By Ethan Savel’14, Arts and Entertainment Editor 
People are always trying to determine the best television series? The Sopranos? The Wire? Yet many will venture to say that it is Breaking Bad. People around the world are still reeling from the series finale that premiered a month ago.

Breaking Bad is a cannily crafted show: its experiments with structure and form should be studied in academies, and its acting is rich. It manages to be nearly unbearably suspenseful, while also deeply human and affecting.

The story of a humble and middle-aged man who becomes self-actualized when he’s diagnosed with terminal cancer, Breaking Bad finds its brilliance in subverting the usual Bucket List-style soul awakening story. Walter White, played by Bryan Cranston, does not get his groove back by going skydiving or traveling the world. Walter’s deliverance, and ultimate undoing, comes from his choice to do bad things. He becomes a drug maker, drug dealer, and killer. Yet, we love him and root for him with fervor because he is more fully alive in bad mode than he ever was when he was on the straight and narrow. He is the epitome of the anti-hero, giving audiences someone to root for who still commits unspeakable acts.

Walter’s moral conundrum seems incredibly germane to the entire human population. The show is not arguing that we should be killing and selling drugs, but it does some prodding at the bedrock idea of universal morality that rattles the mind. Walter’s character hits startlingly close to home. We may not all be in the same predicament that he is in, but every Newark Academy student can relate to feeling stuck, helpless, and muted. We have also all had a moment or two of giddy abandon, when we felt life go off the rails and experience a strange and thrilling sensation of feeling alive.

Ever since the show premiered in 2008, it has amassed a cult following. Millions and millions of people flock to their couches to watch Walter White and all of the trouble he has gotten into. The audience loves the excitement of the show, as each episode has one plot twist that pushes the limits of what we think television can do. Matt Press, ’14, said, “Every episode is so complex and exciting. You never know what is going to happen next.” The acting, from Cranston as Walter White to Aaron Paul and Anna Gunn as White’s partner and wife, respectively, is the best seen on television. The most recent season had record-breaking ratings, pulling in 10.28 million in viewers for its series finale. The show also just won Most Outstanding Drama Series at the 65th Annual Emmy Awards. It draws in a huge crowd from teenagers, who account for a good portion of their ratings. This large demographic could be a result of the fact that at school, like Newark Academy, students read tales of traditional heroes, fanciful romances, or marvelous science fiction. Breaking Bad gives us a real life portrayal of a man stuck in a complex situation that none of us can even imagine, yet all of us can relate to.

Breaking Bad is a stylistic marvel, an acting master class, and a scary drug world thriller with a big human heart beating at its core. The show is brutal but funny, harsh but humane, and terrifying but beautiful. No other show on television is quite as exciting and deeply engaging.