My Media Habits (Part 1.5): Bromine Eaking Barium D

The show "Breaking Bad" spells its name with the periodic table squares for bromine and barium, so I cannot possibly be blamed for pronouncing the full name of the two elements involved.

This show is not receiving a proper My Media Habits post because I quit midway through due to extremely high shit quotients but here goes.

A chemistry teacher learns he has terminal-ish cancer so decides to sell methamphetamine to provide for his family. Thus beginning the worst character development arc I've ever seen for a protagonist.

I suppose Walter White's transition from mild-mannered teacher to murderer is supposed to be the entire premise of the show, but it strikes me as unrealistic faff. I buy that a teacher who just learned he had cancer might put his skills to use cooking illegal drugs. I buy that he might seek out the advice of a junkie drug dealer with regard to the selling of said drugs. But that he would maintain absolute loyalty to said junkie despite his repeated failures is a stretch. That he would murder is a very big stretch; combine a massive mid-life crisis with having little left to lose still isn't enough to drive Mr. Vanilla to actually kill in cold blood. That Walter White would murder on behalf of the junkie he's mysteriously loyal to takes my suspension of disbelief and pummels it with a Wall Banger bat. Or wall. Or whatever.

In fact, Breaking Bad is at least a championship contender in making me scream at the screen: "PEOPLE DO NOT ACT THAT WAY." I would list many of those moments but I forgot most of them and I'm sure as balls not watching the show again for the sake of half a review.

They do earn extra credit for having an actual phone number and website set up for the sleazy lawyer— I like out-of-show peripheral bonuses like that. Unfortunately, those bonus features are like a delicious buttercream frosting— you wouldn't eat it on its own, and you certainly wouldn't eat it if it were spread on a turd.

Medium: Television
Genre: Action/Crime
Availability: Telly, Netflix
Bechdel Compliance: No
Rating: High on meth, low on quality.