breaking bad - wikipedia

Upload: prakashsahoo

Post on 06-Apr-2018

224 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

  • 8/2/2019 Breaking Bad - Wikipedia

    1/9

    Breaking Bad

    Genre Serial drama

    Crime thriller

    Black comedy

    Created by Vince Gilligan

    Starring Bryan Cranston

    Anna Gunn

    Aaron Paul

    Dean Norris

    Betsy Brandt

    RJ Mitte

    Bob Odenkirk

    Giancarlo Esposito

    Jonathan Banks

    Opening theme "Breaking Bad Theme" by

    Dave Porter

    Composer(s) Dave Porter

    Country of origin United States

    Language(s) English

    Spanish

    No. of seasons 4

    No. of episodes 46 (List of episodes)

    Production

    Executive

    producer(s)

    Vince Gilligan

    Mark Johnson

    Michelle MacLaren

    Location(s) Albuquerque, New Mexico

    Cinematography Michael Slovis

    reaking BadFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    Breaking Badis an American television drama series

    created and produced by Vince Gilligan. Set and produced in

    Albuquerque, New Mexico,Breaking Badis the story of

    Walter White (Bryan Cranston), a struggling high school

    chemistry teacher who is diagnosed with advanced lungcancer at the beginning of the series. He turns to a life of

    crime, producing and selling methamphetamine with a former

    student, Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), with the aim of securing

    his family's financial future before he dies.[1]

    Breaking Badhas received widespread critical acclaim,

    particularly for its writing, cinematography, and the acting

    ability of its cast. The series has won six Emmy Awards

    including three consecutive wins for Lead Actor in a Drama

    Series for Cranston, one win for Supporting Actor in aDrama Series for Paul, and two nominations for Outstanding

    Drama Series. Cranston has also been nominated twice for a

    Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a

    Television Series Drama.

    The series is broadcast in the United States and Canada on

    the cable channel AMC, and is a production of Sony Pictures

    Television. It premiered on January 20, 2008, and has

    completed its fourth season. On August 14, 2011, AMC

    announced thatBreaking Badhad been renewed for a fifthand final season consisting of 16 episodes.[2]

    Contents

    1 Production

    1.1 Conception

    1.2 Development history

    1.3 Casting1.4 Crew

    2 Cast and characters

    3 Themes and symbols

    3.1 Moral consequences

    3.2 Pink teddy bear

    4 Overview

    4.1 Season one (2008)

    4.2 Season two (2009)

    4.3 Season three (2010)

  • 8/2/2019 Breaking Bad - Wikipedia

    2/9

    Running time 47 minutes

    Broadcast

    Original channel AMC

    Original run January 20, 2008 presen

    External links

    Website (http://www.amctv.com/shows/breaking-bad)

    4.4 Season four (2011)

    4.5 Season five (2012)

    5 Reception

    5.1 Critical reception

    5.2 Awards and nominations

    6 Online promotion

    7 References

    8 External links

    Production

    Conception

    Breaking Badwas created by Vince Gilligan who spent several years writing the FOX series The X-Files. Gilliga

    wanted to create a series in which the protagonist became the antagonist. "Television is historically good at keeping

    its characters in a self-imposed stasis so that shows can go on for years or even decades," he said. "When I realize

    this, the logical next step was to think, how can I do a show in which the fundamental drive is toward change?"[3]

    He added that his goal with Walter White is to turn him from Mr. Chips into Scarface. [4][5][6] He has said it is

    difficult to write for Walter White because the character is so dark and morally questionable: "I'm going to miss the

    show when it's over, but on some level, it'll be a relief to not have Walt in my head anymore."[7] As the series has

    progressed, Gilligan and the writing staff ofBreaking Badhave made Walter more and more unsympathetic.[5]

    Gilligan said: "He's going from being a protagonist to an antagonist. We want to make people question who they're

    pulling for, and why."[4] Cranston said by the fourth season: "I think Walt's figured out it's better to be a pursuer

    than the pursued. He's well on his way to badass."[6] Gilligan defines the term "breaking bad" as "to raise hell".[8]

