TV Review: Breaking Bad (Season 3)

Breaking Bad‘s third season is not as universally strong as the second season, but there are enough interesting characters and plot lines in it to keep it interesting. Dominating performances by Cranston and Paul again propel the acting of the show above most of those on TV, and as long as the show continues to get darker and darker each season, Breaking Bad is well on its way to becoming an American dramatic classic.

 Some would say season 2 was about consequences, but due to the opening and closing of the season, I’d attribute it more to a chain reaction or six degrees of separation type story. The third group of episodes really get into the consequences of actions going back to the beginning of the show, including the biggest egg of all: Walt (Bryan Cranston) finally coming clean (mostly) to his wife Skylar (Anna Gunn), a conversation in the premiere which echos throughout the rest of the season, completely redefining the show in its path. Take his home and family from him, and what is Walt left with?

 Seeing Walt finally delve into the underworld of crime head first continues the transformation of “Mr. Chips to Scarface” (in the words of   Vince Gilligan) changes the ratio of dark drama and black comedy by bringing in shady lawyer Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) as a regular cast member. It’s necessary, because Bad could easily fall into a depressing exercise in how evil ruins everything; instead, they think creatively to turn overly dramatic and depressing situations into darkly hilarious ones, and it keeps the show from falling into a cyclic display of sadness and anger.

 With all the strong acting and the fantastic art direction (including Cranston, who not only stars in front of the camera, but dazzles behind it in the episodes he directs), it would be easy to toss the crown on Breaking Bad, but I’m still not sure I’m there yet. Characters like Walt Jr. (RJ Mitte) and Holly have all but disappeared from the scripts. Instead of having the always-annoying Marie (Besty Brandt) taking up precious space with her pointless story arcs, I’d like to see more about the younger members of the White family, and how the changes in their father are affecting them.

 One major plus this season is the growth of Walt’s DEA brother-in-law Hank (Dean Norris), whose character continues to move away from clichéd meat head cop to something deeper: a guy who is starting to realize that maybe the cop life isn’t the best life for him, especially when that job involves a war against the devastatingly brutal Mexican cartel. Maybe these changes are best viewed when considering his connections to Walt: not only is he looking for Heisenberg (Walt’s drug lord alter ego), but in the end, he may end up having to protect him from the cartel is well. Personally, Hank’s journey this season was one of my favorite arcs to watch, and after his actions in the last two episodes, there are even bigger changes on the horizon for Hank’s character.

 There are times when Breaking Bad drags more than in earlier seasons, and I still don’t like the way women in the show are written at times, but there is a subtlety to the imagery, and a complexity to the show’s moral core. Even when Bad is at its weakest point, there are things to see and think about, making its inconsistencies and sometimes disappearing story lines forgivable. I’m looking forward to the fourth season of Bad, and hope it continues to get funnier and darker as it moves forward.

Overall: B+

 Characters: B

 Plot: B+

 Production Values: B+