It has been five seasons of tight dialogue, unpredictable scripts, flawless acting, and precision directors which have propelled Breaking Bad to the pinnacle of television dramas. Many should take lessons from last night’s conclusion. Justice was served, debts settled, stories closed, and everything fit perfectly in place.
Selfishly, I’m smile to myself regarding my personal journey into Breaking Bad. Though I didn’t watch it from the start, I picked it up between season one and two. I heard a feint buzz in social circles about this drama presented on AMC that was “pretty good” but it wasn’t a flash in the pan. The buzz continued so I decided to take a glance by renting the recently released season one on dvd (when renting from a local Blockbuster or Hollywood Video was an option).
The hooks were in almost immediately.
What caught my attention was the unique direction, non-traditional camera angles, cohesive scripts, and impeccable acting. I was left dangling each week and season finales tormented me. I began to tell friends, colleagues and co-workers about this exceptional series and I’m happy to say most were also hooked by the show’s impressive story. Breaking Bad sells itself.
But the moment I’ll not soon forget is seeing the cast at the 2012 San Diego Comic Con in Ballroom 20. I’d waited all day and was in the seventh row, right of center when the cast strolled out. Around 4,000 fans screamed and frothed; it was like a rock concert in there. It was easy to see the cast were floored by the crowd’s unrestrained enthusiasm. At one point, Bryan Cranston (Walter White) took a cell phone picture of the bubbling lunatics near the conclusion of the panel, then posted that picture to Twitter. I’m one of the faceless blobs in that shot. Will anyone remember? No. But for a moment, I was woven into the fabric of this exceptional television experience. See, there’s me smiling again.
Breaking Bad will go down in television history as one of the best dramas ever conceived, written, acted, directed, and watched — so thank you to the crew, the actors, the writers, and directors who all had a hand in entertaining me for five seasons. Helluva journey. Worth every second.