    Development history

    The network originally ordered nine episodes for the first season (including the pilot), but the 20072008 Writers

    Guild of America strike limited the production to seven episodes.[9] The series is set and filmed in Albuquerque,

    New Mexico.[10] It is shot on 35 mm film.[11]Breaking Badreportedly costs $3 million per episode to produce,

    higher than the average cost for a basic cable program.[12] Vince Gilligan had indicated that he intended to conclud

    Breaking Badwith the fifth season.[13] In early August 2011, negotiations began over a deal regarding the fifth an

    possible final season between the network AMC and Sony Pictures Television, the production company of the

    series. AMC proposed a shortened fifth season (six to eight episodes, instead of 13) to cut costs, but the produce

    declined. Sony then approached other cable networks about possibly picking up the show if a deal could not be

    made.[14] On August 14, 2011, a deal was made where AMC renewed the series for a final 16 episodes. [2]

    Casting

    Gilligan cast Bryan Cranston for the role of Walter White based on

    having worked with him in a sixth season episode of the science

    fiction television series The X-Files, where Gilligan worked as a

    writer. Cranston played an anti-Semitic man with a terminal illness

    who took series protagonist Fox Mulder hostage. Gilligan said the

    You're going to see thatunderlying humanity, even whenhe's making the most devious,terrible decisions, and you needsomeone who has that humanity

  • 8/2/2019 Breaking Bad - Wikipedia

    3/9

    Vince Gilligan, about Bryan Cranston[15

    Breaking Badcast from left to right:

    Giancarlo Esposito, Bob Odenkirk,

    Jonathan Banks, Aaron Paul, Bryan

    Cranston, Dean Norris, Betsy Brandt,

    Anna Gunn, RJ Mitte

    character had to be simultaneously loathsome and sympathetic, and

    that "Bryan alone was the only actor who could do that, who could

    pull off that trick. And it is a trick. I have no idea how he does

    it."[7][15] AMC officials were initially reluctant with the casting choice,

    having known Cranston only as the over-the-top character Hal on the

    comedy series Malcolm in the Middle, but they were persuaded

    after Gilligan screened theX-Files episode for them.[16]

    Gilligan originally intended for Jesse Pinkman's character to be killed

    at the end ofBreaking Bad's first season. Originally, Gilligan wanted

    Jesse to die in a botched drug deal as a plot device to plague the main

    protagonist Walter White with guilt. However, Gilligan said by the

    second episode of the season, he was so impressed with Jesse's character and Aaron Paul's performance that "it

    became pretty clear early on that would be a huge, colossal mistake, to kill off Jesse". [17]

    Crew

    Along with Gilligan, the show's other executive producer is Mark Johnson. Michelle MacLaren initially joined thecrew as an episodic director for the second season and rose to the position of executive producer for the fourth

    season. Melissa Bernstein and Sam Catlin are co-executive producers for the show.

    John Shiban was a writer and a consulting producer for the second and third seasons but then left the crew. Write

    George Mastras and Peter Gould began working on the series as story editors for the first season and became

    supervising producers for the fourth season. Thomas Schnauz joined the crew as a writer and co-producer for the

    third season and was also promoted to supervising producer for the fourth season.

    Karen Moore was the series on set producer for the first two seasons. She left the crew after the second season

    and was replaced by Stewart A. Lyons. Star Bryan Cranston has become increasingly involved behind the camera

    as the series has progressed. He began directing episodes as of the second season and became a producer for thefourth season.

