Saturday 10 May 2014

Bromine Barium

It had to come. It's been quite a time now, but Internet's still full of memes about it. This series is probably the first trend I had been following while it was still hyped in the media, since I came to Spain. And its awesomeness is never forgotten. It's Breaking Bad. Have a look at the images in the right order and after reading the last one click "play" on the video:




Okay, so this is something more difficult to handle... I'd love to talk about some story details that impressed me most, but I don't want to spoil the plot to anyone. One option would be doing one spoiler-free post (review-like) and then another one where I comment my favourite moments... But I prefer that anyone (so... about two or three people actually, in the best case) can read my post.

Having said that... Let's start to Break Baaaaaaaaaaad



The protagonist (or rather... antiprotagonist?) is the highschool chemistry teacher, Walther White, living in Albuquerque, New Mexico (and thus, a zone in America with many Latino drug mafias). He's one of those teachers that seem to love their subject with passion but no one takes them for serious. Walter is a character that, initially, stands out only because of his mediocrity. After school classes he goes on his part-time job in a car wash because his family needs the extra money. There, his boss is constantly complaining about him and the students that come with their cars make fun of him. On top of that, his son, Walter Jr., was born with cerebral palsy which manifests in speech difficulties and impaired motor control, which is why he has to walk with crutches. 
Oh. And his wife's an annoying b****. She's pregnant with a second child by the way.
In short: Walter's life is miserable.

What's the best "solution" for a miserable life? Terminal cancer. That's his diagnosis... And from that point onwards, Walter White slowly dies... While Heisenberg is being born.

Walter's brother-in-law, who is a cop working for the DEA (drug enforcement administration), decides to bring Walter along on one of his operations. Whilst Walter is waiting in the car, he observes how a young man escapes from the house where the operation takes place. The young man is Jesse Pinkman, a former student of Walter. 
Since Walter is confronted with death, his worries for his family increase drastically and that finally drives him into making a deal with Jesse. Walter is going to cook methamphetamine (crystal meth) and Jesse takes care of the selling.

The first attempts to become established in drug trading will still originate some pathetic scenes, but soon Walter will start to change heavily. He becomes more and more determined about his actions. It turns out that, due to the special chemical methods Walter uses, his crystal meth is the purest on the market and has a unique blue colour. That gives him confidence, despite all the obstacles to keep hiding his second life, until he begins to make himself a name in the drug scene under the pseudonym of "Heisenberg".

Of course, not everybody will like the presence of a new cook on the market...

And so, the story unfolds. And God, it's such a well written plot, really. In the next post I'll explain the pros and (minuscule) contras of the series (in my own opinion) and why all of you should give this one a try.

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