{"id":2778,"date":"2012-07-14T10:08:35","date_gmt":"2012-07-14T14:08:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gadflyonline.com\/wpblog\/?p=2778"},"modified":"2012-07-25T09:57:01","modified_gmt":"2012-07-25T13:57:01","slug":"breaking-bad-and-the-hilarious-growing-pains-of-a-criminal-organization-by-justin-geldzahler","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/breaking-bad-and-the-hilarious-growing-pains-of-a-criminal-organization-by-justin-geldzahler\/","title":{"rendered":"Breaking Bad and the hilarious growing pains of a criminal organization"},"content":{"rendered":"

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When Breaking Bad <\/em>enters its fifth and final season this Sunday, the transformation from Walter White the chemistry teacher to Walter White the drug kingpin will nearly be complete. Fans already know that his moral devolution anchors the show. As creator Vince Gilligan told The New York Times<\/em><\/a>:<\/p>\n

Television is really good at protecting the franchise. It\u2019s good at keeping the Korean War going for 11 seasons, like M*A*S*H<\/em>. It\u2019s good at keeping Marshal Dillon policing his little town for 20 years. By their very nature TV shows are open-ended. So I thought, \u201cWouldn\u2019t it be interesting to have a show that takes the protagonist and transforms him into the antagonist?\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, when said protagonist is a mild-mannered cancer-stricken high-school teacher from Albuquerque, turning him into a Scarface isn\u2019t going to happen easily. While the transformation has obviously wrecked moral havoc on Mr. White and company, part of the fun of Breaking Bad<\/em> is watching these nice and not-so-nice characters step out of their comfort zones. While AMC\u2019s other<\/em> critically-lauded-yet-surprisingly-funny series might score laughs with classic sitcom tropes<\/a>, Breaking Bad <\/em>mines comedy the old fashioned way \u2013 by having its characters fail. A lot.<\/p>\n

As Liz Meriwether taught us, funny people are flawed people<\/a>, and the characters of Breaking Bad <\/em>are most certainly flawed. Though Walter White clawed his way to the top of a minor meth empire, he was never cut out for the drug trade. The man can barely roll a joint<\/a>. But as the pilot implied, Walter was never quite cut out for much of anything. He was a pretty mediocre teacher, and while his time producing meth bolstered his self-esteem, it certainly didn\u2019t help him with his straight job. His speech at a grief rally in Season Three is as laughably \u2013and painfully \u2013 awkward as anything from David Brent.<\/p>\n