By Ryan Moshasha

Staff Writer

Image source: TV Insider

We live in such a great time when it comes to television. We have so many new streaming services and production companies expanding the meaning of “Storytelling.” These different companies made it a society standard to sit in front of a screen for hours, immersed in a universe of storytelling. 

One of the biggest genres of television is drama. Shows like Stranger Things, Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad are big names among this list. Now I’ve watched most of the shows listed, but nothing took dramatic TV to the next level like Vince Gilligan’s Breaking Bad. 

Set in Albuquerque, New Mexico, an extremely overqualified 50-year-old high school chemistry teacher named Walter White is diagnosed with a bad case of Lung Cancer, but he’s determined to keep his family financially satisfied after his passing.

During a drug run/raid with his DEA brother-in-law, Hank, he finds a meth cook escaping through the windows and then realizes it was Jesse Pinkman, a former student of his.

Determined to have his family’s fortune set, Walter tracks down Jesse and seeks to compromise a deal with him. This includes Walter joining the meth business and keeping Jesse’s illegal activities, including his future ones, a secret.

Jesse doubts Walter’s motives and doesn’t take his former high school teacher seriously. However, scared of the possibility of Walt getting him behind bars, he accepts the deal. After buying a used recreation vehicle (RV) with Walter’s entire life savings of $7000, they begin production of methamphetamine in the middle of a deserted Indian reservation many miles from town.

Walter White, the overqualified master chemist, produces the purest meth Jesse has ever seen, realizing a new journey into the drug empire has just started. 

Breaking Bad is a show that hosts mostly two Main characters, them being Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul). They differ in age, life outside of meth cooking, and personality.

These two actors portrayed a pure example of characters in an uphill and downhill relationship with one another. The entire show is a work of art with zero filler episodes. Each episode contributes to the continuation of the plot and character development.

The show received numerous awards, including 16 primetime Emmy Awards, 8 Satellite Awards, 2 Golden Globe Awards, 2 Peabody Awards, 2 Critics’ Choice Awards and 4 Television Critics Association Awards.

Cranston won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series 4 times, while Aaron Paul won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series 3 times.

Anna Gunn won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series twice. In 2013, Breaking Bad entered the Guinness World Records as the most critically acclaimed show of all time.

The program’s astonishing ability to craft a series of, at times, unbearably suspenseful action might be its best. But oddly enough, that legacy is obscured by its protagonist’s high-concept character arc: the sluggish makeover of a resentful but mild-mannered high-school chemistry instructor into a mass-murdering medicine lord, or as Gilligan placed it, transforming “Mr. Chips into Scarface.”

The chilly open for the first episode illustrates him recording a farewell message to his household because he believes he’s about to be arrested or murdered. He’s likewise just caused the death of a person for the very first time. It will become a difficult routine to break.

Watch all seasons of Breaking Bad on Netflix.