Imagine this, you’re scrolling through social media, and then you see it. A clip featuring a bald man with glasses speaking about “cooking drugs”. As you keep watching, you find out it’s from a show called Breaking Bad. But then you start to wonder, what is Breaking Bad even about? 

What is Breaking Bad? 

   Premiering on January 20, 2008, Breaking Bad features Bryan Cranston as Walter White, and Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman, among others. The show ran for 5 seasons, with 62 episodes running about 30-40 minutes long. The show centers around Walter, a high school chemistry teacher, and one of his former students, Jesse, working together to “cook” drugs, in this case methamphetamine. The show takes place in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and some of the places in the show can be found in real life, such as the house Walter lives in. 

Breaking Bad’s story 

     While watching a drug bust led by his brother-in-law, DEA agent Hank Schrader, Walter would see one of his old students, Jesse Pinkman, escaping the crime scene and driving away. While at the crime scene, Walter began to realize the large sums of money involved in cooking meth. Walter would then look for Jesse until he found him at his house, asking him if he was willing to partner up in selling drugs. With his chemistry background Walter, with Jesse’s help, would create some of the purest meth ever seen, with Jesse calling it an art piece.  

    This opened the doors for Walter and Jesse to make a fortune. Walter is especially in financial need not only because of his low salary from his job, but the expenses from the family such as lung cancer treatment for Walter and other expenses for Walter’s pregnant wife and disabled son.   Throughout Walter’s journey, he must constantly hide his secret from his family; otherwise, the consequences would be severe for him. 

Personal opinions before watching the show 

      Considering how Breaking Bad lasted for 5 seasons, I thought it might be a good watch. I’d seen some clips about it, and they do make it appealing to watch, so hopefully the show would live up to its expectations. I’d been told that there are other shows related to Breaking Bad’s story, so I must give those a watch as well. 

Opinions after watching the show 

   After watching, I truly understood why this show was so well-liked. Everything from the story to the acting was on point, and the characters had great personalities, such as Walter learning the methods and tricks of cooking and selling meth and becoming a more intimidating and braver person along the way. This show was on point when it came to realism and accuracy, with the show even showing the methods used to cook meth. Overall, I really enjoyed watching this show, and would highly recommend it if you have a love for science, or if you like watching action shows as well. 

Other shows that relate to Breaking Bad 

    There are two other shows that go with Breaking Bad’s storyline, one being Better Call Saul, a story which centers around Jimmy McGill, a lawyer who would eventually help Walter White with the law later in the story. Another story is El Camino, a movie which centers around Jesse Pinkman after the events of Breaking Bad.  

   If you plan on watching Breaking Bad, I recommend watching Better Call Saul before watching Breaking Bad, as it introduces some vital characters such as Jimmy McGill and Mike Ehrmantraut, who play important roles in Breaking Bad’s story, and then watching El Camino after watching both shows, as it serves as a sort of epilogue for Jesse Pinkman and his path to freedom from his past. 

The reason for its popularity in recent years 

     I believe this show is so popular due to how well made the story is. Not only that, but some of the characters are so well liked that people tend to use them for memes, since they have so much “potential” for jokes. The jokes are much funnier when you watch the show, so it’s recommended to watch the series and its spinoffs if you want to understand its popularity for yourself.