Walter White recording his supposed last message for his family after a botched “situation” causing the death of two people in his RC. The following up sequence to this is Walter’s daily routine, the breakfast with his son Walter Jr. and his wife. Vince Gilligan, the creator of the show keeps the viewer thinking by his contrasting visual imagery so that you’re right off the bat invested in the story. What follows Pilot, is 5 seasons, 62 episodes of buliding the greatest Anti-hero of all time in my opinion. The character work here is one of the greatest arcs written. There isn’t a decesion you feel you wouldn’t take if you stepped into the shoes of every character. The supporting characters being memorable at the same time never take the steam off the main but in turn help in motivating the plot, fleshing out other characters. Each plot point in BB is handled meticulously as it shows growth over time, it’s never stagnant. There is always an air of tension whenver characters come in contact with each other, at the same time examining themes of moral compass in Jesse’s character who is in this puddle of guilt and remorse for his and Walter’s treatment of any one who poses a threat to Walter, the theme of man as corporation in the character of Gus Fring and so much more that one paragraph of me just narrating the incidents wouldn’t do the show justice. But, the question is what now? What after the show has ended.
I raved about the show to others who had not yet seen it. Researched about it, watched the films associated with it and now with El Camino, the Breaking Bad saga has come to an end. The adversity of such a series on you is that moving on to another show, it’s a whole new ballgame. I had the misfortune of following it up a lot of underwhelming online series and couple of episodes of different TV shows (ain’t gonna mention their names). The truth is shows in today’s timesmake season 1 becuase they want to make a season 2. You could have this mentality and still succeed in making great content but some day it’s going to lose steam. You’re going to be groping in the dark for a long while after you’re done with Breaking Bad because there isn’t anything coming close to it. You’re going to watch a couple of episodes of a random TV show and going to be floored by them and then like every other series you’re going to get sick of the world it’s set in and you’re going to quit. If you continue on this path, you’re going to come across one Haunting of Hill House or one suppossed Dark or a Stranger things. You might even add the Boys into the mix, get a little underwhelmed by some of the love, death and Robots episodes and eventually find the right content made for being the right content. You’re going to love that, keep watching it and then it gets over. So what do you do, then? You keep Groping in the dark.
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