“Smoking marijuana, eating Cheetos, and masturbating do not constitute ‘plans’ in my book.” -Walter White
Sorry. I know that by now youāre probably sick of hearing about Breaking Bad. To be fair, even the people who watched the show are probably sick of hearing about it. But Iād like to get a few more words in before we close the cookbook on this magnificent TV show.
I canāt remember why I started watching Breaking Bad, but I can remember when. I jumped in somewhere during the hiatus between the third and fourth seasons, and I actually had some difficulty getting into it. So the guy with cancer cooks meth and the younger guy says ābitchā a lot? Wasnāt exactly an enticing arrangement for my television hours, and to be honest I think I was still more interested in crap like Smallville at the time.
But I eventually climbed back on that viewer bandwagon and rode it down the trails of seasons four, five, and all the way to this painstakingly dispersed final season.
For those who for some stupid reason still havenāt watched Breaking Bad, I often find myself deflecting comments of insult. āOh, it canāt be that good!ā āWhatās the big deal? Doesnāt he just cook meth?ā The best comparison Iāve been able to come up with is this: Breaking Bad for me is what hockey is for other people. Iād get giddy when I remembered a new episode was on that night; if you were up to date on the current season, we were best friends just waiting to happen; and my friend even had us all over to watch the finaleāor in this comparison, āthe game.ā Heck, if bars had shown Breaking Bad on their big screens instead of hockey then maybe I wouldāve gone there to watch it. If I ever tried to explain the latest plot-bomb dropped to a non-viewer, it was like throwing raw spaghetti against a fridge and expecting it to somehow stick.
So what drew me to this miserable band of meth-pedddling misfortunates? I hate list articles and Iām rambling a bit, so Iām going to avoid a bullet by bullet breakdown here, but I have no problem saying it is one of the best shows Iāve ever seen.
Iām not a Breaking Bad fanatic like some people, but I already miss it like crystal misses meth. This Sunday was the first Sunday in a long time where I knew Breaking Bad wouldnāt be on and that there werenāt any more coming in the future. If weāre going by the five stages of grief, Iād say I skipped the middle three and went straight from denial to acceptance. My life knew shows before Breaking Bad (go home, Smallville) and my life will know shows after it (whatās up, Justified?), but that doesnāt make our time together any less special.
For those of you who did watch the finale, I hope you found it to be a satisfying conclusion and I wish you luck in accepting this loss like I have. For those of you who havenāt watched the show, I cannot recommend it enough. Fire up that Netflix account and call in sick to work because youāre in for something special.
So it goes,
Jacey Gibb
Editor-in-chief
