Hello and welcome to a new blog series dedicated to my favorite television show of all-time (to this point) "Breaking Bad".
I can't speak as to how often I will be able to post, but my intention is to analyze each major character in depth with W.W. himself being the last to get the autopsy treatment. Since it's my column I'm going to start with my favorite characters. With that in mind the first few posts here will be about Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks), and Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito). Like I said I can't speak to what frequency I will be able to post, but I will do my best to do at least one or two a month. Lets get started then with my favorite character Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul).
The first time I watched the first three seasons of Breaking Bad I could not stand Jesse Pinkman. Like Walter I grew tired of his antics with increasing disdain. The more we learned about the character, like that he was from a somewhat affluent background, etc. I found even more offensive. He had his redeeming moments like caring for Spooge's kid, but for the most part he was Gilligan to Walt's professor. A comic relief character that Walt would manipulate to whatever end he needed.
The second time I watched the series through I gained a new found respect for Pinkman, and obviously a love for the character. I find it funny that Pinkman's more serious aspects of his character didn't really mete out until after Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) arrived to fill a large portion of the comic relief role. It was on my second viewing that I started to understand the motivations of the character. He came from a good home and wanted to be an outlaw yet he takes pity on kids like Brock & Spooge's kid because they have already gotten off to a rough beginning. Brock, having Tomas the pint sized murderer in his family and Spooge's kid growing up in a meth den, sleeping on a dirty mattress, and having only marshmallow fluff to eat on a hamburger bun. Once I understood Pinkman's motivations for taking on these charity cases I gained a lot of perspective about Paul and Vince Gilligan's perceptions of the character.
A lot has been made about metaphors and foreshadowing in Breaking Bad, and I think with Pinkman that I may have the inside track on a couple that were not exactly popular discussion in fan circles.
The first is the wooden box. In group therapy Pinkman describes a shop teacher that challenged him "is that the best you can do?" with a wooden box that Pinkman had constructed rather half assed. Pinkman was challenged by the shop teacher's notion, and remade the box over and over until it was as perfect as he could make it. I think Jesse Pinkman was Vince Gilligan's wooden box. The character was originally supposed to die in the first or second season, but Gilligan liked the chemistry between Paul & Cranston so much that he could not bring himself to snuff him. If you break down each season individually Pinkman reaches a certain point, as a character, and then something happens to bring him back to square one. Then the first image we see in the series finale is Pinkman putting the finishing touches on the shop project. In my mind it's Gilligan showing that after this Pinkman will be free. Free from Walt, free from his addictions, free from his guilt, and free from everything that has stunted his growth as a person/character.
The second thing that I noticed is a little bit less involved, but I think it's interesting that every scene of great upheaval in Pinkman's life is mirrored by some form of destruction in his home/or losing his home. Helps kill and dispose of Crazy 8 & Emilio and the bottom of his tub is melted out by acid leaving a hole in his ceiling, gets back into business with Walt and gets kicked out of his house, kills Gale and his home turns into a graffiti covered flop house, and so forth. Then in season 4 when Mike restores Pinkman's confidence and sanity he paints his home white again signifying that his conscience is once again clean. When the guilt over Drew Sharp's murder overwhelms we see in Season 5 that his home is once again in disarray.
Speaking of Season 4 it is easily my favorite season overall, but especially with Pinkman. There is so much character growth for him contained in just one season of television. What makes it great though is his pairing with veteran actor Jonathan Banks' Mike Ehrmantraut. The odd ball pair makes for some entertaining television. Their road trip to do the pick ups was one of my favorite "Breaking Bad" episodes. Mike was like the the Grandfather/Father/Uncle figure that Pinkman always needed. Not a person attempting to manipulate Pinkman, but legitimately trying to give him sound advice. It is one of the more endearing pairings on the show and it made it extremely hard to take when Mike met his bitter end. As you can see from my "favorites list" the Gus-Mike-Jesse trio was probably my favorite thing about the show!
Finally, I would be foolish to gloss over the White & Pink dynamic. Cranston and Paul have the absolute perfect mix of antagonism, humor, disdain, and (somewhat misplaced) loyalty in their pairing. My absolute favorite moment between the two had to be the "cow house?" exchange from the first season. Jesse: "Yeah there is absolutely nothing out here, nothing but cows, just some big cow house out in the distance" Walt: "Cow House?" Jesse: "Yeah where they live....the cows". I just love how in their delivery that Cranston completely dismisses Jesse as a moron, and Jesse takes umbrage to that in his defiant response. There are a lot of other examples, but this is the best example of how both men understand not only their characters but their relation to one another.
So there it is the first entry to this fan column. Let me know what you think and what you would like to see going forward.
