It's not a huge problem, as the series spends most of its time with Walter and is not an ensemble by any stretch, with Cranston involved in roughly 85% of the scenes. But scenes that don't involve him add little to the show (with the exception being a look at Pinkman's family life, which helped turn the character from annoying to more sympathetic). Perhaps with more episodes, I'd have begun to care more about Walter and Anna's teenage son Walter Jr (RJ Mitte), Anna's bitchy sister Marie (Betsy Brandt), or Marie's boorish DEA agent husband Dean (Dean Norris, a hey-it's-that-guy actor playing the same character type you've seen him play in many things).
I'm interested in finding out if the series has more in store for these characters, but even if it doesn't, its focus on Walter is enough to draw me in and recommend the show to others. Breaking Bad has a little bit of everything to recommend, from Cranston's heartbreaking performance, to the black comedy that pervades throughout the series, to the (literally) explosive climax that has me excited to see what the series will do with a full season at its disposal. The season isn't slated to be released on DVD until 2009, so you'll have to wait if you're looking to check it out that way. Instead, I recommend checking in on AMC, which begins rerunning the season every month and a half or so, or downloading the episodes from Amazon.com.
Article comments