Everyone’s favorite high school teacher turned crystal meth mastermind is back as the second to last season of Breaking Bad returns on July 15. I think they actually filmed the whole final season and decided to break it up into two shorter seasons to give TV fans something to look forward to. I first got turned onto the show when I was preparing to interview Bryan Cranston. I watched the first ep of the second season and was blown away, then realized that Bryan was also the doofus dad on Malcolm in the Middle as well as the sexy dentist from Seinfeld! I was hooked. Since I’ve been a die hard fan and I had the pleasure of watching the first two episodes of the new season. They are simply kick ass sublime.
No spoilers here, but a few thoughts. While I was watching I couldn’t help but think of two of my favorite shows of all time the Sopranos and The Shield. They both had very gray lead characters who you always knew were pretty evil but rooted for them any way with the hope that they were actually good because they were just amazingly interesting. Was it because they were bald and bald guys are inherently lovable and awesome? Probably. But in the end it turned out that while they had a semblance of a conscience they were pretty bad dudes who’d kill whomever got in their way. Which in a lot of ways made them worse. They knew what they were doing was wrong but did it anyway as opposed to say a Ralphie who killed a hooker because he was a psychopath.
Of course they had arcs and we saw more facets of who and why they were who they were but for the most part from first episode to last Tony Soprano and Vic Mackey didn’t change a whole helluva lot. 
What’s great about Breaking Bad is Walter White began as a poor sad sack chemistry teacher with cancer struggling to make ends meet. He started cooking meth out of sheer desperation but as he overcame obstacle over obstacle he embraced his dark side to become a drug kingpin who blew up his competition in a nursing home and manipulated his partner by poisoning a young boy.
That’s a character arc that I’ve never seen before and it’s the main reason why the show is so great, Another reason? Aaron Paul is one of the best actors on TV. Another, another reason? Magnets, That’s all I’m going to give away.
PS. I’m interviewing Bob Odenkirk who plays Saul tomorrow and will post that interview ASAP. He’s one of my favorites back from his days of Mr. Show with Bob and David. This may be my favorite skit of his. 
