‘Yeah, but have you seen this?’
The familiar cry of the nerd, desperately wanting to show their coolness by association, is heard way too regularly at my place. Recently the cry has become a plaintive pleading since I got my hands on the DVD box-set of Breaking Bad Series 1 and 2, the HBO show known to everyone as ‘the one with the dad from Malcolm in the Middle.’
‘It’s better than the Soprano’s’
Yep, the mating call of the nerd comes next, a statement designed to insert your new discovery into the conversation about ‘quality television’, thereby automatically putting it on a par with the show that all others are now judged by.
‘When I say better…’
Qualification - the nerdish way of backing down from an argument without admitting it.
Breaking Bad came with some high recommendations, including all of the above. Now, in truth recommendations usually leave me cold. As any real nerd will tell you, if you haven’t discovered it yourself than it will usually be rejected off-hand. This is actually an advantage. Without people shouting at me about OZ (US prison drama, check it out) for several years I’d never have seen multiple male rapes in a prison toilet, and who wouldn’t want to see that over their dinner?
This recommendation/rejection cycle is a true test of quality – a piece of art has to overcome several obstacles of the mind before it can be plugged in as a treat for the eyes. Breaking Bad passes the first test.
‘You’ll just keep sticking on another episode’
As someone who has real difficulty following any series on television and whose knowledge of SKY+ extends to the fact that I can spell it, the humble DVD is still the only way of immersing myself into a television series. This means long days watching hours and hours of the same programme, followed by surreal dreams periodically involving gun fights, drug deals and sexy situations that never go anywhere.
Breaking Bad fucked me up for about a week. I'll share one thing with you from my night-time sojourns: Don't do meth kids.
‘It’s just bloody genius…’
Like all nerds, I have real difficulty in getting to the point without superfluous waffle (see above) and I won’t try to explain why Breaking Bad is so good here, but I'll at least give you a summary.
Breaking Bad follows a high school chemistry teacher who has been diagnosed with lung cancer. When discovering that the cost of medical treatment will bankrupt his family, he decides to begin using his chemistry skills to ‘cook’ illegal meth and sell it on the streets. To do this he enlists a partner in his crime, an ex student who has since become a drug dealer and addict.
Told you it was bloody genius.
‘Here, just take it and watch the thing’
While the nerdish argument can be fun (for us nerds) they have to end some time. With Breaking Bad, it will end by giving the box-set to a friend in the full knowledge that you will never see those shining discs again. It’s something I have named ‘The Wire effect’.
Breaking Bad is funny, poignant and visceral television at its best. Go out, buy it, download it, stream it, whatever, just watch the thing. After all, it’s better than the Soprano’s.
