“Yo, ‘Sup?” Breaking Bad is done

              “Yo, ‘Sup?” Breaking Bad is done. I watched this series because other people, lots of other people, watched it. And I did it in a way that many others had: binge viewing. I watched my first episode this year not when it debuted in 2008 with mediocre ratings. Netflix and On Demand allowed viewers to catch up as word spread that this dark show was something special. Here are some observations:

               Binge viewing is smart in that it allows you to enjoy a show that has earned acclaim years before you start  watching it. But the exercise of watching, say three times per week rather than once per week, shortens character life. What is lost is the rare experience of thinking about fictional characters over five years rather than one. First, I don’t think about TV characters unless they are extreme in what they do and certainly Walter White fit that bill. And I couldn’t think of Mr. White without Jesse who had the heart and the humor in this very dark drama. So, I think I shorted myself by bingeing, but if I hadn’t done it, then none of the above would have happened.

               My take on the final episode of Breaking Bad was that it was bad.  Too many ads—I understand the spots went for upwards of $300,000, so I can see why they peppered 75 minutes with car ads and whatever. There was no flow, instead, there was a rush to tie up loose ends; i.e., kill off those who needed to be killed interrupted by commercials. To be fair, the set up episodes this year were far better than the final minutes. But at the close, Jesse driving off in the night shrieking was a Rabbit Run and left me wanting to see a sequel where he becomes a woodworking nice guy with fugitive paranoia.  Walter White’s demise was overdue and I will never look at chemistry teachers in the same way.