Breaking Badly

All my friends have been telling me I have to watch Breaking Bad, so I finally decided to give it a try last night. The whole thing seemed pretty nonsensical to me.

I understand this guy, Walt, was a high school teacher who learns he has inoperable lung cancer. I think the usual response to a cancer diagnosis is that patients try to improve their lifestyles to minimize the risks. Some people go so far as to change careers to something with less stress and more flexibility to pursue treatments, etc. This guy, on the other hand, decides to take up one of the most stressful careers there is … dealing methamphetamine. Perhaps he should have consulted one of the school’s guidance counselors first, or gotten an informational booklet on the profession. Then he might not have had to do so much on-the-job training.

So last night, Walt breaks into the home of a really wealthy couple that he seemed to know. They must have been other high school teachers who had gotten tenure. Their home is full of fancy furniture, art, etc. So what does he do? He gives them like nine million dollars. WTF?

Then he goes to visit some blonde who I’m guessing is his wife. She says she won’t take his money, and he says he doesn’t have any. (Duh! He gave it all to the rich couple!) So what does he do? He gives her a lottery ticket. Yeah, that’ll help.

Then he goes to the headquarters of some bad meth dealers. (Remember … he’s a good meth dealer) and tries to get them to give him some money. (Again, he gave nine million bucks to the rich couple!) They decide to shoot him instead, but they stop when he calls the boss a liar. Whoa! This guy may be a drug dealer, a thief and a cold-blooded killer. But a liar? That’s an insult.

Anyway, Walt has this whole other thing planned, so a lot of stuff happens right at the end. It was kind of confusing, especially since I can’t tell the good drug dealers from the bad ones.

I don’t know. I might give it another try, just to see what happens next.