Breaking Bad

Yes, I am both late and accidental to the Breaking Bad sensation. I needed a backup time killer for a business trip. I have lots of “me time” during those trips. Exercising is difficult, I am usually tired or inconvenienced. Reading, writing, and watching video are the main time killers. On my Kindle, I usually “pack” several books. On my laptop, I also bring several movies or TV episodes. For that particular trip, I downloaded the first season and was hopelessly hooked.

Mr. Walter White was a genius chemist with a graduate degree from Caltech. He founded a company, Grey Matter Technologies, with his Caltech buddies soon after graduation but sold his shares shortly after. The company became a multi-billion enterprise, making his old college buddies filthy rich. Mr. White ended up a high-school teacher in Albuquerque, NM.

On his 50th birthday, he was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer with only months to live; shorter if he forwent the treatments his teacher’s insurance did not cover. Dipping into the savings would ruin his family, not will end his life sooner. His wife, Skylar, a part-timer book keeper, is pregnant. The writers certainly stacked everything against him.

In desperation, he teamed up with a former student, Jesse, and cooked methamphetamine crystals. Mr. White was very good. His product eventually led to an international empire with him sitting at the throne. We watch Mr. White transform and gradually lose himself during each season, leading all the way to a very satisfying finale.

I have always wondered about criminals’ lack of intelligence and planning skills. The majority of the crimes were done in the style guaranteed to be caught. Yet Mr. White was brilliant in both his cooking skills and his strategic planning. He found his calling in drug production and trafficking.

Is it only morality and the stupidity of criminals that keeps the world sane and orderly? Mr. White made over $80 million in a year. Had he gone “all the way” and stayed healthy, he would have become the drug lord that no law enforcement would ever catch. If that’s the case, are there already savvy and smart people doing just that by now?

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