Not Even Once: Meth or TV?

I know I'm super late to the bandwagon, but Breaking Bad is seriously one of the best shows ever. Coming from Montana (i.e. the source of all those anti-meth ads out there) I really didn't care to watch a show about meth production and distribution, even if it was fictional. Well, consider me converted. The writing on this show is impeccable, and they rely heavily on character development and utilize minimal action. This is so rare, a show being built upon quality story-telling, and the writers/actors/directors are so good at what they do it's impossible not to get sucked in.

The premise is simple enough: a family-man science teacher gets diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and goes into the meth production business to save up money to leave to his family when he dies. He teams up with an ex-student who has already been working as a distributor of "glass" and boom, the magic happens. Or science, science happens. Which is part of the awesomeness of this show. It's like Bill Nye broke bad and who wouldn't love that (except he'd be a comic book villain I'm sure). 

This show looks deeply at the alterations in the human psyche when you get news like "you're dying" and how one small decision can snowball and lead you in a completely different direction. It's not about asking forgiveness for the sins committed, but more about how people justify their actions and why they do the things they do. This show does not strive to distinguish or elevate the drug world like some other shows have done; in fact, they show some truly disgusting individuals and seem to be striving for an extreme level or realism. Fortunately it's still watchable even though some moments will definitely have you cringing. 

This show is as addicting as the drug it centers around. What's worse is you don't have to start at the beginning to get hooked. I was simply in the room while one of my friends was watching S2:E6 and I was done for. As someone in science myself there's the added cool factor of the fact that they aren't Hollywood-izing science. They're using real reagents and tools in the correct way (or I assume so for the reagents, I don't exactly know the formula for methamphetamine). To quote Jesse: "Yeah Science!"

So if you're like me and didn't think you'd like this show, or you'd never considered watching it, do. 4 seasons are up on Netlfix. Just be warned, you can't stop at just one.