    Cast and characters

    Main article: List of Breaking Bad characters

    Bryan Cranston as Walter White a chemistry teacher

    diagnosed with terminal lung cancer who turns to making meth

    to secure his family's finances. Cranston stated that, though heenjoyed doing comedy, he decided "Okay, now I should really

    focus on doing something else. But I think any good drama

    worth its weight always has a sprinkling of comedy in it,

    because you can ease the tension to an audience when it's

    necessary, and then build it back up again. Walt White has no

    clue he's occasionally funny, but as an actor I recognize when

    there are comedic moments and opportunities. For instance in

    the pilot when my brother-in-law is giving a toast at my

    birthday party. We originally had beers set up, and I said,

    deep down, bedrock humanity so you say, watching thisshow, 'All right, I'll go for thisride. I don't like what he'sdoing, but I understand, and I'llgo with it for as far as it goes.'If you don't have a guy whogives you that, despite thegreatest acting chops in the

    world, the show is not going tosucceed.

  • 8/2/2019 Breaking Bad - Wikipedia

    4/9

    'Wait a minute. What if Dean takes the beer out of my hand

    and doesn't even think twice of it? The guy who he's celebrating now doesn't have his own drink for his

    own toast, and he's left with a gun and he doesn't really know what to do with the gun.' It's not big, it's

    just little subtleties that people can find humorous."[18]

    Anna Gunn as Skyler White Walter's devoted, yet nosy wife who was pregnant with her and Walt's

    second child prior to his diagnosis. Gunn sees Skyler as "grounded, tough, smart and driven". "She has

    run the White household, she has devoted herself to Walt and to the raising of Walt, Jr. But I think thatshe has plans beyond taking care of the household that she would like to pursue, and one of those

    happens to be the eBay scheme that's introduced early on, and the other thing is that she's a writer. And

    I think that's her biggest dream I think she really deep down yearns to be an artist and to be creative

    and productive."[19]

    Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman Walter's former student and drug dealer who partners up with Walt and

    makes high-level meth. Paul sees Jesse as a funny kid. "He's just this lost soul I don't think he's a bad

    kid, he just got mixed in the wrong crowd. He has decided to do something he knows, and he's been

    cooking meth for some time now, so it's taken over his world a little bit. And it's interesting because

    when you meet Jesse's parents, you can tell they're an upper-middle-class, very proper family. Hedoesn't come from an abusive, alcoholic background. But maybe he just didn't relate to his father, mayb

    his father was too strict and too proper for Jesse." Paul compared the character's relationship to Walt t

    The Odd Couple.[20]

    Dean Norris as Hank Schrader Walter's DEA agent brother-in-law. Hank has been described as the

    "comic relief". Norris, who has played several cops before in film and television, stated "Having played

    so many cops, I've talked with a lot of technical advisers, so I've been able to pick up a lot.

    Coincidentally, one of my best friends growing up is a cop in Chicago, and one of my other best friends

    out in LA is a sheriff. So I get to see all the components of that culture. It's fun now to play cops with a

    little more humor to them, though. They're a little more interesting than just the hardcore guys."[21]

    Betsy Brandt as Marie Schrader Hank's wife and Skyler's kleptomaniac sister. Brandt described

    Marie as "an unpleasant bitch", but also stated there was more to her than that. "I think we're seeing

    more of it now that she would be there for her family. But it's all about her. If she were an actor, it woul

    be 'Blah, Blah, Blah, My line.' I really do love her, though. I know no one else does, but I do. Some

    actors, they always want their characters to be likable. And I do not roll like that."[22]

    RJ Mitte as Walter White, Jr. Walter and Skyler's son, has cerebral palsy. He begins lashing out after

    Walter's cancer announcement. Like Walter Jr., Mitte has cerebral palsy, although his is a more mildform.[23] Mitte stated he had to regress from his therapy to portray the character, staying up late into th

    night to slur his speech and learned to walk on crutches so his walking wouldn't look fake. [24]

    Bob Odenkirk as Saul Goodman (recurring season 2, main cast season 3) a crooked strip mall

    lawyer who represents Walt and Jesse. Odenkirk based his character on film producer Robert Evans. "

    thought about Robert Evans because I've listened to The Kid Stays in the Picture on CD. He's

    constantly switching up his cadence and his delivery. He emphasizes interesting words. He has loads of

    attitude in almost every line that he says. So when I rehearse the scenes alone I do my impersonation of

    Robert Evans to find those moments and turns. Then I go out and I do Saul."[25]

