Comments | dr_scott: The Lessons of Walter White

dr_scott

The Lessons of Walter White

Sep 20, 2013 12:40

Breaking Bad is a classic tragedy told across 5 seasons of high-quality TV. The anti-hero, Walter White, is a Caltech-degreed chemist who mysteriously ends up teaching high school chemistry to ingrates in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which acts as a seedy and naturally-beautiful backdrop to the chains of events and moral failures that destroy his world ( Read more... )

Comments 7

bix02138 September 20 2013, 20:04:15 UTC

There are really terrific, thoughtful dissections of Breaking Bad episodes in Tim Goodman's (formerly of the S.F. Chron) Bastard Machine columns in The Hollywood Reporter.

The most recent episode covered is Ozymandias : http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/bastard-machine/greatest-breaking-bad-episode-ever-629634

dr_scott September 20 2013, 20:41:19 UTC

Thanks for the tip.

billeyler September 20 2013, 20:12:27 UTC

Partly because of peer pressure and partly because of curiosity because of reviews noting it's the highest quality TV drama ever produced (and also because my city of Albuquerque becomes a featured 'character' in the show), I started watching it again.

I'm in season 1, episode 5. It's going to take a while!

dr_scott September 20 2013, 20:42:59 UTC

That particular episode is notable for the "talking pillow." Good example of the humor component...

Albuquerque scenery (both tacky human and gorgeous natural) is a big part of the show's appeal.

typographer September 20 2013, 22:45:47 UTC

Lesson 0: Much evil can be averted if we had a single-payer health care system instead of being a tea bag republic.

dr_scott September 20 2013, 23:05:37 UTC

Umm, no. He has good medical insurance as a teacher, but his wife finds him more advanced out-of-network treatment that saves his life. In Britain and most other national health services, he would get standard treatment and die because his cure was both unlikely and expensive, and such systems deny advanced treatment to people in his position. His friends at the company he used to work for also offer to pay, but his pride is too great to accept help.

dr_scott September 21 2013, 05:23:06 UTC

Further discussion of this exact point: The Canadian version of Breaking Bad has Walter White cooking meth to pay for his treatment in Texas.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-13/-breaking-bad-canada-.html