I have just finished watching the first two seasons of Breaking Bad. I was not sure how I would like this series, it has had so much hype and even though I am late to the party, I did join it.
The first few episodes I thought were slow, which surprised me as I had come to believe it was a fast paced energy show. But it had something to keep me watching, it has good characters and I was liking the way the main two characters (Walt and Jesse) were starting to react to each other - two very different people brought together in the name of drugs!
Walt White is an over qualified High School Chemistry teacher - he has a wife (Skylar), a teenage son who has Cerebral Palsy (Walt Jr) and a daughter on the way. He is also a newly diagnosed Cancer Patient. Walt struggles with his diagnosis and does not tell his family about it at first. But he worries how he will afford all the treatment and what money will be left for the family when he dies.
Jesse is a high school dropout and one of Walt's old students. He is also a drug addict and is being disowned from his family due to the drug use and in case he would be a bad influence on his wee genius brother (who is doing drugs on his own anyway!!) I warmed to Jesse straight away - he has a vulnerability about him which is endearing - plus he is quite good looking!! Walt's character is growing on me - at the moment he is being selfish and caught up in a web of lies.
Walt starts cooking meth with Jesse as he realises he is good at it and it would be a quick easy way to make money to fund his treatment etc. He doesn't tell Skylar what he is doing and she ends up not being to trust him at times. He can't tell his wife for many reasons, but the main one being - his brother in law Hank is a DEA agent who is trying to track down all drug sellers including 'Heisenberg' (the name Walt goes by in the drug world).
Skylar is an annoying character, maybe it was the pregnancy hormones, but she is not making me like her. Walt Jr is an innocent guy, just trying to get by in life living with a disability - he has Cerebral Palsy. It is good to see disability being sown in main stream TV and that actors with disabilities are people themselves and can act well.
Hank, the brother in law and Marie (Skylar's sister) are also very annoying characters and some of the story lines they have seem to be a bit useful and not necessary so far.
But the real relationship between Jesse and Walt is a very interesting one. At the beginning Walt treats Jesse as a stupid, annoying drug addict who knows nothing. However as they spend time 'cooking' together the relationship starts to develop.
By the end of Season 2, despite Jesse being a hopeless drug addict and a danger to himself and their business, Walt does care for him. And he is there for him after his latest dalliance with Heroin (a new drug for him, introduced to his ex junkie, now junkie again, girlfriend). went very wrong for him. It seems that Walt is now starting to see Jesse as a son. There is genuine care and love there. I am looking forward to seeing how the relationship develops in Season 3.
Season 2 saw relationships break down between Walt and Skylar due to the lies and distrust in the marriage. It was hardly a surprise, since the relationship has been built on lies since Walt discovered he has cancer. Will he tell Skylar what he has been up to?
And other questions I have are, Will Hank find out the drug lord he has been chasing is actually his brother in law? Who knows? - its got me interested anyway and am liking that there are only 13 episodes per Season as some shows with 24 episodes just go on too long at times.
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