So often when it comes to pop culture, it’s all about what’s shiny and new. Trailers for the biggest movies of the summer, splash pages for new shows, and billboards boasting about the latest albums from music’s hottest stars. But there is, of course, a beauty in going back and revisiting an old favorite.
For instance, did you know Breaking Bad is just… still streaming on Netflix? I often cite it as my favorite show of all time, and it was recently calling to me from its little window for a re-watch. The series, which ran from 2008 to 2013, aired just 62 episodes but managed to become one of TV’s biggest successes of all time. The series won 16 Primetime Emmy awards, including two for Outstanding Drama Series, four for Bryan Cranston, three for Aaron Paul, and two for Anna Gunn.
Breaking Bad also gave audiences what I consider the greatest single season of all time with its fifth and final. Endings can be tricky for shows. Audiences are often in love with the long-game on TV, and seem to balk at the endings more than they embrace them. But Breaking Bad, with all of its intricate plots and richly satisfying character journeys, is an absolute exception to that trend. All 16 episodes in its final season serve a purpose, and not a note is missing. The season aired over two years, and even that somehow worked out in the show’s favor, with its stunning mid-season cliffhanger keeping audiences on edge for 11 long months in 2012 and 2013. The show’s final three episodes, Ozymandias, Granite State, and Felina, defied audience expectations for plotting, climaxing earlier than we expected and then paying that off with an icy penultimate episode and a second climax of a series finale. Revisiting it all these years later proves just how right critics and audiences were to celebrate the show’s ending so thoroughly. And it’s always just sitting right there on our TVs, waiting to be devoured all over again
Leave a Reply