Review Contains Spoilers: Beware
Walter White remains deteriorating on the chilly floor of a Nazi hideout, Jesse is still screaming in absolute elation regarding the unanticipated prolonging of his life, and in an unidentified location somewhere midst the Albuquerque desert, Mike remains "enjoying his final moments, in peace". Since AMC's Breaking Bad has ended, my thoughts remain the same as the moment the camera began to descend upwards from Walter's frail body laying on the murky, bloody floor of an art-exhibit filled Nazi haven: this is a show that prided itself in tightly written, meaningful storytelling that ended as beautifully polished as the 2012 Dodge Challenger Walter buys Flynn for his (own) 51st birthday. There have been mixed reviews about Breaking Bad's "Felina" episode, however, I believe the argument of whether the show ended well or not will be debated for centuries to come - in the same fashion that Flynn debates what he should eat for breakfast each and every day of his naive, teenage life. Below are some thoughts on two essential elements that make Breaking Bad exceptional and unique from its fellow television dramas.
1. The Bigger Picture
As I mentioned back in November, the idea of a television show that has its end game figured out at the very beginning of production remains relatively new and exciting. Most television programs of the past have thrived on a select set of constructed ideas and lovable characters, but were written (in terms of content) as the series progressed. The more recent rise of thick plotted, sequential programming, along with social media and critique articles such as this one have all contributed to a fiery, passionate sense of fan culture we find ourselves enamored in. Contemporary viewers want an ending that essentially fulfills expectations that have been built up over the span of an entire series. Sixty-two episodes can leave the overheated fan base of what has become established as one of the greatest shows of this decade expecting a combination of Rocky running around victorious and Dorothy going back to Kansas. The way a show runner ends its "precious" is commonly viewed as the final view on a series' aesthetic values and creativity. In Breaking Bad's case, the writers seemed to always know the next course of action for Walter White and his quirky companions. The show not only continuously progressed the story-line in an effective manner, but foreshadowed several major plot points without letting the viewer know. This series constantly "danced with the devil" in the way it pushed some moral/ethical boundaries of human behavior, however, its writers thrived on the regulation and order of storytelling.
2. Use of Symbolism and Motif's
Breaking Bad was a series that emphasized the most minute of details. For instance, the pink teddy bear that falls into Walter's backyard after a plane crashes over his hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico in season 2 contains much more symbolic value than meets the eye initially.The bear has half of its face blown off and is missing an eye, foreshadowing Gus Fringe blowing up in the nursing home (season 4 finale) and Jesse shooting Gale Boetticher in the eye (season 3 finale). This is one of the most distinctive assets of Breaking Bad; the series unfolds in a fashion similar to a Matryoshka doll that divulges layers upon layers as you continue to open it. The groundbreaking series is somewhat of an obsessive-compulsive fantasy for those individuals who find themselves enamored with the assignment of meaning to the most minuscule of details (such as myself).
By Bobby Revello on March 12th, 2014
This review was written in the style of Andy Greenwald : Andy Greenwald Breaking Bad Review
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