“I haven’t been myself lately,” Bryan Cranston’s character, Walter White, acknowledged in the astounding first season of “Breaking Bad.”
Understatement of the year. From milquetoast science teacher to methamphetamine manufacturer, he’s been through an extraordinary transformation, all while keeping up appearances as a good family man.
If “Weeds” is about maternal instinct gone to pot, “Breaking Bad” is about father knowing best, knowing meth and going off the deep end.
Let’s recap.
The mild-mannered high-school chemistry teacher learned in the pilot that he is dying of lung cancer. As a way to provide for his family, he’s teamed with a former student, Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), to turn a used RV into a mobile drug lab. Walt has gotten good at cooking meth, which has led to murders, coverups and lots of money.
Now the curveball: Walt’s brother-in-law Hank (Dean Norris, “Little Miss Sunshine”) is a DEA agent. His wife, Skylar (Anna Gunn of “Deadwood”), is pregnant. His disabled teenage son, Walter Jr. (RJ Mitte of “Hannah Montana”), is angry because dad’s scared of chemotherapy.
Walt wants to be able to make his own choices. Facing death, he’s finally living. He determines to cash in — in a bigger way — by moving his product in bulk, stepping up production.
So begins his association with Tuco, the insane drug lord.
That’s all you need to know. Season 2 begins Sunday at 8 p.m. on AMC.
Cranston’s Emmy-winning performance is a wonder: The former “Malcolm in the Middle” dad seamlessly ranges from soft-spoken suburban husband to hustling drug dealer, all while reasoning as a pragmatic businessman. In a junkyard in the desert, Walter and Jesse witness a murderous rage induced by their refined drug.
A shaken Walter calculates aloud the college tuition and mortgage payments coming due and, adjusting for inflation, determines that he needs 11 more drug deals to meet his goal of providing for his family.
Viewers may secretly hope his selling streak continues.
Walter’s desperation is given whole-body expression by Cranston, who is frighteningly convincing at every turn.
Season 2 continues to explore the different levels of what is illegal and what is only slightly reprehensible under current social mores (smoking Cuban cigars with Hank, his crass DEA agent in-law, inspired philosophical musings). Meanwhile, Hank’s wife (Betsy Brandt, “CSI”) has a little problem with shoplifting. The layers of lies, the cancer worries and mounting threats from the unhinged drug kingpin all are building boldly.
The chemistry of “Breaking Bad” is explosive: Dark comedy bubbles up from the tragedy, as Walt pushes into increasingly criminal endeavors. Like “Weeds,” the stories may not always be credible, but they speak to a larger truth: How far would one go in protecting family, particularly when faced with imminent death? Cranston continues to concoct one of the most original characters in prime time.
In advance of the new season, a marathon of the entire first season begins tonight at 8 on AMC.
First move for “Castle.”
And now for a more traditional entertainment.
Nathan Fillion (“Firefly” and, more recently, “Desperate Housewives”) is Richard Castle, the lady-killing author of murder mysteries. He is interested in police work as research. Stana Katic (“Bond 22: Quantum of Solace”) is Kate Beckett, the no-nonsense NYPD detective who doesn’t want anyone messing with her cases. Soon, the detective interests the novelist as much as work does. They clash, sparks fly, they clash some more, and a resolution is at hand after the third-act break.
If you aren’t already tired of their shtick after endless on-air promotions, you may find them charming.
ABC’s answer to “Murder, She Wrote,” only sexier, “Castle” debuts Monday at 9 p.m. on KMGH-Channel 7. Besides frisky tension between the leads, this workmanlike whodunit also has a sense of humor about itself and the crime/mystery genre: To wit, crime thriller author James Patterson and crime novelist and “Rockford Files” creator Stephen J. Cannell guest star as themselves in a poker game with Castle.
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com