  • 8/2/2019 Breaking Bad - Wikipedia

    5/9

    Giancarlo Esposito as Gustavo "Gus" Fring (recurring season 2, main cast season 34) a high level

    drug distributor who as a cover is a fast food chain owner. Esposito stated for the third season, he

    incorporated his yoga training in his performance. "Gus is the coolest cucumber that ever walked the

    Earth. I think about Eddie Olmos way back in Miami Vice. He was like dead he was hardly breathin

    I thought, how is this guy just standing in this fire and doing nothing? Gus has totally allowed me that lev

    of flexibility and relaxation not because he has ultimate power and he knows he can take someone's

    life. He's just confident."[26]

    Jonathan Banks as Mike Ehrmantraut (recurring season 2, main cast season 3) a cleaner and hitman

    who works for Gus. The character of Mike has been compared to Harvey Keitel's performance in Pulp

    Fiction, which Banks stated he isn't trying to be like. Banks said this on the matter: "I immediately tried

    to put it out of my mind, quite honestly. His cleaner ain't my cleaner. But throughout this world, you

    would suspect there had been a great many cleaners, whether government-run or individual

    contractors."[27]

    Themes and symbols

    Moral consequences

    In an interview with The New York Times, creator Vince Gilligan said the larger lesson of the series is that "action

    have consequences".[7] He elaborated on the show's philosophy:

    If religion is a reaction of man, and nothing more, it seems to me that it represents a human desire

    for wrongdoers to be punished. I hate the idea of Idi Amin living in Saudi Arabia for the last 25

    years of his life. That galls me to no end. I feel some sort of need for biblical atonement, or justice,

    or something. I like to believe there is some comeuppance, that karma kicks in at some point, even

    if it takes years or decades to happen. My girlfriend says this great thing thats become myphilosophy as well. 'I want to believe there's a heaven. But I can't not believe there's a hell.'

    In a piece examining the show in comparison to The Sopranos, Mad Men and The Wire, Chuck Klosterman said

    thatBreaking Badis "built on the uncomfortable premise that there's an irrefutable difference between what's right

    and what's wrong, and it's the only one where the characters have real control over how they choose to live."

    Klosterman added that the central question ofBreaking Badis "What makes a man "bad" his actions, his

    motives, or his conscious decision to be a bad person?" Klosterman concluded that, in the world ofBreaking Bad

    "goodness and badness are simply complicated choices, no different than anything else."[3]

    Ross Douthat ofThe New York Times, in a response to Klosterman's piece, comparedBreaking Badand The

    Sopranos, stating that both series are "morality plays" that are "both interested in moral agency". Ross went on to

    say that Walter White and Tony Soprano "represent mirror-image takes on the problem of evil, damnation and fre

    will". Walter as a man who "deliberately abandons the light for the darkness" while Tony is "someone born and

    raised in darkness" who turns down "opportunity after opportunity to claw his way upward to the light."[28]

    Pink teddy bear

    A recurring motif in the second, third, and fourth seasons is the image of a damaged teddy bear and its missing eye

  • 8/2/2019 Breaking Bad - Wikipedia

    6/9

    that was the result of a catastrophic accident at the end of the second season. Vince Gilligan called the accident an

    attempt to visualize "all the terrible grief that Walt has wrought upon his loved ones".[29] Of the eye's appearance in

    the third season, The A.V. Club said that "the pink teddy bear continues to accuse". Critic Myles McNutt has

    called it a "a symbol of the damage [Walter] feels responsible for."[30] Fans and critics have compared the

    appearance of the teddy bear's face to the image of one character's face in the fourth season finale.[31]

    Overview

    See also: List of Breaking Bad episodes

    Season one (2008)

    Main article: Breaking Bad (season 1)

    The first season was originally intended to be nine episodes, but due to the 20072008 Writers Guild of America

    strike only seven episodes were filmed.[9] The first season premiered on January 20, 2008, and concluded on

    March 9, 2008. The complete first season was released on Region 1 DVD on February 24, 2009[32] and Region

