Monday, January 21, 2008

Pilot Review: Breaking Bad

Breaking Bad (AMC)
Premiered January 20 at 10pm

I do not think I have ever seen such a whacked-out series debut. The premise is outlandish but fascinating at the same time. The main problem here is that the show attempts to stay grounded in normalcy while clearly heading down a fantasy path. It should be either fully crazy or fully realistic; a middle ground seems ineffective. I never thought that Bryan Cranston could be so subdued after watching him flail about for years on "Malcolm on the Middle", but I do not know whether I would label this a good performance. Forget about the rest of the cast, none of them are worth it. My main question about this show is why it contains language too strong for AMC. Some of the "swear words" were edited out, but from what? This is the original version of the show, if I am not mistaken. It is as if the show was slated to premiere on HBO but at the last minute was switched to AMC and no one bothered to rewrite the dialogue.

How will it work as a series? Well, this one almost ended a few times in but I guess they can keep it going for a bit...
How long will it last? What possible audience could this show have? And on AMC? I would say this one ends at the end of the season unless people really start tuning in early before "Mad Men" reruns at midnight.

Pilot grade: C+

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