The Most Awesome Thing We Saw Last Week: Future Classic
And so, here are 10 Reasons You Should Be Watching Breaking Bad.
10. Bryan Cranston won the Emmy for his work as Walter White last year. You know who he beat? Jon Hamm, Gabriel Byrne, Michael C. Hall, and Hugh Laurie. That’s right, he beat Don Draper and freaking House!
9. Most episodes open with an out-of-context scene involving a key item from later in the episode or even later in the season. We’ve seen several episodes open with a shredded teddy bear floating in a pool. Last time, we saw somebody in a biohazard suit scoop up the bear and put it in an evidence bag. There is very little in the world that I want to know more than the secret of that bear.
8. Oz veteran Mark Margolis appeared in several episodes as the paraplegic uncle of a psychotic drug dealer. Tio could only communicate through the use of a doorbell installed on his wheelchair – one buzz for “yes”, two for “no”. And his performance was absolutely chilling, even without words.
7. Actual voicemail that spunkybean’s own Don left me after a recent episode: “Breaking Bad. Man.” Anything that leaves Don at a loss for words will blow your mind.
6. Recent additions to the cast include the scary-ass Danny Trejo, DJ Qualls as the skinniest cop ever, Gilmore Girls’ Krysten Ritter as a love interest for stoner Jesse, and Giancarlo Epsosito of Homicide fame. These people are awesome.
5. One single scene of the season premiere, when Walter calculates the exact amount of money he needs to raise selling meth in order to make sure his family will be secure after he dies, brought me to tears. It’s a simple scene of Walter totaling up numbers in his head, but the mounting panic and knowledge of his mortality made it absolutely heartbreaking.
4. A recent episode brought us a shocking look at the realities of drug addiction, complete with an innocent child caught in the mix. And then when you’re on the edge of tears, they invoke some truly hilarious idiot logic. And then a man’s head is crushed by an ATM. It was an emotional roller-coaster.
3. Walt’s macho DEA brother-in-law, Hank, has become a really interesting character. Suffering from PTSD after a desert shoot-out, he has absolutely no idea how to cope with this stress. It’s only gotten worse after a severed human head on top of a live tortoise exploded and killed several of his friends. (Yes, that is really a thing that happened.)
2. Last week’s episode opened with a full-length narcocorrida video. The song has actually gone on to get airplay on crossover radio stations, and even though my Spanish is minimal, I’ve listened to it about 100 times. It’s so catchy!
1. This week, Bob Odenkirk joined the cast as lawyer Saul Goodman. That’s right, the guy from Mr. Show. Now, Bob makes anything better, and the way he fits into the cast is amazing. His character is fairly goofy (“Did you know that you have rights? It’s true – the Constitution says so. And so do I!”) But he seems like exactly the kind of lawyer that Walter would end up with. And he’s got some skills too, as it takes him less than one episode to crack Walter’s real identity. Bob looks like a great addition to the cast, even if he can’t remember which of his clients is the meth dealer and which is the masturbator.
Breaking Bad: The show you should be watching!
MYNDI
It has been another awesome week, huh, kids? Everything above was, indeed, fantabulous. I’m already wrapped back up in Rescue Me, which is just back from an extremely long hiatus. Denis Leary had an incredible moment recounting his character’s personal fallout from 9/11 that needs to be at the top of his Emmy reel. (That Leading Actor in a Drama category is insanely stacked!) Also, I know we don’t often discuss American Idol outside of those columns, but Kris Allen worked his second straight awesome performance by turning Donna Summer’s “She Works Hard for the Money” into an acoustic rock jam. I’m counting on him to knock Danny Gokey out fourth for the year’s shocking elimination, leading to my dream final three of Kris/Adam/Allison.
But, my Most Awesome for the week has to be the fun, kitschy and ultimately reverent TV Land Awards. This year’s fete was hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, who I love more than is probably healthy. His “triple threat” status came in handy, as he got to pull a “Jackman” and rock a cute opening number and kept things moving at a brisk pace. He was an affable host with good timing, plus his love for TV was evident, which is key to these proceedings. If you don’t care about classic TV, don’t bother watching. The show has evolved from a series of categories with nominees and winners to more of a series of honors such as “Icon”, ‘Innovator” and “Future Classic”. The bottom line is that it’s all fun and there’s nothing like TV comfort food to make you feel all warm and fuzzy.
This year’s honorees included Married With Children, M*A*S*H, ER, Knots Landing, Magnum P.I., just to name a few. Plus, you had a whacked out musical tribute to Sid & Marty Kroft (just in time for the Land of the Lost movie) and a special award for and show closing performance by Earth, Wind & Fire.
You can watch clips of any of the performances and acceptance speeches here, on TV Land’s site. Enjoy!