    A Blu-ray on March 16, 2010.[33]

    A struggling high school chemistry teacher, Walter White (Cranston), is diagnosed with inoperable, advanced lung

    cancer. On a ride along with his DEA agent brother-in-law Hank (Dean Norris), Walter sees a former student of

    his, Jesse Pinkman (Paul), fleeing the scene of a meth lab. He later contacts Jesse and devises a scheme to become

    partners in an attempt to combine their skills to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine. Walter says he wan

    to provide financial stability for his pregnant wife, Skyler (Gunn) and disabled son, and to pay for his expensive

    cancer treatment. During Walter and Jesse's first days of selling Albuquerque's finest meth, they encounter a series

    of problems with local drug dealers.

    Season two (2009)

    Main article: Breaking Bad (season 2)

    On May 7, 2008, AMC announced thatBreaking Badwas renewed for a second, 13-episode season.[34]

    Production began in July 2008 and the season premiered on March 8, 2009 and concluded on May 31, 2009. [35

    The complete second season was released on Region 1 DVD and Region A Blu-ray on March 16, 2010. [32]

    Walter continues to find himself facing insurmountable medical bills from his cancer treatment. Despite having

    several bad experiences while producing meth with Jesse, Walter agrees to rejoin his partner. The two begin

    producing meth but run into multiple problems. Jesse's friend Badger (Matt L. Jones) is arrested while selling meth

    in a sting operation. Walter hires a lawyer, Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk), to help Badger. Walter and Jesse driv

    a recreational vehicle into the desert and produce meth for four days. Later, Combo, another one of Jesse's friend

    and distributors, is killed by a rival gang for selling meth on their territory. Saul suggests the two find a new

    distribution model. Saul finds them a new business partner, Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito), who is willing to pay

    $1.2 million for the 38 pounds of meth they produced. Walter hastily delivers the product to Gus, but misses his

    daughter's birth. Skyler confronts Walter about his frequent absences and excuses. She begins to piece together hi

    secret life, and demands the two separate.

    Season three (2010)

  • 8/2/2019 Breaking Bad - Wikipedia

    7/9

    Main article: Breaking Bad (season 3)

    On April 2, 2009, AMC announced thatBreaking Badwas renewed for a third, 13-episode season.[36] It

    premiered on March 21, 2010, and concluded on June 13, 2010. The complete third season was released on

    Region 1 DVD and Region A Blu-ray on June 7, 2011.[37]

    Walter wishes to reunite his family, but Skyler is still suspicious of Walter's second life. Walter believes he can

    mend the tension between them by confessing to her that he has been producing meth. Skyler is appalled by theconfession and demands a formal divorce. Meanwhile, Gus offers to pay Walter three million dollars for three

    months of his service. He even offers to provide Walter with a state-of-the-art production facility and a brilliant lab

    assistant, Gale (David Costabile). Jesse is continuing to produce and sell meth by himself. Hank is working with th

    DEA to investigate Jesse and is slowly gathering evidence to make an arrest. Jesse threatens to report Walter to th

    police if he is arrested, but Walter offers him Gale's position at the lab. After obtaining the position, Jesse begins

    stealing meth from the lab and selling it in secret on the side. Walter aids Jesse in escaping from Gus's wrath. Gus

    begins to lose trust in Walter and asks Gale to take over the lab. He orders his henchmen to kill Walter and Jesse.

    After he is abducted by Mike and Victor, Walter instructs Jesse to kill Gale in order to become the organization's

    only chemist.

