Starts FX, 28 September
On the surface Walter White, the hero of FX’s deliciously dark new comedy drama Breaking Bad, lives a comfortable, settled life as an ordinary family man who’s able to provide for his disabled son by working as a high-school chemistry teacher and a part-time car-washer.
But Walter’s problems are mounting up. He’s struggling to provide for his disabled son and, the day after his 50th birthday, is diagnosed with lung cancer and given two years to live. With little savings to fall back on, Walter comes up with a solution – he’s going to misuse his chemistry skills and is breaking bad! He cashes in his retirement fund for a motorhome to act as a mobile lab for his entry into the drugs trade.
Bryan Cranston, best known for his comedy roles as hapless dad Hal in Malcolm in the Middle and Jerry’s ‘regifting’ dentist Tim Whatley in Seinfeld, is superb as the stressed-out Walter trying to make his way in this strange, disturbing new world, and gets great support from Aaron Paul as his former student and new partner, Jesse Pinkman.
Breaking Bad is a dark comedy which sees Walter and Jesse as basically decent guys now faced with all sorts of terrible dilemmas. In an early episode, Walter tosses a coin to see who gets to finish off one bad guy and who gets to dissolve the other dead bad guy in a tub of acid. Jesse does the dissolving in his bath tub, but it’s a tub that’s not suitable for filling with acid. The result is as gory as it is funny.
While definitely not one for the easily-offended or those of a squeamish disposition, Breaking Bad is one of the most strikingly original new dramas we’ve seen in ages. Below is a trailer for the first series to give you a taste of what to expect…
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