The attraction to evil TV series review
Serial killers or extremely twisted characters always seem to have a magnetic attraction with the public and it is alarming that psychopaths and bad boy personalities have such charisma. Marlon Brando for example is for many film buffs the ultimate ruffian as the unforgettable Stanley Kowalski in Tennessee Williams's "Streetcar named Desire" and years later "The Godfather" who could love and slaughter with as much dedication and passion. Take even some of these super heroes which the public does not seem to get enough of. Very rarely are they regular men (and women) with a family life and a normal work routine. They always have some dark element in their past; murdered parents or childhood abductions....
So really nothing predestined Walter White to become one of television greatest heroes." Breaking Bad" begins with Walter an average Joe, a timid high school chemistry teacher who is forced to do extra hours at a car wash because finances are tight, his wife is pregnant with their second child and his son has a few physical issues which require extra medical care. He has a terrible cough which eventually leaves him gasping for air before he collapses. The final blow for his already awful day is that he is diagnosed with stage three cancer of the lungs and could have less than a year to live. He decides to hold off on sharing that piece of information with his family and instead goes on a drug bust with his cop brother in law. Walter quietly watches the main Crystal Meth dealer (Jesse, a former student of his) get away. Instead of helping to catch him, Walter offers Jesse a deal, he will cook, the best possible meth and Jesse will sell it; all this to ensure the financial stability of his family once he is gone. On a moral point of view, it is of course completely wrong. But when survival is the only target, how far can we all be pushed? When countries offer no free medical aid, no concessions for education, mortgages,infant children who lose their parents , what wouldn't a father do to protect his loved ones?
One of the most fascinating aspects of this series is Walter's character played by the brilliant Bryan Cranston. As I mentioned before, he is at the beginning of the story just your average timid man who becomes a drug lord and sinks into moral depravity.
Yet the more he seems to very brightly manipulate the law, the more interesting and attractive he gets. Even his lovely wife who clearly loved him seems to look at Walter with awe and fear as he displays more and more signs of psychotic behavior.
Walter is the perfect example of what one would call "the Dark Triad Traits". He is narcissistic, more worryingly machiavellic as he does not hesitate in being manipulative and deceitful even towards those who do love him deeply and of course he is a psychopath with a high level of stress tolerance, lack of empathy and emotion. Walter will find a way of reaching his target whether it means jeopardizing the safety of a child of manipulating the weaker minded Jesse. The triggering factor in his character change is of course initially his illness and his very noble desire to protect his family from an impending financial disaster after his death. But gradually it becomes about control and not letting cancer dictate its conditions. In one sadly funny scene, Walter is waiting to go for his routine scan check up and a young man who has just learnt that he is also suffering from cancer is seated next to Walter pouring his heart out at our hero who really couldn't care less about this whiney cancer patient!. Of course he does not get a dot of compassion from Walter who gives the poor baffled man a speech on fighting and taking control of his life when something as terrible as this happens.! As cruel as this may seem, the scene is hilarious because of Walter's facial expressions which show that he can't wait to get out of the room and as far away as possible from the moping man and to quickly go and cook his next batch of blue Crystal Meth.
I will of course avoid telling more of "Breaking Bad's" plot simply because it is worth watching and discovering on your own plus if I do reveal the ending I don't think I will make many "Breaking Bad" fans very happy!
But I don't remember a television hero/ character being so well written and with this much depth and one cannot help but wonder if we do not all have in us this Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde personalities which can just pop up for various reasons .
Walter's transformation is fascinating and one feels that it is his impending death which makes him fearless and void of any morality. Plus he seems to become more and more clever as the plot goes along.
Despite never deviating from his aim which is to provide financial stability to his family, he also becomes harder and more self absorbed so much so that this once gentle man begins to generate fear in his partner, his lawyer and even his wife. His self image begins to matter. When the series started, Walter wore classic clothes which he neatly folded before beginning to "cook". Mid way during the show, he develops an image, wears a black hat, looks threatening and seems to enjoy it.
"Breaking Bad" has five seasons and unlike many other television serials whose producers don't know when to gracefully put an end to show; this one actually ends and believe me your withdrawal symptoms will last a long time. Bryan Cranston's work was commended by fellow villain Anthony Hopkins who said "What is extraordinary, is the sheer power of everyone in the entire production, it was like a great Jacobean, Shakespearian or Greek Tragedy".
By Sumaya Samarasinghe
Ceylon Today Features