    Season four (2011)

    Main article: Breaking Bad (season 4)

    On June 14, 2010, AMC announcedBreaking Badwas renewed for a fourth, 13-episode season.[38] Production

    began in January 2011,[39] the season premiered on July 17, 2011 and concluded on October 9, 2011.[40]

    Originally, mini episodes of four minutes in length were to be produced before the premiere of the fourth season,[4

    but these did not come to fruition.[42]

    Jesse follows Walter's instructions and murders Gale. Gus decides to discipline the two by enforcing stricter polici

    at the lab. He also tries to break Walter and Jesse's friendship by assigning them to separate work details. While

    Walter works in the meth lab, Jesse escorts Mike (Jonathan Banks), one of Guss enforcers, to retrieve payments

    and provide back-up. Walter and Jesse become increasingly distant and hostile to each other. Meanwhile, Hank,

    who has been recovering from his last engagement with the cartel, finds evidence linking Gale to Gus. He believes

    Gus is a major drug distributor and starts looking for tangible evidence to file charges. Gus realizes Walter's close

    ties with Hank could jeopardize his entire operation. Gus fires Walter and threatens to kill his entire family. Jesse

    and Walter put their differences aside and agree to murder Gus. Using former cartel enforcer Hector Salamanca to

    detonate a bomb, Walter successfully kills Gus and his henchman. He and Jesse proceed to destroy the meth lab

    and Walt declares to his wife, "I won."

    Season five (2012)

    On August 14, 2011, AMC announced thatBreaking Badwas renewed for a fifth and final season consisting of

    16 episodes. The episodes are expected to be filmed together but may be split into two seasons, with the final

    scheduling decision to be made at a later date.[2] Anna Gunn stated while attending the 18th Screen Actors Guild

    Awards that production on the first eight episodes would begin in January 2012, with production on the final eight

    episodes beginning in winter 2013, and that the season will be split into two mini-seasons.[43]

  • 8/2/2019 Breaking Bad - Wikipedia

    8/9

    From left to right: Josh Sapan (AMC

    president/CEO), Aaron Paul (JessePinkman), Vince Gilligan (creator),

    Bryan Cranston (Walter White) and

    Charles Collier (President, General

    Manager)

    Reception

    Critical reception

    Breaking Badhas received widespread critical acclaim and has been praised by some critics as the greatest

    television drama of all time.[3][44] On the review aggregator website Metacritic, the first season scored 74/100,[45

    the second season scored 85/100,[46] the third season scored 89/100[47] and the fourth season scored 96/100.[48

    The American Film Institute listedBreaking Badas one of the top ten television series of 2010 and 2011.[49][50]

    For the first season, the series saw a mostly positive reception.New York Postcritic Linda Stasi praised the serie

    particularly the acting of Cranston and Paul, stating "Cranston and Paul are so good, it's astounding. I'd say the tw

    have created great chemistry, but I'm ashamed to say such a cheap thing."[51] Robert Bianco ofUSA Today also

    praised Cranston and Paul, exclaiming "There is humor in the show, mostly in Walt's efforts to impose scholarly

    logic on the business and on his idiot apprentice, a role Paul plays very well. But even their scenes lean toward the

    suspenseful, as the duo learns that killing someone, even in self-defense, is ugly, messy work."[52]

    The second season saw critical acclaim.Entertainment Weeklycritic Ken Tucker stated "Badis a superlatively

    fresh metaphor for a middle-age crisis: It took cancer and lawbreaking to jolt Walt out of his suburban stupor, toexperience life againto take chances, risk danger, do things he didn't think himself capable of doing. None of thi

    would work, of course, without Emmy winner Cranston's ferocious, funny selflessness as an actor. For all its

    bleakness and darkness, there's a glowing exhilaration about this series: It's a feel-good show about feeling really

    bad."[53]San Francisco Chronicle's Tim Goodman claimed "The first three episodes of Season 2 that AMC sent

    out continue that level of achievement with no evident missteps. In fact, it looks as if Gilligan's bold vision for

    Breaking Bad, now duly rewarded against all odds, has invigorated everyone involved in the project. You can

    sense its maturity and rising ambition in each episode."[54] Horror novelist Stephen King lauded the series,

    comparing it to the likes ofTwin Peaks andBlue Velvet.[55]

