Breaking Bad: Pilot

Chemistry

Breaking Bad: Pilot
AMC
January 20, 2008
Crime Drama
DVD
B+

Wow, this was a total surprise!  I'd heard of the series of course (and sort of got the references in Zootopia), but I'd assumed it'd be another modern action series I'd be bored/irritated by.  It is in fact sharp, funny, and beautifully shot, with a quasi-'70s soundtrack that is well above anything I can think of on any series, past or present.  So why not an A- or higher?  Well, it takes awhile for things to build, as we have to see the misery of Walter White (Bryan Cranston, who's marvelous)'s life, from two underpaid jobs (carwash and high school Chemistry) to lung cancer, in order to understand how he makes such a break from his middle-class milquetoast existence. 

The cast:

• Max Arciniega in his first of three appearances as Krazy-8
• Betsy Brandt as Walt's sister-in-law Marie Schrader
• Jason Byrd, a Chemistry student here, Ben later
• Christopher Dempsey in his first of three series roles, as a Paramedic
• Andrea Good in her first of six uncredited appearances as a Laundry Worker
• Anna Gunn as Walt's wife Skyler
• John Koyama, who would return once as Emilio Koyama (yes, same last name)
• RJ Mitte as Walt's teenage son Walter, Jr.
• Dean Norris as Walt's brother-in-law Hank Schrader
• Aaron Paul as Walt's former student and new meth-lab partner Jesse Pinkman
• Steven Michael Quezada in the regular role of Steven Gomez
• Carmen Serano in her first of nine appearances as Carmen Molina
• Marius Stan in his first of five appearances as Bogdan Wolynetz

Vince Gilligan wrote and directed, so he obviously deserves much of the credit here.