    The third season also saw critical acclaim. Time proclaimed "It's a dramathat has chosen the slow burn over the flashy explosion, and it's all the

    hotter for that choice."[56]Newsday statedBreaking Badwas still TV's

    best series and it stayed true to itself.[57] Tim Goodman praised the

    writing, acting, and cinematography, pointing out the "visual

    adventurousness" of the series. Goodman went on to call the show's

    visuals as "a combination of staggering beauty - the directors make use of

    numerous wide-angle landscape portraits and transfixing

    weirdness."[58] After the finale aired, The A.V. Club said that season

    three was "one of television's finest dramatic accomplishments. And what

    makes it so exciting what makes the recognition of the current golden

    age so pressing is that the season has not been, as [another reviewer]

    put it in another context, 'television good.' The heart-in-the-throat quality

    of this season comes as much from the writers' exhilarating disregard for

    television conventions as from the events portrayed."[59]

    Season four won unanimous universal acclaim. The Boston Globe referred to the show as a "taut exercise in

    withheld disaster" and declared the show "riveting".[60] ThePittsburgh Post-Gazette labelled the series "smart an

    thought provoking that elevates the artistic achievements of the medium".[61] Season four was listed by many critic

  • 8/2/2019 Breaking Bad - Wikipedia

    9/9

    as one of the best seasons of television in 2011.[62]Time listed Walter White's "I am the one who knocks" line as

    one of the best television lines of 2011.[63]The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette listed it as the best series of 2011 while

    noting that, "Breaking Badis that rare TV series that has never made a seriously damaging storytelling misstep."[6

    The A.V. Club's review of the finale, summed it up as a "fantastically fitting end for a season that ran in slow

    motion, starting and continuing with so many crises begging for resolution week after week. Now the decks are

    cleared, but that doesn't mean anybody is home free. Nothing's ever easy onBreaking Bad." The reviewer

    continued to exalt the season, and proclaimed, "What a season of television truly something none of us could

    ever have expected, or claimed we deserved."[65]

    Best-selling author Noah Charney called it "the best show ontelevision" and compared it to great works of literature for its three-dimensional characters and combination of

    action, drama, and dark comedy.[66]

    Awards and nominations

    Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Breaking Bad

    The series has won numerous awards and nominations, including six Emmy Awards and Cranston winning the

    Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series three consecutive years.[67] and two consecutive

    Outstanding Drama Series nominations. Overall, the show has won 26 industry awards and been nominated for afurther 58.[68]

    Online promotion

    An online customizable video was used to promote season one. Users would receive a webcam message from

    Walt urging them to live their life to the fullest, at the end of which he would score their name from a list. [69] A

    fictional charity website was set up for Walter White in season two by Walter Jr. [70] The website's donation butto

    links to the National Cancer Coalition.

    For season two, there was a viral marketing campaign in which users could experience meeting Walt from a first-

    person perspective.[71] Beginning with season two, series editor Kelley Dixon posted podcasts for each episode o

    the officialBreaking Badwebsite, where she would discuss the episode along with guests that included the show's

    writers, directors, actors, and series creator Vince Gilligan.[72]

    Season three promotion included an interactive role-playing comic designed by Nicholas Fortugno called "The

    Interrogation", located on AMC'sBreaking Badwebsite; in the game, users play Walter White's brother-in-law,

    Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Agent Hank Schrader, as he interrogates a suspect in a murder and gun-

    running scheme.[73] Also released prior to season three was theBreaking BadCriminal Aptitude Test, a

    personality quiz that compared the user to various criminal character types featured in the series.[74]

    Season threepromotion also featured an elaborate website devoted to Bob Odenkirk's character Saul Goodman. The site

    includes legal advice, fashion tips and customer testimonials.[75]

    Promotion for season four included an interactive role-playing comic, in which the user acts as Jesse Pinkman as h

    tries to recover his savings, which he had entrusted to a local money launderer who has disappeared along with the

    money; the game also features the characters of Badger and Saul Goodman.[76] Also launched in season four was

    an Interactive Case File, a digitized version of the file Hank refers to while investigating Gale Boetticher's murder.

    The file includes crime scene photos, police reports and a virtual copy of Gale's lab notebook. [77]